I have been doing 5 Pilates sessions a week over the past year and found that I needed clothes that I could do Pilates or Yoga in as well as work and do my every day activities. I don't like the look of 'active wear' and also I am allergic to Synthetic fabrics so it made sense for me to create a collection of garments that were natural fibres and looked the way i wanted them to look. I wanted to have coverage over the hips but not be too baggy. So I designed a few garments to do exactly that, The Josie dress, the Fern print leggings and the Maggie skirt/pant along with the existing Lara 3/4 leggings, Tansy top and Isadora singlet. These garments create an entire wardrobe of mix and match 'active wear' outfits that are nice enough to wear everyday anywhere.
All Bestowed Clothing is cotton, yes it's Vegan friendly, natural and Australian made. The full collection is available on line at sustainable fashion or selected boutiques, see the stockist list.
I hope you enjoy wearing it as much as I am.
Fern Printed leggings in fern colour, with different tops added. Perla long sleeve top in shadow, Robin Top in rock, Swivel top in fern and a Tendril necklace/belt.
Fern Printed leggings in shadow with Tansy Top in black, add Jezabel skirt in dove, add Camille long Cardi in shadow, then add Annabel Coat in black.
Fern Printed Legging in fern with Josie dress in black, add Robin Top in rock, then add Faith Maxi in fern, finally add Annabel Coat in black.


Being recognized as ExpressionEngine Professionals means that we are doing a great job so far. Also, it means that we need to work as hard as we can to keep ExpressionEngine and every other professional standard on highest level.
Being listed as a part of ExpressionEngine Professionals Network implies that we meet EE's expertise and knowledge requirements and we are a finest company doing EE development.
ExpressionEngine is being chosen over other content management systems due to its flexibility and proven security. Also, we understand how ease of use is important for non-technical user when it comes to managing content and updates on websites.


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Migration Policy Institute - Europe
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Amid ongoing debates about the costs and benefits of free movement, this MPI webinar examines evidence from the EU-funded REMINDER project on different types of East-West mobility. Speakers examine big-picture trends of East-West migration; consider possible policy responses at regional, national, and EU levels to alleviate some of the challenges; and reflect on realistic actions that could be taken under a new European Commission.
Post date: Thu, 21 Nov 2019 17:52:46 -0500
Amid ongoing debates about the costs and benefits of free movement, this MPI Europe webchat examines big-picture trends of East-West migration; considers possible policy responses at regional, national, and EU levels to alleviate some of the challenges; and reflects on realistic actions that could be taken under the incoming European Commission.
Dependent on Remittances, Tajikistan's Long-Term Prospects for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Remain Dim
More than 1 million Tajiks migrate to Russia every year—a sizeable outflow for a country of about 9 million people. These high levels of emigration have had major effects for Tajikistan, especially in the generation of remittances that help lift everyday Tajiks out of poverty but have also made the country increasingly dependent on Russia. This article explores challenges faced by Tajik migrants in Russia and the effects of emigration on Tajikistan's economy and society.
Legal Migration for Work and Training: Mobility Options to Europe for Those Not in Need of Protection
Post date: Fri, 18 Oct 2019 10:55:17 -0400
As EU Member States struggle to deliver on the European Union's call to expand channels for foreign workers, they should focus more on attracting the middle- and low-skilled third-country nationals needed by the labor market yet for whom few opportunities for admission exist. They also would do well to consider their migration policies in light of labor market, foreign policy, and development objectives, rather than as a means to reduce irregular migration, this report cautions.
Post date: Sat, 05 Oct 2019 09:38:55 -0400
This event hosted by MPI Europe and the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration featured a discussion of research into legal migration pathways for work and training for low- and middle-skilled migrants.
On the Brink: Prospects for UK Nationals in the EU-27 after a No-Deal Brexit
Six months on from the original March 2019 Brexit date and staring a new deadline in the face, many EU countries still had only skeletal plans for how to adjust the status of their resident UK nationals should a no-deal Brexit come to pass. This policy brief highlights critical gaps in these plans, the groups most likely to be affected by them, and strategies Member States and the United Kingdom could adopt to soften the impact.
Years After Crimea's Annexation, Integration of Ukraine's Internally Displaced Population Remains Uneven
With nearly 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), Ukraine is home to one of the largest IDP populations in the world. Five years after Russia's annexation of Crimea, displaced Ukrainians continue to face challenges related to national identity, social cohesion, and political participation. While the Ukrainian government has had some success integrating IDPs, the conflict's end remains uncertain, and many are unlikely to return to their communities of origin no matter the outcome.
As Lesvos Battles Migration Crisis Fatigue, the Value of Centralized Migration Decision-Making Is Questioned
As Greece's Aegean islands continue to grapple with migrants arriving on their shores, decisions regarding the needs of newcomers are negotiated in Brussels and Athens, far removed from the situation on the ground. Meanwhile, local communities have had successes in hosting migrants, as this article drawing on observations from the hospitality center and refugee camp on Lesvos explores.
Equipping Immigrant Selection Systems for a Changing World of Work (Transatlantic Council Statement)
As technological developments—from automation to artificial intelligence and machine learning—reshape the world of work, governments face the challenge of updating how they attract, select, and retain economic-stream immigrants. This report, concluding a series on building migration systems for a new age of economic competitiveness, lays out the key considerations for "future-proofing" immigrant selection systems.
Start-Up Visas: A Passport for Innovation and Growth?
Over the last decade, a number of governments have launched start-up visa programs in the hopes of attracting talented immigrant entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas. With the track record for these programs a mixed one, this report explains how embedding start-up visas within a broader innovation strategy could lead to greater success.
Lack of Opportunities and Family Pressures Drive Unaccompanied Minor Migration from Albania to Italy
Faced with a lack of employment opportunities and recurrent poverty, Albanian youth migrate to Italy alone in the hopes of improving their educational prospects or making money for their families. Yet upon arrival, they face many vulnerabilities. While some protections for unaccompanied minors exist in the Italy, the system is greatly fragmented and challenges, including how to return them to Albania, remain persistent.
With thousands more migrants potentially traveling through the Western Balkans this year, this MPI Europe webinar explores the implications of the buttressed EU border on the bloc's neighbors, including the issues of outsourcing migration control, EU support for addressing irregular migration in neighboring countries, and considerations for EU policymakers.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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/REAL ESTATE/CREATIVE WAREHOUSE
Creative Warehouse
For many people in Hamburg, this is where the heart of the city beats: In the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district. Nowhere else do tradition and contemporary change merge to create such an attractive location.
If the term "innovative logistics centre" had been in common use at the end of the 19th century, it would have been perfect for Hamburg's newly built clinker district. HHLA's predecessor, which had been specially established for this purpose, began construction of the aesthetically pleasing warehouse complex in 1885, which was not just the biggest in the world at the time, but also the most modern. Prior to that, warehouses had been scattered around all parts of the city. Now they were centralised here at a state-of-the-art facility which featured hydraulic winches and electrical lighting and was easy to reach by barge, horse-drawn carriage and train.
The construction of the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district was prompted by a political decision: In 1881, the Senate of Hamburg, which had been a sovereign trading city-state before then, signed a customs union agreement with the German Empire. Only after driving a hard bargain, however. The result: Hamburg was allowed to establish a free-trade zone, where merchants could continue to import, store and refine goods such as coffee, tea and spices without paying customs. The Speicherstadt historical warehouse district became part of this enclave under customs law – which included a high fence and customs posts. So much for the history.
The port industry, customs regulations and urban development have arrived in the 21st century. Alongside the warehouses that are still used for their original purpose, mostly the storage of oriental carpets, continuous change is happening amid the canals and bridges: Residing behind the neo-Gothic façades today are advertising agencies, architecture offices and fashion labels as well as museums, exhibitions and restaurants.
Artists & consorts
As landlord and project developer, HHLA Real Estate has fostered this change in a targeted manner. A milestone on this journey is the extensive renovation of Warehouse M28 on Am Sandtorkai. From summer of 2018, its eight floors is a new home for Hamburg's creative scene. As part of this process, the building is being energy-insulated.
The mansard roof is being covered in copper and the windows and characteristic hatches are being restored, or if necessary replaced. Modern bathrooms and kitchens are being built and all the technical facilities in the building are being modernised. A new stairwell with lifts will ensure barrier-free access. "Many of the original details such as the historical signs, old window grates and handrails are being retained," explains HHLA architect Rabea Abayan. "Existing surfaces are being restored so that the loft character of the warehouse floors is preserved. New features can be clearly identified, thereby creating the aesthetically desired, appealing contrast between old and new."
Approximately 5,000 m² of space on the seven upper floors will be available for studios, creative workshops and workrooms. Artists and others from the cultural and creative sectors can move in here at favourable conditions by applying to the cultural authority. "Each floor has space for up to twelve separate rooms arranged around a communal area which is also suitable for exhibitions," says project manager Rabea Abayan. "The ground floor has a special function: It acts as a showcase for the creative warehouse" – while also catching public attention for the cultural and creative activities on offer.
Paying respect
HHLA Real Estate owns all the historical warehouse blocks and has already renovated most of them. Another example is hard to miss: Anyone arriving at the Zollkanal (customs canal) from the Kontorhaus office building area, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will see an ensemble with particular architectural appeal on the opposite side: The four buildings were constructed side by side in 1899 for the customs authority and were once resplendent with their ornate façade details and intricate rooftop landscape.
Unfortunately, they did not emerge from the war unscathed, with the reconstruction and renovation work after the war also leaving its mark: "Generous spaces were divided into tiny offices, and many of the outstanding details were concealed behind walls or simply painted over. Some original structures were no longer visible," explains Peter Modlich from Building Management at HHLA. Since 2008, he and his team have been working to revitalise the entire ensemble. Customs Houses 3 and 4 have been completed: Where freight papers were once stamped is now home to an advertising agency, and the former main customs office serves as an event location.
Architect Peter Modlich says that the challenge with projects like this lies in modernising the buildings in a contemporary manner while retaining as many of their original features as possible in view of their landmarked status. However, this means having to make compromises. According to Modlich: "This is only possible as a result of close coordination between everyone involved – which is especially important when dealing with a World Heritage Site." The result makes the effort worthwhile: The construction work on the customs ensemble has revealed some original details again such as filigree cast iron brackets, wall borders from that architectural period, and outstandingly hand-fashioned granite stairs.


Here is a business that is for newbies and also experienced IMers.
Using Print on Demand Publishing Platforms to build a business.
You can do this online or offline.
You can get started with minimal costs.
You do NOT have to be a writer.
and equip you to find your first client.
Why am I offering this Mastermind?
This is done very well on a local level. I have no desire to hire teams across the US and UK (even if I could) to do this.
There is a need for this service. In some markets, a HUGE need.
If I offered it for free, no one would value it like they should.
When I offered an 11-page Hotsheet with this business model, I sold over 2200 copies.
That was 5 years ago. I have learned so much more since then.
The course is delivered via a private forum. Links to each module will be sent via email.
It will be a mixture of PDFs and webinars.
Each week is a different component.
Q&A will have a section on the forum.
Mastermind starts on August 1st!
I'm limiting this to 30 spots.
Refund policy: I am offering a 30 day refund policy.
* I haven't created an offer in years. Be gentle. If there are bugs in the system, let me know and I will fix it, k?
Q: What are CreateSpace and Lulu.com?
A: They are platforms for self-publishing. Instead of going to a vanity publisher and paying $10K for a basement full of books, you can publishing on CS or Lulu and when a person buys your book (worldwide), the book is printed and then shipped to the customer.
Q: What about Kindle publishing?
A: This Mastermind won't talk about Kindle. (Maybe just a brief mention.) We'll be talking about published physical books, and the markets I show you prefer physical books.


My daughter transformed an old glove into sweet little finger puppets--which we've now used for many fun afternoons of storytelling!
Since then, this handy toy has become a household favorite. You never know what will happen with those innovative little pigs!
The excitement was in the air with this one! Emma loves story telling and loves puppets even more. The thought of making her own was over-the-top exciting.
First find an old glove, and gather the rest of your materials. This project is very flexible. You could replace the sponges with felt or even do the entire face with the foam sheets. Whatever you have around will work.
Cut your shapes out of the sponges to begin adding the feature details. You could do so many different characters with this. We have made the Five Little Monkeys and have even created our own characters.
Once you have your faces cut out you can start adding details. Foam is pretty easy for children to cut. Emma was able to cut shapes for the ears, noses, and mouths. I love how imperfectly adorable these came out.
Once the faces are all on, go ahead and glue them right onto each finger of the glove. We placed a little piece of foam in the fingers to prevent the glove from sticking closed. Then we just pulled out the foam pieces when the glove was dry.
Letting this dry overnight is a good idea. They came out so adorable!
Eventually, Emma decided to cut off each finger of the glove so that she could have each of her little pigs make solo appearances. I see a little director in my future!


1 - After installing a plugin I get a red screen with a big T on it, how do I fix this?
You need to update your Final Cut Pro X.
After you update FCPX the plugin will work just fine.
Go to the App Store to update FCPX.
2 - The product I bought needs a new version of Final Cut Pro X, but I can't update right now, can you give me a refund?
We sell digital products and because of that we don't offer refunds or exchange products.
You will have to wait until you update your Final Cut Pro X to use the product.
Before you buy any product make sure that you are using the required version of Final Cut Pro X to run the plugin properly.
3 - How do I install a plugin?
4 - How to Install Plugins Manually for Final Cut Pro X?
Click here to download Unpkg file.
5 - I bought the wrong product, can you give me a refund or other product?
Ask questions before you buy any product if needed and make sure you are buying the right one.
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Make sure you are buying a product that will be useful for you.
You have exceeded your number of downloads. Contact the seller to reset your limits.
Send us an email at support@lenofx.com asking us to reset your download limits.
We will reset it and you will be able to download it again.
8 - Can I install the plugin in how many machines?
You can install it in up to three machines that you own. You cannot install it in machines that aren't yours.
Click here to see license details.
9 - Can I use your free products for commercial purposes?
10 - I can't install a plugin, it gets stuck at 'Verifying" how can I solve this?
11 - How can I uninstall a plugin from my system?
Go inside the corresponding folder and delete the plugins folder that you want to uninstall.
Restart Final Cut Pro X after you do that.
12 - How can I send a suggestion for a new product?
13 - Why do I have to give you my physical address when shopping in your website?
The physical address is needed for security purposes and this is how our system works.
14 - What is your email adress?


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OVER 5.5 MILLION CHICAGO MARKET TV HOUSEHOLDS TUNED IN FOR 45 LIVE PRO GAMES IN APRIL ON COMCAST SPORTSNET
#1 Highest-Rated "Cable" Network in Primetime in April for Households & ALL Key Adult, Male & Female Demos
Chicago, IL (May 4, 2016) – Fueled by the highest-rated pro game telecast in network history (Blackhawks at St. Louis/Game 7 – 19.07 Chicago market household rating), an amazing start to the 2016 MLB season featuring the top team in the American League (White Sox) and the top team in the National League (Cubs), along with a massive month-long marketing blitz, which included a media signage takeover throughout the Metra Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago, Comcast SportsNet's #WhatAnApril proved to be one of the network's busiest and best-performing months to date. Note the following April 2016 highlights for Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
Comcast SportsNet was the #1-highest rated "cable" television network in the Chicago market during primetime (7:00-10:00 PM CT) for every major TV ratings category including Households (HH) & all key Adult, Male, and Female demo categories (see below chart as it pertains to Adults 25-54).
Comcast SportsNet was also #1 "overall" in primetime (which includes all broadcast TV stations) in the demo categories of Men 18-34, Men 18-49, and Men 25-54 (NOTE: Comcast SportsNet was #2 overall in Adults 18-34 and #3 overall in Adults 18-49 & Adults 25-54).
Over 5.5 MILLION Chicago market TV households tuned in to 45 live professional game telecasts from April 1 – May 1 (Blackhawks: three regular season/five playoffs; Bulls: three regular season; Cubs: 14 regular season; White Sox: 17 regular season; and Fire: three regular season).
Comcast SportsNet also attracted an additional 3.7 million Chicago market TV homes tuning in for all editions of Pregame Live and Postgame Live, along with the network's locally-produced, live sports news, talk, and Original Content programming, which includes SportsNet Central and SportsTalk Live. (Source for all ratings information is provided by Nielsen Media Research)
Comcast SportsNet's live streaming of its Chicago Bulls game telecasts experienced significant year-to-year traffic growth as over 10.9 MILLION total minutes were consumed by fans in the network's second season of live streaming coverage on CSNChicago.com and via the NBC Sports Live Extra app (an increase of 30% compared to the 2014-15 season). (Source for all digital traffic information is provided by Adobe Reports & Analytics)


I sit here near the end of my two week long vacation. Browsing Twitter I came across a story that 'Americans Are Too Afraid And Stressed Out To Take Days Off From Work'. My immediate conclusion is that I may have have not reached critical mass in the areas of stress and fear. A few years back I started taking the last two weeks of August off. One week was for family vacation, the other for home projects and moving my daughters into college. I find in the second week I become more relaxed as work issues seem more distant.
Yes, I do check my work email a few times a week, forwarding anything that needs to handled. As someone who works in an office, it is great to spend most of my time outside. From my home projects to reading or just sitting on the deck staring at the sky, there is a personal and business benefit to me of taking a break. We are in the so called 'idea economy' and often our best thinking comes when we are not thinking at all. No longer blinded by our email inbox taskmaster and the demands, sometimes contradictory, of the people and organizations with which we work, clear thought can occur.
Reading stories about people's fear of not being at work because time-off creates problems is bizarre. Look at the graph in the story link above. It comes down to this, people think they are irreplaceable. Their work world can't be without them. The fact is we can all be replaced in a moments notice. The business will go on. The key is for us is to create value in our jobs when we are doing the job. All we truly have is our reputation. Remember, even the Energizer Bunny eventually needs new batteries. Go schedule your next vacation!
Posted on August 29, 2014, in Business, Life and tagged people, vacation, work. Bookmark the permalink.	Leave a comment.


Micromax, a well known Indian smartphone maker was quiet from last few months in the smartphone market as it is facing very tough competition from some of the Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo and many more in the country. These companies has affected the micromax's share in the smartphone market to a great extent. People usually prefer Chinese smartphones in place of these. But the company is trying to get it's reputation back in market. That's why it launched a new smartphone in the Indian market today. The smartphone is known as Micromax dual 5. According to company, this is a camera centric smartphone as it comes with dual rear camera setup. The smartphone is priced at 25000 INR and will be exclusively available online as well as offline mode. So let's discuss some of the specs of the device.
Micromax Dual 5 has a metallic design which looks really premium. The phone feels really solid in hand. The build quality of the phone is good.
On front it has 5.5 inch Full HD AMOLED display which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. On front it also has 13 MP front camera along with flash and earpiece. It also has navigation keys at the front.
On top it has 3.5 mm headphone jack and IR Blaster. On right it has power button and volume rockers. On bottom it has USB type-C port, speaker and microphone. On left it has SIM tray and a special key which we can customize according to our choice.
At back it has dual 13MP rear camera along with dual LED flash. It has a rear facing fingerprint sensor. The build quality of the phone is really good. Overall there is no complain regarding the design of the phone.
Micromax Dual 5 has a 5.5 inch full HD AMOLED display. The screen has a resolution of 1320*1080 pixels. The display is protected by 2.5D corning Gorilla Glass 5. So the glass will be slightly curved at the edges. The quality of the display will be good as it has a AMOLED display. The screen should be easily visible in direct sunlight. The colors will be look good on the phone. Overall Micromax Dual 5 is equipped with a good display.
Micromax Dual 5 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 652 chipset. This chipset is really good one as it is equipped in many of the other mid range smartphones and they performed really well. This chipset is based on octa core processor with four cortex A-72 cores and four cortex A-53 cores. There will be no lags in day to day usage of the phone. The phone should perform all the tasks without any issues.
For good graphics this device is powered by Adreno 510 GPU which can handle all graphic intensive works without any issues. This device should play all the heavy games like Asphalt 8, Nova 3, Modern Combat 5 and many more without any issues. There should be no lags and frame drops in the game play. So overall the device is equipped with a good processor.
The device is having very interesting rear camera. It has all the features what a camera centric smartphone should have. The device is having a dual rear camera setup. Both the sensors are of 13MP. Among these two sensors one is a color sensor and the other being a monochrome sensor. These two sensors combine their two images into one and produce a better image after combination. The rear camera has an aperture size of f/1.8, which is good. So the rear camera will allow more light to enter the sensor for better detailing. Also the camera has phase detection autofocus and dual LED flash. The camera app is really simple. The camera is also having a pro mode in which we can adjust many things according to our choice like exposure, ISO levels, contrast and many more things of the camera which gives a full camera like feeling. The rear camera can record videos upto 4K. The device is equipped with a 13MP secondary camera with flash. This camera can record videos upto full HD.
Micromax Dual 5 is powered by the Micromax's self customized operating system which is based on Android v6.0.1. The user interface of the phone is good. There are no lags whatsoever in normal usage of the device. It also handles all the tasks without any issues. We expect that the device might come with android nougat but it is coming with marshmallow. But the device will get Android Nougat update hopefully.
The device is equipped with 3200 mah non removable battery. So the battery life of the device should be good. It should easily last for a single day. But these days we usually see devices with massive batteries something around 4000 mah. This battery can easily last for 1.5 day. But even a full day's battery life is decent. This phone also supports fast charging 3.0 which charges phone really fast.
The company is saying that the phone is really secured. The phone is equipped with a special chip which controls all this security stuff. It secures all our fingerprints and passwords. It comes with a special operating system which unlocks when we touch a specific fingerprint. We can add a specific fingerprint to this mode. If we unlock the phone with that particular fingerprint the phone automatically opens that particular operating system. In this OS we can add our private things like photos, videos and apps. We can add our payment apps to this system for secure payments. And apps in this OS will not be shown in the normal OS. So this is really good for security.
Also this device has a special key on left side. We can customize this key according to our choice. We can use it for many purposes like cleaning apps, taking photo, switching on torch and many more.
Micromax Dual 5 is priced at 25000 INR. At this price it competes with those of Oneplus 3, Leeco Le Max 2, Xiaomi Mi 5 and Honor 8. Among them Honor 8 is a camera centric smartphone. Micromax Dual 5 is a good device but a overpriced smartphone. We have much better choices at this price point like Oneplus 3 and Leeco Le max 2 which are powered by Snapdragon 820 and are really famous for their great performance. No doubt the phone is having a good display, fast processor and a good camera but spending 25000 INR for a Micromax device with these specs is little impractical. The phone is also having some great features like security chip and special key on left side. Now the whole thing depends on the camera performance of Micromax dual 5. The camera performance of the device should have to be really good to be considered in this price range otherwise the phone won't be a good buy at this price. But it is good to see that the Micromax is doing something to get it's prestige back in the market.


Gain control of your sound!
Due to its violent nature, heavy metal needs a particularly polished guitar sound or it might become unintelligible. Here are several tips to achieve a heavy and accurate sound at the same time.
But make no mistake, a fat sound during rehearsal can be deceiving, it might prove to be unruly during concerts and you will end up with an awful sound coming out through the PA speakers.
Regardless of the type of metal you play, you will need a good dose of distortion. So crank the gain knob of your amp's distortion channel all the way up. However, bear in mind that may work with tube amps, but it might not be as flattering with solid-state amps, so you will be forced to decrease the gain.
The gain setting will also depend on your guitar and especially on the pickups it has: it is much easier to get a heavy distortion with a humbucker (dual-coil pickup, like on Les Pauls for example) than with a single-coil pickup (like on a Stratocasters). It also common to use active pickups or electronics (EMG, for instance, which can be seen on certain ESP and Ibanez guitars) with the goal of increasing gain and/or the signal-to-noise ratio at the source.
Let's move on now to equalization. A typical metal sound can be achieved by making it hollow, which means boosting the low and high frequencies and lowering the mids. Drastically cutting these frequencies might eventually work when you're playing on your own right next to the amp, but it will be less effective when playing together with a drummer and bassist (and even completely inaudible with a second guitarist and a piano).
In case of failure with your amp's integrated EQ you will have to resort to effects pedals aimed at metal. The offering is pretty broad, so I will only name here some references like the Boss MT-2 or the Digitech Death Metal (for the most brutal among you).
For small budgets, a Harley Benton HM-100 or a Behringer XD-300 will do the job. If you have put some money aside, a tube pedal like the Blackstar HT DistX could be a good solution. And I feel obliged to mention the precursor of modelling, namely Line 6 and its Pod II, which has seduced many guitarists that use it as a distortion pedal (even if I'm not really convinced of how it sounds with an amp)..
Finally, headbangers looking for the heaviest sound can always turn to down tuning. This technique consists in tuning your guitar lower or using a 7 or even 8-string guitar (in G sharp!) to get an extremely heavy sound for rhythm guitars, like Meshuggah's Frederik Thordendal.
What Are Guitar and Bass Pickups Made Of?


In a way, this record is a companion piece to Spinning Song, the CD John Zorn asked me to make about 20 years ago, devoted to the music of Herbie Nichols. Certainly Nichols, like Thelonious Monk, was a brilliant and very significant pianist/composer, and the music of both men presents similar challenges for solo guitarists. But there's an important difference, which is that I had never arranged any of Nichols' music when I took on Spinning Song, but had been fooling around with Monk's tunes for almost all of my musical life when I made these recordings.
Growing up in the 1960s, you just knew by some sort of cultural osmosis that Thelonious Monk represented the cutting edge. Even a middle class white boy in a square, southern town knew that. I was a teenager playing rock and just getting into blues musicians like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters when I decided I needed to find out what Monk was about, and took a few of my paper-route dollars over to Sears and bought "Misterioso" (the Columbia LP, which was new at the time). I did not understand a note of the music on that record, but within a minute or two I was completely hooked. Around the same time, a slightly older kid at a local coffeehouse showed me a simple version of "Blue Monk," which I have played in some form or other ever since.
I also remember trying to figure out "Off Minor" in about 1968, when I was living in Vancouver BC. I managed to pretty much get the A section by ear, but the B was way beyond me – I couldn't even play swing tunes at that juncture. But I kept listening to Monk, and kept absorbing bits and pieces. Ton Van Bergeyk showed me some of the voicings he had figured out for "Blue Monk," for instance, in the late 1970s, and around the same time I arranged a version of "In Walked Bud" in the fingerpicking style I was using for swing material (and borrowed Eric Dolphy's opening for "Green Dolphin Street," for the bass line, as many will note). Davy Graham showed me the melody for "Straight, No Chaser," though I think my arrangement of it only took shape years later. I remember Michele Calgaro showed me his arrangement of "Light Blue," which I modified only slightly, in the 1980s sometime. And so on – the point being that this is how working musicians naturally develop a repertoire over time. By the time of our new century, I was working with people who really had a deep relationship with Monk's music, people like Ben Goldberg, Michael Moore, and especially Roswell Rudd, whom I got to know while trying to solve Herbie Nichols. There are voicings on two or three of these tunes that came from Ros walking over to the piano and holding down some crazy chord – "That's the sound you want: those notes there" – until I found some way to do it on the guitar.
For the rest, I will point out the obvious – I never was trying to sound like any jazz guitarist when I played solos. I wanted to sound like a cross between Sabicas, Sundaram Balachandar, and Charles Mingus when I was soloing, and maybe a cross between Merle Travis, Blind Blake, and Joseph Spence when I was picking. And I wanted a "folky" approach to blowing the improvs, though getting into what I mean by that is beyond what is needed here. Of course Steve Lacy really unlocked a lot of doors for me (and everyone else) when it came to spinning out a spontaneous melody line over these great structures, on his own, and letting it go wherever it needed to go. Whether I managed to actually do any of what I wanted to do, I leave for others to decide. I will say that I loved trying to do it!
But, as the fellow says, that's enough about me. At some point during the last year of the last century, when people were involved with listing the greatest writers, painters, books, movies, recipes, of the 1900s, I mentioned to Roswell that one of the jazz magazines had asked writers for opinions about the greatest jazz musician of the century. It seemed to me that any such choice would be mostly symbolic, and would boil down to Armstrong, Ellington or Parker, but Roswell stopped me, pointing that the musician who took the music forward the furtherest from the point where he found it was Monk. Monk took the same step from swing to bop that Parker, Christian, Gillespie, and the other early modernists took, and then took another giant step all his own. It basically took the jazz world another generation to even start to catch up. Viewed that way, Thelonious Monk is not only our greatest genius, no one else is even close.


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Malawi Govt asked to bail out private employees on Covid-19 spike
November 2, 2020 News & Events 0
Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has called upon the government to consider some workers in the private sector to access their money which is stashed at the central bank in form of pension in the face of hard realities of Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, CDEDI has mentioned teachers in the private learning institutions and some hospitality and tourism industry as an example of private servants who stopped receiving salaries in March and April this year and are finding life hard to cope with in the wake of the global pandemic.
"As we commend government for making sure that teachers in the public institutions are getting their dues, on the contrary, teachers working in the private institutions and some workers in the hospitality industry stopped getting their salaries in March, and others in April, 2020. This means that these people do not have any source of income to feed their families and let alone pay rentals when their funds are lying idle at the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).
"CDEDI is therefore, calling upon government to allow Malawians to immediately access all their pension money including employer contribution which can only be accessed after retirement age of 60 under section 64 of the Pension Act and employees' own contribution which can only be accessed after 6 months from the last employment as per section 65 of the Pension Act," reads the statement in part.
The organisation has, therefore, appealed to the government through the Ministry of Finance to introduce a waiver so that the affected workers are able to access the said pension which will cushion them against the Covid-19 pandemic.
While CDEDI commends the government for introducing mandatory use of face masks in all its institutions as a preventive measures against the pandemic, it further appeals to the government and other institutions such as banks and shops to make available the said materials to some Malawians who may not have them due to lack of money so they can access their services easily.
On Friday last week, government announced a ban of social gatherings in all public places as one way of combating the spread of Corona virus. It also suspended most public functions such as weddings and bridal showers in addition to ordering the use of facemasks in all government institutions.
As of July 13, 2020 Malawi had 2430 Covid-19 cases with 39 deaths.
Read on Maravipost
CDEDI pens ACB to Probe SRWB Suspicious Procurement Procedures
CDEDI Asks President Mutharika To Fire Jappie, Botomani
Malawians Waiting for Truth from their Leader
Update: Criminal Negligence in Cholera Fight
Faith Without Works is Death; Malawians Wants Action
Letter to RBM Governor: Vote of No Confidence
Devise Mechanisms to Save the Ailing Economy
To be a leading organization in promoting the social and economic well-being of the people
For economic prosperity of the common person in a society where everyone counts


Whether you are travelling for business, work or pleasure, Chel and Vade is the best place for you. Be it a family holiday, wedding and office parties, Chel and Vade have something special to suit everyone's budget.
We have a total of 18 accommodation units; that is, 15 standard room and 3 apartments.
Before 1906, Jinja was a fishing village that benefited from being located on long-distance trade routes. The origin of the name "Jinja" comes from the language of the two peoples (the Bagandaand the Basoga) that lived on either side of the River Nile in the area. In both languages "Jinja" means "Rock". In most of Africa, rivers like the Nile hindered migration, this explains the ethnic boundaries along the Nile as one moves north from the river's source on the northern shores of Lake Victoria.
"Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I expected, for the broad surface of the lake was shut out from view by a spur of hill, and the falls, about twelve feet deep and four to five hundred feet broad, were broken by rocks; still it was a sight that attracted one to it for hours. The roar of the waters, the thousands of passenger fish leaping at the falls with all their might, the fishermen coming out in boats, and taking post on all the rocks with rod and hook, hippopotami and crocodiles lying sleepily on the water, the ferry at work above the falls, and cattle driven down to drink at the margin of the lake, made in all, with the pretty nature of the country-small grassy-topped hills, with trees in the intervening valleys and on the lower slopes-as interesting a picture as one could wish to see".
The town was founded in 1907 by the British, as an administrative centre for the Provincial Government Headquarters for Busoga region. Jinjais the capital of Busoga region, and in 1956, it was granted municipality status. Jinja was the industrial heart of Uganda between 1954 and the late 1970s – supported by power from the hydroelectric Nalubaale Power Station at the Owen Falls Dam, which was completed in 1954. The people who live in Busoga region are called the Basoga who speak Lusoga as dialect of the Bantu people.
By road – There is a good tarmacroad West from Jinja to the capital, Kampala 87 kilometers (54 miles).
By air – Jinja airstrip for both civilian and military use is located at Kimaka, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), North of Jinja's central business district.
Visit to the source of the mighty River Nile and John Speke viewpoint monument.
Fishing on both river Nile and Lake Victoria.
Playing golf in the 9 holes (18 tee) golf course was originally laid out in the mid-1920s; and famously had a local rule allowing a free drop of the ball if it came to rest in a hippo's hoof print. The course has tremendous views of the Nile and Lake Victoria and the second green is within a 'lob wedge' of the source of the Nile.
Mahatma Gandhi bronze bust donated by the Indian Government in commemoration the scattering of Gandhi's ashes into the Nile after his death. There is a small memorial garden at the spot.
There's nothing we cherish like serving our customers and surpassing expectations.


All of a sudden, earth explosive, numerous, Spot. rays of light departs, Focus Tan Lin hands, Tan Lin hands light sphere, big-time.
This yellow dots. rays of light, what earth Underground Abyss Earth Yuan strength.
Earth Yuan strength, extremely heavy, and extremely crack.
Tan Lin hands Earth Yuan light sphere soon to nearly ten metres size is Tan Lin several fold tall inside, terrifying. Earth Yuan strength, let's battle near the Luo Yunjie, Tao Ming, Guo Yuanhui, Chen Kai people did complexion startled, retreat come, even Zhou Xu is over rays of light big motion.
"dead" Tan Lin almost roaring sound stereo swing upper air, then, hand in earth Earth Yuan light sphere was to Huang Xiaolong when empty crashing out.
Then, Earth Yuan light sphere to Huang Xiaolong get out of here, seemingly slow, too, if lightning, blink it to Huang Xiaolong before, but arena this was not, two a light sphere, almost packed arena over, Huang Xiaolong basic nowhere avoidance, only to face off.
Just, it's two a earth Earth Yuan light sphere fast, quick, would be Huang Xiaolong overwhelmed, swallow.
In extremely yao white and golden brown. rays of light, in Huang Xiaolong's figure soon disappear.
All of a sudden, two a earth Earth Yuan light sphere as two a crashes the huge Earth general, slam into the same place, blast it, violent strength swept through the Quartet.
The ring out defence gang, be it violent strength not crashing collapse sound, like ready to break apart.
All people out, reflex to retreat.
Strong. rays of light, let arena completely lost all the colours, nobody even see this situation, and Huang Xiaolong's aura, in crazy blast, have also disappeared.
"Xiaolong!" square things, Yaochi seeing this, not shrill scream out, Lu Zhuo, Zhu Huan, who was also very pale No blood, Huang Xiaolong die?
Were so terrifying, Earth Yuan light sphere bang, then withstood the two earth land light sphere explosion complete Destruction Power, even Ancient God Rank Two Late Stage powerhouse, it's hard living down!
square around, everyone look at each other in dismay.
Zhou Xu, Luo Yunjie as startled, Huang Xiaolong just die?
"Who says dead? "Suddenly, together with indifferent sound rings.
All very dull, Tan Lin laughter one stops, smile rigid, to the arena look, then, arena explosion rays of light slowly away from, showing a fuzzy figure, stay rays of light completely cleared, everyone saw Huang Xiaolong is a face with composure standing in the arena.
Than previously, appeared to be the same? Even on royal robe is not torn?
Tan Lin complexion hideous, crazy said: "No way, impossible! How so, how come you're fine!
Huang Xiaolong is a Life Source Spirit Skill Space Concealment, last-minute escaped Earth Yuan light sphere explosion strength.
"This boy, even we all lose..." Myriad Flames Old Ancestor lamented that while humanitarian.
Myriad Flames Old Ancestor several people startled, until they were told this Huang Xiaolong is King level Top Rank Blue Shadow Godhead, but was not suspected.
But now, now listen to Heavenly Sword Old Ancestor said, they were given a jolting wake-up call, this boy, maybe, maybe, maybe, not really King level Top Rank Godhead.
"Heavenly Sword, your meaning is, this boy, may be Emperor level Godhead?" Thunder Hammer Old Ancestor says that, just think oneself breathe some heavy.
If that Huang Xiaolong's Emperor level Godhead, then, again with Yuan Dragon Divine Physique, here!
Thunder Hammer, think about this,, both eyes shines.
Blood Blade Old Ancestor is both eyes hot looked at the arena Huang Xiaolong.
arena over, Tan Lin suddenly body Golden rays of light crazy surges up, whole person, figure constantly big-time, but, it's golden brown. rays of light, in its body surface, forming a bear shape armor.
Twin Cities Sect's Grey Bear's Body!
A similarly is Twin Cities Sect many ten thousand in one practice successful one now, wasn't expecting Tan Lin also shows out, people are, ".
"Grey Bear's Body, practice success, and may be forced to upgrade own Divine Force and Divine Physique strength, this Tan Lin, there are Ancient God Rank Two Late Stage's army don't know Huang Xiaolong, this can get down!" It was amazing.
And Tan Lin completely bear shape armor wrapped around whole body, well look, like a Antiquity Divine Beast Grey Bear.
Tan Lin face upwards One roar, a double fist straight to Huang Xiaolong bang on their way.
Fists blasted, flames rays of light burst, space crashing trembling sound, show howling out.
Look at Tan Lin as hill general fists boom, Huang Xiaolong body rays of light the shakes, people see it, space aching a Antique Divine Dragon, entanglement in Huang Xiaolong body around.
Tan Lin double fist straight shelling of Huang Xiaolong!
Huang Xiaolong standing there, so bear Tan Lin double fist blows.
rays of light storm shooting.
But Huang Xiaolong stand motionless, actually Tan Lin, been reverse shock like retreat.
Crowd shock, look, saw Tan Lin fists Branch, Grey Bear armor, bursts from, really tiny fissures conspicuous visible.
"II. The moves!" Huang Xiaolong indifferent sound.
All of a sudden, Huang Xiaolong moved, came to Tan Lin over. You're rays of light circulation, vast dragon's prestige overwhelming, Imitates Buddha Body within deep sleep Antique Divine Dragon now awakening.
Huang Xiaolong right arm, direct punches, break it down, like previous hit Yang Liming. However, smashing Yang Liming was 70 % strength, and now, Huang Xiaolong directly with the Yuan Dragon Divine Physique of Huang strength!
Tan Lin hogen lift the head, panic-stricken both eyes in, that reflects no out Huang Xiaolong crashing down with the right fist.


"Bless Aunt Annie Love for you Always"
"Usand and Clinton my deepest sympathies to you and your..."
"I'm deeply sorry for your loss. Gloria was a special friend..."
Gloria Anna Isabelle, Born 10/19/1945 in Pass Christian MS., Departed 11/30/2018 in Colorado Springs, Co.
Funeral Saturday 12/08/18 at 11:00 am at Angelus Chapel. Burial at Evergreen Cemetery following the funeral.


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Bellamy ist ein Census-designated place und gemeindefreies Gebiet im Sumter County im Bundesstaat Alabama in den Vereinigten Staaten.

Geographie
Bellamy liegt im Westen Alabamas im Süden der Vereinigten Staaten. Es liegt etwa 23 Kilometer östlich der Grenze zu Mississippi.

Nahegelegene Orte sind unter anderem Livingston (10 km nördlich), York (11 km nordwestlich), Ward (15 km südwestlich), Cuba (19 km westlich) und Demopolis (21 km östlich). Die nächste größere Stadt ist mit 212.000 Einwohnern das etwa 150 Kilometer nordöstlich entfernt gelegene Birmingham.

Geschichte
Die Stadt entwickelte sich um ein Sägewerk der Allison-Brüder. Als 1901 ein Postamt eröffnet wurde, nahm Charles Allison an, ein Ort werde gewöhnlich nach seinem bekanntesten Bürger benannt, weswegen er Bellamy in Anlehnung an den Unions-Veteran Volney Bellamy wählte.

Verkehr
Vom Westen in den Osten des Ortes verlaufen auf gemeinsamer Trasse die Alabama State Route 8 und der U.S. Highway 80, der im Westen einen Anschluss an den U.S. Highway 11 sowie drei Kilometer westlich an den Interstate 20, der über eine Länge von 2470 Kilometern von Texas bis nach South Carolina führt, herstellt.

Etwa 14 Kilometer östlich des Ortes befindet sich der Demopolis Municipal Airport.

Demographie
Die Volkszählung 2010 ergab eine Bevölkerungszahl von 543, verteilt auf 226 Haushalte und 138 Familien. Die Bevölkerungsdichte lag bei 56 Einwohnern pro Quadratkilometer. 90,8 % der Bevölkerung waren Schwarze, 8,3 % Weiße und 0,9 % Asiaten. 1,3 % waren Hispanics oder Lateinamerikaner jedweder Ethnizität. Auf 100 Frauen kamen etwa 80 Männer.

Einzelnachweise

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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ROME - THE HOLY CITY
Civitavecchia/Rome
Cultural, Meal included
We set off to discover the places that have made Rome a holy city par excellence, a destination for pilgrims and visitors from around the world who come to see its masterpieces.
Transfer to Rome by private train "Roma Express"
Trastevere, Janiculum, Pyramid of Cestius and the Baths of Caracalla
St. John Lateran's Basilica and Altar of the Blessed Sacrament
Cappella del Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies Chapel)
Holy Stairs
Lunch in a typical restaurant
St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica
Our experience starts at the port where we board the "Roma Express" vintage train that is reserved for cruise liner passengers. This train will take us to the eternal city in comfort in a relatively short time.
When we arrive in the city centre we board a coach for a panoramic tour of the historic centre of the city that will take us through some places of universal renown such as Trastevere, paved with cobblestones, the Janiculum, which commands one of the most evocative panoramas of Rome, the Pyramid of Cestius and the Baths of Caracalla which are among the best preserved from the Roman period.
In the vicinity of the Caelian Hill, we leave our coach to visit St. John Lateran's Basilica, the oldest church in Rome and one of the four patriarchal basilicas.
When we enter we discover the masterpieces and secrets of this wonderful church, including the 'Altar of the Blessed Sacrament, on top of which there is a reliquary with a fragment of the table on which Jesus shared the Last Supper with the apostles.
The entrance to the Holy of Holies Chapel, which is open for the first time to Costa visitors, an exclusive arrangement in the Italian cruise liner market, will give us access to one of the most holy places of Christianity.
We experience a unique emotion as we enter the Pope's private chapel to see and venerate the precious relics there are inside including an antique icon of the Redeemer that is defined as an Acheiropoieta, a Greek term that means "made without hands". The work was commissioned to St. Luke, but when the apostle was about to start working on it the painting materialized by itself, created by angels' hands.
Next to the chapel we can see the Holy Stairs, 28 steps that, according to tradition, Jesus ascended to go to Pontius Pilate during his trial. It is said that the marble steps were transported from Jerusalem to Rome by St. Helen, Emperor Constantine's mother.
After this extraordinary visit we are ready to savour a tasty lunch in a typical Italian restaurant.
We board the coach again and head for St. Peter's Basilica, the biggest Christian church that has ever been built, located on the tomb of St. Peter. It overlooks St. Peter's Square which is famous the world over for its elliptical colonnade designed by Bernini. Here our guide gives us some interesting information before leaving us some free time to observe this symbol of Christianity from the exterior.
The excursion ends with a pleasant walk back to San Pietro railway station where we catch the Roma Express train back to Civitaveccia.
The transfer to Rome takes approximately 1 hour.
Comfortable shoes are recommended. Dress code that is appropriate for the places of worship to be visited is recommended.
This excursion is not recommended for guests with mobility problems.
Due to new security control procedures many tourist sites may have long queues even for booked groups.
On Wednesday morning St. Peter's Basilica could be closed due to the Papal Audience.
In case of extraordinary celebrations, the surrounding area could be overcrowded causing long queues at the entrance of the Basilica.?


This brilliantly addictive game can improve your knowledge about the world in just 10 minutes. Can you name a breed of dog that comes from Mexico? Or recall how many stars are one the Australian flag? This award winning game is colourfully illustrated and across 71 cards, showcases all kinds of fascinating facts and points of interest about this wonderful world we live in. From capital cities, to national cuisine and famous sights, Brain Box World has it all.
A fun educational pursuit for helping children improve observation and memory skills. Builds knowledge of the world in bite size pieces.
How to play? Players take it in turns to study a randomly drawn card for 10 seconds and then return it to another player. They roll a die to decide what question they are asked. All of the answers can be found on the picture side of the card. If the player can answer correctly, the card is kept as a point, if not, they return it to the box. Sounds simple, but once the card is no longer in front of you, how much you can remember becomes everything. The winner is the player with the most cards after 10 minutes of play.


I have been on my Cohen's Program for 8 weeks and have lost 14 kilograms so far. I have found it so easy and the quantities very satisfying. I am feeling so good and looking even better.
Thank you to my wonderful consultant for your support!


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Cults and Brainwashing: The hidden – and not so hidden – epidemic
Written by: Published by: Conway Hall
Copyright holder: Conway Hall
Lecture date: Sun, 7th Jun, 2015
Posted on: Mon, 11th May, 2015
Estimated 13 min read
IntroductionAs I was preparing this talk I considered what my latest examples might be – this is the part I always have to update as so many new cults come and go. So, the groups I've come across this week that fit my definition of a cult are:
ISIS, of course, and related Islamist extremist groups, with their continuing recruitment. The latest from the UN is that over 22,000 of ISIS's fighters come from fully half the countries in the world.
Jewish cult (sect, if you prefer) Belz with their new edict on women not driving cars to pick up their kids at school. And all the female interviewees claiming they were quite happy with that.
The Lyndon LaRouche right wing and anti-semitic and anti British cult – there was a recent inquest here in London about the death and, some suspect, murder, of Jeremiah Duggan, a young man from Golders Green.
And then there are the yoga cults I've been running into where you start attending a yoga class and end with having to more or less constantly meditate on the person of the leader. Several of these I've recently dealt with have female leaders.
Let's not forget the so-called "personal growth" cults: How to be a better person, more effective, more "conscious". There's endless versions of these, many like baby Scientologies, or Landmark, which itself was spawned from Scientology.
And as I was walking through past Birkbeck and SOAS the other week at lunchtime, there were the Hare Krishnas or ISKCON, serving their free food. But I know that the free food is free because the labour that makes and sells that foo is free. And hungry. And permanently exhausted.
Finally is the US Bible-based ATI cult: these are right-wing fundamentalists, with tentacles that reach into the highest echelons of the US government.
I'd like you to see that these is something for everyone. Perhaps some of you here are interested in philosophy, for example, and have happened upon the School of Economic Sciences. Cult.
As for me, I got interested in cults and brainwashing because, well, because I was in one. For ten long and dreary years I was part of The O., a so-called Marxist-Leninist group based in the mid-western United States. When I emerged, almost 25 years ago, from this dreadful experience I decided to try to understand how such a crazy thing could have happened to me. How could I, as an intelligent, independent, curious, and thoughtful person, have given up my critical abilities for so long?
First I wrote a memoir, INSIDE OUT, detailing my experience in order to understand it. Later I went on to earn a doctorate studying the topic and I now teach and write about it.
What is it about these groups? And why is it that they so often seem to threaten family relationships or the wellbeing of the children within them? They are a fixture of modern life. Sad anniversaries roll by: last year saw one of the most gruesome: the 30th anniversary of the murder of over 900 people, including 276 children, at Jonestown where Jim Jones forced his followers to take poison while trapped in the jungles of Guyana.
Cults come in a great variety of forms: from the largely religious examples above, to political cults on both right and left – including terrorist groups that train suicide bombers – and from get-rich-quick to personal growth groups. Although they are not all violent, they do share common structural and ideological features that create situations in which they are able to exert extraordinary levels of control over their members.
After the horrors of World War II, followed swiftly by Stalin and Mao's totalitarian regimes, scholars did groundbreaking work to try to understand the forces at work that produced extreme obedience to charismatic leaders. This period saw, among others, Hannah Arendt's great work, The Origins of Totalitarianism; Milgram's extraordinary experiments where ordinary people administered seemingly excruciating electrical shocks to strangers, and Robert Jay Lifton's insightful work on brainwashing crystallized in his eight criteria for Totalist Thought Reform. There have now been seven decades of scholarship on the topic, including, most recently by scholars like myself who have themselves been victims of this process.
Although some scholars dismiss the concepts understood by the terms "cult" and "brainwashing", these organizations and processes of extreme control have not abated.
What are cults, and how do they work? A useful definition of a cult builds on the work of Lifton, Singer, Arendt and others and encompasses the following five points:
The group is led by a charismatic and authoritarian leader
• It has a closed, steeply hierarchical inner structure
• The group adheres to an exclusive or total belief system
• Processes of coercive persuasion (or brainwashing) are used to retain followers
• Followers are exploited
Cultic or ideologically extremist groups are controlled by a leader who is both charismatic and authoritarian. Both charisma and authoritarianism (or bullying) are required as they are the source of the group's central organizing dynamic of "love" and fear. For example, this is how a former member of the Newman Tendency political cult described its leader:
I liked him! I would have a problem disliking him now, even after what I already know about him. If he sat down right there next to me, I'd say, 'Hey Fred, how are you doing? Are you still corrupting people?'
At the same time this former member recounted how Newman would "unleash the dogs" on followers who were not toeing the line.
The inner structure of a cult is closed, and steeply hierarchical. At the top sits the leader whose every whim must be obeyed. Followers must renounce ties to outsiders – unless they can be recruited or used in some way. Yet within the group itself, belying the stereotype of close "community" that exists within cults, followers are, in important ways, isolated from each other, allowed to communicate only within the narrow confines of the group's belief system.
In fact, if within-group relationships become too close, they are often broken up in order to prevent competing with the primary relationship to the leader or group as a whole. And woe betide the follower who expresses doubts, or worse, who leaves and criticizes the group – then, as for example with the Scientology Disconnect policy – they are "fair game" for threats, intimidation and shunning. Jenna Miscavige, a woman who was raised in Scientology (and has now left) illustrates both of these forms of isolation. She tells how she was separated from her parents from the age of 12 while they were all still in the organization. Her parents finally left Scientology when she was 16, but she, having been "thoroughly engulfed in the beliefs of the Church since birth decided not to go with them. Not only was I not allowed to speak to them, I was not allowed to answer a phone for well over a year, in case it was them calling me."
While the inner structure is rigid and closed, looser front groups often (though not always) exist in cults for recruitment, funding and influence purposes. Arendt refers to these as "transmission belts" between the inner world of the cult and the rest of the world. Sociologist John Lofland documented hundreds of front groups (from youth groups to businesses to media ventures) run by The Unification Church in his classic study, Doomsday Cult.
The closed hierarchy is supported and represented by an exclusive belief system, also known as a total or extremist ideology. This all-encompassing belief system rejects all other points of view entirely, claiming to have the one truth that explains everything for all time. The single truth is a reflection of the single point of power of the leader, and often changes at the leader's whim. Lyndon LaRouche's political cult, currently recruiting on US campuses, is a good example of this: he veered from a leftist Trotskyist stance early in his career to the right-wing, anti-semitic position he now holds as head of the Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement.
The cultic total ideology is also used to justify followers' separation from loved ones in the name of a higher commitment. In A Life in Orange, Tim Guest quotes Bhagwan Rhajneesh, the leader of the cult he grew up in: "In a commune you will not be too attached to one family – there will be no family to be attached to." This removal from one's family would supposedly enable the children to "have a richer soul".
Processes of coercive persuasion or brainwashing are used to isolate followers and control them through a combined dynamic of "love" and fear. These processes take place within the isolating cultic structure and can lead to group members following the group's orders even when it puts their own interests or even their lives at risk. Many isolating, weakening and influence strategies are used in this effort such as sleep deprivation, control of relationships, lack of privacy, control of information, diet, and so on. Isolation – especially from very close relationships, as described above – is of particular importance. The fundamental process is to induce in the follower a traumatic state known as "fright without solution" which is more fully described below.
Finally, as a result of these processes, followers are exploited. Regardless of what the group may claim, the flow of resources in cultic groups moves upwards to the leadership, typically in the form of money and other material assets, labor and sexual favors. For example, both the FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army are thought to have at least 60 wives. Groups such as Scientology or the Unification Church have amassed global fortunes. Financial gain is, however, merely a useful by-product of what I consider a cult leader's fundamental motivation: that of seeking guaranteed attachments. And of course, once a leader has succeeded in controlling group members' attachment to him or herself, then other benefits can accrue: sex, financial wealth and political power among them – though there is definite variation in if and how leaders take advantage of these possible benefits.
While resources flow up, orders and ideology flow down to the followers. But not all followers need to be controlled entirely as long as they contribute in some way – thus many groups have peripheral members who may give money, time or other resources through front organizations. However, when consolidated in the group most followers may demonstrate uncritical obedience, regardless of their own survival needs. The ISIS recruits and suicide bombers are extreme and tragic cases of the utter loss of self-interest of these deployable agents, with, of course, terrible consequences for their victims.
How do followers become controlled, and why don't they just fight back or leave? Attachment theory can help us to understand this. This theory states that an evolutionary adaptation fundamental to humans is the drive to seek proximity to others (initially as infants to caregivers) in order to gain protection from threat, thus improving chances for survival. A child seeks its parent when ill, tired, frightened, or in any other way under threat. The parent then functions as a safe haven for the child from whom they may gain protection and comfort. But once comforted, the child eventually wishes to explore its world again, and now the parent functions as a secure base, from which the child explores and to which they can return when protection and comfort is once again needed. Similar dynamics take place with adults in their very close relationships with spouses, partners or close friendships.
However, attachment relationships do not always function well. In particular, when the caregiver is not only the source of potential comfort, but also the source of threat, a relationship of disorganized attachment results. Seeking comfort from the source of fear is a failing strategy: it not only brings the individual closer to the source of fear, instead of escaping the threat, but it also fails to produce the required comfort, thus impeding a later exploration phase from a secure base. The person freezes – like a deer in the headlights. They are in a situation termed "fright without solution"; they cannot escape the threat. This failing attachment strategy causes dissociation and disorientation regarding the relationship in question. It creates what is termed a "trauma bond" or disorganized attachment; the individual is in a state of trauma and can no longer think clearly about their condition. This is a dynamic we often see in relationships of controlling domestic violence, in child abuse, or in the Stockholm Syndrome where kidnap or hostage victims identify with their captors.
In these situations of "fright without solution" there are severe impacts on how the mind processes experience: cognitive processing in the neo cortex and language areas of the brain is impeded while the "older" areas of the brain – the brain stem and central nervous system – continue to record sensory information. It is in this creation of dissociation that the group can hijack the follower's normal survival instincts – the group unhooks the follower's perception of experience from their ability to think about what is happening, and so can now insert their own ideology and orders. Thus it is in this separation of cognitive from emotional or sensory processing that the power and dangers of brainwashing lie.
Within cultic groups the isolation of followers from the outside world and from trusting relationships with others in the group, leaves the group as the sole "safe haven" available to the follower. Cults will involve followers in numerous group activities, and discourage them from maintaining relationships with family and friends outside of the group. As involvement in the group increases, and outside involvements decrease, the group can then ramp up its demands. Part of this stage is also to induce fear, or some other kind of threat. This can be fear of the outside world, fatigue, fear of some kind of apocalyptic event, or any other form of threat. In certain religious cults stories of a wrathful God serve this purpose, while in the Lord's Resistance Army rape and simple physical terror are used. Sometimes simple exhaustion, or bullying that one is not working hard enough at one's "development" may be the sources of threat.
Once the follower is isolated, the arousal of fear causes them to turn to the group – their only remaining "safe haven" – to seek comfort and protection, even though it is the group itself that is causing the fear. This is the emotional glue that binds the follower. In the ensuing "fright without solution," with the follower's thoughts disoriented and dissociated, the group can now further insinuate its exclusive belief system and exert even more control over the follower. This is the cognitive impact – the follower's disoriented thoughts are colonized by the group. The follower may now become a deployable agent, and, with their own survival needs no longer in play, they can carry out the group's orders. It is in this context that those incomprehensible actions – such as suicide bombings – take place. As one Newman Tendency member said, "I remember feeling like I would take a bullet for Fred."
What helps to break the situation of "fright without solution" is alternate trusting or attachment relationships that allow an escape, a solution to the threat which in turn allows the person to think clearly again, to reintegrate their thought processes. It is thus imperative that the cult prevent any such trusting relationships from developing. This is why we can predict that cults will systematically attempt to interfere in followers' close relationships.
It is vitally important to understand these dynamics to which most of us are vulnerable – they operate based on universal human (and usually adaptive) responses of seeking comfort and connection when afraid. We must teach young people these mechanisms in order that they may protect themselves from these predatory groups. As Solomon Asch said:
The greater man's ignorance of the principles of his social surroundings, the more subject is he to their control; and the greater his knowledge of their operations and of their necessary consequences, the freer he can become with regard to them.
brainwashing, cults
Alexandra Stein
Alexandra Stein is a writer and lecturer specializing in the social psychology of cults, totalitarianism and other dangerous social relationships, and their opposites: "small d" democracy, inclusivity and healthy social networks. She is an associate lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, and the Mary Ward Centre. She consults in the…
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Q: Issues scraping EV/EBITDA, Sale of Purchase Stock & Net Borrowings from Yahoo Finance I pulled a Python script off of Github which is intended to analyze & rank stocks. I finally got it running but unfortunately the EV/EBITDA and Shareholder Yield are populating their default values, 1000 & 0 respectively.
I've spent the last few days attempting to troubleshoot, learning a lot in the process, but unfortunately had no luck.. I think it's attempting to extract data from a nonexistent line on the 'Scraper' portion or referencing an incorrect HTML. I'll paste the two code snips I think the error may lie within though the rest of the files are linked above.
Main File
from sys import stdout

from Stock import Stock
import Pickler
import Scraper
import Rankings
import Fixer
import Writer

# HTML error code handler - importing data is a chore, and getting a connection
# error halfway through is horribly demotivating. Use a pickler to serialize
# imported data into a hot-startable database.
pklFileName = 'tmpstocks.pkl'
pickler = Pickler.Pickler()

# Check if a pickled file exists. Load it if the user requests. If no file
# loaded, stocks is an empty list.
stocks = pickler.loadPickledFile(pklFileName)

# Scrape data from FINVIZ. Certain presets have been established (see direct
# link for more details)
url = 'http://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=152&f=cap_smallover&' + \
    'ft=4&c=0,1,2,6,7,10,11,13,14,45,65'
html = Scraper.importHtml(url)

# Parse the HTML for the number of pages from which we'll pull data
nPages = -1
for line in html:
    if line[0:40] == '<option selected="selected" value=1>Page':
        # Find indices
        b1 = line.index('/') + 1
        b2 = b1 + line[b1:].index('<')
        # Number of pages containing stock data
        nPages = int(line[b1:b2])
        break

# Parse data from table on the first page of stocks and store in the database,
# but only if no data was pickled
if pickler.source == Pickler.PickleSource.NOPICKLE:
    Scraper.importFinvizPage(html, stocks)

# The first page of stocks (20 stocks) has been imported. Now import the
# rest of them
source = Pickler.PickleSource.FINVIZ
iS = pickler.getIndex(source, 1, nPages + 1)

for i in range(iS, nPages + 1):
    try:
        # Print dynamic progress message
        print('Importing FINVIZ metrics from page ' + str(i) + ' of ' + \
            str(nPages) + '...', file=stdout, flush=True)

        # Scrape data as before
        url = 'http://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=152&f=cap_smallover&ft=4&r=' + \
            str(i*20+1) + '&c=0,1,2,6,7,10,11,13,14,45,65'
        html = Scraper.importHtml(url)

        # Import stock metrics from page into a buffer
        bufferList = []
        Scraper.importFinvizPage(html, bufferList)

        # If no errors encountered, extend buffer to stocks list
        stocks.extend(bufferList)
    except:
        # Error encountered. Pickle stocks for later loading
        pickler.setError(source, i, stocks)
        break

# FINVIZ stock metrics successfully imported
print('\n')

# Store number of stocks in list
nStocks = len(stocks)

# Handle pickle file
source = Pickler.PickleSource.YHOOEV
iS = pickler.getIndex(source, 0, nStocks)

# Grab EV/EBITDA metrics from Yahoo! Finance
for i in range(iS, nStocks):
    try:
        # Print dynamic progress message
        print('Importing Key Statistics for ' + stocks[i].tick +
            ' (' + str(i) + '/' + str(nStocks - 1) + ') from Yahoo! Finance...', \
            file=stdout, flush=True)

        # Scrape data from Yahoo! Finance
        url = 'http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=' + stocks[i].tick + '+Key+Statistics'
        html = Scraper.importHtml(url)

        # Parse data
        for line in html:
            # Check no value
            if 'There is no Key Statistics' in line or \
            'Get Quotes Results for' in line or \
            'Changed Ticker Symbol' in line or \
            '' in line:
                # Non-financial file (e.g. mutual fund) or
                # Ticker not located or
                # End of html page
                stocks[i].evebitda = 1000
                break
            elif 'Enterprise Value/EBITDA' in line:
                # Line contains EV/EBITDA data
                evebitda = Scraper.readYahooEVEBITDA(line)
                stocks[i].evebitda = evebitda
                break
    except:
        # Error encountered. Pickle stocks for later loading
        pickler.setError(source, i, stocks)
        break

# Yahoo! Finance EV/EBITDA successfully imported
print('\n')

# Handle pickle file
source = Pickler.PickleSource.YHOOBBY
iS = pickler.getIndex(source, 0, nStocks)

# Grab BBY metrics from Yahoo! Finance
for i in range(iS, nStocks):
    try:
        # Print dynamic progress message
        print('Importing Cash Flow for ' + stocks[i].tick +
            ' (' + str(i) + '/' + str(nStocks - 1) + ') from Yahoo! Finance...', \
            file=stdout, flush=True)

        # Scrape data from Yahoo! Finance
        url = 'http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cf?s=' + stocks[i].tick + '&ql=1'
        html = Scraper.importHtml(url)

        # Parse data
        totalBuysAndSells = 0
        for line in html:
            # Check no value
            if 'There is no Cash Flow' in line or \
            'Get Quotes Results for' in line or \
            'Changed Ticker Symbol' in line or \
            '' in line:
                # Non-financial file (e.g. mutual fund) or
                # Ticker not located or
                # End of html page
                break
            elif 'Sale Purchase of Stock' in line:
                # Line contains Sale/Purchase of Stock information
                totalBuysAndSells = Scraper.readYahooBBY(line)
                break

        # Calculate BBY as a percentage of current market cap
        bby = round(-totalBuysAndSells / stocks[i].mktcap * 100, 2)
        stocks[i].bby = bby
    except:
        # Error encountered. Pickle stocks for later loading
        pickler.setError(source, i, stocks)
        break

# Yahoo! Finance BBY successfully imported

if not pickler.hasErrorOccurred:
    # All data imported
    print('\n')
    print('Fixing screener errors...')

    # A number of stocks may have broken metrics. Fix these (i.e. assign out-of-
    # bounds values) before sorting
    stocks = Fixer.fixBrokenMetrics(stocks)

    print('Ranking stocks...')

    # Calculate shareholder Yield
    for i in range(nStocks):
        stocks[i].shy = stocks[i].div + stocks[i].bby

    # Time to rank! Lowest value gets 100
    rankPE = 100 * (1 - Rankings.rankByValue([o.pe for o in stocks]) / nStocks)
    rankPS = 100 * (1 - Rankings.rankByValue([o.ps for o in stocks]) / nStocks)
    rankPB = 100 * (1 - Rankings.rankByValue([o.pb for o in stocks]) / nStocks)
    rankPFCF = 100 * (1 - Rankings.rankByValue([o.pfcf for o in stocks]) / nStocks)
    rankEVEBITDA = 100 * (1 - Rankings.rankByValue([o.evebitda for o in stocks]) / nStocks)

    # Shareholder yield ranked with highest getting 100
    rankSHY = 100 * (Rankings.rankByValue([o.shy for o in stocks]) / nStocks)

    # Rank total stock valuation
    rankStock = rankPE + rankPS + rankPB + rankPFCF + rankEVEBITDA + rankSHY

    # Rank 'em
    rankOverall = Rankings.rankByValue(rankStock)
    # Calculate Value Composite - higher the better
    valueComposite = 100 * rankOverall / len(rankStock)
    # Reverse indices - lower index -> better score
    rankOverall = [len(rankStock) - 1 - x for x in rankOverall]

    # Assign to stocks
    for i in range(nStocks):
        stocks[i].rank = rankOverall[i]
        stocks[i].vc = round(valueComposite[i], 2)

    print('Sorting stocks...')

    # Sort all stocks by normalized rank
    stocks = [x for (y, x) in sorted(zip(rankOverall, stocks))]

    # Sort top decile by momentum factor. O'Shaughnessey historically uses 25
    # stocks to hold. The top decile is printed, and the user may select the top 25
    # (or any n) from the .csv file.
    dec = int(nStocks / 10)
    topDecile = []

    # Store temporary momentums from top decile for sorting reasons
    moms = [o.mom for o in stocks[:dec]]

    # Sort top decile by momentum
    for i in range(dec):
        # Get index of top momentum performer in top decile
        topMomInd = moms.index(max(moms))
        # Sort
        topDecile.append(stocks[topMomInd])
        # Remove top momentum performer from further consideration
        moms[topMomInd] = -100

    print('Saving stocks...')

    # Save momentum-weighted top decile
    topCsvPath = 'top.csv'
    Writer.writeCSV(topCsvPath, topDecile)

    # Save results to .csv
    allCsvPath = 'stocks.csv'
    Writer.writeCSV(allCsvPath, stocks)

    print('\n')
    print('Complete.')
    print('Top decile (sorted by momentum) saved to: ' + topCsvPath)
    print('All stocks (sorted by trending value) saved to: ' + allCsvPath)

Scraper
import re
from urllib.request import urlopen

from Stock import Stock

def importHtml(url):
    "Scrapes the HTML file from the given URL and returns line break delimited \
    strings"

    response = urlopen(url, data = None)
    html = response.read().decode('utf-8').split('\n')

    return html

def importFinvizPage(html, stocks):
    "Imports data from a FINVIZ HTML page and stores in the list of Stock \
    objects"

    isFound = False

    for line in html:
        if line[0:15] == '<td height="10"':
            isFound = True
            # Import data line into stock database
            _readFinvizLine(line, stocks)

        if isFound and len(line) < 10:
            break

    return

def _readFinvizLine(line, stocks):
    "Imports stock metrics from the data line and stores it in the list of \
    Stock objects"

    # Parse html
    (stkraw, dl) = _parseHtml(line)

    # Create new stock object
    stock = Stock()

    # Get ticker symbol
    stock.tick = stkraw[dl[1] + 1: dl[2]]
    # Get company name
    stock.name = stkraw[dl[2] + 1 : dl[3]]

    # Get market cap multiplier (either MM or BB)
    if stkraw[dl[4] - 1] == 'B':
        capmult = 1000000000
    else:
        capmult = 1000000

    # Get market cap
    stock.mktcap = capmult * _toFloat(stkraw[dl[3] + 1 : dl[4] - 1])
    # Get P/E ratio
    stock.pe = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[4] + 1 : dl[5]])
    # Get P/S ratio
    stock.ps = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[5] + 1 : dl[6]])
    # Get P/B ratio
    stock.pb = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[6] + 1 : dl[7]])
    # Get P/FCF ratio
    stock.pfcf = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[7] + 1 : dl[8]])
    # Get Dividend Yield
    stock.div = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[8] + 1 : dl[9] - 1])
    # Get 6-mo Relative Price Strength
    stock.mom = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[9] + 1 : dl[10] - 1])
    # Get Current Stock Price
    stock.price = _toFloat(stkraw[dl[11] + 1 : dl[12]])

    # Append stock to list of stocks
    stocks.append(stock)

    return

def _toFloat(line):
    "Converts a string to a float. Returns NaN if the line can't be converted"

    try:
        num = float(line)
    except:
        num = float('NaN')

    return num

def readYahooEVEBITDA(line):
    "Returns EV/EBITDA data from Yahoo! Finance HTML line"

    # Parse html
    (stkraw, dl) = _parseHtml(line)

    for i in range(0, len(dl)):
        if (stkraw[dl[i] + 1 : dl[i] + 24] == 'Enterprise Value/EBITDA'):
            evebitda = stkraw[dl[i + 1] + 1 : dl[i + 2]]
            break

    return _toFloat(evebitda)

def readYahooBBY(line):
    "Returns total buys and sells from Yahoo! Finance HTML line. Result will \
    still need to be divided by market cap"

    # Line also contains Borrowings details - Remove it all
    if 'Net Borrowings' in line:
        # Remove extra data
        line = line[:line.find('Net Borrowings')]

    # Trim prior data
    line = line[line.find('Sale Purchase of Stock'):]

    # Determine if buys or sells, replace open parantheses:
    # (#,###) -> -#,###
    line = re.sub(r'[(]', '-', line)

    # Eliminate commas and close parantheses: -#,### -> -####
    line = re.sub(r'[,|)]', '', line)

    # Remove HTML data and markup, replacing with commas
    line = re.sub(r'[<.*?>|]', ',', line)
    line = re.sub(' ', ',', line)

    # Locate the beginnings of each quarterly Sale Purchase points
    starts = [m.start() for m in re.finditer(',\d+,|,.\d+', line)]

    # Locate the ends of each quarterly Sale Purchase points
    ends = [m.start() for m in re.finditer('\d,', line)]

    # Sum all buys and sells across year
    tot = 0
    for i in range(0, len(starts)):
        # x1000 because all numbers are in thousands
        tot = tot + float(line[starts[i] + 1 : ends[i] + 1]) * 1000

    return tot

def _parseHtml(line):
    "Parses the HTML line by 	 breaks and returns the delimited string"

    # Replace 	 breaks with placeholder, '`'
    ph = '`'
    rem = re.sub('	', ph, line)

    # The ticker symbol initial delimiter is different
    # Remove all other remaining HTML data
    stkraw = re.sub('<.*?>', '', rem)

    # Replace unbalanced HTML
    stkraw = re.sub('">', '`', stkraw)

    # Find the placeholders
    dl = [m.start() for m in re.finditer(ph, stkraw)]

    return (stkraw, dl)

If anyone has any input or perhaps a better method such as beautifulsoup, I'd really appreciate it! I'm very open to any tutorials that would help as well. My intent is to both better my programming ability and have an effective stock screener.

A: I was having the same issue scraping the Yahoo data in Python, and in Matlab as well. As a workaround, I wrote a macro in VBA to grab all of the EV/EBITDA data from Yahoo by visiting each stock's Key Statistics page. However, it takes about a day to run on all 3,000+ stocks with market caps over $200M, which is not really practical.
I've tried finding the EV/EBITDA on various stock screeners online, but they either don't report it or only let you download a couple hundred stocks' data without paying. Busy Stock's screener seems the best in this regard, but their EV/EBITDA figures don't line up to Yahoo's, which worries me that they are using different methodology.
One solution and my recommendation to you is to use the Trending Value algorithm in Quantopian, which is free. You can find the code here: https://www.quantopian.com/posts/oshaugnessy-what-works-on-wall-street
Quantopian will let you backtest the algorithm to 2002, and live test it as well.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
New pelicans in St James's Park
© Licensed to London News Pictures. 16/07/2019. LONDON, UK. Three great white pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) have been released in St James's Park. A gift from Prague Zoo arriving at the end of May, the new pelicans have been kept hidden from public view while they settled in to their new surroundings. The two males, Sun and Moon, and a female named Star (L), were hatched in February, and join a colony of three in the park. Photo credit: Stephen Chung/LNP
LNP_NEW_PELICANS_SCU_03.JPG
London pelican "great white pelican" gift Prague bird "St James's Park". Sun Moon Star "Pelecanus onocrotalus"


Ecommerce has been growing steadily in popularity for the last 10 years. Online sales jumped up nearly 15% last year across the board, and they're predicted to only increase in the future. If you're starting a business and selling products and/or services, an ecommerce site is crucial in order to capitalize on this explosive online sales growth.
While you could hire a web developer to get your business started, those costs can inhibit your ability to grow rapidly. Opting for an already-developed ecommerce platform saves you time as well as money.
The double-edged sword, however, is that there are tons of options available to you—how do you know you're choosing the right one? This article outlines some things you'll need to consider when you're looking for the best ecommerce platform for your business.
The first thing you should consider when searching for an ecommerce platform is the price. Whether you're a small business just getting started or an already established brick & mortar business moving online, you need to know exactly what you'll be paying.
You should also consider how your customers will be paying. Some platforms don't offer the ability to pay via third party vendors (such as PayPal). This could end up being a huge inconvenience for your customers – a frustration which can lead to shopping cart abandonment. Don't take this risk; decide which forms of payment you'll accept first and remember this when you're looking at the different software.
Ecommerce businesses are not exempt from working on their SEO. In fact, it can be highly beneficial to have your store rank high in search results. You want your customers to find you when they're searching for products like yours.
You can learn more about SEO for an ecommerce website here.
A key aspect of any business is its customer service. As the experience provided by traditional brick-and-mortar businesses is based in a physical store, they typically have more control over how smoothly their business runs.
Ecommerce is a whole different ballgame; software outages and server downtimes are often out of your control, and will prevent any of your customers from accessing your business. Odds are that at one point your servers will crash at the worst possible moment. This can affect both your revenue and your brand image.
Having someone to call at any time to help you get things up and running again is a huge factor when you're looking at ecommerce platforms. Take a look at each platform's customer service—are they available 24/7? How are you able to reach them? How many levels of support are offered, and what does each cost? Think about these questions and make sure you ask them before you decide on your platform.
No one want to enter their credit card information on a sketchy website, which is why security is becoming one of the biggest concerns among consumers. While most software today will have robust security as standard, always check to make sure your platform supports HTTPS/SSL for a safe and secure checkout for your customers.
All business owners hope their business will grow in the future, but you may not know to what extent. Nonetheless, it's important to look for a platform that will scale along with your business.
You don't want to pay for features and storage that you're not using when you first start out. You also want to keep up with higher demands as your business takes off. Choose a platform that you can scale to your business size and that won't charge you outrageous fees for doing so.
Starting any new business is challenging, but moving away from the traditional store front to an online version can be a little daunting—especially with so many options for you to start with—which is why choosing an ecommerce platform is so difficult for many business owners. Figuring out what your store will need as you grow and keeping up with trends is a challenge, but it is well worth it in the end to create processes that work and will scale with your business. Knowing what to look for ahead of time makes choosing a platform an easier process and can help you find success!
What features do you look for in ecommerce software? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer for HigherVisibility, a full service SEO agency, and a contributor to SEW. You can connect with Amanda at AmandaDiSilvestro.com.


text:
Local Dealers Pan Tesla's Online Sales, Apply Legislative Pressure
Tesla tried to have Texas law changed, but was outspent by car dealerships.
ByCOLLEEN CURRY
A Tesla Motors Inc. S sedan stands before the grand opening of the Tesla Supercharger station in Lebec, Cali., Oct. 19, 2012.
Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Sept. 12, 2013— -- Tesla Motors sells its popular electric cars through its website rather than local dealerships, a business move that has made it the target of legal battles backed by powerful car dealership lobbying groups that founder Elon Musk says he will fight in federal court if he needs to in order to operate his business.
The car company lost a difficult legal challenge in Texas earlier this year, in part because the company was steamrolled by the dealership association that poured money into elections and lobbying to preserve their own business, according to a new report released this week by a Texas government watchdog group.
Tesla, which was started by PayPal founder Elon Musk in 2003, has seen its stock soar and its market value rocket to $20 billion after it posted its first profitable quarter earlier this year. A report from Texans for Public Justice released this week showed the level of that opposition by a powerful group of car dealers.
Tesla has faced resistance from dealership trade associations across the country as it has expanded its stores and sales in recent years. Musk, responding to the state-by-state legal challenges told Automotive News in April that he was prepared to go to federal court if he could not win at the state level.
"If we're seeing nonstop battles at the state level, rather than fight 20 different state battles, I'd rather fight one federal battle," Musk said, explaining that he could either lobby for federal legislation or bring a federal lawsuit in hopes of winning the right to operate the way he wants to.
In most states where Tesla has begun operating, car dealership groups have lobbied to change laws in their favor.
In North Carolina, car dealerships lobbied earlier this year for legislation that would ban online car sales and force the public to buy cars through licensed dealerships, not from manufacturers. The measure in North Carolina failed to go through.
Similarly, dealership-backed legislation that would ban manufacturers from selling directly to consumers was introduced in New York in June but the bill was never voted on before the 2013 legislative term ended, according to Automotive News.
Car dealerships also pressured local government officials in Massachusetts to not grant a license to Tesla to open a store in Natick, but the town's selectmen sided with Tesla and granted the license, allowing sales of the cars, according to the Metro West Daily.
The state-by-state battles for the right to sell cars online have mostly gone in Tesla's favor - at least until Texas. Unlike other states that already permit direct sales, in Texas, state law prohibits manufacturers from selling directly to consumers.
Because of the unique law in Texas, Tesla stores there "are legally prohibited from offering visitors a test drive, quoting them a price or even directing them to Tesla's website," according to the report by Texans for Public Justice.
Tesla has set up showrooms and "galleries" around the country, including ones in Austin and Houston, where consumers can view the cars before making their purchases online. Tesla calls the Model S the "world's first premium electric sedan," and is priced at $49,900 to $97,900, based on battery options and upgrades.
Tesla attempted to have the Texas law changed earlier this year, but the company's efforts were quashed by lawmakers who took in more than $2.5 million from car dealers in the 2012 election cycle, TPJ reported.
The report, titled "Car-Dealer Cartel Stalled Musk's Tesla," points out that the Texas Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) spent more than $700,000 lobbying against Tesla's efforts during the 2013 legislative session.
Sixty percent of all current lawmakers in Texas collected money from TADA in 2012, according to the report. Only 17 House members did not receive money from the group.
In comparison, Musk spent between $250,000 and $565,000 on lobbyists, and an additional $7,500 in campaign contributions.
Tesla declined to comment on the Texas legislation, and the TADA did not return calls seeking comment.
Diarmuid O'Connell, Tesla Motors' vice president of business development, told ABC News earlier this year that Tesla does not want to go through dealerships to sell its car because only its staff can properly educate the public on what makes electric cars and Tesla cars unique.
"We're not in the business of tearing down the dealer model," said O'Connell. "We simply believe that to successfully introduce this technology to the market, it needs to be done in a focused fashion, by us."
ABC News' Susanna Kim contributed to this report.