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OpEdNews Op Eds 11/18/2006 at 1:43 PM EST
America: What to Do Next?
By Robert Parry (Page 1 of 1 pages) 2 comments
The Nov. 7 elections took the wind out of the blowhard sails that had been driving the United States toward the shoals of endless war abroad and authoritarianism at home. But the ship of state still finds itself buffeted in very stormy seas, with a safe harbor far beyond the horizon. The question now is what to do next? How does the nation maneuver out of the dangerous predicament in the Middle East? And what will it take to ensure that the country is not so easily commandeered again and piloted back toward disaster? First, it's important to recognize some of the key reasons why the American voters were able to wrest at least some control of the nation's helm from the motley crew of neoconservative ideologues, political operatives and war profiteers who have dominated George W. Bush's administration. For five years, the Bush crew had exploited the fear and anger from 9/11 to overwhelm public doubts about Bush's grim vision of an interminable "war on terror" and its complementary notion of an all-powerful President deep-sixing the Founders' concept of checks and balances in government and "unalienable rights" for the American people. But – in one of the most encouraging examples of grassroots democracy in decades – citizen-run Internet sites led the way along with non-traditional TV and radio, from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to Air America and other progressive radio shows, to pull back the veils of propaganda. This mix of start-ups, iconoclasts and unconventional media got enough information to the people so a majority finally could see through the deceptions. Meanwhile, the bellicose right-wing media voices – from Rush Limbaugh to Fox News – were exposed as little more than water carriers for Bush. The day after the elections, Limbaugh admitted as much. He said he felt "liberated," adding: "I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried." Many mainstream media personalities were unmasked, too, as frauds and cowards. They had stood meekly aside as Bush's Iraq War parade passed by, or they jumped into line themselves, all the better to protect and advance their careers. Still, this match-up – pitting the well-funded right-wing propaganda machine and the giant mainstream media against the tiny information outlets that dared question Bush's policies – must rank as one of the most imbalanced contests in modern history. Internet sites, bloggers, progressive radio stations and Comedy Central's "fake-news" programs lacked both the resources and the audiences of the big-time media outlets, but amazingly still prevailed. Importance of Truth So, one of the lessons from Election 2006 should be that investment in a "counter-media" is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. Contrary to the long-held opinion of many on the Left, media can be both cost-effective and crucial to the emergence of a coherent popular movement of concerned citizens. It follows that these independent and progressive news sites could do much more to put the United States back on the right course if they were better funded. Despite their success in setting the stage for the Nov. 7 elections, many of these outlets survive hand-to-mouth, and Air America has sought bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. A strategy is needed to make these news and opinion outlets financially sustainable. That would require a combination of individual donations, ad buys and foundation grants targeted at the news outlets that stood up to Bush's propaganda while many others were standing down. Along with building honest media must come a new national commitment to valuing truthful information, honest history and straightforward reality. One of the dangerous lessons from this recent political era is that the Right – and especially the neoconservatives – learned that they could manipulate public perceptions through their vast propaganda network. Bluster and tough-guy talk replaced reason and nuanced thinking. In effect, the United States ended up with a foreign policy that amounted to a distillation of the macho harangues from Limbaugh and his many copycat talk-show hosts. While Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush made use of this right-wing media infrastructure, they also understood its risks. But George W. Bush lacked the larger life lessons of his two Republican predecessors; he simply saw these perception management techniques as a means to unlimited power. So, Bush rushed the nation into a war in Iraq, exploiting both the hard-nosed right-wing propaganda apparatus and the weak-kneed mainstream media. But what the younger George Bush didn't appreciate was that a manipulated reality or even an ardently wished-for reality is not the same as real reality. One of the lessons of the Iraq War should be that silencing responsible dissent and shutting out cautionary advice may help achieve short-term goals but can lead to long-term disaster. Israeli Danger In that sense, what happened in the United States is interconnected to a similar dilemma that now confronts – and endangers – Israel. During the 1970s, the Israeli government grew frustrated with U.S. pressure pushing the Israeli government to reach peace agreements with its Arab neighbors and to resolve the issue of Palestinian statehood. Infuriated by acts of Palestinian terrorism, the Israeli Likud Party rose to power with the goal of putting Jewish settlers on occupied Palestinian territory and generally hitting back whenever Arab threats arose, not granting concessions or making peace. Likud's hostility was especially intense toward President Jimmy Carter because he had pressed Israel into a negotiated settlement with Egypt that involved returning the Sinai. Carter also demanded progress toward creating a Palestinian homeland. The Likud view was expressed bluntly by Israeli intelligence officer David Kimche in his book, The Last Option. Kimche bitterly described how Carter had pressured Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to surrender territory to the Arabs in exchange for peace. "Begin was being set up for diplomatic slaughter by the master butchers in Washington, while Israel was being taken to the cleaners by the experts of the National Security Council and the Middle East specialists of the State Department," Kimche wrote. "They had, moreover, the apparent blessing of the two presidents, Carter and [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat, for this bizarre and clumsy attempt at collusion designed to force Israel to abandon her refusal to withdraw from territories occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, and to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state," Kimche wrote. In that time frame – late in the Carter administration – Likud opted for a different course. It began collaborating with Christian fundamentalists on the American Right (the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson) and worked with a rising group of political intellectuals known as the neoconservatives, many of whom were Jewish with strong affections for Israel. Israeli leaders also encouraged friendly lobbying groups, such as the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC], to punish U.S. lawmakers who were viewed as insufficiently supportive of Israel. As these allied forces amassed greater clout within the U.S. government and inside the American news media, the pressure on Israel to seek a lasting peace with its neighbors mostly dissipated. Reagan and Bush I peace initiatives were half-hearted, and President Bill Clinton's last-minute stab at an Israeli-Palestinian deal fell short. Then, when George W. Bush became President in 2001, he abandoned any notion of pushing Israel toward a peace agreement. Bush, who as Texas governor once had been the guest of Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on a helicopter tour over the cramped Palestinian city of Gaza, made clear he was ready to remove all restraints on what Israel could do to break the will of the Palestinians. Ten days after the Inauguration, at the first meeting of the National Security Council, Bush signalled a "hands-off" policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill who later gave an insider account to author Ron Suskind for the book, The Price of Loyalty. "We're going to correct the imbalances of the previous administration on the Mideast conflict," Bush was quoted as saying. "We're going to tilt it back toward Israel. And we're going to be consistent." Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed strong misgivings, predicting that U.S. disengagement would lead to "dire consequences." But Bush shrugged off the concerns, saying "Maybe that's the best way to get things back in balance." Bush added, "Sometimes a show of strength by one side can really clarify things." The Long War So, years of U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict abruptly ended. The Likud-led government soon launched some of the deadliest attacks ever seen in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Palestinians countered with suicide bombings that killed Israeli civilians. The cycle of violence spiralled out of control. Meanwhile, the political clout of the Christian Right/neocons/AIPAC alliance, combined with the intimidating style of the right-wing news media, silenced any meaningful debate within the United States about the Middle East. The 9/11 attacks added explosive fuel to the fire, with Bush and the neocons suddenly empowered to target all cases of Muslim militancy as part of a broad "war on terror," which would give no quarter and make no concession to Islamic radicalism, whether tied to 9/11 or not. In effect, Likud's enemies had become America's enemies. So, after a brief war against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan, Bush turned his attention to one of Israel's most hated adversaries, Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Bush's neoconservative advisers promoted a strategy that, in effect, aimed at resolving the security threat to Israel by projecting American military power into the heart of the Arab world, Iraq, and then using that strategic foothold to intimidate neighboring Muslim nations with the goal of eventually forcing the Palestinians to submit to Israel's terms. This theory held that the solution to the problems faced in Jerusalem ran through Baghdad. The neocons also joked that after Iraq, they would have the choice of either taking Damascus in Syria or Tehran in Iran. "Real men go to Tehran," they quipped. But the conquest of Iraq did not go exactly as planned. A stubborn insurgency, complicated by jihadist terrorism and sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, threw Iraq into bloody chaos. Though leading U.S. neocons complained about the incompetence of Bush's execution of the Iraq War, their solution to the overall problem was mostly to up the ante, expanding the "long war" to take on other enemies of Israel, such as Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a longtime Likud politician who had switched to the new Kadima party, entered the fray in summer 2006. He responded to a round of tit-for-tat violence in Gaza and along the Lebanese border with major military escalations against the Palestinians in Gaza and against Hezbollah-related targets in Lebanon. According to press accounts, the Bush administration even encouraged Israel to widen its military campaign to include Syria, a recommendation that the Olmert government rejected. Still, the Israeli offensive against Lebanon degenerated into a fiasco. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com's "Israeli Leaders Fault Bush on War."] Election 2006 A Republican victory on Nov. 7 would have given Bush what he surely would have viewed as a new mandate to continue and broaden his tough-guy strategies in the Middle East. But it was becoming increasingly apparent to millions of Americans that Bush's approach represented a dead end that was quickly filling with a staggering number of bodies, both of U.S. soldiers and Middle Easterners. To a large degree, the fallacy of Bush's neocon strategy was the belief that force almost alone could defeat Islamic militancy. By essentially ruling out any meaningful concessions to legitimate Muslim grievances, such as the plight of the Palestinians, Bush and the neocons set a course for a bloodbath in the Middle East. Beyond the inhumanity of the neocon strategy, it also carried a virtual certainty of failure. Nearly six years into the Bush administration, CIA Director Michael Hayden explained one of its unintended consequences, the resurgent power of Iran's Islamic government. "The Iranian hand appears to be powerful and I would offer the view: It appears to be growing and Iranian ambitions in Iraq seem to be expanding," Hayden, a four-star Air Force general, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Nov. 15. "I would suggest to you, right now [Iran] seems to be conducting a foreign policy with a feeling of almost dangerous triumphalism." Bush, the neocons and the hardline Israelis had become victims of their success in shouting down or discrediting critics who favored a less violent course. The peace advocates were routinely smeared as "soft on terror" or "anti-Israel." To this day, neocons still rant and rave against Jimmy Carter. However, from the perspective of more than a quarter century later, Carter's advice about resolving the Palestinian dispute and reaching peace accords with Israel's Arab neighbors does not look like such a bad idea. So, another lesson from the Nov. 7 elections is that manipulating perceptions and creating false one-sided realities – like those that have guided U.S. policy in the Middle East – can be dangerous even for those doing the manipulating. Slim Hope The Republican defeat in Election 2006 opens the door slightly for a reexamination of the overall U.S. strategy toward the Middle East. But it's hard to envision a serious rethinking of the policy without a substantial growth in the fledgling independent news media and a stiffening of spines among American politicians. Fearful of losing Jewish-American votes to Republicans, Democrats have shown little interest in reasserting the traditional U.S. role as Israel's concerned friend, offering both military protection and sage advice, whether always welcomed or not. If such a broader debate were possible, it might make sense to suggest that U.S. forces now caught in Iraq's sectarian strife could serve the cause of regional peace much more if they helped Israel remove its settlements from the Golan Heights and the West Bank, clearing the way for peace treaties with Syria and the Palestinians. The United States also could achieve substantial goodwill in the Muslim world by shifting some U.S. reconstruction money from Iraq to improving the economic infrastructure of the Palestinians. That way, there might be some attractive life alternatives to young people otherwise tempted to join the ranks of suicide bombers. But these options have little hope as long as the American political/media structure remains closed to fresh ideas. In that sense, the Nov. 7 elections represented less a decisive victory against Bush's grim vision than a hopeful opportunity to turn the American Republic back toward its great traditions and forward into a rational future. Originally posted at www.consortiumnews.com ######
Robert Parry Social Media Pages:
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at
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"Rob Kall has been the center of a vast, decentralized conversation for years, letting us hear in interviewees' own words the power of connection in every realm. His new book brings it all together, showing us that the old order is broken and fast being replaced from the bottom up. The old power elite may not know it yet, but millions of us -- organizers, artists, thinkers and doers -- have gotten the message. So should you, by reading Bottom-Up."
Arlene Goldbard, author of The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & The Future


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The Contract Playbook: What It Is and Why It's Important
Dermot Whittaker January 8, 2019 legal professionals, playbook
A contract playbook lists the terms and conditions of a contract type and provides clear guidance to negotiators for defending these provisions, offering variations of these provisions, or holding fast to the provisions as non-negotiable. Playbooks also give negotiators instant access to a plain language rationale for the organization's use of a given clause and when to escalate an issue to a legal or business approver.
Contract playbooks can save time and money for organizations that repeatedly negotiate a given contract type. Equally important, playbooks ensure that the organization's legal and business interests are served in its contracts, reducing risk.
Contract Playbook Basics
Here are the basics of a contract playbook.
Playbooks are built around a contract type. The provisions of a sales agreement, purchase agreement, non-disclosure agreement, license, or lease will be different and carry different levels of risk. Any one of these contract types should have its own playbook.
Playbooks contain reviewed and approved terms and conditions. The language in the playbook should reflect careful drafting and review from both legal and business. Business provides guidance on what should be accomplished and protected in a given contract, and legal provides clear language that reduces risk to the organization.
Playbooks provide specific contract language. With a playbook, an approved negotiator, even an attorney, should have the exact language in front him or her, to be deployed without deviation. Alternate language (fall back clauses) should be ready to deploy verbatim.
Playbooks provide clear guidance. They do this in three important ways. Playbooks give a short explanation of the legal language used for a provision. The rationale for the specific language is made explicit, quickly bringing a negotiator up to speed on the importance of the provision. Playbooks provide guidance for defending the provision from changes and the risks such changes present. Importantly, playbooks make clear when to walk away when a provision or its fallbacks are not acceptable to a counterparty. This reduces the temptation (or pressure) for a negotiator to give way on crucial points to get a contract across the finish line.
Playbooks warn about counterparty language. Playbooks are usually built around one's own terms and conditions, but they should also address provisions likely to be offered by a counterparty, especially provisions that are not acceptable. The negotiator using the playbook should see clearly whether to decline the provision entirely or offer a prepared, acceptable version of it from the playbook.
Playbooks signal where and when escalation is needed. Ideally, the playbook gives negotiators everything they need to conclude a sound contract without involving legal or more senior management. In some cases, however, it may be appropriate to show where any further change requires escalation to legal or business approvers.
A contract playbook often takes the form of a table or spreadsheet, with each provision represented in a row, and all the relevant information arranged in columns: provision name and number, precise language to use, explanation of the language, common points of objection, points of defense, alternate language (fallback clauses), and escalation information where relevant. An "approved on" date in the header/footer is vital, since a chief benefit of a playbook is to use the most recently approved terms and conditions.
Creating a Contract Playbook
When an organization – usually led by the legal team – decides to create a contract playbook, it does so to save time and money, to improve contract performance, and to reduce risk. Creating a contract playbook means
Gathering legal, business and contract professionals with the knowledge and judgement to standardize contract language
Reviewing contract performance to identify most negotiated terms and their consequences over time
Drafting contract language and fall back clauses as well as providing cogent explanations of their use in negotiation
Balancing business goals, legal protection, and usability to create a guide for negotiators that helps them conclude most contracts without further review. It's important to remember that while legal can provide optimal language for most desired outcomes, executives also need to decide how much business risk the organization can accept in a contract.
Training the users to understand the playbook and use it in practice. For some organizations, this training will include new attorneys and other approved negotiators such as contract managers and procurement professionals. For other organizations, interested parties such as sales are briefed on the playbooks to increase understanding of the organization's position in negotiations and to encourage a united front when dealing with clients and other counterparties.
Reviewing and updating the language in response to changes in law, new business scenarios, reassessment of the organization's financial position.
The Value of the Contract Playbook
The benefits of a contract playbook – why it's important – are many. Here are a few.
Playbooks save negotiators time. An experienced negotiator can read and understand the position of the organization and confidently apply the guidance to a specific negotiation. Responding to a counterparty's redlines is a matter of replying with acceptable changes or making the case for the organization's original language. The negotiator is clearly forewarned about counterparty language that is not acceptable and can respond quickly. The time spent on this back-and-forth is reduced because the organization's position is clearly laid out in the playbook.
Playbooks reduce referrals to legal. A successful playbook should allow a negotiator to conclude a contract without going back to legal for review and approval. This saves time in the negotiation itself and frees up time for legal to focus on more complex negotiations instead of rewording boilerplate. That reduces legal costs in terms of extra hours, new attorney hires, or legal outsourcing. Avoiding referrals for 50% of the target contract is a minimal standard; many organization shoot for 80%, or more for highly standard contracts such as NDAs.
Playbooks encourage use of standard, optimal language. When the playbook team has done its job right, the terms and conditions in the playbook represent the best position for the organization. When the playbook is adhered to, that position becomes standard across the organization. The risks of divergent language or different provisions are greatly reduced. The organization can rest assured that its contracts are working on its behalf from a business as well as a legal perspective.
Playbooks put everyone on the same page. Separate review of contracts by business, finance, and legal can pit these departments against each other. Creating a contract playbook brings these groups together to create language that accomplishes their goals while addressing their perceptions of risk. Playbook terms and conditions reflect the expertise of legal and the experience of the business manager. The rationale for the final language and the overall importance of a given provision is recorded in the playbook and becomes part of the training. This reduces internal re-negotiation and second guessing of contract language.
Playbooks encourage use of current language. As the legal and business landscape changes, so do standard terms and conditions. When a contract playbook is reviewed and updated (every two to three years is common) current language supplants outdated language going forward for everyone using the playbook. For this reason, a plan should ensure that negotiators have and use only the current playbook reflecting any recent updates. Control over playbook versions is easier to accomplish with an electronic playbook managed centrally and accessed by individuals via computer.
Playbooks simplify contract review. Reviewing past contracts for inconsistent or problematic language is a chore. While legal review of executed contracts and licenses cannot be avoided, the fewer variations in past contracts, the better. Over time, use of the playbook produces contracts with consistent language across contract type, simplifying legal review and reducing nagging worries about individually crafted terms and conditions.
Digital Transformation of the Contract Playbook
There are distinct advantages to creating and managing a contract playbook as part of a contract management or other digital system: deploying the same playbook across the organization, eliminating separate desktop versions that fall out of date, updating and approving contract language in real time. Using an electronic playbook as part of a contract management system, a negotiator can refer to its terms in real time and respond to redlines immediately. The negotiator can insert fallback clauses without risk of transcription error, and clearly see non-negotiable points where the she needs to hold firm.
Saving money and reducing workload are two excellent reasons to start creating a playbook. The benefits are shared by every constituency in an organization: overworked attorneys, cost-conscious financial officers, backlogged procurement managers, eager-to-close sales managers, and multi-tasking contract managers. Best of all, your team members will up their negotiating game while your organization benefits from better contract management and reduced costs.
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Is there some bot for phpBB that would change levels of users when they provide a specific text to some bot?
Let's say I wish to change a user's level/membership to a certain level automatically, when that user sends a message to a bot with text "secret123". Does such system exist?


Most of us know that getting 6-8 hours of sleep a night and eating right will keep us energized. Problem is, sometimes life just gets in the way, right? For those times when you *really* need a little boost, I've put together this list of 7 food items for an instant energy fix.
Green juices (whipped up from vegetables not fruit) are amazing for an instant energy fix. That's because green vegetables like kale, spinach and chard are chock full of antioxidants, phytonutrients, chlorophyll, magnesium, and potassium. When the veggies are blitzed in a blender, no digestion is needed so your cells can instantly make use of these nutrients and pep you up! A word of warning though, whether you are following a recipe or purchasing a ready-made juice, check the sugar content. The primary ingredients should be vegetables NOT fruit otherwise the "juice" is too sugary and will soon result in an energy crash. As a rule of thumb for store-bought, anything with a carb content above 20 grams is waaaay too much sugar for a green juice.
Fruit and nuts make great pairings… and not just in a bar of chocolate! As well as bringing a plethora of vitamins and antioxidants to the table, they are great for an instant energy fix. The sugar and fiber from the fruit combined with the healthy fats and protein from the nutswill give you a quick dose of sustained energy. Great combos include apples and almonds, bananas and walnut, and pears and pecans… but you really can't go wrong with any mix.
Full-fat Greek yogurt has many health benefits. Even better, especially when paired with some delicious fruit and nuts, is a perfect energizing snack. The lactose in Greek yogurt is easily used by the body for energy, making it a great pre or post workout snack. High in protein, calcium and healthy fats, you'll quickly feel less lethargic and more alert.
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are all great choices for a quick, energizing snack. They contain natural sugar which gives you the boost, but they are also high in fiber which helps your body absorb that sugar more steadily, preventing spikes and crashes.
Made from pureed chickpeas, sesame seed paste, lemon juice, and olive oil, snacking on hummus is a great idea if you need a quick pick-me-up. Chickpeas are a balanced source of carbs, protein, and fat which means you'll get a nice steady boost of energy. A great way to enjoy hummus is as a dip for carrots or cucumber or as a topping for whole wheat crackers.
Carbs are the body's primary source of energy so don't shy away from them when it comes to finding your energy fix. Rather than pre-packaged instant oatmeal in the morning, go for rolled oats or steel cut oats which are less processed meaning the body absorbs the energy more slowly, giving you a longer-lasting boost. Oats also contain B vitamins which help your body metabolize energy.
Energy bars aren't always the healthiest energy-boosting snacks because they are so often filled with highly processed junk and sugar. Not so with Jeca products. Our energy bars and cookies give you an instant energy fix without the crash because they are made with simple, natural, unprocessed ingredients. In fact, you can count the ingredients that go into our bars on one hand - just check out the ingredient list of our vegan-friendly Almond and Date Bar: oats, almonds, dates, peanut butter, and agave. Similarly, all our cookies are made with oat flour and have nuts and other wholesome ingredients for added nutritional impact. Plus, they are mildly caffeinated with either coffee beans or matcha (green tea leaves) for an additional energy boost for those times when you need it.


I've wanted to go check out the Children's Museum for a long time, so while Grandma was here last week, we did!
There are lots of different play areas and rooms with a theme and everything is hands on and kid friendly.
We played with stacking blocks made from mushrooms, we blew bubbles with homemade pipe cleaner rings (which Jacob loved). There was a play area specifically designed for younger kids where we spent most of our time.
Then there was a "sliced orange" that was a never ending cycle of pick up the balls, put them through the holes and pick them up again…we could have stayed there for hours!
We also made our way through the bounce house twice before the older, rowdy kids took over and bounced Jacob out!
If you are ever downtown and need a fun place to entertain your kid, check it out!
Jacob LOVES his bath, even during the day if the door is open, he will crawl up to the bathtub and turn around and look at me (like he is in the picture below) as if he is saying, can we take a bath now??
Thanks for a fun few days Grandma!
There are some great photos in this bunch, Michelle! Looks like such a fun time, I wish I taken Ava and Lucy there! Glad that you got to spend some really good quality time with your mom. Miss you already.
Looks like Jacob has already found a girl friend in some of the pictures. Love each and every one of them He quite the man – wet or dry!!!
Where is this children's museum at?!?


I keep loosing my connection on my HT2000W modem and i just had it installed on Monday 05/08/2017 i keep getting cut off of my netflix speed test from within hughes net seams ok if i check it with other speed test its a whole new ball game.
You have good connectivity to the gateway.
Seems the new gateway 2000W modem is causing some people problems under certain conditions.
If you are failing the ODU VDC test then you will have issues with connectivity for certain.
- Bad or lose Coaxial cables - can be as simple as tightening a connection, or replacing the cable due to a break mid-way.
Will be Monday at the soonest before a Rep from here looks at things, but chances are they will have to send a technician out to evaulate the equipment. When they do, it will be free of charge.
Duh, I totally looked right past the ODU VDC failure.
Don't give up yet.... Perhaps @Liz or @Amanda can get involved and help you figure out what's going on.
ETA: Also, since this is such a new install, can you call your installer and have him come back to look at the problem? It might have something to do with the actual installation.
I apologize for taking so long to respond to you. I will be running diagnostics right now and making an order for a technician visit if needed. Meanwhile, can you confirm there was no bad weather in your area since this started?


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Het edelhert (Cervus elaphus) is een evenhoevig zoogdier uit de familie der hertachtigen. De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort werd in 1758 gepubliceerd door Carl Linnaeus. Het edelhert komt voor in West-Europa, in Centraal-Europa, in Groot-Brittannië, op het Iberisch Schiereiland en in het zuiden van Scandinavië. In Europa is het edelhert het op een na grootste hert; alleen de eland (Alces alces) is groter.

Het edelhert komt in Nederland voor op de Veluwe, in de Oostvaardersplassen, in Natuurpark Lelystad, in het Weerterbos en in Het Groene Woud tussen Tilburg, Eindhoven en 's-Hertogenbosch. In België zijn in het wild levende edelherten voornamelijk voorkomend in Wallonië en relatief zeldzaam in Vlaanderen. In Vlaanderen komen ze voor in de regio Voeren, op het Kempens Plateau en in het Belgisch-Nederlandse grenspark Kempen-Broek. In Wallonië is hun verspreiding algemeen in de Ardennen.

Uiterlijk
In de zomer zijn de dieren roodbruin van kleur, in de winter grijsbruin. De buikzijde is wit en het staartstuk is roomkleurig. De rui begint eerst bij de kop, de poten en het voorlijf. In september begint de zomervacht plaats te maken voor de wintervacht, in december is deze volledig vervangen. De zomervacht komt weer terug in mei en is in juli of augustus compleet.

De gemiddelde lichaamsgrootte van een edelhertenpopulatie wordt beïnvloed door meerdere factoren. Edelherten uit bosgebieden zijn kleiner dan die uit meer open gebieden, en de lichaamsgrootte neemt toe van het westen naar het oosten. Ook zijn mannetjes groter dan vrouwtjes. De kop-romplengte ligt tussen de 165 en de 260 centimeter, de schouderhoogte tussen de 114 en de 140 centimeter. De staart is, zonder het haar meegerekend, tussen de twaalf en de vijftien centimeter lang, met haar ongeveer twintig centimeter. Mannetjes worden tot 255 kilogram zwaar, vrouwtjes tot 150 kilogram.

Gewei
Enkel het mannetje draagt een gewei dat gemiddeld zo'n 70 centimeter lang is, maar kan uitgroeien tot meer dan 90 centimeter. Het gewicht kan variëren van vier tot tien kilogram. Aan het gewei kan men enigszins de leeftijd aflezen. Een jong edelhert heeft gewoonlijk een kleiner gewei met weinig vertakkingen, maar een hert in zijn laatste levensfase zal ook weer een kleiner gewei met minder takken krijgen. Een gezond dier heeft een forser en zwaarder gewei, maar niet per se meer enden dan een ziekelijk dier. Er is een duidelijk verband tussen de kwaliteit van het leefgebied en de grootte van de hertengeweien. In de zeventiende eeuw waren de geweien fors, en vanaf de Renaissance zijn in Duitsland geweien met 24 en meer enden geconserveerd; één daarvan weegt bijna 20 kilogram. Er bestaat zelfs een 66-ender, maar dit is een curiosum, waarmee iets mis is. Vanaf de 17e eeuw eisten bevolkingsdruk, jacht en aanplant van naaldbomen hun tol. Na eeuwenlange verschraling kregen de Veluwse edelherten na de Tweede Wereldoorlog weer forsere geweien. Door aanleg van loofbos en wildakkers en het bevorderen van ondergroei verbeterden toen hun leefomstandigheden weer.

Het gewei wordt elk jaar afgeworpen onder invloed van geslachtshormonen. Oudere herten doen dat gedurende de laatste wintermaanden, jonge dieren meestal in maart of april. Daarna begint meteen het nieuwe gewei te groeien dat gemiddeld in juli volgroeid is. In augustus begint de basthuid te jeuken en verwijderen de mannetjes die door het gewei langs takken en boomstammen te schuren. In de nazomer ziet de wandelaar dan ook vaak lappen huid aan de takken hangen. Informatie en terminologie over hertengeweien vindt u in het artikel Gewei.

Verspreiding en ondersoorten

Het edelhert komt ook voor in Noordwest-Afrika, specifiek in Algerije en Tunesië. Het gaat hier om de ondersoort Cervus elaphus barbarus. Doordat ondersoorten zich verplaatsten naar gebieden waar van nature andere ondersoorten voorkomen, is de genetische diversiteit van het edelhert sterk aangetast. Ook is er veel genetische vervuiling opgetreden door kruising van ondersoorten onderling en de verwante soorten wapiti (Cervus canadensis) en sikahert (Cervus nippon). Populaties van ondersoorten die zuiver zijn gebleven worden hieronder beschreven:

 Zweeds edelhert – Cervus elaphus elaphus – Zuivere populaties komen alleen nog voor in Skåne in het zuiden van Zweden. In alle andere populaties van de nominaatondersoort die van nature voorkomt in Zuid-Scandinavië en Centraal-Europa is genetisch materiaal ingekruist van Oost-Europese edelherten en wapiti's.
 Noors edelhert – Cervus elaphus atlanticus , 1906 – Alle edelherten in Noorwegen zijn nog genetisch zuiver, met uitzondering van een geïsoleerde populatie op het eiland Otterøy.
 Schots edelhert – Cervus elaphus scoticus , 1906 – De enige genetisch zuivere Schotse edelherten komen voor in het gebergte in de regio Otago in Nieuw-Zeeland. Deze werden hier door Schotse kolonisten geïntroduceerd in 1871, met individuen uit het Invermark Forest, lang voordat er genetisch materiaal van andere ondersoorten werd ingekruist in de populatie in Schotland.
 Midden-Europees edelhert – Cervus elaphus hippelaphus , 1777 – De populatie in de Vogezen vertegenwoordigt de enige overgebleven genetisch zuivere Midden-Europese edelherten. Op de lange termijn kan contact met de gehybridiseerde populatie in Duitsland niet worden uitgesloten. Tot nu toe zijn er alleen dieren uit de Vogezen naar Duitsland getrokken en niet andersom.
 Iberisch edelhert – Cervus elaphus hispanicus , 1909 – Komt voor op het Iberisch Schiereiland. De populatie in het Nationaal Park Doñana is met zekerheid genetisch zuiver, maar er zijn naar alle waarschijnlijkheid nog meer zuivere populaties over.

Een populatie edelherten in het Italiaanse Natuurreservaat Gran Bosco della Mesola is naar alle waarschijnlijkheid de enige populatie edelherten in Italië die gevrijwaard is gebleven van hybridisatie. Onderzoek door Zachos et al. (2014) heeft uitgewezen dat de edelherten uit Mesola taxonomisch onderscheiden moeten worden als aparte ondersoort, onder de naam Cervus elaphus italicus.

De taxonomie van het geslacht Cervus is zeer complex. Volgens Groves & Grubb (2011) behoort de naam Cervus elaphus alleen toe aan de edelherten in West-Europa, Centraal-Europa, Zuid-Scandinavië, Groot-Brittannië, Italië en het Iberisch Schiereiland. Hierin worden de overige ondersoorten binnen de westelijke clade, in andere taxonomische systemen als ondersoorten beschouwd, gesplitst tot aparte soorten. Als de taxonomische indeling wordt gebruikt waarbij alleen het edelhert en wapiti van elkaar gescheiden worden, naar voorbeeld van de IUCN, omvat het edelhert naast de bovengenoemde ondersoorten ook de volgende ondersoorten:
 Atlashert – Cervus elaphus barbarus , 1833
 Corsicaans edelhert – Cervus elaphus corsicanus , 1777
 Oost-Europees edelhert – Cervus elaphus pannoniensis , 1997
 Kaukasushert – Cervus elaphus maral , 1850
 Afghaans edelhert of Bocharahert – Cervus elaphus bactrianus , 1900
 Jarkandhert – Cervus elaphus yarkandensis , 1892

Biotoop
Edelherten zijn zeer tolerant ten aanzien van verschillende biotopen en komen in een grote diversiteit aan gebieden voor. Zowel drogere loofbossen en heidevelden, als zeer vochtige milieus als venen en moerassen worden bewoond. In hooglanden en in berggebieden begeven de dieren zich zomers tot boven de boomgrens. 's Winters leven ze meer in het dal. Het edelhert lijkt een voorkeur te hebben voor de randen van bosgebieden die grenzen aan de uiterwaarden van rivieren en beken. Daar geeft het bos bescherming, de uiterwaarden voedsel en de rivier water. In Europa is hun aantal groeiende, met grote populaties in onder andere Duitsland en Spanje.

Voedsel
Edelherten eten plantaardig voedsel: het zijn herbivoren. Ze voeden zich met gras, zegge, bies, heide, boomschors, knollen, wortels, vruchten, zaden, knoppen, scheuten en loof van bomen en struiken zoals wilg, spar en hulst en landbouwgewassen. In bosrijke gebieden is het percentage schors, knoppen, zaden en scheuten groter dan in meer open gebieden. Grassen en kruiden vormen overal de hoofdmoot.

Leefwijze

Edelherten zijn de hele dag door actief, maar in gebieden met veel menselijke activiteit laten ze zich vooral vroeg in de ochtend en laat in de avond zien. 's Ochtends trekken ze meestal naar de graslanden om daar te kunnen grazen. In de Schotse Hooglanden klimmen ze 's ochtends naar hoger gelegen gebieden om daar te kunnen rusten en dalen ze 's avonds weer af om te grazen.

In de zomer en in de winter vormen de herten roedels. De vrouwelijke herten (hinden) en onvolwassen dieren van beide geslachten vormen aparte roedels. Hinderoedels worden meestal geleid door een dominant vrouwtje. De volwassen mannelijke dieren vormen afzonderlijke, van de hinden ruimtelijk gescheiden roedels, die vaak minder gestructureerd zijn en meer wisselende samenstellingen kunnen hebben. In de aanloop naar de paartijd (bronst) vallen de mannelijke roedels volledig uiteen en zoeken de mannetjes de roedels met hinden op. Minder sterke herten kunnen zich (nog) niet laten gelden ten opzichte van hun krachtiger en meer ervaren rivalen en leiden dan vaak een zwervend bestaan.

De bronsttijd valt voornamelijk in de tweede helft van september tot begin oktober. Soms komen er paringen in november voor, maar die zijn in Nederland vrij zeldzaam. In deze periode zijn de mannelijke edelherten zeer actief om zich voort te planten. Luid burlend houden ze concurrenten op de hoogte van hun aanwezigheid en hun motieven. Hoe sterker en gezonder het mannetje, hoe vaker hij zal burlen. De sterksten claimen een zo groot mogelijk roedel vrouwelijke dieren.

Na de bronst zijn de actiefste mannelijke dieren vaak uitgeput. Niet alleen vanwege de forse inspanningen, maar ook omdat ze gedurende deze periode, die een maand kan duren, nagenoeg geen voedsel tot zich nemen. Hun lichaamsgewicht kan dan wel met dertig procent zijn afgenomen. Wel drinken de dieren tijdens de bronst veel. De periode direct na de bronst is daardoor van nature een kwetsbare fase in het bestaan van een edelhert. In sommige natuurgebieden blijkt dat roofdieren als wolven (Canis lupus), en zelfs bruine beren (Ursus arctos), zich specialiseren in het doden van deze oververmoeide edelherten. De dieren hebben zich echter dan al kunnen voortplanten.

Eind mei, begin juni, na een draagtijd van 225 tot 245 dagen, wordt één kalf geboren. Tweelingen zijn zeldzaam. Hinden die een kalf zetten (werpen), zonderen zich rond zeven tot veertien dagen van het roedel af om zich daar later weer bij te voegen. Het kalf heeft bij de geboorte een gevlekte vacht. Deze dient ter camouflage: de eerste twee weken zal de moeder haar kalf vaak alleen laten, om enkel terug te keren om het jong te zogen. Gedurende deze tijd drukt het jong zich tegen de grond, verscholen in hoog gras of tussen het struikgewas. Bij de meeste dieren zullen de vlekken na twee maanden verdwijnen, maar sommige edelherten zijn zelfs nog gevlekt als ze volwassen zijn. Het jong wordt zo'n zes tot tien maanden gezoogd. Eenjarige kalveren worden soms ook nog gezoogd, maar alleen indien de moeder niet drachtig is. Binnen de roedel vormen zich soms crèches van meerdere jongen, die vaak met elkaar spelen.

Mannetjes zijn na één tot drie jaar geslachtsrijp, vrouwtjes na één tot twee jaar, voor beiden afhankelijk van de kwaliteit van het leefgebied. Jonge bokken zullen vaak hun geboortegebied verlaten zodra ze zelfstandig zijn, maar hinden blijven meestal trouw aan hun geboorteplek; de woongebieden van hinden overlappen meestal met dat van hun moeder. Als edelherten ongeveer zeven jaar oud zijn, zijn ze volgroeid.

Edelherten kunnen maximaal vijfentwintig jaar oud worden, maar slechts weinig dieren zullen ouder worden dan vijftien jaar. Het sterftecijfer is het grootst onder kalfjes van acht tot elf maanden.

Het edelhert in Nederland

In Nederland komt het edelhert voor in drie gebieden: op de Veluwe in Natuurpark Lelystad en in de Oostvaardersplassen. Van nature komt het edelhert in Nederland in alle habitats voor: de duinen, het rivierengebied, op de hogere gronden in de bossen en zelfs in de moerassen en de venen, waarmee Nederland oorspronkelijk voor bijna twee derde bedekt was en die nu vrijwel geheel verdwenen zijn.

Doordat het edelhert vooral op de Veluwe in de bossen gezien wordt, denken veel mensen ten onrechte dat het bosdieren zijn. De bosranden gebruikt het edelhert wel om zich in te verschuilen, maar in dichte bossen zit het gewei te veel in de weg, vooral in de bronsttijd als het groot is. Daardoor kan het minder snel het bos in vluchten. De verwachting is dat, als de ecologische hoofdstructuur gereed is, edelherten ook weer aan de randen van de grote rivieren te zien zullen zijn.

Het milieu van de Oostvaardersplassen en Natuurpark Lelystad is anders dan dat van de Veluwe. De dieren die in de Oostvaardersplassen en in Natuurpark Lelystad zijn geïntroduceerd komen voor een deel van de Veluwe en voor een deel uit Schotland. Sommigen verwachten dat edelherten die in een kleimoeras leven, zwaarder worden dan de relatief kleine herten op de Veluwe. Maar of dat bewaarheid wordt, is onzeker. De edelherten en andere daar levende grote zoogdieren worden niet bejaagd, waardoor de populatiegrootte zich alleen aanpast aan het beschikbare voedsel. Dit met dien verstande dat de edelherten niet weg kunnen trekken uit de Oostvaardersplassen en Natuurpark Lelystad wanneer het voedsel op is en alleen kunnen verhongeren. Deze wisselende beschikbaarheid van voedsel is een basiscomponent van alle ecosystemen, zij het dat populaties in natuurlijke omstandigheden de mogelijkheid hebben om, gelijk hun natuurlijke gedrag, rond te trekken en voedselrijkere gronden te zoeken.

Er komen in Nederland sinds twee eeuwen buiten afgesloten terreinen en de zogeheten 'vrije wildbaan' op de Veluwe vrijwel geen edelherten (meer) voor. Oorspronkelijk kwamen er edelherten voor in veel gedeelten van het Nederlandse vasteland. Door de opkomst van landbouw en menselijke aanwezigheid is het edelhert ongeveer een eeuw niet of nauwelijks in Nederland aanwezig geweest. Het edelhert is in Nederland opnieuw geïntroduceerd door Koning Willem I. Deze herintroductie uit oogpunt van de jacht  vond plaats op de Veluwe.

Door infrastructuur en relatief dichte bebouwing zijn nagenoeg alle gradiënten naar omliggende andere vegetatietypen als bijvoorbeeld ooibossen, kleigebieden en rivierlopen voor de dieren onbereikbaar geworden. Het leefgebied van het edelhert wordt daarmee vooral beperkt door te kleine en te monotone biotopen. Edelherten over de grens in Duitsland leven in landschappen waarin bos of heuvels, grasland, water en rust voldoende beschikbaar zijn. Door de overvloedige aanwezigheid van monoculturen (bijvoorbeeld maisteelt) en de afwezigheid van grootschalige afwisselende landschappen zijn grote gedeelten van Nederland voor edelherten minder interessant. Desalniettemin zijn er ieder jaar meldingen van individuele edelherten die op natuurlijke wijze van Duitsland naar Nederland migreren. In alle aan de oostgrens gelegen provincies, met uitzondering van Groningen, komt dit voor.

De gebieden waar de herten nu in Nederland leven, zijn onderling niet meer via ecologische routes bereikbaar. Nieuwe aan te leggen ecologische verbindingen zoals ecoducten en corridors zouden dat in de toekomst moeten verhelpen. Over het opnieuw verbinden van ecologisch gezien geïsoleerd geraakte natuurgebieden is in 2005 op initiatief van Stichting Kritisch Bosbeheer een boekje verschenen genaamd "De Veluweroute". Daarin wordt beschreven dat het heel goed mogelijk is om ook in het huidige Nederland grotere dieren van natuurgebied tot natuurgebied te laten trekken.

Sinds november 2005 zijn er ook in het Weerterbos op de grens van Limburg en Noord-Brabant edelherten aanwezig, zij het niet in het wild. Het gaat om een groep van 15 uit België afkomstige dieren die daar zijn uitgezet. Deze herten bevinden zich nochtans in een wildraster van 150 hectare. Het is de bedoeling dat de dieren binnen enkele jaren hun vrijheid verkrijgen en mogelijk kunnen uitzwermen over Noord-Brabant en Limburg. Begin oktober 2021 is het wildraster nog niet opengesteld en op dit moment bestaat de groep uit 5 herten en 22 hindes. De openstelling is door druk van de omgeving (boerenprotest) en angst voor verkeersongelukken uitgesteld. Wel komen er steeds meer waarnemingen van edelherten die via de grens met België in dit gebied opduiken.

Ook in Twente komen wel edelherten voor, die uit het Duitse Bentheimer Wald afkomstig zijn. Volgens de wet ("nulstandbeleid") moeten ze echter worden afgeschoten.

Relatie met runderen
Al in de zeventiger jaren van de vorige eeuw werd beweerd dat edelherten en andere herbivoren die grassen als basisvoedsel hebben, vermoedelijk zullen profiteren van het inbrengen van runderen voor natuurlijke begrazing. Dit faciliterend effect is nadien inderdaad wetenschappelijk aangetoond, vooral ten voordele van kleinere herbivoren dan het rund, waaronder dus ook het edelhert. Door de runderbegrazing blijkt de productie van eiwitrijker groeiende grassen in de vegetatie veel langer te duren. Met andere woorden: de grassen verouderen dan minder snel, wat zonder natuurlijke begrazing anders soms al in de zomer plaatsvindt.

Gedragsverandering
Met uitzondering van de Oostvaardersplassen en Natuurpark Lelystad zijn edelherten in Nederland door menselijke activiteit zeer schuw geworden. De van nature dagactieve dieren zijn zodoende overwegend nachtactief geworden. De verschillen tussen de herten van de Oostvaardersplassen en Natuurpark Lelystad en de Veluwe zijn in dit opzicht groot.

Beheer
Behalve in de Oostvaardersplassen en Natuurpark Lelystad worden edelherten in Nederland door preventief afschot gereguleerd volgens het regionale Faunabeheerplan. De kadavers van de gedode dieren worden daarbij meestal aan de betreffende ecosystemen onttrokken, zij het dat oneetbare lichaamsdelen, zoals de darmen, in de terreinen worden achtergelaten (ontweiden) hetgeen gelijk staat met één derde van het totale gewicht. Andere oneetbare lichaamsdelen van geschoten edelherten, zoals de geweien, verdwijnen ook uit het systeem.

Afbeeldingen

Externe links

 Kaart met waarnemingen in Vlaanderen.
 Vereniging Het Edelhert

Hertachtigen
Dier uit het Palearctisch gebied
IUCN-status niet bedreigd

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
@skopemag news – thursday – february 18, 2021 @ 12 pm est
by Skope • February 18, 2021
@skopemag HQ – http://smarturl.it/skope
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Jon Stickley Trio brings musical wit to "Future Ghost"
On their first release of new material since last year's Scripting The Flip, Organic Records' Jon Stickley Trio continues to refine its powerful, cutting-edge approach to acoustic instrumental music.
From the opening acoustic guitar arpeggios, "Future Ghost" unfolds as a juxtaposition of moods and meanings, using intermingled minor and major scales and ambiguous harmonic moves to create characteristically memorable melodic phrases. Meanwhile, as Stickley and violinist Lyndsay Pruett glide from alternating solo passages to intricate unisons, drummer Hunter Deacon's steady groove, spare fills and occasional rhythmic shadowing of the other Trio members effortlessly guide the group toward the relaxed, satisfying end to "Future Ghost"'s succinct 3+ minutes.
BK Drill's Next-Up DUSTY LOCANE Gets Ready to "Rumble"
With tens of millions of streams in the bank, basso-voiced Brooklyn bruiser DUSTY LOCANE is ready to blow. Looking to continue his rip-roaring run to stardom, DUSTY LOCANE shares "Rumble," a high-energy slice of Brooklyn drill. Produced by BlazinBeatz, who layers horror movie strings with drill's signature staccato hi-hats and sliding 808s, "Rumble" finds the three-time Rolling Stone-charting artist establishing that he's not one to be trifled with. The self-described "demon on the loose" doesn't start fights, he ends them, sparing no time for those talking out the sides of their necks: "I hope that you you ready to rumble/Cause I bring my weapon with me, I don't tussle."
Burn Down Eden – Release Music Video For "Witch's Scorn"
Burn Down Eden is continuing to put a spell on the Metal Community with their second single "Witch´s Scorn" of their third upcoming album release. An evil and brutal, yet emotional song showing how multifaceted this band and especially this upcoming album release is. The band broaches the issue of the inscrutability of the relation between men and women and depicts toxic relationships. You can hear all the lies, hatred & false accusations in this song.
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians' "Horse's Mouth" debuts today
The song is the third unveiled from the band's anticipated new album, Hunter And The Dog Star, which will be released February 19 via Thirty Tigers (pre-order here). The album features eleven new tracks including "Tripwire" and "My Power," which debuted this past fall to critical acclaim. Of the song, American Songwriter praises, "Upbeat and empowering at the exact time we need a song to lift our spirits, it is at once vibrantly new while also resounding with the timeless vibe of a classic R&B hit," while The Dallas Morning News declares, "a funky mid-tempo rocker steeped in '70s pop and vintage Lou Reed."
THE SNUTS RELEASE NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO "SOMEBODY LOVES YOU"
A love song for the ages, with its title rooted in the desire to check in on people closest to us, "Somebody Loves You" sees the band step into a new direction.
"Three simple words: 'Somebody Loves You', spray painted all across my city. It is a simple but powerful reminder," frontman Jack Cochrane said of the track. "As the days disappeared into months, I noticed myself and everyone around me scrambling to stay in touch, to check up on each other. There was something really special about this to me. I don't think anyone really saw that coming. It shouldn't take a global pandemic to remind us how important the people we care about are, but I'm kind of glad it did."
DASHA Glistens In Breezy Self-Love Anthem "$hiny Things" – Out Now via Quadio Records
"$hiny Things" is filled with retro 00's elements, mixed with a breezy guitar and harmonies remnant of your favorite pop superstars. While accented with nostalgic flare, the track experiments with modern elements keeping it fresh.
Behind it's sparkle lies a deeper message. Dasha explains, "This song is all about confidence in the person you're with and within yourself. The 'shiny things' are everything that other people have that you don't. Instead of letting that lead to insecurities you gotta focus on all the shiny things that you have that others don't."
RYANHOOD ANNOUNCES NEW LP "UNDER THE LEAVES" OUT APRIL 16 + TACKLES CULTURAL SCAPEGOATING IN NEW SINGLE "THE FIGHT" OUT TODAY
"The more we fight, the more we invigorate the thing we're fighting against. And without knowing it, the more we as people eventually become the kind of thing we're fighting against," Ryanhood vocalist and lyricist Cameron Hood told American Songwriter about the song's premise of cultural scapegoating. "It's not about telling another person or group how they should be processing their fears or hurts differently," he continues. "It's about noticing how you do it. It has to start with you… with me." Hood drew inspiration from the likes of French historian René Girard and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, Martin Luther King, Jr., and even Psalm 46. The message is intelligent but never pretentious and shines against the backdrop of bandmate Ryan David Green's intricate guitar work and arrangement.
Ryanhood Is Battling Hydras and Fighting the Good "Fight"
Sir Charles Ent. | "Late Night" | Music Service
Dallas, Texas rapper and recording artist, Sir Charles Ent. comes with another Club/Street banger. "Late Night" giving you that constant head nod, with his catchy lingo "late night" is the type of track that will have your girl dancing to. bar after bar.
Listen to LA songwriter Valeree's soul-pop lament "Broke"
"Broke" is an anthem for those that are just trying to stay afloat. Valeree admits that she has struggled with poverty and has even been homeless at various moments in life and she wanted to illustrate that "stuck" feeling in a song, while still conveying a message of hope and perseverance. She goes on to explain, "I chose this song as the single because I felt it was exciting, fun, and catchy, while also being the most different from anything I've done."
YEИDRY RELEASES NEW SINGLE + VIDEO "SE ACABÓ"
Dominican trilingual Afro-Latina songstress YEИDRY releases "Se Acabó" ft. Mozart La Para, one of Dominican Republic's most esteemed artists globally renowned for his freestyle ability. Her new single is accompanied by striking visuals filmed in her hometown of Herrera, Dominican Republic and directed by Kieran Khan under the production of Black Sheep Music Management.
OLIVER TREE RETURNS WITH NEW TRACK "OUT OF ORDINARY"
Ugly is Beautiful arrived last July and immediately rocketed to #1 on Billboard's "Top Rock Albums" and "Top Alternative Albums" charts while also debuting among the top 15 on the overall SoundScan/Billboard 200. Now boasting more than 800 million worldwide streams, the album features an array of iconoclastic hit singles including the RIAA platinum certified "Alien Boy" and RIAA gold certified "Hurt," both of which are joined by wildly inventive companion videos streaming now at Oliver Tree's hugely popular official YouTube channel. Other highlights include "Cash Machine," "I'm Gone," "Bury Me Alive," and "Let Me Down," to name but a few. In addition, Oliver later partnered up with 90s punk-pop heroes blink-182 for an exclusive rework of "Let Me Down," which debuted at #24 on Billboard's "Hot Alternative Songs" chart.
JONAS BLUE & AWA KICK OFF 2021 WITH HOUSE BANGER "SOMETHING STUPID"
Loaded with dancefloor energy, Jonas has hit the ground running in what's going to be an exciting 12 months. Bursting with euphoria from the off, AWA arms the track with huge melodies that explode into an electric chorus, channeling the iconic synth sample of Robin S' 90s hit "Show Me Love." The track is worthy of any club or festival stage and boy, do we need that right now!
AWA's exhilarating lyrics document the nervous excitement of early love, tangled up in the feeling of being gloriously out of control, knowing you need to take a step back before saying something stupid.
LEIGH NASH BRINGS HER VISION OF UNITY IN THE RELEASE OF POWERFUL NEW SONG "GOOD TROUBLE" AVAILABLE NOW
Grammy Award nominated singer-songwriter, Leigh Nash, has released her latest single, "Good Trouble," available now wherever you find great music. The beautifully melodic and impactful track, produced by Sam Ashworth, explores the racial disparities that permeate our society and acknowledges the change that must come for true equality to be achieved. Joining Leigh on the track is Grammy nominated artist, Ruby Amanfu, who brought her own perspective and unifying message to this anthemic ballad.
Alejandra Guzmán Reveals Her Dark Side With Her New Single and Video, "Lado Oscuro"
2021 starts off with a big bang for superstar Alejandra Guzmán and the launch of her power ballad single and video, "Lado Oscuro," written by Guzmán, Benjamín Díaz, and Alejandra Zéguer, and produced by Guzmán herself. They reveal La Guzmán at the peak of her form and give a deep insight into her soul.
The single and its powerful video, filmed in a church in the center of Mexico City, produced by Alejandra Guzmán and directed by Ángel Flores, speak for themselves. Her millions of fans around the world have been waiting for the real Guzmán: here she is.
HAYLEY WILLIAMS RELEASES ALL-NEW ALBUM FLOWERS for VASES / descansos
"This isn't really a follow-up to Petals For Armor. If anything, it's a prequel, or some sort of detour between parts 1 and 2 of Petals. The meaning of the album as a whole is maybe entirely different from diving into each song in particular," says Williams. "For me, there's no better way to tackle these individual subjects other than holistically. The ways I've been given time (forcibly, really) to stew on certain pains long enough to understand that they in fact, need to be released…indefinitely. I may never have been offered such a kindness; an opportunity to tend to the seeds I'd planted, to harvest, and to weed or prune what is no longer alive, in order to make space for the living. I wrote and performed this album in its entirety. That's a career first for me. I recorded it at my home in Nashville, the home at which I've resided since Paramore released After Laughter. 2020 was really hard but I'm alive and so my job is to keep living and help others to do the same."
Toots and The Maytals' 'Got To Be Tough' Gets Re-Imagined By Until The Ribbon Breaks.
Today, Trojan Jamaica/BMG officially released the powerful Until The Ribbon Breaks' re-imagination of Toots and The Maytals' "Got To Be Tough" (the title track of the album released in August via Trojan Jamaica / BMG). The track will receive its radio airplay debut tomorrow evening on KCRW (with Jason Kramer between 6PM – 8PM PT) and is available now across all digital platforms. Trojan Jamaica/BMG has confirmed all proceeds from the single will be directed to Black Lives Matter.
Depression literally attacks stopnowstartagain in video for "Liplock"
For Houston, TX emo act stopnowstartagain, the new single "liplock" was an outlet to express what he's been feeling.
"This song is about how difficult it is to actually talk about things that bother you," explains the artist. "So, instead I wrote a song about it. I sing one song, cause I can't talk. It stays on my tongue, like a liplock."
FOO FIGHTERS: MEDICINE AT MIDNIGHT NEW ALBUM OUT NOW
The rock doctors will see you now: Foo Fighters have finally unleashed all nine doses of their much heralded new album, Medicine at Midnight (Roswell Records/RCA Records).
Medicine at Midnight's release ends the wait that was first kicked into high gear last year with the Mainstream Rock/Rock Airplay #1 "Shame Shame" and bludgeoning "final f*ck you to 2020" (UPROXX) "No Son of Mine," and more recently the epic ballad to cathartic scream of "Waiting on a War." While anticipation has built exponentially with each new track, early critical notices been amongst the most enthusiastic of the band's 26 years in the game, including:
"(FOUR STARS) Brighter and more optimistic than anything they've ever done… Even the harder-rocking songs overflow with ear candy."—ROLLING STONE
"One of Foo Fighters' best albums of this century."—WALL STREET JOURNAL
Watch "Girl Power Jam" lyric video from Bob's Burgers Valentine's Day available on DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop
Today, Sub Pop has released Bob's Burgers Valentine's Day which features songs from the 20th Television's Emmy-award winning hit comedy, now in its eleventh season.
The Bob's Burgers Valentine's Day release features music performed by the main cast members – Bob (H. Jon Benjamin), Linda (John Roberts), their children Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman), Louise (Kristen Schaal) and handyman Teddy (Larry Murphy).
PRATEEK KUHAD SHARES "cold / mess (on piano)"
In October, Prateek announced his signing to Elektra Records, making history as the first solo Indian act to join the storied label. The news was heralded by the re-release of his 2018 breakthrough EP cold / mess, lauded by Atwood Magazine an "an utterly breathtaking, expansive piece of indie folk mastery." The collection has racked up critical praise from NPR, Vulture, Billboard, Uproxx, and former President Barack Obama, who featured "cold / mess" on his 2019 Songs of the Year playlist.
Prateek Kuhad shares 'cold / mess (on piano)'
New // Oscar Scheller & Katie Gavin of MUNA – "Good Enough"
Speaking about the single, Oscar explains "I was in New York as I'd flown out to see a girl there, but it didn't work out how I had imagined. I was super bummed and after aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan I wrote two songs and one was 'I'm Enough'. It was my response to the experience, a sort of conversation with myself to remind myself I am enough, with or without someone. No need for external validation or acceptance. It's really important to keep reminding yourself of that however "Live Laugh Love" it sounds, it's the gospel."
Vic Mensa shares "Shelter" ft. Chance The Rapper & Wyclef Jean
Chicago rapper and activist VIC MENSA has tapped music heavyweights Chance The Rapper and Wyclef Jean for "Shelter," a powerful single that challenges the American system responsible for a history of overcriminalization, racial injustice, and issues that affect the lives of people in underserved communities. "Shelter is a spiritual note, a healing frequency…" states Mensa. "It was inspired not by Hollywood or Paris, but by what's going on on the ground – in the real world, with the real people." Adds Wyclef, "The journey of this song was so important. It's very crucial we, as musicians, use our voice to represent those who are not so easily able to be heard."
AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS Release New Single "Grayscale" – Debut LP 'Within Each Lies The Other' out March 26th
Vocalist Charlie Rolfe about the new single:
"When everything around you seems grey and dark, it can be hard. But there's beauty is everything, life in dead flowers, colors in dark hours. No longer seeing life in black and white, wrong or right, learning to see life through a new lens creates a whole new perspective and makes it easier to live with whatever issues you have. Embrace it."
tmdistant, 7th Obi And Tom Did It Reach New Heights On 'elevate'
The psychedelic world and dazzling production on the cloud rap banger 'elevate' sees artist's tmdistant, 7th Obi and Tom Did It aiming high after a challenging year. For tmdistant, it's his first solo release in over 6 months and a reintroduction to the world. Dotted with sonic intricacies throughout, the track is built over trap-infused production by Tayko and Novapeppered with an infectious hook by Irish rapper 7th Obi, providing an energetic song with replay value.
Danny Kroha (The Gories) releases Third Man solo album, shares video for "Detroit Blues"
Detroit Blues is largely comprised of Kroha's interpretations of traditional folk, blues and gospel songs from the public domain, created with an assortment of anachronistic DIY instruments like the one-string washtub bass, jug bass and The Diddley Bow.
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Timaj Garad Shares the Gorgeous "Black Gold" →
@skopemag news – monday – january 30, 2023 @ 1 pm est
@skopemag news – monday – january 30, 2023 @ 1 pm est @skopemag HQ – http://smarturl.it/skope @skopemag Menu – https://skopemag.com/2022/07/11/skopemag-editorial-services-the-menu INVICTA – TRIUMPH AND TORMENT – ALBUM PRE-ORDER! SubLevel Records is proud to announce the new Invicta album Triumph and Torment, which will be released on March 31st, 2023. Invicta guitarist/vocalist Kyle Edissi comments: "Our…