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Archive for the tag "Patrick Leigh Fermor"
(revised from an article published originally at Wrath-Bearing Tree July 2015)
Herodotus begins his great work by tracing the historical origins of the Persian War to myths involving conflict between Europe and Asia, such as the rape of Io and Europa by Zeus, the story of Jason and Medea, and the abduction of Helen by Paris (which sparked the Trojan War). Thus, the first recording of history in the Western tradition begins in myth. History has been called past politics and politics present history; from a certain perspective the origins of many modern political relations and events are rooted in myth. The myths we choose to believe or not believe have real world consequences – they are of critical importance in shaping popular opinions and current events. Nowhere is this clearer than the current situation between Greece and its European creditors.
If Herodotus were to write an account of the current Greek debt crisis, he might well begin where he left off in his Persian Wars, far in the antiquity of Classical Greece, that time when Athens was at the height of its powers, the time most people envision today when (or if) they think about Greek culture. Invaded by the Persians and its wooden Acropolis burned down by the Great King Xerxes, Athens emerged as the victor and rebuilt the Acropolis in marble, an eternal symbol of the potential for human perfection. Athens and Greece were relegated to secondary political status after their subjection by the Macedonians and then the Romans, but any student of the Classics knows those immortal lines of Horace: Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artis intulit agresti Latio — "Greece, being captured, captured her savage conqueror, and brought the arts to rustic Latium". For centuries after, Roman armies and laws ruled their mighty empire, alongside with Greek language (in the eastern half), culture, art, and philosophy. At Rome's height in the second century AD, the emperors spoke better Greek than Latin; Hadrian was a famous philhellene who rebuilt Greece and Athens on an enormous scale (most of the ruins and remnants we see today date from Hadrian, not from Pericles), and Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher of the Stoic school (who take their name from the porch in the Athenian market where they met).
That same century also witnessed an unparalleled Greek cultural renaissance called the Second Sophistic, which featured a colorful and entertaining cast of literary and rhetorical geniuses. One example was Polemo of Laodicea who was so learned and so arrogant that Philostratus describes in his Lives of the Sophists how "he was said to converse with cities as his inferiors, Emperors as not his superiors, and the gods as his equals". Another relevant personality from this period is the eminent sophist Herodes Atticus–who was one of the wealthiest private citizens in the history of the Roman Empire and also one of the foremost exemplars of the old but now lost tradition of evergetism–roughly "doing good deeds". This was a system by which rich patrons gave back to their communities by financing new public buildings (theaters and baths, for example; the Odeon next to the Acropolis is one of Herodes Atticus' many legacies) and large festivals and games (bread and circuses). This philanthropic practice that placed priority on civic duty declined concurrently with that of the Roman Empire as a whole, and was never to be practiced again by the rich excepting a few rare outliers such as Andrew Carnegie.
Even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Byzantine Empire continued for another full millennium as a fully Greek institution. And after the fall of that empire in 1453 to the Ottomans, Greeks fled West with their books and set off the revival of classical learning which we call the Renaissance. Those singular founders of America were so steeped in Greek history and culture as to base their new country on the best of classical models. The architecture and symbolism of this new country was classical Greek. Most of our political vocabulary is Greek–Aristotle captured the spirit of the Greek idea of politics as a citizen's public duty with his line "Man is, by nature, a political animal". Indeed it is the ideal of democracy for all citizens to be aware and involved in politics.
All through the various military conquests of Athens, the Acropolis stood proud and undisturbed, even by the Ottomans who merely declared it a mosque. The extensive damage that it shows today was brought about by a great Western power, the Venetians, in 1687. The name of the Venetian admiral who ordered his cannons to fire on the Parthenon was Francesco Morosini, who was later made doge and still bears monuments to his name, including the horribly ugly central fountain in Heraklion, Crete. It should serve as a lesson in the stupidity of war that such wanton and sacrilegious destruction resulted in only a single year of control of Athens by the Venetians, whence the Ottomans regained and held it for another 150 years. After the locus of European power moved north, to France and Germany after Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire, even for an time to the small island of Britain, Greek and Roman models continued to be the normative political, cultural, and legal models. The somewhat arbitrary gateway to the British civil service was knowledge of classical Greek and Latin, and merely to know those languages allowed one entrance into a cultural and often political elite. Today's British leaders in the Conservative Party, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, both received private elite classical education, and Johnson in particular is a noted enthusiast of the Classics. Our very idea of education itself is Greek, from the ancient tradition of paideia, which was based on learning grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy, primarily following Homer (and later Plato).
Despite the theft of the surviving friezes of the Parthenon known as the Elgin marbles, which Britain stubbornly refuses to return to Athens, Greeks have generally been Anglophiles at least since the Greek War of Independence (Lord Byron is still a Romantic hero to the Greeks), continuing during the Cretan War of Independence, and especially after the Second World War. It is thus somewhat ironic that Britain is now one of the countries that supports the failed economic policy known as austerity, to the detriment of more publicly-minded countries such as Greece. Meanwhile, those two countries both have very doubtful futures as members of the European Union–Greece because of the short-sighted preference of some of its northern counterparts, Britain because of the short-sighted preference of some of its Conservative politicians.
I needed no excuse to go back to Greece, because like the Emperor Hadrian (who was also the first Emperor to wear a beard), I am a philhellene. I feel vitality in Greece more deeply than anywhere I've been, a feeling I could never describe as sublimely as Henry Miller in The Colossus of Maroussi. The sea, the mountains, the enormously ancient and gnarled olive trees, Athena's gift to her eponymous denizens, dotting the inhospitable macchia landscape combine with a historical and archaeological record so profoundly ubiquitous that nearly every footstep could be footnoted. It's not for nothing that Xenophon's cry "The Sea, the Sea!" still has so much resonance for Greeks. Greece feels like a place pulled directly out of the sea by the Titans, but whose Olympian successors could not be bothered to smooth the salty jagged rocks or tame the prickly country, and so left it like that for a hardy race of men to emerge from the stones and dragon's blood. Perhaps such capriciousness of their gods in some ways led the Greeks to their search for scientific and philosophic knowledge of the world as it is, and their sense of irony and paradox.
In Greece, I have witnessed no signs of defeat about the economic situation–but when they are asked about politics their ready smiles and good-humor palpably give way to various emotions including betrayal, anger, and confusion. At any time of the day, every ATM I have seen since I have been here has unfailingly had a line of people waiting to withdraw the daily minimum allotment of 50 euro in cash. Otherwise, I see little physical difference here than from my previous visits. Admittedly, I am intentionally avoiding a visit to Athens, where protests and rebellion may be more apparent, in favor of a more low-key and touristy part of the southern Peloponnese (incidentally, northern Europeans, mostly Germans with some British, French, and others, make up almost all of the tourists I have observed around me; it is not unusual to be surrounded by hordes of Germans everywhere else in Europe, which is one of many ways to see that Germans have benefitted more than anyone from the EU). I am exploring the Mani peninsula on this trip–the southern-most part of continental Europe which seems like a long finger extending southward down middle of the swollen hand of the Peloponnese. It was described evocatively in a book by the great travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor called Mani, in which he recounts a walking tour of this land detailing its rich history and culture. He designed and built his villa overlooking the sea in the village I am staying in, Kardamyli, though it is now degraded and forgotten four years after his death. In fact, the Mani is an area of Greece that has never been conquered, which was fiercely independent and from where the Greek War of Independence began, and whose people still maintain this love of freedom. Most people told me they would rather leave Europe than become slaves to more austerity and selling off of their public land and assets.
Traveling through Greece provides evidence of a relative economic poverty compared to northern Europe and even northern Italy, where I live, but this apparent financial scarcity is augmented by a richness of life that is mostly unchanged since the Mysteries of Eleusis celebrated the sacred cycle of life and death. Compare the public spirit here (where entire villages eat and drink outside in the cool night air) with the tradition of quiet privacy of the Germans and Anglo-Saxons. The image of poverty and public debt in Greece is belied by a strong social cohesion and private wealth that still ranks it among the richer countries of the world. One of the Greek government's main problems is that private wealth is either moved out of the country or hidden–tax evasion is almost universal here.
There is something both provincial and cosmopolitan about Greeks–a traditional and insular yet fully realized and worldly human society with a long-standing world-wide diaspora. Maybe "universal" is a better word. "Catholic" means "universal"–a Greek word for a church based in Rome that split from the Greek church over the phrase "filioque"–Latin for "and son". In the middle of the day the sun burns so hot that few people venture outside of the shade, and yet I see Greek Orthodox priests walking in full-length black wool cassocks and long, flowing beards. The current government formed by the leftist Syriza party is the first one ever to refuse the blessing of the Greek Orthodox church before taking office. Despite this, the government has refused calls to open church property to taxation.
The general terms of the recent agreement between Greece and Germany (obviously, Germany is not negotiating alone but as a member of the European Union, along with the unelected and ominously named Troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund, but for narrative reasons I prefer to follow the dominant media trend and reduce the situation to two parties–Greeks and Germans. Germany is, for reasons I will explain shortly, by far the most powerful member of all the European parties), stipulate a raise in taxes, pension and public service cuts, and a massive privatization push that would make Margaret Thatcher blush.
Does Greece have fiscal problems? Yes. Are these problems which have real present effects or are they just numbers in bankers' ledgers? That answer is not so clear. The amount of public debt in Greece is always cited as the highest in Europe, but it is very low in absolute terms. Much lower than Germany or many other countries, who have also all flouted European Union rules as they have seen fit but never been punished let alone humiliated along the lines of the Greeks. Maybe a more appropriate question could also be "Does debt matter?" In America, there is a debt that dwarfs anything else seen in the world today, created by wars, bad tax policy, and the otherwise harmless realities of modern finance. Does it make a difference to our daily lives, or does anyone really care? No. It is used an economic excuse for a political ideology that calls for privatizing public assets and slashing public expenditures, while simultaneously and counter-intuitively cutting taxes only on huge corporations and the rich. This is called neoliberal economics, and its extreme form is called austerity. It is all a hoax with no economic justification as has been empirically proven and as most professional economists readily admit (apart from the followers of Milton Friedman, who must be either overly stubborn in the face of reality or sponsored with corporate money). What it amounts to is greed, as another economic, John Kenneth Galbraith said, "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness".
Germany has seen its hard-won and much vaunted reputation take a huge hit in the international media during the last agreement with Greece. Why is that? Germany was the loser of both world wars, the first of which led to the second due in large part to the excessive retributive debt commitments imposed by the victorious countries (insisted on mostly by France). After the second war–the worst catastrophe of Western history for which Germany was almost single-handedly responsible–a triumph of diplomacy led by the United States allowed Germany to not only not pay back war reparations but even provided massive economic stimulus to Germany to help rebuild its country and economy. The geopolitic reason for this was to protect the West against the Soviet Union, but the consequence is that the aggressor in that war, like Japan, emerged economically dominant due in larger part to outside circumstances rather than its own natural merits (as they may like to believe). During that war, Germany took over the botched invasion of Greece from its Fascist ally, Italy, and destroyed untold lives and cultural artifacts, plundered resources and forced interest-free "loans", and caused altogether huge economic losses in Greece that only a full-scale invasion with a sustained resistance can occur. Germany made a paltry payment of $160 million to Greece in 1960 and then closed the book on war reparations. While it is valuable to all parties to move on from the war in the name of the continuing pax Europea, it is disingenuous of Germany to take the harsh line it has on Greece given its own history. This blatant hypocrisy and self-righteousness is one part of the equation that goes beyond money and debt, and touches everyone in an emotional way. Is it right that Germany can squander two or three generations of generally good behavior and thoughtful reckoning with their past history in the matter of a few weeks or months of negotiations? In Europe, old wounds die hard, especially where the Germans are involved.
The debt negotiations with Greece and Germany appear complicated, but in large part it isn't the finances but rather the uncertainty of political consequences that make the situation seem so labyrinthine. Economically, the amount of money that Greece needs to continue to function properly is relatively small as far as these things go–somewhere around 50 Billion euro from what I can tell. It is a small fraction of the amount of the massive bailouts given by Europe and America to private banks who have profited handsomely with public money. Likewise it is a small fraction of the annual military budget of the NATO countries. The question is not, therefore, economic, but political. I totally agree with many opinions I have read lately, including the recently fired Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, that the goal is not merely repayment of relatively small sums of debt but the humiliation of Greece and a harsh warning to any other country that may rebel and elect a government to challenge the by now entrenched neoliberal consensus. This means especially Spain and Portugal, and to a lesser extent Italy and even France. The European Union and Central Bank have sacrificed democracy and public welfare in the name of authoritative economic control and the guarantee of continued neoliberal policies. For this, they are ready to destroy the economy of one of their members and sell off a large part of its assets at cut-rate prices. It is cruel, and even the IMF has belatedly admitted that it is unrealistic and has no basis in economics
What has the humiliation of Greece caused? Human suffering and resistance. The human spirit cannot be broken by things such as increased taxes and lowered pensions and public services as easily as war and violence, but people's lives can be made much worse, through little fault of their own, and political apathy and extremism can set in. Meanwhile, the CEO of Goldman-Sachs is fiddling while Europe burns. You see, it was Goldman-Sachs who proposed to the government of Greece a method to hide its debt in return for investments in shady funds, which obviously blew up in the financial crisis. The real criminals are such gambling bankers who exploit and destabilize entire countries and continents while not only avoiding prosecution but actually getting further governmental support and huge bonuses for their work. The problem is not Greek debt. The problem is this system of non-regulated casino banking and the greed of corporate capitalism which puts the interests of shareholders over the interests of the people and the planet and which will most likely be their undoing.
Statistics tell us of widespread unemployment in Greece, but there is little evidence of reduced well-being where I am traveling in the relatively backwoods Peloponnese. My adopted home of Italy is also always cited for its supposed economic woes, but much of it is overblown. Things are far from perfect and serious reforms are deeply needed, but there is a general lifestyle and standard of living that is among the highest in the world. I am obviously a mere amateur observer and by no means an expert in economics and public policy. Greeks all tell me they are proud of their country, as they should be, and for the most part they were ready to leave the European Union if that is what was necessary. This would have been very bad for Greece, but they wanted freedom most of all, especially freedom from humiliation from their ostensible allies. The government of Greece paradoxically chose to agree to the even harsher German-Troika terms immediately after a national referendum voted overwhelmingly against it. For this, Greeks feel betrayed and confused. Now, things will not be any better for them economically than if they had rejected the terms, but now there is an added indignity that they will have no control over their own land.
In Greece today, from my observations, the people are as politically active and involved in their democracy as anyone–at least as much as in Italy where I live, and most certainly more than America. One of the downsides of the debt crisis and increasingly harsh austerity measures is the disengagement from politics from some people and the radicalization of others. It was under such a debt crisis that the conditions arose that allowed the rise of the Nazis. In Greece there is a neo-Nazi party with elected members of Parliament, but which has been outlawed for the time being. With increased desperation and little reason for long-term hope, there is no telling what could happen. For a deeper, more nuanced account of the situation in Greek and the best course of action, I completely concur with Jeffrey Sachs in this article.
The beauty of Greece and the spirit of its people will endure, as they always have, even if economic hard times hang over their future. The future of the European project and the peace and stability it has brought is not so sure, due completely to short-sightedness, greed, and glaring lack of leadership in European countries and its institutions. No one has come out well in this manufactured crisis, including the German coalition led by Merkel, the last four Greek governments (which were Center-Left, Technocratic, Center-Right, and Left), and the small army of European finance ministers and unelected technocrats. The primacy of debt and profit over people (the demos) is today's foremost myth, and one hopes that this episode reveals this myth for what it is. Greece no longer has the power to overthrow mighty Troy, nor the money to rebuild the Acropolis. Let us hope that somehow a collective spirit emerges as a way out of this fiasco, and the rest of Europe realizes that it is they who are indebted and what it stands to lose.
Posted in History, Politics and tagged Acropolis, Alexis Tsipras, austerity, evergetism, Greece, Henry Miller, Mani peninsula, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Syriza | Leave a comment
Despite those metaphysicians who hold that time is circular, the end of the year and the forward march of time is an opportune time for stepping outside of time, so to speak, and looking backward and forward in time to assess one's life, what one has done well in the past, and what can be improved or attempted in the future. Like every other year, 2014 was a big year for me personally for various reasons. In this post, I will limit my discussion to books I have read, recapitulating and epitomizing each one, throwing in some digressions for good measure. The list is what it is–part of the past now, and part of my personal history and development. This year's total of 30 or so books is not the most I have ever read in one year–I read over 40 solid books during my second deployment to Afghanistan which was 15 months, and I surely read much more during my Master's study–but I don't remember an overall assemblage of tomes from which I took so much enjoyment of reading itself, and not from research or other worldly duties and responsibilities. The books on this list were uniquely received and understood by me in a way that will be different for every other potential reader, owing to our mutual uniqueness of character and experience. If the list leads you to find a single good book you may not have otherwise read, I will consider myself happy (happier, rather, since my reading of these books was the original instantiation of my happiness). Unless otherwise stated, the list only includes books that I finished and not ones that I abandoned due to sudden change of interest (Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, for example), dislike (one of the books of George Saunders, for example), or other various stories and volumes that I randomly perused or forgot I even started.
Postwar by Tony Judt
This was the only work of history I read this year, unusually for me, and was the longest of the year as well (835 pages). It covers the entirety of European history from the last years of World War Two until 2005. Considered the very best broad survey of this segment of world history. I learned many things about the nooks and crannies of Europe of which I know next to nothing (Romania and Yugoslavia, for example) and much more about the places where I supposedly know something (Italy and America, for example). The book also links together the pieces of the puzzle, including economy, culture, American foreign policy, and many other things, that led directly to the state of Europe as it currently stands.
Zorba the Greek and parts of Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis
I had seen the film twice and started the book a few years ago, but I finally got around to reading the whole tale of Alexis Zorba. As is obligatory to say in such contexts, it is better than the film. Kazantzakis' epic sequel of Odysseus' wanderings would have ranked as the longest book of the year, but I did not finish it, and do not plan to in any hurry. It is one to be savored intermittently and at a leisurely pace. If you want to find out more about this author, I have already written a longer article called Nikos Kazantzakis the Greek. He is truly one of the great writers of the 20th century.
Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity and Philosophy and Social Hope by Richard Rorty
These are two accessible works (that is to say, not technical or jargony) of philosophy by the American pragmatist and political activist. They are quite engaging, though I have not actually made up my mind yet which parts of his thinking I disagree with. In the first book, there is a very interesting discussion and comparison between Orwell and Nabokov, not just as writers but as philosophical thinkers. Recommended for these final two chapters alone. The second book is basically Rorty explaining his same ideas in different ways, which is not necessarily a bad thing. As the most important American philosopher since Dewey, he deserves a longer explanation which I cannot give at this time. Here is one interesting quote from the latter book: "So, for pragmatists there is no sharp break between natural science and social science, nor between social science and politics, nor between politics, philosophy and literature. All areas of culture are parts of the same endeavor to make life better. There is no deep split between theory and practice, because on a pragmatist view all so-called 'theory' which is not wordplay is always already practice." It is worth mentioning that these books are partly responsible for my decision (unconscious at first but very clear now) to change my reading habits largely back to fiction after a long time of focusing about exclusively on non-fiction (history, philosophy, and other theoretical pursuits).
Hadji Murad; assorted short stories by Lev Tolstoy
Tolstoy is in the literary pantheon, so it is never difficult to read or reread anything by the Count. Hadji Murad was his last completed novel (technically a novella), and was the inspiration for a short story of mine that is to be published in an anthology of veteran authors next year. One of only two pieces that I reread this year was the short story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?", which uses its 10 pages to their maximum story-telling potential. James Joyce considered it the best short story ever written (which obviously means the best that Joyce himself had ever read).
Anxiety of Influence and The Book of J by Harold Bloom
Bloom is the foremost American literary critic, and in the first work he describes how all literature is written with an "anxiety of influence" about drawing inspiration from and trying to surpass one's literary forebears. Most of the book focuses on English poetry, but the ideas he puts forth are relevant to any field of study. The second book is more accessible but also more speculative. Bloom posits that the Hebrew Torah was originally the work of a single creative mind during the Enlightenment period of King Solomon, and further that this author was a woman. In his introduction to another book, The Western Canon, Bloom takes this idea a step further and claims the author was none other than Bathsheba. It is very well thought out and sound hypothesis, to the point that he includes the entire original version of the story of Yahweh supposedly created by Bathsheba in a long poem imagined by David Rosenberg. According to Bloom, Joseph would have been the heroic literary counterpart to the historical King David, whose reign would have been witnessed by the author and seen as a golden age compared to that of his incompetent grandson Rehoboam.
Very Little, Almost Nothing by Simon Critchley
The only real technical philosophy I read this year discusses the problematic idea of nihilism and how it can be overcome. A difficult read, punctuated by many interesting and inspiring quotes. One of the things that moved me was Critchley discussing the quote by Adorno about Auschwitz: "The only philosophy which can be responsibly practised in face of despair is the attempt to contemplate all things as they would present themselves from the standpoint of redemption." Critchley then notes, "After Auschwitz, the Kantian epistemological question 'How is metaphysics possible?' yields to a historical question 'Is it still possible to have a metaphysical experience?' For Adorno, this is because actual events–the Holocaust–have shattered the basis upon which metaphysical speculation might be reconciled with experience." It has quite a bit of value from the point of view of contemporary metaphysics and for those interested in existentialism.
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson; Beethoven: The Universal Composer by Edmund Morris
These are two of a series of short and lively biographies for a popular audience called "Eminent Lives," each of which I read in a couple sittings. Though I already knew quite a bit about the world's greatest playwright and composer, respectively, the authors have a flair for story-telling, and I now have more perspective about the world these two literary and musical luminaries moved in. About Shakespeare, it was just as interesting to learn about the historical reception and scholarship of the Bard as about the few real facts that exist on the man. About Ludwig van, Morris probably captures the man, if not the music, in this quote: "His talent amazed me. However, unfortunately, he is an utterly untamed personality, not at all wrong if he finds the world detestable, but he thereby does not make it more enjoyable either for himself or others."
Afghan Post by Adrian Bonenberger; Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War by Various Authors
The first book is a war memoirs about the author's time before, during, and after entering the Army and spending two years in Afghanistan. It is written in epistolary form and delves into a series of interesting dialogues, of which we only read one side but can infer the rest (or imagine our own responses), with old friends and relatives as his life changes dramatically through his experiences in war. I happen to be friends with the author since we served together in the same battalion for one year in Afghanistan. This shared experience allowed me to relive and rethink some of my own ideas about the war from a different perspective, now several years removed from action, and in the end I found my own personal catharsis.
The second is a collection of short stories by veteran authors written about the war experience in Iraq or Afghanistan, or as a military person in general upon returning home. Coming from many different backgrounds and experiences, the authors obviously use a variety of styles, and the stories are a mixed bag. These two books are the only contemporary war literature I have read since finishing my own time in the army, though I have been learning about some other intriguing and well-received books on that theme, and have already mentioned an upcoming collection vaguely inspired by Fire and Forget that will consist of 20 veteran authors' stories set in the context of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Assorted Russian Short Stories
I find the Russians to be a great inspiration not only for writing but for living life with a wider understanding of the world and the people who populate it. I have already mentioned Tolstoy as the greatest of them. This year I read Gogol (The Inspector-General, The Overcoat, The Nose–which is second of two pieces this year that I reread), Pushkin (The Queen of Spades), Chekhov (many stories from a seemingly limitless short story writer), and Babel (The History of My Dovecote), and a few others I am forgetting.
The Words by Jean Paul Sartre
This is Sartre's literary autobiography and one of his last works, I believe. It was somewhat interesting at the beginning while he leisurely lays out his family history and early years, but I struggled through most of it. It turns out that when I looked into it a bit later that Sartre was apparently attempting to disavow his literary career with this memoirs, and to discredit the act of writing itself, as opposed to direct action in the world. Whatever. Probably my least favorite book of the year.
Waiting for the Barbarians and The Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee
These are considered the two best books from the South African Nobel laureate. I found them both to be quite excellent, with a very understated and seemingly simple story-telling style that nevertheless is totally compelling from start to finish. Both take place is generic nations (or empires) run by generic functionaries and military men (though I couldn't help but imagine both the setting as apartheid-era South Africa). Both works have a deep moral force that keeps them afloat and invite the reader to think for himself.
Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
The author was a psychoanalyst who spent years in Nazi concentration camp, survived, and wrote this amazing book and many others. He founded his own school of existentialist psychoanalysis, called logotherapy, which states that finding meaning in one's own life is the primary driving force in humans. The story he tells of his experience is probably the most intense story of human understanding that a person can ever tell, and I would recommend everyone to read it. Frankl was already a practicing psychiatrist and psychotherapist when he was taken to the concentration camps, and through a super-human act of human will, he was able not only to survive but to treat and inspire his fellow prisoners, and to keep keen observations of the extremes of human behavior he was witnessing everyday in order to write about it later. If Frankl could find meaning in life while in Auschwitz, how can we complain about our lesser quotidian cares and worries? Here is one representative quote: "Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."
A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, and Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnesus by Patrick Leigh Fermor
These are the first among several literary travel books I read within a few months of each other and that all date from between the two world wars. The first two books are parts one and two of a trilogy, though the third installment was published unfinished in 2013 after the author's death. They recount a walk across Europe, leaving England and debarking in the Netherlands with Istanbul as the final destination, by way of the Rhine, the Danube, and several other meanderings and tangents. This trip began in 1933 when the author was 19, and finished a couple years later. The background of the tale is itself quite significant–here was a young and idealistic Englishman (half-Irish, actually) embarking on a walking tour through old Europe–cosmopolitan, feudal, aristocratic, ethnically mixed up–before its last remains were blown away by the Second World War. His long first section walking across southern Germany took place just after the Nazis had come to power. Though he does not mention the political situation much, it is always present between the lines. This is because Fermor masterfully combines a sense of his youthful attitude with commentary from his much older authorial self–the book was written over 40 years after the trip, when Fermor was in his 60s and already long established as a war hero (he led the British-Greek resistance on Crete and abducted a German general and took him to Egypt) and travel writer (he had already published six full-length travel books, including Mani). The first book finishes with Fermor standing on a bridge on the border of Hungary and the second continues to the trip through Hungary and Romania to the border with Serbia at the so-called Iron Gates. The third presumably takes us across the last bit of the Balkans to Constantinople and thence to Greece, where Fermor would make his home later (here is a great article in The New Republic on the background behind Fermor's last unfinished installment). Along the way, we come to learn of the incredible amount of hospitality he received during the long sojourn, often and increasingly from old feudal lords and aristocrats of Germany and the Habsburg Empire. He sometimes stayed for weeks at a time in various castles of these learned and idle counts and barons. While the story itself stands on its own, what makes this a classic, and has led to Fermor being repeatedly named as the best English language travel writer, is his use of language. It is masterful and inimitable, and paints a wonderful picture in the reader's mind.
The third book I read by Fermor this year was written after WWII and recounts in great detail a walking trip by the author and some friends through single long peninsula of the Peloponnesus called Mani. Fermor, who lived in Greece for decades and knew every part of Greece and its inhabitants, uses this singularly isolated and independent strip of land to describe the customs, culture, and history of its people and how they compare to other Greeks.
The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron
This is another travel book that tells of the author's trip from Venice through Palestine and Syria to Persia and Afghanistan in 1933. His purpose was ostensibly to study the origins of Islamic art and architecture, and he spends a lot of time describing the mosques and other buildings he encounters. It is also exceedingly well-written, and contains countless little short comical theatrical set pieces of dialogue that show Byron's strong personality, sense of humor, and gifts as a writer. After finishing the trip he spent three years crafting this work, which has been called his masterpiece, and then he died on board a British vessel sunk by German torpedo whilst on his way to work for British intelligence in Egypt (and possibly Greece, as the name Byron would still carry weight there).
Abroad: British Literary Travel Writing beween the Wars by Paul Fussell
Fussell here attempts to make travel writing into a more reputable and rigorous topic of study in literary and historical circles with this book, and if he did not succeed, it is through no fault of his but of his academic colleagues. The book generally describes how the British (and, to a lesser degree, American) travel writing boom came about directly as a result of World War One–both life in the cold, muddy trenches for soldiers and scarcity and belt-tightening at home led the society in search of warmer places. Those who could not travel were still highly ready to read almost any type of travel book that did not involve England. Each chapter is on a different writer (Greene, Lawrence, Waugh, Douglass, Durrell, Auden and Isherwood, with especial praise for Byron) or aspect of the new travel industry (the British invention of the passport, for example). It was very educational for me to learn about another side of a period of history and literature I thought I had a decent grasp on, but to see with a completely new perspective.
The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller
The American expat Miller forces his way into the travel writing craze against his will. This book is on the author's 1938 trip from Paris, where he had made his home, to Greece, where he had never been. He came on the suggestion of Lawrence Durrell, who had made his new home in Corfu and maintained decades of correspondence with Miller. Miller makes a big show about his lack of classical or formal education in regards to ancient Greece, but it becomes clear throughout the book that he know a thing or two about life. It is written in his typical (and influential) colloquial and fearless style. There are long passages of internal monologue that are both poetic and inspired. Miller held this to be his best book, and many critics agree. One person said that Miller had raised solipsism to an art form. The colossus of the title is a certain prominent man of letters and outsized personality named Katsimbalis. In fact, the main character is Miller himself, and his enthusiastic reawakening to some type of life spirit in Greece (one critic said that Miller, in this book, had raised solipsism into an art form). While visiting Crete, Miller was greeted and looked after by someone named Tsoutsou whom Miller describes as being the biggest literary figure of Crete and a man who spoke 10 languages and knew everybody. I cannot find any other references to this theory, but I found myself imagining this as a fictionalized version of Kazantzakis. Another interesting fact is that Ghika, the famous Greek artist, was a member of the circle of friends of Katsimbalis that Miller frequented. Ghika illustrated Kazantzakis' Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, and his house on the isle of Hydra was also where Patrick Fermor wrote Mani. The Colossus of Maroussi, on the other hand, was written in America after Miller had to unwillingly return there to escape World War Two, and his panegyric on all things Greek is openly stated to also represent his distaste for all things American. It is a must-read for anyone who loves Greece, traveling, or great writing.
Justine and Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell
Justine is the first of a larger four-part work called The Alexandria Quartet. Each of the four books is written from a different character's point of view, and the first three take place simultaneously while the last one is set six years later. Justine is a lushly stylistic novel whose every sentence is a work of literary art. The entire quartet was a bit long for me to finish this year but I will gradually finish it over time, as I am prone to bounce between many different books at the same time, sometimes putting one down for several years before finishing it. The variety is what is important for me, and the same book reread years later would be received differently–the words were the same but I had changed. I think my short digression here does something to represent the spirit of Durrell's masterpiece. Alas, Durrell's setting of the cosmopolitan, cultured, and romantic Alexandria which lasted for 23 centuries is now long gone, as this article in Foreign Policy magazine shows. The second book I read by him was his fictionalized travel story of his year spent in Corfu in 1938. I have visited that largest of the Ionian islands as well, and this book did more than make me want to return as soon as possible. It was rich and interesting and entertaining.
Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
This is the first book I read by Graves outside of the two Claudius books I had enjoyed several years back (after randomly finding the first one in a French hostel before starting the Camino de Santiago and finishing it within a few days). Goodbye to All That is a fictionalized (funny how many books of supposed non-fiction qualify for that adjective–that's why it's called literature and not documentary) memoirs of the author's early life through trench life in World War One and his traumatic break with England and move to Majorca. It can be classified as another post-war travel book as I described earlier. I have written a much longer review of this book on my other blog in a post called Goodbye to Christmas Truces.
The World as I Found It by Bruce Duffy
This is more than a fictionalized version of history–it is a pure novel that happens to follow the real lives of eminent philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and, to a lesser extent, G.E. Moore. As a novel, it is wonderful and beautifully written. Since I happen to know quite a bit about these men and their work, I was not disappointed in any regard and found the book totally compelling. The author gave a lecture in 1991–three years after the book's publication–in which he explains his rationale for changing and inventing facts about real people for the sake of a novel: "Was it moral, what I did? Was it moral of Max Brod not to burn Kafka's manuscripts and papers as Kafka had instructed? I can't really answer this question except to say there are different forms of homage. As I saw it thirty years after his death, Wittgenstein was nobody's moral property. Like a man buried at sea , he was rightfully consigned to history." And again here Duffy says: "In Shakespeare's time to write plays about Julius Caesar or Prince Hamlet was not a bothersome thing, but today it is, I'm afraid. In an era of experts and unprecedented specialization–in a time when I should say we cripple ourselves by ceding far too much to the wisdom of experts–a book like mine is bothersome, for some to the point of being disorienting. For all our self-conscious poses, for all our irony and formal sophistication , not to mention our exposure to the strategies of modernism and postmodernism, many of us still like our categories straight. We are greatly bothered by confusions of fact and fiction. We are bothered by a novel that, say, in its prologue adopts the seemingly trustworthy voice of a biography only to monkey with the facts: This is unsportsmanlike, like impersonating a rightful officer of the law. Be more radical and experimental! says one camp. Be more conventional! says the other. When they rap my knuckles, critics seem to hold out these two shining alternatives, often seemingly at the same time. But again, their advice enshrines what too many naively expect nowadays. Straight categories. Fiction as some literary substitute for the old Classic Comics. Above all, the epic, churn-em-out complacency of that form I almost uniformly detest: 'historical fiction.' These by now are old tactics that do not trouble anyone." In other words, long live the novel (and do not worry if its characters are real people–Shakespeare and Tolstoy didn't). Whether you are interested in the lives of its characters or not, I can recommend this as an excellent and well-written novel that stands on its own merits.
The Collected Poems by Constantine P. Cavafy
This is the only work of poetry I read this year, which is something I would obviously like to rectify in future years. Cavafy was a Greek poet who lived and wrote about his home city of Alexandria, Egypt. He was a major inspiration for Durrell's quartet above, and his poem "The City" was especially relevant to the latter work. His poems are a combination of historical, philosophical, and aesthetic, and are thus quite accessible and intriguing even for a poetry laggard like me. One of his poems, "The God Forsakes Antony", was the inspiration for the Leonard Cohen song "Alexandra Leaving." Another random (or not) connection is that Cohen also has a house on the island of Hydra and was heavily influenced by Henry Miller. Overall, Cavafy's poems are evocative and inspirational for me, especially because I share a love of classical history and Mediterranean settings.
Runaway by Alice Munro
This collection of short stories is considered one of the best by the recent Nobel laureate. Most of her stories take place in rural Canada, where she is from. They are heavily focused on female characters and delve deep into their psyche and motivations. Munro has been called a modern, or a Canadian, Chekhov. I think this is great praise for her, and I see the resemblance but do not feel she is quite on the level of the Russian master of the short story. Time will tell, though. She does share with Chekhov a disregard for traditional plot devices and more focus on psychological aspects of the characters, especially involving sudden realizations that changes the characters' lives in some way. Most of these stories have a deep underlying sense of humanity, and pathos. I was most moved by one called "Silence" (and not only because it contained the first cultural reference I have ever seen to ancient Greek romances by Achilles Tatius and Heliodorus). This is the most contemporary of the books I read this year, and the only one by a woman. It has helped me continue to try and expand my boundaries as a reader and explore new writers and different styles.
According to Borges, "reading is an activity subsequent to writing: more resigned, more civil, more intellectual." Just as Borges considered himself, first and foremost, a professional reader rather than writer, I also hope to improve my reading skills and knowledge of the world each year. At a certain point, the issue becomes time and how to choose and prioritize what to read out of the infinite options–how to satisfy what Nabokov called the "Orphic thirst" of reading and rereading. I already have a long list of books to read next year and in coming years and which will lead to even more books that I have not even heard of yet. I hope to do better next year.
Posted in Books, Literature and tagged Adrian Bonenberger, Afghan Post, Alice Munro, Bruce Duffy, Cavafy, Harold Bloom, Henry Miller, J.M. Coetzee, Kazantzakis, Lawrence Durrell, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Paul Fussell, Postwar, RIchard Rorty, Robert Byron, Robert Graves, Simon Critchley, The Book of J, The Colossus of Maroussi, The Road to Oxiana, The World as I Found It, Tolstoy, Tony Judt, Victor Frankl


American author, poet, editor and literary critic Edgar Allan Poe sadly passed away on October 7, 1849. He is considered part of the American Romantic Movement and is best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction .He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.He was born ; January 19, 1809 as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him.
He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin.
Tico Torres The Drummer with American rock band Bon Jovi Celebrates his birthday 7th October. Originally from Sayreville, New Jersey. Bon Jovi Formed in 1983,and consist of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.), guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres. The band's lineup has remained mostly static during their history, the only exceptions being the departure of bass player Alec John Such in 1994, who was unofficially replaced by Hugh McDonald and Longtime guitarist and co-songwriter Richie Sambora who departed in 2013.
In 2015 Bon Jovi released the singles "We Don't Run" and "Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning" from the latest album Burning Bridges, which was released August 21, 2015. According to Jon Bon Jovi, the album serves as a "fan record" to tie in with an accompanying international tour. Bon Jovi's next album will be entitled This House Is Not For Sale and is due for release in 2016.
Throughout their career, the band have released thirteen studio albums, three compilation albums and one live album, and have sold more than 130 million records worldwide. They have performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 35 million fans. Bon Jovi was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006. The band was also honored with the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004, and as songwriters and collaborators, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were also inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.


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Iris pseudacorus, 'steagul galben, irisul galben sau 'steagul de apă, este o specie de plantă cu flori din familia Iridaceae.  Este nativ în Europa, Asia de Vest și Africa de Nord-Vest.  epitetul specific "pseudacorus", înseamnă "acorus fals", referindu-se la asemănarea frunzelor sale cu cele ale "Acorus calamus"" (steag dulce), deoarece acestea au o formă proeminentă de coaste medii și de sabie. Cu toate acestea, cele două plante nu sunt strâns legate. Floarea este frecvent atribuită cu fleur-de-lis.

Referințe

Flora Europaea: Iris pseudacorus

Legături externe
Plants for a Future: Iris pseudacorus

Iris (gen)
Flora Europei
Plante medicinale din Europa
Plante medicinale din Asia
Plante medicinale din Africa
Plante de grădină din Europa
Plante de grădină din Asia
Plante de grădină din Africa
Plante descrise în 1753
Taxoni clasificați de Carl Linnaeus

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


22 Provinces – A province is headed by a provincial secretary and led by its committee.
5 Autonomous Regions – An autonomous region has more legislative rights. It is headed by a governor appointed from a minority ethnic group.
4 Municipalities – A municipality has a higher level compared to city and performs the status of a province.
2 Special Administrative Regions (SARs) – Special Administrative Regions are headed by a chief executive.
Using Mapline, you can easily create a map of China Provinces.
That's how easy it is to create a map of China Provinces! Once you have your map, you can create a map of Excel spreadsheet locations to overlay on top. Mapline also makes it simple to see summary information about the locations inside each province just by clicking on them! Sign up now to create a map of China Provinces.


PARIS, Nov 22 (Reuters) - French spirits group Remy Cointreau beat expectations for first-half operating profit on Thursday and said it saw no signs of a slowdown in China, where demand for its premium cognac is thriving.
The maker of Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau liquor is accelerating a drive to sell higher-priced spirits to boost profit margins.
Finance chief Luca Marotta said he was "okay" with market estimates for a 13.5 percent rise in full year 2018/19 current operating profit at constant rates and scope.
Markets are on edge over trade tensions between Beijing and Washington that could impact Chinese consumers, whose appetite for branded goods has supported a luxury industry rebound over the past two years.
Chief Executive Valerie Chapoulaud-Floquet, however, said Remy had not seen any slowdown in China so far, after growing by between 20 percent and 30 percent in the country in the first half.
"We can confirm that China remains very buoyant. Our Chinese customers are very confident. We had a very good Mid-Autumn festival and expect a very good Chinese New Year in February," said Chapoulaud-Floquet.
Remy's French rival Pernod Ricard also said last month that it had benefited from strong demand in China and India as Pernod reported higher sales, although Pernod cautioned that sales growth would moderate later on.
Remy Cointreau said group operating profit for the six months to Sept. 30 totalled 138 million euros ($157 million), for like-for-like growth of 10.1 percent and beating a consensus forecast for a profit of 135.1 million euros.
Remy shares were up 0.6 percent in mid-session trading, bucking the broader Paris CAC-40's 0.6 percent decline.
"We like Remy's category exposure and see upside as the CEO rolls out her vision as a super-premium business but at 27.8 times estimated 2019 earnings (Staples 20.1 times), the shares need upgrades to perform," said Jefferies analysts, who have a "hold" rating on Remy shares.
Its products include Louis XIII luxury cognac that sells for over $2000 a bottle.
Operating profit at the Remy Martin cognac division, reached 119.5 million euros in the first half, accounting for 86 percent of group profit.
This marked a like-for-like rise of 11.3 percent and reflected strong demand in Asia and Australia, as well as positive trends in America and the travel and retail sectors.


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Apple to Reduce New Hires Following Revenue Miss and Poor iPhones Sales
Jan 17th, 2019 1:39 PM EDT | News
Apple will reportedly reduce the number of people it is going to hire. The decision follows its much-discussed revenue miss for the last quarter and concerns about iPhone sales numbers.
The interior side of 1 Infinite Loop's entrance.
AI and Video Not Hit By Hiring Freeze
Following Tim Cook's letter to investors announcing its recent revenue miss, the Apple CEO held a meeting with employees. There, he told staff that there would be a reduction in new hires in certain areas (via Bloomberg News).
Some key areas will not be affected by this freeze. For example, Artificial Intelligence is expected to be unaffected. The plans will also not affect its new office in Austin, Texas or the growth of its video team in Los Angeles. Mr. Cook was also reportedly keen to emphasize that a division's importance to Apple's future should not be measured by how many people it hires.
Following that meeting, Mr. Cook met with some Senior Vice Presidents, Senior Directors, and other managers. He emphasized to them that he sees the slowdown in iPhone sales as an opportunity for Apple to innovate.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Reed are curtly working with a fantastic company in Salford Quays who are looking for a PA to their Chief Executive to cover maternity.
The aim of the role will be to provide dedicated administrative services to the CEO to ensure she is able to carry out her responsibilities.
• Proactively supporting the Chief Executive's complex workload and activities through comprehensive and detailed diary management.


In a recent post, I described a hypothetical model for unbundling the teaching roles of instruction and assessment in order to incorporate rigorous measures of deeper learning into online learning systems. This post expands on that ideas by highlighting additional benefits of separating instruction from assessment.
We put traditional teachers in an incredibly tough spot. On the one hand, we ask them to motivate their students to excel at learning. On the other hand, we ask them to give their students the grades that get sent home to their parents and engraved on their permanent transcripts.
By way of comparison, the arrangement of having teachers act as both instructors and assessors is akin to asking the judges in a gymnastics competition to also coach the gymnasts leading up to the event, or asking a restaurant manager to conduct official food handling inspections at his restaurant. In many domains of life, we recognize that we create problematic conflicts of interest if we ask people who produce or perform to also provide the ratings of their outputs for external audiences. Yet, in education it is the norm to ask teachers to both coach their students and rate their students' academic achievements.
One facet of this problem stems from the fact that traditional grades are highly subjective. Teachers' assessments and grading systems are not developed using rigorous psychometric techniques to ensure validity and reliability. Instead, we ask teachers to develop their own grading systems based on their professional judgment and interpretation of learning standards and school policy. Translating standards into a rigorous and fair grading system is sticky business.
If wrestling with that tension isn't difficult enough, the matter is further complicated by the fact that teachers need to develop good relationships with their students and their students' families, and the way teachers grade their students can affect those relationships. If their grading system is "easy," few students and parents are likely to complain. On the other hand, if their grading system is "hard," they can end up with a flood of phone calls and meeting requests from upset parents. This puts pressure on teachers to go easy on their students in order to keep everyone happy. But teachers who hand out "easy As" are not doing an adequate job preparing their students for future education and for life beyond school.
Subjective grading by teachers also affects negatively how students relate to their teachers. As Sal Khan wrote in his book The One World Schoolhouse: "[F]rom the perspective of many students, teachers are not viewed as someone who is on their side. They are not viewed as someone preparing them for competition with an adversary. Unfortunately, they are often seen as the adversary themselves…" Students know that there is subjectivity inherent in teachers' grading systems, which supplies students with the ready excuse that when they perform poorly in a class, they can blame it on the teacher for being too hard or unfair, rather than taking responsibility for their own needs for improvement.
By no means am I suggesting that it is impossible for individual teachers to create grading systems that are objective, rigorous, fair, and uninfluenced by their' relationships with their students and their students' families. We all know that the best teachers are highly skilled at navigating these dilemmas. These teachers are highly regarded for their ability to maintain positive and motivating relationships with their students while simultaneously pushing those students to meet high expectations. But at the same time, I think it's fair to say that there are many teachers who struggle with these tensions and err on the side of going easy on their students. But if we separate the roles of instruction and assessment, we can relieve teachers of having to wrestle with these dilemmas so that they can focus more on instructing, coaching, and motivating their students.
Asking teachers to be the assessors of their students can also hinder teachers' professional learning and development. A student's grade is not only a reflection on how much that student has learned, but also on how well teachers are doing their jobs. If a teacher's subjective grading system is giving students an inaccurate picture of their performance, that teacher is also giving herself an inaccurate notion of how well she is doing at teaching her students. Unbundling assessment and instruction would give teachers more objective and unbiased feedback on their teaching and would help them see blind spots in their practices that otherwise are hidden by the bias inherent in their self-created assessments.
In making these arguments, I want to make it clear that separating instruction and assessment should not be taken to the extreme such that teachers just dispense instruction without checking to see how their students are doing or providing their students with feedback. As teachers work with students, the learning moments in which they observe students wrestling with new ideas and then provide immediate guidance and feedback are valuable.
I am also not suggesting that teachers who function as instructors and not assessors should never take time to examine their students' work. Athletic coaches may not score or referee their athletes' competitions, but they do go back and watch video footage from those competitions in order to study their athletes' weaknesses and then optimize their future training. Similarly, teachers who act as instructors will still need to spend time examining their students' work and the grades that assessors assign in order to understand their students' needs and adjust their instruction accordingly. Fortunately, in a model where instructors are not graders, instructors can avoid the monotony of grading every aspect of every assignment to instead spend their time focusing on subsamples of student work that reveal students' most important learning needs.
We have a lot to gain if we can redesign our educational models with more separation between the roles of instruction and assessment. My hope is that this post and the one preceding it can inspire entrepreneurial educators with a new vision for how to best use their most valuable assets: teachers.


You may want to avoid leadership roles.
The phone rings at your desk. On the line is the boss and she wants to talk. There's no problem; rather, she's offering you a promotion, a management position.
While for some this is the dream scenario, for others such a situation creates a dilemma. Do you accept a promotion, along with the money and prestige that may come with it, even when the job you have right now feels like the perfect fit?
There are many reasons why people do not aspire to be in management. Perhaps they don't want the added pressure, or they lack the people skills to deal effectively with staff. Many employees are truly fulfilled by the jobs they have. They're hands-on people. Nurses become nurses to care for patients, not to fill out paperwork. Engineers become engineers to build and design, not to tell other people how to do it.
If you don't want the promotion, tell your boss, but have reasons why.
There are plenty of people who complain that they can't get ahead because they are too good at what they do – that if they were promoted into management, the company would lose a valued foot soldier. But if you want to keep your current position, let your boss know how valuable you are precisely because of what you do.
He realized that his best abilities were no longer being used, and later joined Entergy as an engineer, the job at which he excelled and felt most comfortable.
Put yourself in your boss's wingtips. You're being offered a promotion, probably a raise, too. And you don't want that? Turning down such an offer is risky unless you can convince your superior that you are more valuable in your current position. But what if the boss won't take "no" for an answer? "You can certainly look for the same job in a different company, but you have to have a story to tell about why you haven't wanted to go into management," says Danesi.
Whether you're able to stay or willing to leave, it's important to advance your skills, even if you're not aiming for that big desk with the comfortable chair. Offer to take on new projects or new roles within the company. Take courses to expand your field of knowledge. Positive actions like those can help convince your superiors that you're not a complacent bump on a log, but an employee who takes his or her job performance very seriously.
"Companies are looking for people who adjust well to change. If you're not nimble, you're in trouble," says Fred Cullen, president of Keystone Partners, a career management firm in Boston.


It was a privilege to be at @traeabn silent listening party last night. He has done so much for the city of Houston and is a true OG. I wore my @hustlegangbrandshirt signed by Trae last year from the #hustlegangtour in Dallas!
⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ Who is ready to crush this week?


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PLI Programs: Hot Topics in Child Custody, Visitation & Guardianship for New York Practitioners 2018
Hot Topics in Child Custody, Visitation & Guardianship for New York Practitioners 2018
Child custody, visitation, and guardianship, like most family law topics, are ever-evolving areas of practice. Advocates who appear in the Family Courts of New York must understand how to effectively represent their respective clients in these complex and emotionally-charged proceedings. This program, newly expanded to a full day, will provide insight and practical guidance from a faculty of experienced judges and practitioners. You will walk away with a clearer understanding of how to effectively obtain the assistance of the Family Court, and how recent case law will impact your practice.
How to file an appropriate modification petition
The factors the Family Court considers in its determinations
How to effectively use court-ordered investigations (COIs) and forensic reports at hearings
Examining the role of the Attorney for the Child in custody, visitation, and guardianship cases
Recent case law developments, including Matter of Brooke S.B. and the impact on custody and visitation for same-sex parenting families
Guardianship and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) applications
Mediation in custody and visitation proceedings
Attorneys who represent parents and children in the Family Courts of the State of New York, as well as advocates working with these parties and jurists who decide these matters will benefit from this comprehensive one-day program.


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Tony Hawk Gets His Wedding Ring Cut Off After Skateboarding Accident
16:44, June 11 109 0 usmagazine.com
A close call. Tony Hawk shared the gory details of a skateboarding accident that left him with injuries which required his wedding ring to be removed.
"Just received my x-rays from Saturday's debacle," the professional skateboarder, 52, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, June 10. "They had to cut my ring off before returning my bones to their full upright and locked position. My fingers are still sore / stiff / swollen but mostly functional. And I still love my job."
Tony Hawk. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Hawk informed fans about the accident earlier this month, noting that it occurred while he was skating in a backyard pool with his 27-year-old son, Riley. "The pool was smaller than I anticipated so I didn't wear full pads, likening it to a miniramp [sic]," he captioned Instagram photos of his injuries on Sunday, June 7. "We were having a blast, and at one point I actually gave advice to Eddie [Elguera] on doing a frontside rock (one of his signature tricks, and my first 'advanced' move as a kid). The session was fun until I did a backside smith stall as a set up for a backside blunt, and suddenly found myself on the flat bottom with my fingers bending in new directions."
The athlete pointed out his error in not wearing the proper safety gear. "I regretted not wearing full pads. Ironically, that wouldn't have saved me from injury but I was being too cavalier to think that a wall over 8' with vert was as 'safe' as a mini-ramp," he explained. "The session came to a screeching halt, and Riley drove me to the hospital like Ricky Bobby with a cougar in the backseat."
Hawk recounted how his case was "expedited" because his fingers appeared "dusky," meaning he had "extreme circulation loss." He added that his "fingers were back in place, and no longer dusky," within 30 minutes.
"I write this because today I am filled with divergent emotions: sadness from scaring my son & friends, regret from being cocky / careless, grateful from having an injury that could have been worse, and frustrated that I never got a backside blunt… as my skater ego endures," he concluded. "As pro skaters, we accept that injuries are inevitable and perseverance is key to success. But it still sucks to get hurt, especially at my age. And I'll still be back for more."
Hawk married Cathy Goodman in June 2015. He shares son Riley with ex-wife Cindy Dunbar, sons Spencer, 21, and Keegan, 18, with ex-wife Erin Lee and daughter Kadence, 11, with ex-wife Lhotse Merriam.


Hi my husband and I are interested. Would we be on the same team? How does this program work exaxy and for how long?
Sorry for the delayed reply! The games are Monday nights at Crestview P.S in Kitchener. Let me know if you and your husband are still interested.
What nights are the games? And how many people per team?
Hi, wondering how much to play?
What night of the week?
Any teams looking for a female?
Hello, a few of us are interested to play. Is it too late to register?
Hi Dan, Unfortunately the league is packed currently. Are you interested in joining the spring league (late April- late June)?


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Check out any FEMA trailer well before purchase. A lot of them didn't come with holding tanks and were meant to be hooked up all the time. May not even be provisioned for a battery and would let the charge converter handle the 12V loads. Ways to cut costs by not including everything a travel traler would have.
When Hurricane Ike hit back in 2008 Little Rock Arkansas had several 100's of mobile homes and trailers behind our shop parked on an old abandoned military training airfield.
Most were new, unused and never made it to TX where they were suppose to go and they just sat there, closed up and rotting away in the humid heat. After a couple years FEMA eventually tried to sell them but most were covered with mold inside and were just scrapped.
I'd be leary of anything that's been unused for anything over a year.
That page does not mention Texas airport nor FEMA.
Here's a link to a news article.
The auction is through GSA. They are closing today at 6PM CT.


1. The night before preparing the recipe, rinse the chicken peas and put them in a bowl. Add 1 tsp baking soda and cover with 5 c water. Let them soak over night.
2. Clean the partridges or chicken. Cut the meat off the breast(s), grind it. Sautée the onions in the olive oil until translucent. Remove from the frying pan. Put the frying pan to one side. Let the onion cool and mix them with the meat and the other ingredients except the flour. To make the meatballs the size of hazelnuts dip hands and pieces of ground meat in the flour and make small meatballs. Brown them in the frying pan.
3. If Spanish chickpeas they take up to 1½ hours to cook. If the small chickpeas sold in America they may take as little as 10 minutes. If using Spanish chickpeas rinse them and put them in a pot, cover with 4 c water, bring to a boil and simmer 35 minutes. If petite chickpeas add just before the spinach or chard, see step #6 below.
4. Debone the remainder of the partridge or chicken and put the meat in the pot with the herbs, spices 2 tbsp olive oil. Bring the water to a boil and reduce heat to gently boil for 15 minutes. Add the meatballs continue to gently boil 15 minutes.
5. Dice the cheese. Fry until browned and add to the pot.
6. Trim the spinach or chard and cut into quarters. Tie the bunch with string and add it to the pot with the olives and the chickpeas. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.
7. Remove two or three meatballs from the pot. Pound them in a mortar. Separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites. Keep the whites from three eggs. Add the yolks to the pot. Beat the whites from 3 eggs to a peak. Add the meatballs from the mortar. Blend in the flour. Cover the contents of the pot with the mixture and stir it on the sides until this dough is cooked.
8. Put it in a dish using the pieces of cheese, olives and meatballs as garnish. Sprinkle cilantro on top and serve.


Clarity of strategy and planning.
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text:
Oxnard, CA Tax Litigation Attorney
Many tax professionals strictly provide bookkeeping, accounting, or tax planning services. At the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing, not only are we skilled CPAs – we are also proven and seasoned trial attorneys who have successfully appealed numerous IRS decisions. Lead tax attorney David W. Klasing, a former public auditor with more than a decade of experience, leverages his invaluable firsthand knowledge of IRS procedures and regulations. Additionally, as a dually certified attorney-CPA, Mr. Klasing possesses the legal insights only a tax lawyer can bring to court, such as issues regarding various filing procedures and statues of limitations.
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See our IRS Appeals Q and A Library
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About IRS Tax Litigation
Every year, approximately one million returns are audited by the IRS. Perhaps unsurprisingly, thousands of taxpayers get into subsequent disputes with the IRS. Often, these disputes arise when a tax audit produces an outcome that the taxpayer does not expect and strongly disagrees with. For example, when an IRS audit concludes, the auditor may determine that the taxpayer owes thousands or even millions of dollars in unpaid federal income taxes. The same taxpayer may also owe substantial interest on the unpaid taxes. The IRS may also decide to impose penalties, bringing the taxpayer's total liability even higher. If remedies such as mediation fail to resolve the disagreement, the taxpayer can litigate the issue by filing an appeal. However, because the appeals process is so complex, taxpayers are strongly advised not to proceed until they have obtained the services of a trusted tax litigation attorney, like the Oxnard IRS tax lawyers at the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing.
Filing a Deficiency Suit or Refund Claim Against the IRS
There are two basic types of tax issues that can be successfully litigated: deficiency actions, and refund actions. In a deficiency action, the taxpayer is effectively suing to dispute a supposed "tax deficiency," which is the difference between the amount paid and the amount the IRS has determined is owed by the taxpayer. By comparison, the object of a refund action is to demonstrate that the taxpayer has overpaid his or her estimated taxes, and is therefore entitled to a refund from the IRS. Overall, deficiency actions are more common than refund actions.
A detailed overview of the requirements to litigate a deficiency action in Tax Court is available here, including an explanation of where and when the petition must be filed. However, to provide a brief summary, taxpayers file suit in Tax Court in Washington, D.C. within 90 days of the date supplied on the taxpayer's IRS Notice of Deficiency, which is also known as a "90-day letter" for this reason. As is true of most types of lawsuits, the vast majority of deficiency actions are ultimately settled outside of court, though exceptions occasionally arise.
Our Oxnard, CA Tax Litigation Lawyers Can Help You Sue the IRS
Tax litigation is an exceptionally complex area that lies at the intersection where court procedures, IRS protocols, federal tax laws, taxpayer rights, and financial regulations meet. If you believe you could have a claim against the IRS – whether because you disagree with IRS audit results, or because you believe you are entitled to a tax refund – it is in your best interests to discuss the situation with a seasoned IRS litigation attorney. At the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing, we bring more than 20 years of experience to every case we handle, approaching each claim with insider perspective and outside-the-box thinking.
Contact us online today to arrange a reduced-rate tax consultation or call our Oxnard tax office at (805) 617-4566 for immediate assistance. Please note all meetings at our Oxnard location must be scheduled in advance.
Tax Litigation FAQs
For tax litigation help, you should talk to an attorney about your situation. However, the following tax litigation FAQs may help to provide you with general information:
Do interest and penalties stop while my tax appeal is pending?
How does the appeals process normally conclude?
How long until the IRS Appeals Office hears my protest?
What discovery methods apply in federal tax litigation?
Which federal court should I litigate my tax issue in?
Who can represent a taxpayer in the Tax Court?
Who has the burden of proof in tax litigation?
Note: If you have concerns about the privacy of our initial or subsequent communication and are unable to easily travel to our Irvine / Orange County Main Office, consider scheduling a GoToMeeting to safely and securely establish an initial or maintain an existing attorney client relationship. With end-to-end encryption, strong passwords and top-rated reliability, no one is messing with your meeting. To schedule a reduced rate initial consultation via GoToMeeting follow this link. Call our office and request a GoToMeeting if you are an existing client. We are generally happy to travel to any of our appointment only satellite offices for a subsequent meeting in appropriate circumstances once a relationship is established via a signed engagement letter and the payment of an initial retainer or where enough retainer is available where a current client to cover the reasonable travel time and time required for the meeting.
Will it cost me more to hire the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, who's main office and the vast majority of the firm's staff is located in Irvine California, but an appointment only Satellite office is close to my location, as opposed to a local company? Absolutely not! See our policies that address this issue here:
Oxnard, CA Tax Litigation Attorney was last modified: November 6th, 2019 by David Klasing


1Trip or momentarily lose one's balance; almost fall.
1.1with adverbial of direction Trip repeatedly as one walks.
1.2 Make a mistake or repeated mistakes in speaking.
1.3stumble across/on/upon Find or encounter by chance.
Middle English (as a verb): from Old Norse, from the Germanic base of stammer.


text:
Dalbaye est un village du Cameroun situé dans la commune de Meri, le département du Diamaré et la Région de l'Extrême-Nord. Il dépend du canton de Doulek.

Population
Lors du recensement de 2005, on y a dénombré  (474 hommes et 442 femmes) contre 480 en 1974.

La population est majoritairement Mofu.

L'école (enseignement primaire uniquement) la plus proche se trouve à environ 2 km près de Djandjar.

La localité électrifiée la plus proche se situe à environ 3 km près de Doulek.

Notes et références

Annexes

Bibliographie
 Plan communal de développement de la commune de Meri, PNDP, Meri, décembre 2016, 275 p.
 P. Tjeega et H. Elingui, Dictionnaire des villages du Diamaré, DGRST, ISH, Yaoundé, 1981, 214 p.

Liens externes
 Meri, sur le site Communes et villes unies du Cameroun (CVUC)

Village dans la région de l'Extrême-Nord


text:
25 Jul, 2016 07:03
Turkey issues detention warrant for 42 journalists - reports
© Michaela Rehle © Reuters
The Turkish government has issued detention warrants for 42 journalists suspected of having links to the failed military coup on July 15, NTV reported Monday. So far the authorities have detained and placed under investigation some 60,000 people.
Follow LIVE UPDATES on Turkey's post-coup crackdown
According to the broadcaster, the list includes renowned national media figures such as commentator and former MP Nazli Ilicak, Reuters reports.
All Turkish academics banned from traveling abroad amid widening post-coup purge
As of Sunday, a total of 13,165 people have been detained in connection to the foiled coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The leader specified that 8,838 of those arrested are soldiers, 2,101 are judges and prosecutors, 1,485 are police officers, 52 are local authorities and 689 are civilians, the Hurriyet daily reported.
A joint indictment of 73 suspects, including US-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, was approved by an Ankara court on Saturday.
The suspects are accused of having links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), alleged to be behind the coup attempt, a Turkish judicial official told Anadolu Agency.
READ MORE: Erdogan shuts down 1,000+ private schools, 1,200+ charities, 15 universities
Turkey's Ministry of National Education announced Saturday that over 1,500 educational institutions with alleged links to Fethullah Gulen will be closed down, among them private schools and dormitories.
Altogether more than 21,000 teachers have been suspended from their duties.
Ankara is also preparing to prosecute national companies associated with Gulen, announced Turkish Minister of Customs and Trade Bulent Tufenkci.
BREAKING: Turkey detains key aide to US-based 'coup mastermind' Gulen https://t.co/Cg1Ghm3UCNpic.twitter.com/F9ITqK5tiK
— RT (@RT_com) July 23, 2016
"Companies which sponsor Fetullah Terrorist Organization and provide financial resources to them will be identified individually. Investigation will be opened about them. They will be closed or necessary procedures will be applied on them," Tufenkci said on Sunday.


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text:
THE ORPHAN (EPISODE 17)
Deji's mum slowly walked down the stairs in the basement approaching the trio who were in complete dread of what's to come. They kept staring and shrugging puzzled on what to do at this point. Deji's mum finally got down to where the trio stood in front of the body. They aligned to stop her from seeing the body.
"Who are you guys? And why does this place stink this bad?" Deji's mum queried with her hands on her nose.
"Erm-mm…We're Deji's friends ma." Kola stuttered.
"Deji's friends? Deji never told me he was having company at this hour. And why are you guys still in your uniform?" she asked.
At this point, words were a rare jewel.
"Erm-mm…we came to see you ma." Kola stuttered again.
"To see me?"
"Yes…we didn't know you were out of rehab ma…" Kola answered.
"Yes…yes…yes.." Eva and Bisi joined in nodding their heads like they knew what Kola was talking about.
Deji's mum seemed a bit convinced.
"Wow that's so nice of you." she chortled.
"Yes…ma" the trio kept their teeths out.
Suddenly, Deji's mum noticed a leg behind.
"I see a leg behind you guys…" she figured and tried to break their alignment to see whose leg was out.
The kids were resilient.
"Ahh ma…it's nothing ma." they said trying to talk her out of it.
"It is…" Eva stuttered trying to put up another lie.
Interrupted by Bisi.
"Your son's a murderer." Bisi pronounced.
"What?!" Eva and Kola yelled in shock simultaneously.
Bisi had let the cat out of the bag so quickly. She had put the group into further dilemma. Deji's mum was bewildered at this point. She wondered why a stranger would accuse her son of killing. Bisi stepped out of the way and so did Eva and Kola who had no option at this point.
"Olorun oo! Tayo?!!!" Deji's mum screamed in shock of what she had just seen.
Her only brother had been killed by her only son. She touched his body tearfully.
"Noooo!!!" she wept.
"He's gone ma. It's all because of your son. He's a maniac. He did kill his best friend Dotun and now he's framed another innocent kid for his wrong. Your son's crazy!" Bisi quarreled.
Naturally, Deji's mum objected.
(Pointing her right forefinger and sniffing) "Now you watch your mouth kid. For all I know, you guys could have done this as well. My son is a good kid and wouldn't take anyone's life. How do you expect me to trust a stranger?" Deji's mum rebuked.
"You've gottta trust us ma. Remember me? It's me Kola." Kola said trying to trigger her memory.
"Kola?" Deji's mum paused to think for a second.
"Yes…Ayo, Dotun and my humble self used to hang out at your old house in Ogba some years back. I'm Mr Awoyele's son. You remember?" Kola asked.
Deji's mum thought again.
"Ooh! The Awoyele's…I do recall now. Your friend was a good friend of my late husband." she eventually recalled.
Eva and Bisi watched how Kola was going to get them out of this situation and try to convince the mother to believe her son was indeed a killer.
"Yes ma. Deji has never been the same ever since you went to rehab." Kola said.
Deji's mum did not like to remember her time at rehab. She shrugged at the mention of it.
"Ma, please you have to believe us. Maybe he needs help because this is not the Deji I grew up to know." Kola pleaded.
"For years, I wanted to have my son by my side. Now I have him in my arms. I don't want it to slip away again. Deji's a good kid and has been taking care of me since I came back from rehab. When I lost his father, I lost everything. I became a drug addict. I was a mess. I thought getting high would take away the pain I felt. But even after five years, it still feels like yesterday. Deji could be anything but not a murderer. I trained him up well. He couldn't do such." Deji's mum said
"A lot changed in those five years ma. A whole lot. Perhaps he's not the son you assumed him to be. We're here to help our friend Bayo who was framed by Deji." Kola said.
"My son can't be locked up. I can't lose him too. I lost my husband, now my only brother. I can't afford to lose my son too." Deji's mum objected.
"Would you rather have a murderer as a son and let someone innocent rut in detention?" Bisi queried sternly.
"…Every mother wants to protect her children." Deji's mum replied.
"Well, not all children have mothers or fathers or anyone to help them at all. This kid in detention is an orphan and doesn't deserve this punishment. What if your son was in such situation? How would you feel watching from the clouds?" Bisi queried her conscience.
"Hmm-mm…Even if I were to beileve you…" Deji's mum said but interrupted by Eva.
"At least let Deji attest to this. Confront him with this body and let's see how he tries to deny it." Eva suggested.
Deji's mum was having second thoughts at this point. She knew the kids had a point. The trio stared at one another. They knew they had inked their thoughts in hers.
(Sighs) "Where's Deji?" Deji's mum asked.
"He should be coming in with Ayo right about now." Kola answered.
"Good. Come one. Take the body." she instructed.
Quickly, the trio got a big black blanket to wrap the body to reduce the reek. Deji's mum assisted to ease the weight.
"We'll take it to the living room and confront him with it. I hope you guys wrong though." Deji's mum said.
"You're doing the right thing ma." Eva said.
(Sighs) "I hope I am my child. I hope I am." Deji's mum reiterated.
"Come on. Let's pull him up." Kola said as they lifted body to the living room.
It was a deadweight. Eventually, they got to the living room and laid the body on the ground a bit close to the exit door. They all stood behind the body beckoning on Deji and Ayo to come in. Then the door opens with both guys sharing a laugh.
"Whoa! What's going on here? Bisi…" Deji was stunned.
"You can't hide anymore Deji." Bisi said sternly.
At this point, Ayo moved away from Deji tinting towards his friends.
"I knew I couldn't trust you scumbag." Deji said infuriated.
Deji figured they had found his uncle's body.
"Why son? Why did you do it?" His mum queried.
"I don't…understand." Deji stuttered.
"Ohh you will.." Bisi intruded.
"Sshh…You lied to me your uncle was in Ogun when was actually dead. Was this why you stopped me from going to the basement?" his mum queried again.
Deji was mopping at this point.
"It all makes sense now…Why Deji? Why did you kill your uncle?!" she yelled.
"Erm-mm…mum? Maybe it's time you take your pills and rest. You know you just got out of rehab. I don't want you to have a relapse." Deji scoffed trying to talk her out of it.
She remained stiff.
"Don't give me that crap. I need an answer now!" she yelled again.
"Okay! Okay! Okay! I did it! And so what?! He was just another pain in the a** anyway. He was always mean to me and would never let me come visit you in rehab…" Deji said infuriated.
The other kids watched at this point how mother and son lashed out on each other.
"So they were right. You did kill Dotun too. Goddamn it!" Deji's mum was infuriated.
She couldn't phantom the reality that her son was actually a killer.
"Pwoah!" she gave him a resounding slap.
(Holding his right cheek) "Argh! Mum?!" Deji was shocked.
His mum had never slapped him until now.
"You disgust me!" she yelled in rage.
"You really don't get it mum…"
"Really? That poor kid shouldn't be paying for your sins. You're gonna have to turn yourself in. I can't even look at you anymore."
"I'm never getting detention! Never!" Deji yelled even as he brought out a short knife from his back pocket.
Everyone were terrified at this point.
"No one leaves!" Deji threatened sternly.
His mum was stunned seeing her son in possession of such a weapon.
"You're crazy." Deji's mum said.
"It's all because of you mum! It's all you! I did what I did because of us. To avenge dad! Don't you get it?!" Deji yelled weeping.
Apparently, he had become a monster because of his mother. The other kids needed a little bit more elucidation at this point.
"How do you mean? I couldn't be the cause of this madness that seem to have taken you over." Deji's mum said even as she edged closer to Deji.
"Stay back mum! Stay back!" Deji yelled pointed the knife at her.
"Don't do it Deji!" Ayo said.
"Shut up!" Deji yelled.
"Maybe you should just kill me anyway. I'd rather die than mother a murderer! So come on…do it. Do it like you did to Tayo!!!" Deji's mum yelled beckoning on him to react.
"Don't be stupid Deji!" Eva yelled.
Deji was wobbling around hitting his head with his hand like some psycho.
"Argh! It's all your fault mum!" Deji was infuriated.
She still wouldn't retreat.
"I don't wanna do this mum. Step back!"
"Do it kid. Maybe it's all my fault anyway. Maybe I messed up myself after your father's death. Maybe I left you for years…but to take a man's life…Come on, I raised you better than that!" she yelled.
The whole place was certainly heating up.
"Well…people change. Maybe I changed. You don't know what it feels like to be alone. You don't know what it feels like to be in this dark place knowing the cause of your sadness is always seen happy like nothing happened." Deji said.
"What are you talking about? Don't try to put this on anyone. It's your mess." she rebuked.
"I can't go to detention. I'm not done yet." Deji said.
"You're not done killing me people? You must be really sick…give me that!" Deji's mum yelled as she ran into Deji trying to take the knife away from him.
She stretches her hands forward to pull the knife away. Deji wouldn't let go. Then she gets slit on her left arm resulting from the tussle.
"Argh!" she screamed falling slowly to the ground holding her left arm which was all red.
"…Told you not to come close. This could have been have avoided." Deji said.
"Oh my God!" Eva's mouth agape.
In fear, she quickly ran towards the exit door but she's apprehended by Deji. He wraps his left arm around her neck pulling her back close to his chest with the knife in his right hand and placed it in front of her throat.
"Told you no one goes out. I thought I was clear on that stupid!" Deji yelled shoving her neck back and forth. He had a sinical look on his face. Eva couldn't breathe at this point.
"Deji? You've gotta clam donw. No one has die here today. Just put the knife down and let her go okay? She's not the one you want. Just let her go please…" Bisi pleaded trying to pacify his rage.
Bisi slowly stepped forward.
"Don't even come near me. I may hurt you as well. Stay back! You all don't get it do you?!" Deji queried.
"Deji? You don't have to do this." Kola pleaded.
"Shut upt shut the hell up!" Deji yelled as he held her neck even more firmly.
"One more step Bisi and your bestie joins Dotun!" Deji elucidated.
Tension erupted as everyone feared for their lives at this point. Dej's mum was still down injured clutching her left arm. Eva's life was on the line.
Very soory for the belated post. It was due to some uncontrollable factors. "The Orphan" comes to an end next tuesday. Watch out for the season finale. It promises to be mind blowing.
December 16, 2015 December 16, 2015 DannyFICTIONS
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