Western culture's scientific heritage from Bacon and Newton has bankrupted its cultural imagination; consequently, Western culture manifests symptoms of cosmological uncertainty such as anxiety, alienation, anomie and a massive confusion over values (Mathews, p. 134). The loss of cultural cosmology embedded in narratives and accessible to the entire community is accompanied by reduced a capacity for symbolic thinking, big-picture thinking and ethical thinking. Modernity remains stuck in Newton's atomistic social order, which regards humans as atoms, individuals keen on survival, and competitively self-interested while adrift in a meaningless universe (p.30). Instead of becoming rugged individuals, Arendt is concerned about homelessness and rootlessness linked to an ungrounded worldview and suggests that the Copernican paradigm shift toward a heliocentric and astrophysical worldview made it difficult for natals to trust their senses (Arendt, p.261). The Copernican paradigm shift took only decades, yet modernity appears to be incapable of making another paradigm shift to a relational worldview in spite of the urgency of multiple ecological crises. Popular film culture manifests necrophilia by attempting to create beauty out of terror and horror and to mimic male dominance, capitalism and warfare in space; thus perpetuating the Cartesian myth of transcendence by escaping an over-heated planet in order to colonize other planets.
In contrast, a philosophy of natality recognizes that "we stand in need of cosmological healing" (Mathews, p. 47). Cosmology contributes stability and groundedness by evoking imagination and a shared symbology to express the sacredness of the whole and of ethical relationships.
So many potent truths! Thank you for sharing and inspiring.


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Look deep into my pies...
By Jo Cory2005-10-07T00:00:00+01:00
C-stores can cash in on the revival of traditional British food.
Whether it's fancy restaurants serving up steak & kidney pudding or TV chefs getting creative with bangers 'n' mash, there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional British fare.
Pasty giants Ginsters knows a thing or two about traditional food, with a turnover of two million Cornish pasties a year, and it believes there's an untapped market for good old-fashioned pies in c-stores.
The major multiples are already having success with
own-label pies but there have been no premium-tier savoury pies for independents until now.
With an rrp of £2.29 for a 250g pie, the deep fill pies come in steak, roast chicken and steak & mushroom varieties, with a nine-day shelf life. Ginsters claims the pies are guaranteed better-filled than any other pre-packed pie, with prime cuts of locally produced beef in the steak varieties. They can be eaten hot or cold, as a (substantial) snack or as a meal replacement.
Ginsters head of marketing Andy Valentine sees the pies located in the take-home fixture next to the ready meals. He says: "People can pick them up on their way home. Our own research carried out in developing the range has revealed that 84% of hot pie buyers said they are likely to buy pies from Ginsters."
The company is making other changes to its 40-product portfolio. It is launching a new savoury pastry, the Bakes range, to replace its current Deli Bakes.
Valentine continues: "This latest launch is part of our continuing drive to bring new consumers into the Ginsters brand and thereby increase the case return for our retail customers." The new Bakes are keeping the olive oil flaky pastry of the Deli version but are 15g bigger. (The size change is in line with consumer research that revealed health isn't a top concern for Ginster's core consumers).
They come in two new Mediterranean-inspired flavours: chicken & mozzarella, with a tomato & basil sauce, and ham & mozzarella, with a fresh cream sauce, tomatoes and Provencal herbs. The 175g Bakes have an rrp of £1.49.
The company is also revamping its sandwiches, with better colour differentiation and communication to help consumers find their way around the range more easily.
The new premium cards positioned in its sandwich lines will also emphasise the company's local sourcing policy and fresh ingredients. Valentine confirms: "We are constantly looking at ways to improve communication with consumers. Our new recyclable card inlays will hopefully broaden the appeal of the range."
The company claims to have attracted five million new consumers in the past five years with more investment than anyone else in its market - some £25m.
Valentine also confirms that c-stores are "incredibly important" to Ginsters and that there are plans to increase distribution to high street c-stores.
More than £6m is being spent on marketing in 2005 under the 'Real honest food' banner, including sponsorship of Channel Five's Joey and Two and a Half Men sitcoms as well as tongue-in-cheek radio, poster and press advertising.
Cool revival
The freeze on frozen food sales is at last thawing - and it's all down to education and innovation, says Sue Barnard
A cool comeback
The frozen food category continued its recent decline last year, but 2006 could be the year for a revival, says Amy Lanning
Ben & Jerry's reveals new Sundae range
The Ben & Jerry's Sundae range contains four variants

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
New Introducing Viral Nation Sports. Learn More >
How The US Government Is Using Influencers To Promote COVID-19 Vaccinations
Dustin Hawley
Vaccinations are a controversial subject, to say the least.
The debate between the pro and anti-vaxxers has become common in mainstream media and local communities alike. It is difficult to get the right message out to the masses amidst the concerted campaigns, inflamed passions, and misinformation.
Raising awareness regarding vaccinations, getting the right message across, and motivating people to get vaccinated is the need of the hour. As a result, the US government has turned to influencers!
Several influencers have been activated across the country, led by the White House and joined by state governments and local authorities. This is certainly an endorsement of the power of influencers, one that brands have recognized and have leveraged multiple times in the past. It is also a fresh approach from the government to social issues, using a more sophisticated approach to mass public awareness, which could become commonplace soon.
Let's try to dig a little deeper and understand the reasons behind this approach, how the campaigns are being run, and of course, what this means for influencers.
Why Are Influencers Being Used?
The freedom to make personal choices is certainly one of our prized rights. This is a great concept, but unfortunately, it gets complicated when malicious intentions are at play. Misinformation/Fake News is definitely one of them. Preposterous accusations backed by bogus data, enough to convince someone not so well informed, is usually the way this works.
The anti-vaccination campaigners have been loud for much of the past few years, even before COVID became a conversation. These campaigns have often relied on misinformation about vaccinations in general. Now, we see the same as it applies to COVID specifically.
The context makes it difficult to achieve a 100% vaccination in the country and essentially putting everyone at risk in the long run. Governments are also more aware that rulings and mandatory vaccinations would perhaps have a more negative impact. Perks for vaccinations have been a successful strategy, with the Biden administration calling for $100 payouts for those who vaccinate. Using influencers can be seen as the second part of that strategy – one based on providing credible information and busting myths.
The US government has been pushing for more vaccinations, but more than 50% of the 18-39 age group remains unvaccinated. In the 12-18 years range, 58% remain unvaccinated. Pushing them to vaccinate is high on the agenda, and influencers with a big following among the GenZ and millennials are being lined up.
Using influencers is not a new concept when you think about it. If it was Elvis Presley who took the polio vaccine live on TV in 1956, the influencers today are young content creators on TikTok and Instagram or a small local community influencer. This time, the influencers are not superstars and legends alone who are spreading the message. This is coming from an understanding that it's not just stars but also other influencers who shape this. Studies show that young people trust the advice of a content creator over a mainstream celebrity. It would also be an effective way to tackle misinformation, as it comes from those who have a good voice in a community and are closer to them than any government source ever can be.
The idea of using influencers also stems from the fact that the digitally savvy younger generation would also have considerable influence within their families, and they can influence a larger set of people to get vaccinated.
There is also the question of reaching the marginalized communities. The African American, Hispanic, and Asian communities are generally underserved when it comes to most government interventions, and there was a need to reach out to these communities as well. Influencers who have sway in these communities are part of the initiative as well. While we find people with influence taking it upon themselves to spread the message in these communities, it is perhaps the first time social media influencers are being tapped and paid to spread it.
How Are The Influencers Being Used?
The coordinated strategy to use Influencers started in the White House, with marketing agencies and Made to Save, a national campaign that works for greater access to the vaccine. There were several interactions with influencers too who interacted with the experts on vaccines and how they work.
There are quite a few influencers who have been roped in for the White House-led campaign and several more that have been enlisted by state governments and other agencies. The list includes Christina Najjar, a TikTok star named Tinx, 17-year-old TikTok star Ellie Zeiler, and Pop Star Olivia Rodrigo. There are 40 influencers on the list, including YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and TikTokers.
The State and local governments are also running similar campaigns where local micro-influencers are paid up to $1000 a month to engage and motivate their followers to get vaccinated. Influencer campaigns are being run by health authorities in Colorado, San Jose, Chicago, California, Oklahoma City, New Jersey, and other states.
The campaign's focus lies in sharing specific and credible information regarding vaccinations and dispelling myths surrounding this. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci was seen chatting live with influencers and answering questions regarding the vaccination on two occasions at least. He used these appearances to tackle questions on vaccinations affecting fertility and other widespread myths.
What Are The Chances Of Success?
It is not an easy job convincing impassioned anti-vaccination hardliners, perhaps impossible. Influencers can help spread credible information and use their authenticity to influence as many followers as possible. The early reports are certainly positive, with local and state governments sharing the news of increased vaccination rates corresponding to these campaigns.
But there are 2 major issues. Vaccinations are highly controversial, and many influencers would actively stay away from a conversation of this sort. Using influencers en-masse may hence become tricky in the longer run.
The other issue is that of deep convictions, which are hard to alter. The anti-vaccination movement has a lot of ardent supporters who are unwilling to vaccinate themselves or their families. These people would be hard to influence by any means, and this would mean that there will be a percentage of the population that can't be easily influenced by any means.
Irrespective of the issues, the campaign is showing promising results in the first few days. One certain thing is that this can only work as a part of the campaign, and there will have to be other measures being taken to reward those getting vaccinated.
What Does This Mean For The Influencer Community?
It's still early days, but this certainly opens a new avenue for Influencers. Biden Campaign for the 2020 Elections also saw them using influencers to raise awareness and asking people to vote. This trend could be a start, where influencers could be used as information dissemination channels for other areas. Influencers are likely to see rising work demand in areas such as spreading awareness about federal and local government programs, health initiatives, and political campaigns.
It is also a great endorsement for the influencer community as a whole, who have been playing a vital role in COVID preventive measures, both as a part of sponsored campaigns and otherwise. There is a growing consensus that social media content creators are also credible and authentic messengers for various domains and not just restricted to brand promotions.
COVID vaccination drive is perhaps the largest public health undertaking globally in a long while now. The world has changed a lot in these intervening years, and crisis responses have also evolved to make use of whatever resources are available. Social media, for all its pros and cons, remains a very active part of everyday life. US government's move to use influencers for vaccination drives is a recognition of this changed reality.
The way we accept and process information from social media is also changing, with many of us relying on thought leaders and content creators in specific domains for information. Influencers have nurtured and grown a community that looks up to them for advice and recommendations, and this campaign leverages that relationship.
The anti-vaccine movement has been a significant stumbling block in the process, and using local, credible voices to set the facts right and dispel myths is a great approach. How this works out remains to be seen!
We only do marketing that works.
Facebook Recently Announced New Tools for SMBs, Including Video Calls And Expansions To Appointment Bookings
With much of the madness caused by the pandemic now behind us, small businesses across the country are eager to capitalize on the holiday rush, with spending patterns and customer behaviors once again approa
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Instagram is quickly turning into a platform of choice for digital marketers, thanks to a solid base of influencers, great content quality, and one of the largest userbases of any social platform. In 2021, t
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In 2020, it seems like no one is impervious to rumors. The most recent round of tech gossip is about PayPal and how they were to acquire Pinterest. Reuters and other media reported on the deal when sources
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I am building a job board site that will have talent memberships and hiring manager memberships.
Is it possible to redirect to different pages based on the membership type?
So for example, a talent user will be directed to a talent dashboard page and a hiring manager user will be directed to a hiring manager dashboard page?
Membership 2 allows for a general redirect page via the "Redirect Control" add-on; however, what you could do here is include all the content on the same page but hide it per membership, so depending which membership the user logs in with, they will only be able to see the dashboard they are meant too.
Would that work? You could also create a "Guest Membership" and then display unique content on that page to logged out users. In this case you would probably just want to display a login form to them.
In this case you could select 2 different pages, but keep in mind there is nothing stopping a user from logging into the wrong one, but you could still restrict each pages content to the specific membership, so if they did login to the wrong one they wouldn't see anything or you could show unique content for them to send them over to their own dashboard.
Hope this helps! If you have any further questions just let us know.
Some interesting ideas here - thanks so much!
I will dig into this over the weekend to see which solution is better for me.


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The American Highway by William Kaszynski
Blizzard by John Rocco
The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King
Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley
Don Eddy: The Art of Paradox by Donald B. Kuspit
The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick
Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
The Flying Squad by Edgar Wallace
George by Alex Gino
Ghoul Interrupted by Victoria Laurie
Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1: 1970s-1981 by Ed Piskor
In the Driver's Seat by Cynthia Golomb Dettelbach
Last Message by Shane Peacock
The Lincoln Highway by Michael Wallis
Magic Thinks Big by Elisha Cooper
A Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris
My Name Is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada
Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith
Sophie Scott Goes South by Alison Lester
The Spider by Elise Gravel
A Spirited Gift by Joyce Lavene
A Stitch in Time by Monica Ferris
Tommy Can't Stop! by Tim Federle
Unraveled Sleeve by Monica Ferris
Up, Tall and High by Ethan Long
The Vacation by Polly Horvath
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Woundabout by Lev A.C. Rosen
George: 11/23/15
George by Alex Gino was originally titled Girl George but the publisher lobbed off the first word in an ironic demonstration of transgender erasure. The book is about a fourth grader who calls herself Melissa. Her problem, though, is she was born with a penis and the name George.
Let me start by saying I like Melissa and eventually I came to like her overly masculine brother. He's set up to be the BIG BAD but he doesn't take the bait. The older brother is a belching, pornography consuming, stinky, loud mouthed, stereotypical boy of the types you see in sitcoms (such as Home Improvement).
Melissa wants to be the exact opposite and has saved up her allowance money to purchase the types of teenage beauty magazines that make me cringe. She wants long hair, long dresses, makeup and jewelry.
The catalyst for Melissa to finally start making her true identity public is her otaku love of Charlotte's Web (yes, another in a long line of these recent homages). Her class is putting on a play based on the book and Melissa desperately wants to be Charlotte. Her problem, though, is that as a "boy" she's not given an opportunity to try out for any of the "girl" parts.
Now this boy vs girl parts in a play also shows up in Gracefully, Grayson, another story of a transgender youth. In both cases, it's expected for boys to play boy parts and girl to play girl parts and the drama comes to a head when the protagonist is forced to out themselves in order to participate in the way they feel most comfortable with.
It is the use of the rigidly structured play that I have the most trouble with George. Although I grew up in a fairly conservative, homogenous, and frankly, homophobic neighborhood, a child wanting to play a character of a differently perceived gender wouldn't have caused this much uproar. We did tons of plays all the way through elementary school and everyone was allowed to try out and play every character.
My other complaint with George is more of a reaction to the small but growing number of these books that I've read, and I will touch on this concern of mine in more detail in a separate post. The problem with books about transgender characters is that male and female are played to their stereotypical extremes. Melissa and her brother are set up as polar opposites from the very beginning of the book. Siblings are usually more like each other than they are like their parents even if one is male and one is female.
But George is such a short book and so focused on Melissa's troubles at school with the play that there isn't time to explore why her brother acts the way he does. Nor does Melissa give an explanation as to why she believes she has to act a certain way as part of being a girl. I wish these character traits for both siblings had been addressed, rather than leaving it as given that boys are a certain way and girls are a different way, even when trapped inside a body that looks male.


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The Syriac Assyrian Component
The presence of Assyrians (Syriac/Chaldean) in Syria is ancient, as ancient as Syria itself. The group forms a cultural and historical depth to Syria where Assyrians are an essential part of native national fabric of Syrian society. They are the descendants of the Assyrians and the Aramean people of early Mesopotamia and the Levant ; the name Syria itself is derived from the word "Assyrian" (In Assyrian, Syria means country of force). The Assyrians are considered the closest to the Arab peoples in race and culture. This as well as that the Assyrians participated in all their activities social, cultural, economic and political while state-building and strengthening national unity of Syria.
There are no official statistics about their numbers in Syria but they are estimated to be 500,000 and distributed in Eastern Syria, Aleppo, Homs and Damascus.
After Syrian independence and the stability of the political situation Assyrian established cultural, social and educational institutions which were allowed in the framework of religious freedoms, such as schools, sports clubs and scouts.
The Assyrian institutions played an important role in the political life of the Eastern cities – because of the high population of Assyrians – especially Al Qamishli. This was the case to the point that the parties and political powers and social institutions worked to secure support from the Assyrian organizations for municipal and parliamentary elections. The formation of these organizations with its large number of membership and supporters gave the Assyrians political weight in political equations.
After World War II revolutionary ideas began to spread and principles of socialism, national liberation movements grew in the region. The Assyrian people in Syria and the rest of the region were not far from these intellectual transformations, but it was a race against others to receive these ideas and embrace them because the Assyrians saw a way to lift the injustice against them the protect their national existence. From here, and against the backdrop of the cultural renaissance, the educated Assyrians were poised to join the ranks of political parties and revolutionary movements as well as the national and democratic forces.
With the crystallization of nationalist thought and the growth of political consciousness, Assyrian organizations and parties began to spring up in Syria. In 1957 the "Assyrian Democratic Organization" was founded as the first Assyrian political Syrian faction in the modern era. Today it constitutes one of the main factions of the Assyrian movement in Syria along with some other Assyrian bodies and organizations.
There is no doubt that the birth of the Assyrian movement in Syria coincided with the growth of national consciousness as well as for the Assyrian individual and his national consciousness. This is why it adopted such a lonely peaceful diplomatic and political struggle from the beginning of its inception. The Assyrian movement emphasizes the national approach in Syria and is aware of the relationship and interdependence between the issue of minorities and national issues. It also has the belief that the security of the citizen is the security of the nation. Also there is not a solution to the minority issue, except in a national framework based on democracy in a society that recognizes pluralism, nationalism, politics and safeguards human rights.
The Assyrian movement in Syria has passed through difficult stages that forced them to retreat to move cautiously on the national scene. For this reason they arrested and investigated some of the members of the Assyrian Democratic Organization in 1987. They were released early in a political turning point and significant point in the life and history of the Assyrian movement in Syria. A public declaration was imposed on the Assyrian movement and its emergence to the surface of Syrian politics resulted at what seemed as an inconvenient time for it. However, the movement was able to adjust to the new political situation and direct have direct involvement in the political life of the country, as it fought parliamentary elections publicly for the first time in its history in 1990 and achieved a big political victory, considering the conditions of the party, by getting a parliamentary seat for the Assyrian Democratic Organization". This was a chance to politically open up to all the parties and political forces in Syria, and to the ruling power as well.. This marked by the political position of the Assyrian movement in Syria since the beginning of the positive opposition that demanded from the political system the recognition of the Assyrian people and their national rights in Syria.
The social and cultural presence of Assyrians in Syria today is unique. They speak their own national language (Syriac) and practice their customs and traditions, and conduct many annual arts, literary and cultural festivals celebrating their holidays and national pride (such as holiday Assyrian New Year) in the first of April. They enjoy the full rights of religious practice and to teach their own language in their own Syriac schools as church environment language, and not as a national language for a people of culture and heritage. This language is an essential component of a native element of the culture and civilization of ancient Syria.
The Assyrian presence in Syria is a historical fact and the reality is that any image of Syria without the Assyrians would not be complete; their presence completes Syria's historical and national identity. It is through the Assyrians, modern Syrian is connected with its cultural past and its unique history. The admittance of the Assyrian national presence is necessity as much as it is an Assyrian need. This is a national democratic option as well as the humane and civilized approach.
The representative of the Assyrian Syriacs in the Coaliton is Mr. Senharib Merza.
Webste of the Assyrian Democratic Organization:
http://ar.ado-world.org/
Democratic Party of the Arab Socialist Union
Movement (Together) for a Free and Democratic Syria
National Democratic Block
Kurdish National Council
Turkman Component of the Syrian National Coalition
Home Coalition Components National Component The Syriac Assyrian Component


A New Year often heralds the promise of a new start, providing us with an opportunity to take a moment to sit back and take a fresh look at what we would like to achieve in the brand new year ahead. It usually involves a resolution or two around self-improvement, a health choice, whether this is losing weight, getting fitter, or taking more time to ourselves - all great ambitions.
But it's estimated that 36% of us give up on our resolutions within the first month, and after six months over 50% have given up1.
There are many benefits in supporting your employees with their health and wellbeing goals, not least because their good health can contribute to the good health of your business, and example of which is the reduction time spent absent from work due to sickness2.
So, with obvious benefits for everyone, how can your organisation support its employees and help them keep those healthy resolutions alive?
The Proactive Health Gateway is a single online health and wellbeing destination for your employees. Packed with tools and insight, it has the capability to learn and respond to their choices and interests and support your employees with their health and wellbeing goals.
Uses smart algorithms to target solutions based on individual need.
Your choice: You can extend the Health Gateway to all employees within your organisation for a small fee. We will then add your logo, customised links unique to your business and provide regular management information about the health of your population and their progress.
ActivePlus provides access to an extensive selection of discounted lifestyle and wellbeing products from leading brands – all intended to make healthier living easier, simpler and more affordable.
When linked with the Proactive Health Gateway, the healthier the behaviours your employees adopt, for example the more regular activity they take - the more Proactive Points they will accrue and the larger the discount they can receive.
From Fitbits, vitamins and everyday health products, and the ability to sign up for a discounted gym membership (available to members of AXA PPP healthcare), ActivePlus has a range of products at competitive prices to help your employees support their health and wellbeing goals throughout this year and beyond.
Everyone should be able to keep fit and stay healthy. Which is why, as a member of a corporate AXA PPP healthcare private healthcare plan, your employees can enjoy exclusive gym discounts through our partner relationship with the UK's largest chain of fitness centres, PureGyms.
Access to over 220 pieces of fitness equipment and 50 free classes to help maintain enthusiasm and enjoyment.
Help your employees to live life well with health and wellbeing engagement materials provided via our monthly calendar. Designed to help you support your employees through the provision of employee webinars, live chats, posters and factsheets – helping them to engage with health issues that matter to them and adopt healthier lifestyle choices. The calendar provides support for health and wellbeing issues – mental health, getting active and coping with cancer.
We've made it easy for you as an employer to share with your employees and provide a format to sustain a health and wellbeing programme throughout the year.
If your employees have private healthcare or an EAP service with AXA PPP healthcare then they'll have access to Health at Hand. Our medical team of nurses, counsellors, midwives and pharmacists are available whenever your employees have a health worry, question about their medication or treatment, or if they simply need a little guidance and reassurance. Our helplines are open 24 hours a day 365 days a year and our pharmacists and midwives are here 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, until 4pm on Saturday, and until 12pm on Sunday.
For more information on any of these services or to discuss how you can promote the services you already have with your employees, please contact your account manager.


Redux is a great tool but not all the projects need it. Also local state in React can get messy real quick. On Anti-redux you're gonna learn how you will be able to use the new Context API to replace redux in your small or medium React projects and how you can manage local state without going insane.


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Bledisloe Cup rugby: Five reasons the All Blacks need more 'sloppy' stars like Rieko Ioane
Rieko Ioane. Photos / Photosport
By: Joel Kulasingham
Joel Kulasingham is a sports reporter for NZME
joel.kulasingham@nzme.co.nz@joelkula
Rieko Ioane has been the All Blacks' man of the moment for all the wrong reasons.
After a strong Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign with the Blues, Ioane earned a spot in midfield – a controversial position in itself for the former storming left winger who burst onto the international scene against the British and Irish Lions in the No 11 jersey – to start in the All Blacks' first team of 2020 against the Wallabies last Sunday.
But of course, what grabbed headlines across the country was his audacious grounding resulting in a disallowed try right before halftime, which would've put the All Blacks up 15-3 (if converted) heading into the sheds.
The result ended up being a disappointing 16-16 draw, a shaky start to the new Ian Foster era.
Was Ioane to blame? Is his continued insistence on the one-handed flashy finish a symptom of a larger trend of arrogance within the side – or at least in Ioane himself?
Hear me out, but what if I told you Ioane's finishing style is pretty cool, actually. Here are five things you need to know about the 23-year-old speedster – and why the All Blacks need more "sloppy" stars like Rieko Ioane.
Rieko Ioane's "sloppy" disallowed try. Photo / Photosport
1) Ioane will come back stronger. After the Bledisloe Cup opener, a bitterly disappointed Foster spoke about the result and Ioane's blunder, which he called "sloppy". But he refused to blame the result on his young No 13. After all, who hasn't made regrettable mistakes in their early 20s?
As Foster said, this is something Ioane will learn from – and besides, he was one of the best players in the backline if you discount the error, from his energetic running and defence, to the ability to cut open defensive lines with his pace and power.
"It would have been useful – he's feeling really frustrated, that's one of those little lessons players have to go through," Foster said. "He had a reasonably strong game apart from that. When you get sloppy in those moments it can come back and bite you.
Bledisloe blow: All Black star's season over after training injury
15 Oct, 2020 05:30 AM Quick Read
Confirmed: Boks bail on Rugby Championship, new ABs fixtures announced
"He's okay. Part of international rugby is you make an error and you move on. He's a confident young man and he's got to learn from that one thing but he can also focus on a whole lot of good things he did too.
"We had a chance to win the game in the last 10 minutes and weren't good enough. You don't dwell on errors in test matches. There were errors before and after that. No doubt it would have been nice, but it's not the reason we drew the game."
Rieko Ioane in action against the Wallabies. Photo / Photosport
No one likes a person that's too perfect. Teachers' pets suck. Expect the proud and determined Ioane, who has gone through his fair share of ups and downs in his young career, to make amends for his mistake this Sunday.
2) Are we sure it wasn't a try? Time for a lukewarm take: under the laws of the game, there is an argument to be made that Ioane's try should've counted (or at least could've been awarded by a certain, and liberal, interpretation of the laws).
Here are the laws of grounding the ball according to laws.worldrugby.org. The ball can be grounded in the in-goal: a) By holding it and touching the ground with it; or b) By pressing down on it with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player's body from waist to neck.
Here's another interpretation of what constitutes a fair grounding from a rugby ref in a discussion about another "finger" finish on 'The Rugby Referees' Forum': "For the ball to be deemed grounded, pressure must be applied by the player's fingers, hand, wrist, forearm or torso so as to create a reasonable influence on the plane of the ball including the spin, rotation, momentum or bounce."
Ioane didn't touch it down with a hand. But he definitely did with at least one finger. Here's proof:
How good is that finger finish? Photo / Sky Sport
Broke: Middle fingers. Woke: Scoring a try with your middle finger. Photo / Sky Sport
And you could argue that the force of his finger made "reasonable influence on the plane of the ball". Was he in control of the ball? Well, it depends on your interpretation of the laws. In the modern age of rugby, don't underestimate the power held within the fingers of rugby players.
Not convinced about the strength of the fingers of professional athletes? Watch this:
a middle finger block for Kawhi pic.twitter.com/O94843jYJN
— Rob Pere💤 (@WorldWideWob) September 8, 2020
3) Ioane is animated and flashy by nature, and that's ok. Rugby has a fascination with monotonous, no-nonsense blokes who play the game with "honour" and "decency", whatever that means. When a player plays with passion and intensity, wears their hearts on their sleeves and aren't afraid to dabble in a bit of showboating, or heaven forbid rocks a blond hairdo, they are often criticised for being arrogant and ungrateful.
What these critics don't get is that rugby is a wide and varied sport with players of all shapes and sizes that contain multitudes and unique personalities. For every Sam Cane, there's also a Rieko Ioane. And that's great for a sport which can sometimes verge on dull and stale.
Rieko Ioane celebrates his try against the Springboks in 2018. Photo / Photosport
Ioane's overly enthusiastic celebrations, one-handed groundings, and unabashed displays of passion are needed in rugby, a sport that has at times struggled to stay entertaining and culturally relevant. Keep doing you, Rieko.
4) In rugby's social media era, Ioane is also the perfect example of a player showcasing their personality both on and off the field. Rugby has sometimes failed to adapt to the changing attention economy, getting swallowed by more vibrant sports like basketball that are purpose built for TikTok highlight reels and has inherently close ties with memes and hip hop culture.
But some players, like Ioane and his All Blacks teammate Ardie Savea, have taken it upon themselves to not only market their own personalities on social media, but also showcase a side of the sport that isn't often seen in the mainstream – reaching the next generation of rugby fans who haven't been particularly served well by the sport.
Take Ioane's YouTube channel for example, where he posts entertaining vlogs that are surprisingly well-edited. In his vlog, he introduces his viewers to his teammates, his music taste, offers an insight into the everyday life of a professional rugby player, and engages with fans from all over the world. Encouraging digital natives to thrive is important for rugby and players like Ioane are leading the way.
And sometimes, a little bit of showboating and personal expression is needed to stick out from the crowded and over-saturated content mill that is social media.
5) Ioane and his family represent some of the best things about world rugby. Ahead of last year's Rugby World Cup in Japan, the All Blacks played a Bledisloe Cup test in Yokohama in late 2018, where Ioane spoke proudly about his family's links with Japan.
Rieko was born in Auckland but his older brother Akira was born in Tokyo in 1995. Their dad, Eddie Ioane, played for Manu Samoa and Auckland during his career, and then moved to Japan to play for the Ricoh Black Rams for several seasons.
Rieko – whose name, along with Akira's, is of Japanese origin – spoke ahead of the All Blacks' two tests in Japan two years ago about relishing the chance to play where his family spent so much time. "There's a bit of history with my family with Japan," he told Kyodo News.
Rieko and Akira Ioane with the Bledisloe Cup. Photo / Photosport
Stories like the Ioane family show the importance of New Zealand's role in international rugby, and how branching out beyond your own country and culture brings many benefits. (Saying that, please don't branch out by travelling during a pandemic.)
Another fun fact about Rieko is the meaning of his name, which translates from Japanese to "a child blessed with logic".
Now you might say scoring a try by slamming it down with one hand is not very logical, but that's besides the point. Plus, as far as I can recall, this was the first time Ioane was penalised for the finish. That's one out of 24 tries in his All Blacks career – and a heck of a lot more tries at Super Rugby and provincial level. Would there have been the same outrage over an error that was made using a more traditional grounding style? He's proved time and time again that he's comfortable with the one-handed finish.
Ioane will continue to thrill and entertain, both on and off the pitch. Here's hoping that he doesn't ditch the passionate and pugnacious personality that brought him to the top.