What are the two ways of dating fossils Explain both. – College freshman dating high school senior?
An imprint of a leaf, an insect preserved in amber or a footprint are all examples of different types of fossils. Scientists use fossils to gather information about the lives and evolutionary relationships of organisms, for understanding geological change and even for locating fossil fuel reserves. The Facts The oldest fossils on Earth are about 3. Hard body parts like teeth, bone and shell are most likely to be preserved reference 1. Peeking into the Past Fossil remains can give us insight into how prehistoric plants and animals obtained food, reproduced and even how they behaved. At times fossils can also provide evidence for how or why the fossil organism died. This information can be used to help understand when different layers of rock were formed even when large distances separate them reference 1.
A sedimentary rock is just what it sounds like: Sedimentary rocks can consist of sand, clay, chalk and fossils and as a marine geologist I find sedimentary rocks very fascinating! Some may think that sedimentary rocks is a bit dull since sedimentary rocks isn't created by violent and exciting volcano eruptions from the Earths mantle like the igneous rocks.
No, sedimentary rocks have another type of fascinating origin and every single rock tells a story if you just know how to "read" the rock!
Possible pathways in the evolution of the human lineage. Announced in , this specimen is dated to the period between 7 and 6 mya. The distinctive mark of Hominini is generally taken to be upright land locomotion on two legs terrestrial bipedalism. The skull of S. The most remarkable aspect of this skull is the broadness and flatness of its face—something previously associated with much more recent hominins—in conjunction with a smaller, ape-sized braincase.
Radioisotope dating shows the earth to be billions of years old. T38, 4: What We Really Know about Dating Methods When someone mentions scientific dating methods, the first thing to come to mind for most people is carbon dating. However, there are many methods that can be used to determine the age of the earth or other objects. The textbooks focus on relative dating, based on the layering of the rocks, and radiometric dating.
Relative dating methods are used to work out the chronological sequence of fossils. They can be applied to fossils found at a particular site and can also be used to make comparisons between sites. Where possible, several different methods are used and each method is repeated to confirm the results obtained and improve accuracy.
Rocks, Fossils, and Time Stratigraphy is the branch of geology that is concerned with the composition, origin, relationship, and age of sedimentary rocks. Although this branch of geology is primarily concerned with sedimentary rocks its principles are used to also understand any layered earth material such as igneous and metamorphic rocks. As we look at sedimentary rocks their most obvious features are their layers or stratification.
The boundary between each strata is a surface known as the bedding plane; where no bedding planes are found sedimentary rocks will grade from one texture to another. The rocks above and below bedding planes will differ in composition, texture, or color. This change may have occurred over a relatively short period of time or after an extended period of nondeposition or erosion. In contrast, slow changes in environmental conditions would cause sediment to grade vertically from one type to the other.
The principles of superposition and inclusions become extremely important when studying sedimentary strata that also includes igneous bodies. For example, the igneous rock basalt is produced in or near earth's surface.
This section explains the different types of fossils. This rare form of preservation preserves life form with some tissue or skin intact. Specimens that are preserved this way are very fragile. Natural mummification usually happens in dry and cold places where preservation happens quickly and effectively.
Paleoanthropologistshave several ways to determine the age of fossils. The simplest, relative dating, relies on the fact that older deposits are found below more recent geological layers in places where geological activity has.
The Geologic Time Scale A few days ago, I wrote a post about the basins of the Moon — a result of a trip down a rabbit hole of book research. Here's the next step in that journey: In the science of geology, there are two main ways we use to describe how old a thing is or how long ago an event took place. There are absolute ages and there are relative ages. People love absolute ages. An absolute age is a number.
SECTION4 Looking at Fossils The Rock and Fossil Record Name Class Date chart comparing the fi ve ways that body fossils can form. Critical Thinking 1. Compare How is a trace of a fossil. However, relative dating can show which fossils are older than others. Fossils found in older layers of rock.
Fossils usually represent the hard parts, such as bones or shells of animals and leaves, seeds, or woody parts of plants. Fossils occur on every continent and on the ocean floor. Through paleontology the scientific study of fossils , it is possible to reconstruct ancient communities of living organisms and to trace the evolution of species. Fossils of single-celled organisms have been recovered from rocks as old as 3.
Animal fossils first appear in rocks dating back about 1 billion years. The occurrence of fossils in unusual places, such as dinosaur fossils in Antarctica and fish fossils on the Siberian steppes, is due to the shifting of the plates that make up Earth's crust and environmental changes such as ice ages over time. The best explanation for dinosaurs on Antarctica is not that they evolved there, but that Antarctica was once part of a much larger landmass with which it shared many lifeforms.
Formation of fossils Most fossils are found in sedimentary rocks, those rocks produced by the accumulation of sediment such as sand or mud. Wind and other weathering conditions wash away sediment on land, depositing it in bodies of water. For this reason, fossils of sea creatures are more common than those of land creatures.
Backgrounder Becoming a Fossil: The study of how life evolved would be impossible if not for the history that is told in the fossilized remains going back billions of years. Scientists have described about , different fossil species, yet that is a small fraction of those that lived in the past. The oldest fossils are remains of marine organisms that populated the planet's oceans. When they died, the plants and animals were buried by mud, sand, or silt on the sea floor.
Paleontologists use many ways of dating individual fossils in geologic time. * The oldest method is stratigraphy, studying how deeply a fossil is buried. Dinosaur fossils .
The headline-grabbing find filled in crucial gaps in the human family tree, but it also shook up ideas about early human evolution and upright walking. Donald Johanson woke up on the morning of November 24, , feeling lucky. The paleoanthropologist—then a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland—was several weeks into his third expedition to Hadar, Ethiopia, a site that had proven to be a treasure trove of early fossil remains.
His international field team had already found leg bones and several jaws that were among the oldest examples of hominids—the family of bipedal primates that includes humans and their ancestors—and Johanson was convinced that an even bigger discovery was in the offing. When an American graduate student named Tom Gray announced he was leaving to scout out a nearby fossil site, Johanson had a hunch he should tag along.
Before he left, he made a brief note in his journal: The pair found a few animal bones and teeth, but nothing extraordinary.


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HomeNewsPOLLY SCATTERGOOD returns with her new single 'Red' – Listen Now
POLLY SCATTERGOOD returns with her new single 'Red' – Listen Now
January 31, 2020 Mark Millar News, New music 0
Polly Scattergood returns with her new single Red, the opening track of her forthcoming album 'In This Moment.' Written at Polly's home studio on the Kent Coast, in stolen moments of creativity while her newborn baby girl slept, Red is awash with big production ideas and the clarion call to womankind. It is a track about taking ownership, standing up, and fighting back "we rage with the forcefield of a woman," Polly sings, "and we rise / We're the ghosts you can't erase".
"Red is a song about finding strength in something that could easily floor you. I tried to reflect the rage of the song within the instrumentation, pounding drums, driving intertwined synths and soundscapes, to set the scene." says Polly. "Around the time of writing, there were a lot of inspiring, strong women creating waves that eventually turned into a tsunami, and so from my own studio by the sea I drew from my own experience to musically reflect upon it."
Listen to 'Red' – BELOW:
After 2013's "Arrows" and her collaborative 2016 project with Maps, onDeadWaves, Polly and her partner (fellow musician, producer and collaborator, Glenn Kerrigan) left the bustle of London for the desert in Fuerteventura. Polly craved light and space, quietness and peace. Getting away from the flashing neon of the city, and modern life's dizzying virtual distractions, felt very urgent. "I wanted to drop off the planet for a while", she says, three years on. "I wanted to start again. And disappear."
And she did. Polly found the distance she craved in the sand and the heat. Goats wandering past her house instead of rumbling Routemaster buses. She describes that time as feeling like a "breath in her life". Then, unexpectedly, another breath entered her world – a baby daughter. Becoming a mother was an experience which focused Polly's creativity intensely. They moved to a house on the Kent coast and, while their little girl slept, Polly would go into to home studio and write, cocooning herself in headphones. Here, alongside producer and collaborator Glenn Kerrigan they'd experiment with new sounds, styles of singing, and whispering into her new microphone with its in-built, pop shield. They blended in field recordings of their new and old lives: of fires crackling, of the movement of the sea, of bells, and of breathing. This creativity would happen at all times of day and night. Everything felt immediate to Polly, deeply intimate, entirely real.
"In This Moment" is an album inspired by travel, soundtracks, Scandinavian films, and music that transports people to very different worlds; the kind of music that makes the listener shut their eyes and be taken on a journey.
Her new album 'In This Moment' is released on 1st May, and available for pre-order now
SILVERBACKS announce a headline Belfast show at Voodoo on Friday 22nd May 2020
ALBUM REVIEW: Nelson Can – So Long Desire
POLLY SCATTERGOOD shares new video for 'Red' – Watch Now
February 14, 2020 Mark Millar New music, News 0
"Written at Polly's home studio on the Kent Coast, in stolen moments of creativity while her newborn baby girl slept, Polly Scattergood's new single 'Red' is awash with big production and the clarion call to […]
Polly Scattergood Celebrates 10 Years with Mute with – The Zehn Mixtape (Mixed by Maps) Listen Now!
November 30, 2017 Amanda Stock Features 0
Electrically charged, Colchester born singer-songwriter, Polly Scattergood is celebrating a special birthday. It's been ten years since the release of her first single under the Mute record label – "Nitrogen Pink" which was released on September […]
INTERVIEW: ON DEAD WAVES – chat about their forthcoming album
March 23, 2016 Amanda Stock Interviews 1
If you haven't heard of onDeadWaves before, you may already know the band. One is James Chapman, better known as Maps, whose critically acclaimed debut "We Can Create" was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, […]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Mark Atkins may have an alter ego problem. You may know him as Mark or you may know him as Rusty Butcher. Mark is well known for his crazy motorcycle riding antics on a Sportster, jumping things that shouldn't be jumped and riding where others wouldn't even go on a dirt bike, nonetheless a 500lb Harley®. In the past few years, Rusty Butcher has become a household name in the industry and a staple when it comes to Tracker style bike builds. From humble beginnings, Mark has created a media empire that includes Hooligan racer, stunt rider, and so much more. The Rusty Butcher crew have done more with Harley-Davidson® Sportster® motorcycles then most people could ever have imagined and we're excited to have helped him out along the way. Today's Build Spotlight is on their most recent Sporty creations constructed to contest the 2018 Hooligan season.
Building a Hooligan race bike is not as complex as you would think. Let's break down good ol' number 22.


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Q: Is there any way to judge whether a class has been loaded into jvm? Is there any way to judge whether a class has been loaded into jvm?
In my opinion,I think the way is findClass ,is that right?

A: OK, so I have not done this. But it seems that it would be possible via getAllLoadedClasses() in the Instrumentation API.
But then you would still need to start the JVM with your agent.

A: Turn on class loader logging with -verbose:class and read the log.

A: You can use jdk tool,such as JConsole.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Kinderhilfe Nepal e.V.Charity Organization for Nepalese Slum Children
Newsletter August, 2018
Nepal, which is wedged between the two rapidly growing major powers of China and India, would have everything in and of itself to become a prosperous country. It has the great water reserves of the Himalayas available as its resource, whilst thoroughly planned ecotourism could help the Nepalese prosper. However, because of the political instability that is continuing to dominate the country, foreign companies are not exactly inclined to invest. The Prime Minister Oli is currently doing his best to improve the relationship with India, and is trying to make his country financially attractive, knowing that the great neighbour suffering from extreme drought has a great interest in the water potential of the Himalayan State.
With all these resources, the water shortage remains the biggest problem of the Nepalese, especially in the Kathmandu Valley and in the Plains. In the village of MUDHKU, where we built Earthquake-proof houses for 20 families after the great catastrophe of the 2015, the 350 residents have to walk two kilometres through the hills to get to a watering point. This water comes through an already existing sewer directly from a remote 3 kilometre forest source. The strong plastic pipes that would be necessary to connect the village to this pipe cost €5000, and the Mudhku residents simply do not have that money. Using cement pipes would more than triple the cost and would also be pointless, because the earth's layers are constantly shifting due to the frequent small earthquakes causing the springs to relocate. The government is once again not ready to make its contribution.
Like most Nepalese, the inhabitants of Mudhku love religious rituals, where they offer the gods their sacrifice in the form of flowers, fruit and incense, and hope for a better life. This time the gods must have been particularly gracious, because one of our long-standing generous donors has already agreed to bear the cost of the water pipes. In the 20 newly built houses, twenty families will finally be able to use their small bathroom and wash their laundry at home.
Because of the hostility that we have been experiencing for some time regarding our work in the slum of THAPATHALI, a meeting was held there by our employees Muna and Sushma with the ' Slum Committee '. The people in charge could not provide an explanation for the unpleasant atmosphere in this settlement, but promised that the slum dwellers would show up cooperatively in the future instead of making our work difficult through their unfriendliness. They also ostentatiously argued that if we were to pay the school fees for their children instead of wasting the money on the expensive milk porridge, we could use our money better.
The fact that this nutritious milk porridge with its vitamins and minerals is essential for a good mental and physical development of its little ones is of little interest to the parents. The main thing you feel proud of is when you see your sweet offspring neat in their expensive uniforms every morning, even if the little ones are malnourished with two plates of rice during the day and have little chance of a glorious future.
We already carry the school fees for 300 children of our project, and not all residents of Thapathali are so terribly poor that they could not pay these fees themselves. The government is now in the process of registering the inhabitants of all Slums. Thapathali would have to be relocated first, because five years ago the state used bulldozers to destroy the fixed accommodations that the inhabitants had built. Even before the earthquake of 2015, new accommodations had been built for them, which were recently renovated after the Catastrophe. According to the representatives of the state, only the families who earn no more than €350 a year are to be described as needy and officially recognized as slum dwellers. An incredibly ridiculous sum, considering that hardly any family in Nepal could survive with so little money!
Theoretically, all other slum dwellers would soon have to leave the banks of the Bagmati River. The whole of the inhabitants, however, refuses to give up their miserable living conditions: the flats of this new settlement are too small, too far away from the town centre, and besides, they would have to pay rent, they say.
On the other hand, the poor people who live near these new buildings are revolting and want to move in. The following will be most likely to happen: officials will start to register the people, but it can be assumed that this resettlement project will not be carried out for a long time.
The slum of BANSHIGAT remains our flagship slum: due to the influence of our years of work, the settlement is now cleaner than other slums, and most of the dwellings are built with solid materials. Our kindergarten, literacy class and health post give the visitor a good picture of what we do in KATHMANDU.
But even though the Banshigat inhabitants have developed well, their moral conception differs completely from ours: as in other slums too, those who have long since occupied a small piece of land here have, in recent times, still built more rooms to rent them to victims of earthquakes and avalanches for a lot of money. Every small room houses six to seven People. To occupy public land and look at it as one's own, we, Europeans, would regard as illegal. But to use this land to enrich oneself through the bitter fate of others, many of us would call immoral. When we say this to the slum dwellers, they look at us completely stunned and uncomprehending.
Our 'MAUTE' nomads, who actually no longer qualify as such, even though they still live under tents close to Kathmandu's airport, remain satisfied and cheerful. They can barely breathe in the dust and fumes of the busy road where they are directly located, but they don't even notice it. They are constantly affected by kerosene particles as machines are starting and landing machines, and if we ask them to look for a better bearing for the benefit of their children, they say we should not worry, as all this does not disturb them and belongs to life.
Another suddenly emerged Maute clan is running a pig farm next door, so that bad smells and bacteria make the lives of people there as unhygienic as possible. This, however, does not disturb our 'friends' joy in life. They appreciate our support, and the women do not forget to provide their little ones with our milk porridge every day, because they now understand how important this is for their children. It's actually amazing how unsusceptible they are to diseases, as if their living conditions were the best vaccines in the world!
Many thanks to you all who continue to support the work of the children's help Nepal in Kathmandu and Mudhku faithfully! The donation receipts for this year will be sent to you in December.
Elisabeth Montet
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Business Bullshit, Corporate Crap and other stuff from the World of Work
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Metropolitan bureaucrats ate our counties →
Self-employed – the nouveau pauvre
Posted on 25 April, 2014 by Rick
I take a break for a week or so and lots of people publish stuff about self-employment. Even the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee were discussing it earlier this month, describing it as a "striking feature" of the UK's labour market while holding a "range of views" as to the possible reasons for it. As Ben Chu noted, this is a polite way of saying that they disagree, which is not surprising given the ambiguous and sometimes contradictory data on self-employment.
Of course, this didn't stop the government putting its own spin on the MPC's comments. Ian Duncan-Smith claimed that welfare reforms were reviving Britain's entrepreneurial spirit, citing the Bank of England in support, even though there was no reference to entrepreneurialism anywhere in its report.
What the MPC did say, however, was that benefit reforms might have been one of the factors leading to higher rates of self-employment. There has been a steep increase in the number of self-employed people in recent months as these charts from the recent TUC report show.
Alex Harrowell posted on this last week:
So what happened in the spring of 2013? Back on the 3rd of March, 2013, I blogged on a variety of evidence that more or less fictitious self-employment was an emerging survival plan for the unemployed and for badgered Jobcentre Plus staff alike, as well as being a way for chancers like A4e to juice their billings to the government. I called this the bogus hairdresser phenomenon for reasons set out in the post.
I also pointed to this fine post of Voidy's on the Universal Credit regulations and their tendency to encourage the self-employed to declare more hours.
Basically, declaring self-employment permits you to stop the abuse, permits the Work Programme chancer to bill the government, permits the Jobcentre Plus caseworker to close the file and therefore happy their manager up, and lets you claim Working Tax Credit. If you have kids, you also get additional tax credits in respect of this, which means that you may actually be better off than on JSA. The regulations sort-of get this, giving the DWP the power to bother you to do more hours – therefore pushing you to declare full-time.
So when did the regulations come into force? The 29th of April, 2013. Give them a month to spread through the bureaucracy and for all parties to learn about the new setup, and I think we've got a suspect.
A report on the BBC last year alleged that advisers were nudging the jobless towards self-employment. For someone whose benefits are under threat, the option of becoming self-employed and claiming tax credits may look attractive. As Ben Chu puts it, benefits reforms may have "pushed more people into setting up shop on their own in order to protect their incomes".
Michael O'Connor created this chart last week, using data from the Labour Force Survey.
It shows the self-employed share of working tax credits rising over the last 3 years. The self-employed now account for 14 percent of the employed workforce but 19 percent of working tax credit claimants. In other words, those working for themselves are more likely to be claiming tax credits than those in employment.
There is much argument about whether and by how much the surge in self-employment is a result of a weak economy and lack of job opportunities elsewhere. The data from the Labour Force Survey and the recent sharp rise after benefit changes suggest that at least some of the increase is due to the state of the labour market.
The pay data seem to point that way too. We already know that the earnings of the self-employed have crashed since the recession.
Source: ONS data via Richard Murphy who wrote on this in some detail last year.
The HMRC figures tell a similar story. In 2007-08, 4.9 million self-employed earned £88.4 billion. In 2011-12, 5.5 million self-employed earned £80.6 billion.
That's not an average figure or one adjusted for inflation, that's just straightforward cash. In 2011-12, 5.5 million self-employed people actually managed to earn less in total than 4.9 million self-employed people did before the recession. The 600,000 extra people did nothing to raise the total self-employment income, they simply competed with those already there for a much depleted pot.
Frustratingly, the HMRC earnings figures are published almost 2 years after the relevant tax year. It will be January 2016 before we see the data on what has happened to self-employment earnings as a result of this recent upsurge. Looking at the other evidence, though, there is little to suggest there will be much of an improvement.
36 Responses to Self-employed – the nouveau pauvre
Malcolm Henry says:
25 April, 2014 at 6:49 am
Excellent piece of analysis. Many thanks for digging through the data to get to the truth of the slf-employed boom.
Pingback: Views From The Boatshed
Ian Perry says:
Reblogged this on emergecoach and commented:
Nice insight into the self employment myth and bluster!
25 April, 2014 at 11:50 am
And those unable to understand how to play the system are the ones queuing up at food banks.
Big Bill says:
26 April, 2014 at 12:33 pm
It seems to be work programme providers, JSA claimant advisors and IDS who are playing the system here, none of whom are seen at foodbanks as they're all too busy trousering your and my cash for fiddling the figures. Crime appears to pay in Cameron's Britain.
Jeffrey Davies says:
spot on bb spot on
P Hearn says:
25 April, 2014 at 1:12 pm
What is the alternative? Should these folks be given government "jobs" to spare them the indignity of being self-employed?
We've just had a massive recession. Things ain't gonna be the way they were for some time, if ever. The days of cosy employment for life, with ever increasing rights and few responsibilities, (whilst government runs up ever-increasing debts on the never never), are a way away. I hope they never return, because the immoral theft from generations as yet unborn is the real outrage.
If the state didn't take such a huge chunk of the pie, those in employment might actually find it worth working without the need for a massive tax and redistribution apparatus which keeps them grateful to government for tax credits. Eventually the end will come, because the welfare state is inherently unsustainable (being essentially a Ponzi scheme).
However, for those that think everyone has a right to a job, please go ahead and create some.
Simon Jones says:
I don't think that is the point of the post at all. You've clearly just come here to post a political point without any reference to any facts or data (and in the interests of balance, I should add that I consider the previous comment, on foodbanks, in the same light). Rick has written a series of articles about self-employment of which this is the latest, I'd suggest you read the series to see the macroeconomic point he is making
The implicit point that Rick is making is that this is just part of a programme to massage the unemployment figures by the current coalition government.
They are not alone in that.
Previous attempts to massage unemployment figures by previous governments included raising the school-leaving age and, in his memoirs, Alan Clark said that most of the time he spent as a junior minister in the Employment Department involved him in making up around 30 different changes to the way in which unemployment figures were calculated.
Virtually all of the re-calculations ended up with the unemployment rate being lowered.
The current government makes much of the fact that they have created 1.2 million new "apprenticeships" since taking office. What many people may not realise is that these "apprentices" are paid just £2.68 per hour for the first year of their "apprenticeship".
I have no idea as to how many make it to the end of the year in order to be rewarded with the national minimum wage pay levels, though I suspect the answer is "Not many".
Young people I have discussed this with have also added the further criticism that these "apprenticeships" are just a form of cheap labour, during which little of any real value is learned which might enhance their future employability.
Retail "apprentices", for example, find themselves just stacking shelves all day long, and learning nothing else which might add to their personal skills for future employment.
I have read most of them, and commented on a few. They're very long and involved, (a good thing), but inevitably one's time is the constraint when looking into every link and reference. One has to accept the post largely at face value, and I do.
So my point is political – what's wrong with that? I think the current popular disdain for politics is the most worrying trend in modern life. Inane comments such as "politicians, they're all the same" serve to mask a lazy indifference to the big issues of who is running the country, what they're doing with our money, and that they've borrowed from our children.
My [political] point is, we have a choice in this. Since WW2, in common with every other European country, we've chosen the 'big state' model, but nobody has every thought too hard exactly how we're going to fund it. Government statistics are presented to show things are great, so everyone can get back to being a useful drone in their secure employment, knowing their employer will worry about their pension, or if not, the state will. This is going to end people! Please don't be surprised about it.
This infantilisation of the population is the real scandal here. I can quite agree with the author that much self-employment is nothing of the sort, but equally, I genuinely ask what is the alternative?
Surprisingly few people can posit a solution that doesn't involve more state spending until, presumably, the state spends every penny generated?
hstorm says:
You make the mistake of assuming that the Big State can't pay for itself. It can, and does.
Accept the Big State CAN pay for itself.
Don't accept that it does. Ever. The government that made it do so would lose the next popularity contest that decides who gets to borrow (sorry, magic up) more money.
May I request that you kindly stop using the word 'magic'? It is patronising and deceitful to use such juvenile terminology, as it misrepresents what I have been saying.
Yes, the Big State pays for itself. It hasn't over the last thirty years, but then we haven't had a Big State during that period.
Consider that there was uninterrupted growth in the UK for 25 years from the late-1940's to the early-1970's. It is the only time in recorded British history that economic growth was maintained over such a long period, during which time the Welfare State was built from the ground up. Because of that, more of the population had money, and were healthier and lived longer, and so were able to spend more, and to work more effectively – hence better cash circulation throughout society.
This was happening in spite of the fact that the British Empire, with all its leached resources of yesteryear, was gradually being dismantled.
The only recession in the era before the rise of Margaret Thatcher came in 1973-74 as a result of the OPEC Oil Shock, which was something beyond any single-nation-economy's power to control – Big State or Free Market, a recession was inevitable with fuel costs spiralling upwards in such a rush, as manufacturing and transport industries couldn't cope with such a spike in overheads. But the state was blamed by the right-wing so often and so routinely for it that it simply stopped being questioned that, somehow, the state was 'too expensive' and 'a burden', without there ever being any coherent or measurably-proven demonstration of what the state was doing wrong.
Since the Tories dismantled the post-war state institutions, by contrast, we have had three enormous recessions, and now, alongside the insistence that Government outgoings should be no higher than tax receipts (bar through pointless borrowing), the country has been 'forced' by the biggest recession of the lot to bail out the banking industry, but without taking control over that industry. The free market, as ever, wants all the benefits it can get from the Big State, but without having any corresponding duty to answer to it. That is where the recent crisis originates, not with people receiving £50-odd per week in benefits, nor in 'overgrowth of the state' (usually left undefined) – we are not having problems paying for the state at all, we are having problems paying for the free market. (Of course, we could pay off the bailout debt in one big go if we really wanted to, just by instructing the Bank Of England to distribute the full amount to its creditors – once again all it would have to do is just change numbers on its computers, instead of trying to 'gather' cash from elsewhere first – but that would cause a painful inflation surge that everyone could do without. So it's actually preferable just to keep paying debts off only as they fall due, which is what we are doing anyway.)
Money is a token, it is not a resource. Money BEGINS with Government. When a new state is set up from scratch, the Government issues the money, the private sector does not. The Government imposes taxes in order to create a demand for its currency i.e. to get the population to co-operate with the national needs, and it can issue as much or as little as it feels is appropriate to the size of its population. It can also increase or decrease the supply in the same way as the population size goes up or down.
To say that the Government needs to borrow or gather money is like saying the referee at a football match needs to 'borrow' or 'gather' goals before he can award them to the teams for putting the ball in the net. Therefore, the Government is not 'magically' producing money when it distributes funds, it is simply doing what it has done all the time.
And making the state pay for itself would not, in itself, cost it popularity. Misleading rhetoric in the media will have that effect, but only because the media tend to present it in precisely the terms you do i.e. talking about an economy like it's a household budget, and all the usual clichéd nonsense about 'living within our means' and 'taxing generations yet unborn' etc. If a Government wants to pay for itself, all it has to do is quietly keep making payments through the Bank Of England, which happens automatically every day, regardless of what money comes in from the other direction. Hardly anyone understands this process anyway, let alone objects to it. It would only be by trying to pay for it *through taxation alone* that unpopularity would ensue, but it doesn't have to be done that way, and strictly speaking, it never is.
Borrowing is a ridiculous method of Governments obtaining funds, but not because of hackneyed codswallop about "taxing future generations". The reason Governments do it instead of using Quantitative Easing is that they fear that issuing fresh money will cause inflation (as though inflation doesn't happen anyway). But what they don't seem to realise is that the money they borrow from banks is *also* fresh money created on the banks' computers, so we have the same inflationary effect anyway, but also, later on the Government has to pay interest on top of returning what was borrowed, carrying the inflationary effect even further. It's pointless and so they should just leave out the middleman and issue the money directly.
You'll be aware of the Economic Research Council's little book on the subject, the one which rather gave the game away in 1981, 'Government Debt and Credit Creation'? http://www.ercouncil.org/historical-archives/ This was the book which illustrated how the government was spending new money into the economy.
Jean Hardiman Smith says:
P Hearn, I am only a poor pensioner, but I am quite unable to see how working hard for a British company for years, for a good wage and conditions, and getting a pension at the end is a theft from great grandchildren yet unborn. I DO think that instead of paying good wages, with good conditions, big companies now are simply stashing money away so that it can't be taxed (for roads, education, health etc on which they rely for their company to do business) so that our children end up paying for it all, plus the wars that are so good for trade. Debts are increasing rapidly, because of this,despite a massive lowering of workers wages and conditions, and an increasingly rapacious attitude to the environment by companies. We owe it to our children to tip the balance in favour of ordinary people again – we were never so well off as when we were more equal (not exactly equal, as that would tend to make us uncompetitive, but not so bad that we would kill our grandmothers to make a buck as now). Running a small business is not well supported by governments, while huge multinationals get all the breaks. We sold off our industries to foreign competitors, and then made it easy for them to make profit by selling us the stuff back. There is so much that is wrong, but to blame it on the older generation, who fought and sometimes suffered to ensure that everyone got a fair share, while saying nothing about those who told our children that cooperating as workers to ensure we got a fair share of profits would kill off our induustries, which the government then sold anyway, and ignoring that a few powerful people are actively creating the conditions to ensure our grandchildren suffer, is probably a bit over the top!! US unions continually produce figures to show that companies who treat workers fairly actually are more profitable. Let us hope the message gets through, and things change. ps we have the worst pensions in the world except Mexico, so don't blame our generous pensions!! Taxation of the big avoiders would make the funding of a decent pension look like peanuts. I feel sorry for those who are not self employed because they want to be, but because it is the only option. From those I know of, they are very unhappy. I do want cosy employment for life for the grandchildren, together with a welfare state and NHS if they have problems, and would be quite happy to pay high taxes for them to get it – so maybe it is those with your mindset who are the problem?? The welfare state is not a ponzi scheme, unless you privatise it, it is a service for which we pay as taxpayers, and if people did not begrudge paying for education,
someone else's childs life to be saved etc, and try their best to avoid it, then it would thrive.
Florence says:
Couldn't have put it better myself. Those who call the welfare state "a Ponzi scheme" are just regurgitate the phrase, with scant understanding of either the way the state organises or the way Ponzi schemes actually operate. And probably even less understanding of what the majority of peoples life experiences are.
The post-WWII years were marked by a massive reduction in inequality. This was because with the war-time and post-war shortages, and the political will of te people for the creation of decent housing and the welfare state, the rich (individuals and companies) saw that hey needed to contribute too, and that greed would not play well.
Since the '80's it has all gone back to the pre-war mentality, accelerating under this government propelling us back to the 19th century. It is the hovering up of assets, money and power by the same old classes that is robbing us of all our presents and futures, not the company pensions, the disabled and other unwaged.
The current situation of people forced into bogus self-employment to escape the relentless pressure and threat of sanctions is pitiful. They will have a hard time if/when the inland revenue decide that their "business activity" is not, in fact, a business. They can demand repayment of all in work benefits if this happens. So much for the entrepreneurs told to become Avon ladies or EBay traders by A4e et al. We have become inured to the sight of families scavenging rubbish dumps in other countries, but it is the same there as here – self-employed. I hope, that we will not see the similar happening here, once the welfare state has been dismantled and the poor cast aside. I ask – where will the poor get their EBay stock, without capital? Where will the sanctioned get food (already courses in safe skip dining are being held) when the food banks collapse under the weight of demand? This is not a Ponzi scheme, it is a fight for dignity, health and survival against those who have the most, and yet still want more.
All true, after the war many were so shocked by events there had to be a temporary respite in leeching off the workers by the parasitic classes as they knew they couldn't get away with it for the time being. Now, though, it's back to business as usual. Well, the backlash to the war create al manner of good things, perhaps the backlash to what's building now will wipe out the Establishment, parasites all of them.
We can wish. I expect if there is a major backlash (probably rioting) it will be used as an excuse to criminalise poverty, rather than tackle it. I think if we can survive to the next election to put the boot in on them, they will pull back to their country estates and enclaves of wealth, with the closed shop still for the best (unskilled & massively well paid) jobs, go quiet for a while, and keep on pushing from behind the scenes. What will it take to make these parasites seen for what they are?
I agree with virtually everything Jean says above. My understanding is that most of the people being forced to beg for food from food banks go there not because they want to but because they literally have no food for themselves and their families.
This situation has been created by the changes in benefits introduced by the current coalition government.
The flawed introduction of Universal Credit by IDS has resulted in many people either losing part or most of their previous benefit incomes.
This, for example, has affected a medically retired former service man locally here in Watford, who is one among 3,000 people forced to use food banks in Watford last year.
As a member of the Green Party, I believe they have the right policy in promoting the idea of a national minimum income level. As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it is scandalous that we have any forms of poverty at all. Instead of linking income to work, we believe there should be a national minimum income for all adults in the UK.
As Jean points out above, most of us now receiving a very modest state pension have worked for the best part of 40 years to get it, paying in to the system all that time.
One final point arising from one of the other contributors: as – I believe – Rick has pointed out on a number of previous occasions, one of the principal reasons UK businesses are failing to pick up to the same degree as previously is due to low levels of capital investment. This temporarily boosts profits – to the benefit of senior managers and shareholders – but, in the longer run, accounts for far lower levels of productivity being achieved by British workers and companies. This is another factor which explains why UK residents seemingly are seeing little benefit from a modest upturn in the economy.
The paragraph is a great invention.
If the state pension isn't a Ponzi scheme, can you point me to the huge investment pool, built up since WW2, that's funding it?
I'll save you a moment: there isn't one. It relies on there being an ever expanding pool of workers to support what's going to be a steadily increasing pensioner group. Without reform, it will collapse one day, and simply wishing otherwise isn't going to change that fact.
WHEN will it collapse? What exactly will happen when it collapses? How exactly does the money 'run out', when, by definition, the money is 'created' or 'destroyed' entirely at the Government's whim?
There is no money 'pool', no. But that's because there's no great need for one.
It will collapse when the government can no longer print money to sustain the system because said money has no value or credibility internationally.
As to when – anyone's guess. Hope not to be around to see it, but my kids probably will.
That didn't really answer me. When exactly? Just saying, "Anybody's guess" is just a way of saying you're making it up.
Why would the Government need the money to 'have credibility internationally' (again left undefined)?
The myth of "taxing generations yet unborn" is one of the most damaging and nonsensical cliches of right-wing propaganda. The 'National Debt' is not what you think it is at all, and there is nothing wrong with the state providing work instead of the private sector.
Do please elucidate. Is the national debt a myth? If so, let's write it off and move on.
In a manner of speaking, yes. People thinking of the National Debt like a household debt, but it isn't, and any country that issues its own currency can pay off any amount that falls due as easily as a few strokes on the keyboard of a PC.
When money is borrowed (a needless activity in itself for a Government with its own currency, but we'll leave that for now), the money is transferred from the bank to the Bank of England, which sets up a deposit account in the name of the lender, with the exact amount lent credited to it. When the debt falls due, all that happens is the BoE simply closes the deposit account, and then sets up a current account for the identical amount, plus the interest. That's it. That's all that happens. There is no physical money involved, it's just numbers changing on a computer. So long as the Government controls its own money supply, it can keep making payments, and won't even need to use tax money to do it; in reality, money that is taxed by Government does NOT pay for services as such. The money that gets deducted from wages and through VAT simply ceases to 'exist'. Governments try to keep a balance between taxes and spending to try and rein in inflation, but it's not an essential part of the public finances at all, and doesn't work very reliably anyway. The real reason why Governments need to impose taxes is to create a demand for their own currencies, and the real reason they raise or lower taxes is, again, to contain inflation; when spending is manic, an increase in taxes will calm things down, and when the economy is sluggish, a cut in taxes can invigorate things a bit.
Getting rid of the deficit, furthermore, would not be a great move at all. By definition, any public debt that is discontinued will simply become private debt for individual citizens as they become forced to take up the added burden left by the lost services. You might respond with the cliched old, "We must learn to stand on our own two feet" argument, but that doesn't take into account unfortunate knock-on effects of the cuts to services. When people have to find extra money to pay for services that were previously publicly funded, this leads them to divert personal funds away from the businesses they used to purchase from. The private sector, therefore, loses sales, causing an economic slowdown.
ANY time the public sector finances are in surplus, within a couple of years there will almost certainly be a crash, or at least a big slowdown, because the private sector loses money and may even have to lay off large numbers of staff to stay in the black. (As US President, Bill Clinton achieved a surplus in 2000, and within two years there was a crash in the US economy. People put that down to George W Bush, but in all fairness, it probably had nothing to do with him – although as he would have pursued similar 'debt-cutting' policies, he doesn't deserve much sympathy.)
In short, the National Debt is 'real', but is not remotely what people think it is, and is also not remotely the emergency/crisis that the Tories make it out to be. That was always just an excuse to dismantle the public sector to conform to their neoliberal-gobbledegook ideology.
Ah! The old "we issue the currency, so it's not real debt" line.
Would you expand your analysis to include the effects of such 'magic money' on Sterling internationally, the imported inflation effect thus resulting, capital flight, bond interest and so forth? By extension of your theory, running massive deficits is a good thing, and the bigger the deficit the better, lest we have a surplus and cause a crash.
Might it be that a tax surplus is a symptom of a booming economy with buoyant tax revenues and not the cause?
I'm quite old, and recall when we tried the "it's not real debt" approach in the 1970s: it didn't end well. Unfortunately it turned out to be a little more real than Denis Healey thought, and he had to go begging to the IMF as whisking up more money in the BoE had come to an end. (Actually, I do Healey a grave disservice there, as his was a lone voice of sanity at the time, but like Moyes, he carried the can.for the policy.)
I wish you well with your theory, and when Labour wins the next election, I'm quite sure the theory will be put to the test.
"By extension of your theory, running massive deficits is a good thing, and the bigger the deficit the better, lest we have a surplus and cause a crash."
No, that's not what I said at all. Please do not invent 'extensions', and also do not twist my words into 'the Debt isn't real'. Not only did I not say that, I quite explicitly said it IS real, only that it isn't what people such as yourself think it is. It is not a HOUSEHOLD debt.
And no, I am not encouraging huge deficits for their own sake at all. Excessively large deficits cause inflation to race out of control because the manic spending involved causes demand to exceed supply, pushing up prices.
What I am arguing is that Debts will be paid off consistently and more or less automatically, and taxes can be used to cool off any inflationary effects of that by simply writing off the monies brought in.
I would also argue that sometimes Government spending needs to be cut – BUT ONLY AT TIMES OF HIGH EMPLOYMENT AND CONSISTENT LONG-TERM GROWTH IN INDUSTRY. At those times, Government spending is less necessary as more members of the public, and more parts of the private sector, will have money to spend themselves – and indeed high Government spending will therefore cause excess demand and inflation once more. Government spending needs to be highest at times of economic hardship, as it can be used to reduce or prevent unemployment, and to keep the product of the market fully sold up/consumed, and the circulation of capital can be maintained.
Yes, but that's a separate subject. And once again, you have shamelessly twisted my words through 180 degrees. I never said at any time that a tax surplus is the cause of a vibrant economy. On the contrary, I said in the medium term a surplus is likely to cause a CRASH, or at least a slowdown, because it means parts of the market's product are not being consumed/sold, meaning loss of sales in the tertiary sector, leading to reduction of cash circulation, which makes job lay-offs more likely (as companies try to reduce overheads to compensate for the reduced profits). More job lay-offs mean fewer people will have money, meaning more market product goes unconsumed, leading to more lay-offs etc. Hence, the larger the surplus, the bigger the crash that is likely to follow.
Your frequent apparent need to change the meaning of what I'm saying into its diametric opposite perhaps tells a tale about how confident you really are in your own arguments.
It's not my theory – Modern Monetary Theory has been around for many, many years and encouraged by economists of far more expertise than I will ever have – and no it won't be put to the test by a Labour Government. The top brass in Labour don't appear to be aware of it, and in fact are almost as uncompromisingly neoliberal as the other mainstream parties. Just because you can remember the dim-and-distant days when Labour was a socialist party, that doesn't mean it is one now.
Mil says:
Reblogged this on http://error451.me and commented:
Interesting data and thoughts from Rick on the subject of self-employment in Britain. Longish read, as is his wont, but fascinating, as – equally – is his custom.
Pingback: Diddling the workers was never just diddling the workers, now was it? | http://error451.me
Mike Sivier says:
Reblogged this on Vox Political and commented:
Here we find evidence of the 'bogus hairdresser' phenomenon – that increasing numbers of people are declaring themselves to be self-employed without actually having jobs. This article is useful as it provides figures to support the claim, with graphs showing that the number of people saying they were self-employed shot up shortly after the rules changed on April 29 last year, with an increased burden on the tax credit system. There has recently been a sharp drop in the declared earnings of people who say they are self-employed, but earnings figures are published almost two years after the relevant tax year, so it will be January 2016 before we see what all this jiggery-pokery has done to self-employment earnings.
more smoking mirrors it seems but they who claim a benefit will be paying it back to the dwp has they had help off them but didn't earn enough or work those hours a double whammy they get to pay it back didn't rtu ids do well again
Reblogged this on TheCritique Archives and commented:
The Government has been using 'self-employment' status as a bribe to fiddle the jobless figures – the Working Tax Credit is a better support mechanism than Job-Seeker's Allowance, so they push the jobless into registering, and that makes it look like unemployment has gone down.
In truth, the jobless figures have been fiddled perpetually for over 30 years, and have long-since been meaningless.
ravenswyrd1 says:
Work Choice for the disabled, providers have been pushing their clients in to inappropriate on unsusatainable self employment as well…Dxxx
Pingback: Self employment, money and post-crash economics « alittleecon
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What if a marketing strategy could bring you more traffic, more leads, and more customers at a fraction of the price of traditional marketing? It's called inbound marketing, and it's changing the way most companies fill their funnel. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? It may be to some, but to others who have years or decades of experience doing marketing a different way, you'll need to make a compelling case to get their buy-in. This is especially true when you add in the cost of the marketing software needed to support it and the additional need to hire or outsource people with the skills needed to execute on that strategy.
This is where a bit of persuasion skills and creative writing can go a long way. If you're going to secure the budget you need, mobilize the team, and get buy-in to change the way you do marketing, you'll need to have a compelling argument.
One tried-and-true technique to consider is to incorporate the Toulmin Model of Argument in your pitch. The model was created by Stephen Toulmin, a British philosopher, author, and educator who dedicated his works to the analysis of moral reasoning. In 1958 he published his influential book, The Uses of Argument, in which he outlined the six core components of an effective argument.
This model is a simple, yet practical way to make a compelling argument based on data, evidence, and reasoning. It takes into consideration the opposing view, and backs up a claim with solid evidence to support it. Let's break down each component of the model.
This is your main point, thesis, or recommendation. It's your request to change the status quo. It is the conclusion that you need to your audience to come to.
For inbound marketing, an example might be: I believe that ACME Co. should adopt an inbound marketing strategy in 2016 and invest $$$ to launch our first campaign.
This is the foundational data or evidence you would use to validate that your claim is justified and real. It is the rock-solid fact on which the claim is based. It can also be a proof of expertise or a personal experience that is irrefutable. It's essential to make sure your grounds are indeed true, or your entire argument will quickly fall apart.
Example: The average purchase decision is already 57% compete before a customer first contacts a vendor. Most of this research is happening online through search engines like Google.
The warrant enables you to bridge your grounds to your claim. It is the overarching principle that ads legitimacy to your claim by making it relevant. It should make it clear how the data you presented proves that your claim is true.
Example: Entering the conversation earlier in the buyers journey, before the 57% point, would have a significant impact on our business. Inbound marketing tactics such as blogging, content, and social media are effective tactics at engaging with prospects at this stage of their buying cycle.
Now here's the deal. You might be the most eloquent speaker or writer on earth, and have used extremely compelling data to back up your claim, but chances are you'll still face some skeptics. People can be stubborn and often stuck in their ways. To really convince someone you need to drown them with data.
Example: Inbound leads tend to close at a higher rate than outbound leads, and often have a lower cost of acquisition. This is appealing one of our primary business objectives in 2016 is to improve our efficiency.
If you need more data and facts to back your claim, check out Hubspot's Marketing Statistics resource.
A qualifier is a word or phrase like 'most', 'many', 'often' and 'sometimes.' The stronger the word the greater you will seem confident in your claim. Very rarely will a claim be 100% true for all situations, so using a qualifier can add a hint of reality and believably to your assertion. Words like 'unless', 'virtually,' and 'usually' can also be used.
Example: According to Hubspot's State of Inbound report, most marketers now prefer inbound over outbound, and the majority of marketers, 57%, thought paid advertising was an overrated tactic.
Try to anticipate objections before they arise. What could someone on the opposing side argue, and what your answer be to that argument? Are there legitimate concerns? Address them and accept them if necessary. Find points of compromise. If you are able to completely hold up your claim against a rebuttal, do so and provide the evidence.
Example: Although simply buying our traffic through paid placements and purchased lists might be easier, consumers are increasingly skeptical of ads and now block them entirely using ad blockers, and advertising is costly.
When making the case to your peers, your boss, or stakeholders, you'll want to go into much more depth than we have in these examples, but each component will give you an effective way to structure and outline your argument. Additional data from an inbound marketing assessment can also go a long way in solidifying your claim. Now go take this framework, give it a try, and go spread the good word of inbound!
Why Do Senior Executives Favor Inbound More Than Their Mid-Level Managers?


text:
Nexus Media News
Scientists have some pretty outlandish ideas for cooling the planet down
Desperate times inspire desperate measures.
By Jeremy Deaton
Planet EarthPixabay
Climate change is a big, ugly, unwieldy problem, and it's getting worse by the day. Emissions are rising. Ice is melting, and virtually no one is taking the carbon crisis as seriously as the issue demands. Countries need to radically overhaul their energy systems in just a few short decades, replacing coal, oil and gas with clean energy. Even if countries overcome the political obstacles necessary to meet that aim, they can expect heat waves, drought, and storms unseen in the history of human civilization, and enough flooding to submerge Miami Beach. This grim fact has scientists looking for a quick fix to keep warming at bay. One plan calls for spraying large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere. The chemical would reflect the sun's light, cooling the planet, which is more or less what happens when a volcano erupts, albeit on a much larger scale. Of course, this plan poses numerous diplomatic, scientific, technological, and humanitarian challenges, and it is entirely possible that the effect on global weather patterns would be worse than climate change, which is why climate scientist Raymond Pierrehumbert has called the idea "wildly, utterly, howlingly barking mad." That hasn't stopped researchers from dreaming up a litany of variations on this entirely outlandish theme. Here are three particularly impractical ideas that show why cutting pollution is almost certainly easier and safer than rejiggering the Earth's climate.
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines briefly cooled the planet by around 1 degree F.U.S. Geological Survey
Asteroid dust
Scottish scientists have proposed using asteroid dust to block the sun's light. Their plan calls for pushing an asteroid to the point where the gravitational pull of the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Sun are felt in roughly equal measure. At this point, asteroids aren't in danger of falling toward Earth or drifting off toward the Sun. A la Armageddon, scientists would land a spacecraft on the rock. They would then deploy an electromagnetic catapult to hurl asteroid dust into space. A dust cloud would form around the asteroid, preventing a small portion of the Sun's light from reaching Earth. This plan comes with many significant risks, including the possibility of accidentally sending a large asteroid careening toward Earth.
Illustration of asteroid dust blocking the sun's light.Charlotte Lücking, based on images from ESA and NASA
Solar shield
Another plan calls for assembling a giant, translucent glass disk at the same point in space where scientists proposed creating a dust cloud — the point where a celestial object is pulled equally toward the Sun and toward the Earth. The disk, which would cover an area roughly the size of India, would reflect some of the Sun's rays away from the Earth.
Because assembling a giant disk in space would be virtually impossible, astronomer Roger Angel proposed using trillions of two-foot, razor-thin disks instead. He says it would be feasible to send the disks into space on rockets launched by a set of electromagnetic catapults. Then, those rockets could use ion propulsion to reach the point where they could release the disks. Angel wrote that whole project "could be developed and deployed in approximately 25 years at a cost of a few trillion dollars."
The graphic shows mirrors blurring the light from distant stars.UA Steward Observatory
Plastic in the ocean
If spraying sulfur dioxide into the sky sounds dangerous and launching space mirrors sounds expensive, fret not. Scientists have an idea that could work right here on Earth — cover the Arctic Ocean with bits of white plastic that will float on the surface of the water and reflect the Sun's light back into space. White surfaces reflect more light than dark surfaces, which is why it feels better to wear a white shirt than a black shirt on a hot, sunny day. As temperatures creep up, the Arctic is losing white sea ice, which is making warming worse. White plastic might compensate for this loss, but it means covering the Arctic in non-biodegradable trash.
A variation on this idea calls for filling the ocean with "microbubbles." White foam would perform the same function as sheets of ice or bits of plastic, reflecting sunlight back into the sky, thereby cooling the sea. Pumps might attach to dams, reservoirs or be fitted to ocean-bound cargo ships, which would froth as they chugged around the globe. It would take an enormous amount of energy to cover an ocean in tiny bubbles, and pumps would need to run constantly to maintain the foam.
White seafoam reflects sunlight, keeping the ocean cool.Pexels
The problem with hacking the climate
The challenge with each of these plans is that they only reduce the amount of sunlight absorbed by the Earth. They don't confront the actual problem — a surplus of carbon dioxide, which is making the ocean more acidic in addition to trapping heat. Dimming the sun may cool the planet, but it will alter the climate in other ways, disrupting rainfall around the globe.
One scientist compared this idea to placing a lid over a pot while turning down the heat on the stove — the average heat of the pot will remain the same, but the amount of water that evaporates might change. The effect is more droughts and hurricanes across the planet. It doesn't matter whether scientists spray sulfur dioxide into the sky or make oceans more foamy. Changing the method only changes how many people are adversely affected, which would range from 25 to 65 percent of the global population, according to one analysis.
The only safe method for hacking the climate is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by cleaning up more than a century of pollution from cars, trucks, planes, factories, and power plants. This would be difficult and costly, which is why every scientist working on this issue underscores the fact that blocking sunlight should only be seen as a last resort.
Remarking on his idea to send trillions of translucent disks into space, Angel said, "The sunshade is no substitute [for] developing renewable energy, the only permanent solution. A similar massive level of technological innovation and financial investment could ensure that."
Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy.
More Nexus Media News


5 Ways to Lovingly Support Someone With C-PTSD – Let's Queer Things Up!
I was watching Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I felt myself starting to panic.
Right from the start, seeing Quasimodo be the recipient of so much gaslighting – being told that the world wasn't safe, that he would never be accepted or loved, that Frollo had only his best interest at heart – struck a jarring but familiar chord with me.
Quasimodo's isolation in the bell tower, unable to leave or connect with the outside world, eerily mirrored the control and entrapment I'd experienced years before.
In the midst of an emotional flashback, my fears were disrupted by my partner's tender assurances. I could only nod. Without another word, my partner put on Steven Universe – my go-to show, having watched every episode at least three or four times, its familiarity and charm never failing to calm me down.
And I breathed (slowly and deeply) as I was lulled back into a sense of calm, my partner sitting quietly beside me. Sometimes seemingly "little things" can stir up something in survivors that becomes difficult to process in the moment.
But if I've learned anything over the years, it's that sometimes our greatest healing can happen when we allow ourselves to love and be loved.
When my therapist told me that he believed I was struggling with C-PTSD, countless pieces of the puzzle rapidly clicked into place for me. The flashbacks, the fear of abandonment, the hypervigilance, the distrust, the dissociation, the deep and abiding emotional pain that I could swear I was born with – with one diagnosis, all of it seemed to make so much more sense.
Complex trauma, while not officially listed in the DSM-5, is still widely recognized by clinicians and survivors alike as a form of PTSD that occurs due to prolonged exposure to trauma – particularly interpersonal trauma, in which there was abuse and/or neglect that led to a significant imbalance of power.
Many culturally competent clinicians and survivors alike extend this framework to include the oppression that marginalized folks face, which can so often be traumatic.
My understanding of C-PTSD is largely influenced by the work of Pete Walker, a psychotherapist and survivor of complex trauma, whose words and affirmations helped bolster my own recovery (his book on complex trauma in childhood is a must-read).
While I am in a much better place with my trauma history, my loved ones – especially close partners who don't share this kind of history – sometimes struggle to know how best to support me. I've had time to read, engage in trauma-informed therapy, and connect with community around these issues, but my loved ones haven't necessarily done that work.
Friends and family of folks with C-PTSD don't always have the same level of education and understanding that survivors do. That's why I wanted to create this quick resource – to serve as a jumping off point to how to better support trauma survivors.
If you aren't sure how to support a loved one with complex PTSD, here are some suggestions to start with.
Whenever I disclose to someone that I have C-PTSD, they often try to support me by asking, "What are the triggers I should know about?" I think this is a great question to ask if a survivor is aware of what can cause a flashback, but the reality is that many of us can be triggered on a level we aren't even aware of.
That's why it's good to not only ask what triggers us but to ask what you can do if we find ourselves triggered.
What does your loved one find helpful? Is there something you can say, a kind of safe touch they want from you, or something else that's comforting?
I use this guide to manage my flashbacks, and I think it's a good point of reference for anyone who wants to help someone work through a particular episode. Give it a read, and invite your loved one to share what's useful to them and what isn't – assuming that this person is ready and able to have the conversation with you.
A lot of trauma-informed therapists will say that survivors have a difficult time grieving the trauma they endured, and sometimes have difficulty expressing anger.
One of the best things a loved one can do is hold the space, then, for survivors to experience these emotions and express them in healthy ways.
The key here is to (1) validate those emotions as real and understandable, and (2) open up a space in which those emotions can be felt and expressed more deeply.
Sometimes these conversations will happen when the trauma is referenced directly. Other times, a seemingly unrelated event can trigger a flashback. In both cases, it's important to give survivors the space to navigate their feelings without judgment.
One of the biggest mistakes that my loved ones made was that every time I tried to process aloud what I had been through, they would interrupt with advice on how to "fix" things.
In my recovery, I've found that coping with C-PTSD is not so much about fixing something. For me, a big part of the work has been about breaking through the denial of what I'd been through, and learning to love and protect myself in a way that I'd never believed I could.
I didn't need to change or "fix" my relationship with the people who'd hurt me – more than anything, I needed to work through the ways I internalized that harm so I could, in turn, address the ways I'd been hurting myself.
More than anything, I've needed to be able to talk about what happened and feel seen when I did, so that I could begin to process what I'd been through and treat myself with more compassion.
And while every survivor's recovery will look different, remember that when we want advice, we'll ask for it – but what we need more than anything is your compassion.
For a lot of us with complex trauma, we struggle with perfectionism. Pete Walker calls this the "inner critic," which so many survivors grapple with in recovery.
This "inner critic" can also be the voice we internalized, like when "you're a bad child" suddenly becomes "I'm a bad child." The external criticisms or neglect we endured suddenly became the mantras we took on as we were further and further traumatized.
Which is to say, a lot of survivors who are dealing with complex trauma really struggle with being imperfect.
For me personally, I believed for a long time that if people truly got to know me, they wouldn't be able to love me. So I spent a good amount of time trying to make myself "better," with the hopes that I would someday be "good enough" for the people in my life.
An important thing to remember is that you're responsible to your loved one, but not for your loved one – so their perfectionism, self-esteem issues, and unresolved trauma aren't yours to fix.
Instead, support your loved one as they do the work to untangle those issues for themselves. That begins with simply letting them be human – creating the kind of space where you can both show up as yourselves, without the "all or nothing" expectation that the only people worthy of love are perfect people.
Not sure where to go? A great place to start is this FAQ about complex trauma. While it's written with survivors in mind, it's still extremely useful for loved ones who aren't sure what this C-PTSD stuff is all about.
I also think that this Wikipedia article on C-PTSD is one of the better online resources, along with this book that I mentioned earlier on in this piece.
Ask your loved one if there's a particular resource that they'd like you to familiarize yourself with, or if they're open to having a conversation about how complex trauma affects their life and relationships. If they're interested in a conversation, make sure that you're committed to holding the space for whatever emotions might arise, and that your approach is validating and compassionate.
Pete Walker also has a great resource on the concept of "co-counseling," which offers a nice structure on how to have these conversations in a productive and safe way. I'd highly recommend it. You can also reach out to a therapist to facilitate this conversation between you if more guidance would be helpful.
Part of supporting a survivor is being open to learning and realizing that this learning is an ongoing process, rather than a single event. There's no singular article or resource that will give you the expertise needed to support someone – rather, in the process of building trust between you, you'll teach each other how to create a mutually safe and supportive space.
More than anything, I think survivors withhold a lot of what they're going through for fear of being "too much" – but when invited, we can find the kind of safety necessary to open up and allow our relationships to truly grow.
All I really wanted was someone to believe me. And every time someone does, I can feel a part of me learning to trust again, learning to love with abandon and without fear.
This piece that I wrote originally appeared at Everyday Feminism.
Mental Illness Taught Me to Fear Being Alone. Here's What I Do to Cope.
Trans People Too Often Harm Their Own. So Can We Talk About How to Do Better?
It can be so simple. I don't understand why I just can't hear it!!!!!!
These 5 ways are right on and practicing them can improve any relationship. Thanks, Sam.
Sam writes on ways to support those we care about.
Those last lines are so beautiful…I'm thankful you're finding people who show up for you and give you space and help you trust more! Blessings for this journey!
Bottom line, I read this entire article and was left in tears. I'm someone with C-PTSD in a loving relationship who constantly struggles with how to manage myself, but also, how my partner can manage with… me.
This article and others I've seen on this site relating to C-PTSD have been incredibly healing. Thank you for writing this, and even moreso for sharing it.
Pingback: My Least Favorite Obsession: Am I Making My Mental Illness Up? – Let's Queer Things Up!


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Home / MBA for Life Program Helps Midland University Graduates Achieve Goals
Business - MBA19179Graduate & Professional Programs
MBA for Life Program Helps Midland University Graduates Achieve Goals
As published in the Omaha World-Herald on December 1, 2022.
The business world moves at a rapid pace, and the most effective businesspeople are willing to continue the learning process long after they have received their degrees.
Midland University's 100% online MBA program aids in that learning process and supports the busy schedule of professional/adult learners.
Mark Meelhuysen started a new job while receiving his MBA from Midland, and quickly realized he wanted to change his career trajectory from engineering and capital project management to financial strategy and executive leadership. He plans to return to Midland University to sharpen these skills and take additional tuition-free courses as part of the MBA for Life program.
Meelhuysen's decision to further his education helped set the direction for his career.
"An MBA unlocks career progression, certifies basic business ability and credentials one's dedication by demonstrating the capacity to handle an intensive career and professional development at the same time," he said. "Beyond the terminology, high-level understanding and business acumen, it's necessary to develop leadership talent, emotional intelligence and engagement skills to better influence the market and achieve stellar outcomes.
"Getting my MBA at Midland University gave me those tools and skills, helped me apply them in my job and development as a leader and took me from supervising maintenance techs in an Omaha food plant to successfully managing a multi-million dollar project portfolio for a global life science and pharmaceutical company in just over a year."
The MBA for Life program is the result of alumni requesting ways to continue to learn and engage at Midland. Midland University responded quickly with this innovative program, allowing students to brush up on skills or learn new ones through elective courses as their career needs change over time.
"That's one of the biggest reasons I'm coming back to Midland University's MBA program and utilizing its MBA for Life benefit after graduating," Meelhuysen said. "Not only does Midland University's MBA for Life program allow me to pick up additional MBA certifications, it also enables me to enhance my business intelligence with targeted classes and achieve career progression, all with no cost for tuition."
The MBA for Life program also helps facilitate a smoother transition for graduates. Unlike other universities, Midland University graduates know they'll receive continued support and educational opportunities from their alma mater forever.
"Once you are a Midland graduate, you're a student 'for life,' and we are excited to continually have new offerings that can take them even further into their careers," said Todd Conkright, dean of the Dunklau School of Business at Midland University.
MBA for Life students can pursue courses that can earn them highly sought-after skills, such as project management, strategic planning and more. Certifications and skill development options continue to be added in relevant areas based on feedback from Omaha organizations.
The MBA for Life program is unlike anything offered in the Omaha metro area, benefitting not only graduates but also the companies for which graduates work. As industries rapidly evolve, it is the lifelong learners who are best positioned to adapt and succeed.
"By combining Midland University's MBA for Life and leadership skills with my employer's dedication to growth, it's hard to see a future where I don't achieve my dreams and more." Meelhuysen said. "Midland's MBA will be the springboard into getting to that next level in your career, and then continue to support you after graduation with its MBA for Life program. Having a dedicated partner for life makes it possible to do great things and make the world a better place, and that's Midland University to me."
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Aleksey Dyachenko (né le  à Leningrad) est un escrimeur russe, spécialiste du sabre.

C'est le frère d'Ekaterina Dyachenko. Il remporte la médaille de bronze olympique par équipes.

Liens externes

Sabreur russe
Naissance en novembre 1978
Naissance à Léningrad
Escrimeur aux Jeux olympiques d'été de 2004
Médaillé de bronze olympique russe

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/68400/longhorns-boyer-earns-sportsperson-honor
Texas' Boyer Earns Sportsperson Honor
By David Ubben on 6/8/2013
Texas junior long snapper Nate Boyer has been honored as the Big 12's Sportsperson of the Year.
Boyer, who was placed on scholarship last August as a sophomore, was a member of the Green Berets Special Forces before coming to Texas to play football. He also won the Disney Spirit award last year as college football's most inspirational story.
The 31-year-old earned a Bronze Star for his duty, which began as a response to the Sept. 11 attacks and included work in the Darfur region of the Sudan, as well as providing assistance to autistic children.
He began another tour of duty in May. Coach Mack Brown called it the "most unique story" he'd ever seen. Perhaps most unique: Boyer didn't even play high school football because his school didn't field a team.
He's found a niche on the Longhorns' team, and the Big 12 honored him with more hardware on Monday. Throughout the award season, though, he's only earned more respect. He brought two Wounded Warriors with him to the College Football Awards in Orlando and has earned a status much more prominent than just the guy who charges the field at Texas games as the first player out of the tunnel with the American flag in his hand.
"Nate sets a tremendous example for our guys and is a daily reminder of how our military personnel give so much to protect and provide us freedom," Brown said in a release. "He is a great example for student-athletes across the country and someone who is worthy of any award or recognition that comes his way."
I'll second that sentiment from Brown. See more on Boyer's incredible story here.
Texas Long Snapper Carries Memory of Fallen Military Friend Nate Boyer recognize as Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year


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Sunbury Press
Oxford Southern
Distelfink Press
Catamount Press
Ars Metaphysica
Milford House Press
Brown Posey Press
Hellbender Books
Verboten Books
Speckled Egg
Chris Fenwick
Writer - Partners
There is often a misconception in writer's circles (and minds) regarding the publishing business. I'd like to address this and hopefully get you excited about your success in publishing. Everyone hears about J.K. Rowling's, Tom Clancy's or Michelle Obama's book deals. Every writer dreams of being the next Elizabeth Gilbert, Stephen King or Malcolm Gladwell. The truth is, these big-name authors are less than 1% of authors worldwide and the chances of you breaking into that elite group are slim to none. I am not here to burst your bubble or steal your dreams, miracles do happen. But for the sake of this article, let's consider the rest of us writers who love it, and work at it, but may never reach that pinnacle. The exact numbers are hard to come by, but it is no exaggeration that over a million books are published every year. Some are good and go unnoticed. Some are bad and should remain unnoticed. Traditional large to medium-sized publishers will evaluate your manuscript on a whole host of factors, but they really boil down to two main points.
Is the writing/story any good? When the acquisitions editor looks through submissions, they will look for typos, common writing errors and plot holes. They will also hope to be intrigued. But you must understand that publishers get thousands of submissions (again no exaggeration), and they are tasked with finding the gems in that hay pile (apologies for mixing metaphors). So, if you give them a reason on page one to reject your manuscript, you will get the 'Dear John/Jane' letter. I know this seems basic, but at least 80% of all submissions to Sunbury Press are rejected because of page 1. This is why large publishers will only accept manuscripts from agents. It guarantees they aren't wasting time.
Does the writer have a platform of any kind? Do they have a website, an email list, are they comfortable with speaking, have they written a book before? Evidence of a platform tells the publisher that the writer understands the difficulty in selling books in today's market (remember: 1+ million books a year). The larger the publisher, the higher the platform 'bar.'
So, what happens if the writing is good, but the platform is 'eh?' A medium-sized publisher might take a chance. But, even then, most will give you three months to make the sales goal (they don't always tell you what that is). If you don't make it, they drop you. Meaning no more time and effort will go into your book. They have moved on. They have to. If they don't sell books, they don't make money – actually, no one does, including the author. It's a tough market and they have to find others that can sell books. Marketing efforts vary wildly from publisher to publisher. Some will take care of distribution, but marketing is the author's job. Some will spend some marketing dollars to see how it goes, watching to see if the investment is going to pay off. Others spend a ton, but only for that top 1% of authors. Fiction writers think this doesn't pertain to them, only non-fiction writers need a platform, right? Nope. Fiction writers might want to stay behind their keyboards and just write stories, but if they are unwilling to get out there and talk about their book, chances are, even if they get one book published, they'll have a hard time with number two. Sunbury Press takes a slightly different approach to all of this. Oh, we still sort through a lot of bad submissions looking for gems. AND, we also are looking for writers who have a platform and are able and willing to help sell their books, but we also publish a lot of new authors. We are looking for partners. We'll edit, distribute and invest in marketing, hoping that you will be out there talking about, reading and selling your book too. We won't give you a three-month window. We take the long-view and hope that sales continue for at least a year or more. Our bar is lower, but our expectations are not. If we see authors who are unwilling to help sell their books, we can't continue to invest. On the flip side, those writer-partners who are actively working to expand their platform and readership, you'll find us happy to help with manpower, information, training and marketing investments that make sense. As Sunbury Press grows and expands, you'll find us even more committed to finding those gems and partnering with authors who are ready to join us in that growth!
Category_author advice , Category_book marketing
Sunbury Press, Inc. PO Box 548 Boiling Springs, PA 17007
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Create a budget, highlight your expenses, negotiate with your providers and then monitor your cash flow. Easier said than done but if you make the effort the savings can be considerable.
If the thought of doing a budget is just too painful, then a quick way around this is to ask your bank for a list of all your direct debits or periodical payments.
Chances are that a handful of regular bills are wolfing down your pay packet.
Big-ticket items such as the home loan can bring about the greatest savings (technically, saving money isn't making money but it all ends up back in your hip pocket).
The difference between the cheapest variable home loan interest rate and the dearest is a massive 1.95%. On a $500,000 mortgage over 25 years, that equates to over $500 extra in monthly repayments.
Refinancing can come with costs. So check the rate you're currently paying, ask your lender if it can offer a better deal and, if not, do the sums to see if taking your business elsewhere will deliver real savings.
Other areas where you can make quick savings include your mobile phone and energy provider.
We spend an average of $77 a month on mobile plans – more than double the average spent on prepaid plans. It means hanging onto your old phone and switching to prepaid could see you save $50 a month.
We spend an average of $1700 a year on electricity, and that means there's plenty of room to save.
If you live in an area where there's a choice of providers, head to energymadeeasy.gov.au to see if you're getting the best deal or if you could save by switching to a different retailer. Have your latest electricity bill handy for accurate usage rates.
Some energy providers do offer fixed-rate contracts that let you lock in the price, typically for two years. Usually the tariffs on fixed plans are slightly higher than those on variable plans. Fixing can work out cheaper than variable-rate deals as there's often a discounted incentive to lock in.
The downside is that you're taking a gamble on how power prices will move in the future (not that they appear likely to fall any time soon). Watch out for fees if you bail out of a fixed-price contract early.
This doesn't mean you have to work harder or longer, just smarter.
Thanks to the sharing economy you can make extra cash, in some cases without having to lift a finger.
The bi-annual Sharing Economy Trust Index, produced by peer-to-peer lender RateSetter, found single, independent adults were the biggest earners in the sharing economy, making an average $158 a month.
– Turn spare space into spare cash. Open up a room in your home for short-term accommodation. According to the Airbnb calculator, renting out a single bedroom in Sydney could add an extra $777 each month to your bank balance. Airbnb charges hosts a 3% service fee. You can also rent out an unused garage or car space through Parkhound and pocket up to $3000 annually. No listing fees apply on Parkhound.
– Join a ride-sharing service. Put your car to work by signing up as an Uber driver, or rent your car out for others to drive through the likes of DriveMyCar. With a car worth $24,000 you could earn an extra $840 a month.
– Flex some muscle. Run some errands, shift some furniture or do a delivery – and earn up to $5000 each month on odd jobs with Airtasker. A 15% service fee applies to all jobs. The fee covers insurance, handling and transaction costs.
The same tax rules apply to income you make from the sharing economy as to your other income.
Gumtree estimates 91% of Australians have unwanted items around their home – and the value of all this surplus stuff averages a whopping $5400.
List unwanted items for sale on sites like Gumtree or eBay, or consider Etsy for vintage goodies or collectibles, and watch the cash roll in.
The most commonly sold items online include homewares and furniture (24%) shoes, clothing and accessories (20%), electronic goods (18%) and games and toys (16%).
If you're a fan of garage sales, then you can expect to pocket around $380.
Market your event with plenty of local signage, list it on sites like Gazza's Garage Sales or garagesales.com.au and announce it with a tweet, Facebook post or Instagram pic.
For real pulling power, get the neighbours together to hold a combined garage sale. Check out sites like Garage Sale Trail for handy tips to maximise your moolah.
Unfortunately we can't give you financial advice here. Please email money@bauer-media.com.au to be considered for Ask Paul or Ask the Experts.
Some great tips here for finding extra money where there didn't appear to be any. People definitely need to get up close and personal with what they're spending and the best way to do that is by getting a Spending Plan – not a budget.
As a self-employed person, or even a wage earner, I found it incredibly difficult to budget. Having a Spending Plan on the other hand has seen me through 10 years of paying down debt and saving faster than I ever thought possible before. There are Spending Planners in every state now who can help with that. I really recommend people check them out.
I always love such short and simple articles with tips like this. The tips are actually very helpful for individuals like me who are . Thanks for sharing.