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Tag: Kinji Nakamura
The Yakuza Papers Vol. 4: Police Tactics (仁義なき戦い: 頂上作戦, Kinji Fukasaku, 1974)
December 18, 2015 August 24, 2017 by Hayley Scanlon 2 Comments
It's 1963 now and the chaos in the yakuza world is only increasing. However, with the Tokyo olympics only a year away and the economic conditions considerably improved the outlaw life is much less justifiable. The public are becoming increasingly intolerant of yakuza violence and the government is keen to clean up their image before the tourists arrive and so the police finally decide to do something about the organised crime problem. This is bad news for Hirono and his guys who are already still in the middle of their own yakuza style cold war.
Police Tactics (仁義なき戦い: 頂上作戦, Jingi Naki Tatakai: Chojo Sakusen), the fourth in the Yakuza Papers (or Battles Without Honour and Humanity) series, once again places Hirono at the centre of events for much of the film. The cold war from the end of the last film, Proxy War, is still going on with ambitious boss Takeda hosting additional foot soldiers from other areas of the country. However, all these extra guys are quite a drain on his resources and, simply put, it's going to ruin him if this situation goes on much longer. Yamamori is currently holed up in a safe place and only steps outside to go to the bath house when he's surrounded by a huge entourage of bodyguards. Added to the gang rivalry which is only growing now as factions split and new families are formed, not to mention all the guys from outside, is the now constant police pressure. Up to now, the police have been either a minor irritation or a soft ally but this time the guys might have finally met their match.
It's almost twenty years since Hirono settled into the yakuza life. He's not an old man, but he's not a young one either. You can no longer explain or excuse any of his actions with the fire of youth – he's one of the veterans now. However, young men are always young men and even while the older guys try to scheme and come up with a plan the youngsters are all for action. Hirono has always been the one noble gangster. Committed to yakuza ideals, he's loyal to his bosses and dedicated to taking care of his guys. Hence, there's no way he's going to let one of his men take out Yamamori – firstly, after nursing a grudge for 18 years he wants to handle it himself but even if he didn't he still wouldn't be able go after Yamamori in anything other than an honourable way. However, now even Hirono says at one point "I don't give a fucking shit about honour anymore". At this point you know it's all over, the one loyal retainer has finally given up.
With the police pressure mounting, the violence on the streets intensifies with even more feats of desperate backstreets warfare. Hirono himself is absent for a lot of the film while he gets picked up by the police on a flimsy pretext. More gangs are introduced, more guys die before you even begin to remember their names. There's death everywhere yet still more yakuza keep turning up, offering to die for their bosses who will sell them out without a second thought if it buys them ten seconds more in power. The younger generation may not have the trauma of the war to burn through, but they've grown up in this world of street gangs and constant violence so it stands to reason that they come to idolise the tough guys and think joining a gang is their one way ticket out of the slums. As they will discover, there is always a heavy price to be paid for ambition and naivety.
The shooting style is pretty much the same as the first few films in the series. Documentary style voice over, hand held camera and freeze frame death shots are the order of the day. Once again we begin and end with the ruined dome reminding us of the price of violence. Police Tactics could almost be the end of the cycle. With the police finally deciding to act, by the end of the film all of the major players are off the streets in one way or another. In the end, all that death and violence amounted to to nothing. As the film reminds us, public order may have been restored (temporarily) but the systems and conditions which lead to violence are still very much in place.
Police Tactics is available on blu-ray in the UK as part of Arrow Video's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection box set.
Posted in JapanTagged 1970s, 1974, Akio Hasegawa, Akira Kobayashi, Akira Shioji, arrow, Arrow Video, Asao Koike, Asao Uchida, Battles Without Honour and Humanity, Bunta Sugawara, Harumi Sone, Hideo Murota, Hiroki Matsukata, Ichiro Ogura, Isao Natsuyagi, Kinji Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection, Kinji Nakamura, Kunie Tanaka, Mayumi Nagisa, Mitsue Horikoshi, Mitsuko Aoi, Nobuo Kaneko, Nobuo Yana, Sadaji Yoshida, Sanae Nakahara, Seizo Fukumoto, Shingo Yamashiro, Shinichiro Mikami, Shintaro Miyamoto, Takeshi Kato, Tatsuo Endo, Tatsuo Umemiya, The Yakuza Papers, Toshiaki Tsushima, Toshie Kimura, Toshio Kurosawa, yakuza, Yukio Miyagi
The Yakuza Papers Vol. 3: Proxy War (仁義なき戦い: 代理戦争, Kinji Fukasaku, 1973)
December 17, 2015 December 1, 2016 by Hayley Scanlon 2 Comments
Three films into The Yakuza Papers or Battles Without Honour and Humanity series, Fukasaku slackens the place slightly and brings us a little more intrigue and behind the scenes machinations rather than the wholesale carnage of the first two films. In Proxy War we move on in terms of time period and region following Shozo Hirono into the '60s where he's still a petty yakuza, but his fortunes have improved slightly.
It's now 1960 – almost 15 years since Hirono came home from the war. The young people who are just coming of age grew up in the turbulent post-war era but probably don't remember much of the conflict itself. These days the problem is the ANPO treaty and the wider world's pre-occupation with communism. Russia and America are engaged in various "proxy wars" across the world in what would come to be known as the cold war. This tactic of indirect warfare has also taken root in the yakuza world as gangs and gang members form covert alliances, hatch secret plots to take out rivals, or otherwise try to manipulate the situation to their advantage. When the head of the Muraoka crime syndicate is assassinated in broad daylight and his underling, Uchimoto, does nothing, it kickstarts a chain of petty vendettas as each of the ambitious crime bosses vie to fill the power vacuum with the snivelling Uchimoto not least among them.
Bunta Sugawara returns to centre stage again with Hirono at the forefront of the action. One of the few yakuza guys who's pretty happy with his lot and not seeking a higher position he's in the perfect spot to become a very important player when it comes to supporting other people's bids for power. Having originally backed Uchimoto he's at something of a disadvantage following Uchimoto's cowardly flip-flopping. However, having found himself back under the aegis of former boss Yorimoto, it does afford Hirono the possibility of finally getting revenge against him. Gangs merge several times while fracturing on the inside as the lower bosses try to get their guys in line whlst picking sides as to whom they support in the leadership battles (some with more of an eye on their own futures) but this time the action is a little more cerebral than the audacious violence of the immediate post-war period.
Changing up his style slightly, Fukasaku keeps the overall documentary approach with the news reel voice over relating the salient political and historical details plus the initial captions explaining the names and allegiances of the major players but reduces the freeze frame death announcements. The action is still frenetic with ultra naturalistic handheld camera and occasional strange angles but this time he opts for a muted colour effect in the final shoot out which increases the shocking nature of the scene. Blow for blow there's less overt violence here though there is a fairly graphic and unpleasant rape scene which feels a little out of place though it does add to Fukasaku's argument about the nature of aggression.
Once again the ruined the dome looms large over everything, reminding us that this isn't just a story of gang warfare but a critique of the senselessness of a violent life. As the film says, young men are the first to die when the battles begin but their deaths are never honoured. Like Hiroshima Death Match, Proxy War also leads to the death of a youngster in pointless gang violence – another young man who ended up in the criminal underworld through lack of other options. The futility of the cycle of violence is becoming wearing – as is perhaps the point. One gang boss falls, another rises – only the names have changed. There's no rest for an honest yakuza like Hirono when the less scrupulous are willing switch allegiance without a second thought. The only victory is staying alive as long as you can.
Proxy War is available on blu-ray in the UK as part of Arrow Video's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection box set.
Posted in Japan, UncategorizedTagged Akira Kobayashi, Akira Shioji, Arrow Video, Asao Uchida, Battles Without Honour and Humanity, Bunta Sugawara, Daisuke Awaji, Eiko Nakamura, Eizo Kitamura, Harumi Sone, Hideo Murota, Hiroshi Nawa, Japan, Japanese, jitsuroku, Kinji Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection, Kinji Nakamura, Kunie Tanaka, Masako Araki, Masao Hori, Masataka Iawao, Mikio Narita, Mitsue Horikoshi, Nobuo Kaneko, Reiko Ike, Rinichi Yamamoto, Sen Okaji, Shingo Yamashiro, Takeshi Kato, Takuzo Kawatani, Tatsuo Endo, Tatsuo Umemiya, Tetsuro Tanba, Toshie Kimura, Tsunehiko Watase, yakuza, Yasuhiro Suzuki
The Yakuza Papers Vol. 2: Hiroshima Death Match (仁義なき戦い: 広島死闘篇, Kinji Fukasaku, 1973)
If you thought the story was over when Hirono walked out on the funeral at the end of Battles Without Honour and Humanity think again – we've barely scraped the surface of the post-war Hiroshima criminal underworld chaos. The aptly named Hiroshima Death Match runs in parallel with the events of Battles Without Honour taking place in roughly the same time, 1950-1955, but features a new protagonist relegating Bunta Sugawara's Hirono to the sidelines where he appears as a weary observer of the cruel yakuza world. This time our hero, Yamanaka, is younger – too young to have offered his life as a kamikaze in the war as he apparently wanted to, and is one of the thousands of young men who've found themselves alone and without futures thanks to both the after effects of World War II and the ongoing Korean War.
Hiroshima Death Match ties itself into Battles Without Honour and Humanity quite neatly when the protagonist, Shoji Yamanaka (Kinya Kitaoji), is sent to prison after taking a knife to a room full of guys who accused him of cheating in a gambling den. There he comes into contact with the first film's hero, Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), who offers him some food whilst in solitary but then disappears for the vast bulk of the film. When he gets out, Shoji finds himself in trouble again when he can't pay for his meal in a restaurant and offers to work off the bill. The waitress, Yasuko (Meiko Kaji), refuses and tells him to just forget about the money and leave when he's done but Shoji is insulted by her "charity" and things kick off between him and a gang of yakuza also in the restaurant at the time. Yasuko turns out to be the widowed niece of a yakuza boss and after recovering in her care Shoji agrees to join the Muraoka gang to get revenge on the guys who beat him up.
Whereas Battles Without Honour and Humanity took as its protagonists the young men who'd returned from the war to a ruined and defeated country, Hiroshima Death Match focuses on the generation below who were too young to fight themselves but have still been marked by the after effects of the conflict. At the beginning of the film Shoji has nothing, he's ashamed of cheating and gets upset when caught which only fuels his youthful and violent anger. He doesn't seem to have any family to help him or honest work to go to and so, of course, he ends up a yakuza. Once again, the yakuza take the place of a traditional family offering both a place to belong and a degree of emotional and financial support – for a price.
When Shoji inevitably falls in love with Muraoka's widowed niece, he discovers his surrogate father's love is not quite unconditional. Yasuko has a young daughter and was married to a man who died a kamikaze war hero. Muraoka does not want her to remarry lest she shame her husband's memory unless he keeps it in the family by marrying her off against her will to her huband's brother. Shoji's affair with Yasuko continues to cause a rift with Muraoka and he's torn between a desire for a peaceful future with the woman he loves and loyalty to his gang boss to whom he owes so much. Muraoka's own morals are shown to be far from the traditional yakuza ideals and he's not above using Shoji's strained loyalties to his own advantage eventually with tragic consequences.
Like Battles Without Honour and Humanity, Hiroshima Death Match is shot in the same quasi-documentary style with a weary sounding narrative voice over and frequent freeze frame captions identifying the characters along with their gangs and positions as well as their dates of demise at the appropriate time. The ruined Atomic Bomb Dome (now the Hiroshima Peace Memorial) continues to loom large over the proceedings as we're reminded at the end that this isn't the only blood that's been shed here. Even more so than with Battles, Fukasaku rams home the senselessness and futility of violence. The film ends with Hirono attending another funeral (though this time in a black suit and melancholic air) where the bosses reap in consolation money and gamble at the wake. He gives his old bosses a sideways look as they laugh and joke while a young man who they all now account as some kind of legendary yakuza hero lies dead for no reason at all. What does this sort of life amount to in the end? The only reward for a life of violence is a lonely grave.
Hiroshima Death Match is available on blu-ray in the UK as part of Arrow Video's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection box set.
Posted in Japan, UncategorizedTagged Akira Shioji, Arrow Video, Asao Koike, Battles Without Honour and Humanity, Bunta Sugawara, Eizo Kitamura, Gin Maeda, Hideo Murota, Hiroshi Nawa, Japan, Japanese, jitsuroku, Junko Matsudaira, Kazuo Kasahara, Kinji Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection, Kinji Nakamura, Kinya Kitaoji, Meiko Kaji, Mikio Narita, Nobuo Kaneko, Nobuo Yana, Sadaji Yoshida, Shingo Yamashiro, Shinichi Chiba, Takuzo Kawatani, Tatsuo Endo, The Yakuza Papers, Toei, Toshiaki Tsushima, Toshie Kimura, yakuza, Yoshi Kato
The Yakuza Papers Vol. 1: Battles Without Honour and Humanity (仁義なき戦い, Kinji Fukasaku, 1973)
When it comes to the history of the yakuza movie, there are few titles as important or as influential both in Japan and the wider world than Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honour and Humanity (仁義なき戦い, Jingi Naki Tatakai). The first in what would become a series of similarly themed movies later known as The Yakuza Papers, Battles without Honour is a radical rebooting of the Japanese gangster movie. The English title is, infact, a literal translation of the Japanese which accounts for the slightly unnatural "and" rather than "or" where the "honour and humanity" are collected in a single Japanese word, "jingi". Jingi is the ancient moral code by which old-style yakuza had abided and up to now the big studio gangster pictures had all depicted their yakuza as being honourable criminals. However, in Fukasaku's reimagining of the gangster world this adherence to any kind of conventional morality was yet another casualty of Japan's wartime defeat.
The story begins with a black and white image of a mushroom cloud with the film's bright red title card and now famous theme playing over the top. This is Hiroshima in 1946. Things are pretty desperate, the black market is rife and there are US troops everywhere. Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) has just returned from the war (in fact he's still in his uniform). He gets himself into trouble when he intervenes as an American soldier attempts to rape a Japanese woman in broad daylight in the middle of a crowded marketplace. He manages to cause enough of a commotion for the woman to escape but the Japanese cops just tell him not to mess with the GIs. Things don't get much better as one of Hirono's friends is assaulted by a yakuza. They get some rival yakuza to help them get revenge and in the commotion Hirono accidentally kills someone and is sent to prison for 12 years. In prison he meets another yakuza who wants to escape by pretending to commit harakiri and promises to get his yakuza buddies to bail Hirono out if he helps. From this point on Hirono has become embroiled in the new and dangerous world of the Hiroshima criminal underground.
Battles Without Honour and Humanity has a famously complicated plot entered around the various power shifts and machinations between different groups of yakuza immediately after the end of World War II. The film begins in 1946 and ends in 1956 though many of its cast of tough guys don't last anywhere near as long. The picture Fukasaku paints of Japan immediately after the war is a bleak one. Even if some of these guys are happy to have survived and finally reached home, they've seen and done terrible things. Not only that, they've been defeated and now they're surrounded by foreign troops everywhere who can pretty much do what they want when they want. They just don't have a lot of options – if they don't have connections to help them find work when there's not enough to go around then it isn't surprising if they eventually fall into to crime. Also, having spent time in the military, the yakuza brotherhood provides a similar kind of camaraderie and surrogate family that you might also find in an army corps.
It all gets ugly quite fast. Largely the yakuza are making their money profiting from the political instability, resenting the US occupation yet reaching deals with them to support their efforts in the Korean war and then selling new and untested drugs at home (with less than brilliant results). Betrayals, executions, assassinations in previously safe places like a bath house or the barbers – these are a long way from the supposedly honourable gangsters of old. One minute Hirono is offering to cut off his finger as a traditional sign of atonement (though no one knows exactly what you're supposed to do in this situation and it all ends up seeming a little silly) and taking the rap for everyone else's mistakes, but his friend faked harakiri to get out of jail and everyone is double crossing everyone else whichever way you look.
The whole thing is filmed in an almost documentary style with captions identifying the various characters and giving the exact time of their demise (if necessary) as well as a voice over giving background information about the historical period. The film is inspired by real life yakuza memoirs and there are parts which feel quite like a bunch of old guys sitting in a drinking establishment and recounting some of their exploits.
This new postwar world of heartless gangsters is a tough one and almost devoid of the old honour-bound nobility, however somehow Fukasaku has managed to make it all look very cool at the same time as being totally unappealing. You wouldn't want to live this way and you definitely don't want to get involved with any of these guys but somehow their self determined way of life becomes something to be admired. That said, there's a sadness too – that even in the criminal underworld there used to be something noble that's been obliterated by the intense trauma of the war. You can rebuild, you can move on from the destruction left by the war's wake but there's no going back to those days of "honour and humanity" – if they ever existed, they're gone forever now.
Battles without Honour and Humanity is available in blu-ray in the UK as part of Arrow Video's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection box set.
Posted in Japan, UncategorizedTagged 1973, Aki Takagi, Akira Hirasawa, Arrow Video, Asao Koike, Asao Uchida, Battles Without Honour and Humanity, Bunta Sugawara, Chie Kobayashi, Eiko Nakamura, Goro Ibuki, Goro Oki, Harumi Sone, Hideo Fujimoto, Hiroki Matsukata, Hiroko Sakaki, Hiroshi Hatano, Hiroshi Nawa, Hitoshi omae, Japan, Japanese, jitsuroku, Kazuo Kasahara, Kazuo Komine, Kazutaro Kuni, Keiji Takamiya, Keiko Kojima, Kenji Ikeda, Kinji Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Complete Collection, Kinji Nakamura, Kiyotaka Nishiyama, Kojiro Shirakawa, Kunie Tanaka, Kuniomi Kitani, Masaru Shiga, Masataka Iwao, Mayumi Nagisa, Minken Karasawa, Naotsugu Uzaki, Nobuo Kaneko, Ryo Nishida, Ryuji Katagiri, Sadaji Yoshida, Satoru Nabe, Seizo Fukumoto, Shinichiro Mikami, Shinji Oda, Shinji Takano, Shintaro Mibu, Shotaro Hayashi, Shunji Sasaki, Takashi Ebata, Takashi Noguchi, Takiko Azumi, Takuzo Kawatani, Tamaro Murata, Tamio Kawachi, Tatsuo Umemiya, Teruo Fujinaga, Tetsuo Fujisawa, The Yakuza Papers, Toei, Toshiaki Tsushima, Toshie Kimura, Toshio Kitagawa, Toshio Matsuda, Toshio Tomogane, Tsunehiko Watase, Tsuyoshi Arita, yakuza, Yasumori Hikita, Yasuo Matsumoto, Yasushi Oshiro, Yoshiki Yamada, Yukio Miyagi, Yusuke Tsukasa


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2016-2017 All-NBA Team Predictions
Will Burns
Photo Credit: http://www.basketwallpapers.com/
Check predictions for the 3 All-NBA teams as if there are no injuries.
Advanced Stats: Is Kobe overrated? A look at the stats.
All-NBA 3rd Team
Forward: Draymond Green, Blake Griffin
Guard: Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving
Center: Karl-Anthony Towns
Draymond Green, like Durant and Curry, will have less production as a result of the star power om Golden State. However, I feel like Draymond Green will still prove through his defensive ability and leadership qualities that he is all NBA 3rd team worthy.
For all we know, Draymond could be a back to back champ if it wasn't for his suspension in game 5. Nevertheless, Draymond came back and had a monster game 7 in the NBA finals in a losing effort to the Cavs. Draymond's impact on his team will simply be good enough to get himself a spot on the All-NBA 3rd team.
Blake Griffin definitely had a lost season last year haunted by injuries. Many people forget that when this guy is on the court, he is a great scorer and playmaker at the power forward position. He averaged 21.9 points per game two seasons ago and he is highly capable of repeating a season like he did then. This is why I believe Griffin will make his 2nd All-NBA 3rd team.
Karl-Anthony Towns is already one of the best centers in the league and he is going into his 2nd season in the NBA. He won ROY last year with one of the best rookie years from a big man since Shaq and Duncan. This man is the future and there is a reason he was voted as the #1 player GM's would want to start a team with.
He averaged 18 PPG and 10 RPG in his rookie year and it seems as if the sky is the limit for Towns; I think he makes his first All-NBA 3rd team this year.
Chris Paul is the prototypical point guard in the NBA and he has been one of the most consistent NBA players since being drafted in 2005. Paul has never been to the conference finals but he is one of the best passers and floor generals in the league.
He is a 4 time NBA All-First teamer, 3 times NBA all second teamer and this year I think he makes his second All-NBA 3rd team.
I think Kyrie Irving replaces Klay Thompson on the All-NBA 3rd team this year. Kyrie proved how good he was in last years Finals and has emerged as a top-tier point guard in this league. With LeBron expected to play less games and minutes than ever, Irving will have increased the opportunity to show truly how good he is. Irving has become a premier clutch player and is one of the best scorers in the game thanks to having the league's best handles.
Check: Greatest Playoff Winners Ever
All-NBA 2nd Team
Forward: Kevin Durant, Paul George
Guard: Stephen Curry, James Harden
Center: Anthony Davis
Considering he didn't make it last year, Kevin Durant will probably fall short of the 1st team again this year and make the All-NBA 2nd team.
His production will be down now that he is on the Warriors and Kawhi Leonard's production will be up because he is slowly becoming the leader of this team post Tim Duncan.
Because of this, Kevin Durant should be making his second All-NBA 2nd team in a row.
I think that Paul George will replace Draymond Green on the All-NBA 2nd team this year. Just like Durant, Green's production will go down because of being on Golden State's stacked team.
Paul George has 1 year under his belt after that terrible injury he suffered while playing for team USA. He had a great year last year, and with growing confidence in his health, he should have a great year this year, putting himself on his first All-NBA 2nd team.
Anthony Davis might even make the All-NBA 1st this year if he continues to stay healthy and put up monster stat lines like he did in the first game of the season against the Nuggets. Davis dropped 50 points and 17 rebounds, just another day at the office for him.
Davis's problem throughout his career has been his health, it seems as if he has injured almost every part of his body despite only being in the NBA for 4 years, going on his 5th.
He made the All-NBA first team in 2015 but I feel like the Pelicans will be so bad this year that Davis will not make the 1st team despite these all NBA team honors being individual honors.
Stephen Curry is the player that caused the most thought out of me when making these predictions. He has won the MVP the past 2 years but in my opinion, he is no longer even the best player on his team now that Durant has arrived.
Durant will be the focal point of the offense so Curry's stats will be significantly down from last year. Because of this, I believe Curry will be making his second All-NBA 2nd team.
Lastly, James Harden will make the All-NBA second team after a disappointing season last year (as if 29 ppg is an off season).
However, Harden and the Rockets crumbled under very high expectations for last year's season. Despite great stats, last year was an offseason for Harden but now he will be playing point guard. He will rack up the assists this year and will do just as much if not more scoring than he did last year.
Because of this, I think Harden will be going from not making any of the All-NBA teams last year to making the 2nd team this year.
Agree or Disagree: Top 10 Greatest NBA Arenas
All-NBA 1st Team
Forward: LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard
Guard: Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard
Center: DeMarcus Cousins
First of all, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James are locks to make the All-NBA 1st team.
LeBron will likely play less minutes and less games than he has in his entire career. He is 31 but has shown no signs of slowing down, LeBron is bound for his 11th All-NBA 1st team.
Russell Westbrook is probably the most athletic player in the league and is a lot of people's MVP picks for this year. Now that he doesn't have Kevin Durant, his stats will be boosted even more than they were before and for all we know, he could average a triple double for the season with the endless responsibility and opportunity he has on this Thunder team.
Russell Westbrook will very likely be going to his second straight All-NBA 1st team and is, in my opinion, the most likely player to make it this year.
I think unlike Deandre Jordan last year, DeMarcus Cousins will make the All-NBA first team as the center slot. He doesn't get a lot of recognition playing in Sacramento, but the stat lines that he puts up the night in and the night out are insane.
This year I believe that DeMarcus Cousins gets the recognition that he deserves and makes his first All-NBA 1st team in the center slot.
Kawhi Leonard made the All-NBA 1st team last year and there is no reason to think he won't do it again. He keeps improving year after year and his defense has gotten greatly recognized as he is going for his 3rd straight defensive player of the year which is unheard of for a nonbig man. Leonard is a quiet guy but his game speaks for himself, he has developed a solid jump shot and has become maybe the most all-around player in basketball.
As long as he doesn't decline for some crazy reason, Leonard will be going to have 2nd straight All-NBA 1st team.
Last but not least, I believe Damian Lillard will make his first appearance on the All-NBA 1st team instead of Stephen Curry this year.
After not making the All-Star team last year he proved why he should have, he put big game after big game and even led the Blazers to the second round of the playoffs while most people didn't even think the Blazers would male the playoffs.
If there is one thing people need to learn to do, it is to not doubt Damian Lillard. He made the All-NBA 2nd team last year and I believe he will make his first all NBA first team this year with Stephen Curry's production expected to go way down.
Next: NBA 2016/17 Projected Milestone Watch List
All-NBA TeamAll-NBA 1st TeamNBA TrendingKawhi LeonardAll-NBA 2nd TeamNBA AwardsRussell WestbrookNBA All TeamAll-NBA 3rd TeamKevin DurantFadeaway WorldStephen CurryFadeaway World ProNBADeMarcus CosinsDamian LillardLeBron James

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Xenocracy
a game by Simis Limited
Editor Rating: 6.5/10, based on 1 review
The List Of Space Combat Sims available is almost endless - Elite, Wing Commander I to V, Privateer I and 2, X-lMing, I-War... - yet Grolier believe they have something new to offer the genre. Ever sceptical about such outrageous claims, we nonetheless invited them into our luxurious offices (Yeah, tight - Ed) to demo some early code. At first glance it looked just like every other space shoot 'em tip we've ever seen. It has space ships. They fly in space. They shoot each other. Up. And SO it seemed that yet another hour of presentation tedium was on the cards.
Thankfully, however, as we delved further into the game, we discovered a world of political intrigue; a world of alliances broken as easily as they are forged; a world in which the future of mankind depends on your abilities to, er, keep the peace.
Strange though it may sound, your initial objective in Xenocrocy is to ensure that the four great powers in the game universe don't smash each other to a bloody pulp in their attempts to gain control of mining colonies in the solar system.
Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus are the main protagonists throughout the proceedings. You play the part of a WingToucher (yes, we know it sounds a bit camp, but they've still got time to change it - eh, Grolier?). WingTouchers are apparently elite members of the UPN peace-keeping force, and as such they are tasked with policing the area of conflict.
Your missions will depend on what's happening in the game universe at the time. For example, if Mars attacks Venus without provocation, you will be called upon to bring the blighters to justice. However, if Earth and Mercury decide to have a difference of opinion at the same time, you will then have to determine which planet you should defend, based on how much damage each of the protagonists is likely to cause.
The logic behind this is that you can't respond to every request for help, and since the general idea is to keep a balance of power between the warring factions, you will have to be clever when deciding whose hide you want to save. But fear not, the burden of decision will be shared with your commanding officers and the ambassadors of the planetary powers, so should you select the wrong mission you'll at least have someone else to point the finger at if everything goes pear-shaped. Fail too many missions, however, and the balance of power could shift to one or other of the factions, resulting in (shock horror) an all-out Solar War. The general upshot of this type of open-ended gameplay is that no two missions will ever be the same - which we know to be a very good thing. Provided the missions aren't incredibly boring, of course. Which brings us neatly to First Impressions Corner.
We were lucky enough to have a bash at some early preview code of Xcnoeracy, and we're happy to report that it does in fact look to be an enjoyable blast-fest of reasonable proportions. The visuals are suitably yummy, and the now almost obligatory 3D acceleration support is present and correct, giving way to shiny coloured lights bouncing off highly detailed polygon ships, gorgeous textures, and of course copious amounts of lens flare, The combat can best be described as an Elite/X-Wing hybrid inasmuch as the colourful polygon ships are reminiscent of Elite, and the full-on hectic combat will remind many of X-Wing's excellent galactic dogfights. Another gameplay element that Grolier have, er, borrowed from Elite - and indeed Wing Commander - is the constant appearance of space pirates who act as cannon fodder for bored gamers and generally confuse the issue at every opportunity.
For campaign fans there are two distinctly different ways to play the game: Arcade mode is. as you would expect, an instant action blast, with your ship and weapons pre-selected and all political decisions taken care of. Simulation mode is a far greater challenge. Not only will your decisions influence the political and economic balance of the warring planets, but you'll also get to manage a research and development allocation budget, choose your own wingmen and weapons, and generally become much more involved in the great scheme of things as events in the game unfold.
There is no obvious storyline to follow at the beginning of the game, but Grolier have hinted at an unexpected turn of events later in the campaign which changes gameplay significantly and finally reveals your real role in protecting the future of mankind.
From what we've seen so far, Xenocracy looks set to be a complex and challenging space combat sim. But, as always, you'll have to wait until next month when we review the full game before we deliver our final verdict.
Download Xenocracy
PC Screenshots
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Is Christine Bronstein The Most Powerful Woman In Politics?
Teen Vogue, November 19, 2012.
Huffington Post founder Ariana Huffington tweeted support of and a link to Nothing But The Truth, So Help Me God to her 1,070,198 followers on October 31, 2012.
Gabrielle Bernstein Gabbyb.tv, October 31, 2012.
Lissa Rankin, Owning Pink, Care 2, Blogher,Psychology Today, and Positively Positive, October 30, 2012.
Face it, folks. In too many lives, it's the first thing to go –; not dropped, mind you, just shoved to the side. And, most often, it's the one thing you utterly, truly, essentially need.
We're talking friends. True friends. Through-thick-and-thin friends.
The International Women's Media Foundation today announced that Alexandra C. Trower, executive vice president, global communications of The Esteé Lauder Companies Inc.; Phil Bronstein, editor-at-large for Hearst Newspapers, and Christine Bronstein, founder of A Band of Wives, a social networking Internet site, have been named co-chairs of the IWMF's 20th Anniversary Steering Committee.
Most of us who live anywhere east of San Francisco tend to associate the city with hippies and earthquakes. It is glorified by some as being the Mecca of open-mindedness and vilified by others as being the roiling hell of all that's wrong with the world. And well, both sides think of earthquakes. However you see it though, there is no denying that there is definitely some quaking and social movement going on with San Francisco women. They're on the march, but this isn't your Mama's feminism.


text:
Cosmos 184
NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1967-102A
Cosmos 184 was the fifth announced Russian meteorological satellite and the third interim operational weather satellite in the experimental 'Meteor' system. It was also the third launch of a semi-operational weather satellite from the Plesetsk site into a near-polar, near-circular orbit. Unlike the U.S. weather satellites, however, the orbit was prograde (not sun-synchronous) because, as a result of geographic limitations, a retrograde orbit was not possible. Cosmos 184 was orbited to test, in a semi-operational mode, meteorological instruments designed for obtaining images of cloud cover, snow cover, and ice fields on the day and night sides of the earth and for measuring fluxes of outgoing radiation reflected and radiated by the earth-atmosphere system. This instrumentation consisted of (1) two vidicon cameras for daytime cloudcover pictures, (2) a high-resolution scanning IR radiometer for nighttime and daytime imaging of the earth and clouds, and (3) an array of narrow- and wide-angle radiometers covering the 0.3- to 3-, 8- to 12-, and 3- to 30-micron channels for measuring the intensity of radiation reflected from the clouds and oceans, the surface temperatures of the earth and cloud tops, and the total flux of thermal energy from the earth-atmosphere system into space, respectively. The satellite was in the form of a large cylindrical capsule, 5 m long and 1.5 m in diameter. Two large solar cell panels of four segments each were deployed from opposite sides of the cylinder after satellite separation from the launch vehicle. The solar panels were rotated to constantly face the sun during satellite daytime by means of a sun sensor-controlled drive mechanism fitted in the top end of the center body. The meteorological instruments, a magnetometer, 465-MHz radio antennas, and orbital control devices were housed in a hermitically sealed cylinder located on the earthward-facing end of the cylindrical satellite body. The satellite was triaxially stabilized by a series of inertial flywheels, driven by electric motors, whose kinetic energy was dampened by torques produced by electromagnets interacting with the earth's magnetic field. Cosmos 194 was oriented by earth sensors with one of its axes directed earthward along the local vertical, a second oriented along the orbital velocity vector, and a third oriented perpendicular to the orbital plane. This orientation ensured that the optical axes of the instruments were constantly directed earthward. When two of the 'Meteor' system satellites were in operation at the same time in near-polar orbits and with suitable differences in the longitudes of the ascending nodes, data could be received from one-half the earth's surface in a 24-hr period. It is believed that the satellite ended operations in May 1968, as indicated by the termination of data transmission to the United States via the 'cold line' facsimile link with Moscow.
Cosmos184
Facts in Brief
Launch Date: 1967-10-24
Launch Vehicle: Vostok 2M
Launch Site: Plesetsk, U.S.S.R
Mass: 4730 kg
Soviet Academy of Sciences (U.S.S.R)
Space Physics
Launch/Orbital information for Cosmos 184
Telecommunications information for Cosmos 184
Experiments on Cosmos 184
Data collections from Cosmos 184


Laurie Mansfield entered show business first as a salesman for CBS Records, and then as a record producer. In 1969 this led him in to the agency business where he became responsible for building International Artistes Ltd into one of the most successful all-purpose management and agency companies in the UK.
In April 2010 a new company was formed called Laurie Mansfield Associates presenting a combination of both theatrical production and talent representation.
In recent years, Laurie has become more involved in the production of West End shows, including: conceiving and co-producing the musical Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story, which completed 13 years in London, in addition to various productions worldwide. Laurie co-produced the Olivier Award winning musical Jolson in London's West End, before transferring to Toronto. Jolson has also toured in the United States and Australia. In 1999 Laurie coproduced the Olivier Award-winning Defending the Caveman as well as Animal Crackers and Dreaming, all playing on Shaftesbury Avenue, London.
In October 1999 Laurie was the lead producer on Great Balls of Fire, the Jerry Lee Lewis story, at the Cambridge Theatre. 2000 saw him involved in Ireland as Executive Producer of the film Agnes Browne (Universal), directed by and starring Angelica Huston. 2002 saw the transfer to the West End of the Edinburgh Fringe Award-winning show Zipp! co-produced by Laurie and starring Gyles Brandreth. In 2006 Laurie co-produced with Bill Kenwright 'This Is Elvis' and in 2009, again with Bill Kenwright, co-produced 'Dreamboats and Petticoats' which is currently playing at the Wyndham in London.
Laurie is Chairman of the British Forces Foundation, which was founded by Jim Davidson OBE and the charity was formed to promote and support the Armed Forces for charitable means by entertaining servicemen and women around the world.


Jason Benton is the owner of Best Option Restoration East Atlanta. Jason grew up in Lancaster California and then served for 9 years in the United States Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds a degree in History from the University of San Francisco. After the Army Jason has owned several businesses and takes pride in the outstanding quality of work that Best Option Restoration Provides. He and his wife, Diana, have a 2 year old son, Michael.


text:
Week Ahead: DOJ, FTC to hold first workshop on vertical merger guidelines
Modern Healthcare
Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images
MARCH 10: Super Tuesday gives way to Big Tuesday when six states hold primaries and 352 delegates are up for grabs.
MARCH 10: No time like a public health crisis to delve into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget. That's just what a House Appropriations subcommittee will do when it takes up the Trump administration's fiscal 2021 funding request. Democrats are sure to hammer CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield on the proposed 16% cut to the agency's budget. HHS officials have defended the budget by saying they want to streamline funding and focus on block grants to states. The $8.3 billion supplemental spending package signed by the president on March 6 sends $2.2 billion to the CDC to support federal, state and local public health agencies.
MARCH 11: Debate over the administration's response to COVID-19 will continue during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing called "Coronavirus preparedness and response."
MARCH 11: The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are holding the first of a two-part workshop on how they plan to look at vertical mergers. As Harris Meyer reported in January, healthcare antitrust experts are disappointed that proposed guidelines offered little detail on how the government will analyze deals between organizations across the delivery system, such as hospitals and physician groups.
5 questions about Joe Biden's healthcare plan
New vertical merger guidelines disappoint antitrust experts
Federal regulators ask insurers for claims data
Mass General discontinues plan to acquire Exeter Hospital


India's current food scene dates its origins not to the Raj or to Partition but to the globalisation and liberalisation that began in 1991. Satellite television and internet are key determinants of what people regard as trendy and sophisticated food, writes Vir Sanghvi.
Who knows what the food scene in India was like 90 years ago? We have some accounts of the eating habits of the Raj. We know that the British, proud possessors of one of the worst cuisines in the world, tried very hard to eat in India just as they ate at home. Department stores sold English-style food out of tin cans and bottles. So, the Raj housewife had access to sardines, kippers, luncheon meat and various other foods that reminded the colonialists of the dire cuisine they had left behind. Only the English could be so nostalgic for something so nasty!
But we also know that for every English housewife who refused to mix with the natives and dreamt of steak and kidney pudding, there were adventurous Brits who experimented with Indian food. Its complexities were beyond their comprehension. So the delicate masalas of Indian cooking were compressed into curry powder that was crammed into tins. And when the Brits wanted to feel particularly virile, they chose a curry powder with more chillies and called it Madras curry powder.
Nearly a century later, it is amusing to note that India had a far greater influence on the British palate than the Brits had on our eating habits. The English still regard the ability to swallow a very hot curry as a test of their virility - a view that Indians find entirely risible. And every high street in Britain boasts of a few curry houses, usually run by Bangladeshis, serving food that no self-respecting Indian would dream of eating. Over a decade ago, the then British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, even claimed that chicken tikka masala - a curry house variation of butter chicken - was the national dish of Britain.
But, while we have extensive accounts of how the Raj ate, we know very little about the food of the majority of Indians. The little information that we have access to by way of records suggests that rich families used traditional cooks (or maharajs) to make elaborate meals for 20 to 30 family members at a time. The middle class was tiny but all the evidence suggests that except for the Parsis, the rest of us ate Indian food at home. And as for the poor, well they ate whatever they could get.
There are, however, some interesting sidelights. We can be certain that Indians ate much less meat a century ago than we do today. It sounds politically incorrect to admit this but there was a communal divide. Muslims ate lots of meat (and lots of eggs, oddly enough) while Hindus were largely vegetarian. Even communities that we regard as being non-vegetarian, ate very little meat. In Punjabi Hindu households, meat was cooked twice or thrice a week. And even when there was a meat curry on the table, it was supplemented by two vegetables and a dal. In Bengal, they ate more fish. But otherwise, Hindus were essentially vegetarian - the roots of the Pakistani caricature of Hindus as 'grass-eaters'.
It is a strange thing to imagine but the reality is that not only was there no restaurant culture in India, there probably would never have been one for several decades more, had it not been for one of Raj's more controversial decisions: the inexcusable hurry to partition India and Pakistan in a manner that left millions homeless and thousands dead.
By 1948, Delhi was full of Punjabi refugees from West Pakistan. Most had lost everything. Determined to make a new life for themselves, some of the refugees took to the food business. Kundan Lal Gujral opened Moti Mahal in Daryaganj, popularised tandoori chicken, and invented butter chicken. Other refugees set up small food stalls in such areas as Pandara Road, where they had been resettled. The more prosperous ones opened such restaurants as Kwality and Gaylord. The hard work and initiative of these refugees created India's first restaurant revolution. Soon, tandoori chicken was the most famous Indian dish in the world and there was a Kwality in every Indian city.
This is roughly how things would have remained were it not for two or three events. The first was the mass migration of Calcutta's Chinese community to other Indian cities. The Chinese, many of them Hakka, knew that Indians had no palate for their cuisine. So, they served a menu of Cantonese-based dishes heavily influenced by the menus of American Chinese restaurants. (Sometimes, the names said it all. Why should a Chinese restaurant serve American chop suey?) In 1974-75, when Sichaun cuisine arrived in India, the Chinese decided to add chillies to their food, created such bastardised dishes as Chicken Manchurian and laid the foundations for the cuisine we know today as Sino-Ludhianvi.
The third major event was the growth of international hotels from the mid-1970s onwards. Because these hotels, often with foreign management or partners, aspired to international standards, they tried to serve cuisines that were world class. They didn't always succeed. But many Indians had their first taste of French, Italian or Thai food in the restaurants of these hotels.
And what about today? Well, it is probably fair to say that the Indian food scene has broken with the past. Even the clubs that were once so proud of serving the disgusting menus of Raj food are now struggling to open Chinese restaurants. Nobody cares about the British or their cuisine, such as it was. Even the Punjabi restaurants of old now seem past their sell-by date. Indians are more adventurous and less willing to be fobbed off with a chicken tikka or a keema mutter.
India's current food scene dates its origins not to the Raj or to Partition but to the globalisation and liberalisation that began in 1991. From that point on, more Indians began travelling abroad (it is worth noting that we send more tourists to other countries than the number of foreign tourists we welcome to our shores) and trying exotic cuisines. When they came back, they refused to eat a Punjabi rehash of the real thing. Moreover, a liberalised regime made it easier for foreign chains to set up shop here and serve the fast foods that they sold all over the world. Domino's, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, KFC, and Dunkin' Donuts have all arrived in the post-liberalisation era and contributed to the change in the way we eat.
But there have been other influences as well. Satellite television is a key determinant of what people regard as trendy and sophisticated food. So is the internet. An enthusiastic amateur cook who follows recipes on YouTube or takes notes during MasterChef or Top Chef is probably better informed than the average graduate of a catering college, who is at the mercy of old-fashioned teachers and ancient textbooks.
Today, India's food scene is not very different from, say, Singapore's or Bangkok's. Yes, we have problems of our own: real estate is hard to come by, licensing authorities are crooks, and excise officials are often corrupt. Even so, the innate entrepreneurship of the Indian restaurateur has allowed our food scene to rise above these restrictions and handicaps. Plus, there is a demographic dividend. Young people today are free of the preconceptions and prejudices of their parents. They will order sushi to go even as their mothers profess astonishment at the thought of eating raw fish.
So, what of the future? Well, the road ahead is clear. Experience has shown us that India will follow the same path as the rest of the world. As of now, we may be on a par with Asian capitals but in the decades ahead, there is no reason why we cannot follow the example of London, San Francisco or New York. Unlike most Asian cities, we have the advantage of a vast young middle class whose numbers are growing. These are people with disposable incomes who are hungry for world-class experiences.
Speaking for myself, I am particularly grateful for one significant break with the past. We went from Raj-type food to Punjabi restaurant food in the decades after Independence. But now, a true pan-Indian cuisine is developing. Fifteen years ago, if you went looking for a good kosha mangsho in Mumbai, you would be disappointed. Hardly anybody in Delhi knew what an appam was. And in Madras, they had no clue how to approach a dhokla or a khandvi.
All that has changed. We may be more familiar with tacos or sushi than we were a decade ago. But the best thing is that Indians are discovering our own cuisines. We are no longer at the mercy of restaurateurs and their standard menus. We may be much more international in our tastes. But we are also much more Indian. And thank God for that!


text:
Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy (* 28. Mai 1864 in der Grafschaft Limerick, Irland; † 12. Oktober 1934 in San Francisco) war ein irischstämmiger Bauingenieur, der in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts als Stadtplaner maßgeblichen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der städtischen Infrastruktur von San Francisco hatte. Sein größtes und zugleich umstrittenstes Projekt war das Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, ein Stausee im Yosemite-Nationalpark, der bis heute Trinkwasser und Elektrizität für die San Francisco Bay Area liefert.

Leben
O'Shaughnessy wurde im 1864 in Limerick, Irland, geboren.  Im Jahr 1884 schloss er sein Studium der Ingenieurwissenschaften an der Royal University of Dublin ab. Im darauffolgenden Jahr wanderte er in die Vereinigten Staaten aus, wo er zunächst als assistant engineer in Plumas County in der Sierra Nevada am Bau der Sierra Valley und Mohawk Eisenbahn beteiligt war. Anschließend arbeitete er als Landvermesser für die Eisenbahngesellschaft Southern Pacific Railroad.

Im Jahr 1889 eröffnete O'Shaughnessy ein Ingenieurbüro in San Francisco und plante die Städte Mill Valley und Sausalito im heutigen Marin County. Ein Jahr später heiratete er Mary Spottiswood, mit der er insgesamt fünf Kinder hatte.

In den Jahren 1893 und 1894 war er Chefingenieur der California Midwinter Exposition, einer internationalen Ausstellung auf dem Gelände des heutigen Golden Gate Parks in San Francisco. Nach dem Ende der Ausstellung wurde er Chefingenieur der Mountain Copper Company in Shasta County. Anschließend ging er nach Hawaiʻi, wo er Bewässerungssysteme für die dortigen Zuckerplantagen plante.

Kurz nach dem verheerenden San-Francisco-Erdbeben von 1906 kehrte O'Shaughnessy nach Kalifornien zurück und wurde zunächst von der Southern California Mountain Water Company als Chefingenieur für die Planung des San Diego Aqueduct eingestellt. Im Jahr 1912 gab er sein eigenes Ingenieurbüro auf und trat als Stadtplaner in die Dienste der Stadt San Francisco. Diese Aufgabe muss ihn besonders fasziniert haben, denn Berichten zufolge erhielt er als Angestellter der Stadt nur einen Bruchteil seiner Einkünfte als eigenständiger Ingenieur.

Um die Wasser- und Stromversorgung von San Francisco sicherzustellen, widmete O'Shaughnessy sich in den letzten zwanzig Jahren seines Lebens seinem größten Projekt, dem Hetch Hetchy Projekt. Unter seiner Anleitung entstand ein Staudamm (heute: O'Shaughnessy Dam) im Hetch Hetchy Valley. Das insgesamt über 100 Millionen Dollar teure Projekt umfasste neben dem Staudamm eine 68 Meilen (rund 109 Kilometer) lange Eisenbahnstrecke, zwei Kraftwerke, Hochspannungsleitungen und ein 150 Meilen langes System von Wasserröhren und -tunneln. Die Anlage des Hetch Hetchy Reservoir im Yosemite-Nationalpark rief dabei Proteste unter frühen Umweltaktivisten wie John Muir hervor.

Im Rahmen seiner Tätigkeit als Stadtplaner von San Francisco schloss O'Shaughnessy Großprojekte wie den Bau von Hochdruck-Wasserleitungen für die Löschwasserversorgung ab und widmete sich neuen Projekten wie der Konstruktion eines 68 Meilen umfassenden Gleissystems für die Straßenbahn von San Francisco, sowie dem Bau von Straßentunneln, Abwasserkanälen, Ufermauern und größeren Straßen.

Die Inbetriebnahme der von ihm geplanten Wasserversorgung erlebte O'Shaughnessy nicht mehr. Sechzehn Tage, bevor das erste Wasser aus dem Hetch Hetchy Reservoir nach San Francisco floss, erlag er einem Herzinfarkt.

Veröffentlichungen
 The Hetch Hetchy water supply of San Francisco  report of M.M. O'Shaughnessy, city engineer, to the Mayor, the Board of Public Works and the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco. Publisher: The Bureau of Engineering San Francisco Published 1916
 Recommendation of M.M. O'Shaughnessy, City Engineer, on refuse incinerator: pursuant to resolution no. 31,004, new series, of the Board of Supervisors, adopted June 10, 1929, and approved June 13, 1929. Publisher: The Bureau of Engineering San Francisco Published 1929
 Hetch Hetchy water supply. Bureau of Engineering of the Department of Public Works, City and County of San Francisco, California.  Publisher: James H. Barry Co. San Francisco, Calif. Published 1925
 The Hetch Hetchy water supply and power project of San Francisco. Published 1931
 Report on rapid transit plans for the City of San Francisco with special consideration to a subway under Market Street . Publisher: Dept. of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering San Francisco, Calif. Published 1931
 Hetch Hetchy project. Published 1931
 Hetch Hetchy; its origin and history. Published 1934

Literatur
 Charles R. Boden: Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy, in: California Historical Society Quarterly 13, 4 (1934), S. 415–416.
 Robert W. Cherny: City Commercial, City Beautiful, City Practical: The San Francisco Visions of William C. Ralston, James D. Phelan, and Michael M. O'Shaughnessy, in: California History 73, 4 (1994/1995), S. 296–307.

Einzelnachweise

Stadtplaner (Vereinigte Staaten)
Bauingenieur
Mann
Ire
Geboren 1864
Gestorben 1934

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Any "Plan B" for Brexit must take account of the Referendum result.
The 2016 EU Referendum in the UK was held to determine whether the UK desired to Remain in or Leave the European Union.
The result of the Referendum was a convincing majority to Leave the EU in England but large majorities for Remaining in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The large majorities for Remain in NI and especially Scotland have distorted the perception of the referendum as a "close run thing" about the EU when the closeness was actually about UK regional politics and not the EU per se.
Having obtained a "Leave" result in the Referendum the Government then passed the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 which has the explicit function of repealing the European Communities Act 1972. The European Communities Act 1972 was confirmed as a result of a Referendum in 1975. The People in 1975 voted on whether or not to join the "Common Market" – now known as the "Single Market".
There has been much debate about whether the EU Referendum of 2016 was really about whether the UK had voted to leave the Single Market (Common Market) or to leave the EU but this is largely sophistry by those who supported the Remain campaign (The campaign set up by the European Movement). Delivering on the Referendum means leaving the "Common Market". Unfortunately the large majority of MPs in Parliament still support membership of the Single Market.
When negotiating "Plan B" the UK must not be bound forever to the Treaty that is obtained. There must be a withdrawal clause. Even the EU Treaties have a withdrawal clause (Article 50). The reason for this is that in, say, ten or a hundred years time it may be essential for the UK to withdraw from the Treaty. If there is no withdrawal clause then the other parties can, rightly, claim that the UK is violating an absolute obligation under International Law. If UK withdrawal were to create difficulties for the other parties they would be entitled to enforce the Treaty by war if necessary. Agreeing to Treaties that have no possibility of withdrawal is insane. The Northern Ireland protocol in the current Withdrawal Agreement is an example of such an insane clause.
Any "Plan B" for Leaving the Single Market must deliver the optimal Economic outcome in terms of flexibility and wealth.
The Bank of England has recently provided predictions that a managed WTO Brexit with a 21 month transition period will, over the next 5 years, result in little difference in our prosperity compared with remaining in the EU. This leaves the UK with as much flexibility as any independent state to make Trade Deals with other countries. The only conceivable reason that such a plan would not be enacted would be to stop Brexit.
This approach to Brexit can use the Mutual Recognition etc. outlined in the current Withdrawal Agreement and be finalised in days.
Whenever there are international treaties countries with grievances will attempt to use the Treaties to address these grievances. The Irish, Spanish and, to some extent, the Scots will use the Withdrawal Agreement to address their grievances. The Withdrawal Agreement is not the place for this aggression. Negotiations for withdrawal from the EU should, from the outset, have made this plain. In the case of the Irish the offer should have been a soft border if the Irish sign the agreement or the hardest border the UK can construct if they do not. We have seen from the Irish approach to UK Withdrawal that they are happy to play hardball, the UK should make it plain that the process can be reciprocal. Make no mistake, the Irish have been prepared to use the "threat" of a resumption of terrorism to get their ends and must be dealt with firmly. (Note that the Good Friday Agreement scarcely mentions trade or borders, there is no requirement to cede a "frictionless border"). Spain can be dealt with in the same fashion. The UK must not cede its independence because this might upset the Irish who have in recent times financed death and destruction in the UK for their National aims (during a time when they too were members of the EU). The UK Government must do its best for the UK with as much care for the Irish as possible but must not simply give in to Irish demands.
See Solving the Northern Ireland border problem after Brexit.
Without this Plan B will not happen.


In order for a Professional Pet Groomer to receive the highest levels of certification, they must study under a NCMG who has already achieved that level of certification. The Professional Groomer who is testing must pass a comprehensive practical test as well as a written examination. This testing, along with advanced training, is often available at various industry conferences and trade events throughout the year, around the country.
Our Youngest NCMG. Truly amazing talent!
We all will be watching her future accomplishments!


text:
Canadian men skate into team pursuit final
By Mackenzie Liddell
Canada set an Olympic record and has advanced to the final in men's long track speed skating after winning their semi-final heat against Norway on Friday.
Led by Denny Morrison, Lucas Makowsky and Mathieu Giroux, the Canadian team finished the race in a time of three minutes 42.22 seconds, surpassing their record setting time of 3:42.39 set in the quarterfinals.
Despite lacking in individual accomplishments so far in Vancouver, the Canadian team was able to hold an early lead and skated in unison the rest of the way, beating the Norwegians by 1.22 seconds.
Morrison has had the best individual performance in these of Olympics of the three, finishing ninth place in the men's 1500m.
In the other semi-final match, the United States upset Sven Kramer and his team from the Netherlands, beating them by 0.39 seconds.
Canada won silver in 2006 and will look to add to the rivalry against the U.S. that has been a prevalent theme in Vancouver.
Earlier on Friday, Canada set the Olympic record in their heat against Italy, dominating the defending gold medalists by 3.97 seconds.
In heat two of the quarterfinals, Norway edged South Korea by three-hundredths of a second but remained behind the pace set by the Canadians.
Heat three featured Japan and the United States with the American skaters winning with a time of 3:44.25.
Kramer led his Dutch contingent in the fourth quarterfinal as the Netherlands skated past Team Sweden in a time of 3:44.25.
The finals are set to take place Saturday at 12:51 p.m. PST at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
By: Mackenzie Liddell
Posted: Feb 26 2010 10:10 pm
Filed under: Winter Games
Topics: Denny Morrison • long track • Lucas Makowsky • Mathieu Giroux • team pursuit
More Winter Games
Investment in skiier Cameron brought no-risk return
Rowland's rapid rise has confidence high for future
Long journey would not stop Riley from Paralympic sledge hockey team


Recent work: Moroccan Music; Music in Divided Societies; Ethnographic Film.
Music & Cultural Politics; Global Multimedia; North Africa; Ireland; Ethnicity; Sound and Film.
2017 Music Borders and Nationhood in Algeria. in Algeria: Nation, Culture and Transnationalism. Edited by Patrick Crowley. Liverpool University Press.
2015 Jewish Musicians and the 'Chanson Oranaise' of Algeria in 'Musical Exodus: El Andalus and its Jewish Diasporas' edited by Ruth Davis. Scarecrow Press: Lanham (Maryland).
2015 (with Aileen Dillane) 'Our Sounds, Our City: Urban Soundscapes, Critical Citizenship, and the LimerickSoundscapes Project' Special edition of Journal of Urban Cultural Studies on Soundscapes. Also Co-editor of publication. 2:2 pp135-150.
2013 Co-editor of Audio CD 'Fieldwork' Collection of original fieldwork recordings by Irish researchers. ICTM Ireland.
2012 (Editor) Non-Western Popular Music, Library of Essays on Popular Music, Ashgate Press.
2009 'Music and Politics in North Africa' , in Music and the Play of Power: Music, Politics and Ideology in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. ed. Laudan Nooshin, Ashgate Press.
2009 "Pirates of the Mediterranean : Moroccan Music Video and Technology". Music, Sound and the Moving Image, 3:1, pp71-85.
2007 "Canadian Multicultural Models: Lessons for Northern Ireland?" British Journal of Canadian Studies.
2006 "Representations of Ritual in Moroccan Music Video". Musike 133-146:1(1).
2005 "Outside-In: Music, New Media and Tradition in North Africa."In The Mediterranean in Music. (ed.) David Cooper and Kevin Dawe Scarecrow Press: Maryland.
2004 Reviews of CD's on music from Fez and Niger in Ethnomusicology Forum 13:2 pp 309-312.
2002 Review of Marc Schade-Poulson's Book " Men and Popular Music in Algeria" International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXIV No.1 Feb 02 pp182-184.


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Movers & Shakers LLC
Helping to pack up your world.
Investing in your Inheritance with Home Staging
Posted on May 19, 2015 at 3:20 PM comments (14)
A few months ago we worked with this seller preparing her dad's estate house. She saw the value of doing some modest updates and Staging the home in order to gain a larger return for her inheritance. The house sold just days after listing. Thank you Elaine, for allowing me to work with you.
"Susan, I still remember the first day I met you and how overwhelming it was to hear all the changes you recommended, but when the last contractor finished everything looked fresh and modern. I'll never forget the last day of staging when I got to dad's house and saw your completed "work of art." All I could say was, "It's PERFECT!"
Moving Elderly Parents: Convincing Mom & Dad
Posted on May 19, 2015 at 2:30 PM comments (1)
Read one family's personal account of making the move into assisted living...
In 2001, Gail Heimberg had to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life. Her 88-year-old mother--a sharp, independent woman who had lived alone in Brooklyn, New York, for most of the latter part of her life--was quickly growing frail. While she used to walk from her home to the neighborhood bakery with ease, navigating the stairs of her circa-1920 apartment building had become a daily battle. "She couldn't walk very well," remembers Heimberg. "And her emphysema had worsened."
Heimberg knew the discussion she needed to have with her mother, yet like many adult children who were thinking of moving elderly parents, the three words " assisted living facility" seemed foreign, cold and impossible to utter.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE - HAVING THAT TOUGH CONVERSATION
A few months passed, and Heimberg got a disturbing call. Her mother had suffered a mild heart attack and had been taken to the hospital. Heimberg used the opportunity to share her concerns with her mother. But when the subject came to moving her mother away from her home, she was met with sharp resistance. "No," said her mother firmly. "I'm not moving."
Those can be the most difficult words a concerned child may hear their elderly parent say. So how does a worried family member convince a recalcitrant parent that moving to a long-term care facility is in their best interest?
TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS
When it comes to moving elderly parents and broaching the "nursing home" or "assisted living" conversation, experts like Stella Henry, R.N., author of The Eldercare Handbook (HarperCollins, 2006) say "this is probably one of the hardest decisions a child will ever have to make." Henry, an eldercare specialist who has been featured in Time, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, says many seniors "unrealistically believe they can take care of themselves for the rest of their lives." And that's where their children or other family members can be instrumental in identifying the problem and instigating change.
No matter what the age of your parent, Henry and other experts say now is the time to begin communicating about the future. If you open the lines of communication early on, she says, words like "nursing home" lose their sting later on. That's important, considering that most of Henry's clients approach her with little communication groundwork laid.
"Ninety-five percent of my clients come to me in crisis situations," says Henry. The result? Confused elders, disorganized yet well-meaning children, and a family in chaos.
THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR CONVERSATIONS
Avoid these unnecessary results by having regular conversations with your parent about what the future holds. "Make it your problem instead of your parent's problem," adds Henry. "If you say 'you have to do this, or do that, 'you'll lose them. Instead say something like, 'Mom, I'm concerned about you; it makes me worried to see you like this.'"
That's the approach Heimberg ended up taking with her mother. After sharing her serious concerns about her mother's health and safety, the elderly woman slowly came around. "She finally said yes," says Heimberg.
According to Henry, nine out of ten parents don't want to burden their children, and they will often respond to this sort of honest communication. "Parents sometimes hide things from their adult children because they don't want to scare them," she says. Yet, if you show them that you are trying to be their advocate, adds Henry, and that you are genuinely concerned about their wellbeing, it can make all the difference.
THE RESISTANT PARENT - WHAT TO DO
Barry Jacobs, PsyD, a psychologist who has counseled many people in the situation of moving elderly parents, knows how difficult it can be when a parent in need of aging parent care refuses to leave his or her home. While he's quick to say there are no magic strategies or tricks for persuading an elder to move, he suggests that adult children ask their parent to "indulge" them by visiting an assisted living facility.
"Most of us are more likely to change our position and lifestyle if such a transformation is of our own choosing," writes Jacobs in his book, The Emotional Survival Guide for Caregivers (Guilford Press, 2006). "Placed under duress to change, we typically resist, regardless of the soundness of the other person's arguments."
And when a parent continually refuses to entertain the idea of moving? "The child needs to back off for the time being," advises Jacobs. But don't give up, he adds, "seek other openings to raise the issue again."
"What I tell adult children is that, unfortunately, sometimes things have to get worse to get better," he says. "It may take the parent falling or being spooked by burglars or having the electricity turned off because he forgot to pay the bills for the realization to dawn that the parent can no longer safely reside in the home. Even then, it may take the strong urgings of health care providers and extended family members for the parent to accept the inevitable."
If the parent begins to show signs of warming up to the topic, "the child needs to emphasize the parent's right of self-determination but also urge action," adds Jacobs. He suggests structuring the conversation in the following way: "Tell your parent: 'I can't make decisions about how you should run your life. It would make me feel better, though, if we could go together to look at some possible assisted living facilities so that you're better informed about what choices are available. Would you be willing to humor me in that way?'"
If there is a willingness on the parent's part to visit a senior housing facility, says Jacobs, "the child should proceed post-haste to set up visits at local facilities and point out that most of these facilities will allow an aged individual to try living in them for a week or a month before the person has to decide whether to sell his house and stay in the facility or return home." Experts say that can be the extra bit of comfort that can make the difference for many hesitant seniors.
FORMING A CAREGIVING TEAM
"Caregiving is a family affair," says Henry. That's even more reason to gather your brothers, sisters, children and uncles and aunts together to address an ailing loved ones needs. "Have a meeting and discuss the problem, without the parent present," says Henry.
For families who have geographic barriers, The National Association of Senior Move Managers can help. Senior Move Managers are professional experts available to guide a family through the transition's emotional and physical aspects.
Important items to address include financial issues and who will act as the elder's durable power of attorney for health care. "One of the most important things is to decide who will make the critical decisions," says Henry. Though she recommends a family approach to aging parent care, she recommends that one capable person be appointed as the elder's primary advocate. This person, whether a son or daughter or adult grandchild, should be in charge of financial decisions and act as the elder's durable power of attorney for health care.
MAKING SURE ALL SIBLINGS ARE ON SAME PAGE
When it comes to approaching a parent about making a move, Jacobs says it's vital that all siblings and family members are on the same page. "It's crucial that all the adult siblings are giving their parent the same general message," he says. "It often only takes one disgruntled child who urges the parent to stay in his home to make placement nearly impossible."
AVOID EXTRANEOUS "LUGGAGE"
"When families get together, there can sometimes be personal "luggage" brought to the table," Henry cautions. She says it's best to avoid unnecessary confrontation or sensitive family subjects, for the good of the parent. "These can be emotionally charged issues," she says. "But remember, it's not about your issue, it's about what's best for your parent."
Get more tips on having the "tough conversation" with mom and dad from A Place for Mom CEO, Sean Kell.
DEALING WITH THE GUILT
No matter how smoothly the process goes, children often retain guilt about moving elderly parents to a long-term care facility. Jacobs cautions against that. "What I point out to adult children is that, regardless of whether they promised to never put a parent in a nursing home, the decision about placement must be based on what's best for the parent at a given time," he says.
"Often, putting a parent in a nursing home is the most loving act that a child can do because it improves the quality of the parent's life from medical and social perspectives," Jacobs continues. "Nursing homes vary in quality but are not snake pits. Parents often thrive in them, to their great surprise."
While Heimberg admits she had moments when she questioned her decision, she eventually felt peace about her mother's move, knowing it was the right decision. After two and a half years in the facility, her mother passed away at the age of 91. She credits the residence for making her mother's final years the best they could be. "I felt like it extended her life," she remembers. "She was cared for and watched over. Finding the right facility is so important, and we were lucky."
Downsizing the Painless Way
Moving to a smaller residence means getting rid of stuff – a conundrum that faces many seniors as well as families. A move manager can help you get through the downsizing process with less stress and mess.
About 66% of retirees plan to pay for senior living through the sale of their home, according to one recent study – and yet for many of us, the tough decisions, overwhelming details and intense emotions associated with moving end up delaying a much-needed move by an average of nine months. Learn more about move managers and how they can assist you in downsizing in a painless way.
Why Is Downsizing So Difficult?
If you've been living in the same home for many years, it can be difficult to even think about giving up treasured possessions to move to a smaller house or apartment, let alone figure out what to give up and how to get rid of it. Trusted friends and loved ones can help, but sometimes the task feels like it's too much. If that's the case for you, then you may want to consider speaking to a professional move manager before you begin the process of downsizing. Move managers can help you lower your stress, avoid family drama and perhaps even save your sanity. Especially when it comes to moving as a senior to a smaller residence, such as an assisted living apartment.
According to Mary Kay Buysse, executive director of the National Association of Senior Move Managers, the 21st century has brought with it a "perfect storm" of circumstances to challenge those seniors who do want to downsize:
There are more older people now than at any other time in history.
More families are being dispersed throughout large geographic areas.
Rather than aging in place, there has been a boom in the construction of assisted living and independent living communities.
Goods have never been cheaper and shopping has never been easier. This makes downsizing a challenge.
The increasing necessity of the two-income household limits the time and availability of adult children to efficiently help their older parent.
How a Move Manager Can Help Seniors and Families Downsize
Moving is much more than simply putting your stuff in boxes and hiring a moving truck. Especially in a move to a smaller residence, you need to consider important questions of how much to take, what to take and where to put it when you get there.
When Katie Munoz's father passed away ten years ago, and her mother moved into a retirement community, Munoz realized how much work it truly was to downsize. At the time, she was a program manager in the software industry. After going through nearly three months of helping her mother move, Munoz decided she wanted to make the process easier for others, and started her business Moving Forward, which specializes in retirement downsizing.
"When they're downsizing, people usually take too much," says Munoz. Move managers can help with all of that: sorting, packing, helping you organize an estate sale or gifts to charity, even being there on moving day so that everything is done for you when you arrive at your new place. A move manager can also help seniors and families declutter if they need to make room for other things, like in-home safety equipment or a caregiver, or with making walkways wide enough to be easy to navigate. They can even help if your loved one has a tendency towards hoarding, an issue which affects many of our readers.
Munoz starts by asking plenty of questions, in order to figure out what's going on with the family and where they need the most help. Some customers need strategies for approaching the whole project; others need someone to help them do the physical work of packing.
Facing the Challenges of Downsizing
Downsizing can be a real trial, and a move manager is there to help you face the roadblocks that come up. In helping people sort out what to keep, Munoz has them ask themselves the question "What do I use the most?" rather than: "What can I do without?" With the right amount of communication and preparation, the process of moving and downsizing can be whittled down to as little as two weeks. Of course, sometimes the challenges are rooted in the family's own dynamics – in that case, if the problem is serious, Munoz might refer them to a care manager. But that doesn't happen very often.
Generally, the issues she encounters are minor. Sometimes, for instance, the family doesn't think they need a move manager. "The sons in the family think they can rent a truck and do it. They forget that downsizing isn't about moving stuff. It's organizing the move and making mom feel included in the move." Besides that, there are so many things that can go wrong during a move, like misplacing important items or mistakenly packing documents that you need right away. "If you get someone to help, they can steer you around all of these potholes."
Munoz's services cost $85/hour – around $5K total for a move to a two-bedroom apartment in the Seattle area, for example. It's a price that could be well worth it for many families, saving the time and heartache of struggling through the process on their own. Like most other move managers, she also does consultations by phone. To find a professional and reliable move manager in your area, get in touch with the National Association of Senior Move Managers. They can help you find someone who, like Katie Munoz, truly takes pride and joy in assisting people with the transition to a new home.
"You see so much of the inside of life," she says. "We see the most personal details of somebody's life when we help them. We get a lot of hugs, which makes it all so rewarding.
6 Benefits of Using a Senior Move Manager
Moving is a stressful ordeal, but when you are an adult child moving your senior parent from one home to another, there is an added layer of complexity. Who will lead the charge on downsizing? Who will coordinate an estate sale? Who will deal with the sale of the home? More importantly, who will make sure that Mom and/or Dad and their lifetime of possessions are being treated with respect and dignity?
6 Benefits of Using a Senior Move Manager to Move Your Aging Parents
Today, families are dispersed over vast geographical areas and may not have the bandwidth to be organized and thoughtful in helping their senior parent move homes. The adult child might not have the capacity to deal with all the moving details much less the ability or patience to work through the entire process at a pace that is comfortable for the senior parent. Where the adult child may look at their parent's possessions as just "stuff," to a senior parent, it's a lifetime of memories. This is how having an expert can take away family stress and ensure the most efficient and dignified move for the senior.
We had the opportunity to interview Mary Kay Buysse, M.S., Executive Director at National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM), and received valuable advice on how to deal with the complexities around moving a senior parent, and the benefits of using a Senior Move Manager to organize the move.
What is a Senior Move Manager?
A Senior Move Manager is a project manager who specializes in project managing moves for seniors. As a trade association with an organizational accreditation program, NASMM members must abide by a strict code of ethics to ensure integrity in the industry and the seniors they serve. Developed 12 years ago out of a clear need for a cohesive organization; NASMM now has over 800 members across the U.S., across Canada and several European countries.
Buysse explains that their earliest members started with their own families, within their own neighborhoods and churches. In fact, 99% of NASMM members came into the Senior Move Management profession through a personal experience after seeing how completely overwhelming and daunting it was for their own families, it's only natural that NASMM has a mission to "facilitate the physical and emotional aspects of relocation for older adults" with compassion and integrity. Buysse shares, "We always say you can do well for yourself by doing good for others, and that's really our mission and one of the things I can't stress enough."
"Time is flying by and people just don't have enough of it," says Buysse. "While we can purchase goods cheaply, our time is more expensive than ever; time is the rarest commodity of all. With the growing parallel to this aging population, families being dispersed and families not having enough time – the environment was just right for something like Senior Move Management to occur, and we're really proud of it."
Top Reasons You Should Use a Senior Move Manager
1. Eliminates the Potential for Financial Exploitation
"It's very difficult work," shares Buysse. "We're dealing with people who are frail, people who have memory loss, people who have suffered a great deal of loss – loss of spouse a best friend, driving privilege and loss of hearing or sight. This is not for the faint of heart. This is difficult work, but, is absolutely the most gratifying work."
NASMM members must maintain high standards and follow a strict code of ethics. Along with accreditation, NASMM offers its members self-study training and must have two letters of recommendation. Members must also have general liability insurance, take classes in ethics and safety, and provide a signed contract to protect both the move manager and the senior's irreplaceable items like photos.
2. Downsize in an Organized and Dignified Manner
Before Senior Move Management existed, the way a senior was moved out of their home that they lived in for 30, 40 or 50 years was done very expediently. Often over a weekend, adult children would fly in and only be able to give a few days to the move and order a dumpster to be parked in the driveway. That home that took 40 or 50 years to build was downsized in 48 hours, buy adult children who hadn't lived in it for 25 years.
Senior Move Managers acknowledge the time it took to accumulate the lifetime of possessions, so they take the time to go through everything with the senior parent, whether it takes weeks or months. Even if no move is involved at all and the senior needs help downsizing clutter in their home, the move managers will do all of the same things as if they were moving through a program called [email protected]
3. Gives More Control to Seniors
Roughly 50% of seniors that NASMM moves are into a congregate living community, including assisted living, independent living and memory care. Sometimes, it is a senior moving in with an adult child, or a senior apartment that's in a multi-generational building that is in the middle of town. If it's a really independent senior, sometimes it is two older women who are sisters where both have lost their husbands and have decided to move in together.
Wherever the senior is making the move to, it's important to ensure that they feel in control of the move. "It's a win-win situation because the older adult feels like the have directed the move," says Buysse. "They don't feel like they are being placed somewhere, instead, they feel like they are choosing to live somewhere else."
4. Expert Attention to Detail
Most Senior Move Managers are accomplished women who have found move management as a post-retirement career. With professional backgrounds including nursing, marketing and even information technology, most move managers have expert project management skills. Because teachers often retire with their full pension by 50 or 55, NASMM has a large membership of retired teachers.
NASMM Senior Move Managers moved over 75,000 seniors last year and expect to move around 100,000 seniors this year. Since it took many years for seniors to accumulate their lifetime of possessions, the move managers will work with the older adult for weeks, sometimes months, prior to the move and go through everything to determine what can be repurposed, recycled and sold. "There's a lot of options and the dumpster is the last resort," says Buysse.
The move manager will take digital photos of the entire content of the house and place them on a protective card of her website and send a link to all the family members around the country so that the family can also weigh in on what should be done, and arrange shipment or storage of goods until a decision is made. The move manger will connect the family with an estate sale expert, or sometimes even conducts the estate sale themselves. They will also help with placing the home up for sale through real estate agents in their network and arrange for moving and cleaning services. Anything that is donated, the move manager ensures that the donations are documented and tax deductible.
NASMM works with Habitat for Humanity and Move for Hunger, and the move manager determines what can be donated and repurposed for another family. "Using a move manager is not very expensive as much of the move can be paid for by a sale of goods or a tax deduction of goods," says Buysse.
5. Decreases Family Stress
A Senior Move Manager helps make the transition to a new home smoother for the entire family, especially the senior, as they will feel like they chose it. "Families often have a lot of emotional baggage," says Buysse. "There's a lot of history, and some of it is not the best history. So, when an adult child is not really a close confidant of the parent, or a caregiver of the parent, they might create more friction at a time when families really need each other."
By having an expert manage the move, it helps take away a lot of stress for everyone involved, help to keep families from fighting about what is best for Mom or Dad, and ensures that the best interest of the senior is being kept in focus.
6. Solves Problems You Never Anticipated
Because Senior Move Managers are project managing these moves daily, "they have all kinds of creative tools at their fingertips, things you or I would never even think of," says Buysse.
Buysse shares an example of a move manager working with a woman in her 80s. She had been an executive's wife – her husband had been the CEO of a small company – and she had done a lot of international travel. During her travels, the 80-year-old had acquired a large collection of teapots, 85 of them in total. "She was absolutely despondent over the fact that this move could mean for the first time in 50 years that those teapots would not be with her," says Buysse. "She was moving from 5,000 square feet to 500 square feet."
The move manager suggested that the senior woman select her top three favorite teapots to take with her to her new home to place into her dinette cabinet in her new assisted living apartment. Then, the move manager took digital photos of the other 82 teapots, had a poster made at Walgreens for $20, and had it framed at a framing store for another $50. All of the beautiful teapots the senior woman had collected all these years could now live on as artwork to hang in her dinette to look at every day and share with people where she got each one.
"These are the thoughtful kinds of things that an expert who is moving seniors every day does versus a family member will do this either once or twice in their lifetime," says Buysse. "That is the difference they make."


Vehicles in excess of posted speed limit will be charged $150 fee per occurence. All our vehicles are GPS equipped.
If you speed, we will know, because all of our vehicles have technology installed in them to report violators. If you violate the posted speed limit, you will be charged $150, even if the local authorities do not catch you. The car itself will automatically report these violations to us and you will be fined. Every car we rent has this capability and it is used in every rental we make. If you sign this contract, you agree to pay $150 if you exceed the speed limit, and you agree to pay this amount every time you do so.
Not only should the contract be modified this way, but there should be an 'initial' block next to it because it is out of the ordinary. However, this article takes the stance that doing something like this is somehow wrong. Myself, I think the company has every right to protect its assets by ensuring that it is not abused. And James Turner and anyone else....they have a right to rent from someone else...someone who doesn't use this technology. I can imagine, though, that if this technique becomes normal, such technology may make the daily insurance rate for rentals drop. You know, the $14-$25 a day you may pony up for rental insurance? Perhaps companies that have this installed in the vehicle might offer you that same insurance for $4 or $5 per day? And the risk may be lowered so much that the rental fee itself shows a cost benefit itself. So, there should be adequate monetary mitigation for a law-abiding renter to make the solid choice. I don't know how it all will turn out...but at least you know where I currently stand.


Elaina: No. There are other reasons to be on this ship apart from Rhen.
Mia: Uh… yeah. I was just joking!
Mia: Sooo…. Winston… is a… I mean, he's from… ?
Elaina: Im really not sure where Winston is from. He's been with Rhen's family for years. He says he is a 'feeb' — but I've honestly never seen another one. Perhaps he's from Gervaze? Not much is known about it.
Mia: Is Rhen… Andrew's brother?
Mia: Is Rhen… Andrew's FATHER?!
Rhen: Andy…I AM your father!!
I think Winston is a less stabby cousin of Bun-Bun from Sluggy Freelance.
I really like Mia's reaction in the last frame.
Sorry if the page keeps going down. We currently have an order in to move to a bigger server (Thank you for all the support! You guys rock) They are working on it.
Awhile back, someone gave us a spoiler that Rhen is neither Andrew's father nor his brother.
Just read the whole thing today. Pretty damn cool comic. Definitely adding it to my list.
Elaina, I've been wondering – how come you all speak perfect English?
Thankfully, Belatyrian sounds an awful lot like English. Uncanny, really!
Sticking, you say? Well I have some solvent for you!
Whoever designed the teleport spell in Mia's ring was presumably experienced with shorter-ranged hops (i.e. ones that don't leave the planet). Earth contains such radically different languages as English, Japanese, and Swahili; and an interstellar or trans-dimensional jump, such as Mia's jump from Earth to Belatyr, would logically make the language problem far worse. Designing such a long-ranged teleport spell and NOT building in a translation spell capable of handling the language problem it would create would indicate a staggering lack of foresight. Anyone who is not capable of at least that much preparation has absolutely no business using such spells. For maximum convenience, it should include some way to translate writing or text, not just speech.
Note that Mia has the excuse of no way of knowing ahead of time that the ring was magical, or how to prevent it from carrying her away when she realized it was about to do so. Any secondary issues are therefore not her fault.
Many a paternity too, I would guess. Much less trouble that way.


believe in your people and in their strengths. If you are a manager, I challenge you to examine your attitude towards your direct reports or employees. Do you truly believe that they want to do the best job possible? Do you believe they possess strengths that can be leveraged to maximize their contribution as well as their belief in themselves? If you do, then strengthen your foundation and apply those beliefs into actions. The results will astound you!