After we left Fernandina, the kids and I spent the week in Savannah with my mom while Joe returned home to work. It was so nice being in Savannah for that long. I can't remember the last time we were there for more than 36 hours. Beginning of November, maybe?
The purpose of the trip was to see family and friends. That's it. We didn't run around like crazy. We didn't pack our days with errands and exhaustion. We had some down time. We played in the backyard and on the beach. We ate yummy meals, and the seafood that I so miss living landlocked. We stayed with Meme, and got to see Gran Gran and Poppy, Aunt Sarah, Liam and Marshall (cousins), too. But the main reason for our visit was to see Uncle Pete.
playing in the tide pools - a favorite!
...except for Hannah, writing her name in the sand...she does not like to get anywhere near the water.
The next morning we met Gran Gran, Aunt Sarah and the boys at Forsyth for some good old fashioned fun in the sprinklers. No bathing suits = no problem.
We spent all of Wednesday on Tybee. After dinner with Meme, we walked down the pier. The kids loved it.
Joe came to town on Wednesday night. Thursday we mostly played at home. Hannah was over-the-moon to have a new trampoline at Meme's house. Cousin Lucas (who fell through the old one) is no longer in trouble.
Friday, it was back to the beach.
My high school friend Beth, and her twins met us down there. As always, so good to see them.
While Hannah stayed on the sand, Joseph loved the water. Cannot overstate that. He was all about jumping over the waves. We had a ball playing with him in the ocean. Unfortunately those sunglasses only lasted a day... Joseph does not like the bright sun, but thought the shades were pretty cool.
Our last night, the whole family met at the Crab Shack on Tybee. Only missing a few people, it was a big crowd.
About to eat the yummiest crab legs!
Hannah, Joseph and Jackson playing on the alligator.
Uncle Ben and Hannah feeding the alligators; Hannah giving Joseph a victory hug when the alligator chomped down on the food.
my brothers Ben (left) and Will, both weird.
Joseph eating jelly for breakfast.
dinner with friends followed by more froyo!
vanilla ice cream cone with sprinkles at the Sugar Shack...Hannah's favorite.
We drove back to Sandersville that night. It was late when we got home, but so worth staying for dinner. It was a great trip. I was sad to say goodbye to the family, especially Uncle Pete, but we are blessed to have gotten the chance to spend time with them. It has been about 7 months since Uncle Pete's diagnosis. We know what the doctors say, and what Hospice tells us, but we are one strong-willed family who believes in the power of prayer. This family has seen countless blessings and shared special memories together in that time, and I am grateful.


There are over 3.7 billion email users worldwide, making it one of the most popular forms of communication. That explains why so many businesses are searching for the best autoresponder to help them enhance their email marketing efforts.
If you're just starting off with your own business, you may find that simply getting the word out about your products and services can take up a large chunk of your day. Fortunately, by utilizing the right tools, you can streamline your marketing campaigns to have them practically on autopilot.
Here we will be discussing the many ways an autoresponder can take your email campaign to the next level. We'll also break down our top picks for autoresponders to help you find the best pick for your business.
Read on to learn more about the various autoresponder platforms available.
An autoresponder is an email platform that automatically responds to a contact based on a specific trigger. These triggers are often chosen by the business owner in order to complete a certain marketing goal.
For example, if you're choosing to run a free course as a content grab, you may choose to do it in the form of emails. You can have specific emails delivered each week for a certain amount of time.
In this case, the trigger would be someone signing up for the course. Once they signed up, they would start receiving the emails. The emails will send automatically until they have completed the email campaign.
In this world of social media and trending marketing techniques, many businesses have fallen under the false idea that email marketing is dead. However, this couldn't be farther from the case. Email marketing continues to be one of the leading methods for reaching potential clientele.
The deciding factors in whether or not your email campaign is successful is organization and your email platform. The right email marketing calendar paired with a powerful autoresponder can yield amazing results, whether it's increasing sales or simply growing your brand recognition.
There are a number of benefits that come from an autoresponder, making them an essential part of any business. First, they streamline your email campaigns. We've all started strong with sending emails to our subscriber list, and at some point, either ran out of steam or became too busy to continue. Using an autoresponder can handle this part for you.
An autoresponder can also give you some insight into your audience and what it is they're looking for. For example, if you implemented a quiz into your website, you can add the quiz taker to different email listings depending on their results. This will allow you to send them emails tailored more towards their interests and personality in the future.
How you use your autoresponder will depend on your type of business and the goals you want to achieve. Some businesses use autoresponders as a part of their marketing funnel to help sell big-ticket products. Other businesses use autoresponders to follow up on abandoned carts and to increase their rates of completed purchases.
You want to take a look at your business and prioritize your marketing needs. Once you know your overall marketing goal, you can incorporate an autoresponder into your campaign.
The good news is that autoresponders fulfill so many purposes, so you can use them in a variety of areas.
Mail Chimp is one of the original autoresponders and continues to lead the pack when it comes to strong email platforms. Mail Chimp offers in-depth data on the performance of your email campaigns. They also include the ability to segment your listing based on where the user subscribed or not.
Mail Chimp continues to be free. However, they offer more advanced packages that grow with your business. They have received stellar praise for their customer service and their ability to be easily integrated into practically any web platform.
Aweber is another email marketing service that gives you the ability to customize your autoresponder and email campaigns. Aweber's strength lies in their email campaign "maps" that allow you to create different email paths depending on triggers.
For example, you can set sever "if" or "when" scenarios (ie: "if the contact opened email #2", "if the contact completed email campaign") that will determine which email they receive next. This level of customization makes it easy for users to tailor their sales efforts or deliver their content grab in an effective manner.
Chances are you've heard of Constant Contact, as they've been around for quite some time. Constant Contact started off as a simple email platform and evolved into a one-stop marketing multitool. Through Constant Contact, users can create in-depth email campaigns, surveys, events, and even social media promotions.
They do require a monthly payment. You can choose the package that best suits your budget. Keep in mind that Constant Contact can also be used as a CRM platform, so it may be worth the money if you can combine the two.
iContact is an award-winning email platform and autoresponder that's rapidly growing in popularity. The strength of this platform lies in its user-friendly setup and navigation, making it the ideal choice for beginners. The platform allows its users to create and send multi-step campaigns. However, it isn't intended for campaigns that require in-depth triggers.
If you're looking for a simple autoresponder for tasks like welcoming a new subscriber or following up on interest in a course or project, iContact gets the job done.
InfusionSoft is a lesser-known email marketing platform that still packs a punch. This platform was designed to get the most out of your email efforts and your sales efforts by combining an autoresponder with a CRM.
If you have an e-commerce store, you can use your InfusionSoft to follow up on customers when it's time to repeat their purchase.
For example, let's say you have a customer that bought disposable contacts from your website. If the contacts need to be replaced every month, InfusionSoft will automatically send an email when a month has passed. This will let the customer know it's time to purchase more contacts.
GetResponse is another option for those who are looking for a simple and clean autoresponder experience without all the bells and whistles. This autoresponder features a number of beautifully designed email templates to help your email stand out.
You can also create targeted subscriber lists to help you create more direct content and increase open rates. All in all, GetResponse is perfect for small business owners who are looking to cut back on the time spent on email marketing.
If you own an e-commerce site, you know that abandoned carts are a real problem and happen more often than most business owners like. Fortunately, 1ShoppingCart has created a solution to help increase your rate of completed purchases.
This autoresponder will automatically follow up on abandoned shopping carts with a list of pending purchases, making it more likely that the customer will return and finish their purchase.
While 1ShoppingCart won't help you create a fancy email campaign, it will decrease lost revenue, which makes it worth it.
Campaign Monitor is one of the largest email marketing platforms with over 2 million users and 200,000 businesses using it around the world. Their analytics are in-depth and easy to read, and each account comes with a with over 100 email features.
Their customer service is also available 24/7, which comes in handy when you have a time sensitive email campaign that needs to be launched. While you do have to pay to sign up for the platform, they currently offer a 14-day free trial giving you a chance to check it out.
Ontraport, formerly known as Office Autopilot, stays true to its name by allowing business owners to streamline all of their email and organizational needs into one platform. The site is geared towards budding entrepreneurs and startups. It's also ideal for anyone working with a limited budget that still needs powerful email marketing tools.
The Ontraport platform also utilizes some CRM features that can help sales led businesses attract more leads. This can increase your rate of successful closes. The platform offers several packages, so it can grow along with your business.
Addresstwo.com is new to the scene, but is managing to turn heads with its simple layout and affordable prices. The platform is small business friendly, and functions as both an autoresponder and a simple CRM. While you may not get all of the features found in other sites, at its price, Addresstwo offers great value that's enough to get small businesses off the ground.
The platform also offers design and CRM consulting, which provides some marketing guidance to those who may not have a full marketing team in the budget.
ARPreach is an easy-to-use autoresponder platform with an enticing pricing plan. The platform doesn't charge monthly fees, per message charges, or fees for growing listing unlike most of the platforms found on this list. The site has advanced data security installed, as well as compliance tools and customization options.
Unlike most email platforms, with ARPreach, you can link several email addresses to your campaigns and decide who sends each email. ARPreach offers unlimited broadcasts as well as social media and market-leading content management. In addition to their great price, they also offer easy, free installation.
In case you were still unsure about them after all of these features, they also offer a 30-day guarantee, so you can't really go wrong here.
When looking for the best autoresponder for you, there are a number of factors to take into account. First, you need to identify what you'll be using the platform for. For example, you may want it for sales or to simply say hello. Next, determine whether or not a platform has the tools needed to make that happen.
If you're not tech savvy, you'll want a platform that makes your weakness their strength. This means easy-to-use interfaces, easy-to-read data, and customer service that is readily available.
Your current business size is important, but so is your business size 5 years from now. Chances are your business will grow (we believe in you), so it's important to find an email platform that can grow with you, both in price and capability.
Will this platform still serve you when you have 200+ employees? Or multiple accounts to manage? This is something to keep in mind.
Finally, always compare prices and see what fits into your budget. Email marketing can get pricey, especially for larger businesses. Check to see who offers which features for what prices; there's a good chance they are asking you to pay for tools you may not even need.
Congrats! You've found the best autoresponder for your business. Now it's time to put it to work.
Unfortunately, even the most powerful autoresponder isn't useful on its own. You want to focus on building a strong email campaign behind it. This is where it can get complicated for business owners.
Some entrepreneurs don't have the time to create email content, and others simply don't know how to go about it. By enlisting the help of a professional marketer, you can create an autoresponder email campaign that's built upon your unique business goals.
The great thing is once an autoresponder campaign is created, it's one less thing to worry about. It will continue to practically manage itself.
If you're looking for help creating your game-changing email campaign, contact us today so we can see how we can help. It may be the most important action you take for your business today.


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Oct. 17, 2018 | 08:42 AM (Last updated: October 17, 2018 | 10:00 AM)
Pompeo heads to Turkey over Khashoggi case
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walks to the plane before leaving Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 17, 2018. US President Donald Trump pushed back Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at global condemnation of Saudi Arabia over the disappearance and suspected murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the kingdom deserved to be presumed innocent. Trump sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Riyadh to talk directly with Saudi Arabia's royals, and himself spoke earlier Tuesday with powerful Crown Pri
Fred Ryan
Mohammed Al-Otaibi
Mevlut Cavusoglu
Al Saud
Nils Melzer
Saudi Consulate
Police searching the Saudi Consulate found evidence that Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed there, a high-level Turkish official said, as America's top diplomat flew to the country on Wednesday to discuss the probe.
The comment by the Turkish official to The Associated Press intensified pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi, who vanished Oct. 2 while visiting the consulate to pick up paperwork he needed to get married.
Saudi officials have called Turkish allegations that a team of 15 Saudi agents killed Khashoggi "baseless," but U.S. media reports suggested that the kingdom may acknowledge the writer was killed at the consulate, perhaps as part of a botched interrogation.
The high-level Turkish official told the AP that police found "certain evidence" of Khashoggi's slaying at the consulate, without elaborating.
Pompeo said later that Saudi Arabia had made a "serious commitment" to hold senior leaders and officials accountable in the case, and that the crown prince again denied any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Guinea Pig Lab literary board would like to invite all playwrights to enter their 2018 search for plays.
The board is looking specifically for scripts written as one-woman plays and plans to select THREE for staged readings in spring 2019 in Wichita, Kansas. The competition, named in honor of Guinea Pig Lab volunteer Stephanie Lehr, is open to all playwrights however, two of the plays will be selected from Kansas playwrights. This allows us to continue in our mission to support Kansas playwrights, but also allows us to bring in new playwrights so the winners can network and share experiences.
The Guinea Pig Lab is calling for full-length or one-act plays.
Scripts are due September 30, 2018 by midnight.


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Home » Players » AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers names the best five bowlers he has faced
Posted On / January 14, 2020 / by CricketTimes.com Staff
Former South Africa international AB de Villiers made his Big Bash League (BBL) debut in the match between Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat on Tuesday. ABD was presented with a Brisbane Heat cap by former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds.
Before the start of the match, De Villiers gave an interview to cricket.com.au, where he named the best five bowlers he's faced in his career. The swashbuckling batsman started with the legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne and explained why he was an outstanding bowler.
"Obviously, Warnie (Warne), purely intimidation factor, I think he was a good bowler, but he wasn't unplayable. I was felt comfortable and saw the ball nicely, felt good on the bat, but between him and Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) behind the stumps, it was really intimidating for a 22-year-old to find his feet," said De Villiers.
The former South African captain picked Stuart Broad as another bowler whom he found difficult to face. The right-handed batsman revealed that he didn't rate England's pacer early on in his career.
"I think Broady, Stuart Broad. Broad has come to the party in the last five years. I didn't rate him early on, but he's become a really good bowler. He's sort of got my number over the last couple of series we've played. I've had these numbers a few times as well, so it's not just the one-sided thing luckily," said De Villiers.
Apart from these two, the 35-year-old named Pakistan's Mohammad Asif, along with the duo of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins from Australia.
"Some seam bowlers, Mohammad Asif from Pakistan, he's very similar to Hazlewood once again, and Hazlewood also makes in the list and Pat Cummins as well."
De Villiers played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs for South Africa, in which he scored 8765 and 9577 runs, respectively. He averaged 50-plus in both the formats.
TAGS: AB de Villers, BBL 09, Brisbane Heat, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammad Asif, Pat Cummins, Shane Warne, South Africa, Stuart Broad
CATEGORY: AB de Villiers, News, South Africa


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Eduard Khavrov (, born 14 October 1969) is a Ukrainian professional football manager and former player.

On 9 July 2019 Eduard Khavrov was appointed the head coach of FC Krystal Kherson.

References

External links

1969 births
Living people
Soviet footballers
Ukrainian footballers
Association football midfielders
FC Mariupol players
Ukrainian football managers
FC Illichivets-2 Mariupol managers
FC Inhulets Petrove managers
FC Krystal Chortkiv managers
FC Krystal Kherson managers
FC Polissya Zhytomyr managers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Today is the day we are moving to Chicago! I cant believe how quickly these past few months in Seattle have gone. I am beyond grateful for this experience, living in Seattle has had its ups and downs but its been an amazing experience that I will always hold dear to my heart! I looking forward to the day when Chicago feels like home again and I cant wait for all the adventures me and my family will journey on!
Good luck, be safe and enjoy your new adventure!
Thank you Stephanie! We are so excited!!


text:
declare module 'stylelint' {

  interface IOptions {
    config?: Object;
    configFile?: string;
    configBasedir?: string;
    configOverrides?: Object;
  }

  interface IStylelint {
    (opts?: IOptions): NodeJS.ReadWriteStream;
  }

  const stylelint: IStylelint;
  export = stylelint;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Which Operating System Keeps Users More Engaged
Momchil Kyurkchiev
Leanplum,User Engagement,Push Alerts
https://appdevelopermagazine.com/images/news_images/Keep-Users-Enagaged-App-Developer-Magazine_a6zd60ah.jpg
Momchil Kyurkchiev in Monetize Monday, July 4, 2016
Google and Apple are locked in an incredibly tight race for mobile dominance. A lot is up in the air with upcoming Android N and iOS 10, but one thing is clear: right now, Android is winning, not only in market share, but also in app engagement. However, all that could change with announcements from Google I/O and WWDC.
Keeping users engaged is more important than ever as users are downloading fewer apps (according to Nomura research). So, my company, Leanplum, recently pulled data from 1.5 billion push notifications, and found that Android consistently beat iOS on the push engagement front. With these new operating systems on the way, what should developers do now to tackle their engagement issues?
Our Findings
The biggest takeaway from our study was that Android users were much more responsive to push notifications than iOS users. Android push notifications were opened at an average rate of 3.48%, nearly double iOS's open rate of 1.77%. Android also consistently outperformed iOS on push engagement across different versions of the operating system, debunking criticism that Android's fragmentation issues impact how users engage with their apps. As popular as iOS is with developers, lower push open rates are a constant pain point for them.
However, the story doesn't end there. We also found that, when iOS users actually open push notifications, it took them a median time of seven minutes to do so. Android users, in comparison, took a median time of 48 minutes to open a push notification, almost seven times slower. iOS users may open push notifications less than Android users, but when they do, it's at a much quicker pace.
Our Theory
App developers looking at these findings might be concerned about the stark differences between Android and iOS. The root cause lies in how the two platforms approach user experience and design. Push notifications are fairly underdeveloped on iOS, and the majority of users don't even enable them.
Additionally, the iPhone's fingerprint sensor is blazing fast; fast enough to blow past the push notifications on the lock screen so that a user might not even realize they had one, let alone swipe to open the app. After that very brief appearance, push notifications are relegated to the iOS Notification Center, only accessible by swiping down from the top of the screen. There is no signifier on the home screen for unopened notifications, meaning they could sit unopened for weeks, if they are ever even seen.
With iOS 10, Apple is rectifying some of these hindrances to push notifications: a new "Raise to Wake" feature that keeps them on the lock screen longer, and developers can build richer, interactive notifications.
Android's notifications, on the other hand, offer more design utility and function than their iOS counterparts. Notifications are much stickier on the lock screen, with an icon in the upper corner of the home screen alerting users' to unseen notifications. Users open messages more often, even if it takes longer.
Android may support higher push engagement now, but Android N's release in the fall could give developers cause for concern. While Apple is making push notifications more accessible, Android is making them easier to avoid, with the implement of opt-in push blocking.
What It Means for Developers
With Apple and Google upending the structures that determine how users engage with their apps, developers will need to be more clever in their executions. Push notifications will become more visible on iOS 10 and easier to hide on Android N. Developers need their notifications to matter in order to get noticed and opened, and personalizing them with user-specific information or incentives can yield impressive returns.
Leanplum found in its latest study that personalized notifications had nine times the open rates of generic notifications. If you add a user's name and their recently favorited item for a shopping app, for instance, that eye-catching detail can compensate for OS design. For iOS users, who open push very quickly, hyper-relevance is key to getting their attention before a message is lost to the ether of the Notification Center.
Beyond push notifications, there are other avenues that can lead users back to their apps after that initial download. In-app messages, email, newsfeed, and other lines of communication all contribute to user engagement. Newsfeed is particularly useful in iOS, with its app badge counter, offering an imperfect answer to Android's sticky notifications.
Developers need to align these communications into one unified strategy that can maximize opportunities for engagement. The key to success on either platform is personalization and proactivity; the mobile landscape is changing quickly and developers must put their users first if they are going to keep them.
Read more: http://www.leanplum.com/
This content is made possible by a guest author, or sponsor; it is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of App Developer Magazine's editorial staff.
Leanplum, User Engagement, Push Alerts
Comparing IT operations and IT service teams Friday, January 17, 2020
All things Java Friday, January 10, 2020
Applause Platform improves quality assurance platform Thursday, January 9, 2020


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Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings, Cross-country Comparisons, Politics and Economics
Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies
Categories: Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings Cross-country Comparisons Politics and Economics
By Bryan Caplan, Dec 23 2019
I've easily read a hundred books on the evils of socialism. I was quite surprised, then, by how much I learned from Kristian Niemietz's Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies, available for free download. Yes, I already knew that socialist regimes go through a popularity sequence, starting at "This socialist regime is a model for the world" and ending with "That's not real socialism." Niemietz, however, describes this sequence with great precision and eloquence:
1. The honeymoon period
The first stage is a honeymoon period, during which the experiment has, or at least seems to have, some initial success in some areas. During this period, its international standing is relatively high. Even anti-socialists concede, grudgingly, that the country in question has something to show for it.
During the honeymoon period, very few dispute the experiment's socialist character; almost nobody claims that the country is not 'really' socialist. On the contrary: during the honeymoon period, large numbers of Western intellectuals enthusiastically embrace the experiment. Self-declared socialists claim ownership of it, and parade it as an example of their ideas in action.
2. The excuses-and-whataboutery period
But the honeymoon period never lasts forever. The country's luck either comes to an end, or its already existing failures become more widely known in the West. As a result, its international standing deteriorates. It ceases to be an example that socialists hold against their opponents, and becomes an example that their opponents hold against them.
During this period, Western intellectuals still support the experiment, but their tone becomes angry and defensive. The focus changes from the experiment's supposed achievements to the supposed ulterior motives of its critics. There is a frantic search for excuses, with the blame usually placed on imaginary 'saboteurs' and unspecified attempts to 'undermine' it. There is plenty of whataboutery.
3. The not-real-socialism stage
Eventually, there always comes a point when the experiment has been widely discredited, and is seen as a failure by most of the general public. The experiment becomes a liability for the socialist cause, and an embarrassment for Western socialists.
This is the stage when intellectuals begin to dispute the experiment's socialist credentials, and, crucially, they do so with retroactive effect. They argue that the country was never socialist in the first place, and that its leaders never even tried to implement socialism. This is the deeper meaning behind the old adage that 'real' socialism has never been tried: socialism gets retroactively redefined as 'unreal' whenever it fails. So it has never been tried, in the same way in which, in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four, the government of Oceania has always been at war with East Asia.
This is not a conscious process, let alone a purposefully orchestrated one. There is no equivalent of an industrial standards body, which awards a 'real socialism' certificate of authenticity, and then withdraws it again with retroactive effect. Socialists do not hold clandestine conferences in secret hideouts; they do not deliberately cover up their former support for the regime in question. They simply fall silent on the issue, and move on to the next cause.
At some point, the claim that the country in question was never 'really' socialist becomes the conventional wisdom. Since it is only the opponents of socialism who still refer to that example, while socialists themselves no longer do, it is easy to gain the impression that it must be a straw man argument. This book will show that these alleged 'straw men' were all once very much alive. They are not straw men at all. They are the failed utopias of yesteryear.
The not-real-socialism defence is only ever invoked retrospectively, namely, when a socialist experiment has already been widely discredited. As long as a socialist experiment is in its prime, almost nobody disputes its socialist credentials. On the contrary: practically all socialist regimes have gone through honeymoon periods, during which they were enthusiastically praised and held up as role models by plenty of prominent Western intellectuals. It is only after the event (i.e. once they have become an embarrassment for the socialist cause) that their version of socialism is retroactively redefined as 'unreal'.
Niemietz then provides a long list of case studies of self-labelled socialist regimes. The two biggest examples – Soviet Union and Maoist China – fit his sequence to a tee. So do North Korea, Cambodia, Albania, and Venezuela. The chapter on the latter was especially eye-opening for me. Choice passages:
Chávez defined his version of socialism explicitly in opposition to previous models. This was not empty rhetoric. Under Chavismo, there were genuine attempts to create alternative models of collective ownership
and democratic participation in economic life. In particular, the formation of worker cooperatives and various forms of social enterprises was heavily promoted. Exact figures are hard to come by, but, according to Piñeiro Harnecker (2009: 309), the number of worker-run cooperatives increased from fewer than 1,000 when Chávez was first elected to well over 30,000 in less than a decade. By the end of Chávez's second term, cooperatives accounted for about 8 per cent of Venezuela's GDP and 14 per cent of its workforce (ibid.).
Venezuelan socialism would later show many of the negative features associated with earlier forms of socialism, but it was never government policy to replicate any of those earlier models. When Western Chavistas insisted that the Venezuelan government was trying to create a different model of socialism, they were not deluding themselves.
At that point, the tone among Western Chavistas changed noticeably. Pro-Venezuela articles, which had so far tended to be hopeful and optimistic, became angry and defensive. The emphasis shifted from the supposed achievements of Chavismo to whataboutery, and to questioning the motives of Chavismo's critics both in Venezuela and internationally.
In 2014, Owen Jones wrote an article for the Independent entitled 'Socialism's critics look at Venezuela and say, "We told you so". But they are wrong'. Jones acknowledges the existence of 'recent economic troubles', but the emphasis of the article is on the problems of the pre-Chávez era ('let's have some context'), and on the violence committed by parts of the opposition. It culminated in the claim that '[t]hose who relish using Venezuela's troubles for political point-scoring have no interest in the truth'.
Since this is a high-quality book, Niemietz searches for counter-examples to his own thesis, and identifies two. Cuba doesn't fit because after decades of tyranny, many socialists still admire it. East Germany doesn't fit because it never had much of a honeymoon period. Overall, though, these are minor deviations. The socialist big picture is at once bizarre and horrifying, especially as so many young people negligently convert to this once-dying creed.
P.S. This spring I'll once again be debating "Capitalism vs. Socialism," this time at the University of Wisconsin versus Brian Leiter of the University of Chicago.
KevinDC
Dec 23 2019 at 10:40am
I'll check out the book. I had some interest on this topic several years ago when I noticed that libertarians and socialists both seemed to say something along the lines of this narrative about the other. "Those libertarians/socialists are so blind, they refuse to see how obviously absurd their system is and every time it's tried how it fails horribly, they just insist that it wasn't 'real' libertarianism/socialism and that their system has never been really given a chance! How deluded can you be?" Given how perfectly symmetrical the accusations were, I was curious to see how they cashed out.
I ended up giving the advantage to the libertarians on this one, for reasons similar to what this author notes. I mostly stopped with Venezuela, but I noticed that if you looked at leftist publications (The Nation, Counterpunch, etc) for articles about Venezuela from the mid 2000s, it was full of people saying "Yes, see, Venezuela is exactly how we always wanted socialism to be carried out and it proves socialism does work!" Cut to a decade later, and it the publications were full of these same authors insisting that Venezuela was never true socialism, that it's horrible conditions are tragic but don't prove anything about socialism, and that only libertarian ideologues arguing in obviously bad faith could think Venezuela ever had anything to do with socialism.
However, when I looked through articles in libertarian publications during times when capitalist economies were doing well, there were no articles saying "See, this proves that libertarian capitalism is the way to go because these systems are what we mean by libertarian capitalism and look how great they are doing!" Instead, the articles would usually say things like "Yes, this economy is doing very well right now, but it's very far from being a libertarian ideal, because it's also riddled with non-libertarian policies like A B and C, and these policies are going to cause crashes and future troubles down the road," very often accompanied by specific predictions about what these future troubles would be (although a bit vague about the timeline for when these troubles would appear, for sure).
Obviously none of the above demonstrates that libertarian capitalism is the best system as such, but it does give libertarian writers a pretty big advantage over socialist writers in the area of internal consistency.
Eric B Rasmusen
Great comment, KevinDC.
Loyalist Spain during the Spanish Civil War is another example. Labor UK is another— it didn't end up as tyranny, but Labor nowadays has quietly accepted that socialism was a mistake and isn't trying to nationalize industries, just impose tyranny.
Gary Lowe
Dec 23 2019 at 12:44pm
No surprises here. The dynamic described in the book reminds of Phil Tetlock's work on forecasting. People will always come up with way to justify their predictions post-hoc rather than defining what would make their prediction true ex ante and then evaluating their prediction on whether those conditions came true.
Dec 23 2019 at 1:35pm
This is the standard response from socialists today:
https://imgur.com/xf5UB1e
Mark Z
The 'embargo argument' is the lynchpin of that response, and it just doesn't work. Sanctions against Venezuela are likely economically negligible, and even with Cuba it can't explain anywhere near the preponderence of socialism's failure there (or elsewhere, for that matter).
Joseph Hertzlinger
On the other hand, socialists point to European welfare states as examples of socialism.
In order to criticize socialism, we need a definition that include what people ask for (in order to avoid straw men) and excludes Northern Europe. I recommend the following definition: Socialism is when you get rid of private-sector billionaires.
People are asking for that and it excludes Scandinavia.
Jon Murphy
That's not a particularly good definition. It would imply everything pre-1980s was socialist, and Scandanavia has many billionaires. Sweden, if I recall, has the most billionaires per capita.
That said, you do hit on an important point: "socialism" is something of a vacuous term. While before it was defined as government ownership of the means of production, "socialism" has been broadened, mainly by critics on the right, to include many public works projects including welfare programs.
That's not a definition of socialism at all. I don't think anyone (including socialists) would consider a laissez faire economy where the state makes up 10% of GDP, and the richest person has $999 million, to be socialist.
There is some ambiguity in the word, it's true, which is because there are two variables under discussion that tend to be conflated: 1) how regulated/planned the economy is, and 2) how much redistribution there is. Of course, #2, taken to the extreme, is basically indistinguishable from #1 taken to the extreme. Scandinavian countries are, for developed countries, relatively high on #2 and relatively low on #1. Usually, when people sympathetic to socialism use the word, I think they mean mostly #1 (a more regulated, centrally planned economy) with some of #2. "Medicare for all", the "Green New Deal", and anti-corporate sentiment in general strike me as more characteristic of socialist sentiment today than, say, support for a UBI, which is purely redistributive. Socialists seem more driven by hatred of the private sector (and belief that the government can do better) than by a mere desire for more redistribution. So the traditional definition of socialism as favoring state control over production is still the most useful one.
Do socialists really make the "that wasn't real socialism" argument that often? To me, it seems that they are more interested in talking about inequality, power, oppression, communalism, and capitalism's being bad. That makes themselves look good and their intellectual opponents look bad, whereas saying "that wasn't real socialism" makes them look naive and causes other people to roll their eyes.
Yet it is not obvious that the mocked response is wrong. I don't think it is true that "as long as a socialist experiment is in its prime, almost nobody disputes its socialist credentials." Yes, many prominent people have come out in favor of each experiment, and many dispute that, and most are dishonest, and so on. However, there have also always been people advocating kinds of socialism different from any that have existed. And kinds of socialism that have existed are not representative of all possible kinds. If all you knew about socialism was the failed natural experiments, you could not easily conclude that the bad outcomes were not due to features selected for in kinds of socialism that have existed.
I think the strongest, best reasons to dismiss socialism are not related to the natural socialist experiments and that they require more technical understanding of why the experiments failed. This causal understanding is unappealing to people who are not socialists but also not libertarians, since it also argues against other kinds of statism. The natural experiments are mainly only useful as additional evidence that the strongest, best reasons are true.
Dec 27 2019 at 9:18am
Hey artifex –
I don't think it is true that "as long as a socialist experiment is in its prime, almost nobody disputes its socialist credentials."
Do you have any counterexamples to give? For example, when Venezuela was doing well due to sky high oil prices, there were lots of authors saying "yep, Venezuela is exactly the kind of socialist system we've been advocating for, and look how well it's working!", and after the house of cards came crashing down, these same authors were saying "But Venezuela was never a true socialist country, why would anyone even think that it was? The collapse of their economy proves nothing about socialism." What I can't seem to find is even a single example of an author saying Venezuela was "not a true socialist country" during the time Venezuela was doing well.
Can you point to even a single advocate of socialism who was actively or publicly disputing the "socialist credentials" of Venezuela during the years the country seemed to be doing well and was being held up around the world as a socialist success story? I can't positively prove no such examples exist, but I've yet to find one. And if socialists had been disputing the "socialist credentials" of Venezuela during that time, they'd have a pretty strong incentive to draw attention to those articles, because as it stands now, their denials sound like they're saying "Even though at the time lots of people were saying Venezuela was exactly what they wanted in socialist system, I knew all along it was not a true example of a socialist system – I just never said anything about it out loud or on the public record until after Venezuela collapsed because of all of the reasons."
I have no counterexamples. But you should not expect to find counterexamples, independently of the claim's being true. Any counterexamples would have to be from outside the socialist mainstream, so they wouldn't be from the press or prominent advocates. Venezuela started failing very fast after Chávez was elected, so you'd need to look at comments made before 2001, not in the press, and not from prominent advocates. That's a tough ask no matter if the claim is false. I do not think the claim is false because I know of counterexamples—I think it is false because I know there have been people with socialist views very different from the socialist mainstream.
Miguel Madeira
Jan 1 2020 at 1:31pm
Can you point to even a single advocate of socialism who was actively or publicly disputing the "socialist credentials" of Venezuela during the years the country seemed to be doing well and was being held up around the world as a socialist success story?
The Trotskyist factions connected to the International Workers League and to International Workers Union
The anarcho-socialists of "El Liberatario"
the pro-Hoxha "Bandera Roja"
The "La Causa Radical"
Theodoro Peitkoff and the "Movimento al Socialismo"
"Patria para Todos" and "Podemos" (the Venezuelan party with that name) were ambiguous, joining and leaving the Chavista coalition from time to time (today they support the government, but because the courts appointed Chavistas to the leadership of these parties)
Even the Communist Party of Venezuela and the Trotskyists connected to the "International Secretariat of the Fourth International", even if they support the government, don't, I think, consider it the "true socialism" (for some reason they remain as independent organizations), only a "progressive" regime that is more close to "true socialism" than the alterntives
T Boyle
It's important not to overlook the Nordics, which are often held up as examples of socialism that succeeded. The more extreme examples are too easy as targets. You have to address British Labor, and France, too.
Hey T Boyle –
I started reading the book Caplan talked about today, I'm about 80 pages in so far. You'll be pleased to know that the author does not, in fact, overlook the Nordic countries – he dedicates several pages explaining why they are not examples of successful socialism. Quick excerpts –
The Nordic economies are not 'more mixed economies'. The difference between them and Venezuela is not a difference in degree. It is a qualitative difference, namely the difference between a large state and an interventionist state. The Nordic states are large, but they are not particularly interventionist. The Nordic economies are characterised by high taxes and high levels of public spending, but they are otherwise relatively liberal market economies…The Nordic countries generally score very highly on indices such as the Economic Freedom Index or the Ease of Doing Business Index…This means that relative to most other developed economies, the Nordic economies are not heavily regulated, the state is not an active participant in economic life, and it does not try to direct economic activity. Nordic governments do not interfere heavily in wage and price setting processes, and they do not engage in an activist industrial policy. They privatised many formerly state-owned enterprises long ago. Even in the provision of public services, they often rely on market-like mechanisms, while also allowing private sector participation. Local authorities are, to a large extent, responsible for their own spending, which they must fund through locally raised taxes…But most of the socialist policies which are popular in Britain – nationalisations, wage and price controls, industrial policy,16 a rejection of market mechanisms and private sector involvement in public services, etc. – do not have much of a counterpart in the Nordic countries. At the same time, UK policies which do have a close Nordic equivalent are controversial in the UK, and tend to be opposed by socialists. For example, the UK's free schools were explicitly modelled on the Swedish friskolor. The creation of an internal market within the NHS has also been, if not directly inspired by, then at least mirrored by a similar agenda in Sweden. The socialist left in the UK has opposed those changes right from the start, and continues to advocate their abolition. The difference between socialism and social democracy
is perhaps clearer in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, which have (or used to have) a major social democratic party and a major socialist party side by side. There, a socialist party would not simply be the more radical version of a social democratic party. Rather, such parties might have similar positions on taxation and welfare spending, while differing sharply on issues such as nationalisation, price controls, allowing the profit motive, and so on…Support for socialism, then, really is what it says on the tin. It is not support for Nordic-style social democracy, or for its continental cousins, i.e. Dutch or German social democracy. A rhetorical embrace of 'the Nordic model' counts for little if it is coupled with a rejection of all the features that make the Nordic model work.
Since my background is Norwegian I'll settle for their form of government. Conservatives always claim it isn't socialism.
Brian Turner
I agree that the left plays the "not true socialism" game opportunistically but defenders of laissez-faire versions of capitalism do the same. For example, had Taiwan and South Korea in the 1960s-90s been basket cases, we'd have heard that the extensive state intervention was the cause of the problem thus it was "not true capitalism".
With respect the 'Nordic model,' I think the most that can be validly argued (not necessarily correctly, but plausibly at least) is that having higher taxes – particularly on for the middle and working classes – to fund a more generous welfare state doesn't derail developed economies, that low taxes aren't necessarily a prerequisite to strong economic growth. What makes no sense at all (and yet is still done) is to defend nationalizing some industry by referring to a country in which that industry is private, or to argue that we could/should increase regulation of some industry by appealing to countries where said industries are less regulated than the US. One can say, "look at Sweden, clearly we can raise our income taxes and still do ok." I'm not convinced we should, but it's true that Sweden has much higher income taxes and is still prosperous. What one can't say is, "look at how well Sweden is doing, clearly we should reduce oppose school choice, raise the estate tax, and resist any privatization of social security." That doesn't work, since Sweden abolished its estate tax, has implemented school choice type policies extensively, and has partially privatized social security.
Oooh, I hope there's going to be video of the debate with Brian Leiter. Looking forward to it.
The not-real-socialism defence is only ever invoked retrospectively, namely, when a socialist experiment has already been widely discredited
Sorry, but this is nonsense; specially in the case of the USSR, the claim "it is not-real-socialism" started almost since the begining:
The article of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, "The Revolution in Russia Where it Fails", is from 1918
From 1918 to 1927, the Communist Party of Russia/Soviet Union was a machine of producing dissidences, claiming that the leadership of the party was not building the "real socialism": Kommunist (1918), Democratic Centralism Group (from 1919), Workers' Opposition (from 1919), Workers and Peaseants Socialist Party (1921), Workers' Truth (1923), Workers' Group (from 1923), Trotskyists (from 1923)…
The split of the Comunist Workers Party of Germany (KAPD) is also from 1921
In the 1930s, we have the "council communists" (a derivation of the KAPD) and the "bordigists" (a split in the Communist Party of Italy); during the decade, many things (the "Popular front" policy, the repression against the anarchists and the POUM in the Spanish Civil War, the begining of the great purges, etc.) made many people on the left to break away with the Soviet Union, usually going first to Trotskyism but in many cases spliting also the the Trotskyist orthodoxy (Bruno Rizzi, Max Sachtman, etc.)
After the World War II, we have groups like the Socialism ou Barbarie in France or the Johnson-Forest Tendency (C. L. R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya) in the USA
And, in the 1960s, the whole "New Left" (many are admirers of Cuba, China or Vietnam, but all are, almost by definition, against the Moscow-version of socialism; note that I don't understand what differences they saw between the USSR and Cuba or Vietnam)
And it is ironic to say that "The not-real-socialism defence is only ever invoked retrospectively, namely, when a socialist experiment has already been widely discredited", and, in the following lines, talking about George Orwell (who in the 1930s and 1940s was saying "It is nor-real-socialism")
COLLECTION: BOOKS: REVIEWS AND SUGGESTED READINGS
The article you're reading is part of Econlib's Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings collection. Explore other Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings articles:
Caplan-Callard, The Case Against Education at U Chicago
Labor Econ Versus the World: Essays on the World's Greatest Market
U.S. Subsidies to Fossil Fuels
Hanania in Austin


text:
A minimalistic toolkit for functionally composable neural network
layers with Theano.

Rationale
---------

Conceptually, neural network layers are functions on tensors.  In
funktional, layers are implemented as callable Python objects which
means that they can be easily mixed and matched with regular Python
functions operating on Theano tensors. Function-like layers are also
easy to compose into more complex networks using function application
and function composition idioms familiar from general purpose
programming.

For example, suppose we need to implement a recurrent encoder-decoder
network. As the encoder we use a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) layer
which takes one argument (the input sequence) and returns a sequence
of hidden states. The decoder is another GRU which takes two arguments
(an initial state, and a sequence of outputs), and returns a sequence
of hidden states. From these hidden states we then predict the next
output element:

```
                y1  y2  y3  y.
                ^   ^   ^   ^
                |   |   |   |
h0->h1->h2->h3->g1->g2->g3->g4
    ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^   ^
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |
    x1  x2  x.  y0  y1  y2  y3
```

With funktional, you would create the layers and then compose them
using function application like so:

```python

def last(x):
    """Returns the last time step of all sequences in x."""
    return x.dimshuffle((1,0,2))[-1]

class EncoderDecoder(Layer):
    def __init__(self, size_in, size, size_out):
        self.Encode = GRUH0(size_in=size_in, size=size)
        self.Decode = GRU(size_in=size_out, size=size)
        self.Output = Dense(size_in=size, size=size_out)
        self.params = self.Encode.params + self.Decode.params + self.Output.params

    def __call__(self, inp, out_prev):
        return self.Output(self.Decode(last(self.Encode(inp)), out_prev))
```

Note that in the definition of ` __call__` we specify the network
connectivity using function application syntax, and mix `Layer`
objects together with regular Python functions such as `last`. The
`EncoderDecoder` we defined can in turn be composed with other layers
or functions:

```python
Encdec = EncoderDecoder(size_in, size, size_out)
output = softmax3d(Encdec(input, output_prev))
```

See [layer.py](funktional/layer.py) for more examples of layer compositions.

The file [autoencoder.py](autoencoder.py) uses funktional to implement a
recurrent auto-encoder, which learns to map sentences to a hidden
state vector and to decode the vector into the original sentence.  A
GPU is recommended to run this example.

Limitations
-----------

Funktional is not meant to be a full-fledged, self-contained toolkit,
but only to provide a convenient interface. Functionality such as
preprocessing, activation functions or implementations of various
variants of stochastic gradient descent are available via some of the
existing toolkits such as
[Passage](https://github.com/IndicoDataSolutions/Passage) or
[Keras](https://github.com/fchollet/keras). These toolkits can be a
awkward if we need to implement a complicated custom architecture.
Funktional is intended to make this use case easy.


text:
Gadu-Gadu (польск. — болтовня), также GG — проприетарный протокол и программа-клиент для мгновенного обмена сообщениями в одноимённой сети для Microsoft Windows. Разработана в Польше, там же пользовалась наибольшей популярностью: более 5 миллионов зарегистрированных учётных записей с ежедневной активностью порядка 2,5 миллионов. Первая версия вышла 15 августа 2000 года.

Gadu-Gadu финансируется за счёт показываемой рекламы. Как и в ICQ, пользователи идентифицируются порядковыми номерами. Существует некоторое количество расширений, обеспечивающих дополнительные возможности. Официальная версия содержит более 150 смайлов, возможна отправка офлайн-сообщений, обмен данными и VoIP. С версии 6.0 возможно SSL-защищённое соединение.

В 2008 году Gadu-Gadu стал первым мессенджером, с помощью которого была установлена связь с земной орбитой. Общение между польскими пользователями Интернета и космонавтами станции МКС с помощью программы Gadu-Gadu было приурочено ко дню 30-летия со дня полёта в космос единственного польского космонавта Мирослава Гермашевского 27 июня 1978 года.

После появления Facebook Messenger популярность Gadu-Gadu начала падать. В 2015 году коммуникатор был продан компании Xevin Investments, а в 2017 году его приобрела фирма England.pl.

По состоянию на 2018 год количество пользователей коммуникатора продолжает падать. По сообщениям польских СМИ, из-за анонимности, которую предоставляет мессенджер, программа пользуется популярностью среди пользователей сайтов знакомств, а также педофилов.

Неофициальные клиенты
Авторы Gadu-Gadu официально запрещают сторонним приложениям использовать их протокол для доступа к их серверам. Однако, несколько IM-клиентов всё же реализуют поддержку протокола:

 Клиенты на основе libpurple, как то:
 Pidgin
 Adium
 Miranda IM
 Kopete, клиент рабочего окружения KDE
 Empathy, клиент рабочего окружения GNOME

Примечания

Ссылки
 Официальный сайт
 Osiem tłustych lat Gadu-Gadu, histmag.org

Программы мгновенного обмена сообщениями
Протоколы обмена мгновенными сообщениями
Протоколы прикладного уровня


text:
REVIEW: Dixie Dregs – Night of the Living Dregs (1979)
Dedicated to my dear friend Uncle Meat. This CD was purchased off Joe "Big Nose" at the Waterloo branch of the Record Store at which I used to work.
DIXIE DREGS – Night of the Living Dregs (1979 Polydor)
If they could bottle genius, distill it down to its essence, sell it and serve it at a party…then the Dixie Dregs are the music that should be played at that party.
The Dregs are undefinable. Just when you think you have them nailed down to a progressive jazz-rock hybrid, they go classical on you, or full-bluegrass mode. Their instrumental chops are incomparable, while still managing to deliver such basic song pleasures such as "melody", "hooks" and "grooves". These melodies are usually delivered at the hands of Steve Morse (guitar) or Allen Sloan (violin). Listeners familiar with with the guitar stylings of Morse will have an idea of the kind of songs and arrangements he writes: challenging, but rewarding.
Night of the Living Dregs is half studio, half live. The first side, from the cleverly-titled "Punk Sandwich" to the ballad "Long Slow Distance" are carefully crafted studio recordings, each different from the last. While each track is unique and showcases different sides of the band, it is "Long Slow Distance" that really shines. This soft work captures so much of what Morse does well. There are jazzy licks embedded within melodies, and so many different textures of guitar.
The live side is recorded nice and clean without a lot of crowd noise. "Night of the Living Dregs" is an upbeat little number, featuring some absolutely jaw-dropping melodic bass playing from Andy West. This is also where drummer extraordinaire Rod Morgenstein comes up to the plate. His playing is so multifaceted and you can hear it on this track. The most fun can be found on "The Bash", a full-on bluegrass ho-down, chicken-pickin' full steam ahead. Any jaws left on the floor are hopefully picked up so they don't miss "Leprechaun Promenade". There are celtic flavours thanks to the violin, and the song is comparable to Jethro Tull. Then suddenly it turns into Frankenstein's monster with some eerie keyboards (Mark Parrish). This is complex stuff, not for the timid!
The whole experience ends on "Patchwork", which works as a description of the album at large. It is a patchwork of style and feels, which create the whole. The Dixie Dregs are a challenging listen, but ultimately rewarding. There is plenty of joy in the grooves. The band does not play anything simple or easy. Everything is a little bit of smarty-pants music, but for the listening, this is a delight.
Posted in Reviews and tagged Allen Sloan, Andy West, bluegrass, Dixie Dregs, jazz fusion, Mark Parrish, Night of the Living Dregs, Polydor, progressive rock, Rod Morgenstein, steve morse on October 28, 2016 by mikeladano. 36 Comments
REVIEW: Platypus – Ice Cycles (2000)
Complete studio albums (and more!), part 13
Second review from Mike and Aaron Go to Toronto…Again! I paid $2.99 for this CD at Sonic Boom. A steal.
PLATYPUS – Ice Cycles (2000 InsideOut)
Platypus are: Ty Tabor – Guitars & vocals (King's X). John Myung – Bass (Dream Theater). Derek Sherinian – Keys (Dream Theater, Alice Cooper, Kiss). Rod Morgenstein – Drums (Dixie Dregs, Winger).
From the information above, you already know several things: 1. Platypus is a supergroup. 2. This is going to have plenty of incendiary playing on it. 3. It's gonna be progressive. Much like their first album (this is their second), it's also gonna be fun!
If you're a fan of any of these guys, you will love to hear them in this band's context. There are plenty of King's X-isms, but the personalities of the players have their own influences. Nobody plays drums like Rod Morgenstein, and I always enjoy the chance to hear him work.
The opening track, "Oh God" is quite heavy, with quieter keyboard moments. The track has some serious weight to it. Ty of course is a melodic singer, so that balances it. It's just one of several standout tracks. "Better Left Unsaid" has a pleasant aura, similar to Faith Hope Love-era King's X, but with Sherinian's keyboards lending a completely different sound. Myung doesn't play bass like Dug Pinnick does, but he does create a thick sound. Morgenstein's drums have marching band precision.
The heavy melody-driven "The Tower" really gets the engine running during the chorus. The verses lack a bit, but that chorus section is furious, as is the guitar solo. The piano tinkle of "Cry" has a moment that is playfully lifted from Alice Cooper's "I Love the Dead", but the chorus is like Alice In Chains! This is a complex track, not instantly likable. Give it some time to sink in. Morgenstein, once again, leaves jaws on the floor.
My favourite tracks are two: the brief "I Need You", which has the lush Tabor vocals that we know and love. This track is probably the most like King's X, coincidentally. Then there's the smoking hot "25" with its Dream Theater keys and Zeppelin guitars. There's also a Rush riff in there somewhere. This is one of only two instrumentals on the album, but it sure is a corker! Just stunning.
The final track can only be called an epic. "Partial to the Bean (A Tragic American Quintology)" is a instrumental that goes all over the board, in seven parts. If you've heard instrumental epics by these players before then I'm sure you know what you're up against. A challenging but rewarding listen.
That can be said for the album in general. It's a rewarding listen that will, at times, challenge you. I like that.
Part 1 – Out of the Silent Planet (1988)
Part 2 – Gretchen Goes to Nebraska (1989)
Part 3 – Kings of the Absurd (split bootleg with Faith No More)
Part 4 – Faith Hope Love by King's X (1990)
Part 5 – "Junior's Gone Wild" (from 1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack)
Part 6 – King's X (1992)
Part 7 – Dogman (1994) + bonus "Pillow" promo single review
Part 8 – Ear Candy (1996)
Part 9 – Best of King's X (1997)
Part 10 – Tape Head (1998)
Part 11 – POUNDHOUND – Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music (1998 Doug Pinnick/Jerry Gaskill)
Part 12 – Please Come Home…Mr. Bulbous (2000)
Posted in Reviews and tagged Alice Cooper, Derek Sherinian, Dixie Dregs, dream theater, heavy metal, Ice Cycles, InsideOut, John Myung, king's x, Platypus, progressive rock, Rod Morgenstein, supergroups, ty tabor, Winger on November 8, 2014 by mikeladano. 9 Comments
REVIEW: Flying Colors – Live In Europe (2013)
FLYING COLORS – Live In Europe (2013 Mascot Music)
There hasn't been a new band that got me going like Flying Colors did in a dog's age. Their 2012 debut is a fantastic album, and it's only grown on me more since I first reviewed it. Songs like "Kayla", "The Storm", and "Shoulda Coulda Woulda" had me hooked on repeat — in the car, at home, it didn't matter. Flying Colors has been on constantly for months.
That's why I decided to get the double Live In Europe CD. I had to have more. Who cares that it's a double live album immediately following a debut! All 11 songs from that album are here, plus covers and songs from each member's past. I am glad to report that Live In Europe is as stunning as the debut, even over its long running time. When you have a band made up of guys like Mike Portnoy, Steve Morse, Dave LaRue, Neal Morse and Casey McPherson, you can count on a live show full of explosive instrumental pyrotechnics. And that is present. But it's the quality of the songs and the humour of the band that makes it special.
The band open the set with three album tracks in a row, each different from the last. "Blue Ocean" is the long, breezy opener, which is followed by the pummeling "Shoulda Coulda Woulda". Then, "Love Is What I'm Waiting For" is more soulful. All three are outstanding songs with stunning playing.
Portnoy does most of the talking, but Casey McPherson gets the first solo outing. "Can't Find a Way" is from his former band Endochine, but played by Flying Colors, it fits seemlessly in the set. Its soft vibe is similar to some of the quieter material on Flying Colors, and McPherson's emotive vocals set it apart. Steve Morse throws down one of his classic solos and seals the deal. This powerful number could have been on the album easily. They follow this one with my favourite song, "The Storm," and the whole place ignites.
From 1978's What If album comes the Dixie Dregs' "Oddyssey". Since Flying Colors don't have a violin player, it's very different, but every bit as jumpy and complicated. Coming back to something a little more straightforward, the band rock out to "Forever In A Daze." Then McPherson stuns the crowd with Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Yeah, it's been a trendy song to cover lately, but when you pull it off as well as MacPherson does, why not?
The first CD ends with a mellow "Better Than Walking Away," and by now a Flying Colors concert already feels like an emotionally uplifting experience. It is a song like this that underlines not just the chops, but the melodic tendencies of this band. It's always fun to listen to a bunch of guys shred for 90 minutes, but it's even better when they play a bunch of great songs, too.
The second CD commences with "Kayla," which to me is already a classic. The vocal harmonies of Neal Morse and Casey McPherson really dance. After this, Mike Portnoy takes over, at the request of Neal Morse, sings lead on his "Fool In My Heart." I quite this swinging little ballad, and there's nothing wrong with Portnoy's vocal. Dave LaRue's solo piece, "Spur of the Moment," leads into a Dream Theater classic. "Repentance," from 2007's excellent Systematic Chaos, is part of Mike's "12 Step Suite." As such it's only fitting that he sings it himself. It's not the whole 10 minute version, it's pretty much just the first half, "Regret." But it is every bit as powerful as Dream Theater's original, yet very different.
From 1998's The Kindness Of Strangers, Neal Morse performs "June" by Spock's Beard. This bright ballad enables McPherson and Portnoy to harmonize very nicely with Morse. It's certainly a nice respite before the slamming "All Falls Down." After the band lays waste with that tune, it's only epics from there forward. From the album, 8 minutes of "Everything Changes" is only topped by 12 minutes of "Infinite Fire". While these two are still "songs," the shredders get their wishes granted with some long-bomb jams.
In a band like Flying Colors, you can't single out any one player as an MVP. It seems like a band powered by all five members equally. Having said that, Steve's Morse's guitar solos are always a treat, and it also a pleasure to hear the rhythm section of LaRue and Portnoy gel like this. They give the whole album a tremendous pulse. Turn up your bass and see what I mean.
Posted in Reviews and tagged Alpha Rev, Casey McPherson, classic rock, Dave LaRue, Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, dream theater, Endochine, Flying Colors, Hallelujah, hard rock, Leonard Cohen, Live in Europe, Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, progressive rock, rock music, Spock's Beard, steve morse, Steve Morse Band, What If on April 4, 2014 by mikeladano. 24 Comments
REVIEW: Flying Colors – Flying Colors (2012)
FLYING COLORS – Flying Colors (2012 Mascot Music)
How many bands is Mike Portnoy in anyway? I have no idea, but I've bought many of them over the years. Flying Colors is another, a supergroup featuring Steve Morse, the unrelated Neal Morse of Spock's Beard, Dave LaRue from Steve Morse Band, and Casey McPherson of Alpha Rev. McPherson is the only one I'm not familiar with from elsewhere, and he handles lead vocals as well as keyboards and guitar. Peter Collins (Rush) produces, a man who knows plenty about progressive rock that gets played on the radio.
Together they created an accessible album of jaw-dropping chops but also something melodically engrossing. While these guys are all primarily renowned as musician's musicians, together it seems they know how to write a song or two. The 7-minute opener "Blue Ocean" is a great example. It's very hard to describe because it's not any one thing. It has a hypnotically cool lead vocal, but backed by a neat shuffle and Morse's trademark hybrid style.
"Shoulda Coulda Woulda" is a heavy one, again with a hypnotic vocal. It's unforgettable and one of the most powerful tunes. Steve Morse lays yet another awesome guitar solo on top of it. It's not how many notes he plays or how fast he plays them. It's what he wrenches out of them. Then like a 180, "Kayla" opens with some gorgeous classical guitar, as if we switched to a Blackmore's Night album! But this is temporary; "Kayla" is a sparse mid-tempo rock song, with an anthemic chorus. "Kayla" is one of the most instantly catchy moments on Flying Colors. The vocal harmonies in the middle section are killer.
This is followed by my favourite tune, the radio-ready "The Storm". The chorus here is the best one on the album, powerful and layered. The verses are soft and melodic; commercial rock goodness. Portnoy perfectly compliments the song without overplaying. Only a classic Steve Morse solo could further elevate "The Storm" to the heavens, and that's exactly what happens.
LaRue funks it up a bit on "Forever in a Daze" which thumps along nicely. "Love is What I'm Waiting For" has a Beatles vibe, which is interesting enough. It's probably worthy of radio play in a perfect world. "Everything Changes" is another 7 minute long-bomber, and I don't want to call it a ballad, so I'll call it "quiet". It's an epic. It has acoustic guitars and strings and all kinds of cool stuff, including plenty of electric Morse. Once again, I hear Beatles.
The introspective "Better Than Walking Away" is another really good song, soft and pretty but lyrically intense. Then like a cold slap in the face comes "All Falls Down". This the most "metal" moment on the album, a blazing blitzkrieg of guitars and drums. It's over in 3 minutes and 20 seconds, but it'll leave you knocked out. I really love the vocals on this song too.
Approaching the end, "Fool in My Heart" is a slow dance. Its melodies are warm and classic sounding. This serves to cleanse the palette before the final 12 minute feast of "Infinite Fire". It's one of my favourites, and it's over more quickly than it seems it should be. It doesn't wear out its welcome; it has a bit of everything in it including melody and spellbinding playing.
How the hell have Portnoy and Morse managed to put out multiple great albums in 2013 is beyond me. Why are guys like these not the biggest rock stars on the planet? Thankfully, a live album and second studio record are on their way.
Deep Purple – NOW What?!
Steve Morse Band – StressFest
Posted in Reviews and tagged Alpha Rev, Casey McPherson, classic rock, Dave LaRue, Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, dream theater, Flying Colors, hard rock, Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, progressive rock, rock music, Spock's Beard, steve morse, Steve Morse Band on October 19, 2013 by mikeladano. 31 Comments
GUEST SHOT: 30 Albums that Uncle Meat Thinks You Should Visit (Or Re-Visit) Part 2
Missed part 1? Click here.
Here's part 2 of 3 – 30 albums essential to Meat's being, that should be essential to yours, too! So, without anymore preamble, I'll leave you with Uncle Meat, as he discusses 10 more albums, in alphabetical order by title, that you need to visit (or re-visit).
HIGH TENSION WIRES – STEVE MORSE (1989)
Simply put, Steve Morse is my favorite musician of all time. I have had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Morse a total of 6 times when you combine The Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple and The Steve Morse Band. Unlike the releases of some of his contemporaries, High Tension Wires is not your typical shredder album. Oh it shreds alright, but Steve Morse is much more than a trickster. There are beautiful compositions, unforgettable solos and some just plain ol' rocking too. Included is the link to a live version of a track perfectly named "Tumeni Notes". For more examples of the greatness of Steve Morse, introduce some Dixie Dregs into your collection. You can thank me later.
HOT HOUSE – BRUCE HORNSBY (1995)
When Bruce Hornsby said goodbye to The Range, he immediately said hello with Harbor Lights, a heavily jazz-infused turn that completely changed the music world's perception of him. Hot House sees Hornsby taking that one step further. The album's cover speaks a thousand words. It is a painting of an imagined band session between Bluegrass legend Bill Munroe and Jazz legend Charlie Parker. Nuff' said there. This recording contains many musical giants including Pat Metheny, Jerry Garcia, Bela Fleck and Chaka Khan. Hot House is very addictive. I know most of the words off by heart on this record. Hopefully someday you will too.
JEFF BECK GROUP – JEFF BECK GROUP (1972)
This album definitely falls under the underappreciated category. Sometimes known as The Orange Album, Beck's playing has never been better on this collection of original compositions and covers. I would call this more of a Soul album than anything. The incredible vocals of Bobby Tench seem to highlight this record at times, as you will see on the live performance of "Tonight, I'll Be Staying Here With You" I have included for this entry. Also worth noting, this album is one of the first recordings of the late Cozy Powell's career. The guitar work alone on "Definitely, Maybe" is enough reason itself to seek this record out. Perhaps a rock n' roll legend's best work.
JOHN PRINE – JOHN PRINE (1971)
I actually discovered the music of John Prine while working at the same record store chain that Mr. Ladano speaks of in this blog. There is no one quite like John Prine. Some artists write great songs. Some artists write great lyrics. Only a select few truly do both this well. There is no doubt that John Prine's self-titled album contains some of the best lyrics ever written. "There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose?" That is just brilliant shit. "You may see me tonight with an Illegal Smile. It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while". I have said this many times and I am still saying it now. John Prine is THE best lyric writer …. Ever. Fuck Bob Dylan. Yeah, I said it.
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON – KRIS KRISTOFFERSON (1970)
For the sake of alphabetical order by album, this Kristofferson follows the John Prine album on this list. Really it should be the other way around. While I stand by my earlier praise of Prine lyrics, I would certainly listen to the argument that there wouldn't be a John Prine without Kris Kristofferson. The songs on this album show a huge diversity and a sense of patience that just makes him so cool. "Best Of All Possible Worlds" is just insanely-good storytelling and "Me and Bobby McGee" became a mega-smash for Janis Joplin. Of all the great concerts I have seen, watching Kris Kristofferson and a guitar for two hours in 2006 will always be one of the best concerts I will ever see. The true greats just need to show up.
LEGALIZE IT – PETER TOSH (1976)
After being a key member of Bob Marley & The Wailers for years, Peter Tosh embarked on a solo career. On his first solo release, Legalize It, I personally believe Tosh recorded the greatest Reggae album of all time. Fuck Bob Marley. Yeah, I said it. (Wait why am I so hostile? Ha.) Remember that one of Marley's biggest hits "Get Up Stand Up" was co-written with Peter Tosh. I love this album from beginning to end, and the album's cover remains a visual anthem for Marijuana activists everywhere. Sadly, Peter Tosh was taken from us when he was shot in the head during a home robbery. Rastafarian music at its finest.
LITTLE EARTHQUAKES – TORI AMOS (1992)
There is only one way to put it. During the spring of 1994 I became a literal disciple of Tori Amos. By the end of 1996 I had seen her live 7 times. Several of them in 2nd or 3rd row center seats, since this was back when you could actually wait all night for tickets and be rewarded for it. This album spoke to me in a way no other album has, or really could. Frustration with women, with Christianity and with life, I didn't want to hear about hope in the horizon. I obviously needed to experience the frustration of someone who understood. I still have a red-head obsession because of Tori. This is in my ten favorite albums of all time and always will be. Little Earthquakes is full of intense and pretty compositions. The humor of "Happy Phantom" contrasts the pain of "Me and a Gun". And the included track here is "Precious Things", which sees Tori Amos exposing herself as the angry and sexual piano player she truly is. Myra Ellen Amos is quite simply a beast.
MELISSA – MERCYFUL FATE (1983)
Mercyful Fate's first two albums are among the best Metal albums of all time. When you realize that this album came out a full year before Kill 'Em All did you can start to see just how important this band truly were. Mercyful Fate are the High Priestesses of underappreciation. Yes King Diamond looks kinda ridiculous. And yes their lyrics are nothing short of evil incarnate. Lines such as "Drinking the blood of a new born child" and "I'll be the first to watch your funeral, and I'll be the last to leave" sometimes are so over the top that I guess it is understandable how an album this good could be ignored. If Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden had a baby, and that baby grew up listening to nothing but Black Sabbath, the end result would have to look and sound something like Mercyful Fate. It's no coincidence that the best thing Metallica has recorded since …And Justice For All is their medley-cover simply-titled "Mercyful Fate". One of the greatest Metal albums of all time hands down. Click on the YouTube link and hear the start of "Curse of the Pharaohs". If you don't immediately recognize "2 Minutes to Midnight" you are lying to yourself.
NEVER, NEVERLAND – ANNIHILATOR (1990)
After Annihilator's first album, Alice in Hell, it was time for a new lead singer. Out was the awful singing of the ridiculously-named Randy Rampage, and in was ex-Omen singer Coburn Pharr. The second album of this Ottawa, Ontario band was a vast improvement over the first album in every way. Without question the guitar playing of Jeff Waters alone makes this an absolute must-have recording for fans of thrash guitar or just guitar in general. If you can think of a better Metal album to come out of Canada then I would love to hear it. If you have never heard this album, and you consider yourself a "Metal guy" then you are missing out huge. I am having a hard time trying to pick a song to post here for listening purposes. That is how truly great this record is from beginning to end.
OPUS EPONYMOUS – GHOST (2011)
I know, I cannot believe it either. Only the second of twenty (so far) albums to be released after 1999 that appear on this list. This album by Swedish band Ghost is nothing but special. Before I heard this album I was told that it sounded like a cross between thrash metal and Blue Oyster Cult. As it turned out that description really was right on the money. Melodic background vocals nestled in between heavy riffing. I have to say that this album is my favorite Metal album in probably the last twenty years. The PERFECT blend of melody and heaviness. This is the only album that since I have got my iPod, every time I switch the music on it I leave this whole album on there. Every minute of this album is pure genius and I am super-stoked for their upcoming 2nd album titled Infestissumam that will be released this spring. Hail Satan!!!!
That's it for now, stay tuned for part 3, coming soon…
Posted in Guest Shot and tagged ...And Justice For All, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Alice in Hell, Annihilator, Bela Fleck, Bill Monroe, blue oyster cult, bob dylan, bob marley, Bobby Tench, Bruce Hornsby, Chaka Khan, Charlie Parker, classic rock, Coburn Pharr, country, cozy powell, Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, folk, Ghost, Harbor Lights, hard rock, heavy metal, High Tension Wires, Illegal Smile, Infestissumam, Janis Joplin, jazz fusion, jeff beck, Jeff Beck Group, Jeff Waters, John Prine, Kill 'Em All, King Diamond, Kris Kristofferson, Legalize It, Little Earthquakes, Me and Bobby McGee, meat, Melissa, mercyful fate, metallica, Never Neverland, Omen, Opus Eponymous, Pat Metheny, Peter Tosh, piano, pop, Randy Rampage, Rastafarian, Reggae, rock music, steve morse, Steve Morse Band, The Orange Album, The Wailers, thrash metal, Tori Amos on January 23, 2013 by mikeladano. 30 Comments


Consider how you make a great first impression: Firm handshakes. A kind smile. Thoughtful gifts.
It's all about making the other person feel comfortable and ensure they have a favorable opinion of you.
But first impressions are tough. Plus, you only have one chance at making a good first impression. That opportunity is very short, too: some studies suggest you have between 7 and 30 seconds to make a great first impression.
Your brand is introducing itself to new customers every day — whether you initiate the conversation or not. Customers are searching, researching, following and signing up. It's up to you to make a memorable and positive first interaction.
For marketers, personalization is key to making a great first impression. Here's why.
First impressions are all about being likable. That means finding common ground and relating to a new person. In new social situations, we often talk about common experiences, like the space you're in ("Isn't this restaurant nice?"), the weather ("I can't believe this snow we're getting!") or pop culture ("Have you seen any good movies lately?").
Marketers also need to understand their new prospects by stepping into their shoes. Then, marketers need to provide helpful, relevant and personalized content that fits their needs.
Think of it like a first conversation: the customer signs up to start the conversation, and the brand continues the conversation with information that makes sense for their place in the customer journey.
This might mean a personalized welcome email explaining your services, or an intro to your products. You might also direct prospects to a "buyer's guide" or social media page as an orientation.
How a prospect was acquired can tell you a lot. Did they sign up for your newsletter? Did they immediately purchase after clicking on an ad? Did they follow you on social media? What did they browse for?
This information is huge. But as any scientist (or fellow marketing data nerd) will tell you, it is impossible to extrapolate based on one or two data points. It's not a trend — it's merely an indication.
Instead, brands — and people — need to create context for this behavior. Think about it: you wouldn't approach a new boss at work the same way you would approach a new acquaintance at a coffee shop.
Same goes for marketers. Perhaps a customer was buying a gift. Maybe they only followed your social media for tips and tricks. Without contextual data, it's impossible to know.
Creating context requires collecting more data, such as demographic or purchase intent behavior. That context can then be used to deliver a relevant, personal first impression.
First impressions are lasting impressions. Consider the last time you met a new acquaintance — only to get a smirk or an off-color remark in return. They probably aren't in your inner circle.
Starting a customer-brand relationship on strong footing is key. Marketers who make a great, personalized first impression are on the right track. Personalization is known to drive brand loyalty and create happy customers.
Turning prospects into customers isn't easy — and nor is turning customers into loyalists. It's a process that hinges on delivering personalized marketing over and over again, starting with the first impression.
Personalization pays off for marketers. In fact, Monetate found that 79% of brands with a documented personalization strategy exceeded revenue goals.
The key to personalization? Strong, complete data.
Ready to get started? Learn how you can enrich your customer data with demographic, purchase intent and lifestyle insights from Email Intelligence.


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Haven't We Learned By Now That an ICE Hiring Spree Is a Crazy Idea?
Molly Osberg
Filed to:Voices
Almost a decade ago, as it struggled to fulfill the Bush administration's then-unprecedented hiring mandate, Customs and Border Protection spent a reported $1 million to plaster its agency's green-and-white logo on the hood of a NASCAR race car.
They also aired television ads during Dallas Cowboys games. They entered into a partnership with the Professional Bull Riders association, asserting the "skill, courage, and determination" required to sit tight on a furious, bucking animal would be well-applied to keeping "illegals" out of America.
This was 2008, the same year the National Border Control Council issued a report summarizing what had happened when it was stretched to recruit 10,000 agents over the last two-and-a-half years. Through the mid-2000s, the administration made throwing money and bodies at the border a central part of its post-9/11 homeland security project; between the Bush and Obama years the number of border patrol agents more than doubled.
The 2008 report claimed education requirements had been dropped to the point where some in the agency couldn't read above a middle school level. Government and personal property was going missing more often, too—which might suggest that newly hired agents' background checks were being rushed through. (Or, one could assume, not being done at all.)
In interviews at the time, agency spokespeople said it was increasingly hard to find qualified candidates to bloat the ranks. The problem was bigger than missing office equipment. Between 2005 and 2012 an officer was being arrested for misconduct on average once a day.
Such scrambles to put more troops on the ground in the past have created what is, by many accounts, a vicious and unstable agency resistant to oversight.
Recently, the American Immigration Council released a report recounting this culture of violence and corruption. "The Trump administration wants to repeat history," it said. The rapid-fire expansion of the border control is the only reference point we have for February's executive order, which mandated in addition to the hiring of 5,000 border patrol agents some 100,000 additional personnel for ICE.
In its effort to "take the shackles off" immigration and customs agencies, the administration reportedly plans to siphon upwards of $5 billion out of the TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA. Anticipating another hiring spree, BCP is already seeking to relax its hiring standards, according to leaked memos. Already it's had trouble retaining agents: Around the time the order was initially issued, the agency had 1,600 empty jobs.
Such scrambles to put more troops on the ground in the past have created what is, by many accounts, a vicious and unstable agency resistant to oversight. The majority of violent abuses and deadly uses of force pass quietly: In 2015, the ACLU of Arizona published some of the 6,000 pages of complaints and arrest records it received after suing DHS for access—in many cases it appeared officers hadn't been disciplined.
Occasionally, high-profile cautionary tales will been litigated under public scrutiny. Most recently, it was the story of teenaged sisters from Guatemala who, with the assistance of the ACLU, issued claims against DHS: They said when they flagged down an agent in California 2016, one of the sisters was sexually assaulted in a closet.
A few years ago that story was about border patrol agent Esteban Manzanares, who kidnapped a Honduran woman and her two teenaged daughters after they peacefully surrendered, raped them, and left them for dead before killing himself. Manzanares had already been under suspicion for prior incidents, but the backlog of such cases kept his particular investigation stalled.
Some who have been close to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection are anxious about the Department of Homeland Security's inflation, as well. Officials from the Obama and Bush administrations have given recent interviews questioning how useful "throwing more human resources at the issue" will be. James Tomsheck, a former secret service member and until a few years ago the head of internal affairs at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, has been particularly vocal about the department's culture.
The cowboy mentality probably worked well when the border patrol consisted of 75 former lawmen and bandit-hunters riding in and out of El Paso.
Agents coming in during his tenure, he has said, "were assured they were not law enforcement but part of a military agency tasked with securing the border." In an interview with the Center for Investigative Reporting in 2014, he suggested agents considered themselves "the Marine Corps" of United States policing. In light of Trump's order to expand the agency, Tomsheck has repeated his favored solution: a screening process that includes a lie detector test, weeding out those with criminal histories or drug problems. (ICE currently does not use the test.)
But even if lie detector tests were a foolproof method—which it is not—a series of polygraphs won't change the agency's sense of self, or prevent a similar culture from festering among the 10,000 new ICE recruits. As Tomsheck told told the New Yorker earlier this year, the border patrol's attitude has always been "us against the world." The cowboy mentality probably worked well when the border patrol consisted of 75 former lawmen and bandit-hunters riding in and out of El Paso.
That point of view is a little harder to justify when the country spends more on its immigration enforcement divisions than on all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. Or when you find yourself in a sitting president's favor.
Recently, a Los Angeles Times reporter profiled "The Green Line," a podcast for border patrol agents produced by a handful of agents and prominent Border Patrol Union members. In interviews, they expressed relief at "finally having a seat at the table" after being, in their estimation, ignored and oppressed by other administrations. "I would blame the agency for backing down every time there's a protest or an immigrant rights group complaining about something we've done," said Shawn Moran, until recently the union's head.
There will likely be certain types of people to whom this culture appeals, and pro-immigrant groups have issued reports suggesting collaboration between members of CBP's union members and hate groups like the Federation for Immigration Reform. Such a blurring of the boundary between citizens with guns and a federal agency with an annual bottom line of $18 billion creates some pretty dire potential scenarios. In a study released this week, the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies suggested that instead of vetting and training more officers the agency should simply employ a civilian force. (And, well, there already sort of is one.)
Not all of the new recruits will end up as a gruesome news item, like the border patrol agents who assaulted the two sisters in California. In a lot of places these are simply good jobs: In Del Rio, Texas, where the average income is around $41,000, the U.S. Border Patrol is holding a recruiting event in a few days. It says the starting salary is $52,583, with a guaranteed $97,486 after four years.
By the time anyone who joins up is making that kind of money, even the people who are supposed to know can't say what America's immigration agencies will look like. If history is any indication, it won't be good.
Border Patrol Can't Find Enough Agents to Implement Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Teen immigrants accuse border agent of sexual assault in graphic account
ICE union's Trump endorsement reveals nasty truth immigrants have been warning about
Molly Osberg is a Senior Reporter with G/O Media.


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First Look at the Cast of Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story' Remake
Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story has gone into production. Featuring a cast of newcomers alongside established actors, it follows rival gangs, The Jets and The Sharks, who butt heads when the sister of The Sharks' leader, Maria, falls in love with the friend of The Jets' leader, Tony. 20th Century Fox released the first official cast photo. Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler) are in the middle, with the Jets on the left and The Sharks on the right. The critically acclaimed Broadway musical was originally adapted into the 1961 film, starring Natalie …
Sage Negron – June 18th, 2019
Adaptations Romance
Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story has gone into production. Featuring a cast of newcomers alongside established actors, it follows rival gangs, The Jets and The Sharks, who butt heads when the sister of The Sharks' leader, Maria, falls in love with the friend of The Jets' leader, Tony.
20th Century Fox released the first official cast photo. Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler) are in the middle, with the Jets on the left and The Sharks on the right.
Image Via Deadline
The critically acclaimed Broadway musical was originally adapted into the 1961 film, starring Natalie Wood as Maria and Richard Beymer as Tony. The film was critically acclaimed and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Though lauded, the film has received criticism over the years for the casting of a white woman (Wood) to play a Spanish woman, controversy that Spielberg and company intentionally avoided with this remake.
Disney will release the remake of the film on December 18, 2020.
Featured Image Via Leonard Bernstein
The Next Avenger? Check Out the 6 Superheroes Marvel Could Adapt Next!
Gendry from 'GoT' Is Going to Space in 'The Right Stuff'!


While the New England Patriots may have beat the Los Angeles Rams on the field last Sunday, new data from YouGov Plan & Track shows that official advertisers Pepsi, TurboTax, and Avocados From Mexico are scoring some major points with consumers, too.
When asked if they've heard anything positive or negative about Pepsi in the past two weeks, US adults gave the brand an average Buzz score of 13.3 throughout the month of January. Between Super Bowl Sunday and yesterday, however, Pepsi's Buzz score climbed 5.5 points to hit 18.9, making it the biggest gainer in this category among dozens of other brands. In addition to sponsoring the halftime show, Pepsi ran a commercial featuring celebrities Lil Jon, Steve Carell, and Cardi B.
Other notable Buzz gainers include Sprint (up 4.7 points), Netflix (4.1), and Pringles (4.0).
TurboTax, on the other hand, experienced the largest boost in Word of Mouth — which asks respondents if they recall discussing a certain product or service with friends or family members in the past two weeks. Prior to Sunday, 15.1% of consumers reported talking about TurboTax. After the tax preparation service launched a TV spot about a life-like robot child that wants to help people get the best possible refund this time of year, the brand's Word of Mouth metric increased to 35.2%.
The NFL also ran an ad celebrating its 100th season that features dozens of current and former players. The commercial, in addition to the Super Bowl itself, obviously, seems to have increased the number of people talking about the league, from 32.8% to 49.2%.
Doritos came in second place with an increase of 9.2%, followed by Pepsi (4.6%) and CBS (4.4%), which broadcast the game.