text:
Preparing the struggle for socialism in 2019
December 28, 2018 senan Comment & Analysis
Tories torn apart, French workers and youth in revolt, 'populism' on the rise … revolution in the air?
"I have never been more ashamed to be a Conservative. We continue to be led by a mule flogging a dead horse" (Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph columnist). This blistering attack on Prime Minister Theresa May and the Tory government – before the leadership challenge was called – from its own side is a fitting epitaph on their futile attempts to effect an 'orderly' withdrawal from the EU.
This issue that has dominated the past year has resulted in the defeat of May and her government in parliament, and possibly her exit as Tory party leader. She nevertheless hopes to drag out her political death agony for a while longer yet, after having survived, weakened, the recent 'vote of confidence' by Tory MPs.
This completely bears out our contention that the Tories will suffer the biggest split in their ranks for over 170 years, since the Corn Laws of the early 19th century.
However, all capitalist parties in Britain, Europe and the world are split in the teeth of mounting mass opposition to their policies of brutal austerity. So too are many social democratic and other left parties within the labour movements.
What should be our approach to the capitalist EU, which is a vehicle for carrying out that policy on a European scale? The mass revolt of the 'gilets jaunes' (yellow vests) in France is the most visible pointer to what is likely to come in 2019 in many European and other countries.
Revolt in France
This spontaneous revolt of the French workers and middle class against the semi-dictatorial regime of Macron has many lessons for workers elsewhere.
An arrogant overlord – hitherto contemptuous of the masses – has employed brutal methods to forcibly disperse demonstrators, including even rounding up school children who were then compelled to sit on the floor with their hands behind their heads like prisoners of war.
This is a thinly veiled civil war and all of this was broadcast on TV throughout the world.
The leaderless 'yellow vests' then forced Macron to make some concessions which has not quelled the revolt but, on the contrary, led them to demand more concessions and organise further demonstrations to pursue them.
Imagine what would have been gained if the trade union leaders had put themselves at the head of this movement, then called for and organised a general strike? This would have led not only to the total defeat of Macron and driven him from office but also prepared the ground for the idea of working-class power, of socialism in France. As one French worker commented: "We don't want the crumbs, we want the whole baguette."
All the downtrodden, the victims of the social war against the rights and living standards carried out by the capitalists throughout Europe, have generated a mood of 'let's act like the French'. Socialist Party sellers on the streets in Britain have found a thirst above all for action, not just words, against the bosses and their rotten system.
The Egyptian dictatorship has even banned the sale of yellow vests, for fear that the Egyptian masses will return to the streets and try to complete the 2011 revolution, thereby setting off a new movement throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
Indeed, the underlying crisis of world capitalism, as we predicted, has intensified in the past year.
World relations
A new crisis also looms in world relations. Trump has enormously ratcheted up tensions with the repudiation of the Iran nuclear deal and its political fallout, increased conflict with China both economically and militarily and now with Russia in a proposed new 'great power' nuclear arms race, in relations with the EU and practically the whole of the rest of the world.
This was reflected in the general outburst of laughter and jeering which greeted Trump's speech at the recent United Nations General Assembly where he nakedly reasserted US imperialism's doctrine of unilateralism to "make America great again". This was in place of the previous so-called 'rules-based' international 'cooperation' – a softer form of US capitalism's power and domination.
Moreover, his repudiation of the Paris agreement on climate change flies in the teeth of increased worldwide concern. This concern is reflected in significant mass movements and heightened consciousness in some of the countries and continents most immediately affected by the likely terrible repercussions of an increase in the world's temperature, which is indisputable and can lead to a world climate catastrophe.
This will only be completely avoided through the ultimate replacement of uncontrolled and ruinous capitalism by a new democratic socialist world. This in turn is only possible through the methods of revolutionary and socialist struggle for which we stand.
The capitalist economic 'experts' claim that in 2017 there was a 'synchronised economic acceleration' – with every major advanced economy except Britain on a 'growth path', signified by a drop in official levels of unemployment not seen for decades.
However, the reality is that this 'boom' is very uneven – not all countries have experienced it, even some of the economically developed countries. It was based on unprecedented levels of part-time and casual workers – very often cheated out of wages for weeks and months – and therefore was extremely lopsided.
It was also founded on a continuation of low wages and generalised wage repression, with little real substantial long-term benefit accruing to the working class. In Britain, for instance, wage stagnation is the worst since the Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century. Elsewhere austerity is still continuing in Europe and for the majority of the working class in the US.
The neocolonial world has in general suffered a severe crisis, with an economic contraction in Brazil unprecedented since World War Two, and a significant dimming of economic prospects in Argentina, Turkey and South Africa. However, where there has been even a slight economic upturn in some countries this has encouraged the working class to move to 'take back' some of what they lost in the 'great recession' and its aftermath.
In the US there has been a powerful re-emergence of the working class in a series of strikes, including militant teachers' strikes in West Virginia and elsewhere. In logistics giant UPS there has been a rank-and-file revolt against a contract negotiated by the union leadership. These and other disputes are leading towards the biggest number of workers taking strike action since the 1980s.
This 'boom' is founded on a massive extension of debt, including household debt, which has risen in general in the advanced industrial countries. Global government debt skyrocketed to 60% of gross world product and total world debt has soared from $173 trillion in 2010 to over $250 trillion today.
Moreover, a continual and colossal increase of inequality, together with intensified geopolitical factors have contributed to the highly unstable character of this 'boom'.
Regarding the colossal further growth of inequality: "Billionaires made more money in 2017 than in any year in recorded history … The past 30 years have seen far greater wealth creation than in the Gilded Age" of the late 19th century, comments the UBS Billionaires Report.
This period was, as we know, a prelude to the mass discontent which ultimately led to the Russian Revolution and, following this, the prospect of world revolution.
This is before the fallout from the effects of the incipient trade war between the US and China, Canada and Mexico is felt. Retaliation will undoubtedly be undertaken by China to a larger extent than at present if this 'war' continues. Farmers in the US Midwest and elsewhere – an important base for Trump – will be seriously affected by counter-measures against US agricultural exports, particularly soya, to China.
In order to mollify his base, Trump claims "it is easy to win a trade war" but that is not the experience of the 1930s with the Smoot-Hawley Act which aggravated the depression.
The mid-term elections represented a big rebuff to Trump. In Britain, it would have been a 'landslide' in electoral terms for the Democrats, who scored an 8.5% lead over the Republicans in the popular vote for the House of Representatives.
Most alarming for the capitalists is the likely fallout from an "open-ended trade war with China".
No area of the world is now free from the threat of hunger, economic collapse and war. A serious head-on confrontation, small or even 'accidental' military clashes are rooted in the situation. Increased tensions have been deliberately ramped up by the US between the major imperialist powers, including Russia.
The Chinese elite and regime have gone from being a 'strategic partner' of the US to a 'strategic rival', while Russia has recently come in for the same treatment on the military front. Trump and his spokespersons have called into question the 1987 nuclear treaty signed by Gorbachev and Reagan to freeze strategic nuclear weapons. However, the overall result was to ratchet up conflict between the US and its rivals in the rest of the world.
Populism in general, right-wing populism in particular as well as the new left formations, is on the rise across the transatlantic world, highlighted by the election of Bolsonaro in Brazil.
They supposedly 'delivered' the vote in favour of Brexit in the UK, the election of La Lega and other right-wing forces in Italy, and the authoritarian populists in control of Hungary and Poland. The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on the rise. Right-wing populists are also well entrenched in Austria, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The talk of a new 'civil war' developing in the US is not far from reality, but this will be a class war.
The rise of this politically nebulous populism is rooted in the enduring legacy of the world economic crisis of 2007-08. Capitalist analysts, including Francis Fukuyama and an array of commentators, in effect jeer that it was not the left but the right who mostly gained from the political fallout from this crisis. This turns reality completely on its head.
The working class did initially, in many countries, turn towards the labour movement and the left for an explanation and solutions to the crisis. The left could have gained substantially given the severity of the recession, which led to the economic discrediting of capitalism and its political agents.
Some commentators described this crisis as worse in its lasting economic effects than even the depression of the 1930s. Huge layers of the population, not just the working class but swathes of the middle class, confronted with the impossibility of them and their children acquiring even modest wealth, and the decimation through austerity of decent housing, education and social services, initially inclined then towards the left. New left formations have also grown in this period, as shown by the initial support for Bernie Sanders, then Jeremy Corbyn in Britain, and others.
However, they were confronted mainly by the spectacle of social democracy in Europe and elsewhere pursuing the same policies of austerity, as did the Democrats in the US under Obama. With Hillary Clinton as candidate, their programme in the last US presidential elections amounted to 'more of the same'. It was this that provided the opening for Trump and the variegated populist forces internationally of the right to gain a significant foothold.
But the long-term growth of the right is very tenuous, as witnessed in Germany at the present time. It is true that the right and far right have gained electorally but so did the Greens in regional elections in Bavaria and Hesse. Moreover, as our German comrades have pointed out, at the same time as the right was chalking up these successes, gaining massive publicity for their demonstrations, even larger left demonstrations – for instance of 250,000 in Berlin – marched opposing the far right and the racist attacks on immigrants.
So already the whip of counter-revolution has moved significant sections of workers, women and young people into action. Trump will be undermined by these revolts which will grow and have been brewing for a long time in the US. Trump is preparing the ground for a huge political radicalisation. He warns: 'If you don't vote for me socialism looms', which can only further popularise socialism for millions!
Of course capitalist politicians systematically lie but Trump outdoes them all. In one recent rally it was estimated that there were 74 verifiable falsehoods! This obscene, pampered bourgeois, who was officially a millionaire at the age of eight (!), managed to scrape the presidential election win with 3 million less votes than Hillary Clinton because of the built-in bias and gerrymandering of the American constitution.
The conflict over the Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh opened up colossal social divisions, which massively alienated women but also produced a sense of revulsion throughout the US. This act of stuffing his toadies into the Supreme Court is the first step of Trump to restrict the right to abortion in the US.
The magnificent pro-choice revolt of the Irish working class, with the Socialist Party in Ireland playing an important role, against the relics of Catholic feudal and semi-feudal reaction, particularly in the social field, can be repeated in the US, as it has already in Argentina and Spain, and win mass support from other sectors of the working class. However, the recent strike of women workers in Glasgow, Scotland, for equal pay also led to the active support of their brothers, the male refuse workers.
Revolutions can often begin with the movement of the most oppressed layers, particularly indicated by the women in the Russian Revolution. They can act before the heavy battalions of the working class as a whole move into struggle and indeed can become a beacon and catalyst for them.
In this sense the current movements of women can be powerful precursors for a period of revolution, even and particularly in the US. There is pent-up anger and frustration which have accumulated over decades among women, the working class, and young people moving into struggle over student debt.
The neocolonial world – Latin America, Africa and Asia – faces in the next period even more intensified economic and social upheaval. This arises from the generalised character of this crisis which does not allow for one significant region to escape the maladies of crisis-ridden capitalism.
It is symbolised by the desperate surge of refugees from all these continents, be it from the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, or now from drugs-riven countries in Latin America with millions desperately searching for 'peace' and a 'better life' for them and their families.
Following the world crisis of 2007-08 there was a certain relocation of capital investment from the crisis-ridden developed capitalist world to the 'emerging' – now submerging – countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia, raising expectations of a substantial economic 'bounce'. That has now dissipated in the neocolonial world.
No country typifies this more than Brazil, the biggest and most industrialised country in Latin America. The victory of Bolsonaro in the recent presidential elections represents a new form of right-wing populism clearly intending to rule through a form of militarised parliamentary Bonapartism.
Unfortunately, the ground has been prepared for this regime by the failure of Lula Da Silva's PT (Workers' Party). The massive corruption which scars Brazilian society came to be symbolised, for significant sections of the masses, by the PT regime of Lula and Dilma Rouseff.
One measure of this terrifying collapse is that Brazil in 2018 has experienced as many murders, most of them drug-related, as the annualised average deaths in the Syrian civil war. Bolsonaro has openly supported the last military dictatorship that lasted from 1964 to 1985. He has lauded 'torture' and intends to extirpate 'communism' – by which he means democracy and workers' rights – including measures against the trade unions.
The rapacious Brazilian capitalists have wistfully looked back to the military regime which only ended in 1985 in Brazil. In the last few years they have in effect tested out the water by engaging in a 'slow coup', largely parliamentary, achieved through stages: first, the removal of PT president Dilma and then the imprisonment of Lula himself, one of the founders of the party, on the grounds of corruption. Without excusing the PT's corruption, its accusers were in fact up to their necks in even greater corruption themselves!
The lessons of Brazil must be absorbed by all workers. Many will no doubt be legitimately fearful about the imminent imposition of a military regime, and some of even 'fascism' in Brazil. There are undoubtedly elements of this in the situation, where the new regime could lean primarily on extra-parliamentary and military measures in order to attack and weaken the left.
However for all the reasons that we have explained previously, this regime does not have a sufficient social base – a mass middle class that could be mobilised to atomise the working class – for the consolidation of this government or even a strong military regime equivalent to the last military junta, let alone fascism.
Moreover, its coming to power can act like a crack of thunder to awaken the Brazilian masses – and not just them but in the whole of Latin America – to the real danger that they confront. Events in the biggest and most important country in Latin America, Brazil, will be watched avidly both in the rest of the continent and internationally. We must do everything, both politically and materially, to assist our comrades in this crucial struggle.
Argentina is not far behind Brazil in terms of a conflict between the classes. In March of this year what appeared to be the whole of Argentina took to the streets in Buenos Aires and elsewhere. This was a protest against the neoliberal policies of the reactionary Macri government.
Once the ninth richest country in the world, Argentina has gone through a process of collapse and instability. Macri came to power as a capitalist solution to the chronic instability which has plagued the country. Within months he faced a general strike in protest against his cuts but he still continued with counter-reforms although seeking to soften their impact. At any time there can be a social explosion.
The failures of other left governments in Venezuela, Brazil, etc, are a warning for the Mexican masses who have just elected Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president. In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, who largely remained within the framework of Venezuelan and world capitalist markets, did not clearly call for the spreading of the revolution to the region and internationally.
Trump, the British capitalists and the capitalists in general seek to utilise the current chaos in Venezuela in order to discredit socialism: "Corbyn embodies the same approach as Chavez and will create the same disastrous results", say the British Tories.
The Trump regime with its repudiation of the Iran nuclear deal and further sanctions, both against Iran and those who dare to trade with the country, guarantees a further period of chronic instability and a poisoning of relations between the US and Iran.
This will spill over into the Middle East as a whole. It will not, as Trump seems to believe, encourage the 'liberal' capitalist opposition in Iran – let alone the working class who have also moved independently against the regime – to step up their opposition to the enriched ruling group of mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards.
It is now more likely that the opponents of the regime will be reluctant to open the door to Trump with his support for Israel, Saudi Arabia and the 'Sunni bloc' in opposition to predominantly Shia Iran.
The militarist, interventionist neocon John Bolton, Trump's national security secretary, has revealed that his real plans for Iran are regime change and the turning back of the clock to the times of the Shah!
Worldwide capitalist crisis
There is now no area of the world, including Britain, where there are not political or social upheavals either taking place or expected. There is huge churning in the ranks of the working class, with millions looking for answers to the multitude of problems which the crisis of capitalism has created for them.
Many times in history, small groups have been rapidly transformed into significant large propaganda groups which can then form the basis for a small party and mass forces at a later stage. Preparing for this in the next period is an urgent task for us and the world working class.
The current position in Britain is also pregnant with many kinds of possibilities. Given the stalemate that exists, the May government could collapse at any time. Each proffered 'solution' from the different wings of the Tory party and all other parties becomes a colossal problem, as no soon as it is mentioned than it is kicked into the long grass.
One Tory MP neatly summed this up: "All our options are shit so we keep making shit decision after shit decision, in the hope that it's less shit than the other alternative."
If the government or even Labour accedes to a new EU referendum, Britain will enter unknown territory with the possibility of widespread mass outrage and violence at the spectacle that the ruling class just changes the rules of 'democracy' whenever they think it is convenient. This could lay the basis for widespread clashes between the different camps over the EU, which would call into question whether a democratic referendum could be re-run.
Those Labour voices, erstwhile lefts such as Paul Mason who are now clearly advocating another referendum and remaining in the EU, do not have a class and internationalist approach. The European Union was conceived as a neoliberal pro-capitalist construction right from its inception and that remains the same with the outlawing, at least on paper, of nationalisation by a left government.
Of course this hallowed constitution is merely a piece of paper which could be brushed aside by an insurgent mass movement behind a left socialist Labour government determined to take measures in the interests of the working class.
But why put forward a false prospectus that the EU is 'progressive'? There is not an iota of this in either the original idea of the EU or the current support for the EU's practices. Its anti-working class character is clear.
Fight this bosses' club with socialist and internationalist policies. Oppose the capitalist EU, not with a narrow nationalist 'Britain first' policy, but a socialist and internationalist approach which links together the struggles of the working class of the continent in action for a socialist confederation of Europe.
At its heart would be the socialist planning of the resources of the continent for the benefit of the many – the working class – and not the handful of capitalists who presently control industry and wealth.
Workers' anger growing against right wing Dutch government
US: Make 2019 a year of struggle


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Now you might expect to be able to copy folders between folders in Google Drive, but you can't, you can only copy files.
BUT there is a free web app that does exactly what you are looking for. Labnol is a great site for expert Google Apps tips and scripts.
Go to labnol.org/xcopy and click the Authorize button.
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the above is the title of the paper i wrote first semester this year, in a music "history" course (not quite all history, it's hard to explain) about debussy's pagodes, from estampes. it was actually the first, new piece of music i learned this academic year and because we had to incorporate some kind of social context or something to our paper, i chose to look at exoticism/fusion in debussy's music, specifically focusing on pour le piano, and of course, pagodes. since i actually wrote an entire paper (albeit not long or too complex) on the subject, i thought why not present my findings? besides, i did get an A+ on it.
so, i'm going to somehow condense this 1700-word essay (see, i told you it's short) into a slightly not-as-lengthy blog post. first things first, need to present you with the piece. i deliberately chose one without the score, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy. see what faraway land your mind flies off to.
Claude Debussy's experiences with exotic music, especially with the Javanese gamelan, were fundamental in the creation of an innovative and distinct style of his own: Impressionism. By examining his pieces Pour le Piano (1901) and Pagodes from Estampes (1903), written during a transitional stage of his career, in this paper I will discuss how musical exoticism fused with Western elements have shaped his writing.
Debussy had an affinity for defying traditional Western harmonic rules and experimenting with unique sonorities. Instead, he wanted to create music that could be "supple enough to adapt itself to the lyrical effusions of the soul and the fantasy of dreams." His solo piano piece Pour le piano served as a transition between his earlier, more Western musical law-abiding compositions and the emergence of his Impressionistic style. It was written in 1901, a decade after Debussy's initial exposure to the Javanese Gamelan at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, as hinted by small moments of exoticism in the piece. The piece is divided into three parts: Prélude, Sarabande, and Toccata.
Following Pour le piano, Debussy decided to further experiment with the sonorities he heard while observing the Javanese gamelan at the Exposition. Using more of the newer techniques from Pour le piano, but also keeping in touch with some Western elements, he went on to compose what is arguably the most famous and effective gamelan in Western repertory: Pagodes.
basically, i included this piece to demonstrate debussy's integration of more "traditional" elements of writing (namely baroque) and his developing style of impressionistic techniques.
By fusing Western techniques learned at the Paris Conservatoire and Eastern elements from the 1889 and 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Debussy was able to introduce a sample of exotic music easily accessible to the European ear.
to clarify, a gamelan is sort of like an orchestra, but very percussive – it's actually pretty interesting, look it up. having heard one at the expo, debussy extracted some of the elements of the gamelan and incorporated them into his own music, such as bass suspensions to represent the gongs, the pentatonic scale to mimic the gamelan scale, and layering to symbolize the gradual addition of instruments in the gamelan.
i took on the standpoint that debussy needed his music to appeal to the european ear, so he chose to keep the traditional western harmonic structure in pagodes; the oriental sound of the gamelan would have been slightly too exotic for his listeners. i also believe that it wasn't his intention to replicate the gamelan accurately – it wasn't possible to do so anyways, on the equal-tempered tuning of the piano – some notes of the gamelan instruments cannot be played on piano as it may fall between two semitones/keys – but to share his listening experience and discovery with his listeners, sort of like giving them a small taste of what a javanese gamelan sounds like. it's fairly fascinating, if you ask me.
well, i hope you understood the gist of what i was talking about and wanted to convey. any questions or need for clarifications, feel free to shoot me a message via comment box below, i'll be happy to answer.
oh, i did mention that i'm playing this piece, right? hence it's categorized as repertoire.
 Kristine Forney and Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music: An Introduction to Perceptive Listening (Tenth Edition) (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007), 468.
Pingback: debussy, fairies, and mythology: musical imagery in three préludes for piano – it struck a chord.


Alex used InstaMorph to make some custom utensil handles for one of his clients. The client has a hard time using standard forks and spoons due to poor fine motor skills. Specialized adaptive utensils are expensive, so Alex used InstaMorph to make some on the cheap. Here's how he did it.
We couldn't agree with your more Alex. Great job on your project. Even more excited that the client is happy!


A few kilometers east of East Fort at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) is the Vallasala Kanthalloor Sree Mahadevar Temple, one of the largest temples in Kerala and the second largest in Trivandrum. The temple is ancient, and is home to presiding (prathishta) deities of the Trimurti, each represented by an independent linga form.
Lord Brahma, Visnu, and Maheswara have been receiving worship here for centuries, and large crowds of devotees and visitors still come in a steady stream to get their darshan. The mandir's upaprathistas, or secondary deities include Sri Krishna, Mahavisnu, Maheswara Mardhini, Subramanya (Murugan), Ganapati, Bhoothathan, and Nagaraja. Some of the Deities are situated in a round sanctum (sreekovil).
Sree Mahadevar Temple is said to have been founded as the result of a rather violent pastime which took place amidst a bloody war between the Chola king and his opponents, the Chery and Pandya kings. All perished in the battle. Their widows, being most disconsolate, performed sati, setting themselves on fire in order to join their husbands. Emerging from the embers on the pyre was a blazing ember that transformed into a Shiva linga jwala mahadevar. In order to pacify this ferocious Shiva, risen from the flames, murtis of Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were installed nearby. Evidence for this story of the temple's origins is found in 17th century royal orders related to the temple, which refer to it is 'Jwala Mahadevar'.
Other historical records exist which date this place back to the 7th century A.D., including Mathilakam records from the Padmanabhaswamy Temple which mention Kanthalloor, and Chola inscriptions from the late 10th century referring to Kanthalloor. An inscription belonging to Rajendra Chola, found on the rear wall of the sanctum sanctorum, says that the temple came into existence before 1045 A.D.
The Vallasala Kanthalloor (Valiyasala Kanthaloor, Kandaloor) temple complex is spread over four and a half acres of land, with three large shrines and eight sub-shrines. The temple grounds are now contiguous to the University of Kandaloor. Flowing by the temple is the Killiya River, a branch of the Karamana. The Killiya is considered to be a holy river, passing through many temple complexes before it merges with the Karamana at the Thiruvallam Parasurama Temple, then flows into the sea.
The temple halls of Sree Mahadevar have sculpted granite pillars, and the roof is similar to that of Sucheendram Temple (which will be our last featured Brahma temple in Kerala), sloping and conical, and covered in copper.
In the main sanctum, Lord Brahma's shrine is the smallest, but sits in the center. On either side are the shrines of Visnu and Shiva, Lord Visnu's having a 2-story roof above it. Each shrine has a traditional mukhamandapa, or pavilion in front.
"Shiva's search for the recalcitrant bull led him to the nearby village of Thaliyal, on the banks of the river Karamana. In a conciliatory gesture, Shiva appeared before Nandi, with his consort and gave him permission to take up permanent residence there and in recognition of his courageous and independent stand, offered him food. In memory of this incident, to this day, during the annual Kanthalloor festival, Shiva, accompanied by Vishnu and Brahma, stops by at the Thaliyal Shiva temple to offer food to Nandi and thereafter proceeds for 'aarattu' (the ceremonial bath) in the Thaliyal temple pond.
However, the version of temple priests is different, portraying the missing bull in a less positive light. Here was a Nandi which played truant, leaving the temple premises surreptitiously in the dead of night, in search of greener pastures and making his way back stealthily, before it turned light. One day, it turned out that daylight caught him unawares. Too embarrassed to return to Kanthalloor, he squeezed into the available space at the Thaliyal temple.
Lending credence to the story is the fact that the Nandi in the Thaliyal temple is found in front of the Ganesha shrine, and not in front of the Shiva temple. An assistant priest mischievously adds that Nandi still has not rectified his errant nature and still goes out on nocturnal rampages in the surrounding fields. But what happened to Thaliyal's own Nandi? Perhaps that will make for another tale, another time."
Thousands of devotees visit Sree Mahadevar Temple each year for the annual Kanthalloor festival. Centuries ago, there was a famous Veda Padha Sala here for the Brahmins. The 10 day Aarattu festival celebrated on Thiruvaathira day of Kumbam on the Malayalam calendar brings large crowds. This and other festivals are put on by the temple trustees, Travancore Devassom.
Coming up in December 2013 will be a very special 10 day festival of the Valiyasala Temple elephants, during which many special musical and theatrical performances will be offered. In fact, the Vallasala Kanthalloor Sree Mahadevar Temple has a special relationship with the arts. The Margi Kutiyattam center is a famous school for traditional Kerala dances, including Kathakali, Kootiyattam, Nangyarkoothu, Chakyarkoothu and Paatakom. Margi Kutiyattam Centre is housed in an old building on the grounds of Sri Mahadevar Temple. The annex provides performance space for the group, who have been offering weekly Kutiyattam presentations for the last 25 years.


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Clover Hill Residence
Spears Building Loft
Ace & Jig Liberty
Learning Off the Grid
Pudelma Pavilion
Agri-École
2019 [under construction]
Located adjacent to the High Line in the Spears Building, this loft renovation blends industrial warehouse materials with contemporary details resulting in an open space for living and entertaining. The homeowners were looking for a larger space to accommodate their growing family while preserving the loft-like character of the space. Our studio paid homage to the historical fabric of the building while introducing features that make the space feel more like a home.
Built in 1880, the building was constructed by Kinney Brothers which operated a cigarette packing factory in the building, followed by a furniture warehouse owned by Spears & Co., before being converted into a residential condominium in 1996. Signs of these original tenants can be seen in the original graffiti that covers the building exterior as seen from the High Line. We were interested in preserving this palimpsest of histories through our design.
The project brief called for both additions and subtractions to improve the overall layout of the space. In addition to renovating the existing living area, kitchen and master suite, a separate hallway leading to two new bedrooms and a secondary bathroom were added. Extraneous millwork and partitions were removed to help open each room and improve the flow between them. Particularly in the living room, removing an existing dropped ceiling and built-out walls revealed the original heavy timber structure while also simplifying the layout of the space.
In addition to keeping the original finishes of the space, we carefully selected a palette of materials to compliment the original character of the warehouse. Existing walnut cabinets were ebonized black in contrast to new bleached walnut flooring; while honed black, beige and white marble was introduced in the bathrooms and kitchens to add color against the existing red brick masonry walls. A centerpiece of the design was to keep the existing wood-burning fireplace and re-clad the hearth with a concrete plaster surround and bench, a nod to the original poured concrete floors of the warehouse. The owners took care in selecting furnishings that preserve the industrial-like quality of the space and are also soft and comfortable.
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text:
Illinois boy saved by super-surgeon
March 6, 2015 | Diana Walsh, ALucia
(Stanford, Calif.) – The first five years of life for Jordan Ervin were an endless cycle of illnesses and medical appointments, from Illinois all the way to California. He'd been poked, prodded, X-rayed and scanned, and even had his heart cut open, but none of it knocked the perpetual smile off his face.
"Jordan is such a champ,'' said his mother, Seville Spearman, of DeKalb, Illinois. "He's always been just a really happy kid."
Happy then, but even happier now. That's because years of incorrect diagnoses and treatments are now over.
Jordan's path to recovery started when, just before his fifth birthday in 2013, a developmental pediatrician put together all of Jordan's problems and diagnosed him with Williams syndrome, a rare chromosomal disorder that affects just 1 in 10,000 people worldwide.
The disease brings a host of medical issues, including learning disabilities and severe heart defects. It also carries a silver lining: individuals diagnosed with the rare disease also tend to be gregarious and extremely social.
Sounds like Jordan.
"Jordan's personality made the process easier to deal with. He never fretted about going to doctor appointments. He was always excited about getting to see the nurses, the woman at the front desk and everyone else in the waiting room,'' Seville said.
That good cheer, combined with the renowned work of Frank Hanley, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and Stanford Children's Health, means that Jordan's big heart is now a properly working heart.
Hanley, who led a marathon, eight-hour surgery reconstructing the pulmonary artery and its branches to Jordan's heart last Dec. 10, is known for tackling some of the world's toughest and most complex pediatric heart surgeries. For Jordan, this meant correcting his narrowed pulmonary artery and all of its branches.
It was a complicated case. The multiple pulmonary artery blockages caused severe pulmonary hypertension. In less-severe cases in which there is only one area of blockage near or at the pulmonary valve, doctors can perform a fairly simple surgical catheter procedure that uses a tiny balloon to expand the artery. But Jordan had multiple blockages: 12 on his left lung and 14 on the right. The balloon technique is much less effective in this scenario, and no other surgical techniques have been developed to treat these blockages. So, Jordan would need a different approach.
That approach came from Hanley, who receives referrals from all over the world. He's the pioneer of a one-stage, fix-all-the-defects surgery called unifocalization.
In the last few years Hanley has taken many of the techniques developed for unifocalization and used them for extensive pulmonary artery reconstruction on Williams syndrome patients like Jordan and other patients with similar heart defects.
To explain Jordan's operation, Hanley likened the boy's pulmonary arteries to a large tree, starting with a trunk that goes to large branches and then smaller branches. Normally, the blood flows freely through those branches, but in Jordan's case, the narrowing of his arteries made it harder for the heart to pump blood to the lungs. This results in pulmonary hypertension, a life-threatening condition. In a case as severe as Jordan's, Hanley said a balloon catheterization procedure isn't effective.
So, in December's intricate operation, Hanley and his team placed Jordan on life support, separated his right and left lung arteries and then spliced open the main branch and artery, as well as the second- and third-level branch arteries where the 26 blockages were located. Each blockage was either repaired or patched with human tissues. As a result of the procedure, Jordan's pulmonary hypertension was cured, and he would be heading home to Illinois with normal pulmonary artery pressure.
It was another of over 540 unifocalization surgeries Hanley has performed at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital for children with complex pediatric heart defects, and with great outcomes. Through talent, stamina and experience, Hanley is able to use this innovative, one-stage approach to decrease overall hospital time for patients, reduce the number of times a heart must be stopped and repair problems before they worsen or become impossible to repair.
"We're definitely on the leading edge of this kind of surgery,'' said Hanley, who is also the Lawrence Crowley, MD, Professor in Child Health and a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. "Jordan is going to have perfectly normal life expectancy."
For Jordan's parents, it was the best gift they could have ever hoped for. "We were joyfully stunned," said Charles Spearman, Jordan's stepfather, thankful for Hanley's skill and thrilled that Jordan could return home for Christmas to share that famous smile.
Jordan, a first-grader at Tyler Elementary in DeKalb, is about a year behind his peers developmentally, according to his mother. With heart surgery over, she and her husband can now focus on helping Jordan with other issues that come with Williams syndrome, including delays in speech, social, emotional and gross motor skills.
"Things just seem brighter again,'' said Seville. "There was just a dark cloud hanging over us. I was trying to figure out if my son would still be here in six months or for his next birthday. Now I know he will be here. Everything is back to normal, but I will never take anything for granted again."
Diana Walsh
Tags: Dr. Frank Hanley, Heart Center, surgery


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About The Code Green Campaign®
The Code Green Campaign® is a first responder oriented mental health advocacy and education organization. Also known as Code Green, we serve all types of first responders. This includes firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers, police, corrections, air medical, and search & rescue. Our name is a combination of the color for mental health awareness (green) and the "code alerts" used in emergency services. If someone is having a stroke or heart attack first responders will call a "code stroke" or "code STEMI". The idea is that Code Green is calling a code alert on the mental health of first responders.
Bring awareness to the high rates of mental health issues in first responders and reduce them. Eliminate the stigma that prevents people from admitting these issues and asking for help. Educate first responders on self care and peer care and advocate for systemic change in how mental health issues are addressed by first responder agencies.
Our main goals as an organization are to improve mental wellness for first responders also to reduce barriers to accessing mental health care. We have multiple smaller goals that we focus on as part of fulfilling our larger organizational goals. Some of our more focused goals inclde:
Reducing the stigma around talking about mental health issues.
Providing education about the signs and symptoms of the mental health issues that first responders experience.
Increasing access to culturally competent mental health resources.
Reducing financial barriers to care.
Reducing unnecessary organizational and operational stressors.
Suicide prevention and postvention.
In March of 2014 one of our founders experienced the suicide death of a co-worker. In the days after she realized many of the first responders she knew had also lost friends and co-workers to suicide. A small group began discussing the stigma first responders face and what they could do about it. Code Green's founders agreed that if there is one thing that first responders like to do it is tell stories. They felt that if first responders had an outlet to tell their stories anonymously that might reduce the stigma. This storytelling project evolved into The Code Green Campaign®.
In April of 2014 the Code Green Campaign® was granted nonprofit status in their home state of Washington. This was our first step towards becoming a federal 501(c)(3) organization. In December of 2014 the IRS approved Code Green's application for federal non-profit status.
The response to Code Green was overwhelming. It quickly became apparent that there was an unmet need in the first responder community. Since 2014 Code Green has expanded its services based on the needs of the first responder community.
Our Accomplishments:
Distributed over 150,000 mental health resource cards to providers.
Collected over 700 stories to raise awareness and remind providers that no one is suffering alone.
Educated tens of thousands first responders about mental health, resilience, and what mental health resources are available.
We have a semi-regular column on EMS1, the largest EMS related news website.
Increased reporting of public safety suicides by 100%, leading to a better understanding of the core issue
Created a first-of-its-kind database of first responder oriented mental health resources.
Provide peer support and crisis referral for hundreds of providers.
Provide financial assistance to first responders who need help paying for mental health care.
Presented mental health education at numerous conferences, education events, and agencies.
If you need mental health help now please click here for our list of first responder oriented mental health resources.
I always questioned why people reach the end of their rope. How can a normal, capable, strong person decide to check out? What's the piece that pushes them over the edge from thinking to doing? I get it now. I'm in the darkest place I didn't know existed in my head, heart and soul. I know there is light on the other side, I'm choosing to believe there is. I just know I can't see it, I know I need to move forward but I really don't know which way is forward out of this darkness. I've put myself into therapy and was surprised at how quickly I was initially seen. It's a therapy service provided by my job! Thank you for all you do in getting corporate dollar counters to put things in place to help the front line. Thank you. "Happy birthday, Code Green. You're five years old today. Thanks for being there to help a PM's wife learn to recognize and support PTSD before it ended badly. He makes less money working in the county that raised him, but he is more involved in his son's lives, and that has nothing to do with the commute. Thank you. It's cliche, but.... #madeadifferencetothisone
God bless." "I also thank you for your efforts with Code Green. It has helped me out of a dark place." "With 26 years in emergency services behind me, it is easy to share with my crews that it is okay to speak up when we have had a rough experience taking care of people. It is better than it was, and it looks to be getting even better. Keep it up with the Code Green Campaign - more work to be done." "I do want to say thank you for all you guys do. Knowing that I am not alone, because of y'all, helped me get the help I needed when things were not so good." "In 2016 I went on a call that rocked my world. Took a year to get back to "normal". But it was never "normal" after. Since then I have worn a Code Green bracelet daily to remember not only my struggles but more importantly how I was able to overcome those struggles. I owe a lot to Code Green. Reading other people's stories really helped me. Now I am out of the fire service and in emergency management. I still wear that bracelet. Thank you for everything and continue what you do." "In 2016 I went on a call that rocked my world. Took a year to get back to "normal". But it was never "normal" after. Since then I have worn a Code Green bracelet daily to remember not only my struggles but more importantly how I was able to overcome those struggles. I owe a lot to Code Green. Reading other people's stories really helped me. Now I am out of the fire service and in emergency management. I still wear that bracelet. Thank you for everything and continue what you do." "Thank you for everything you guys and gals do. I am currently out on stress leave. I just didn't do anything about it until the nightmares wouldn't stop and it got to the point I wasn't sleeping. So thank you for raising the awareness." "I just want to say thank you. I know my husband reached out to you guys last night ... Actually, before he even told me about anything! We talked this morning and he's going to get the help he needs. Thank you for being an outlet, someone for him to reach out to, and somewhere that he could turn for help. What you're doing is great! Thank you!" "Code Green has epitomized class, empathy and brotherhood (sisterhood-whatever) for as long as I've been aware of them. PLEASE keep doing what you're doing for all of us and our well-being."
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← KOMMONSENTSJANE – VIDEO Hogg Can Throw Punches, Can't Take One, MSM Double Standard – Firestorm Ted Nugent. Reclaim Our Republic.
KOMMONSENTSJANE – VIDEO "Turn Back To The Revolution": Black DNC Official Calls For Dems To Use 'Black Panther' Tactics To Win 2018 Midterms. Reclaim Our Republic.
This person is stoking racism. Rep Keith Ellison and Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins in attendance only gives more credibility for inciting problems and should be called on the carpet by the Speaker Ryan and explaining the purpose of their attendance.
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Tonight's activity is covering yourself in wood. Anywhere there's bare skin, slap on some wood pieces. Nothing fancy, just hunks and sticks and sheets torn from trunks and branches. No sanding. Rough. Visible bark. Use carpenter's glue and rubber bands. After it sets, tear off the rubber bands and shoot them over the fence. Walk away slowly. Don't run. Friction could ignite the kindling now stuck to your thighs.
This new wooden suit of armor will require a lot of changes in behavior and attitude. It will require varnish. Possibly weather-proofing. But you will be better for it. A better man. If people ask, tell them you are Nature. Not of nature or from nature. Tell them you are Nature. Nature itself.
They will fear your judgement. Many will assume you can now summon hurricanes and swarms of wasps. Let them think that. Then let them start to question their own Activity Nights. How their lack of planning led them to be dominated by you and your wooden arms. They might've dipped a foot in molten rubber. They never went all the way. They just bought a kit. Made themselves look like the picture on the box.
I'm so glad you covered your body in wood. Now go downstairs, I'm going to take my bath.


Word came in this evening the Mets have come to an agreement with chubby veteran free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos, a longtime Met nemesis who if he can 1) pass the physical and, 2) stay on the field, and, 3) slow the aging process typical for fat catchers in their 30s, just might improve the Mets' stagnant backstop situation.
It's only a two-year deal so what's not to like, especially if it cools Brodie's jets of entertaining three-way swaps with the Yankees involving Nimmo, Rosario, Conforto or Syndergaard, so it has a mild stamp of approval from us for now.
What number will he wear? Ramos is a longtime No. 40 and old enough to dictate it, so I can see Jason Vargas changing his shirt. Vargas in fact has already changed once; you might recall before being thrown in in the idiotic JJ Putz deal of 2008-09, Vargas spent a brief period with the Mets wearing 43. That figure was worn last season by ineffective reliever Jamie Callahan, whose season ended with shoulder surgery. He refused to be outrighted to the new Syracuse club and so became a free agent. This is a long way of saying 43 would be available should Vargas want to switch back.
And in the event the Mets actually care what Vargas wants, Ramos could wear No. 4, sadly surrendered by the nontendered Wilmer Flores. Let's hope Wilmer returns as a coach or something someday. I get that his time was likely up given injuries and a little less production than would behoove an arbitration-eligible ballplayer, but as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't have to buy a drink among Mets fans for the rest of his life, and that's something.
I didn't update you all on this but of course 27 will available for Juerys Familia next season. I'm no fan of blowing cash on relief pitchers, but if you're going to you may as well get a guy whose stuff you know and mostly trust and whom the fans admire. Familia ought to make a good team with Edwin Diaz especially if they're utilized effectively, but count on the Mets to justify the strenuous Cano trade by carefully designating Diaz as the "9th inning guy." Not said, if Diaz happens to screw the pooch or tear his UCL as acquired relievers with 100-mph heat have from time to time, it's good to have a backup.
Speaking of reunions the Mets signed Dilson Herrera to a minor league deal. Perhaps if it all goes wrong this year they can trade him to Seattle for Jay Bruce.
Let's get this part out of the way first and say if Robinson Cano wants his old No. 24 back he can go talk to Willie, and if he wants 22 he can talk to Dom Smith. As to Edwin Diaz, the best closer nobody ever heard of wears 39 in Seattle; the same digits belonging last to the presumably departing free agent Jerry Blevins.
Now let's get to the part where I explain why even though this trade could presumably help the Mets get better a lot faster, how I don't much like it in a matter of taste. As a fan, I don't want to cheer for a 36-year-old former Yankee steroid cheat, especially one presumably taking over the position of one of the only guys on the club I was excited to see playing every day next year in Jeff McNeil. Yeah I know there's still much detail to work out, there's always a role for a good bat, guys get hurt, Frazier could still be traded, and so on, but I don't have to like it that McNeil looks like the first victim here.
As for Edwin Diaz, well, he's a relief pitcher, relief pitchers are unpredictable and erratic by nature, and I strongly believe the way to get them is to make them (Jeurys Familia) and not not buy them, even if and when they are cheap and controllable. When they're cheap and controllable is when you trade them. Even a washed-up bullpenner like Jerry DiPoto (a former Met 45, doncha know) knows that!
So those are the new guys, we cough up capable-but-expendable Jay Bruce, who was a kind of bad-penny Met whom they never really wanted but kept going out and getting; the alleged best return of the Addison Reed trade booty in Gerson Bautista (watch him blossom into Seattle's next closer); last year's top draft pick, Jerred Kelenic, who if nothing else seemed like a hitter, and Anothy Swarzak, aka Exhibit A in the don't-go-get-relievers-based-on-one-season-of-goodness department. Swarzak will presumably bounce in Seattle back too, then go at the summer deadline, probably to a win-now dreamer, like the Mets. And if he doesn't rebound, then he'll be out of a job.
Maybe the principals mentioned above will change, but if you needed evidence the Mets were back in control of Omar "Big Splash" Minaya there you have it. Move heaven and earth for 60 innings of relief and a veteran with "talent." Yuck.
The question is, what's next? Well if they're truly serious about contending let's see them really strap one on, go sign Bryce Harper, keep Syndergaard, sign Nathan Eovaldi and trade Steven Matz for that catcher instead. What are you, scared? If this didn't do it, what will?
From where I sit, hiring the least experienced candidate they possibly could and putting Omar Minaya a heartbeat away is a mixed message at best for our Mets. We know Omar for all his scouting smarts is an analytical illiterate and closely aligned with Fred Wilpon, typically the root of all dysfunction that accompanies the club including this last coup. Meanwhile it looks as though the ties to the maligned Alderson Administration are to be cut completely, with John Ricco and JP Ricciardi evidently afterthoughts.
As for Brodie, who the hell knows. Putting aside the awkwardness of now lording over talent he once represented in opposition to the brass and the accompanying conflicts-of-interest that entails, it's hard to guess how he'll actually address the club's weaknesses. Though this smells a lot like the first Omar Takeover, where the club will let go of their typically tight grip on salaries so as to make a show of their new willingness to compete, probably by doing something moronic like signing the most expensive relief pitcher out there, or maybe by tearing apart the farm system built by predecessors in a daring trade.
So I'm predicting a newsy offseason likely to result in a few inarguable "on-paper" improvements but I'm going to wait and see whether they actually represent the mix of creativity, boldness and strategic forethought that actual successful organizations employ. It's not going to be easy even for a smart group.
Were it up me, I'd see what it would take to make Manny Machado the third baseman, which would come with the bonus of forcing Todd Frazier to another club. The Mets may also have a decision to make on the order of Duda-Davis, choosing between the promising but thus-far inconsistent Dom Smith and the promising but older and less-sound defensive player Peter Alonso, which is not as easy as it might look, as both guys could tank. First basemen need to hit.
My secret weapon? See what it takes to get one more really good starting pitcher in the style of the 90s Braves adding Greg Maddux to the Glavine-Smoltz-Avery core. If it turns Steven Matz into trade bait, or the lefthanded reliever we apparently need, so much the better.
You can count on the Mets making a show of acquiring relief pitchers anyhow, as dubious a strategy as I suspect it is (the way to prevent losing close games is to score more runs, and not necessarily count on the other team to fail at the same), but were they to acquire Brooklyn's own Adam Ottavino to bolster what they've got I won't mind, and if you're going to select a "proven closer" it may as well be Jeurys Familia.
Roster moves thus far are marking the end of the line for Phillip Evans (28); Rafael Montero (50); Jack Reinheimer (72); and Jamie Callahan (43). Major league free agents are Jerry Blevins (39); AJ Ramos (44); Jose Lobaton (59); Devin Mesoraco (29); Jose Reyes (7) and Austin Jackson (16). I could see Jackson back as a reserve outfielder if nothing else, and I figure they might consider Mesoraco and Ramos.
Props to Mark Healey for the headline/nickname which I'm totally adopting.


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The Lalu Blog: Is it fair?
Do you think that it's fair that the parents choose a child's name? Why?
if i have a big sister or brother, they can NOT name me! but, my parents can, because they are the ones who brought me into this world. they deserve to name me.
if i could name myself whatever i want, i'd choose Jude.
I kinda think no one gets to choose our names, not even our parents.
I think our names are already chosen for us before we're even born, and they're chosen for a reason that only a few manage to realize.
thanks for commenting :) your responds were very intersting!


300 MXN to PGK exchange rate - How much is Mexican Peso in Kina?
How much is 300 Mexican Peso in Kina?
When is the best time to convert Mexican Peso to Kina?
The best day to exchange Mexican Peso in Kina was 14/04/2019. At that time the currency had growth to its highest value.
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text:
UWE Power Rankings(Post Italy Edition)
The Armenian Beast – In Rome, Beast showed up with his recently won UWE World Championship. He garnered himself yet another main event match. He didn't win or lose. He's been having a lot of strange endings to his matches lately, this week being no different. He and Amy Gobraless go to a double count out in a non-title champion vs. champion match. He's still the top guy in the company, so he's not moving one bit.
Amy Gobraless – See above. A double count out?! SOMEONE WIN SOMETHING ALREADY. She's still got the Rising Star Championship settled under her giant knockers. She went to a non-decisive finish with the World Champion and that counts for something. She stays at number two for now.
Asylum – The Masked Madman finds himself in the number three position. He won two matches last week. TWO. Actually winners. The only thing keeping him from the top spot is that he's got no gold to show for his mayhem. Gaining a victory against Demoana followed by one against Chris Mackison, Asylum has been on a roll. He's earned another Superstar of the Week award and it's only going to get better.
Chaos – Dirty, dirty Chaos. He's been dominate lately, but in Rome, he had to use some unconventional methods to win his match. He grabbed a handful of the ropes to use as leverage. He beat Bob the Badguy, though. That's a tough match to win, regardless of how it is done. Chaos nets number four, looking to head into Germany and add so more W's to his record.
Brandon Moore – "Just Plain Better" is starting to look a bit more realistic lately. Having only lost one match since his return to the ring, Brandon is climbing the ranks. He's been in a bit of a scuffle with Asylum lately and there's no doubt that has fueled him to perform better leading up to an inevitable battle. Beating long time respected rival Ronnie Cage moves him up.
Bob the Badguy – Unfortunately for Bob, he lost due to some help from the ring ropes. Chaos got the cheap win, but he'll have a chance to put some makeup over that blemish on his record with a rematch. If Bob gets back to his winning ways, the top five will be a'hollerin' his name.
Ronnie Cage – Ronnie has slid down the ladder of the Power Rankings quite far. He might have even smacked his chin against each rung on the way down. Things haven't been looking up lately. With his personal issues possibly affecting his in ring performance, Brandon Moore was able to take him down. Other competitors have their head in the game and that is why he's moved on down.
Angels and Demons – Wreck shop as a tag team, move up the rankings as a tag team. Angels and Demons consists of Lily Jackson and Billsta Anderson. They went against mystery opponents, former Tag Team Champions, Special Forces. Major Payne and Corporal Punishment showed up to take care of business and in fact, they almost did. But A&D surprised everyone. In what I'm calling the match of the year so far, the tag team competition started off the show hot in Italy. The two of them deserve this spot and when one of them keeps up the hard work in the coming weeks, they'll surely move up.
Lucilla Pegorino – Girl, where you been?! Oh, that's right, suspended. Doofus. (Please don't kill me.) Lucilla is staying on the rankings because she's terrifying and it's not fair that someone that's suspended gets booted off the list completely…you know, unless someone else steps up and takes her spot.
Addison Hart – She's staying on the list because she is at least making her presence known, in matches or not. She's been screwing with the Badguy plenty much lately, but the same goes for her as goes for Lucilla. If someone else starts taking fools to town, she'll be off this list faster than you can say…well, anything of relevance.
July 21, 2014 September 10, 2014 screamformoore Leave a comment
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Under any system in which the means of producing a living are the exclusive property of a limited class, the worker, deprived of such means, purchases the right to work for his living, paying for it in surplus labor. The worker's day, economically speaking, is divided into two parts; the first and shooter period during which he works to reproduce the value of his own labor-power, or, in other words, his living; and a second and longer period in which he produces the surplus value which he is forced by necessity to yield to the owner of the land, machinery or other means of producing wealth. The commodities produced during the entire working day, no matter what their kind or character may be, are sold by the employer and thus are transmuted into a price-form, money, and the employer returns the worker's portion to him in this form. It is called wages, but the money-form in which it is paid to the worker merely conceals the commodity-form in which it was originally produced. It is in reality merely part of the total amount of commodities produced by the worker during the whole day's work, and the smaller part; for the greater portion is retained by the employer. The transmutation into the money or price-form also conceals the division of the day's work into its two constituent parts—the necessary labor and the surplus labor. The part of the day's product retained by the capitalist employer is surplus value. It is the wealth produced in this second period of the working day—surplus value—that constitutes the sole object of all capital investment. It is the basis of all capitalist values. It is the substance of all so-called earning power of capital. It is the soul of capitalism. It is the sacred cow that is worshipped as a god. It is the incentive of all endeavor by capitalist-minded humans. It is the subject of all sermons and precepts by gowned clerics and bewhiskered philosophers who do homage to the sacred cow: "Servants, obey your masters—work long and hard for him, and great will be your reward—in heaven. On earth you will get just wages—a mere subsistence—while your master takes the rest; but in heaven, after you are dead—ah! the golden glories that await you—ideological reflections of all the product of the unrequited surplus labor which you gave to your master on earth and which he converted into the physical earthly realities that he enjoys ease, comfort, luxury, peace."
1.—By prolonging the working day.
2.—By improving and increasing the efficiency of the machinery and means of production.
3.—By lowering the wages or the worker's share of the day's product.
4.—By intensifying the labor by speeding up the worker.
5.—By expanding the market or raising the price of the produce without raising wages.
It will be noticed that by any or all of these means the part of the product of the day's work remaining in the hands of the employer is increased while the worker's share remains unchanged. That is the peculiar quality of the surplus value upon which our capitalist system rests and which so endears it to the gamblers in the wealth produced by others, called capitalists—the unproductive gentry who "toil not neither do they spin," yet Solomon in all his glory was a poor skate compared to one of these latter-day parasites.


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5 Historical 'Facts' That Are Nothing But Propaganda
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E.M. Caris ·
We've often covered which parts of your history books are wrong, but have you ever wondered why they're wrong? As it turns out, some historical myths were intentionally created for sinister, petty, or plain dumbass reasons. Like how ...
The Idea Of Irish "Slavery" Can Be Tracked Down To A Holocaust Denier's Book
You've probably seen memes shared by Facebook pages with names like "Patriots For [Guess Which President]" or "[Something Other Than Black] Lives Matter" about this one. The gist is that Irish people were also once enslaved in America, so how come you never hear their descendants complaining about it? Probably because they weren't slaves, and you fell for a stupid meme.
Via Medium.comB-but the font looks so authoritative!
The Irish certainly had it rough and were an exploited underclass. But they were not slaves, and by no measure did they have it "worse" than black people. The practice of slavery in America was highly specific and unique in world history. It was chattel slavery based on race, and it was hereditary, meaning that blacks weren't forced to work for a set period of time like other groups -- it was supposed to last for generations and generations, until the Earth crumbled. Indentured servants were exploited miserably, but they were at least seen as people, not property. Plus, after you gained freedom, you also gained equality before the law. Hell, Ben Franklin was an indentured servant, and he did pretty well.
It's not a coincidence that most of the "Irish slaves" depicted in these memes aren't actually Irish. It's also not a coincidence that you mostly see "I'm not racist, but" people sharing them. Irish historian Liam Hogan tracked down this myth to a 1990s book by Holocaust denier Michael A. Hoffman II, which was a big hit in white supremacist circles. In 2000, the myth was given more credibility by a book called To Hell Or Barbados, written by a non-historian who unfortunately wasn't too clear on the definition of "slavery." He also claimed, with zero evidence, that the Irish were branded like cattle, and that Irish women were sold to "stud farms" for breeding purposes, among other exciting details. Anyway, we're sure this clarification will make the people who shared these memes with no ulterior racist motives stop at once!
Related: 6 Things We Only Believe Today Because Of Propaganda
The "Flat Earth Theory" Theory Was Pushed To Make The Church Seem Backward
When the circumference of the Earth was calculated in the 3rd century BCE (after first being theorized two centuries earlier), it totally made sense to most people. After all, if the giant fireball and the chunk of cheese in the sky were spheres, why wouldn't our planet be one too? Nobody told Christopher Columbus his ships were going to fall off the edge of the Earth when he decided to take the long route to Asia. That was a bit of flourish added by someone who wrote a novel about him centuries later.
Daniel Nicholas ChodowieckiThis is like if people in the future believed Neil Armstrong went to the moon to look for Transformers.
Now, the myth of the flat Earth may not have spread a whole lot back in the day ... but the myth of the myth of the flat Earth did, and for a very specific reason. When that aforementioned novel about Columbus came out in 1828, some anticlerical scholars smelled an opportunity to show how hostile the Catholic Church was to scientific thinking. French author Antoine-Jean Letronne published an article titled "On The Cosmological Opinions Of The Church Fathers," which basically argued that Catholic priests and the pope had the big dumb, citing the fake Columbus story as evidence. Each new book about Columbus drew from the previous one and expanded on the generalized stupidity of his contemporaries, until they made it look like he was the only person in Spain who didn't think the Earth was a pancake.
Meanwhile, an English scholar named William Whewell gave the myth even more credence by taking three obscure flat Earth believers from history and making it look like theirs was a common belief in the "Dark Ages." It's like when the media pretends two teenagers eating deodorant on YouTube is a new fad. Of course, there's always the possibility that a lot of people did share this belief back then, but we just didn't know it because Facebook didn't exist yet.
Related: 6 Insane Examples Of Modern Propaganda By Major Countries
The South Was Against "States' Rights" Before It Lost The Civil War
How did the former Confederate states go from "Slavery is the moral truth upon which we base our nation" to "Slavery wasn't even a big deal"? Well, you already know the most important factor: They lost the war. Badly. Soon after, Southerners tried to save face by claiming they had fought to protect their sovereignty from the federal government. But before the war, they sure didn't seem to give much of a shit about that.
When South Carolina became the first state to try to ditch the Union in 1860, they released a document listing their causes. Not only is it all about slavery, but they also bitched about Northern states being allowed to pass laws that endangered such a noble institution. How dare they decided that they wanted to treat fugitive or transported slaves like people! Other states, like Texas, shared those complaints. Southerners used the "states' rights" card when they didn't like a law, but when it came to defending slavery, they were big fans of having a centralized government telling everyone what to do. It was less about independence and more about "How do we keep this gravy train powered by centuries of human suffering going?"
But by the time the first Confederate statues started popping up in the late 19th century, they couldn't put "To my white supremacist grandpa who died for no good reason" on them. So they went with stuff like "To all the heroes of the South who fought for the principle of States' Rights."
Brian Reading / Wikimedia CommonsThey also turned gramps into a totally ripped angel with a massive ... sword.
Former Confederates who were still alive gave more weight to the argument by going, "Uh yeah, that's the ticket." In 1894, General Joseph Wheeler gave a speech arguing that the North violated the Constitution, secession was a right, and the South in fact opposed slavery. They were only fighting to protect their rights! Good thing humanity has evolved, and this stubborn refusal to acknowledge and learn from your political mistakes could never happen these days.
Related: 6 Brainwashing Techniques They're Using On You Right Now
The Spanish Inquisition's Reputation Was Mostly Propaganda
Listen, we're not saying the Spanish Inquisition didn't burn the occasional "witch" alive or stretch the occasional heretic to death. But, contrary to the idea that they went around killing and torturing people willy-nilly, only 1% of the 125,000 people tried in Inquisitorial tribunals were executed. Inquisitors also spent much of their time clearing people from heresy charges, prosecuting non-religious crimes, manually censoring books, or just filling out paperwork.
Jan Luyken Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition ... to be a bunch of dull bureaucrats.
So where did the idea of the Inquisition as a cavalcade of horror come from? England, which had a vested interest in portraying Spain as a bunch of backwards savages, thus making themselves look more civilized in comparison. It also served their colonial interests. Spain ruled more colonies than anyone else, and England was already late to the "enslave natives and steal their land" party. Portraying the Inquisition and by extension Spain as evil overlords to the pagans of the "new" world helped paint England as more enlightened. The English wanted you to believe it was all Thanksgiving and hand-holding in their colonies, while Spanish America was full of forced conversions and human bonfires.
The myth lasted a long time, not only in the public imagination but among historians as well. All the way up until the 1960s, historians upheld the Black Legend of the Spanish Inquisition as the Black Truth. It was only after scholars began to question the underlying assumptions of the field that they bothered to reevaluate the evidence. Now we know they were less omnipresent Hitlers and more like the DMV with slightly more torture.
Related: Memes You Probably Helped Spread Are Secretly Propaganda
Scholars Jumped On The Holocaust Denial Bandwagon As Soon As The Holocaust Ended
The Holocaust is the most well-documented genocide to date. The Nazis kept meticulous records, the Allies photographed everything, and there were 11 million fewer Jews, communists, Roma, Poles, etc. in Europe, so there's that. They didn't all just go on vacation. And yet the internet is full of posts "just asking questions" about whether it really happened, mostly by people whose opinion of the Nazis wouldn't be massively affected if it did.
Of course, such fuckery predates the internet and goes back to the very beginning. Initially and expectedly, former Nazis denied the Holocaust, which was even less convincing when you had all those corpses right there. What's surprising is that they quickly attracted academic support from well-respected sources. Friedrich Meinecke, an eminent German historian and one of the founders of the Free University of Berlin, wrote The German Catastrophe in 1950. It was a defense of the Nazis' actions which, in classic German fashion, both mitigated Jewish suffering and blamed them for it. Despite the fact that Meinecke was openly antisemitic, some people read his book and said, "Hmm, yeah, checks out."
Wikimedia Commons"Yes, this looks like a respectable person and not at all like a cartoon supervillain."
Meanwhile, French National Assembly member Paul Rassinier denounced reports of gas chambers, on the basis that he was in Buchenwald in 1943 and never saw any. Never mind that Buchenwald was not an extermination camp. He wrote a bunch of books on the matter, culminating in his masterpiece, The Drama Of European Jewry, in which he argued that the Holocaust was an inside job. As in "Zionists" faked it in a grand Ocean's Eleven-type heist to scam money out of Germany. Did we mention he was an antisemite too?
Then there was American historian Harry Elmer Barnes, who taught at Ivy League institutions. Unfortunately, he was also pen pals with Rassinier and translated his books for publication in America, where they remain fan favorites among frothing racists. What's most infuriating is that since he and the others were considered serious academics, it led to legitimate outlets like The Los Angeles Times publishing straight up Holocaust denial. And they couldn't even blame it on the internet making people dumber back then! So let's count our blessings here.
For more, check out 10 Weirdly Conservative Hidden Messages In 'Con Air' - Today's Topic:
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text:
Home Headlines Join the Scavenger Hunt for your Survival at Gen Con 2018!
Join the Scavenger Hunt for your Survival at Gen Con 2018!
Jul 19th, 2018 · 0 Comment
The world is overrun with undead. Humanity has turned on one another as society collapses. You are one of those lucky few survivors… you have many choices ahead.
To celebrate the early release of the second edition of the survival horror adventure, Outbreak: Undead Survivor's Guide, Hunters Entertainment and Renegade Game Studios are hosting an epic, convention-wide scavenger hunt at Gen Con 2018!
Every participant will need their own IR badge, or Infection Status Indicators (I.S.I.), that they can purchase at the Renegade Game Studios booth #2209 for $10. If you purchase a copy or pick up a pre-order of the Outbreak: Undead Survivor's Guide, you will get the I.S.I. for free!
Will you be a vicious vigilante, plundering and doing whatever it takes to survive? Or will you do your best to preserve civilization, even at the cost of your own life?
Once activated, your I.S.I. will show a green light. Congratulations! You're a human! But humanity doesn't last forever, not in this world… Beware of I.S.I. with red lights. Get too close and you risk infection. You'll have a few moments to distance yourself from the infected participant, then your I.S.I. will TURN YELLOW. At that point you'll have 15 minutes to come back to the Aid Station at the Renegade event space (Hall C). Otherwise you'll become infected for that day's challenge.
Take control of your future! Fight the undead and protect what is yours! But before that, make sure you have a plan.
Use the map given to you when you receive your badge to find base stations around the convention. Each day of Gen Con, there will be nine active stations. Visit the social media pages for Hunters Entertainment (Facebook, Twitter) each morning to find out which stations you'll need to check in to that day. Simply scan your I.S.I. to check in to a station. Visit all of the active stations for a day and your I.S.I. will change from green to white, granting you Doctor status. Return to the Hunters home base at the Renegade Game Studios booth #2209 to be entered into that day's raffle for the grand prize – a survival kit valued at over $350!
The survival kit will include:
A copy of the Outbreak: Undead – Survivor's Guide!
Rothco Molle Backpack
Trench Shovel
Camping Rope
2 Person Shelter
Pocket Pliers/Multi-tool
Hammer/Axe Combo Tool
Compass/Binoculars Combo Tool
About Hunters Entertainment:
Hunters Entertainment are Industry Veterans, that strives to create products that are fun, unique, and immersive. Our combined 60+ years experience provides quality, yet doesn't lack our desire to innovate. Every ounce of effort in our titles have been focused on bringing you a flexible, well-designed, and most importantly exciting experience.
Find out more at www.huntersentertainment.com or by following them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/HuntersEntertainment/
About Renegade Game Studios:
Renegade Game Studios is a premier developer and publisher of original award winning board games, including Overlight, Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, and The Fox in the Forest. Our mission is to publish games that are fun, challenging, and unique. We believe that gaming is for everybody and that everybody is a gamer; you just have to find the right game!
Find out more at www.renegadegames.com or by signing up for our newsletter here: http://www.renegadegamestudios.com/newsletter-sign-up/
Tags:Gen Con · headline · Hunters Entertainment · Outbreak Undead · Renegade Game Studios
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The Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives recently conducted an oversight hearing of the SEC on April 29, 2014. SEC Chair May Jo White was asked to testify in defense of the agency's $1.7 billion budget request after already unprecedentedly high budgetary appropriations in recent years. Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) was critical of the SEC's budget request noting that the budget has increased 80 percent over the past decade, and 300 percent in the past 14 years. While on the surface the scrutiny of the SEC's high budget may seem like a win for financial institutions who are facing record-high examinations, investigations, charges, regulations and supervisory actives, in actuality Chairman Hensarling was critical of the SEC's failure to enact enough new regulations and bring enough enforcement actions. Chairman Hensarling noted that the SEC has enacted less than half of the required rulemakings under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act).
Even less reassuring, Chair White's testimony presents a laundry list of agenda items and ambitions for expanded supervision of the financial markets, and applauds the highest ever collection of penalties last year at $3.4 billion – a number that is likely to grow with increased resources in 2014 and 2015.
Rules to require policy and technological controls in money market funds.
New Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) litigation against corporations.
Supervision of recordkeeping requirements of Volcker Rule implementation.
Complete more settlements with admissions of guilt according to the agency's new settlement protocol.
Invest in technology to better understand and regulate high-speed markets.
Hire additional staff – Chair White noted that in 2004 the SEC maintained 19 examiners per trillion dollars of investments, whereas today that number has fallen to eight examiners.
Enhance internal information technology (IT) and training.


text:
When presidents fight
by Lawal Ogienagbon
in Lawal Ogienagbon
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has a way of dealing with his protégés when they fall out of line. He doesn't call to talk to them, especially when the issue at stake is in the public domain; he rebukes them in the open, probably for the benefit of the people who he believes should know where he stands. No doubt these people would have preferred that he called them in private and say whatever he likes to them, but Baba doesn't do things that way.
Obasanjo seems to get a kick from ridiculing his 'boys' in public and I have tried to hazard a guess as to why he does this, without success. Could it be because they don't listen to him when he advises them in camera? Could it be because he wants to be seen as pro-people? Obasanjo pro-people? It sounds somehow because he is not known to be a man who shows concern for the people, except it is politically motivated.
Really, why does Obasanjo take delight in talking down to sitting presidents when he has unrestrained access to them? Assuming he was in those people's shoes, how will he feel if he was at the receiving end? Knowing Obasanjo for who he is, he would never allow such attacks to go without a fight. Presidents are a cult of sorts. Whether serving or not, they bond together, meeting and conversing at forums exclusively meant for them. Such forums should provide a veritable ground for an ex to advise a sitting president and avail him of his own experience while in office.
With his native intelligence, Obasanjo may think that such forums are not appropriate for the discussion of certain sensitive matters under which we can categorise his castigation of his one-time minions for perceived poor handling of the affairs of state.
Ask former military president Ibrahim Babaginda; ask the late President Umar Yar'Adua and now President Goodluck Jonathan has got the length of Obasanjo's tongue. In 1986, Obasanjo tore Babaginda apart over the military dictator's Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which the gap-toothed general said had no alternative.
SAP as an economic policy was harsh and Nigerians groaned under it. The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), who in his characteristic manner , tried to provide an alternative through enlightened debate was arrested and kept in detention for long. Thus, other Nigerians were cowed from speaking out on the issue. Like a bolt out of the blue, Obasanjo descended on Babaginda and his SAP.''Any economic policy'', he said, ''must have human face and milk of kindness''.
Any policy, which does not pass this test, is not worth it, he said matter of factly to the admiration of Nigerians. In the heat of the crisis caused by the illness of the late Yar'Adua, Obasanjo was on song again. Responding to criticisms that he foisted a sick man on the nation, Obasanjo absolved himself of blame. He said he could not be held responsible for the way the late Yar'Adua turned out in office.
Taking a shot at the late Yar'Adua, who he went round the country campaigning for in 2009, Obasanjo said if someone is given a job to do and he knows that he is not fit to do that job, the best thing is to call it quits. Obasanjo said : ''If you take up an assignment, a job, elected, appointed; whatever it is, and then your health starts to fail and you will not be able to deliver to satisfy yourself and to satisfy the people you are supposed to serve, then there is a path of honour and the path of morality''.
It was an unkind cut because Obasanjo cannot feign ignorance about the late president's health challenge, but that did not stop him from speaking out in public then. If Obasanjo could not be restrained from talking by the late Yar'Adua's health challenge, how can President Jonathan, who has no such problem expect Obasanjo to keep quiet if he believes that things are not going on well in the country.
Does the Obasanjo that Jonathan knows behave like that? No, he doesn't. Obasanjo is known for calling a spade a spade, whether you like it or not. So, he was simply behaving true to type when he took Jonathan to the cleaners over his handling of the Boko Haram insurgency.Baba did not say anything new as we all know that Jonathan has been too soft in his handling of the delicate Boko Haram issue.
The president is only being
cautious in his approach,
but do the group and its backers appreciate this? It is good to be meek and gentle, but it is not noble to allow that gentility to be taken for granted, at least not in this Boko Haram case.
The group needs to be handled with iron hand and this is the message Obasanjo was trying to pass across by criticising the president. So far, Jonathan has taken it too easy with the group. Truly, going by his track record, if Obasanjo were to be in charge, things would not have been handled this way.Give it to Baba.
With his military background, he would have taken some drastic actions, which by now, may have changed the course of events. It may not have necessarily ended the Boko Haram insurgency, but the point would have been made that no group can just wake up one day and resolve to wage war against the society for no just reason without paying the price.
Of course, there would have been some collateral damage, but a message would have been sent across. What is the message that Jonathan is sending across with his handling of the group's excesses? I'm sorry to say there is none whatsoever and that is the truth.Rather than see Obasanjo's broadside as an attack on his administration, Jonathan should see it as a wake-up call to do something about this Boko Haram insurgency before things become worse than they are.
There is no need for him to go to battle with Obasanjo over this issue. The group that he should do battle with is Boko Haram and the sooner he faces this enormous challenge the better for us all. Whether the Odi invasion was a failure or not, one thing is certain, we had a president who rose to the challenge of the time and did something.
The question posterity will ask Jonathan is what did he do when his country was burning under the Boko Haram threat? Will he want to be remembered like Nero who fiddled while Rome was burning? It is not enough for Mr President to lament the invasion of the seat of power by Boko Haram elements; what the nation expects him to do is to fish out these people and bring them to justice.
May God grant him the will to do this.
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You don't have to ditch baby blue and light pink.
When winter comes we don't have to ditch colours like baby blue and light pink. We often associate them with the spring season and shiny warm days, but that doesn't mean pastels are not adjustable and moreover desirable in the winter.
You can introduce pastels in your winter wardrobe in several ways, and if you do not know how to check out our style tips!