Who are the people who are shaping a vibrant Britain? How can we showcase them to inspire others to make their mark too? These are the questions Grant Thornton set out to answer as part of realising its purpose of shaping a vibrant economy and unlocking the potential of our nation through working with government, businesses and communities.
The list of 100 Faces of a Vibrant Economy is composed of individuals representing cities, communities and corporations across the UK. They have been photographed by Magnum Photos, the international photography cooperative, as a celebration of the contribution they are making to a more vibrant economy. In addition, Grant Thornton ran a nationwide competition and found two talented student photographers who were mentored by Magnum Photos through the process of photographing the Faces.
James Timpson OBE, Timpson Group - since taking the reins of the family retail group James has pioneered an 'upside down' approach to management, encouraged innovation, empowered employees and developed a programme that selects, trains and mentors candidates from prison towards a role at the company.
Dave Cates, Donate Technologies – The new Foodbank app notifies contributors to the food demand of their local foodbank. By streamlining the donation process, Dave's technological innovation is helping 15% of the UK's foodbanks meet the needs of some of society's most vulnerable people.
Laura Tenison MBE, JoJo Maman Bébé – the clothing retailer offers support, advice and care to pregnant women and new parents in the community around their stores. Laura believes that it should be possible to do well whilst doing good and that business leaders should inspire and encourage both their teams and support their local environment.
Dr Kate Hersov, Medikidz – as a junior doctor, Dr Hersov created superhero-themed education programmes across more than 100 therapeutic areas to help children understand what is happening in hospitals. To date it has distributed more than 3.5 million comic books across 50 countries and 30 languages.
Amy Peake, Loving Humanity – founded the organisation that supplies machines to manufacture sanitary pads for Syrian refugees. Since its creation its ambition has expanded to setting up and running a fully functioning factory inside Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan. From here they will also be able to help people facing the issue of incontinence which affects the elderly, disabled and 75 per cent of children who wet the bed as a result of the trauma of war.
"Earlier this year we set out a clear purpose to shape a vibrant economy, and we know that no one organisation or individual can do this alone. Following the result of the EU referendum it is even more important than ever that we all work together to help the UK to build upon its strengths and ensure that our economy continues to grow.
"Today we're celebrating the achievements of 100 Faces driving a vibrant economy and sharing their stories to inspire others. Some are inspiring leaders, empowering their employees to reach their full potential. Others are using innovation to help their local communities, and some have created businesses with a clear, social purpose helping everyone from refugees to families that rely on food banks.


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Wow! I can hardly believe it's been almost two months since I last posted! I want to apologize to everyone for just disappearing, and to all of you whose blogs I normally read and have been neglecting lately. I know I've mentioned in my last few posts (which were already becoming infrequent) that I was having a hard time staying motivated to write, and it appears that although I thought I was getting my groove back, I was wrong.
I'm not sure if I have just been run down, or if it is just work that's been keeping me busy and sapping my energy, or if there is something else going on, but I am trying to get out of this seeming creative block that I've been in since sometime after my trip in February. Happily, I have not lost my drive to continue on my journey to become healthier, I just haven't been writing about it.
Let me see…last time I posted an update with you all, I was at 114.8 pounds down. Today, I weighed in at 165.9, for a total loss of 120.1 pounds! I'm just under 16 pounds away from my goal of 150! I can hardly believe that I'm getting so close, or that I did it without resorting to a bunch of fat free, sugar free, prepackaged foods! Wow! What a journey it has been! Below is a before and after photo that I assembled with an app on my iPad. The left was taken about 3 days before I started Weight Watchers in February 2017, and the one on the right was taken today.
I believe that last time I posted, I mentioned that I had bought a couple of new cookbooks. Well, a few weeks ago I bought another after a friend, and fellow Weight Watchers member posted pictures of a recipe she had made, and also told me that all of the recipes had been added to the app. The book is the Yum & Yummer cookbook, and since I had already had my eye on this one, it was an easy decision to buy it. Yes, I know there are tons of recipes online, but I LOVE cookbooks.
In the short time since I bought it, I've already made about 3 or 4 recipes from this book and have about every other page bookmarked to try, the recipes look that good. And best of all most of them use ingredients that I already have on hand, so I don't have to go hunting for weird ingredients I've never used before, and may never use again.
While I can't share the recipes with you, I can show you yummy pictures of the Silky Butternut Squash Soup I made from the book!
I've made this recipe twice already, because it was just that delicious! If you love cookbooks like I do, I recommend browsing this one at the bookstore to see if the recipes appeal to you.
That's it for me for today. Hopefully I can get myself back into a schedule and don't fall off the face of the earth for another month or so. I am going to really try, hard, to get my creative juices flowing again. Thanks for bearing with me in the meantime.
Well done Kate! The recipe book sounds good, I always look down the ingredients before buying a book now, I know if I have to buy lots of new ingredients it just won't get cooked!
I'm the same way. I have so many cookbooks that I bought when I was younger, and didn't know any better.
I wondered the same thing, if it would be good with pumpkin. I may have to buy one this week and let you know!
I know! Then you might only have 49 pumpkins left, lol.
Congratulations, Kate! The photo comparison is outrageous! You look remarkably different! You might have thought of robbing a bank before beginning the weight loss journey (I'm obviously joking, but really, that different!) I understand the blog slump. I think I'm experiencing a bit of the blogging blahs. I'm out of energy for it because I feel like I should come up with a new thing to say but nothing comes to mind because I'm just too distracted by other things going on. The cool thing about blogging, though, is that when you get back to your blog, there are your readers that have always been there, which is usually a nice feeling, at least for me, but I'd imagine for any blogger it's similar!
Yes, it's wonderful to get back and hear from the readers I've connected. I think it's the one thing that keeps me from abandoning it altogether when I'm in a slump.
WOW!! This is really inspiring dear. Congratulation.
Congrats on losing so much! That's truly an achievement and you should be very proud of yourself.
For some reason I also go through phases of not wanting to write online at all: Often for months on end before I start up again. I wonder why that happens?
Thank you! I wish I could figure out the motivation thing, I'm still struggling with getting posts written…obviously, it's been a while since my last one.
Wow! What an amazing testimony! Congratulations on your success!
You look amazing! I am on a prescribed diet for health reason. I print a lot of recipes off the internet! Wish we had that years ago! These changes long term are hard! Especially when I still cook for a family!
Thanks! The Internet really is a great resource, isn't it? How did we ever get along without it? I completely understand the struggle of trying to cook more healthy foods when you have a family. I'm single, but I remember what a challenge it was when I was married. Good luck to you!
When I'm tired I weaken. :o) But onward and upward!
Congratulations! You will get to that weight loss goal if you haven't already!
Thanks! Still working on my goal, but I'm pretty happy about how far I've come so I'm not worried about how long it takes to get the last bit off.


text:
Re: "Concerning the Count of Saint-Germain"
by Terry Melanson · November 29, 2013
Originally Published at Conspiracy Archive on 2009/01/21
Design sketch of the alchemical laboratory at the estate of Landgrave Karl von Hessen Kassel
In an email Monday, L.G. wrote:
I've been searching for materials about the Illuminati (I read yesterday some of your notes on "May Day" and the Illuminati – quite interesting and helpful!) and there is one historical personage that keeps popping up in my searches: Saint Germain, the so-called "Wonderman of Europe". I don't know if he was an "illuminatus", but his persistent connections to May 1st in the New Age Movement are very interesting. According to some sources, he "ascended" on May 1st 1684, and was crowned as the new "Chohan" (Planetary Lord) on May 1st 1954. I know these are just New Age inventions, with no historical value, but anyway the choice of that day is curious, to say the least.
While reading Manly P. Hall's "The Secret Destiny of America", I noticed he mentioned a person –not named in the book– who apparently influenced the creation of the american flag and called himself "The Professor". What I wanted to know is if you know, from your own studies, if this man had anything to do with the well-known european aristocrat who called himself the Count of Saint Germain. If there was a connection, and if there was any possibility for him to have been a member of the Bavarian Illuminati, maybe this could explain the connection between the New Age "Ascended Master" Saint Germain and the day of the foundation of the Bavarian Illuminati.
By the way, as I'm talking about Saint Germain and the New Age Movement, maybe you'll find curious the fact that certain new age circles working with this "ascended master" use a kind of violet disc with a dot in the middle as a tool for "spiritual exercises". You can see it here (the fourth from above):
http://www.naveluz.arq.br/download.htm
This, amazingly, reminds me of the point within a circle used by the Illuminati to designate their Order. What do you think about all this?
Thanks for your time and attention.
The short answer, is no; Saint Germain wasn't a member of the Illuminati. His name doesn't appear on any authentic membership list, nor would you expect to find it. Quite the opposite.
Regarding Freemasonry and other secret societies during the 18th Century, those of a mystical/occultist bent usually joined the Golden and Rosy Cross, Strict Observance or the Illuminés in France and Northern Europe (embracing the teachings of Pasqually, Saint-Martin, Pernety, and Swedenborg) – or all of the above. The die-hard rationalists, whose foundation was in philosophy rather than Pietism or mysticism or alchemy, were recruited into the Bavarian Illuminati. That being said, there was certainly overlap, but the two camps were at odds, even antagonistic. Saint Germain was of the former group. To the rationalists in the Illuminati, Saint-Germain – indeed Cagliostro and the rest of the mystical fabulists – were the butt of the joke. If you were found to be sympathetic to alchemy or Rosicrucianism, in most cases you were kicked out of the Order.
While contemplating whether to initiate Princes into the Order, a compromise was reached. The noble would certainly be led to believe that he was ascending the ladder, but instead of the normal discourse read to the initiate in the higher mysteries, that the church and throne were to be dispensed with – these were conveniently left out. Thus the sovereign's good name could be used to recruit others – demonstrating the grandeur of the Order – and the Prince or Duke, believing he was privy to the final secret, would, in turn, work on behalf of his "brethren."
Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel was a close friend of Saint-Germain's. He was one of those Princes initiated into the Order, and it seems as though he had an agenda as well – to spy on its activities, keep it in check, and have full control over the initiates in his territory. This power, Knigge provided to him; despite the fact that Karl was one of the most accomplished occultists of his time (and being an initiate of more mystical associations than most anyone else).
Prince Karl and Saint-Germain set up shop at his Louisenlund estate in what is now Schleswig-Holstein. While conducting experiments at Karl's alchemical laboratory (a dark, cold, and dreary stone tower), Saint-Germain caught pneumonia and died on February 27, 1784.
The simple fact is that Rosicrucian obsession with the myths surrounding St. Germain is a ruse meant to fleece the credulous. That they use "May 1st" is perhaps due a desire to insinuate a connection with Weishaupt's Order. But there is none. The power and allure of the very word "Illuminati" is considerable, is it not? Crowley, too, sought to conflate various names throughout history and intimate that they belonged to one grand authentic tradition. They have alternative histories – whimsical and imprecise – whose purpose is to impress; indoctrinate; initiate; propagate.
Chapter 15 (pp. 146-154) of Hall's Secret Destiny of America (1944), is titled "The Unknown Man who Designed Our Flag." Too often Hall's sources are those of occultists, who in turn base their stories upon anecdote, tradition, and legend. Hall's sole citation for the tale of this mysterious professor, is one Robert Allen Campbell: Our Flag: Or The Evolution of the Stars and Stripes, Including the Reason to be of the Design, the Colors, and Their Position, Mystic Interpretation Together with Selections Eloquent, Patriotic, and Poetical (H. E. Lawrence, Chicago, 1890).
The gist of it is this:
EPISODES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
Many times the question has been asked, Was Francis Bacon's vision of the "New Atlantis" a prophetic dream of the great civilization which was so soon to rise upon the soil of the New World? It cannot be doubted that the secret societies of Europe conspired to establish upon the American continent "a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Two incidents in the early history of the United States evidence the influence of that silent body which has so long guided the destinies of peoples and religions. By them nations are created as vehicles for the promulgation of ideals, and while nations are true to these ideals they survive; when they vary from them they vanish like the Atlantis of old which had ceased to "know the gods."
In his admirable little treatise, Our Flag, Robert Allen Campbell revives the details of an obscure, but most important, episode of American history–the designing of the Colonial flag of 1775. The account involves a mysterious man concerning whom no information is available other than that he was on familiar terms with both General George Washington and Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The following description of him is taken from Campbell's treatise:
"Little seems to have been known concerning this old gentleman; and in the materials from which this account is compiled his name is not even once mentioned, for he is uniformly spoken of or referred to as 'the Professor.' He was evidently far beyond his threescore and ten years; and he often referred to historical events of more than a century previous just as if he had been a living witness of their occurrence; still he was erect, vigorous and active–hale, hearty, and clear-minded–as strong and energetic every way as in the prime of his life He was tall, of fine figure, perfectly easy, and very dignified in his manners; being at once courteous, gracious and commanding. He was, for those times and considering the customs of the Colonists, very peculiar in his method of living; for he ate no flesh, fowl or fish; he never used for food any 'green thing,' any roots or anything unripe; he drank no liquor, wine or ale; but confined his diet to cereals and their products, fruits that were ripened on the stem in the sun, nuts, mild tea and the sweets of honey, sugar or molasses.
"He was well educated, highly cultivated, of extensive as well as varied information, and very studious. He spent considerable of his time in the patient and persistent conning of a number of very rare old books and ancient manuscripts which he seemed to be deciphering, translating or rewriting. These books and manuscripts, together with his own writings, he never showed to anyone; and he did not even mention them in his conversations with the family, except in the most casual way; and he always locked them up carefully in a large, old-fashioned, cubically shaped, iron-bound, heavy, oaken chest, whenever he left his room, even for his meals. He took long and frequent walks alone, sat on the brows of the neighboring hills, or mused in the midst of the green and flower-gemmed meadows. He was fairly liberal–but in no way lavish–in spending his money, with which he was well supplied. He was a quiet, though a very genial and very interesting, member of the family; and be was seemingly at home upon any and every topic coming up in conversation. He was, in short, one whom everyone would notice and respect, whom few would feel well acquainted with, and whom no one would presume to question concerning himself–as to whence he came, why he tarried, or whither he journeyed. "
By something more than a mere coincidence the committee appointed by the Colonial Congress to design a flag accepted an invitation to be guests, while in Cambridge, of the same family with which the Professor was staying. It was here that General Washington joined them for the purpose of deciding upon a fitting emblem. By the signs which passed between them it was evident that both General Washington and Doctor Franklin recognized the Professor, and by unanimous approval he was invited to become an active member of the committee. During the proceedings which followed, the Professor was treated with the most profound respect and all of his suggestions immediately acted upon. He submitted a pattern which he considered symbolically appropriate for the new flag, and this was unhesitatingly accepted by the other six members of the committee, who voted that the arrangement suggested by the Professor be forthwith adopted. After the episode of the flag the Professor quietly vanished, and nothing further is known concerning him.
Did General Washington and Doctor Franklin recognize the Professor as an emissary of the Mystery school which has so long controlled the political destinies of this planet? Benjamin Franklin was a philosopher and a Freemason–possibly a Rosicrucian initiate. He and the Marquis de Lafayette–also a man of mystery–constitute two of the most important links in the chain of circumstance that culminated in the establishment of the original thirteen American Colonies as a free and independent nation. Doctor Franklin's philosophic attainments are well attested in Poor Richard's Almanac, published by him for many years under the name of Richard Saunders. His interest in the cause of Freemasonry is also shown by his republication of Anderson's Constitutions of Freemasonry, a rare and much disputed work on the subject.
It was during the evening of July 4, 1776, that the second of these mysterious episodes occurred. In the old State House in Philadelphia a group of men were gathered for the momentous task of severing the last tie between the old country and the new. It was a grave moment and not a few of those present feared that their lives would be the forfeit for their audacity. In the midst of the debate a fierce voice rang out. The debaters stopped and turned to look upon the stranger. Who was this man who had suddenly appeared in their midst and transfixed them with his oratory? They had never seen him before, none knew when he had entered, but his tall form and pale face filled them with awe. His voice ringing with a holy zeal, the stranger stirred them to their very souls. His closing words rang through the building: "God has given America to be free!" As the stranger sank into a chair exhausted, a wild enthusiasm burst forth. Name after name was placed upon the parchment: the Declaration of Independence was signed. But where was the man who had precipitated the accomplishment of this immortal task–who had lifted for a moment the veil from the eyes of the assemblage and revealed to them a part at least of the great purpose for which the new nation was conceived? He had disappeared, nor was he ever seen again or his identity established. This episode parallels others of a similar kind recorded by ancient historians attendant upon the founding of every new nation. Are they coincidences, or do they demonstrate that the divine wisdom of the ancient Mysteries still is present in the world, serving mankind as it did of old?
– "The Mysteries and Their Emissaries," From Hall's Secret Teachings of All Ages
I'm not sure what to make of this, as I do not have access to Campbell's book; but according to Hall, in the Secret Destiny of America, Campbell wasn't precise about where the tale of this "Professor" had originated, so it wouldn't make any difference. I'm sure it can be settled one way or another by meticulously reviewing all known documentation concerning the design of the Flag, but such an undertaking does not interest me at this time.
Despite Hall's assertion that he was unable to uncover any data about the author Robert Allen Campbell, it seems that the latter was in fact an accomplished occultist (and Hall probably knew this). According to author John Patrick Deveney, in Paschal Beverly Randolph: A Nineteenth-Century Black American Spiritualist, Rosicrucian, and Sex Magician (State University of New York Press, 1996), Robert Allen Campbell was "involved in the origins of the H. B. of L." (p. 484) – that is, The Hermetic Brotherhood Of Luxor. Campbell was also the author of such works as, Phallic Worship: An Outline of the Worship of the Generative Organs As Being, or as Representing, the Divine Creator, with Suggestions as to the Influence of the Phallic Idea on Religious Creeds, Ceremonies, Customs and Symbolism—Past and Present (1887) and Mysteries of the Hand Revealed and Explained: the Art of Determining, from an Inspection of the Hands, the Person's Temperament, Appetites, Passions, Impulses, Aspirations, Mental Endowments, Character and Tendencies (1879). Blavatsky was aware of him, and reviewed Mysteries of the Hand, in Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine, September 1888 to February 1889 (p. 162).
In seems that Campbell is pretty solidly established as having been involved in the "Rosicrucian" occult revival of the late 19th Century. This mysterious "Professor," then – and his description (insinuating none other than the "Immortal" Saint Germain himself) – is suspect, to say the least. Also, there was a copy of the Hermetic Pymander floating around at the time, with a handwritten note by Campbell, stating: "Theosi, care of R. A. Campbell, Publisher, St. Louis, Mo. … School of Theosophy & Psychic Healing. Teacher & Practitioner of Philosophic & Scientific Mind Cure" etc. (see Godwin et al., The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor: Initiatic and Historical Documents of an Order of Practical Occultism , Weiser, 1995, p. 306).
Regarding the "point within a circle" used by adherents of the-myth-of-Saint-Germain; this does not surprise me. It is, after all, the Hieroglyphic Monad. And it was used by Rosicrucians and alchemists such as John Dee, long before the Bavarian Illuminati. Weishaupt's reason for using the Monad, is a direct result of Gottfried Leibniz's own fascination with it – specifically his popular philosophic treatise, Monadology (1714). Weishaupt was extremely influenced by both Leibniz and Christian Wolff, the two giants of the German Popularphilosophen.
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Tags: Adam WeishauptBavarian IlluminatiFreemasonryLeibnizMonadRosicruciansSaint GermainTerry Melanson
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Zarko says:
"While reading Manly P. Hall's "The Secret Destiny of America", I noticed he mentioned a person –not named in the book– who apparently influenced the creation of the american flag and called himself "The Professor". What I wanted to know is if you know, from your own studies, if this man had anything to do with the well-known european aristocrat who called himself the Count of Saint Germain."
My opinion is the professor might be Weishaupt himself more then St.Germain cause as I remember there were letters circulating and connections through some people that were members of the founding fathers or close associates of them. As fathers of the revolutions round the world, the Illuminati might have triggered the American revolution for the independence with their connections in the new continent.
The story is made up after the fact. Occult myth making is the modus operandi of initiatic societies. Lots of myths surrounding the Illuminati as well. They had no connections to the new world, either directly or indirectly. The American revolution influenced radicals and potential revolutionaries in Europe (e.g. the Illuminati and the Jacobins), not the other way around.
Can the Esoteric order that were in Opposition to the Illuminati in Northern Germany be connected to the origins of Arosiphy? Where did Guido con List and Theodor Fritsch get their occult traditions from?
Lanz von Liebenfels created the esotericism behind it. A combination of Theosophy, neo-templarism and folk traditions/myths.
Lanz is actually younger the two people I mentioned.
I haven't read the full article yet but there's one thing that stands out and that I feel compelled to clear up if I may… Saint Germain is far from, "NewAge", He is One of the thirteen Ascended Masters; A Holy Brother- OLD, Divine Wisdom and so much more than that. ☺
The term may have been used in this case because of a lack of a better description however I feel (and I don't want to use the word, 'offensive'…), that it really doesn't do Him justice. 💜
St. Germain in Occult mythical lore is the same as Christian Rosenkruetz. It's an allegory.
Over the years it has turned into that, and more. But during the 18th century he was a real, live, living person. Karl von Hessen Kassel had dinner with him every night and made potions and indulged in arcana with him for kicks (and twice on Sundays). The myth-making Rosicrucians are the culprits in perpetuating and extending the lore surrounding him; the new agers picked up the ball and flew to Mars with it, putting him in the patheon of "Ascended Masters" along with Jesus, Buddha and space aliens.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Excellus defends proposed rate hikes despite big cash reserves
by Dina Overland |
Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield has come under fire for proposing rate hikes, which could increase as much as 20 percent for some plans, even though it has enough funds in its reserves to cover claims.
Despite its $1.26 billion in reserves--almost twice as much than New York law requires--the Rochester, N.Y.-based insurer has proposed to contribute roughly $6 to as much as $37 a month from some members' premium payments to its reserves, reported the Syracuse Post-Standard.
"It's a disservice to consumers that they're (Excellus) not using their reserves to defray some of the proposed rate increase," Elisabeth Benjamin, an attorney and cofounder of Health Care for All New York, told the Post-Standard. "We would submit the state should not permit the rate increase to further allow this carrier to stockpile its reserves."
Excellus says it shouldn't use reserves to offset its proposed rate increases that would affect 90,000 members. "These reserves are the 'insurance' that assures payment even when costs run higher than anticipated, or emergencies or disasters occur and should not be used as an alternative fund to temporarily reduce rate adjustments," Excellus said in documents filed with the state Department of Financial Services.
Excellus responded to some of the pressure by explaining to WHEC that dipping into reserves to artificially lower premium increases isn't an effective solution, akin to "using a one-shot revenue source to pay for what are ongoing and ever-increasing costs of healthcare." What's more, the insurer said, using reserve funds to hold down premiums in one year would result in a much larger rate increase the following year to compensate for medical inflation and trend costs.
To meet the state reserves requirement of $703 million wouldn't give Excellus enough of a cushion to cover its 2 million members. "That's like saying to someone that they should strive to have a minimum amount in their savings account, but that might not be enough if suddenly they need to cover large unforeseen expenses," Excellus spokeswoman Elizabeth Martin said.
Plus, Excellus's $792 per-member reserve, which would cover claims for about three months, is less than other similar insurers' reserves, which average about $1,179, she added.
- read the Syracuse Post-Standard article
- see the WHEC article
Dina Overland


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1st Bn, Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment - Two colour photos of the rebuilt Sandes Soldiers Rest Home in Northern Ireland following its destruction by an IRA mortar attack in 1973.
1st Bn, Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment - Four colour photos of the memorial to the two soldiers (L/Corporal A Coughlan and Private M Swanick) from the Battalion who were killed in the bombing of Sandes House in Northern Ireland in 1973 - the memorial was erected in 1993.
99th Regiment - A black and white photo of the graveyard at Eshowe, the last resting place for the 31 soldiers who died during the siege, which lasted from 24 January to 3 April 1879. In addition to Lieutenant Davison, the following soldiers of the 99th Foot were also buried here: ? Privates Shields and Paul (dysentery); Lewis, Roden, Swann and Venn (enteric fever); Coombes (typhoid fever); Tubb (sunstroke); Knee (drowned) and Kent (killed by Zulus).
99th Regiment - A sepia photograph of the graveyard at Ekowe, (or Eshowe) taken on the 10th June 1879. A caption below the image states that it was ?taken in a storm of rain?. This graveyard was the last resting place for the 31 soldiers who died during the siege, which lasted from 24 January to 3 April 1879. In addition to Lieutenant A.S.F. Davison (died 27th March 1879), the following soldiers of the 99th Foot were also buried here: ? Privates Shields and Paul (dysentery 4th March 1879); Lewis (died 28th March 1879), Roden (died 26th March 1879), Swann and Venn (enteric fever - 17th March 1879); Coombes (typhoid fever 21st March 1879); Tubb (sunstroke 16th March 1879); Knee (drowned 21st February 1879) and Kent (killed by Zulus 17th March 1879).
2nd Bn, Wiltshire Regiment - A black and white photograph of Bandsman Jack Swanborough in Aldershot, 1935.
1st Bn, Duke of Edinburgh?s Royal Regiment - A black and white photograph of Private Michael Swanick who was killed by an IRA bomb during the attack on Sandes Soldiers home at Ballykinlar, Northern Ireland in October 1974.
Wiltshire Regiment Depot - A black and white photograph of the Depot Officers and Sergeants�? versus Rank and file Hockey Teams, 1953. Rear row, SSI J. Gorman, Private C. Hancock, Sergeant G. Mills, Corporal L. King, Sergeant J. McQuade, L/Corporal A. Neil, Sergeant A.J. Minty, Corporal P. Taylor. [Centre Row] Sergeant J. Houghton, RSM G. Tomkins, Captain D.C. Munn, Major S.F. Browne, Major A.D. Parsons MC, Major A.G. Goswell, Lieutenant H.D. Canning, Captain R.C. Knight, Sergeant D. Clark. [Front Row] L/Corporal M. Dixon, Private D. Curtis, Private T. Matthews, Corporal G. Bunsell, L/Corporal J. Starr, Private A. Swanbourgh, Private K. Watts, Private I. Hicks.�?


text:
Q: Find the key existence in JSON object I have a JSON string
String str = '{ "name":"John", "age":31, "city":"New York" }'

In the above string, city is an optional key and may not be present in the JSON data.
I decoded the json string
var jsonResponse = json.decode(str);

I want to get to know the existence of city key the jsonResponse object.

A: The result of json.decode is a Map<String, dynamic> with an entry for each key/value pair in the source.
As a Map, you can test for the presence of a key using Map.containsKey. You can also just do a lookup using the "city" key and see if you get null back. In some cases it's more convenient to just use the null value directly than to do an extra check on whether there is something, but that depends entirely on what you are trying to do.
var map = jsonDecode(str);
bool containsCity = map.containsKey("city");
String city = map["city"];
if (city == null) // no city ...
// Use the null directly if you just replace it with a default.
print("${map["name"]} from ${map["city"] ?? "somewhere"}");
// Use a test if you want to do something different if it's there.
print(map["name"] + (city != null ? " from $city" : "");

The map["city"] == null test differs from map.containsKey("city") in the case where your original source contained the pair "city": null. You need to decide whether that ever happens, and if it does, how you want to treat it. In many cases, it's probably an error, and should be treated as if there was no "city" entry, so I'll usually prefer to use the map["city"] == null test over map.containsKey("city").

A: jsonResponse.containsKey("key");

A: If your json is simple single-level like your example, you can check it directly with the map like this:
String str = '{ "name":"John", "age":31, "city":"New York" }';
var jsonResponse = json.decode(str);
print('City is ${jsonResponse["city"] ?? "empty"}');

UPDATE: Thanks lrn. I applied your suggestion.

A: I am not sure how good is the solution, but it is working.
String str = '{ "name":"John", "age":31, "city":"New York" }';
Map<String, String> jsonResponse = json.decode(str);

if (jsonResponse.containsKey('city')){
   // do your work
}

Instead of capturing the JSON object in var,  capture it into a
Map<String, String>
or
Map<String, Object> //if value is again an object

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This video was about how Private Suds and Private Thompson are trying to get caught stealing so they can be a convict. Also how they get a punishment that is much worse.
They want a life being a convict. Francis falls is the first chief justice of New South Wales. The iron chains are a torture for people.
Why did Governor Darling want to make an example of Private Thompson and Private Suds? What happened to Private Thompson after Private Suds died?
One insight i have is that some Convicts had a pretty good life compared to most people back in the day.
I think you did questions and summary really well talking about what it was mostly about and waht wasn't in the video.


It's been a gray weekend with a little drizzle today; and noticeably cool. So far, though, most of our trees have retained their leaves, especially the maples and dogwoods. Here's one of our oldest trees, a little dogwood (a pink flowering cornus Kousa) that has been transplanted three times and now sits in the very northwest corner of our lot.
This past week I got together with two brothers-in-law for a few days of golf around Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM. I played the Paa-Ko Ridge and Black Mesa courses I had visited in 2008 and also got in two rounds at the University of New Mexico course. All three were superb. We had great weather on Tuesday and Wednesday but our Thursday round at Black Mesa was cut short by a rain shower accompanied by winds gusts of over 40 mph.
Well, maybe not "just missed" but we were in Wall, SD 18 days ago and the temperature was in the low 80's. Today there's a blizzard covering the entire Black Hills and I-90 is closed between Wall and Sheridan, WY a stretch we drove as late as September 12.
We've learned that whenever the yard is eerily devoid of small birds around our patio feeders it probably means the local hawk in nearby. This morning he spent a good deal of time swooping through the yard mostly terrorizing the jays. And a few times he took a break just outside the kitchen window in our big red Japanese maple.
With a brief break from the rain and a few minutes of sunshine I was able to spot some snow on the peak Bessemer Mountain behind the house. It's about 55 degrees down here but apparently quite a bit nippier at 5,100 feet. And Kamikaze Falls is roaring after the record rain fall.


To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that international NGOs consider religious vulnerability in their definition of need.
The UK's commitment to the poorest and most vulnerable in all settings is unwavering, as is our requirement that all UK-funded humanitarian partners work according to international humanitarian principles, placing protection at the centre of their work. Our partners carry out vulnerability assessments to ensure aid effectively reaches those most in need, including those from religious minorities, as it is recognised that religion may be a factor in causing vulnerability.


text:
Q: Gromov-Hausdorff convergence for non-compact metric spaces Let $(X_i,p_i)$, $(X,p)$ be pointed connected proper metric spaces (i.e. the closures of balls are compact). Are the following two statements equivalent?

*

*$\forall r > 0: \bar{B}_r(p_i) \stackrel{GH}{\to} \bar{B}_r(p)$.

*$\forall r > 0: (\bar{B}_r(p_i),p_i) \stackrel{GH}{\to} (\bar{B}_r(p),p)$.

In 2, the pointed Gromov-Hausdorff distance is defined as usual but with respect to the pointed Hausdorff distance $d_H((A,a),(B,b)) := d_H(A,B) + d(a,b)$.
Obviously, 2 implies 1, so the question is whether or not/under which conditions the other implication holds.

A: Here is a counterexample constructed from the $5$-point example given by Włodzimierz Holsztyński here.
Consider the set $Z = \{x,y,a,b,c\}$ made into a metric space via
$$d(x\ y) = d(a\ b) = 1,$$
$$d(x\ a) = d(y\ b) = 2,$$
$$d(x\ b) = d(y\ a) = 3,$$
$$d(x\ c) = d(y\ c) = 6,$$
$$d(a\ c) = 5,\qquad\qquad d(b\ c) = 4.$$
First we construct a connected metric space $Z'$ simply by connecting each two points by edges of lengths given by the respective distances and taking the metric on $Z'$ the induced intrinsic one (i hope this is clear). Now we form a noncompact space $Z''$ by adding a ray (that is the interval $[0,\infty[$) starting at $c$. Finally consider the subset $X \subset Z''$ given by $Z''$ without the edge connecting $a$ to $c$ and the one connecting $b$ to $c$. Equip $X$ with the induced restricted metric $d$ (not the intrinsic one). Then for all $r > 0$ the balls $B_r(x) \subset X$ and $B_r(y) \subset X$ are isometric. Therefore, taking $X_i = X$ and $p_i = x$ we find that $B_r(p_i) \to B_r(p)$ in Gromov-Hausdorff sense for all $r > 0$, but $(B_r(p_i),p_i) = (B_r(x),x)$ does not converge to $(B_r(p),p) = (B_r(y),y)$ for all $r \geq 6$ since there is no isometry of $X$ taking $x$ to $y$.
Maybe a sufficient condition might be that the metrics of the $X_i$ are intrinsic (and complete), i.e. distances are given by infimal (minimal) lengths of continuous curves connecting points.


Can the opposition capitalise on recent wins to defeat Museveni?
With five wins out of the six parliamentary by-elections held so far this term, opposition parties must wish they don't wake up from this dream anytime soon. They must also wish more seats were up for by-election.
This has people like NRM's Agnes Nabirye worried. She will likely face a by-election soon against FDC's Maureen Kyalya Walube.
"I am reaching out to voters and I am confident I will be returned," Nabirye told The Independent by telephone, adding that she expects "massive" support from her NRM party.
NRM is expected to roll out the big guns when the Jinja campaigns kick off, if only to stem the free-fall of losses that have demoralised members.
In addition to five by-elections, NRM also lost the Rubaga North after court ruled that independent candidate Moses Kasibante's win, earlier declared by the Electoral Commission, was illegally overturned in favour of NRM deputy Treasurer Katongole Singh.
Only former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya has managed to retain his Busiro North seat as an NRM MP. But many say that was in spite, not because of NRM. He never sought the party's support during campaigns and his was the only by-election campaign President Yoweri Museveni, the party's chief campaigner, did not grace.
Bukenya was thought to have fallen out with NRM's leadership, especially after spending a week on remand in Luzira Prison on corruption accusations that some interpreted as an extension of a presidential succession struggle.
In Jinja, FDC's Paul Mwiru trounced NRM's Igeme Nabeta and in Bushenyi Municipality, FDC's Oddo Tayebwa defeated NRM's Nasser Basajjabalaba in what is probably the biggest indication yet that NRM's firm hold on western Uganda can be challenged.
DP has gained three seats from by-elections so far, with youth winger Brenda Nabukenya deposing NRM's Rebecca Nalwanga from the NRM stronghold of Luweero and Muhammad Kawuma beating off NRM's Patience Mubangizi to retain Entebbe Municipality. Nsubuga, the party's secretary general, did well to regain Bukoto South, which he had lost to NRM's Hajj Muyanja Mbabaali in 2011.
Due to by-elections, DP representatives in Parliament have grown by two to 14. FDC had gained two seats to raise its tally to 36, but the annulment of opposition Chief Whip Winnie Kiiza's election as Kasese woman MP pegged the party back by a seat. Kiiza faces a tough by-election, as observers expect it to epitomise the fight for supremacy in Kasese between NRM and FDC. Independents have also increased by one to 44. But despite the losing five out of 263 seats, NRM maintains a commanding lead.
Given time, it appears, the opposition will dominate Parliament and probably defeat Museveni in the next election. But it doesn't necessarily work that way, according to two American professors.
Alan Abramowitz and Norman Ornstein, writing in The Washington Post, made observations about the 2010 American midterm elections which may be relevant to the by-elections in Uganda.
In fact, Alan Abramowitz and Norman Ornstein note that former US presidents whose parties suffered major midterm losses, such as Harry Truman in 1946, Ronald Reagan in 1982 and Bill Clinton in 1994, went on to win re-election easily two years later. Dr. Yasin Olum, another Makerere University political science don, has more explanations for the success of the opposition in by-elections. Olum notes that due to focus on a single constituency at a time, the opposition is not overstretched as is the case in general elections and they can easily mobilise against rigging.
In the Jinja Municipality by-election which FDC's Mwiru won, for example, FDC bigwigs Muntu, Nandala Mafabi, Salaam Musumba and others pitched camp in the constituency, ready to confront the police and whoever was suspected of rigging. In Bukoto South, Entebbe and Luweero, several DP vigilantes did the same and their candidates won.
Political historian Mwambutsya Ndebesa sees another possible explanation for NRM's losses – a tendency towards the Demonstration Effect. He predicts that NRM is bound to lose more by-elections since voters have seen NRM candidates lose elsewhere despite Museveni's involvement. "Voters may feel good to defy the president," Ndebesa argues.
After all, Simba adds, voters know that unlike the president who they can't easily remove using the ballot, the votes they cast for opposition parliamentary candidates in many cases actually count.


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Xunit;

namespace NRasterizer.Tests
{
    public class CharacterMapTests
    {
        [Fact]
        public void CharacterToGlyphIndex_NoRangeOffset()
        {
            ushort charAsInt = 'a';
            var segCount = 1;
            var startCodes = new ushort[] { charAsInt };
            var endCodes = new ushort[] { charAsInt };
            var idDeltas = new ushort[] { (ushort)(65536 - charAsInt) };
            var idRangeOffset = new ushort[] { 0 };
            var glyphIdArray = new ushort[] { };

            var map = new CharacterMap(segCount, startCodes, endCodes, idDeltas, idRangeOffset, glyphIdArray);

            var index = map.CharacterToGlyphIndex(charAsInt);

            Assert.Equal(0, index);
        }

        [Fact]
        public void CharacterToGlyphIndex_WithRangeOffset()
        {
            ushort charAsInt = 'a';
            var segCount = 1;
            var startCodes = new ushort[] { charAsInt };
            var endCodes = new ushort[] { charAsInt };
            var idDeltas = new ushort[] { (ushort)(65536 - charAsInt) };
            var idRangeOffset = new ushort[] { 2 };
            var glyphIdArray = new ushort[] { 54 };

            var map = new CharacterMap(segCount, startCodes, endCodes, idDeltas, idRangeOffset, glyphIdArray);

            var index = map.CharacterToGlyphIndex(charAsInt);

            Assert.Equal(54, index);
        }

        [Fact]
        public void CharacterToGlyphIndex_FakeFactorMap()
        {
            var chars = new char[]
                        {
                            'a',
                            'b',
                            'c',
                            'd',
                            '9',
                            '@'
                        };

            var map = TestFactory.CreateCharacterMap(chars);

            for (var i = 0; i < chars.Length; i++)
            {
                var idx = map.CharacterToGlyphIndex(chars[i]);
                Assert.Equal(i, idx);
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Aylesbury Coving Installation: Some people do not like the hard lines between walls and ceilings and the classic way to solve this, is to fit decorative mouldings or coving. Some would consider that coving was a design fad of the 1980's and is not appropriate for contemporary homes in Aylesbury, others would likely disagree. Personal choice rather than fashion, should however dictate your choice of whether or not to have coving put up in your property. Do you want stark, contemporary lines between your ceilings and walls, or rounded, classic transitions? The choice is of course, yours!
What is Coving? - Coving is a curved, decorative moulding material in strip form, which is used to conceal the 90 degree surface transitions between a room's walls and ceilings. You may be surprised to learn that coving and decorative mouldings can be manufactured from many different materials, the most common of which are polystyrene, extruded PVC, polyurethane, timber, plaster, MDF, gyproc, duropolymer and plastic.
You'll also need to consider what shape and design you want, you can choose from egg and dart, Victorian, art deco, Edwardian, step, dentil, cavetto, ovolo, cyma reversa (or ogee) and cyma recta.
It could make it tricky for you, having so many decisions to make. Asking the advice and guidance of a specialist Aylesbury coving fitter, might be a good idea at this time. Fear not, we are here to offer you all the tips and advice to get a super coved finish to your home in Aylesbury.
It might be that you already have coving in your home and you simply need a local Aylesbury coving installation specialist to carry out repairs or restoration. Your mouldings and coving will need attention every so often, just like your paintwork and wallpaper do. Refurbishment could be needed on dado rails, panel mouldings, fire surrounds, plaques, cornices, ceiling roses, picture rails, coving, corbels or dado corners.
A specialist coving fitter in Aylesbury may be available to do your coving work, if not a plasterer or joiner (in the case of timber coving) will be the required tradesman. Making certain that anybody you employ is proficient at work of this kind is important. It is painstaking work to fit coving correctly and in order to get a quality finish it must be done carefully and attentively.
You should not automatically go for the cheapest coving fitter when looking through the quotations you have received. As they say "pay cheap, pay twice". Taking your time at this stage should mean you find the right person for the job, and that the resulting coving will look beautiful.
Aylesbury coving specialists will likely help you with decorative fire surrounds, ornate arches, plaster coving, traditional coving, coving refurbishment, plastic coving, timber coving, fancy corbels, fancy plaques, polyurethane coving, coving installation quotes, picture rails, ornamental panel mouldings, duropolymer coving, living room coving installations, the installation of cornices, gyproc coving, decorative coving and other coving related work in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
DIY Coving: For those of you with some confidence in doing DIY, you might put up the coving yourself. Coving is readily available to buy from many outlets, so you can check out local Aylesbury DIY stores or purchase online. You can buy coving in 2 or 3 metre straight lengths and with some patterns you can also buy the corners ready cut. Other things you will need are coving adhesive and a decent filler. Coving adhesive is offered in cartridges which can be applied with a sealant gun, in powder form to be mixed as needed or in a tub already mixed. in cartridges which can be applied with a sealant gun, in powder form to be mixed as needed or in a tub already mixed.
Also find coving fitters in: Oakley, Skirmett, Hambleden, Burcott, Weston Underwood, Penn Street, The City, Bellingdon, Longwick, Great Horwood, Botolph Claydon, Wendover, Wingrave, Little Linford, Aston Sandford, Lye Green, Prestwood, Saunderton, Biddlesden, Holmer Green, Stoke Hammond, Dunton, Buckland Common, Castlethorpe, Newton Blossomville, Cryers Hill, Botley, Buckland, Brill, Bletchley, Little Chalfont, Bow Brickhill, Oving, Little Missenden, Fenny Stratford and areas nearby.
More Buckinghamshire coving experts: Chalfont St Peter, High Wycombe, Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, Amersham, Chesham, Marlow and Aylesbury.


Today, the Washington Legislature began its 2017 Legislative Session. Last year, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson promised to introduce legislation in 2017 that would ban the sale of popular and commonly-owned semi-automatic rifles and ammunition magazines in the Evergreen State. Following through on that promise, AG Ferguson announced two anti-gun bill proposals today designed to do just that. No bill number currently exists for these proposals, but the Attorney General already has sponsors lined up to sponsor these bills. As always, your NRA-ILA will continue to fight off these attacks and work hard to advance reforms that promote and protect your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage.
With anti-gun legislators and officials already putting the Second Amendment in their crosshairs, it is more important than ever that you stay tuned to email alerts and check www.NRAILA.org for ways to be involved in efforts to preserve our freedoms in Washington.


Gift Bag 2007 Winner #1: Ergorapido Cordless Vacuum in gold!
Congratulations to Mahoney whose comment was selected at random to win our Ergorapido Cordless Vacuum. Mahoney also added: I have a small place, two kids, and hardwood floors... it's perfect!


text:
Defense secretary tells West Point cadets they're ready
West Point cadets celebrate at the end of their graduation ceremony at Michie Stadium on Saturday, May 22. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP)
WEST POINT, N.Y. — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told U.S. Military Academy cadets Saturday they were graduating during "exceptionally tough circumstances" but that West Point prepared them to face the extraordinary threats from pandemics to terrorism.
Austin spoke to about 1,000 cadets becoming U.S. Army second lieutenants in a ceremony held with pandemic precautions at West Point's football stadium. Austin, a 1975 graduate of West Point, recalled his own years at the academy as he told graduates their West Point training will keep them on course.
"You're watching as America's longest war winds down. And you're seeing technology change the character of war itself. And even as big and rising powers jostle and compete, you're seeing new threats from pandemics to terrorism to cyber weapons. And you're seeing those threats race across borders like a gale," said Austin, the nation's first Black defense secretary.
"I might, I just might, have a bit of insight into what you're facing: a democracy under strain, economic fallout, painful issues of racism and discrimination, social tensions and the end of a long and controversial war," said Austin. "Well, that all sounds pretty familiar to those of us from the Class of 1975."
West Point's graduation ceremony returned to Michie Stadium a year after the pandemic prompted a change in venue. Last year, then-President Donald Trump spoke to graduates sitting spaced out on the academy's nearby parade field.
United States Military Academy graduating cadets celebrate at the end of their graduation ceremony of the U.S. Military Academy class 2021 at Michie Stadium on Saturday, May 22, 2021, in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Trump's appearance was criticized as a political move that put the graduates at risk, though the Army said the cadets had to return to campus anyway for final medical checks, equipment and training.
All guests at the ceremony this year were required to provide either a negative COVID-19 test result or proof of vaccination.
Graduating cadets were spaced 3 feet (1 meter) apart on the field. Each graduate was provided with six tickets, instead of 10, which allowed spacing between different families in the stands of the stadium.
"Looking out at all of you, I see the vanguard of a generation. I see patriotic, committed young people coming of age at a hinge in history, who grew up never knowing anything other than a nation at war," Austin said.
The modified ceremony capped an unusual year at West Point in which COVID-19 forced changes in how the military trained and educated more than 4,000 cadets. West Point also endured fallout from a cheating scandal in which dozens of freshmen were accused of cheating on an online calculus exam in May 2020.
"Probably the biggest challenge that I faced that is unique to this year was leading through COVID," said Cadet Reilly McGinnis, first captain of Corps of Cadets, days before commencement.
As the highest ranking cadet, McGinnis had to explain to her classmates the reasons behind pandemic-related rules, such as why seniors' weekend passes to leave West Point were temporarily restricted.
"There were definitely some negatives in that. But also it opened up the opportunity for us to really come closer as a Corps and spend a lot of time together building cohesive teams we always talk about," McGinnis said earlier this week. "Just getting to know our classmates, spending time with them on the weekends instead of scattering all across the country, going on pass."
West PointU.S. Military AcademyLloyd AustinDefense secretaryArmy commissioningWest Point graduation 2021


text:
Calculating phosphorus and calcium concentrations in meat and bone meal for pig diets
URBANA – Following the drought of 2012, the prices of corn and soybean meal for livestock diets have increased significantly. In an effort to reduce their costs, pork producers are looking for alternative sources of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed equations for calculating the concentrations of these minerals in byproducts from the rendering industry.
Professor of animal sciences Hans H. Stein and his team determined the digestibility of Ca and P in meat and bone meal (MBM), which is traditionally used as a source of protein in animal diets. MBM contains greater concentrations of Ca and P than all plant feed ingredients, so it can replace inorganic phosphates in swine diets without harming the bones or negatively affecting growth of the animals.
However, to use MBM effectively as a source of P and Ca, producers need an accurate assessment of the digestibility of these minerals when fed to pigs.
"There is quite a bit of variability in meat and bone meal, which is probably caused by different types of raw materials going into it," Stein said.
The researchers formulated eight diets using MBM from five companies in the United States. The ninth diet was P-free and was used to determine the endogenous losses of P from the animals. This value was used to calculate the standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of P in the eight sources of MBM.
Results indicated that there is a negative correlation between ash content in MBM and digestibility of Ca and P, but all sources of MBM had a relatively high digestibility of Ca and P. Moreover, Ca and P concentrations varied two to four times more among the batches of MBM than protein and acid hydrolyzed ether extract concentrations. However, ash content had a highly significant positive correlation with Ca and P concentrations.
"Thus, if you know the concentration of ash, you can calculate the concentration of calcium and phosphorus," Stein said. "Ash is easy and inexpensive to analyze."
Stein and his team also developed equations to calculate Ca and P concentrations in MBM and proposed models for estimating STTD of P and Apparent Total Tract Digestibility (ATTD) of Ca.
The equations are presented and the research described in detail in the article "Digestibility of phosphorus and calcium in meat and bone meal fed to growing pigs" by R. C. Sulabo and H. H. Stein, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Sciences (2013.91:1285-1294) and is available online at https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2011-4632.
News source: Hans Stein, 217-333-0013, hstein@illinois.edu
News writer: Susan Jongeneel, 217-333-3291, sjongene@illinois.edu


text:
The Velocity Mindset: Why Thoughtful Leaders Will Advance with Ron Karr
June 14, 2022 Josh Tapp
Ron Karr has worked with leaders on six continents to eliminate risk, gain buy-in and achieve better results faster with the Velocity Mindset®. His presentations and advisory services have generated over a billion dollars in incremental revenues for his clients. Ron is the author of five books including his latest, The Velocity Mindset® and the bestselling Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way. Ron facilitates the Chief Revenue Officer Mastermind Group made up of CEO's and VP's building high-performance sales cultures.
https://ronkarr.com/ https://ronkarr.com/velocity-mindset-book https://ronkarr.com/velocity-mindset-assessment/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronkarr/ https://twitter.com/ronkarr https://www.youtube.com/user/ronkarr1 https://www.instagram.com/rokarr/
Intro: Welcome to the Lucky Titan podcast where you will learn how to fill your favorite platform with tons of your dream customers from some of the world's top entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Josh Tapp, now let's get started.
Josh: What's up everybody, Josh Tapp here again and welcome back to the lucky Titan podcas and today, we're here with Ron Karr, which I mean, realistically, this guy doesn't even need an intro to legendary guy I mean, this guy's written some amazing books, his most recent one being the velocity mindset, which I really want to dive into today, talking really about scaling pains, right, when we enter into that scaling mode of business, which you all know, as I plainly bring this up over and over again on this show is that we've had some serious scaling pains in our company and growth pains and so I'm excited Ron, to have you here to talk through some of those and hopefully, through this conversation, we can help our listeners who are having a lot of the same issues overcome the same problems so first off, excited to have you here, Ron, say, what's up, everybody will happen.
Ron: Thank you, Josh. It's exciting to be here with you and your listeners.
Josh: Well, we are excited to have you here and I just have to tell everybody here too is I had to cancel on Ron twice, which is like completely against my religion, my personal moral code and he's still being a great guy and coming back here on the show so I'm excited to have here on so Ron, you said something in our pre interview, you said, Josh, you need to manage outcomes, not tasks, can you dive into that a little bit because from a managerial perspective on I am like, I mean, what's the difference, right?
Ron: So that's a big theme of the velocity mindset. So if I asked you, what's the first word that comes to your mind, when you hear the word velocity, that word is?
Josh: speed.
Ron: speed and that's what most people think. Right?
Ron: But that's all you have you don't have velocity; you're probably going to find out what burnout. Let me give you an example, a lot of us are run by our to do lists, tasks and we're busy, busy, busy everyday doing a lot of tasks and sometimes we're so busy, we don't even have a chance for lunch and at the end of the day, we sit there exhausted but we're perplexed, because we checked off all the tasks, but yet we didn't move the needle forward.
Ron: too many people are task oriented and that's one of the biggest things that strips your velocity. You need to be purpose oriented, that's outcome based, what are the outcomes you're looking to achieve, whether it's a sales call, what is the goal of this call, most people have the wrong goals in their minds. That's why they get to the wrong results and if it's for a year, a new product launch, whatever it is, what is the outcome? Why is that so important? It's so important, because that's what drives your decision making process, and you will make better decisions and then you will do a better job of prioritizing the tasks that need to be done that are germane to the outcome. Otherwise, if he just tasks oriented, you're simply going to do the next task that comes up not looking at the outcome, you will complete that task, but do not move the needle. Let's look at pilots, you go to Newark Airport, you want to go to Miami, and you get to the airport and you go to the pilot where we're going he goes wherever the winds take us. Would you stay on that plane?
Josh: Yeah, Absolutely not.
Ron: Absolutely not. The pilot starts with the end in sight. First, they say we want to go to Miami, they work their way back. They look at two or three waypoints that they know they fly over the on the way they factor in potential obstacles, storms, winds, and they come up with the safest and fastest flight plan to get to Miami, I want your listeners to start with the end in sight for every project for every year, whatever they're looking at, and let that end in sight guide the decisions that they make, and the tasks and when they perform them. If they do that, they'll achieve greater success in a shorter period of time, and they'll achieve success when the past they may have failed.
Josh: You know, Ron, that actually brings up another question with that, because I feel like there's two categories of people, right, you have the people who set goals or seeking outcomes that are a little too short sighted and then you have people like me, like I'm shooting way too far, way too fast and I have a hard time like breaking the steps down so do you mind talking to those two and explaining like how to actually set an outcome?
Ron: Yeah, so an outcome is your destiny, what do you want to create for yourself, and outcome has got to have passion, it's got to jazz you because not everything is going to be easy, and you're going to have a lot of failure along the way and if you don't have that passion to keep picking you back up after you fall down, it's going to fall short. So I don't know what that I always say, don't go for something too small, because you're wasting your time, go for something bigger but if you go for something too big and totally unrealistic, then you can also set yourself up for failure and there has to be a thing called measured growth. You know, I was speaking to one owner one time and I said so, where do you want to call eight wants to grow at a double digit a high double digit number every year and I'm going well, you're thinking about the revenue you're gonna get but can you support that growth? Do you have the infrastructure? Do you have the resources, including the cash to fund the labor and everything else and if you don't, then you have to measure it because what's most important is that you meet your objectives if you keep falling short, there's nothing what the motivation on the map so you will have to look at the realities of the world, the realities of the situation, and then put them together and come up with something that's going to make you stretch, that's going to make you move the needle forward in a way that makes sense for what you want to achieve and what the world needs.
Josh: Yeah, I love that because it is looking at more of your destiny, right? But it's that change that you're really wanting to make and that's, I guess,
Ron: well, yes and here's where people make a mistake. And I can give you a case, an example case that it's in the book, the velocity mindset so we say start with the end in sight for us, a lot of people can't figure that out, right? One way to back that in back into it is think about what you don't want and many times it's the opposite, right but when people make the biggest mistake, we tell people to start with a clean piece of paper, forget the past, forget what you know, is possible, because that's a story in your mind, write down, if you can create the destiny of your dreams, what would it look like? Just put it down, don't decide on it, just put it down, what most people do is they don't do that, they will take that clean piece of paper but they will start bringing the past into it what they think they can cannot do limitations where they failed and then their destiny is tainted, you follow what I'm saying Josh, right?
Josh: Absolutely.
Ron: And it's tainted to the point where all they're going to do is recreate the past. Yeah, they're going after the same thing. Okay.
Ron: If you truly want to create a new mark, a new differentiation, a marketplace, a new whatever, you have to start with the end in sight and the thing that separates people, the successful entrepreneurs from the mouths of successful entrepreneurs, the thing that separates leaders from non-leaders, and I'm not just talking managers, as leaders, is that if you do that, right, you're not going to have the answers at the same time as to how to do it and people don't like that, people feel that as a leader, you have to have the answers and how can you maybe just came up with the idea how is it possible to have the answers that that, and that's not a leaders job, a leaders job is to set the course where we're going, and then embark on asking the right questions that will lead to the answers that they need on how to get there but it's not to have the answers up front but that's what a lot of people are uncomfortable with and that's why they shoot too low or they recreate the past.
Josh: Yeah. What and? Yeah, it's a really good point. I'm curious with that from a team perspective, right so as the team is growing, and like you said, the leader is the person who feels like they need to have all the answers, how are you helping employees get to the point that they feel like they can come with answers without just blindly trusting your opinion because we run into that a lot in my company where they just like, oh, yeah, Josh knows what he's doing. So let's just follow him and I'm like, Whoa, sometimes you got to challenge me.
Ron: So I'll get to this was a sales example, the, where we help the client change the way in industry bought in this industry, which was the mining industry, clients bought on supply agreements, three years, every three years is a bid for best price and as price base and I did work for this multinational company that had a division that was catering to the copper industry, copper mines, and they spent 20 years creating a new agent that cut in half the cost of mining copper and when they came out with the product in the 1980s, it was the perfect storm for them. It positive copper mines going bankrupt, they got this great product cuts in half the cost of mining copper, the sales shoot up so much, so they started getting a huge market share and then the other two major players see what's happening, they re-engineer their version of the product, not as good as my client but then they try to commoditize it by beating it on price right.
Ron: So I spoke for Activision and the VP says, you know, we got the largest copper mining company going up a bit and they claim that our quality is three out of three means that the worst, which is bs o is this a positioning statement, just to get them to lower their expectations, right. Anyway, they had a meeting with this lesson team the following week they said can you fly out to Tucson and help us get ready so sure so does me and two people in the room, two executives and the first question I asked them is what do you want as a result of my intervention and they said they want to win the bid, now that taught me from the past, right, that's how they always did it and I said, I don't think you heard the question. Take out a clean piece of paper and I want you to answer from the heart, what do you really want? What's your passion? What do you really want to create for yourself and put his industry and they started saying, well, why do we have to bid all right? We got the best product, we save this industry. So what do you want? We want to negotiate a deal? So okay, how long usually do three years 10 years' life for the patents, I said, Okay, you have 25% of the demand, how much do you want? 75? So let me repeat what you said, you don't want to bid. You want to negotiate a deal, 75%, not 25% of the demand and you want to pretend you isn't that great and then I said you could really do that if you want but you have to understand that will take a different set of actions than is simply when it did so now we got out that destiny, right, it wasn't based on the past because I've never done that before and all that right. Yeah and then they asked me the next question. I said, how are we going to do it and my answer, I have no clue. And they're going whoaa?
Josh: that's why we pay for, right?
Ron: Exactly. I said, How can I have the answers? If we haven't done the due diligence yet. It's a failed expectation. Now I know in my heart of hearts, having been doing this for so long, that you're not even doing 10% of what I'm going to propose and I believe there's a lot of room here, we're gonna get exactly what you want, I can't guarantee that but you're going to be well on your way so nothing's guaranteed in life so we started looking at that outcome, and we let that outcome drive all action so I would go out there every quarter, at the beginning of the meeting, the first thing we did at that meeting was say, okay, what information do we have we put on the walls, what information don't we have, and whenever was key information that we had to find out, then next auto, a business go find that out in the next quarter and we come back every quarter, and we put the new information up, and the picture will be painted and we see where our points of power, obviously what's going on and then we see where we're having issues, now that company had five mines, three very small mines, that they only want to deal with my client because they had their own, you know, supplier,
Ron: but there were two big mines and one big mine was so big, that they just got a sole source with that one particular mind, that would be 75% of the total demand at a company, now I say that because as you start thinking about this thing, and we look at the information, I'm reading The Wall Street Journal one day, and I'm saying how can I call just signed a sole source with that mind and I call my client up and I said, Look, you got new purchasing agents in the home office and centrally and yes, and they want to decentralize the purchasing he goes, Yeah and this one mine, you're saying, can give you the whole demand plus, you and them grew up together in the industry they like you you like them, they know you if they use your product and guess what? They just signed a sol, sol, sol Conoco so we should tweak the outcome. Let's not do 75% of the whole company, let's go for 100% of this mine, and you still get that result.
Ron: But while that outcome is in your head, everything is related to that the actions, the questions, and then you're open to new opportunities, if that wasn't in my mind, I would have read that article and Conoco right and everything starts to fall into place so the end result for your clients, basically, that client of mine, close a $200 million contract negotiated for 10 years and 18 months after we saw it,
Josh: jeez, that is awesome.
Ron: All right. I didn't change the product. I'm not a chemist, right but we're not selling a product, we were selling a partnership to do that you have to know everything about your customer, you have to know where they're trying to go, and what they're trying to do and what they perceive your weaknesses are and so for example, we know that in a mind, they can set the price, right if somebody exchanges
Josh: Right, yeah.
Ron: so the only thing that they can do for the profitability is keep costs down so in the minds, Caterpillar would have men on site, so of a truck broke down of a tire failed, they could fix it immediately so they called me up one day and said, we got it. We want to be like caterpillar. I said no, Caterpillar is a benchmark, we want to become the next caterpillar so that became a basis for one of our meetings and I said, Okay, if we put a man on site, what could we do with that person and we came up with 20 things, benefits that we could do to help the client and so I said, Okay, now look, we're gonna offer that man on site for free initially, because we got to get into like it but sometimes giving some for free is harder than having to pay for it so that was a hard sell but when they finally bought that concept, they love the guy who was so valuable and we just gave it a name we called it a mindsight services program and I told my client a trademark and they said why I said because they to differentiation, and as we put them in on site, and they loved them, when the bid came out what was a big part of the bid Mindsight Services Program. And when the other two multinationals queried them and said, what's a mindsight services program, they said, Well, you obviously don't have it and that gave them permission to pull the bid back, and to enter a negotiation with my client and that's the cornerstone of how they got that deal.
Josh: Jeez That is a cool story. What I love about that story is you didn't come with the answers initially, right sometimes they fall in your lap because if I could, just because your mindset is open enough, but to accept them when they come, or is it?
Ron: well, the answers come from the questions you ask and then they beget additional questions, and then the picture paints, and then you start looking where your value. It's like that whole thing started falling the shape, the biggest supporters was that big mine, they grew up together, that was a point of power, then all sudden Conoco so now they have history of doing that so that led to the next decision and the next decision, it just fell into place and then another obstacle came up, my client was the only one who had manufacturing in Ireland, they were offshore, everybody else was onshore and so they can never get that client to go to Ireland and do a factory inspection, they finally got them to go because they were interested and they had a great trip, they encountered cost waiting to fly out, it's all five of them and the customer said to my client, while they're waiting for the plane, just out of curiosity, that was 747 farmers sky and wiped out your plant in County Court, where does that leave us? So all of a sudden, I'm out there for my quarterly meeting the VP never says that to me. You know, when he says it to me, as he's driving me back to the airport after the meeting, one block from the airport, I said, pull the car over because what's wrong? I said, why don't you tell me this? Now? Why don't you tell me this is the beginning of the meeting, I said, that's an opportunity for you because what do you mean, the World Trade Center, the first bombing 94, right and all these financial institutions were the pants them because they had all the trading and everything in the same facility they learned from that, put out a back office across the river in New Jersey and have redundancy in case something happens, you have one plan, you call them up and you say I heard what you said and as part of the deal, we're going to create a disaster recovery plan, we know that the chips on the water will have three months supply, we know that they will have supply on shore here and that even led to us coming up with an idea to build a storage tank so they have three months here, three months in a water gizmo six months and if something God forbid, happens, they have a plan in place where they can get the equipment, their facilities up and running within six months and they shared that plan and that took away the risk for the client and they went ahead with the deal but all this came out of questions and comments.
Josh: Right?
Ron: You know, no one had a Ouija board but to make it simple for your listeners, I remember this very well, I have one daughter 28. You know, but when my ex-wife was pregnant, you know, we had to start looking at baby carriages right? I could have sworn that I haven't seen a baby carriage for the first 32 years of my life but then all of a sudden, at that moment, I see them everywhere, on every block to the block and why? It's only because I'm thinking about it, it's in my mind so that's why I'm open to those opportunities, what do you think about is what you're open to?
Jsoh: Right?
Ron: What do you want to make happen is what you're open to. That's why it's important to worry about what you want to achieve not worry about what you can't achieve.
Josh: Yeah, we have so many quotable things in here, I'm gonna have to stop writing them and just go listen to it afterwards, I love that. So you know, everybody, you've been listening to this. I mean, it's such an awesome story a lot of great advice given here by Ron. So make sure you just save this interview, go back and listen to it again listen to it slower, get get what you need out of this interview, because it's been very valuable and go check out the velocity mindset. Guys, this is a fantastic book, I'm waiting for it to show up at my house right now. Such a such a great book, I've heard from many people. So I'm excited to see it for myself and, Ron, I want to ask you, before we hop off here today, could you give us one final parting piece of guidance for our audience when good takeaway for them?
Ron: Yeah, we tend to live our lives based on the stories we tell ourselves so whenever someone says something to us, or something happens to us, we create a story as to what it means and most of the time we're wrong, story is also fueled by emotion, that's a good story, it has emotion. Now, it's fueled by positive emotion and it's pushing you forward with the story but if the story is fueled by negative emotion, and it's holding you back, the good news is whoever wrote that story, can we write it but you can't write it or rewrite it when you're in the middle of an emotional bath? Yeah, give me an example and it's in the book. My first sales job was selling copiers, 1980 transformation they went from liquid toner to plain toner, I mean, dry toner, simple cartridge in and out you don't destroy your clothes anymore and then the seducing the world visit machines, beautiful copy 15 Chris copies a minute, can a call late in six months, can it duplicate in six months, go out and sell it, you gotta have a ball so I took the job for three months, I couldn't sell anything and after my buck got black and blue from all the doors hitting me in the back, I decided to pause, remember that sometimes if something's not working, pause, you'll get more velocity and I had stories in my mind, I can't sell to save my life, I can't sell a duplicator because they keep comparing me to the big zero to simulate. Therefore, I had all these reasons why I couldn't do it so I decided I have a board meeting with myself, me myself and I went to a diner in New Jersey sat down. And I said, what's going on? I go in and say I want to sell copier and they say, Well, can you duplicate? No, can I call late? No, come back when you have that so I started thinking about, well, what is a copy really do anyway and I realize it's nothing more but part of the communication process and accompany so I decided to have a different conversation, I didn't know it was going to work so the next company went into I said, Ma'am, to the office manager, would you agree the copy is nothing more than your communication process because absolutely. So what are your three biggest challenges, when it comes to that, she goes, Oh, my God, it's like all of a sudden, I'm a therapist, and she's laying on my couch, she goes, Can we talk? Sally, Joe has to get up from the from the desk on the first floor, make one copy by the time they chit chat and get to the staircase, go to the third floor, wait online behind all these big jobs come back, it could take two hours, I said How often does that happen, she goes try the equivalent of two full time employees and go wow, how would you like them back and she's looking at me a copy of salesmen. She goes, how are you gonna get them back for me, I said simple. I'm not competing with that big machine on the third floor, it's a great machine key, but I'm here to fill in your gaps. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't buy one of these you should buy three, one for every four photos one and two copy jobs, you know, get those two full time employees back and she bought three machines that day so the message that you're asking me to leave for your audience, you want to grow your businesses at scale, don't compete, create, if all you're doing is competing, it's everybody else on price and everything else is a zero sum game and you lose your passion, create fill in the gaps that people have that they're looking to solve, that was the basis for how Apple started, think about it, when Steve Jobs was there with the first little iPad, and then he wants to get into the phone, he said take out your phone, which most people have a Blackberry. He goes, what do you wish it had that it doesn't have, he started with his engineers and they start to make a master list of all the things they wish and at and they went out to produce it and guess what they were right, they had it as human beings everybody else probably had the same wishes and that's how the iPhone got started.


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Raise The Rate
Our Valuesadmin2019-02-20T05:05:20+00:00
Here's what we stand by.
Access and opportunity
This organisation is about opportunity for everyone. It's about ensuring that every young no matter who they are, no matter their circumstances, have the opportunity to: receive a quality affordable education, live in safe and stable housing, and earn a living wage. A strong social safety net and great public services are the bedrock of equality and opportunity for all.
Diversity and inclusiveness
It's about ensuring that our parliament reflects the diversity of our communities. Our society is better when people work together. Strong communities benefit from the input of every voice, and everyone's full participation. We can about the intersecting oppressions that young people have and acknowledge how they impact young people seeking opportunities. We don't use ablest language and refer to policies as "crazy", "insane", etc.
Fairness and sustainability
Young Australians work hard, study hard, and contribute so much to public life. But no matter how much we play by the rules, we're still unable to get ahead. It's time for a change. It's time for our politicians to put young people on the agenda. It's time for policies that consider the future.
Young Australians have nuanced and important contributions to make to public debates about our shared future. We can make Australia a place where being young doesn't mean being ignored. Where young people are taken seriously by decision-makers, where young people are decision-makers.
Wherever we are in this country, we respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land and their Elders past, present and future.


According to a recent survey in China, the 21st-century tech generation cares more than their predecessors about traditional values such as family and friendship.
With virtual reality, cloud computing and the internet of things becoming the buzzwords of today's world, you might think that those born in the same age as these new disruptive technologies would prefer them as modern-day 24/7 companions. Well, you couldn't be more out of step.
A report by China Youth and Children Research Center released on 9 November provides insight into the traits of the generation born after 2000 and also compares them with their predecessors – the so-called post-90s generation.
The results are based on surveys conducted in 10 provinces and municipalities, mainly in 2005 and 2015, and partly in 1999 and 2010. The 2015 study was conducted in 162 primary and secondary schools in rural and urban areas of Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Liaoning, Henan, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi, with 9,360 valid responses.
1. Where do family and friends fit in?
The researchers found that family and friends are the primary source of happiness of those born in the new century.
In all surveys conducted in 2005, 2010 and 2015, "happy family" tops most respondents' lists, and its importance increases, with 55.2 per cent placing it on top in 2005, and 59.4 per cent in 2015.
"True friends" takes the second spot, with the preference rising sharply by 7 per cent to 46.9 per cent in 2015.
But the number of respondents who placed importance on "contribution to society" and "successful career" gradually shrank in all the three studies.
The report indicates that, compared with the post-90s generation, the new generation places more importance on personal happiness and development than the pursuit of social values.
An expert explains that the differences are due to the changing social environment. The post-90s generation grew up under the impact of reforms and the market economy. Their values are more diversified and they focus more on career and social contribution. On the other hand, the 21st-century generation grew up in a more mature market economy. In a more developed society, many assume that only the realisation of personal value can lead to happiness.
From 2005 to 2015, there has not been a big change in values. Kindness, honesty, humility, bravery and integrity are still important.
What's noteworthy is that those born in the 21st century cherish humility more, whereas the post-90s generation regards filial piety more important. Humility rose to third place in 2015 from seventh in 2010 and sixth in 2005.
Another big takeaway is that bravery and hard work have fallen in importance while responsibility and cooperation have become more prominent.
Another silver lining is that more than 70 per cent of those born in the 21st century are keenly aware of environmental protection.
But what's surprising is that respondents from rural areas are more aware than urbanites. They give preference to environment over economy, something that comes out more starkly in 2015 than in 2005, with a 5 per cent jump.
When the respondents were asked for their view on this statement: "I'm willing to work as hard as I would if I ran my own business to promote an enterprise that is beneficial to my country and the people," 85 per cent of the 21st-century generation agreed with that.
But only 44.2 per cent agreed with this statement: "I will work hard for the honour of my class or school at the cost of my own benefit," which indicates that the new generation places equal importance on society and individuality.
Another trend is that more children from wealthy families agree with those two statements than those from less wealthy or poor families, with 5 per cent of children from wealthier families agreeing with both statements.
The survey also discovered that 92.7 per cent of the respondents feel proud to be Chinese and 90.2 per cent feel satisfied to live in China. Although 72.8 per cent admit that there is inequality in today's society, but it doesn't affect their national identity.
Children from urban areas are more aware of social inequality than those from rural areas, by 3.5 per cent. Those from poor families also see more social inequality than those from wealthy families, by 5.9 per cent.


ArchaeoFox – Exploring the World Through the Past is simply an Archaeological research/travel blog, that follows the adventures of Irish archaeologist, photographer and bow-maker Stephen Fox.
After completing his BA and Masters degree at University College Dublin, Stephen's curiosity with prehistory began taking him around the world.
By using 'Experimental Archaeology', a method of understanding daily human life in the past by reproducing and using their tools and technologies, Stephen became a proficient archer and exceptional bow-maker. He spent two summer seasons high above the Arctic Circle sailing replica Viking longships and teaching archaeology and bow-making to hundreds of guests a week in the 85m long reconstructed wooden longhouse at the Lofotr Viking Museum in Norway.
After completing his first year of PhD back in Ireland, he was offered an Irish Research Council Scholarship, which he posponed to pursue an exciting opportunity as an archery consultant at Vancouver Film Studios in British Columbia, Canada.
He is currently based in Vancouver where he and his partner Kylen Sabey founded ANIMUS School of Ancestral Arts; a school that offers workshops and events that teach and celebrate our great human past.
"Archaeology is our way of revealing the many stories hidden in ancient sites and the artefacts discovered beneath them, and as my research took me more to newer places I began to value just as much the journey to discovery itself. I learned quickly that my experiences; the people I met along the way and the stories I created with them, were in a way, as precious as artefacts themselves".
It is through this love of travel and the desire to preserve these stories that ArchaeoFox was born. Like a memory museum, Stephen will continue documenting and sharing his experiences here through Archaeofox.com, as he continues exploring the world through the past.
I hope that you will continue to follow him on his adventure!
(Sep 2015 – Present) PhD in Experimental Archaeology – Researcher (Current Position) under the supervision of Dr. Alan Peatfield & Prof. Aidan O'Sullivan – University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
(Feb – Aug 2016) Research Consultant, National Geographic Studios (Concept Development/Experimental Archaeology and Primitive Technology Consultant).
(May – August 2014 & April – September 2015) Experimental Archaeologist, Hand-Crafter (Traditional Bow-making) and Sailor at the Lofotr Viking Museum, Lofoten, Norway.
(Sep 2012-2013) MA in Experimental and Prehistoric Archaeology under the supervision of Dr. Alan Peatfield University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland – first class honours (1.1).
(Sep 2009-2012)BA, Single Major in Archaeologyunder the supervision of Dr. Alan Peatfield. Minor in Philosophy and History – University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland, – first class honours (1.1).
I envy you sailing in the longship!
hello, looks like we might have some common interests. don't kow how much you read of our blog. in answer to your question of the other day, i make a lot of different things, mostly out of wood, over the last few years, a lot of different building materials, whilst designing, manufacturing and building our timber framed house here in the mountains of portugal. (most of the house has been made from materials that are on site, stone, and wood from the trees) but prior to that was living in the north woods of nor'n ont. with anishinabe friends, where i built a birchbark canoe amongst other things. have a real interest in bow making, and would like to know more about your bows, like where your designs come from? what woods you use? what sort of draw weights you get, and what they are like, what they feel like to loose arrows from, how much they feel like shooting into the past? maybe you could drop us a mail? thanks rick.
I see you have been to Greece and I note you have studied the bronze age .I guess you must know Knossos and heard of Arthur Evans excavations and his discovery of the Ancient Mycenaean Linear B Tablets .I am at the moment learning how to translate those related to Military affairs which involves Swords and chariots. Your blog is excellent so I will follow you. Thanks for sharing your travels and interesting posts.
That will be interesting. Please contact me and I will try and be of some help to you. Nice to meet you too. I live in Crete by the way.