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CLAMP Q&A – CLAMP Newspaper Subscriber's Counseling Room (February/1992)
© CLAMP
Q: Have you ever thought about recruiting more CLAMP members?
A: No, we haven't.
Q: Ohkawa Nanase-san is always the tallest person shown whenever you draw likenesses of CLAMP members. Does that mean Ohkawa-san is the tallest one in real life?
A: Yes, Ohkawa's the only person who manages to be 163[1] centimeters tall. Everyone else is 160 centimeters or shorter than that.
Q: I know you don't go Comiket as a participating circle anymore, but do you still go there for fun?
A: Between our workload and other responsibilites, it probably won't happen.
Q: In Blood Brothers Theater Logs, you mentioned that you went back to the restaurant you forgot to pay for to get Ohkawa-san's hat. Did the proprietors ever tell you to 'pay up for what you just ate'?
A: They didn't. It looks like they didn't notice it, either. (-Mokona)
Q: I'm going to be an actual first year university student this coming April, so I've been thinking of getting my ears pierced. The local piercer near my house told me that 'once a person pierces their ears, their personality and fate would be changed forever', though, so I'm not sure if I should. Has there been any change of that sort with Igarashi-san and Mokona-san, too? Please, tell me!
A: No, there's been no change whatsoever. (-Igarashi & Mokona)
Q: Is it conceivable that anyone would leave CLAMP? Conversely, is it conceiveable for CLAMP to take in someone new?
A: It's quite conceivable that people would leave. Maybe they want to create something of their own outside of the CLAMP name, maybe they want to go on working in other fields entirely (as in, things unrelated to creative works at all). The reverse isn't true, though, we're not accepting new members.
Q: Do you drive? If so, what did you name the car?
A: We don't drive. For one thing, Igarashi is the only one who has a driver's license, and she's hardly been driving ever since she took the test 3 years ago, so she's pretty much what they call a 'paper driver'…
Q: If anyone in CLAMP gets married, would CLAMP collapse as a group?
A: We're not going to fall apart from marriage! (laughs) It depends on how understanding our hypothetical husbands are, but it's not as if you can't work once you get married…
Q: Do you always read the letters you receive from fans?
A: We always read every letter we get, whether it's addressed to the CLAMP Newspaper or to our publishers.
Q: A question to Akiyama-sensei. Back when you were a regular at a certain 'zine, there was a person with an art style very similar to yours using the very similar moniker of 'Akiyama Akira'. Any relation?
A: We're the same person! (laughs)
Q: Does Ohkawa Nanase-san have any plans to write a novel?
A: There's a plan of sorts, yes. It'll be printed in a certain women's informational magazine and be a grown-up sort of story like Koi (Love), the story we collaborate with Okazaki Takeshi-sensei for South Magazine. We'll have more news in the CLAMP Newspaper and other things later on.
Q: Is Ohkawa Nanase-san of any relation to Ohkawa Ryuuho of Happy Science?[2] (I heard this from some girls at a certain bookstore — but I couldn't believe it!)
A: Where did that rumor even come from…? That's a complete fabrication. If I recall correctly, Mr. Ohkawa Ryuuho's real name is Nakagawa, anyway… rumors can be such troublesome things…
Q: Everyone in CLAMP has such a polite way of speaking. Were you all perhaps brought up as proper ladies in rich families? (Maybe daughters of company presidents!?)
A: We're not! (laughs)
Q: Please tell us what CD you like to listen to while working, CLAMP-sensei!
A: We usually listen to whatever's close at hand. I guess our favorite right now is the Calbee potato chips commercial song (by Kondo Fusanosuke and Oda Tetsurou).
Q: Can you recommend us a recent TV program?
A: I guess that'll be Anata Dake ga Mienai[3] (Fuji TV). (laughs) The twists and turns in each episode are so wild, we can't take our eyes off it.
Q: I heard that Mokona-san makes clothing and accessories together with Nekoi-san and Igarashi-san. Have you ever taken any specialist courses for it?
A: We don't have any specialist training at all. However, our mothers used to make clothing for us, and we're just doing it by mimicking what they did.
Q: You're always so polite that everyone gives off the impression of being very modest and humble… why do you always treat us with so much humility?
A: Though you are all readers who follow our stories, at the end of the day, we've met only a few of you face to face. That's why we thought that it'd be rude to act overly familiar…and it seems natural to use polite speech even if we're talking to someone younger. I-is that strange…?
Q: I heard this from the changing room at a certain convention, but is there any truth to the rumor that Mokona Apapa-san of the much-talked about CLAMP group used to be called 'Mokomoko' and cosplayed as 'Ace Shimizu' from Seikima-II? Please tell me! I've been losing sleep over just that one thought!
A: That's also completely false! But really, where did all these baseless rumors come from…? It's true that I'm a fan of Seikima-II, but I was never called 'Mokomoko' or cosplayed as 'Ace Shimizu'. And as far as Seikima-II goes, I'm a Kakka devotee anyway. (laughs) (-Mokona)
Q: Is it true that Nekoi Mick-sensei is actually married?
A: Oh, I wish…(laughs) But that rumor's false, too. (-Nekoi)
Q: Does CLAMP use the Osaka dialect or the Kyoto dialect in real life?
A: It's a mix of a lot of things. We speak the standard (?) dialect, and sometimes we use the dialects of our hometowns, so it's a hodgepodge.
Q: It's common for mangaka to be called "[something]-sensei", but do CLAMPers (I'd like to call you that from now on, if you're okay with it) feel awkward about being called 'sensei'?
A: We do. We'd rather have everyone just call us 'CLAMP'… and that's what we told people many times, but it seems that others (publishers and such) just can't do it that way… we don't really think that 'sensei' is a word anyone should use for a bunch of stooges like us, but…
RG Veda
Q: Is the title supposed to be read as 'Seiden' according to the kanji? Or are we supposed to follow the furigana and read it as 'RG Veda'?
A: It's supposed to be read as 'RG Veda'. For the record, though, CLAMP members also just call it 'Seiden' anyway. (laughs)
Q: How many volumes will RG Veda have?
A: We, uh, don't know that yet… (laughs)
Q: I've been wondering about this for a while, but what is that whorl thing above Kuyou's ears? Is it her hair? Is it her hair accessory?
A: It's her hair. (-Mokona)
Q: If Mokona-san and Ohkawa-san get married before RG Veda is completed, would the responsibilities of married life cause it to go 'unfinished' forever…? (I'd like to believe that it isn't so…!)
A: Honestly, Nekoi and Igarashi getting married would put RG Veda in the same danger, too, it's not just Mokona and Ohkawa. (laughs) In any case, as long as the series isn't finished, we'd make sure that we get to keep writing it even if we get married. Everything else depends on The Circumstances of The Publisher…(laughs)
Q: Kaara-san said that 'the king left Shuratou to me for safekeeping in the final battle, knowing that he would die', but Hiten Muma II depicts Ashura-ou in battle with the Shuratou sword. What does that mean…?
A: Please find out in future installments of RG Veda. (laughs)
Q: Does Zouchouten-sama have a wife or children?
A: No children, but he does have a wife.
Q: What will Zouchouten be doing next?
Q: Why is Ashura's gender undefined?
Q: Why are Kuyou's eyes always closed? Is she blind?
A: She had to sacrifice her sight in order to become a Stargazer, so now she keeps her eyes closed.
Q: Why do RG Veda characters often have these billowing clothes around them in the illustrations?
A: Because the picture looks lonely with empty spaces. (laughs) (-Mokona)
Q: It seems like the Ashura tribe in general is genderless, but why did Ashura-ou take Shashi to wife, then? And they had children together! How did they have children if they're genderless?
A: It's not that the entire Ashura tribe is genderless (Ashura is a special case), and Ashura-ou is properly 'male'.
Q: What is that thing on Kaara's and Shashi's foreheads?
A: Those are 'ornaments' for the faces on the Shuratou sword. As for how they're used, please refer to RG Veda Volume 3.
Q: Each volume of RG Veda has a couplet of Kuyou's Stargazing prophecy on its back cover. Do you plan for the volume with the prophecy's last line to be final volume?
A: That was our original plan, but at the rate the story is going right now it looks like that would be quite impossible.
Q: Does the fourth volume have a first print edition? (Considering that it got a reprint 5 days after it went on sale and everything…)
A: It does! The volume we have at CLAMP is from the first print run.
Q: Is Zouchouten-ojisan supposed to be the general of the 'East' or the 'South'?
A: We're sorry. There was a mistake during phototypesetting, so he was referred to as both the 'General of the South' and 'General of the East'. His correct title is 'General of the South'.
Q: Is Ryu-ou's father not going to appear?
A: He shows up in RG Veda Volume 5. (Even if it's only for 3 pages.)
Tokyo Babylon
Q: Is it true that Hokuto-chan is already married? Who's her partner?
A: …Where did that rumor even start? Hokuto is just 16, and she's single.
Q: Back in the first volume of Tokyo Babylon, Subaru-kun introduced himself as 'born and raised in Tokyo', but when you read the second volume it gives you a different impression. (It feels like a place that isn't Tokyo…) Is that just my imagination?
A: For that mystery, please look forward to our future installments. (laughs)
Q: I'd like to know why Subaru-kun isn't supposed to take his gloves off… Is it okay to ask about that? Please…?
Q: Why did the type of paper used for the cover change between Volume 1 and Volume 2?
A: We didn't really change it so much as correct it. The first volume of Tokyo Babylon used a different paper from what Ohkawa specified between its first and third print runs, so we asked them to change it back to what was intended. So the paper used from Volume 2 and the fourth print of Volume 1 onwards is the paper that it's supposed to use.
Q: What's going on with Subaru-kun's and Hokuto-chan's parents? Are they alive and well?
A: They're alive and well, for what it's worth, but they don't have much to do with the story so they're not going to make an appearance.
Q: What happened to the wet clothing that Subaru-kun wore in CLIME[4], from South Vol. 12?
A: They went into the washing machine at Seishirou-san's place.
Q: Why does Sakurazuka Seishirou-san have two birthdays? (CLAMP Brand Calendar '92 lists both April 1 and November 22 as 'Sakurazuka Seishirou's birthday'…)
Q: Are the glasses Seishirou-san wears fake glasses?
A: They have corrective lens, but only a tiny bit so. For the most part you can say that they're fake glasses.
Q: Subaru-kun is a boy and Hokuto-chan is a girl, so they must be fraternal twins! Yet they look very much identical. How did that happen?
A: Let's just call it a miracle… (laughs)
Q: Who came up with Subaru-kun and Hokuto-chan's clothing?
A: Mokona designed most of them, but sometimes Ohkawa, Nekoi and Satsuki pitched in with ideas, too.
Q: In "T.Y.O.", the story from Tokyo Babylon Vol. 0, Subaru saves a lady from the hatred bound in her Chanel suit. Right after saying 'We have to hurry and take it off…' he appeared very flustered. How did he deal with that situation, in the end?
A: He called her mother over and got her to take it off. (While going to a different room, of course.)
Q: Hokuto-chan's always wearing these fabulous (?) costumes, but what does she wear when she goes to school?
A: The school Hokuto goes to (CLAMP School) doesn't enforce a dress code, so what you see is exactly what she wears to school. (laughs)
Q: I heard that Hokuto-chan is dating someone, but what sort of person can catch up with Hokuto-chan!? Are they going to appear in the story as published in the magazine? (Please let them appear—! ♡)
A: Please wait for X.
Q: How does only one person make up the 'Assassin Clan of Sakurazukamori'? How does that work? And what sort of bet is the 'bet' that Subaru made with Seishirou-san long ago? What's the meaning of Subaru's gloves?
Q: Are the clothes in the Tokyo Babylon color illustrations all done using colored screentones?
A: Basically, yes. (-Mokona)
Q: Please tell us the structure of Subaru-kun's, Hokuto-chan's and Seishirou-san's families.
A: Subaru and Hokuto have their father, mother and grandmother. As for Seishirou-san, that's a secret. (His backstory is entirely different from the one described back in Shoten, so just to stay on the safe side, let's say he's not like that anymore.)
Q: After all the ruckus they made with the swirling winds crashing everywhere in their room, wouldn't Tokyo Babylon characters get complaints from their neighbours about the noise? (And they stuck a knife into the wooden flooring, too…)
A: Let's say that their room comes with soundproof walls… and as for the floor, as long as they fix it before they move out it should be okay…
Q: You see the initials 'T.Y.O.' in the title of the first story in Volume 1, and it's also on a belt (Volume 1) and on the chest (Volume 2), but what does T.Y.O. mean?
A: It's an abbreviation for Tokyo. In the same vein that New York is N.Y. and Washington is D.C., if we abbreviation Tokyo we'd get 'TYO'.
Q: This might sound a bit convoluted, but if the short story titled 'Tokyo Babylon' in Shoten Vol. 6 and the 'Call-A' chapter in Tokyo Babylon Volume 3 are both set in 1990… wouldn't that cause a conflict with Subaru-kun's age?
A: The Subaru-kun in Shoten and the Subaru-kun in Tokyo Babylon are different people. The other characters are also different from the version in Shoten, so we'd be happy if you could think of them as completely separate stories.
20 Mensou ni Onegai!!
Q: What is the relationship between Kobayashi Ryuusuke-kun and Takamori Ryuusuke-kun? Why is it that if Takamori-kun is half Japanese-half Russian, Kobayashi-kun would also be one? (That was stated in one volume of Shoten, if I recall correctly.) They can't possibly be brothers, can they?
A: We're sorry, but they're brothers. (laughs)
Q: Why is Akechi-sensei's surname not 'Ijuuin'? Was he adopted into a different family, or did Akira-kun's father change his surname when he got married?
A: Akira-kun's father changed his surname upon marriage.
Q: Shouldn't it be heavy for Akira-kun to carry both Utako-chan and the chest full of jewels in the colored title page for the final chapter (published in Comic GENKi magazine)? He seems to be smiling, but…
A: We'd like to think that he's doing his best to not let it affect him. (laughs)
Q: I bought the first edition of 20 Mensou ni Onegai!! Volume 2, and the Japanese title for Event 4 was 'The First Quarrel'. However, when I looked up the meaning of the English title ('Proposal') in a dictionary, it says that the word Proposal means "a request for marriage". Is that a printing mistake?
A: It's a printing mistake. From the third print run onwards, the Japanese title has been corrected to 'Propose'.
Q: In the chapter titled 'Proposal' in Volume 2, there's a scene where Utako-chan is talking to a friend in CLAMP School the day before her birthday (August 23rd). But wouldn't that make it the middle of summer break? She still went to school then?
A: The school stays open during the holidays on behalf of families with busy parents.
Q: What was the title of 20 Mensou ni Onegai!! when it first started running in Comic GENKI no Moto?
A: It started with "20 Mensou ni Omakase!" (Leave it to 20 Faces!) and became "20 Mensou ni Muchuu!" (Captivated by 20 Faces), changing from chapter to chapter. Starting from Chapter 3, they allowed us to consistently title the story as "20 Mensou ni Onegai!" ('Please, 20 Faces!', localized into English as 'Man of Many Faces'.)
Q: I won't ask you 'why 20 Faces has two mothers', but do you have any backstory written about that? Is there also any backstory to 'the reason why Kobayashi-kun is so overbearing'?
A: That's a secret. (laughs)
Q: When Ohkawa-san wrote the lyrics for the songs in 20 Mensou ni Onegai!!, did she write to music that's already supplied by the composer, or did she ask the composer to write music to fit the lyrics?
A: The lyrics were written after the music has been composed. Everyone does this differently, but I have issues with writing the lyrics first and then asking the composer to write something for it afterwards. It's always music first, then lyrics. (-Ohkawa)
Q: Can you tell us where you bought the clothes you used as reference materials for Utako-chan's clothing in the 'New Marriage' chapter? Could it possibly be 'CLAMP BRAND'? (I want one!)
A: It's an original design by Mokona, so I suppose we could call it 'CLAMP BRAND'.
Q: Combination just ended. Do you have any plans to write a sequel?
A: No, at least not at this time.
Q: Please tell us the blood types for Imounoyama Nokoru-kun and Takamura Suou-kun.
A: Nokoru is type AB, Suou is type O.
Q: How did you draw the buildings on the cover of Combination Volume 1?
A: That was a photocopy of photographs. Ohkawa specified it for use as part of the layout.
Q: The first chapter of Koi says that the female protagonist has a graduation diploma, but the second chapter has her saying 'I have school to go to, but I've came to this kind of place all of a sudden' (referring to the hotel pool). Why does she say that? She has a diploma, doesn't that mean she no longer has to go to school?
A: My school has students going back to it to complete their club and student council activities even after they've graduated… i-is that not normal…? (-Ohkawa)
Q: (Regarding South No. 12) Is it just me, or does the protagonist's hairstyle in the third chapter of Koi look very much like the one Ohkawa Nanase-san's SD character has? Could it be that Okazaki-san might be using Ohkawa-san as a model for the character? (Am I just overthinking everything?)
A: It surprised Okazaki-san, too, later on, but it's a complete coincidence. I didn't meet Okazaki-san in person at all from the day I cut my hair to the day the manuscript was completed, so when we saw the finished work, everyone at CLAMP ended up being really surprised… (-Ohkawa)
Q: Takeru-kun's family is dirt poor, it's amazing that he manages to attend CLAMP School.
A: He's a scholarship student, so he doesn't have to pay for the tuition.
Q: Who sponsors the 'School Defenders Duklyon'?
A: The General and the Chairman.
Q: What's going to happen in the romance between Erii and Sukibayashi?
A: Please look forward to our next installments. (laughs)
Q: Kentarou-kun always berates Shuukaidou-kun for having no sense of rhythm or for being bad at art, but when it comes to 'brains', who is the smarter of the two?
A: Kentarou is always just one place higher than Takeru when it comes to exams. (laughs)
Q: Are Duklyon's Erii-san and Erii the Ally of Justice the same person? Are they sisters? Could it be some sort of codename or just a nickname?[5]
A: Actually, it turns out that they're sisters.
Q: Does Sasaki Keiji-san always change the way he parts his hair to prevent himself from going bald?
A: Yes, that's exactly it! (dies laughing) (-Akiyama, Igarashi, Ohkawa, Nekoi, Mokona) Noo, that's not true! At all! (-Leeza)
Q: Is Imonoyama-SAMA actually a Japanese person?
Q: The character profiles in CLAMP News 6 list Takamura Suou-kun's position as 'secretary', but in CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, it's said that he is the 'vice president'. Which one is his real title?
A: We're sorry, that mistake is ours. Suou-kun's actual position is 'secretary'.
Q: Why does Yakko-chan's 'face' look so different between 20 Mensou ni Onegai!! and Combination?
A: Because those works were drawn by two different people! 20 Mensou ni Onegai!! was drawn by Mokona, and Combination was drawn by Leeza.
Q: I only noticed this oddness after I've read CLUSTER 1 over and over a dozen times, but during the scene in Vinlage where Gardinal hits Astor with a rock, Astor was first shown crouching behind Claire, and then on page 68 he was somehow standing in front of Claire. What's more, they were standing on the edge of a cliff, but when Naumi appeared they were shown to be standing a lot further in. How did that happen? Both scenes occurred in the blink of an eye, and I was just thinking 'would even the Queen of Rah have something like an 'instant teleportation' skill'?
A: Let's just say that it was an instant teleportation skill. (laughs) (-Akiyama)
Q: X, the new series, seems to have most CLAMP characters appearing in it (I'm really really looking forward to it, by the way!!) Will the characters from magazines that aren't published by Kadokawa (Wings and South) also make appearances, though? I want to see Ashura (though it's probably not possible) or Sumeragi Subaru-kun and Hokuto-chan there!
A: Characters from other magazines will also appear in the story. As for who's there, that's something for you to enjoy when it's out. (laughs)
Q: Just how many events are held in the CLAMP School in a given year?
A: As stated in CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, events are held whenever a student council member comes up with something they want to do, so they keep on adding events endlessly.
Q: The 'rough draft exhibit' is really going to happen, right!?
A: Y-yes, it'll happen just fine.
Q: Have you found the screentone knife you've been looking for?
A: Thanks to the help we received from everyone, we'll be fine for a year or so, but at the end of the day, it's an item that already went out of production. When we run out of what we have right now, we'll still have to go find a new brand that works for us.
Q: Cutting right to the point–where was Koi wa Tenka no Mawarimono (Loves Makes the World Go Round) published?
A: It's in the final volume of a magazine called SERiE (Hakusensha). At this point, it hasn't been collected anywhere.
Q: How many days does it take you to finish a chapter for a commercial magazine, on average?
A: It varies from work to work. RG Veda chapters are 32 pages each, and it usually takes us about a week to finish it after the storyboard is done. Tokyo Babylon is 50 pages per chapter, and it takes us about 8 days post-storyboarding. CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan is 50 pages and takes us 7 days. Gakuen Tokkei Dukylon is 20 pages, it takes 4 days. For X, there are 60 pages each chapter, and it takes us about 10 days to finish after the storyboarding is done.
Q: Back when Monthly Asuka was all going, 'we're giving you a CLAMP BRAND CALENDAR '92 as a New Year's present!!!' they mentioned a fanclub for CLAMP-sensei. What were they talking about?
A: The editorial department just had a misunderstanding, that's all.
Q: What do you use as reference material for the clothes, shoes, gloves, hats, and other items that the characters wear in CLAMP works? (If you decide to make and sell those things, I'm sure everyone would buy it! They're such fantastic designs, after all.)
A: Some of them were inspired by real-life pieces, but most of them are original designs by Mokona.
A: Inuko-san the dog appears in many CLAMP works. Are all those dogs the same 'Inuko' character (animal?) though? Or is it more like, every dog just happens to be like Inuko-san?
A: All of them are the same 'Inuko-san'.
Q: What screentone brands do you use at CLAMP?
A: We use I.C.'s and Letraset's.
A: Is it just me, or are there a lot of twins in CLAMP works?
A: I don't think there are so many that you can call it 'a lot', but… m-maybe there really are a lot of them? We don't do it consciously… but sometimes it's just that we end up using twins because it's easy to depict contrasts with them… (-Ohkawa)
Q: Is there such a thing as an official CLAMP fanclub?
A: No, there isn't.
Q: How long does it take for Ohkawa-san to write the lyrics to a song?
A: It depends on the song. The two songs recorded in Tokyo Babylon CD Comic took about 2 hours each, as for 20 Mensou ni Onegai!!, Shining Star and Dream Star all took about an hour each. Koi Hodo Suteki na Musical ga Nai (There's No Musical As Splendid as Love) took as long as 3 hours, though, because things were a bit rough at the time.
Q: I couldn't make out the poem written on the big poster given away with South No. 12 very well. Can you tell us what the words are?
A: 'Drenched in darkness, the hazy moon glows scarlet with the red of blood. A flower of midnight unravels on the skin, blossoming without ever bearing fruit.'[6] That's the text. Ohkawa composed the poem, and Mokona wrote it down on the poster.
Q: What sort of meaning do you have in mind when you name the characters? Please tell us, especially for Sumeragi Subaru-kun.
A: There are characters with meaningful names and there are characters whose names just don't mean anything. Subaru, Hokuto and Seishirou are all star-related names. 'Subaru' is a strange name because it can be read with only one kanji, and that's why we decided to go with it. Other characters are sometimes named after our friends, or people in our families. Only 'Kamui' and 'Fuuma' from X have special meanings to their names, but as for what they are, you'll have to see for yourself when the story is published. (laughs) (-Ohkawa)
Q: Have you ever given characters in your works funny nicknames that don't appear in the work itself? (e.g. something like Kenpii or Takepon) If you have, can you tell us what some of those names are?
A: Hashiba-san is 'Hashibaan'. Sasaki is 'Chokkin'. Subaru is 'Subako'. Kendappa-ou is 'Kei-chan'. Yasha-ou is 'Yashako'. There are a lot of other names, too. It's annoying to call every character by their full names when we're working on our manuscript, so we often make those names useful by saying things like 'put the screentone on Subako'.
Q: It's almost time for Valentine's Day. Have you ever received any presents (other than chocolate) addressed to the characters?
A: We've gotten a bottle of bourbon for Hashiba. Akira-kun got some chocolate bonbons for himself, and Subaru got some extra pairs of gloves.
Q: Which character got the biggest pile of Valentine's Day chocolate?
A: For Valentine's Day 1991, the 'For All of CLAMP' pile was the biggest by far!
Q: Do you have any plans to create a fanclub at all?
A: Not an official one nor any fanclub that we manage ourselves, no.
Q: Is the ERI-san who sang Willing and Eien no Fuukei for Souryuuden the same person as the ERIE-san who sang for Tokyo Babylon CD Comic?
A: They're completely different people.
Q: Do you have any plans to publish sheet music for the songs in the media mix projects? (e.g. Dancin' in Babylon and Lost in My Blue, etc.)
A: Not at the moment, no.
Q: Do the stories in CLAMP works happen at different times, or do they all happen 'in the present'?
A: They do happen at different times.
Q: 'Class Z' is a special class in CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, but what about the other classes!? Most of the characters so far are from Class Z, aren't they? Could it be that only normal (?) people are allowed to attend the other classes…?
A: Not at all, it's just that with how the characters are supposed to interact with each other, we just ended up putting most of them in Class Z… though, Takahashi Seigi-kun from Koi wa Tenka no Mawarimono is a fifth year primary school student in Class A.
Q: When (or where) do you find the inspiration for the stories?
A: When I'm sitting in front of the word processor (as the deadline looms closer and closer), I guess. (laughs) (-Ohkawa)
Q: Is there any plans to collect the Fantasy and From CLAMP articles you did for the junior high daily papers into a book?
Q: Recently, Mokona-san's works have been drawn with increasingly thicker lines. Is there a reason? The character's faces have much thicker lines in the third volume of Tokyo Babylon compared to when the story first got serialized in South… are you okay!? I'm so worried!
A: We made the lines thicker so that it fits better with the nature of the work. When drawing a story with a serious, heavy theme, fine lines simply can't bring out enough power to convince readers of the gravitas, so we make thicker lines when it fits the work. (CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan just use heavier lines to make the characters stand out more, though.) Thicker lines, by the way, actually requires a lot more stamina and willpower to pull off than fine lines (in my case, anyway, it depends on the artist). So if the lines get 'thinner', that's actually a sign that I'm not doing well. Please don't worry about me! (-Mokona)
Q: How did you achieve the effect on page 96-97 of Tokyo Babylon Volume 2 and page 3 of Combination 1?
A: By reverse copying.
Q: CLAMP School looks like a star when seen from above. Is there a meaning to that?
A: That will be made clear in X.
Q: Does making a debut mean going to the publisher's offices?
A: It's different for everyone, but in our case, we brought the manuscript for RG Veda (60 pages, previously unshown) to Shinshokan ourselves.
Q: Is 'Inuko-san' single?
A: She's actually married. (There's actually a whole another story to this.)
Q: If there are books you used as reference for RG Veda and other stories, please tell us what they are.
A: To be honest, there aren't that many. To decide on the names in RG Veda, we read Mikkyou Jiten ('Dictionary of Esoteric Religions', published by Houzoukan), and that's about it.
Q: We know that X is a new series that will run in Monthly Asuka and that the majority of CLAMP characters will make an appearance, but will characters who haven't been in commercial magazines before appear as well?
A: Of course they will.
Q: CLAMP characters always have such good fashion sense! What kind of fashion magazine do you use for reference?
A: None especially. We usually dress our characters based on things that we own, or things that our friends and acquaintances wear. We do read a lot of informational magazines and fashion magazines on a personal basis, though.
Q: What kind of work does Nekoi Mikku-san's 'art direction' position entail? Can you give us a quick lowdown?
A: Making decisions about what kind of background to draw, what screentone to use, that sort of thing. Making decisions about the design of rooms, too. We call everything that isn't character work 'art direction' here at CLAMP, and that's what Nekoi's job is.
CLAMP Newspaper & Doujinshi Works
Q: I'm aware that CLAMP is putting doujin activities on hold as a circle. Do you have any plans to write doujinshi on your own as individuals, though?
A: Not at the moment. We all have our own workload, so we just don't have enough time or manpower to do anything else…
Q: I understand that you've lost the manuscript for the Shoten series so they can't be reprinted, but Volume 6 was released quite recently. I thought that you might still have the originals for those left. Can't that volume, at least, get a reprint?
A: We do retain partial manuscripts for some of our doujin works, true, but we'd have to re-edit and re-format it for printing, and doing all of that would a monumental amount of work. It would've rendered our decision to cease doujin activities in favor of commercial work completely pointless. And for that matter, Shinkyoku is the only doujinshi released under CLAMP that we still retain full manuscript for. Please be patient with us as we put our doujin activities on hold.
Q: Can we send our fan letters to the address written in the colophon (?) of CLAMP Newspaper?
A: Of course you can!
Q: Kaitzuka Nobuo-san and Hashiba Shigemi-san are supposed to be 'friends who are bad influences on each other'. Which of them is the worse person of the two?
A: The Hashiba who has a 'friend with bad influence' relationship with Kaitzuka is 'Ohkawa's Hashiba', and for that version of things, you can say that 'Ohkawa's Hashiba' definitely has the worse personality of the two. (laughs)
Q: Does winning a CLAMP Newspaper present once means that you will never be able to entire into any prize-giving contest again?
A: Anyone who's won a prize will be suspended from other prize activities for a given period, about 6 months. (Quizzes and other similar activities don't count.) We want as many people to feel the joy of winning a prize as possible, so we put this restriction in place to help more people be eligible for prizes. Thank you kindly for your understanding.
Q: I'd like to subscribe to 2 copies of CLAMP Newspaper at once, would that cause any trouble for you…? (Before, you've said that the subscriber count increasing led to you going into the red once.)
A: Thank you so much for your concern. We've found a company that allows CLAMP Newspaper Subscription System to manage subscriber lists and print out address cards cheaply now, so the burden on our end has been greatly lessened. We won't be going into the red because of this again, so please feel free to subscribe for as many copies as you want to.
Q: Does the subscriber number stand for our place in the subscriber count, from oldest to newest?
A: No, it's a 'random number' we assigned to each person, so there's no meaning to any given number. Other fanclubs and fanzines have had problems where arguments were made based on how 'new' someone's subscriber number is, or how someone's subscriber number has 'too many digits' before, so we decided to implement this system in order to avoid that sort of thing.
Q: What should I do if there's a misprint in my copy of CLAMP Newspaper?
A: For problems with pages being out of order or missing pages, etc., please send your copy to us and we'll send a replacement.
Q: You're really going to hold the 'rough draft exhibit', right!?
A: Y-yes, we will. It'll certainly happen sometime this year.
Q: Did Ohkawa-san write all of the text in CLAMP Newspaper, the cards, etc.?
A: Mostly, yes, but in special cases (e.g. a personal question, or something Ohkawa can't answer by herself), each of us would write our own text.
Q: Is there no way for us to pay for the subscription all at once? (Like when we're still loaded on the money from New Year's gifts, for instance…)
A: We've made it so that you can wire us the fee for '1 period' (6 months/3000 yen) or '2 periods' (1 year/6000 yen) now, for people with similar needs. Please check the 'CLAMP Newspaper Subscriber's Room' section of CLAMP Newspaper Pocket Edition for details.
Q: What sort of company is the 'M Company' from Emo-nyan to Ryuu-chan (Emo-nyan and Ryuu-chan) from CLAMP Newspaper Vol.8? (I can't help but see that shining symbol on top of their building as the mark of a certain sweets company…)
A: They're a jack of all trades agency. (laughs) They mainly do computer-related work (data management and software development), though they don't look like it.
Q: Maybe this is impatient of me since the series just started, but would Emo-nyan to Ryuu-chan be collected into a volume someday?
A: We haven't decided on that yet.
Thank you so much for participating in CLAMP Newspaper: Subscriber's Counseling Room (and apologies to everyone whose letter we weren't able to publish). We've decided to change things up this time around, so both people who got their letters published and those who didn't would all receive a postcard. Everyone who sent a letter to CLAMP Newspaper: Subscriber's Counseling Room would receive it in the mail by the middle of April. Please look forward to it.
Translated from Japanese by ET.
[1] Note: 163 cm is 5'4 and 160 cm is 5'3.
[2] Happy Science is a religious cult in Japan, and Ohkawa Ryuho is its founder. His birth name, indeed, is Nakagawa Ryuu.
[3] Apparently, it's a psycho suspense drama with occult tones, bizarre characters, lots of sudden twists and a high body count.
[4] This was most likely a typo. The correct chapter title is CRIME.
[5] The kanji used for Duklyon's Erii and the Ally of Justice Erii are different.
[6] Poetry is pretty difficult to translate without knowing the context, in this case the picture it's supposed to accompany. This should be a functional approximation, though.
This talk was originally published in the CLAMP News 9, released on February 1992. Original scans available upon request.
If you found mistakes in this translation or would like to contribute with translating other interviews, please contact me.
More CLAMP Interviews
Araki Hirohiko x Nekoi Tsubaki Special Talk – XXXHOLiC Official Guide Book (November/2006)
CLAMP Interview (2002)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 2 – CLOVER (October/2004)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 4 – ANGELIC LAYER (December/2004)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 4 – Magic Knight Rayearth (December/2004)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 5 – CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan (January/2005)
CLAMP Interview – Comickers magazine (June/1996)
CLAMP Interview – Magic Knight Rayearth Materials Collection (January/1996)
CLAMP Interview – Amusement Media Academy (September/2011)
CLAMP Interview – Ani-Wave magazine (July/2011)
CLAMP Interview – Anime Expo 2006 Focus Panel (July/2006)
CLAMP Interview – Anime Expo 2006 Press Conference (July/2006)
CLAMP Interview – Animedia magazine (May/2006) *INCOMPLETE*
CLAMP Interview – ASUKA August 1993 (June 1993)
CLAMP Interview – Card Captor Sakura Memorial Book (February/2001)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP IN WONDERLAND 1&2 1989~2006 〈PRECIOUS EDITION〉booklet (CLAMP IN WONDERLAND 2) (October/2007)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP IN WONDERLAND 1&2 1989~2006 〈PRECIOUS EDITION〉booklet (CLAMP IN WONDERLAND) (October/2007)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Eshigoto North Side (August/2002)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 10 – Gouhou Drug (June/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 10 – XXXHOLiC (June/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 11 – Shin Shunkaden (July/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 12 – Kobato (Temporary) – (August/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 2 – Watashi no Suki na Hito (October/2004)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 3 – Tokyo Babylon (November/2004)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 5 – 20 Mensho ni Onegai!! (January/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 5 – Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon (January/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 6 – RG Veda (February/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 7 – Chobits (March/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 7 – Suki. Dakara Suki (March/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 7 – Wish (March/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 9 – Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (May/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vol. 9 – Shirahime Syo (May/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vols. 1-2 – Card Captor Sakura (September-October/2004)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vols. 11-12 – Tsubasa – RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – (July-August/2005)
CLAMP Interview – CLAMP No Kiseki vols. 8-9 – X (April-May/2005)
CLAMP Interview – Manga: Masters of the Art (November/2005)
CLAMP Interview – Mantan Web (March/2011)
CLAMP Interview – Puff magazine (January/1997)
CLAMP Interview – Puff magazine (June/2004)
CLAMP Interview – Puff magazine (May/1996)
CLAMP Interview – Puff magazine (October/2000)
CLAMP Interview – Puff magazine July/2003 (July 2003)
CLAMP Interview – Tsubasa CARACTere CHRoNiCLE (December/2016)
CLAMP Interview – X ASUKA Compilation vol. 1 (October/2001)
CLAMP Interview – X ASUKA Compilation vol. 2 (December/2001)
CLAMP Talk – Magic Knight Rayearth Scenario Collection vol. 2 (November/1995)
CLAMP Tea Room Extra – ZINE-ROM CLAMP Gakuen Denshi Bunkou vol. 1 (December/1997)
CLAMP Tea Room Extra – ZINE-ROM CLAMP Gakuen Denshi Bunkou vol. 2 (May/1998)
CLAMP x Junko Wong talk – Me & My Blythe vol. 2 (February/2010)
CLAMP x Maaya Sakamoto talk – 0331 (January/2010)
CLAMP x Ohara Sayaka talk – Young Magazine (November/2007)
Mick Nekoi Q&A – CLAMP NEWS 5 (June/1991)
Mokona Apapa Q&A – CLAMP NEWS 6 (August/1991)
Nanase Ohkawa Interview (2001)
Nanase Ohkawa Interview – X [ZE∅RO] (2000)
Nanase Ohkawa Interview – Cybozu-shiki (November/2016)
Nanase Ohkawa Interview – Newtype USA – Chobits (March/2003)
Nanase Ohkawa Q&A – CLAMP NEWS 3 (February/1991)
Nanase Ohkawa x Hayato Matsuo talk – Magic Knight Rayearth Scenario Collection vol. 3 (December/1995)
Satsuki Igarashi Q&A – CLAMP NEWS 2 (December/1990)
Toshihiro Hirano x Nanase Ohkawa Talk – Magic Knight Rayearth Scenario Collection 1 (October/1995)
CLAMP community


After treatment, you will receive an invoice payable to Cascade Hygiene. Along with personalized notes and recommendations, your invoice will have the procedure codes relating to your treatment and all of the information required if you are planning to submit it to your insurance carrier for reimbursement. You have one year to submit a claim, and you should be reimbursed according to your individual plan.
We provide a full dental hygiene care plan for each patient. Our fees vary based on each patient's specific dental hygiene needs. If you do not have dental insurance, as most folks do not because the cost of a few cleanings a year is far less than a typical premium, you will find our fees to be very affordable compared to any brick and mortar dental office. Because we are a mobile unit with lower overhead and fewer employees, our rates average about 25-30% lower than a traditional dental office.
Paypal is the most secure way to pay online and we proudly offer this service for your convenience.
To arrange another payment method, please call (360) 362-0150 or email cascadehygiene@gmail.com.
Cascade Hygiene believes that you should be able to use the insurance you may already be paying for. Please check with your insurance provider to see if mobile dental cleanings are covered. Most major carriers provide these benefits and make the reimbursement process fairly simple. When checking your benefits, you may need to explain to your insurer that you are unable to use another provider because you are unable to travel to a traditional dental office. Cascade Hygiene is the only mobile dental service that will travel to you.
Please note, Cascade Hygiene does not directly bill dental insurers. You will pay Cascade Hygiene, then send a copy of our invoice to your dental insurance company, and you may be reimbursed at the coverage level provided by your insurer.
Going the extra mile to save a smile!


The Powertap P1 pedal powermeter set is a simple , intelligent and gives the same proven Powertap accuracy and reliability. Easily mounts to any crank.
The item "PowerTap P1 Dual Power Meter Pedals With Dual Band Ant+ & Bluetooth Smart" is in sale since Thursday, January 10, 2019. This item is in the category "Sporting Goods\Cycling\Bike Components & Parts\Power Meters". The seller is "judyw592012" and is located in Washington. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand.


Janet Willford teaches Speech and Debate and Leadership. But stating what she teaches doesn't come close to describing what Janet does. She chaperones at dances, attends rallies and accompanies students on field trips. Her fellow teachers tell us that Janet can be found on campus well after every teacher has left the building. On Saturdays she is at Speech and Debate contests from 6:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
In addition, she led three two-week youth service trips to Costa Rica.


text:
The gap is still huge in TVET
Dawa retired from "government service" as a skilled mechanic. Life became better after retirement. He started a vehicle-recovery business and bought a tow truck. The business is thriving and his two sons dropped out of school to follow in his footsteps.
"What guarantee is there for a job?" asks one of the sons who dropped out of high school to help his father. He can operate several machines besides driving and operating the recovery truck.
Unlike Dawa's sons, who see him as a good mechanic, not many would be able to recognize the blue-collar skills of a father, even if it is lucrative. Even fewer would accept that not every student will become a university graduate or land a government job.
Training people as skilled workers is recognised as an urgent intervention amidst the record-breaking unemployment rate among the youth. A lot of time and resources have been spent on reviving technical and vocational education. The reforms have yet to make an impact on the ground.
The call for private sector inclusion in the TVET reform, therefore, comes as an opportunity to give a new sense of urgency and direction. It is the sector that needs skilled people. It is they who know best what is needed and they who will be the biggest employers.
If those who are willing are skilled, it could solve the two biggest problems the country is facing: a shortage of skilled workers and unemployment. The Gelephu business may only be talking about mechanics or technicians in businesses they are investing in, but the need for skilled people was laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even as we write this, desperate contractors are applying for foreign workers as construction projects are delayed or put on a complete halt. All quarantine hotels in Phuentsholing are full and contractors are ready to keep workers in star-rated hotels at a much higher cost. In the meantime, the handful of local workers available are either expensive or not interested. At a construction site, Bhutanese youth work from 9am to 5pm, the standard office hours Bhutanese are used to.
At the heart of the problem is the mismatch of skills and jobs, which, ironically, was identified decades ago. Lack of skills in working advanced machinery, the concern the private sector representatives pointed out, is not a new problem. We all knew it and there were studies to validate what we knew. Yet, we are still talking about the same old issue.
If we are serious about training skilled people, we should take another look at how we do it. For instance, technical training institutes should be equipped with SUVs like Toyota Prados or Kia Seltos. These are the vehicles plying on our roads and need services. An instructor at a training institute summed up the mismatch when he said that ministers drive by his institute in computer-operated vehicles, while he trains his students on 1960s HMT (Hindustan machines tools). It may be an exaggeration, but it is also a representation of how technical training institutes are managed.
The private sector, whether an automobile workshop, a furniture house, or a real estate business, have embraced fast-changing technology. It is the need of the hour. If an intern at an automobile workshop learns his trade on an old Mahindra jeep, he will not be able to replace a part on a Toyota Prado. The same applies to other professions.
Reforming the TVET sector without understanding the realities on the ground will be difficult. It is, however, happening at a time when a good skill may be worth more than an academic qualification.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Disney World Parks
Walt Disney World Parks are the backbone of the Walt Disney World Resort. They are the attractions draw us to Florida. In fact Disney is what turned Orlando from a sleepy little tourist trap Florida town into the meg-gigantic tourist trap Florida city that it is today.
The Magic Kingdom is the star theme parks both in Orlando and around the world. The other parks are really good. You can see the world and take a ride all the way to Mars in EPCOT, you can dream about being in the movies (and ride some really great rides) at Disney Hollywood Studios, and you can spend a day with nature at Animal Kingdom. Plus you have two of the coolest water parks on the planet. The Disney World Parks are truly a place where you can have a Perfect Walt Disney World Vacation.
The Magic Kingdom – Where it all began
The Magic Kingdom is the original Walt Disney World Park. In fact, a lot of people say Disney World when they mean The Magic Kingdom. Disney World opened in October of 1971 to large crowds that were drawn to the attractions and the crowds continue to this day.
Every year, The Magic Kingdom is the number one tourist attraction in the world in terms of visitors.
The Magic Kingdom is divided into "lands". Each land has a unique theme. The lands are;
Main Street USA – The entrance to The Magic Kingdom. Modeled after Walt's boyhood home.
Fantasyland – A place of Princesses and magic. Full of timeless classic attractions.
Liberty Square – The birth of the United States is heralded.
Frontierland – Westward Ho. See the wild, wild west in action.
Adventureland – Step into the tropical, exotic home of pirates and tiki gods.
Tomorrowland – The future that never was and should be.
Disney calls The Magic Kingdom "The Most Magical Place on Earth". I can't argue with them.
Dad's Magic Kingdom page
EPCOT – Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow
Explore the future of cities, that was Uncle Walt's dream for EPCOT. But alas, Uncle Walt died and EPCOT didn't turn out like Walt planned. The Imagineers planning EPCOT struggled for a long time, arguing between two totally different concepts. Finally they pushed the 2 models together and EPCOT was born.
The 3 models are
Future World – see tomorrow's technology today
World Showcase – take a tour around the world in jus t one day (good food too)
Today EPCOT is the most diverse of the Disney World Parks. It's also the most educational. Every pavilion was developed with an educational purpose.
Dad's EPCOT page
Disney Hollywood Studios – The Hollywood that never was
Walk through a working movie studio. That was the original concept of Disney Hollywood Studios. At one time it even included a working animation studio with glass windows where you could actually watch artists creating Disney animation movies.
Somewhere along the line all of that went away. The animators are gone and replaced by an animation training studio. Today's Disney Hollywood Studios is a fictionalization of the movie industry. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun, but real movies aren't made here anymore.
Dad's Disney Hollywood Studios page
Animal Kingdom – The Zoo of Dreams
Disney's Animal Kingdom is an amazing place. Is it a theme park or a zoo? The best answer to that question is, yes, it's both. Disney has created a hybrid theme park. They've take a zoo and added great attractions and shows and come up with a truly unique experience.
The shows are out of this world. Of course the Lion King is spectacular, but only Disney can find a way to turn fish being caught into a great musical. Check it out at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Not only the shows but the rides shine too. You've got a great new roller coaster and a true animal experience. Don't miss it.
Dad's Animal Kingdom page
Blizzard Beach – Snow Skiing in Florida?
A freak snow storm in Florida. Someone spends a billion bucks and develops a ski resort. Pretty far fetched. But it's a great introduction into the most imaginative Disney World Park.
Disney's Blizzard Beach is a great water park. Even the Travel Channel lists it as one of the top 5 water parks in the country. Summit Plummet is one of the most celebrated water slides ever built. Take your sun glasses and your sunscreen and head to the slopes.
Dad's Blizzard Beach page
Typhoon Lagoon – Do hurricanes reach …
Enough of the freak storms already. Who really believes that a hurricane could hit Orlando and bring a fishing boat all this way. What? A hurricane really did hit Orlando? You gotta be kidding. OK, so it really happened, how many fishing boats were planted on top of pseudo mountains? Yeah, take that.
Typhoon Lagoon is a great place to relax and soak up some sun. There are a bunch of great water slides, places for kids of all ages, and you can swim with sharks (for real.)
Dad's Typhoon Lagoon page
You can keep up with the happenings at the parks on Dad's Disney World Parks blog.
The Disney World Parks are the number 1, 2, 3 and 4 tourist attractions in the world. There is a good reason for that. They really must be experienced.
disney world hours
disney world crowds


text:
Chuckie Schumer and the Bureaucratic Berlin Wall
By Scott Lazarowitz
Recently by Scott Lazarowitz: Ron Paul vs. The Real 'TinfoilHat'Crowd
If Hitler had won the war, we'd all be speaking German now.
~ a typical interventionist warmonger
We don't have to worry about some Hitler invading America and turning this into a dictatorship, because that is what we already have now. And worse.
They're really all the same now: Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, East Germany, North Korea … and now, the USSA.
It is of no surprise to me that the same kinds of warmongers – from Honest Abe Lincoln waging war against secessionists and Fascist Delano Roosevelt's internment camps to Dubya and Obama's "anti-terror" (i.e. anti-due process, anti-civil liberties) wars – are those who do as much as they can to steal what private wealth they can and enslave the people's labor.
In addition to the "Enemy Expatriation Act," an act proposed by Sen. Joe Lieberman that would remove citizenship from terror suspects not convicted, now the clown's fellow moonbat-fascist Senator Chuckles Schumer proposes to punish people who renounce their American citizenship and move to countries with less wealth-confiscation powers. This is in response to Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's move to Singapore and his September, 2011 U.S. citizenship renunciation.
So, besides all the anti-due process policies these people in Washington have been inflicting on Americans since 9/11, in their desperate attempts to steal as much wealth as they can from others, they will go after their tax-theft victims who attempt to flee the country.
But, as the Daily Bell noted, "governments don't need taxes anymore. Why do you need to extract funds from citizens when you print all the money you want anyway?"
So really, it isn't as much that Chuckles feels the U.S. government needs even more of people's money, it's the attitude of envy and covetousness by the socialists who rule over us: "How dare you leave the country and take your own property with you?"
And another provision that the lowlifes propose is to never allow these expats to return to the U.S. Now, what a childish display of overt resentment! Talk about ignoramuses with an utter lack of understanding of what freedom is all about.
It is actually these senators who don't belong in America. They need to grow up, and stop persecuting Americans who earned and acquired their wealth through hard work, honest investment, and being the actual producers of society! (What, exactly, have Joe Lieberman and Chuckles Schumer actually produced for others, or services they have actually provided to others, except for feeding off the public trough?)
What clinging government bureaucrats like Lieberman and Schumer remind me of are those parents and school administrators who panic if they see a child playing alone in a playground or park while the parent goes into a store. Or when police see a child or pre-teen kid walking home alone from school, and actually seize the child and take him home in the cruiser. Have you heard those stories?
We live in a very clinging, perverted society now in which the idea of independence and freedom is to be shunned, as the smothering, narcissistic adults can't bare to let the kids have their own space, live by their own free will, and become independent from their authorities.
In the same way, the State's proclaimed ownership of the people and their labor keeps the people enslaved and imprisoned. And it's sick.
Another thing that envious, fascist senators here remind me of is the enforcement during the 19th Century of the Fugitive Slave Laws. If a slave ran away to his freedom, which was his right to have, this law (which Honest Abe Lincoln supported, by the way) mandated that the slave be captured and brought back to his "owner," and without anything resembling due process. It also punished severely anyone who had helped or sheltered the runaway slave.
Well, this is very much like what these clinging slave masters in Washington are doing, and not just to wealthy American expats, but to the rest of us poor slobs, as well.
Well, I would like to ask Chuckles Schumer: Who is actually driving away these ex-patriots? Why are they leaving America? And who is it that is driving away American businesses to offshore locations? Is it really just their greed? After all, the real greed is on the part of government bureaucrats who can't get enough of other people's wealth, and who can't get enough from markets through illicit means while virtually exempting themselves from laws the rest of us must obey.
Or is it the American consumers who are driving away these expats? Is their patronage so overwhelming to businesses and thus scaring them away? Nope. It's these damn government bureaucrats.
It is these government bureaucrats and their tyrannical tentacles that are pushing people out of the U.S.
People are trying to escape now from this Prison State. The wealthy ones are lucky if they actually can get out. But many of us do not have the wealth and can't afford any big moves, or some people have medical issues which make a big move impossible. So, many of us will have to suffer in the near future because these bureaucrats in Washington are turning America into a Nazi-Soviet concentration camp.
The truth is, no one should have his citizenship renounced or revoked more than these covetous, clinging senators. It would be very difficult for anyone to be more un-American than these senators.
But this wealth-covetousness-clingingness is not all: Not only are these criminals trying to make it difficult via taxation for someone to escape the Amerikan Prison State with one's own wealth that one rightfully acquired, but they are also making it difficult to leave via draconian bureaucratic means.
The State Department may not have yet approved the proposed passport application form DS-5513, which would require the memory, research and disclosure of personal information about one's entire life history (including facts about, yes, one's circumcision, for instance). But our right to freedom of travel, the right to leave and return to our homes as we please, has apparently already been restricted by the State Department's illegal use of another, similarly intrusive form, and because of that some people have already been denied a passport.
Requested on these forms is information about you and your family members that most people could not possibly remember. It is an unbelievable Bureaucratic Berlin Wall that is being designed to keep the people inside the prison to exist on behalf of those covetous, sadistic slave masters in Washington.
Even the drones now that the federal and local governments are using to act as surveillance-spies (to make sure no one can escape alive) are not necessary, as those bureaucratic forms will be enough. All it will take to prevent someone's escape from the U.S. government's imprisonment is some lowly, scar-faced bureaucrat in some DC office stamping "Application Denied." (Drones not needed, but the treasonous criminal bureaucrats will use them anyway.)
Yes, the Gestapo senators who hate America and who hate freedom really are turning the United States into Nazi Germany, East Germany, and the Soviet Union.
"If we didn't win World War II, we'd all be speaking German now"?
No, we wouldn't be speaking German now, but we are living in Nazi Germany. No, not because of invasion from Nazis, but because of the foreign regime that has occupied Washington, DC for 150 years that has turned the guns on the American people.
The Best of Scott Lazarowitz
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$bio: Scott Lazarowitz [send him mail] is a libertarian writer and commentator. Please visit his blog.
[0] => Scott Lazarowitz [send him mail] is a libertarian writer and commentator. Please visit his blog.
Scott Lazarowitz [send him mail] is a libertarian writer and commentator. Please visit his blog.
Previous article by Scott Lazarowitz: Ron Paul vs. the Real 'Tinfoil Hat' Crowd
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Tag Archives: D.C. Circuit
Gorsuch and the CFPB
Posted on February 1, 2017 by David Reiss
Judge Gorsuch
Bankrate.com quoted me in Supreme Court Pick Could Spell Trouble for the CFPB. It opens,
President Donald Trump's first Supreme Court pick has been identified as the "most natural successor" to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whom he would replace.
Neil Gorsuch, 49, a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, is said to share many of Scalia's beliefs and his judicial philosophy. That could tip the high court back toward the 5-4 conservative split it held during controversial cases prior to Scalia's death, although Justice Anthony Kennedy will remain a liberal swing vote on certain social issues before the court.
Gorsuch's big judicial decisions have favored religious freedom over government regulation and state's rights over the power of the federal government.
But how might that impact consumers or their wallets directly?
"I think with a judge like Gorsuch, you can see there probably will be a tendency in that direction to dissuade innovation," says David Reiss, a law professor at Brooklyn Law School and the academic program director for the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship.
That could mean the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose unique management structure a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last fall called unconstitutional, could face an obstacle on the bench should the legal fight over its construction ever reach the Supreme Court.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote the majority opinion for the D.C. circuit panel, said because this independent agency is headed by a director whom the president cannot fire at will – and not, say, a set of commissioners like other agencies within the government – it is a threat to individual liberty.
"In short, when measured in terms of unilateral power, the director of the CFPB is the single most powerful official in the entire U.S. government, other than the president," Kavanaugh wrote. "In essence, the director is the president of consumer finance."
How Gorsuch May Rule
Supporters of the bureau are trying to get a hearing before the full U.S. Court of Appeals, but the issue could well wind up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court – that is if Congress doesn't take action first.
Legal scholars say should Gorsuch win Senate confirmation he is unlikely to look favorably on the bureau's structure.
Indeed, Gorsuch is likely to "echo the views of Judge Kavanaugh," Melissa Malpass, senior legal editor for consumer regulatory finance at Thompson Reuters Practical Law, said in an email.
"Judge Gorsuch, through recent decisions, has expressed his disfavor with permitting government agencies to not only determine what the law is, but also to interpret and re-interpret the law as they see fit, often based on the political climate," Malpass says.
If the Supreme Court were to uphold the Kavanaugh ruling, it "may, in effect, destroy the CFPB as we know it, and that will have an effect on consumers," Reiss says.
Not everyone, though, thinks restructuring the CFPB as a commission-led agency like the Federal Communications Commission, for example, would be bad for consumers.
Gorsuch's Path to the High Court
Democrats, still stung over the Senate's refusal to consider Merrick Garland, then-President Barack Obama's pick to succeed Scalia, could try to block Gorsuch's nomination. Under current Senate rules, at least eight Democrats will need to cross the aisle to prevent a filibuster of the appointment.
Gorsuch, who was confirmed for his current post in 2006 by Senate voice vote, has won widespread acclaim in Republican circles. He also received a vote of confidence from a former Obama administration official.
"I think the Democrats are going to ask questions to determine if the nominee is outside what they call the political mainstream," Reiss says. "We know this battle will be a brutal one, almost definitely because of the treatment of Merrick Garland's nomination under the Obama administration."
Posted in CFPB	| Tagged 10th Circuit, agency, Anthony Kennedy, Bankrate, Brett Kavanaugh, Brooklyn Law School, Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship, Cetera, CFPB, commission, confirmation, conservative, consumer finance, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumers, Cordray, Court of Appeals, CUBE, D.C. Circuit, Democratic, Denver, Director, Director Cordray, Federal Communications Commission, federal government, filibuster, Gorsuch, independent agency, innovation, judicial philosophy, Kavanaugh, Kennedy, liberal, Melissa Malpass, Merrick Garland, Mike Cetera, nominee, Obama, political mainstream, Practical Law, president of consumer finance, regulation, Reiss, religious freedom, Republican, Reuters, Scalia, Senate, states' rights, Supreme Court, Thompson, Thompson Reuters Practical Law, Trup, unconstitutional, voice vote, wallet
Business as Usual with the CFPB
Law360 quoted me in CFPB Remains Strong Despite DC Circ. Single-Director Ruling (behind paywall). It reads, in part,
A blockbuster D.C. Circuit ruling Tuesday declaring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's single-director leadership structure unconstitutional is unlikely to have a major effect on the bureau's day-to-day operations and may make it easier for the agency to fend off critics who claim it lacks accountability, experts say.
The 110-page ruling from a split three-judge panel not only decried the leadership structure that Congress gave the CFPB in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, but made a change that allows the president to dismiss the bureau's director at will, in a case that saw a $109 million judgment against PHH Corp. overturned. That move should provide the CFPB with more direct oversight, the D.C. Circuit said.
The change also does not touch the CFPB director's power to issue rules and enforcement actions and oversee appeals of any administrative actions that the bureau brings. And because of that, the CFPB will not have to change much of what it does despite the harsh words in the opinion, said Frank Hirsch, the head of Alston & Bird's financial services litigation team.
"I don't think that the D.C. Circuit opinion was intended to create fundamental differences. I think the fact that the director can be dismissed at will now is the only substantive change," he said.
Tuesday's hotly anticipated ruling laid out in stark language many of the concerns that Republicans in Congress, the consumer financial services industry and other critics have long stated about the CFPB's structure.
PHH was appealing the bureau's $109 million disgorgement order over allegations the company referred consumers to mortgage insurers in exchange for reinsurance orders with its subsidiaries and reinsurance fees. The conduct, according to the CFPB, violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
Included in PHH's appeal was a constitutional challenge to the CFPB's structure.
The opinion, written by U.S. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, laid out the potential dangers of giving one person the amount of authority that is vested in the CFPB director.
Judge Kavanaugh said that the bureau as constructed, with a single director that can only be fired for cause rather than the traditional multimember commission setup at independent regulatory agencies, vested too much power in one person to make decisions about new regulations, enforcement actions and appeals of those enforcement actions in administrative proceedings.
In its way, the CFPB director has authority rivaled only by the president, the decision said.
"Indeed, within his jurisdiction, the director of the CFPB can be considered even more powerful than the president. It is the director's view of consumer protection law that prevails over all others. In essence, the director is the President of Consumer Finance," Judge Kavanaugh wrote.
The judge also described at length why commissions were better for independent regulatory agencies than a single director, even though a single director can move more quickly on enforcement actions and rulemakings. Having a commission means that a director or chair will be constrained in their actions, potentially preventing abuses, the opinion said.
"Indeed, so as to avoid falling back into the kind of tyranny that they had declared independence from, the Framers often made trade-offs against efficiency in the interest of enhancing liberty," Judge Kavanaugh wrote.
Those words were welcomed by the CFPB's many critics.
"This is a good day for democracy, economic freedom, due process and the Constitution. The second-highest court in the land has vindicated what House Republicans have said all along, that the CFPB's structure is unconstitutional," Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.
Hensarling and other Republicans in Congress have long pushed to put a commission atop the CFPB, and legislation Hensarling has introduced to replace Dodd-Frank includes that change.
Backers of the CFPB have long rejected the argument that the bureau is unaccountable, noting that it is subject to notice and comment for rulemaking, its rules are subject to judicial and other reviews, and the director makes regular appearances before Congress.
But instead of installing a commission or eliminating the CFPB altogether because of the constitutional issue, as had been requested by PHH and other, largely conservative activist groups who filed amici briefs, Judge Kavanaugh simply severed the portion of Dodd-Frank that said the bureau's director could be fired only for cause.
The result is that now the CFPB director is subject to the same employment standard as a cabinet secretary, and can be fired at the president's whim.
"The president is a check on and accountable for the actions of those executive agencies, and the president now will be a check on and accountable for the actions of the CFPB as well," Judge Kavanaugh said, adding that all of the CFPB's previous decisions taken by its current director, Richard Cordray, remained in place.
But even with that uncertainty hanging over the bureau, it is unlikely that the ruling will have much of an effect on the way the CFPB currently operates.
"The industry and consumer advocates can expect to see much of the same," said David Reiss, a professor at Brooklyn Law School.
Posted in CFPB	| Tagged Alston & Bird, Brett Kavanaugh, Brooklyn Law School, business as usual, CFPB, CFPB Remains Strong Despite DC Circ. Single-Director Ruling, check, checks and balances, commission, Congress, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumer financial services, Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, democracy, Democrats, disgorgement, Dodd Frank, due process. Constitution, economic freedom, enforcement, Evan Weinberger, Framers, Frank Hirsch, Hensarling, Kavanaugh, Law360, mortgage insurers, Obama, PHH, PHH Corp., President, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, reinsurance, Reiss, Republicans, RESPA, rulemaking, supervision, United States Court of Appeals, Warren Cordray
Testing CFPB's Constitutionality
Law360 quoted me in PHH Case Poised To Test CFPB's Constitutionality (behind a paywall). It opens,
A battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's interpretation of mortgage regulations in assessing a $109 million penalty against a New Jersey-based mortgage firm has morphed into a fight over the authority vested in the bureau's director that could reshape the consumer finance watchdog, experts say.
The appeal from PHH Corp. to the D.C. Circuit originally centered on CFPB Director Richard Cordray's decision to dramatically hike a $6 million mortgage insurance kickback penalty issued by an administrative law judge against a company subsidiary, to the final, $109 million figure. But the judges hearing the case warned the bureau to prepare to answer questions at oral arguments Tuesday about language in the Dodd-Frank Act that says the president could remove the CFPB director only for cause, and about how the court should view an administrative agency led by a single director rather than the more typical commission structure.
Those questions have been hanging over the CFPB since its inception in the 2010 law, and if the D.C. Circuit rules against the bureau, that could fundamentally alter the way the bureau operates, said Jonathan Pompan, a partner at Venable LLP.
Cordray "is potentially going to have to address questions that go to the core of his authority, which really hadn't been at the forefront of the PHH case until now," he said.
Challenges to the CFPB's constitutionality are not new. Everything from the bureau's single-director rather than commission structure to the agency's funding through the Federal Reserve's budget rather than the congressional appropriations process have been constant refrains for the CFPB's opponents.
Those concerns have been addressed through legislation aimed at curtailing the CFPB's power, and claims challenging the agency's constitutionality have been an almost pro forma rite of any litigation involving the bureau.
Up until now, however, those complaints and attempts to curb the CFPB have gone nowhere.
So it was a surprise when the D.C. Circuit last Wednesday told the bureau's attorneys to be prepared to face questions about whether Dodd-Frank's provision stating that the president can remove the CFPB director only for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office" passed constitutional muster.
The panel, made up of three Republican appointees led by U.S. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, is also seeking answers about potential remedies for any problems that that provision brings, including potentially removing it from the statute and allowing the president to remove the CFPB director without any specific cause.
The judges also want to know how any fix to the problem, if they determine there is one, would affect the CFPB director's authority.
"This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, idle thinking on their part," said David Reiss, a professor at Brooklyn Law School.
The questions being posed by the D.C. Circuit panel do not pose the same level of threat that the other constitutional challenges the CFPB could potentially face would, but it is certainly a more defining question than what most observers thought the case would be about.
PHH is challenging Cordray's interpretation of violations under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that allowed him to supersize a $6 million penalty handed down by an administrative law judge, to the $109 million that the CFPB director handed down when PHH appealed.
But the arguments set for Tuesday are expected to go far beyond that issue.
There will be the central question of whether the U.S. Constitution allows Congress to put in restrictions on when the president can fire officials at an administrative agency. The U.S. Supreme Court addressed these issues in the 2010 Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board decision, which affirmed a D.C. Circuit ruling that such protections were constitutional.
Judge Kavanaugh cast a dissenting vote in that case, stating that a president should not have to notify Congress as to why the director of an administrative agency is removed.
"If the challenges were going to be taken seriously anywhere, it was probably going to be this panel," said Brian Simmonds Marshall, policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform, which seeks tougher banking regulations.
Removing that provision from the statute, should the D.C. Circuit elect to do so, could limit the CFPB's independence, as well as that of other administrative agencies for which statute requires a reason for the dismissal of officials, he said.
"The CFPB doesn't have to check with the White House right now before it brings an enforcement action," Simmonds Marshall said.
Another case that will be heavily scrutinized will be a 1935 Supreme Court decision in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S., which allowed for restrictions on the removal of Federal Trade Commission commissioners.
The CFPB relied heavily on that case in its filings with the D.C. Circuit, noted Benjamin Saul, a partner at White & Case LLP.
"I'll be looking for the questions being driven by Judge Kavanaugh and his comments from the bench, particularly on the Humphrey's case," Saul said.
Whether the arguments focus mostly on the constitutional questions about the ability to remove the CFPB director or on remedies to fix that could also indicate where the court is headed on these questions, according to Reiss.
"It does sound that they're searching for remedies that are not earth-shattering remedies," Reiss said.
Posted in CFPB	| Tagged 2010 Free Enterprise Fund, 2010 Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, administrative agency, Americans for Financial Reform, Article II, Benjamin Saul, Brian Simmonds Marshall, Brooklyn Law School, CFPB, CFPB director, congressional appropriations process, Constitution, constitutional questions, constitutionality, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Cordray, D.C. Circuit, Dodd Frank, Federal Reserve, Humphrey's Executor, Humphrey's Executor v. U.S., inefficiency, Jonathan Pompan, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, Judge Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, kickback penalty, Law360, malfeasance in office, mortgage insurance, mortgage insurance kickback, neglect of duty, New Jersey, PCAOB, PHH, policy counsel, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Reiss, remedies, RESPA, single-director, Supreme Court, Venable LLP, Weinberger, White & Case LLP, White House


A retrospective of the current collection, including the newest additions.
With this special exhibition we officially celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2016. We created a special timeline, showing all the processes and stories behind the products and our label.
Why did a product become part of the collection? What happened during the process from idea to end product? How is a product made? Who is the designer? What makes this product special?
Next to that we created an inspiring environment in our showroom with the newest additions to the collection.
The exhibition was curated based on the current collection, including a number of new products such as the Epaulette frames by Ida Noemi & Caroline Olsson, the Copper Hooks by Max Lipsey and the Sandpaper Tray by Baas & Kleinbloesem. Also some products had new additions or had been further developed.
The exhibition was situated in our own studio at the Hallenweg, within walking distance of the city centre.


Joe Hart says West Ham United will need to do their homework ahead of their Emirates FA Cup third-round replay examination by Shrewsbury Town.
The goalkeeper earned the Hammers a second chance to beat his hometown team with a pair of fine first-half saves at Montgomery Waters Meadow on Sunday.
The Shrews will now head to London Stadium on Tuesday 16 January, and Hart knows the home side will need to be at their best to overcome opposition who have tasted defeat just five times in 33 matches this season.
"They've got a lot of energy, are very hard to break down and don't concede," said Hart, when asked to assess his former club's performance in Sunday's goalless draw. "We watched videos and they're very well-drilled and a well-organised team and that showed on Sunday in front of some good home support.
"The replay is going to be a different game, though. It's on a Tuesday night at our stadium and they'll have played on the Saturday, the same as us. Hopefully we will have a few more players fit, as we were missing a lot of players on Sunday. We will see what happens.
Hart was afforded star status on his return home, signing hundreds of autographs and posing for dozens of selfies for supporters of both teams, some of whom remembered his days as a Shrewsbury played more than a decade ago, as well as many younger fans who idolise him as England's current No1.
While he may have been in demand from the moment he stepped off the team bus to the moment he departed after the final whistle, the 30-year-old took the adulation in his stride.
"Of course, I still follow Shrewsbury's fortunes. It's impossible not to keep an eye on them, especially in this day and age, as it's very easy to follow a team. I've still got a lot of friends and family in the town who keep me updated.
"It was really special to play there again. It's my home and, when I was a kid growing up and moved to Manchester at the age of 19 everything moved fast, now I'm an older man and stuff like going back is more important and touched me deeply.
Tickets for the Emirates FA Cup third-round replay are on sale now to Season Ticket Holders and Bondholders, priced £10 for Adults and just £1 for Under-16s. Click here to secure your seat and for full details.


Fungal nail infection is an infection of the nails by a fungus.
The body normally hosts a variety of bacteria and fungi. Some of these are useful to the body. Others may multiply quickly and form infections. Fungi can live on the dead tissues of the hair, nails, and outer skin layers.
Fungal nail infections are most often seen in adults. They often follow fungal infection of the feet. Toenails are affected more often than fingernails.
People who often go to public swimming pools, gyms, or shower rooms, and people who sweat a great deal, often have mold-like infections. The fungi that cause them thrive in warm, moist areas.
Your doctor will suspect a fungal infection based on the appearance of the nails.
Over-the-counter creams and ointments generally do not help treat this condition.
Prescription antifungal medicines taken by mouth may help clear the fungus.
Fluconazole griseofulvin, terbinafine, and itraconazole are used to treat this condition.
Your health care provider will do lab tests to check for liver damage while you are taking these medicines.
In some cases, the health care provider may remove the nail. Nails grow slowly. Even if treatment is successful, a new, clearer nail may take up to a year to grow in.
The fungal nail infection is cured by the growth of new, non-infected nails.
Fungal nail infections may be difficult to treat. Medicines clear up fungus in about 50% of patients.
Even with successful treatment, it is common for the fungus to return.
Good general health and hygiene help prevent fungal infections.
Take proper care of your nails.
Habif TP, ed. Clinical Dermatology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier: pp 491-523.
Hay RJ. Dermatophytosis and other superficial mycoses. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier;2009:chap 267.


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Home » Agencies, Awards »
Cheers to not succumbing
Publisher Mary Maddever on the importance of building cultures that frown on mediocrity.
By Mary Maddever
As I'm entering my scores for the Epica Awards this year, I don't feel guilty. Some years – like most Canadians judging an international show – I'm torn. Am I (too) biased? Am I voting Canadian work higher because I understand the challenge and the impact of the solution?
This year it wasn't a problem. Even though Epica's benchmarks are pretty high-falutin' – "World Beating," "World Class" and "Market Leading" are the respective criteria for the top three scores – Canada had entries that met the global bar-setting. No qualms. So it's a tough year to win AOY.
Leo Burnett's "#LikeAGirl"won an Emmy, and was also unstoppable at Cannes, contributing 14 awards to a record 43 Lions wins for Canada. The fact that Canada is making waves on the world stage with strategic and sustainable platforms and dead-clever innovation helps on the biz front, and also sets the industry up for the latest barrier out there: adblocking. (Getting through to consumers is an old problem; it's just more complicated now.)
During New York Ad Week, at the IAB MIXX conference, nestled in the thick of Times Square's surround-advertising bustle, ironically, adblocking was a key focus. While some railed against it, others saw it as a reality check, herding the industry towards more customized content.
Margaret Gould Stewart, director of product design for Facebook, likened what many advertisers are doing these days to blast fishing. They detonate bombs and get a lot of fish, but it's not sustainable. She showed the audience an ancient wooden fish hook designed solely to catch large halibut, and asked: "What would sustainable advertising look like? Are we full of respect for the people we want to reach?"
Author Seth Godin echoed what many pundits said over the week of ad biz tea leaf reading – provide great experiences rather than annoy: "We'll just keep getting fat belly tips if they are rewarded." He also called for a media mindset reset. "What matters isn't ads, it's the privilege of being trusted. You want to get to a point that when people whisper, we listen, and when they ask, we respond."
Godin's latest book, What To Do When It's Your Turn, is about "living with things that might not work and embracing tension when doing your art." Reflecting on his career challenges he said, "there is a lot of pressure to be mediocre. We chose not to succumb."
His manifesto reflects the new market reality. "The answer is to welcome the fear and to dance with it. We all hold a little bit back. Artists don't. If you work in an organization, that's frowned upon – they don't want you to be a linchpin."
So kudos to the agencies and brands that built cultures that frown on mediocrity, and created campaigns that propelled AOY wins and cred on the world stage this year.
Cheers, mm
Mary Maddever, publisher, strategy, Media in Canada and stimulant
agency of the year, Epica, IAB MIXX, Margaret Gould Stewart, New York Ad Week, Seth Godin
Yamaha picks The Turn Lab as digital partner
Zak Communications wins several new mandates
The Neighbourhood opens under co-operative model
Research Strategy Group hires VP and brand advisor


This helper view lets you quickly see all the local disks on your machine, as well as their, total capacity, free space left, and partition types of each one.
Disk: The name of each disk on a given row.
Total: Total capacity of the disk or partition.
Free: The amount of free space left on disk, along with a percentage value relative to its capacity.
Total: The type of file system on the partition.