text:
Child's Play Review: Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
Friday, November 13th, 2015 at 1:00 AM | filed under Book Review, Rating: 5 Stars, Target Audience: Middle Grade
Child's Play is a regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which I review picture books, chapters books, and middle grade books for the young and the young at heart.
Title Crenshaw
Author Katherine Applegate
Published September 22nd, 2015 by Feiwel & Friends
Intended Target Audience Middle Grade
Genre & Keywords Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fantasy
Source & Format Received a finished copy from the publisher for review (Thanks, Raincoast Books!), Hardcover
In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.
Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.
Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
I noticed several weird things about the surfboarding cat.
Thing number one: He was a surfboarding cat.
Thing number two: He was wearing a T-shirt. It said Cats rule, Dogs drool.
Thing number three: He was holding a closed umbrella, like he was worried about getting wet. Which, when you think about it, is kind of not the point of surfing.
Thing number four: No one else on the beach seemed to see him.
Jackson is not the sort of boy to have an imaginary friend. He's an aspiring scientist, after all, and they rely on facts and figures, not flights of fancy and imagination. Just don't tell that to Crenshaw, the invisible surfboarding-riding, bumbershoot-toting, bubblebath-loving tuxedo cat that only he can see. What was once a treasured childhood secret quickly becomes an object of concern for Jackson, however, when Crenshaw makes a sudden and unexpected reappearance in his life after a protracted absence. Not only because Jackson is now older – how old is too old to have an imaginary friend, anyway? – but because it confirms his worst fears that history has begun to repeat itself. The arguments. The poverty. The moving. And, quite possibly, the homelessness, too. As Jackson navigates a reality increasingly defined by its turbulence and uncertainty, he will soon find that a little magic, and a little imagination, can make all the difference.
Crenshaw had excellent timing. He came into my life just when I needed him to.
It was a good time to have a friend, even if he was imaginary.
There are some books that remain with you long after you turn the final page, that burrow beneath your skin and nestle deeply inside your soul. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate is one such story. Heartbreaking and hopeful, enchanting and wondrous, there is little doubt that this former winner of the Newbery Award has done it again. In her latest release for a middle grade audience, Applegate guides readers on a journey sure to engender empathy and understanding as she helps them confront difficult, but no less important, truths about poverty and homelessness. In the wake of a much larger dialogue about the importance of diversity and inclusivity in children's literature, Crenshaw is a valuable addition to the conversation, touching upon an experience not often explored in the YA and MG markets.
"Look." Marisol knelt down to scratch Beans behind the ear. "We don't know everything. I don't know why my brothers feel the need to burp the alphabet. I don't know why I like to build things. I don't know why there are no rainbow M&Ms. Why do you have to understand everything, Jackson? I like not knowing everything. It makes things more interesting."
Jackson could best be described as an 'old soul', a child filled with a quiet dignity and strength of character born of knowledge and experience that extends far beyond his modest age. Although Jackson's parents make a valiant effort to shield he and his younger sister, Robin, from the true severity of their situation, pretending it's a grand adventure instead, Jackson isn't fooled. He's perceptive enough to recognize the gnawing hunger in the pit of his stomach – best staved off by a trusty game of 'Cerealball' – and his parent's increasing arguments as familiar warning sign of things to come. Whether he's reacting with resilience and quiet bravery or resentment and abject fear, readers can't help but appreciate the emotional honesty and authenticity inherent in Jackson's portrayal. Applegate is careful not to patronize her audience, trusting young readers to grasp the lessons conveyed about truth, unconditional love, and the everyday magic of imagination most often imparted by Crenshaw, Jackson's weird, wonderful and wise imaginary friend. Another important relationship in Jackson's life is that which he has with his best friend, Marisol. Though she makes few physical appearances throughout the novel, her presence is powerfully felt, providing a perfect counterbalance of whimsy, optimism and imagination to Jackson's steadfast reliance on facts, logic and reason.
Swanlake village wasn't a fancy place at all, just a regular old neighbourhood. But it was friendly. It was the kind of place where you could smell hot dogs and burgers grilling every weekend. Where kids rode their scooters on the sidewalk and sold lousy lemonade for a quarter a cup. It was a place where you had friends you could count on, like Marisol.
You wouldn't have thought it was a place where people were worried or hungry or sad.
Our school librarian likes to say you can't judge a book by its cover. Maybe it's the same way with neighbourhoods. Maybe you can't judge a place by its swans.
Though relatively short in length, Crenshaw's ambition and the importance of the messages it conveys to young readers should not to be underestimated. In the novel, Applegate explores topics including poverty, homelessness and chronic illness with realism and sensitivity. Due to the weight and seriousness of the subject matter, however, the author is also careful to temper each of these with hope, love, imagination, and wonder, which allow readers to explore these in a safe and healthy manner. Moreover, simply because these issues might prove difficult to discuss about makes them no less important, or relevant, to today's readers. In telling Jackson's story, Applegate is relating a situation that will be all too familiar to many, where circumstances beyond a family's control leave them struggling to find a measure of comfort and security in a situation they were never taught to expect or plan for. The author provides no easy answers or trite solutions, focusing instead on a nuanced, compelling exploration of Jackson's feelings and the impact it has on the family as a whole. Practically-speaking, each chapter is brief, spanning no more than four or five pages. This, in combination with Applegate's evocative and humourous narrative voice, make Crenshaw an easy, engrossing read that children can devour in a matter of hours.
There had to be a logical explanation.
There's always a logical explanation.
Meantime, I was going to enjoy the magic while I could.
Providing the perfect equilibrium between truth and realism and magic and imagination, Crenshaw is a sobering reminder that Jackson's situation is neither as rare nor as simple as one might assume. Despite its often difficult subject matter, however, the author is also careful to craft a narrative full of hope and wonder, should the reader only be willing to see it. Poignant, heartwarming, and ultimately inspiring, Katherine Applegate's latest is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and promises to be a classic for a new generation of readers young and old alike. I guess you might even say it's the cat's meow. Right, Crenshaw?
● Heidi @ Geo Librarian wrote "I can highly recommend this book as a sweet story, beautifully told, but also a powerful look at an issue that all too many children are familiar with." (Read the rest of the review Here!)
● Jody @ Kinderlit Canada wrote "Applegate is a phenomenal writer, with a marvelously deft touch; she walks a very thin line between the realistic and the melodramatic, never allowing things to become too heavy nor too light." (Read the rest of the review Here!)
● Michelle @ Michelle and Leslie's Book Picks wrote "Crenshaw is a compelling, necessary read. It's a realistic look at child hunger and poverty, and brings home the message that we don't have to look far – they are in our communities, in our neighborhoods and maybe our friends." (Read the rest of the review Here!)
Tags: Author: Katherine Applegate, Book Review, Genre: Contemporary, Genre: Realistic Fiction, Rating: 5 Stars, Target Audience: Middle Grade, Title: Crenshaw ● 3 Comments
3 responses to "Child's Play Review: Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate"
Sara Strauss says:
This book sounds absolutely delightful and imaginitive! I'll for sure be adding this to my Goodreads!
Sara Strauss recently posted…NaNoWriMo {Inspiration + Snippets}
Skyler Martin says:
I this book so much
Loved this book so much sorry


text:
Potters in Bihar Struggle to Meet Ends Amid Lack of Profit
"The cost of raw materials used in pottery has fluctuated critically, much more than the selling price of pottery products, therefore, scooping an imbalance in the business," says a traditional potter from West Champaran.
Ujjawal Krishnam
Jitendra taking out earthen plates [used in Chhath] from kiln.
For the traditional potters of Bettiah, it is a seasonal business and a yearlong profession. Gangasagar Pandit (pronounced as 'padiit', not Pandit which is a Brahmin name-prefix), in his 50s, has been putting up his stall beside Shiv Mandir Pokhra locality of West Champaran's district headquarters for the past 20 years. He does not live here; this is just his open-air workshop.
"Will young people study to get a decent job or get into this," asks Gangasagar, adding, "Our time was different. We were uneducated and there was no option. With this income, no one can fulfil modern needs. Prices of everyday commodities are catastrophically increasing…"
It is said that the art of pottery is as old as human history. The rarely perishable hard bits of pottery have helped historians solve the puzzles of oldest civilisations. Like clay products, Gangasagar's family's descent is too old to trace but it is soon to be a part of history as he says that "the tradition is suffering a huge blow from unsustainable industrialisation and modernisation."
He tells NewsClick that the cost of raw materials used in pottery has fluctuated critically, much more than the selling price of pottery products, therefore, scooping an imbalance in the business. The prices of Nadiya (earthen curd container), Dhakni (earthen bowl), Kalsa (earthen pot) and Diya or Diyari (earthen lamp) have faced a relatively slow increment. While the items were being previously sold at Rs. 0.5, Rs. 1.5 and Rs. 0.3 respectively; over two decades later, their prices have elevated to just Rs. 1.5, Rs. 5 and Rs. 0.6– they have catered between two-fold and three-fold increase at most.
However, the price of clay, a silica variant, has gone up from Rs. 50 per tractor trolley volume [roughly 10x6x2ft3] to Rs. 3,000. Similarly, cow dung and timber are sold at high rates of Rs. 300 per cubic feet and Rs. 10 per kg, in sharp contrast to two-decades-old corresponding rates of Rs. 50 and Rs. 2.
Gangasagar (top), Bhagmani (bottom right) and Lilawati (bottom left).
Unaware of any government scheme, Gangasagar is coping with the drawbacks of his traditional job. "Some government employee might have visited my shop, Diwali and Chhath (one of the most popular festivals in Bihar) are for all. But no one has suggested me how to advance this business and earn through these pottery skills," he says, adding that he has taken an informal loan of Rs. 20,000 at a monthly interest rate of 5%. "I pay interest amount consistently, but I do not know how how to get out of this debt," he adds.
"We have been doing this all the while just to keep this tradition alive. Instead of helping poor like us, Satyendra Kumar, the manager of Bettiah Raj, threatened to evict us. Where could we go? We resisted," says Bhagmani Devi, Gangasagar's wife.
Gangasagar's workshop, the largest workshop in the area, is collaboratively managed by the his family and his late brother Ramsagar Kumar's family. Ramsagar's death was unnatural. His family says that one day while he was working on the potter's wheel in unfavourable weather, he suddenly experienced fits and collapsed. Since then, his wife Lilawati Devi and son Jitendra Pandit are active in this field.
As the workshop has run out of clay, the only hope for them is to sale the remaining merchandise. A Chanpatia-based clay trader has told the potters that clay would be difficult to find. Even if that was accessible, potters would face a hefty bill.
Bhagmani and Lilawati are segregating the offerings—few kilograms of rice, pulse and sarees—made by a regular customer. These gifts are in return for funeral pottery urns the workshop supplied. "But that is sporadic. I get a monthly pension of Rs. 400," Lilawati says, "after he [referring to husband] left us, I had no choice except to engage Jitendra in this."
Jitendra works at a nearby retail store and receives Rs. 7,500 per month for 15 hours of daily labour. If he skips, Rs. 250 a day is deducted from his balance. He has temporarily taken a leave from his job; he will re-join after November 3 when Chhath mahaparva concludes.
Both of them are staying together in a joint-family, there are two kuccha homes on an area of 5-dhur. They are yet to receive any benefit of housing scheme.
Gangasagar's eldest son Dharmendra, 22, is pursuing B.A. in History in local Ram Lakkhan Singh Yadav (RLSY) College. While he was married over a year ago, he still wants to continue education. For him, pottery making is plan B, in case "degree does not help". "I had to pay a bribe of Rs. 100 to access the government scholarship of Rs. 1,800 in secondary school," he says talking about the corruption in government schools in the region. He further says that he is eligible for a scholarship of Rs. 7,000 a year, however, no call has been made to him yet. He adds, "I went to the welfare department many times after submitting the completed form, but they keep saying that 'we will inform you when the list is updated…'."
Pottery is a source of daily subsistence for at least a hundred people in this region. While Gangasagar's stall is not in the market area, his relatives have set up their stalls, next to their homes, facing the NH-28B, near the crowded market of Hariwatika Chawk.
Several customers had lined up to bargain in front of the stalls on the occasion of Dhanteras, when this reporter visited the market.
Ramashish, 59, is shaping small earthen lamps by balancing the pressure of his fingers and palms. He is using a concrete potter's wheel or chhak mounted on a hinge or killa. In fact, none of the potters have motorised wheel. Each potter's wheel costs Rs. 1,000.
Ramashish (top left), lime powder (top right), clay stoves [used to cook sacred meal of 'rasiao roti' in Chhath festival] (bottom) are also up for sale at Lalmati's stall.
He has to finish the clay lump before Chhoti Diwali (the first day of Diwali). After diyas come out of wheel, they are left to become leather-hard, then the items are layered with hay and taken to the pottery kiln, a traditional bisque firing set-up which utilises cow dung and timber to harden pottery pieces.
Amid his work, Ramashish says, "Festoon bulbs have inundated the market… Earthen lamps are only customary. People get a maximum of few dozen lamps…not more than that. One can imagine how difficult it is for us to continue this practice."
"And, it is not hidden that at least ten Diyas out of hundred are fractured in the kiln," he adds, talking about the high error ratio prevalent in the traditional firing method. He has six daughters, the eldest one has recently matriculated but, he has no clue about their future.
It was Ramashish's grandfather Raghunath Pandit who had come to Bettiah from Varanasi; potters were allotted land by the Maharaja of erstwhile Bettiah Raj. After two generations, he is fearful of the ruthless anti-encroachment drive, as he—like other potters—has extended the workshop on the government property along the road. He is aware that such extensions are adding to the traffic jams on the road, but, there is no other suitable space. Many poor potters have sold their valuable land; thus, being forced to extend their stalls on encroached land. The lack of support and appropriate guidance from the administration is deepening the problems for the poor (and poorly educated) potters.
Dharmendra (top); Hathi, Gullak, toys and Diyas at Ramashish's stall (bottom).
Ramashish's mother Kalawati Devi, 75, says that decline of usage of Ramgilas or Kulhad (earthen cups) has mainly affected the business. "As Diyas or Hathi sets are seasonal, our income was primarily dependent on Ramgilas and Khapada [Vertically cut hollow-cylindrically kilned clay item traditionally used to insulate Kuchha roof]. Who drinks in earthen cup nowadays? Also not many people live in kuccha houses today," she says, adding, "Chukia or Gullak (clay made coin bank) too, has no market-demand."
Lalmati Devi, a sexagenarian, has knee problems. But that is not stopping Lalmati, a widow, from struggling hard against social constructs to earn a living. Her children have broken ties with her. While her sons live in a three-storey building, she has no option except to live in a small room with thatched roof in the backyard of the building where she has a small workshop. "They got the property transferred in their names. I am illiterate…With remaining savings, I am operating this stall," she says. She had ordered 1,00,000 Diyas at Rs. 0.35 each. However, she feels that the wholesale trader cheated her. "I am telling you the truth– they are just 60,000 pieces." The tractor driver charged Rs. 1,500 for transporting the stock from Raxaul to Bettiah, 50 kms apart.
Lalmati in her kuccha house (top left); Muskan, Sonam, Lalmati and Golu (top right); wedged pliable clay at Ramashish's workshop
Lalmati has employed nephew Chhotelal Pandit for a daily wage of Rs. 300 to assist her. Chhotelal Pandit, 60, believes that daily wage is better than investing in the production of pottery products. "At least, you know how much you are making at the end of the day (in daily wage work)," says Chhotelal who is partially blind. As he cannot do heavy manual tasks, he can work as a salesman.
Lalmati's neighbour shares the same name. The neighbour, even though not a widow, shares many problems with her namesake. The starkest among them is the decimation of pottery industry against the backdrop of monopoly of artificial decorative items. She says, "We begin working on Diwali and Chhath items in Bhado mas [coinciding with August month]. After two months of travail and hazardous incessant rains, we end up with a few pennies. Suppose it rains today, then, where will we keep these drying items? They will all be destroyed!"
She also says, "Why have you come here now? Every year reporters come and inquire about the same thing. Despite these all newspaper reports, nothing has changed so far."
Lalmati's son Rudal is firing the kiln in the backyard. Her grandchildren are helping her manage the shop. The stall also has Koshis, in addition to diyas and clay made kitchenware-toys. Koshi is a liturgical item used in Chhath festival [commemorated on the sixth day after Diwali]– a set of designed earthen pot, plate and elephant, arranged in a vertical position. Unlike common diyas, Koshis are painted with lime powdered water. Thereafter, leaves or lines of different colours are drawn on them. This year, potters plan to keep a base price of Rs. 100 for a Koshi set. They will be ready to put on public display for sale after Bhaiya Dooj.
None of the potters here have any agricultural land. While they may get heavy payment for their property, no one wants to sell. According to them, this is the last vestige of their ancestors and once vibrant pottery industry.
Sunny Kumar, who studies in 3rd standard in a nearby private school, is learning how to manage pottery shop. Since he is too young for any manual tasks, he sits on the cash counter. "I want to become an engineer," he says. He has no idea about an engineer's job, he just heard the 'term' somewhere.
Harishchandra Pandit, Sunny's father, says, "Can this pottery business alone finance you? No. That is why, I became an electrician. I work on a contractual basis." Harishchandra, 35, has got around 50,000 diyas this year. In off-season, he installs flat electric wiring for Rs. 7,000; he hires three assistant novices for the task. "Wiring of a common apartment [~3/4-BHK] here takes a maximum of seven days," he adds.
Nagendra will make a profit of Rs. 2 on each terracotta diya. He is hopeful to sell all of them by Chhath.
His brother Nagendra, 30, has come up with an innovative plan. He introduced Bengal's terracotta diyas in the local market last year. Welcome response from the customers encouraged him to bring around 80,000 diyas this year. He has partnered with a local businessman for this venture. Nagendra lost his father to an unknown medical condition in his early teens, and the only childhood memory he has is of becoming a daily wage labourer. "I do not know how to operate the potter's wheel. I could not learn it. This trade at least keeps me connected with clay."
Traditional Potters
Potters in Bihar
Bihar Government
CAA-NRC: Absconding Main Accused in Killing of Aamir Surrenders
CAA-NRC: Families of Arrested Minor and Women Protesters Struggle for Bail in Bihar
Launda Naach: Keeping Folk Art Alive in Bihar
After UP, Questions Raised on Bihar Police's Role During Protest Against CAA-NRC
Kinnars of Champaran: Deprived of Rights, Identity and Dignity
Testing Times for the Landless Poor in Bihar's Champaran
Thousands Protest Against CAA and NRC in Bihar on Monday
Bihar: 23-year-old Girl Dies After Being Set Ablaze for Resisting Rape
No NRC in Bihar? People Apprehensive Despite CM's 'Assurance'
Sugarcane Farmer Dies After Being Thrown into Pot of Boiling Sugarcane Juice
Mohd. Imran Khan
Teachers, Jeevika Didis' 'Boycott' May Ruin Nitish Kumar's Grand Human Chain on Sunday
Patna: Thousands of schoolteachers and jeevika didis (livelihood sisters) will boycott the much-hyped human chain proposed by Bihar Chief
Saurav Kumar
Farmers in Bihar Cry Crop Devastation by Asian Antelope, Threaten Protest
Ram Ekval Rai, who has been growing maize in a village in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar is a troubled man.
Ground Reality of a Smart City: Muzaffarpur
Announcement of the project 'smart cities' was a crucial one by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) among its pre-poll promises in 2014.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Labrador retrievers are a versatile breed and a very good companion. The breed is also easy to train; even your cuddly pet Lab has some retrieving instincts. The retriever is bred for soft mouths and has a willingness to learn and obey. As the most successful and most popular working retriever in the UK, it makes sense to choose the Labrador retriever when deciding which gundog you want.
Labrador retrievers were imported from Newfoundland, Canada to the UK in the 1820s to 1830s for use as a gundog due to their excellent retrieving capabilities. After being brought to the UK in the 19th century, they were mostly bred for duck shooting, as they had an unmatched expertise for waterfowl hunting, with their close coat and otter-like tail. This affinity for the water can be traced back to the founding breed of the Labrador, the St John's water dog or Lesser Newfoundland, a breed now extinct. Early descriptions of the dog stated they were very good for any kind of shooting.
The first yellow Labrador was recorded around 1899, and the breed recognised by The Kennel Club in 1903 with chocolate Labradors emerging later in the 1930s. Labrador retrievers can be categorised into English or American, differing in behaviour and a slight difference in appearance. English Labs tend to be more easy to train and better to have as non-hunting companions. American Labs tend to be more energetic and have been bred to compete in field trials.
Labrador retrievers natural energy and enthusiasm can be channelled into their training, which can also give you better control over your dog. Like with any other gundog, continuous training will produce better work from them out on the field, but Labrador retrievers have another advantage in that they are clever dogs that want to cooperate and please their owners. This biddable nature has made them ideal to be all sorts of working dogs.
The intelligence and cooperation of Labradors are central to their success and popularity as a breed, for pets and working dogs. The Labrador was born to retrieve and gladly run around with whatever it can get it its mouth. A well-trained dog can be sent as far as 150m to find game, even if it didn't see it come down. It then has to negotiate all types of terrain, water and land, to deliver the game undamaged. Trust between dog and handler is key, along with months of dedicated training, to achieve that outcome. To help with training your dog, take a look at the dog accessories we have available at Fur Feather & Fin.
The Labrador belongs to a group of retriever gundogs, such as the Golden retriever and Chesapeake Bay retriever, but the Labrador has a short coat. The breed is medium to large in size, and range from being stocky to lighter frame bodies, depending on which line you go for, but always have a powerful and muscular build. Their heights can range from 56 to 57 centimetres for males and 55 to 56 cm for females.
The requirements for Labradors are that their coat should be short and dense, but not wiry. The coat is also water-resistant, so the dog does not get cold when in the water, an important aspect for a gundog which excels in the water. Acceptable colours are yellow, chocolate and black.
Labradors have broad heads, pronounced eyebrows and kind, expressive eyes. Eye colours are often brown or hazel, and their ears hang close to the head, slightly above the eyes.
Labradors have been bred for many years to be very active, which means they do not suffer from major health issues brought on by excessive exercise as other breeds can. They are usually healthy and physically well-balanced, though, like all other floppy eared dogs, they are prone to ear troubles. The breed is also prone to obesity, and even hard working Labradors need to have carefully managed portion control. Being a dog of high energy, they also require a lot of exercise, long daily walks about an hour long and space to run around when just at home. If not exercised enough, Labradors can become bored and resort to destructive behaviour and excessive barking.


text:
Primary Voting at Age 17
FairVote advocates that states and political parties act to allow citizens who will be 18 years old on or before the general election to vote in their party's corresponding primary or caucus. A notable portion of citizens who have the right to vote in the general election in November currently do not have a voice in determining who will be on that general election ballot. Granting voting rights in primaries and caucuses to these 17-year-olds is only fair and will increase their political engagement through participation. Policymakers can implement this reform by state law or party rule.
The Facts: 17-Year-Old Primary Voting
17-year-olds can vote in Congressional and/or Presidential primaries and caucuses in a large number of states, including Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Seventeen-year-olds may also vote in District of Columbia primaries. Check the maps for Congressional and Presidential primaries and caucuses available on this page to confirm which races 17-year-olds in your state can vote in. Most states adopting this policy have done so by state law, but others have by changing state party rules. Parties may request allowing 17-year-old primary voting by asserting their First Amendment freedom of association rights.
In Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, and Wyoming 17-year-old Democrats may caucus, but are barred from participating in the Republican caucus.
This patchwork policy creates confusion and can potentially disenfranchise eligible voters. Parties should act nationally to make this practice a norm.
17-year-old primary and caucus voting does not require state legislative action:
State parties have broad authority over their nominating contests.
They may request to allow 17-year-old primary voting by asserting their First Amendment freedom of association rights.
Primary voting rights for 17-year-olds is legal and does not change the voting age:
Only those 17-year-olds who will be 18 by the general election may vote in the corresponding primary election or caucus. Our proposal treats the nomination contest as an integral part of the general election in which these citizens can vote.
The 26th Amendment prevents states from denying suffrage to 18-year-olds, but does not prevent states from establishing 17-year-old primary and caucus voting.
Voting when young forms a lifetime habit:
Parties have a self-interest in encouraging this policy—if a 17-year-old votes in a particular party's contest, that young person may vote for that party for decades.
Studies show youth will vote if asked to do so—this policy increases youth engagement in the political process by creating an ethos of participation from a younger age. Once a person votes, that person is likely to vote again.
State-by-State Map: Congressional Primaries
These states allow 17-year-olds to vote in a Congressional primary election if they will be 18 by the date of the general election. For information on 16- and 17-year-old preregistration, click on this link.
This information was last updated in January of 2016.
infogram_0_17_year_old_congressional_primary_voting17 Year Old Congressional Primary Voting//e.infogr.am/js/embed.js?NGKtext/javascript
infogram_0_where_can_17_year_olds_vote_in_congressional_primary_electionsWhere Can 17-Year-Olds Vote in Congressional Primary Elections?//e.infogr.am/js/embed.js?nAStext/javascript
State-by-State Map: Presidential Primaries
These state parties allow 17-year-olds to vote in their presidential primary elections or caucuses if they will be 18 by the date of the general election. For information on 16- and 17-year-old preregistration, click on this link.
This information was last updated in April of 2016.
infogram_0_17_year_old_presidential_primary_and_caucus_voting17-Year-Old Presidential Primary and Caucus Voting//e.infogr.am/js/embed.js?j3utext/javascript infogram_0_where_can_17_year_olds_vote_in_presidential_primaries_or_caucusesWhere can 17-Year-Olds vote in Presidential Primaries or Caucuses?//e.infogr.am/js/embed.js?ZHotext/javascript
Sample letter of support for 17-year-old primary voting legislation in California from Fairvote
FairVote case study on the Constitutionality of 17-year-old primary voting in Maryland
Policy brief on a proposed bill in the New Mexico legislature to adopt 17-year-old primary voting.
News and analysis documenting the success of Illinois's 17-year-old primary voting policy from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Lawyers' Committee.


text:
Michael Fassbender, left, and Perla Haney-Jardine in a scene from "Steve Jobs." The main dramatic plotline of the movie concerns the seamless merger of mutual human obligation and intensively branded product launches. Universal / Everett
Universal / Everett
A portrait of the artist as corporate sage
In 'Steve Jobs,' the moral of the story is that the personal is the corporate
October 24, 2015 2:00AM ET
by Chris Lehmann @lehmannchris
In his cinematic portrait of Steve Jobs, Danny Boyle depicts Jobs' spartan Bay Area apartment without a sofa or chairs. But like the corporation that Jobs leads, the flat bears outsize visual shrines to Einstein and Picasso, the household gods of Silicon Valley's self-hymned iconoclasm.
In fact, the whole film lingers adoringly on all the well-known totems of Apple-branded creative genius. There's the near constant invocation of boomer rebel Bob Dylan, from the initial Mac launch's clumsy quotation of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" to the hackneyed strains of "Shelter From the Storm" over the closing credits. There are absurdly detailed discussions of how the company's legendary "1984" Super Bowl ad was conceived, produced and approved; there are tedious flashbacks to Jobs and his partner Steve Wozniak fiercely debating the philosophy of motherboard design in their now fabled Northern California garage.
Jobs' equally famous product launches fittingly take place in an array of arts-themed venues. The original Mac gets its coming-out party in the funky, down-market Flint Center on the campus of Cupertino's De Anza College. The cube-shaped educational computer NeXt debuts at San Francisco's Opera House. And Jobs' triumphant release of the iMac — the machine that elevated him to the cyberdesign empyrean — occurs in the lavish confines of the San Francisco Symphony Hall.
The Aaron Sorkin script has our hero, played by Michael Fassbender, inform his combative co-founder Steve Wozniak that he, like a genius conductor, plays the musicians. But Boyle's hosanna to corporate titanhood sounds tinny, discordant and confused and not — to cite another masterpiece name-checked within the first 10 minutes of "Steve Jobs" — in an epic, "Rite of Spring" way. The earthshaking wonderment of all things Apple is continually asserted in snatches of dialogue delivered by upset men (this is a Sorkin screenplay, after all) and as a result, "Steve Jobs" fails to persuade its audience that its hero's legacy merits any sustained personal or dramatic interest.
All we get are new products — variations on the same basic software as seen through various screens — and their giddy market prospects. Apple II and the ill-starred personal digital assistant Newton are old and bad; the iMac and the successive string of Jobs-designed gadgets are new and awesome. Maybe that's because the Apple brand and Jobs' corresponding status as the great philosopher-king of Information Age capitalism are now so universal that we take them for granted.
The main dramatic plotline of Boyle's movie concerns the seamless merger of mutual human obligation and intensively branded product launches. Across his labored corporate set pieces, we see the Apple brand and the entire notion of interpersonal relations function as deliberate stand-ins for one another. If second-wave feminism's breakthrough epiphany was the notion that the personal is political, then the liberationist mantra intoned over and over again in "Steve Jobs" is that the personal is corporate.
This vision utterly fails to do justice either to computer technology or the human condition. In a climactic confrontation between Jobs and erstwhile Apple CEO John Scully, Jobs nonsensically shouts at his corporate nemesis, "You invented lifestyle advertising, and your brand was my brand!"
Such, it seems, are the baleful soliloquies of the Caesars and Brutuses of the Information Age.
In a product-driven world, the protagonists project their indomitable will to market conquest on any casually adjacent human being, declare their work genius and blithely move on.
The movie depicts Jobs as the chilly and aloof workplace tyrant he was, as opposed to the soulful, selfless innovator we see in Ashton Kutcher's 2013 portrayal. But Jobs' quasi-sociopathic management style is presented with one justification: Corporate tyranny is the true path to a scalable artistic revolution. And like countless artists before him, Jobs' visionary contribution to corporate design is framed not only as justifying his conduct but also as magically absolving him of responsibility for any collateral damage inflicted along the way.
In fact, the central drama of Boyle's biopic is the stubborn refusal of Jobs — a child of adoption — to acknowledge paternity of his daughter Lisa, despite a legal finding that he is the child's biological father and thus is financially responsible for her. And what, exactly, is the juncture that ultimately pushes Jobs to assume something more than court-coerced responsibility? When the 5-year-old Lisa uses the MacPaint program on a Mac prototype to produce a squiggly abstract doodle.
This is no joke; here, at last, is proof that makes sense to our genius-hero: She must be a little Jobs, since she's clearly bursting with creative brilliance! Moved by Lisa's show of incipient computer-enabled inspiration, Jobs agrees instantly to buy both mother and daughter a house "near a good school." Behold, in other words, all the self-satisfied prerogatives of aristocratic privilege as we have come wearily to know it throughout world history — Oh, OK, since you seem to be related to me after all, here's a house — dressed up as thinking different. Thank God she wasn't simply finger-painting or futzing with Silly Putty. Then, she and her needy, flighty mother, Chrisanne would likely have been left to languish on the California welfare rolls.
In high-octane confrontations before Apple product launches, the film — again, in true Sorkin style — features a testosterone-laden idée fixe: Both Jobs and Wozniak announce, in striking non sequitur fashion, "It's what men do." But what is it that men do, exactly? In a product-driven world, they project their indomitable will to market conquest on any casually adjacent human being, declare their work genius and blithely move on.
Across the time-lapsed narrative of product launches spanning 15 years, we come to see Jobs grudgingly scale back his crueler interpersonal excesses and accommodate certain cloying demands of the mere humans in his life. In a crowning product launch cum family encounter session — set, fittingly, in the hours before the 1998 debut of the iMac — Jobs is fuming over Chrisanne's decision to sell the home he has bestowed on her in princely fashion. He insists on punishing the now 19-year-old Lisa for her mom's exercise of economic agency by withholding Lisa's Harvard tuition. This bizarre confrontation becomes unbearable when he learns that his longtime underling Andy Hertzfeld has stepped in to float a semester's tuition for Lisa. The generous gesture enrages Jobs, striking as it does at his fondest reveries of total, closed-system control — be it his micromanaging the iMac OS or property relations in his family.
Boyle telegraphs the hazardous convergence of the Jobs hearth and the Jobs product rollout with a set of visual flashbacks, in which fleeting moments of father-daughter intimacy continue interrupting Jobs' efforts to memorize minutiae about the iMac's memory capacity for the product launch. The tension mounts: Perhaps the distressed dad is about to blurt out, "Lisa really is my daughter," before the assembled worthies of the global tech press and the seamlessly designed computer interfaces of the future will be put in jeopardy!
Actually, the family reaches a truce with Jobs' ego only when the genius looks scornfully at Lisa's Sony Walkman and announces that he's going to put a wealth of songs — "a hundred, no, a thousand, no, five hundred"— in her pocket. That's right: sizing up the life struggles of his miserable, misunderstood, alienated daughter, Jobs sees the earliest incarnation of the iPod. And because she is her father's daughter, she readily abandons her principled opposition to his feckless dismissal of his paternity and cheerfully agrees to go along with the rest of the adoring tech and business world to watch the grand unveiling of the iMac — from backstage! Having proved her genetic worth to Jobs with a Mac squiggle, she's now gratefully poised to realize her true destiny, as part of the Jobs product line.
I have, as it happens, a Jobs story of my own. Back during his first tour at Apple, Jobs sat on the board of trustees at my alma mater, Grinnell College, where I helped organize a student group protesting the college's investments in apartheid-era South Africa. Jobs was on the board subcommittee tasked with ensuring the ethical probity of Grinnell investments; he explained to us naive, wild-eyed college kids that GE, Westinghouse and the other companies outfitting the apartheid regime with technology and military hardware weren't bad actors; "they just want to make money," he said. Relax, Jobs told us; if state-sanctioned racist violence proved bad for business, why, it would just go away of its own accord.
Like other American colleges, Grinnell would eventually divest, but not thanks to Jobs. And Apple stopped selling computers to the South African regime in 1985, the year Jobs left Apple for the first time. So I, too, have an invaluable college-themed life lesson vouchsafed me by the Wizard of Cupertino: Disregard market meliorism, and instead watch how the powers that be multiply their billions. After all, it's just what men do.
Chris Lehmann is an editor for BookForum and The Baffler and a columnist for In These Times. He was the deputy editor of The Washington Post Book World from 2000 to 2004.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera America's editorial policy.
Apple, Movies
Goodnight, and good luck
Al Jazeera has a good batting average
Al Jazeera America allowed me to 'speak whatever must be said'
The way news should be done
Elegy for a website where Native voices mattered
Tweets by @lehmannchris
More From Chris Lehmann
Journalism crisis leads to shameful compromises
Zuckerberg's $45 billion hustle
Murdoch purchases Nat Geo for infotainment synergy
Most Read Opinions
Mexican drug cartels are worse than ISIL by Musa al-Gharbi
The white tourist's burden by Rafia Zakaria
Let's not sacralize Charlie Hebdo by Arthur Goldhammer
Why I converted to Islam by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Miss Japan challenges the norm
Tiny homes provide shelter for Nashville's homeless
Flint water crisis: How Al Jazeera America reported it a year ago today
Ali Velshi On Target
Investigations into Chicago's red light traffic cameras
Questions abound over a proposed US-Mexico border wall


This is a placeholder page for Lynn Dole, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Lynn Dole.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Lynn Dole. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Lynn Dole. We created this page automatically in hopes Lynn Dole would find it. If you are not Lynn Dole, but are an alumni of Weir High School, register on this site for free now.


text:
Council and regional consortium step in at primary school
February 20, 2019 May 1, 2019 - by Owen - 1 Comment
(Title Image: Mirror)
Working with governors, Bridgend Council and the South Central regional consortium have stepped in over the last few weeks to provide a temporary leadership team at Ogmore Vale Primary School.
The headteacher of Litchard Primary, Mr J. Phillips, will act as senior advisor to the interim headteacher. The interim headteacher will remain in post for at least two terms starting March 2019. A number of other temporary staff changes have been made.
Some of you will remember that last summer I mentioned that an English-medium primary in the valleys had been issued a final warning to make urgent improvements by the end of 2018 following a string of concerns from Estyn and teaching unions about how the school was being run.
There's enough information in the public domain that I can probably now reveal that it was Ogmore Vale. Many of you guessed it without prompting, which suggests the problems there are much more widely known than has yet been reported.
I got some flak for not naming the school at the time and was accused by some on social media of scaremongering. My decision not to name the school was based on the fact staff had been given additional time to make improvements and I believed it would be irresponsible to name the school without giving them a chance to turn things around – plus I couldn't independently verify all of the things I'd been told.
Clearly, those improvements haven't been made, with Ogmore Vale Primary remaining in the "Red" category in the latest school bandings. There are serious problems at Tynyrheol Primary in Llangeinor as well. A recruitment process has started to find a new headteacher and deputy headteacher there.
The bad news for Ogmore Vale kept coming with a recent story – which made headlines around the UK – about an infant pupil who was accidentally taken back to the bus depot instead of being dropped off at the school. That would be bad on its own, but to make matters worse they also wet themselves.
It's debatable whether that incident was "the last straw" or not, but it coincides with the current headteacher's leave of absence – even though it's unclear whether it was entirely the school's fault, more a symptom of bigger problems.
While I'm sure many people will be tempted to lay into past or present staff and governors, that would be a little unfair when they have a tough enough job already. There's no shame in trying and failing, but when it comes to education and giving kids the best start in life there's very little room for second chances – it has to be consistently good.
It's a sad situation all round, but hopefully the new leadership structure will steady the ship.
TaggedGarw ValleyLlangeinorOgmore ValeOgmore ValleySchool PerformanceSchools
Criticism of BCBC strategy as the proportion of Welsh-medium pupils in Bridgend "needs to double" by 2031
Ghosts from Brynteg's past haunt the present following historic sex abuse bombshell
Estyn: Ogmore Vale Primary should be placed into special measures
Previous Article Smart Energy schemes "could be worth £7billion+ to Bridgend economy"
Next Article Details of Brexit public information campaign leaked


text:
GLOBAL ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHY Jun 2018
Sydney: Andrew Goldie
Forward Visit website
''Rodeo''
''The Comeback" - Trailer
Goldie has a deliberately distinctive style in his photography and film-making. He's shot everything from dream sequences in desert landscapes to portraits of people such as the Prime Minister of Australia and Richard Branson. He loves capturing mesmerising and intriguing moments in camera and telling a story through imagery.
Goldie's long career in advertising photography means he understands what it requires to build an image and a story. He understands concepts, he knows how to articulate ideas, and brings a creative eye to projects that ensures they will grow further and larger. He also understands the need to deliver unique work that fully represents and creates a brand's identity.
Goldie's personal work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Australia and America, including the New York Exposure awards, The Australian Head On festival, The Moran Prize, as well as solo exhibitions at select commercial galleries.
Tag your comment using @productionparadise to share with us!


Anticipating the future by reflecting on today.
Resilience is about identifying and preparing for various chronic stresses (inequality, food, insecurity, health services) and acute shocks (heat waves, bushfires, flooding) to communities. Through 'Adaptation' and we encourage the changes necessary to adjust to climate change and create more sustainable engagement with the environment. From better designed urban plans, to the transition beyond carbon-based energy, we address these challenges with attention to just and fair transformations.
01 – The Citizen experience of shock climate events.


Who Won So You Think You Can Dance 2011 Winner Season 8 Finale | Who Got Eliminated?
Who won So You Think You Can Dance 2011? The winner of So You Think You Can Dance season 8 August 11, 2011 finale is … have any predictions? Is it quite fast that after a few weeks it's already the finale? We do hope there will be two winners, a guy and a lady but that's not going to happen. There will only be one winner of $250,000.
The judges' favorite is Melanie, especially Nigel. We also asked you guys last week on who do you think will it be and your vote is Melanie, with Sasha in second place, followed by Marko in third place and Tadd last, We agree with the results of the poll. Melanie has never been in the bottom and same with Marko we think. Sasha got in danger only once and Tadd, well we can't recall how many times.
Anyway, the results of SYTYCD season 8 finale will be revealed tonight in the two-hour finale episode. The votes will be tallied and revealed in between. Who do you think will the winner be? Updates during the show will be provided. The one who won So You Think You Can Dance 2011, winner 8/11/11 will be posted.
Update: Melanie Moore wins So You Think You Can Dance Season 8!
Who was voted off Big Brother August 11, 2011 evicted 8/11/11?
The only person should win is MELANIE!!
Definitely want Melanie to win!!
Actually, Melanie won't win even though obviously she is the best dancer. This is because the best person never gets voted for because every one always assumes that they don't need the votes because everyone else will vote for them. Meanwhile, the people rooting for the underdog vote a TON assuming that Melanie's fan club is doing the same. This results in the underdog's victory.
has anyone been elimiated and if so who.
I think Melanie's hip hop and disco's were awful so shes not great at everything… But Sasha is!
uhm. i hope sasha wins.
melanie isnt an all around good dancer…sorryy….
Who one Sasha or Melanie?
she might not have been the best at everything u think but she won everything!!!!!!!!! YEAY!!!!
Melanie and Sasha were clearly the best dancers in what was probably the best season of SYTYCD. Congrats to Melanie!
Melanie is by far the best female dancer that show has ever had. Sasha is good but Melanie is perfection! So polished and skilled. Talent naturally flows out of her. Effortless. Congrats to Melanie!! Your Father would be so proud.
America got it right, Melanie was amazing from day one Disco was not to good due to Marko having problems lifting her , she is all muscle not to light to lift but dances like she is dancing on air. Sasha was great also as the two boys but I loved Melanie from the first try out in front of the judges. I loved this years contestants and all the dances that they were given to perform. Hate that its over already.
Omg, I LOVE MARKO! i'm sad he didn't win. but I was stuck with melanie and marko. i kinda feel that the guys had to help the girls shine more than themselves. but to be really good, u gotta be good even when ur not in the spotlight all the time. congratz melanie!
Loved Sasha she was great Melanie was good but that's how it go.
I was highly offended by the 50s housewives dance. I doubt you could find a 50s housewife that felt traped. Women in the 50s were free to spend their days as they wished, not strapped to a job plus family. My mom loved it and always said she was glad not to have had to continue her carrear once us kids were born. It is propaganda against family.
Best season yet ! It was hard for me to say who was the best as the last 4 were excellent in each their own way. No matter , it was a win , win for this season . They were all phenomenal !


text:
UK home secretary visits city where ex-Russian spy poisoned
LONDON – The British official in charge of public safety is visiting the area in the English city of Salisbury where a former Russian spy collapsed after he was targeted with an undisclosed nerve agent.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd is in Salisbury on Friday following the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, who were found slumped on a park bench. Both remain in critical condition at a local hospital.
The U.K. has vowed to take strong action against whoever was responsible for the "brazen and reckless" attack.
Wiltshire County police say that "around 21 people," including the Skripals, have received treatment following the attack. But British health authorities say there is little risk to the wider public.


Adam Turner is an illustrator, living in Surprise, Arizona. He has been illustrating commercially for almost 30 years. He has also taken to the world of children's books, sharing his artistic talents with young readers.
IT'S TIME! ORDER YOUR BOOK!


Training is an essential part of preparing your employees for daily tasks and procedures. This is especially true for workers in the construction industry, who utilize potentially dangerous equipment on job sites filled with inherent risks. Although training often takes place in the first stages of the hiring process, new developments in the construction industry have rendered the need for continuous training an absolute.
Although training can be very beneficial, ineffective or superfluous training can be costly and stagnate your project timeline. The Orlando construction lawyers at Cotney Construction Law know that striking the balance between safety and productivity can be difficult to manage. We designed this short two-part guide to help you identify when your workers need additional training.
New technology often has a steep learning curve. Although developers do their best to create intuitive, user-friendly technologies, training is usually required to get the most out any new systems or apparatus. If you plan on utilizing new technology, tools or equipment, it is important to provide workers with comprehensive training. This training might slow project growth initially, but once your team has completed their training, daily procedures should be faster than ever before.
Schedules are designed to be tentative, but your goal is always to follow your timeline and finish a project on time. If you find that your workers consistently fall behind schedule, you may need to address these deficiencies with more training.
Gaps in skill always exist in the workplace. Certain employees will adopt new skills more quickly than others, and some will exhibit signs of leadership potential. Maximize the utility of talented employees who stand out among their peers by offering them additional training. Ideally, they will be able take on additional responsibilities and advance to a higher position within your workforce. Instead of looking externally for a qualified worker who fits your needs, develop your own that can also serve as an example of what hard work can achieve for current employees.
Maintaining a skilled workforce requires an ardent dedication to training. You can't view training as a "one-and-done" ordeal. Instead, try to view training as an opportunity to continuously elevate your employee's potential. While no amount of training can fix flawed coaching or unqualified recruitment, it can turn a good employee into a great employee, and a great employee into a future leader.
In part two, we will explain more signs that your workers need additional training to reach their pinnacle.


The kids were born to sing and dance. They put on shows for us whenever we have a family event and sing their way through the day. Last week, London had his first big kid performance with a first and second grade music assembly. For most kids, singing in front of a crowd can be intimidating. But with all of the inputs -- lights, people, loud noise -- I was worried that London might not be able to handle it all.
I think I've mentioned that London bites when he's really overwhelmed. So far -- knock on wood -- he hasn't chopped down on a classmate. He's opened his mouth like he was going in for a big bite of flesh but has been able to stop himself. As I watched him walk onto the stage, I imagined the worst. Would he bit the kid next to him in front of his whole class? Would that be the thing kids remember about him at high school graduation?
Spoiler: He was fine. (I didn't want you to get too worried.) Before the show, I reminded him of some of the exercises he learned at occupational therapy. He kind of brushed me off at the time, but I saw him using them during the show which made me more proud of him than I already was. He sang. He danced. He kept his cool. That was a really big deal.


"Finish him," the voice inside me said. The hulking late-teenager facing me may have been a brown belt to my white, but I had an extensive-yet-rusty set of kung-fu skills from my late teens/early twenties and wasn't going to let him get the best of me.
I'd already won the fight. Young and brash, he'd pushed the offensive and showcased all his flashiest moves to intimidate me. Being older and wiser, I let him run himself into a sweaty, panting mess of carefully-masked frustration. Yet in the split second of opportunity as I saw his chest and throat open up, I abandoned my wisdom and the safe win. Instead, I opted for the show-stopping, Mortal Kombat-style finishing move to teach him a lesson. And I ended up teaching myself my biggest lesson in humility to date.
I was already in prime position for a easy block and counter to the throat. It would have left him wide open, with no way to counter. And it was the right choice. But after minutes of slipping and blocking his fancy crescent kicks, spinning side kicks, double-fists, and other 'big' attacks with simple redirections, I wanted to show him that having a big vocabulary didn't mean he needed to use it.
In retrospect, the hypocrisy of that split-second decision is pretty staggering. Let's just throw that on the table up front. Yikes.
So I went for not just one, but a pair of jumping snap kicks to his upper chest and throat. Exactly the opposite of the safe takedown move, they were strictly from my shock-and-awe library. He was tired so I knew the slow delivery was still gonna be fast enough for his tired arms. I landed the first left to his chest. Felt awesome. Bounced to the other side, snapped my right leg up to pop his chest again, but as I came back to land everything kinda tumbled out from under me. I found myself on the ground, with a wave of pain that hit a few seconds later.
I wasn't really thinking about celebrating the win anymore.
Or any lessons, for that matter.
I was thinking about the loud pop inside my head, still resonating in my skull.
The timing seemed a little fuzzy but it also seemed like it happened before I hit the ground? I hoped no one else heard it, but it was obvious that they did- and from the looks on their faces it was pretty loud.
As the spike of pain relaxed, I stood up on a sore and shaky knee which I gingerly tested for a few minutes walking to and fro. However, when I decided to try a kata my knee promptly folded sideways like a bendy toy, and deposited me back on the carpet. I got back up. Rinse, repeat.
Soon everyone went back about their business. I bought a neoprene brace from the local drug store and fooled myself into thinking it was something minor or temporary. Two weeks later, after falling a few more times, a specialist told me it was a torn ACL and nearly-shredded medial meniscus.
So yeah, I got a few great comments on the badass snap kicks and how I worked the ring in the days after the fight. My long game in that bout was even used as an example of fighting smart. But I mostly just got pats on the back and expressions of sympathy for the huge brace, bandages and crutches I had to wear for months. A symbolic badge you only earn when putting humility to the side in favor of pride and ego, and stooping to a style-over-substance game.
I know it was my own pride that hurt me. My lack of humility. My sparring partner has been really gracious about it all too. He got the point but agrees the cost was too high. And that's the part that is the most ironic – in trying to teach him a lesson in humility, we both ended up the students.
And for my own staggering lack of humility, I even ended up being the example.
This entry was posted in Journal and tagged journal, lesson, life, martialarts. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Audio Book 11:0 September 2011 English 1427213755 http://covers.audiobooks.com/images/covers/large/9781427213754.jpg https://www.audiobooks.net/audiobook/abuse-of-power-a-thriller/188007
Abuse of Power: A Thriller
Listen to "Abuse of Power: A Thriller" on your iOS and Android device.
11 Hours 0 Minutes
Macmillan Audio
From New York Times bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host Michael Savage comes a high-intensity debut thriller, the story of a smeared network journalist who uncovers a chilling terrorist plot.
Jack Hatfield is a hardened former war correspondent who rose to national prominence for his insightful, provocative commentary. But after being smeared as a bigot and extremist by a radical leftist media-watchdog group, he ultimately loses his job and finds himself working in obscurity as a freelance news producer in San Francisco.
One afternoon Hatfield is on a ride-along with the SFPD bomb squad when a seemingly routine carjacking turns deadly, after police find several pounds of military-grade explosives in the jacked car. And when the FBI urges Hatfield to stay out of it, he knows he's onto something big.
This event will open up a shadowy trail that leads Hatfield from San Francisco to Tel Aviv, London, Paris, and back again, as he works with a stunning Yemeni intelligence agent and a veteran Green Beret to expose a terrorist group known as the Hand of Allah-and a plot within the highest corridors of power that will dwarf September 11th.
Abuse of Power is a lightning-paced thriller, spanning the globe from Europe and Israel to the back alleys of San Francisco's Chinatown. Jack Hatfield must make the choice between protecting his own life and investigating a terrorist cell whose goal is nothing less than total political control-no matter what the cost.


text:
More organisations seeking compliance experts and regtechs
Demand for risk and compliance experts in Australia has risen sharply over the last twelve months, and will continue to increase in the year ahead with organisations seeking help from regtechs, according to a survey by a finance technology service provider.
Industry | 04 February 2019 | Sarah Simpkins	<
The Compliance Index, conducted by TAS, found that more than 60 per cent of executives surveyed are seeking to employ as many as five additional resources to focus purely on risk and compliance management in the year ahead, an increase close to 20 per cent on the year before.
Research conducted by Seek found the number of job advertisements for risk and compliance specialists have jumped by nearly 50 per cent over the past year.
The index also confirms that compliance is higher on the boardroom agenda, with close to three quarters of surveyed executives reporting increased visibility of compliance across the organization, up by almost 20 per cent compared to 18 months ago.
The index suggested there are still many challenges organisations face, with the top three being: resource constraints at 42 per cent, time at 35 per cent and capability at 23 per cent.
Yet, against these findings, TAS said companies appear to be slow on the uptake of technology partnerships to help overcome compliance challenges.
The survey found less than a quarter of organisations actively teaming up with regtechs at 23 per cent, 3 per cent actively pursuing collaborations with regtechs and a third considering doing it (32 per cent).
"It is no surprise that, given what the sector has been through recently, there is nervousness around implementing relatively new and untested technology, which may be impacting organisations' decisions to partner with regtechs," said Shane Baker, CEO, TAS.
"However, as the demand for skilled experts continues to grow and vacancies remain unfilled, organisations will need to look at alternative resources to meet their regulatory and compliance requirements including innovative partnerships with third parties like regtechs."
Currently 13.5 per cent of all banking and finance roles on Seek are in the areas of risk and compliance.
"According to the report, Australian executives are taking a top-down approach to creating positive change in their organisations towards compliance," Mr Baker concluded.
"Leaders are taking the right steps to ensure greater transparency moving forward with increased commitment to specialist resources as well as the prioritisation of compliance at a board level.
"This shows executive ownership at the most senior level to meeting regulatory requirements, which is critical when creating a company-wide, robust and effective compliance culture."
Gen Z value personalisation over data privacy
Avoka introduces Workspaces for retail banking


Whether we're driven by a desire to economical or by a concern for changes in our climate, more of us share a goal of reducing carbon emissions than ever before.
Maintaining actively managed working forests is an important—in fact, essential—way that we in Washington support an industry that creates family-wage jobs while achieving that common objective.
The forest industry is part of a carbon-friendly solution.
Managed forests and wood products are a naturally occurring part of the solution to address goals for reducing carbon emissions by storing carbon in the forest and wood products.
Scientific research has demonstrated that forests provide environmental values, including removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that non-forested landscapes cannot.
As we search for ways to reduce the amount of carbon in our environment, the cycle of growth and harvest in working forests is a real solution. In scientific lingo, the process is often called carbon sequestration, and it's based on science most of us mastered in grade school.
Healthy, growing trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, then store that carbon as tree biomass. (Non-scientists call it "wood.") Simple enough.
The process continues with more carbon being stored during a tree's high-growth period and less being stored in older phases of growth. After harvest, the wood continues to store the carbon as lumber, wood and paper products.
Wait. It gets even better.
Responsibly managed forests absorb carbon sustainable forestry increases CO2 absorption from the atmosphere as a result of young trees absorbing higher levels of carbon dioxide than older trees, making the forest act as a carbon sink. In other words, there are a lot of great reasons to preserve old growth timber, but concern for climate change is not among them.
Responsibly managed forests provide drinking water, a healthy climate, wildlife habitat, and green jobs in rural economies. Managed forests increase CO2 absorption and prevent catastrophic fire, disease and insects that kill trees and emit carbon dioxide.
Bioenergy and tall wood buildings are big pieces of the green puzzle.
Wood used in long-lived products provides the greatest reduction in fossil fuel use and emissions. On average, when we substitute wood for energy-intensive building products, we offset two tons of carbon emissions for every dry metric ton of wood used. This occurs because we are eliminating fossil fuel emissions that would have been released into the air had we used more energy-intensive materials, thus adding to the net benefit of wood.
Couple that clear positive impact with the fact that the net carbon stored in wood products is far greater than alternative materials and it becomes clear; wood has the lowest carbon impact among building materials. Builders, therefore, have a great opportunity to mitigate carbon emissions by choosing wood products over steel, concrete and plastics.
Heathy working forests are essential to these natural and science-based solutions having their full positive on the challenges we face. Through better collaboration we can harness the power of the forest industry to meet the demands for wood while following sustainable forestry practices to achieve our broader goals.


Often in life, we're told that being late is a bad thing. And, for most of the time, it's probably true.
Being late for a job interview, for example, or an important meeting, can mean you lose the opportunity of a lifetime.
But what if being late can be as equally rewarding, and as life-changing? That's the premise of today's episode – I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe via your preferred option.


"By reducing the weight of Huracan using carbon fiber technology, increasing downforce through implementation of Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva, and boosing power output to 640 hp, Lamborghini has created a track-oriented performance vehicle. Huracan Performante reaches 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and finishes the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife lap in 6:52.01 min. For those who're interested, the price is set at $274,390. Below is the press release from Lamborghini:" Ed.
Airbags: Full Size dual-stage front airbags. Full size lateral airbags. Knee airbags in specific markets.


This Saturday we will tackle the river bank and islands below Llandaff Weir. It has been a while since we have been there. Meet at Llandaff Rowing Club (look out for the truck on side of the lane down to the clubhouse).
As usual we will provide tools, equipment and insurance, but please wear appropriate clothing and footwear. All waste will be collected by Cardiff Council's Parks Services. Please let me know if you are coming along.
Sunday 2nd June possible event in Llanrumney at request of local resident – please see attached letter. Again time subject to tides. lots of rubbish as well as clear reeds.
Weekend 22/23 June. The Rowing Club have asked for our help to tackle both sides of the river bank upstream from the weir prior to their regatta. They have asked if we can change the event from the Saturday to the Sunday morning.


Water features are typically associated with outdoor gardens, adding a serene stream to lush natural areas. But you can also get that feeling of relaxation inside the house with a characteristic of the water inside.
The uses of the water features at home are endless, from small accent pieces to bulkheads. Read on to learn how and where to use the indoor water features. You could be inspired to use these unusual features in your own home.
Zen style is one of the most classic house styles for indoor water. With Zen, all that is natural helps create the soothing and relaxing feeling that defines the Zen style. The water features can be used to form indoor meditation pools or to complement an indoor Zen garden. You can use the features of the water to create peace in unusual spaces, such as the previously unused area under the stairs of the photo above.
Earlier we talked about the fact that water features can use unused spaces, but that does not mean they have to go unnoticed. The fountain above shows how water features can be designed specifically for the space they occupy. The narrow design of the water feature makes it ideal for use under stairs, without compromising visual interest – just look at the rocks of the shining river.
It is not because this particular water feature is located under the stairs that it is not part of the whole space. It works well as an accent in a dining room, creating a mood for diners.


SPRINGFIELD, Va. – Turns out you can fear a government takeover of health care even if the government already took over your health care.
How else to explain the reservations of seniors like 85-year-old Dee Jollie, who are covered by Medicare, the government health insurance program for Americans 65 and older, yet still have deep concerns about President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul?
"I think it'll be government control," Jollie said this week while waiting for her congressman to hold a health care town hall meeting at her upscale retirement home.
"When that occurs, you don't have any control," Jollie added. "I think we will no longer be able to choose our own doctor," she said – notwithstanding repeated claims to the contrary from Obama, whom she supported for president.
The trepidation that's taken hold among the elderly over Obama's drive to remake the nation's health care system is turning into one more political headache for Democrats as they struggle to reach agreement on sweeping health legislation that can pass the House and Senate after Labor Day.
Older Americans, who vote at a higher rate than other age groups, also hold deeper concerns than others about proposed health care changes, surveys have shown. An ABC/Washington Post poll this month found 45 percent of respondents overall supporting Democrats' proposed health care changes, while just 34 percent of seniors were in support. The elderly use health care services more than others and have perhaps the most to lose and least to gain from any changes in the present system.
Republicans are moving to exploit those concerns, producing a "Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights" this week that touches on sensitive points, including protecting Medicare and ensuring government doesn't come between patients and doctors.
Democrats accuse the GOP of fear-mongering around claims about fictitious "death panels," rationing and nonexistent threats to Medicare, which covers 38 million seniors. They insist seniors' health care will be safeguarded.
"Nobody is talking about cutting Medicare benefits," Obama said during an online AARP forum in July. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius planned to visit a seniors' center in Washington, D.C., Thursday to greet residents and promote Obama's health care agenda.
"Seniors are rightly concerned that half a trillion dollars in cuts might have some impact on access and quality of care," said Mark McClellan, a doctor and health economist who ran Medicare for former President George W. Bush and also served in the Clinton administration.
If Democrats can't succeed in allaying such fears, it could spell trouble for Obama's goal of passing a health care overhaul bill this year.
"The American public in general has to be supportive of health care reform, and obviously seniors are a big part of that," said David Certner, legislative policy director at AARP, which has lost some 60,000 members recently over its support for a health care overhaul even though it has yet to endorse any specific proposal.
"They're big users of health care. And combining the fact that it's more personal to them as an issue and they vote in higher numbers, it's a critical constituency," Certner said.
"No, it isn't," disagreed her friend and ballroom dancing companion Yvonne Fisher, 85.
"Yes, it is," Arden said.
"I think a lot of lousy myths are going around," Fisher said.
"I don't think this administration is too fond of older people," Arden countered.
"You could see reassurance start to ripple through the audience as we got into substantive discussion, put out some fires, false fires, and started to talk about the basket of reforms that really make sense," Connolly said.


text:
My rank is -4.why?
masusususu Member Posts: 3
March 2008 in Help Desk
Grunty Member EpicPosts: 8,657
www.mmorpg.com/faq.cfm
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams


PALAPYE: This weekend, the Makgadikgadi Pans will host the third edition of a high-octane moonlight adventure that promises to reward participants and spectators with an unforgettable experience.
The organisers, Muddy Face events have revealed that at least 180 riders, mostly from the Southern African region and Europe, have registered for the puffed up event.
Not only has the event has grown six-fold from the initial edition when 30 bikers took part in 2016, but the adventure will be galvanised by the longest eclipse of the 21st century that would last about four hours, this is according to the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (ASSA). The entire Southern Africa region will witness the total eclipse of the moon on Friday from 8:24 pm to 00:19.
A telltale roar of over 100 motorcycle engines is expected to fill the pans as riders take different loops under the magical moonlight. The competition includes a night flat track for senior riders and for junior riders, the Endurance-cross challenge, motorcycle loops and bicycle loops. Local top riders Ross Branch and Vincent Crosbie alongside South African, Kenny Gilbert are expected to put up a show under the moonlight.
Organising committee member, Lola Berrie of Muddy Face Events said at sunset and during the four hours of the spectacular eclipse, the spectators will be treated to a freestyle motocross show and an enduro cross test.
The junior riders will participate on a 5km loop, novice riders on a 15km loop and adventure riders on a 30km loop. The loops are all marked out with glow sticks and LED floodlights at marshal points.
She said at midday riders will be able to participate in an off-road adventure and a fun flat-track for junior and seniors. The Makgadikgadi heritage trail has been created for riders and spectators who would love to view the pans from high.
She said the winners of the bike limbo would be rewarded with a two-night package for two to either Duba Lodge or Selinda Explorer camp in the Okavango Delta including full flights tickets.
The overall winner of the night endure challenge will win a P19, 000 worth of holiday package at the House of the Rising Sun in Mozambique. The package is inclusive of seven nights stay for eight people at the holiday home.
Zimbabwean band, The Djembe Monks, will provide live music during the event and the two-day adventure would be capped with a glow after party.
Skip Hire, House of the Rising Sun, Naledi Motors, Jolly Bushmen, P&T Windscreens, Great Plains Camps and Neutral Photography sponsor the Makgadikgadi moonlight adventure.