Shiva Pathak is an actor, freelance consultant and arts manager. She has worked in the theatre for over 15 years in various capacities. Her tryst with performing arts started during her college days as an actor and production manager, and since she has worked on projects with some of India's leading arts organisations – Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Ranga Shankara and India Foundation for the Arts – before starting Sandbox Collective in 2013.
She is on the Board of Toto Funds the Arts, which nurtures and encourages young artists in India. She is also an Art Think South Asia Fellow 2016-17.
Nimi Ravindran is a writer, theatre director and facilitator who has worked in the theatre in various capacities for over 20 years. She was assistant editor at India Today, covering arts and culture for the magazine till March 2012. She was also artistic director of Just Theatre, a Bangalore-based theatre group till September 2012 where she produced and directed various theatre projects. She has served in the core group of Ranga Shankara from 1998-2007. She is also on the board of The Company Theatre, Mumbai and serves as part of the advisory panel on the TCT Workspace in Kamshet. Maharashtra. She holds a Senior Fellowship in Theatre from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Medha Agrawal is an actor and a Kathak dancer. Recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in Performing Arts, English and Psychology from Christ University, Bangalore. Breakfast enthusiast and part time procrastinator.
Raabiya Jayaram is a documentary film maker who helped set up the video archive for the Archive and Research Center for Ethnomusicology at the American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon. As Director Roughcut Productions she has worked on numerous documentary films on a variety of issues ranging from rural development to gender and sexuality. She has also been involved with the arts both as a performer and arts manager.
Anindita is a Bengali from Bangalore. She studied B. Com. at Calcutta university. She likes to travel and explore new places.


text:
![vimiv banner](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/karlch/vimiv/master/icons/vimiv_banner_400.png)

[![License badge](https://img.shields.io/github/license/karlch/vimiv.svg)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/karlch/vimiv/master/LICENSE)
[![Coverage](https://codecov.io/gh/karlch/vimiv/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/karlch/vimiv)
[![Code Health](https://landscape.io/github/karlch/vimiv/master/landscape.svg?style=flat)](https://landscape.io/github/karlch/vimiv/master)
[![Version badge](https://img.shields.io/github/tag/karlch/vimiv.svg)](https://github.com/karlch/vimiv/releases)

---
> :construction: **NOTE:** The future of vimiv is in the
> [Qt port](https://github.com/karlch/vimiv-qt) as discussed in
> [this issue](https://github.com/karlch/vimiv/issues/61). New features will only be
> implemented there and many improvements have already been made. Sticking with this
> deprecated version is only recommended if you require a more stable software. In case
> you miss anything in the Qt port, please
> [open an issue](https://github.com/karlch/vimiv-qt/issues). Check the
> [roadmap](https://karlch.github.io/vimiv-qt/roadmap.html) and
> [migrating](https://karlch.github.io/vimiv-qt/documentation/migrating.html)
> for more details.
---

#### Version 0.9.2 (unreleased)

[Releases](https://github.com/karlch/vimiv/releases "releases")
|
[Website](http://karlch.github.io/vimiv/ "website")
|
[Documentation](http://karlch.github.io/vimiv/documentation "website")
|
[Changelog](http://karlch.github.io/vimiv/changelog "changelog")

Vimiv is an image viewer with vim-like keybindings. It is written in python3
using the Gtk3 toolkit. Some of the features are:
* Thumbnail mode
* Simple library browser
* Basic image editing
* Command line with tab completion

For much more information please check out the
[documentation](http://karlch.github.io/vimiv/documentation "documentation").
If you are new to vimiv, this is a good place to
[get started](http://karlch.github.io/vimiv/docs/usage "usage").
For a quick overview check out the
[keybinding cheatsheet](http://karlch.github.io/vimiv/docs/keybindings_commands#keybinding-cheatsheet).

## Screenshots

#### Open image and library

#### Thumbnail mode

## Installation
Install the dependencies listed below first. To use the
development version clone this repository,
for the latest stable check out the
releases
page. To install a simple `# make install` should suffice. To remove vimiv the
standard `# make uninstall` works.  You may need to update your icon cache after
installation.

For Arch Linux users the latest release is available from
[community]
and there is the AUR package
vimiv-git
for the development branch.

Fedora Linux users can install stable releases from the
official repositories using the provided package managers.

## Dependencies
* python3
* python-gobject
* gtk3
* python-setuptools (for installation)
* python-dev (on debian-based systems for installation)
* libgexiv2 (optional for EXIF support; needed for saving without deleting EXIF
  tags and for the autorotate command)

## Thanks to
* James Campos, author of [Pim](https://github.com/Narrat/Pim) which was the
  starting point for vimiv
* Bert Muennich, author of [sxiv](https://github.com/muennich/sxiv) which
  inspired many of the features of vimiv.
* Anyone who has contributed or reported bugs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
President Biden Makes yet another Inappropriate Comment About Young woman: He can't resist
President Biden is known for making very uncomfortable slips, but there are also the more serious allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women – specifically young women and girls. Now he's done it again, but this time the woman is the daughter of a key foreign leader. He just can't resist.
On June 28th, Biden gave a mutual briefing with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the White House.
What should have been an declaration of the alliance between our countries ended up being embarrassing as Biden just always talks about the wrong things.
This man is a total creep.https://t.co/4o4oRIPobG
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) June 29, 2021
There are some very dire problems in the Middle East right now, including Iran's determination to build nuclear weapons and ongoing hostility by Hamas and Hezbollah towards Israel. Even with those issues, the first thing Biden wanted to address was Rivlin's daughter. "It's not technically appropriate," he said, "but I — I'm so delighted his daughter is here. She's in the back right there. And I got to — I got to meet her."
After that awkward introduction, Biden managed to drag himself back to relevance, but his slip raises some serious questions. Creepy Joe has been accused of a serious sexual assault against a staff member, and there has been discomfort at a video that seems to show him inappropriately touching young girls.
Is he really so short on self-awareness that he couldn't resist himself talking about a fellow head of state's daughter?
Biden fails to meet his July 4th COVID vaccination goal
Biden polls dreadfully on his management of increasing crime rates
Creepy Joe Strikes yet again with Inappropriate Comments about a Young girl Approximately five-hundred cases of declined refuge-seekers being raped, kidnapped, and assaulted since Biden took office: report 9 senators send a letter to Biden admin over border crisis 56 House Republicans plead Biden to take Harris off the leading role on migration crisis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


DEB ROBERTSON WRITES....: a post about my damaged faith this Easter, try not to judge me.
a post about my damaged faith this Easter, try not to judge me.
So it's Easter this weekend obviously, arguably the most important date in the Christian calendar. Celebrated with spicy fruit buns, chocolate and a weekend off work. I've been thinking about what it actually means to me. I believe in God. I believe that Easter is about new beginnings and second chances. It's about having a future and a hope. But I won't lie, I'm struggling with how what I believe correlates with what happens in a church setting. So much of the rhetoric and harsh words that you hear on a daily basis, particularly from so called christian people talking in the media, are just incompatible with the unconditional love that you read about in the bible.
For lots of reasons, I don't have a place in a church that feels like home right now. In fact I can probably say that I feel isolated by church and disillusioned with it as an institution. If I could find a church where going along wasn't a performance, where everyone was welcome and judgments were not dished out with the church notice, if I could find a place where I wasn't judged for leaving a relationship that wasn't working, for getting an education and for making decisions for myself. If I could find that place and we found people with common ground there, well maybe we would try again.
That's all I have right now. I'm holding tight to that.
I hope that by this time next year I've found a place where I can get my heart stitched up again, where I can learn to trust and feel safe. I want a place where I can have good conversations with people, to wrestle with the issues we all confront in a way that doesn't cast judgment. After all we are all flawed human beings, we need to give each other grace for this. I absolutely don't have all the answers, actually apart from those two things I know, I don't have any answers.
I'm kinda hoping that this Easter is as far away from God as I get. I'd like to think that by next Easter I will have found my way back to some kind of Church setting, a place of accountability and trust.
So this Easter, maybe it's my new beginning, my second chance. We'll see.
I just recognize myself,, some time ago, in your inspiring post,Deb... I've always been a christian, raised as a catholic, and gradually went aside from the catholic Church, and all those dogmatisms, promises of "punishments", inducing guilt, etc... and actually far from giving example (you just have to read all those child abuses by catholic priests, carefully "hidden" and brought to silence by the Vatican. To me, the Catholic Church has become a BIG enterprise, raising money by all means (like those Merchants of The Temple, that Jesus hated)... So I stayed in my little corner, with my Bible and Jesus teachings, until I discovered the Orthodox Way, and its back to roots philosophy. I gradually started to read and study the Bible, with a new and simpler look, and I'm so happy I did. There is no Orthodox Church near my home, so I keep praying alone, but I'm feeling blessed and grateful.
I'm a Christian, I believe in God and in unconditional love, which to me is the main thing. God knows and He shows me the way.
It seems to this heathen that you are a better Christian and closer to your God than you think you are. http://biblehub.com/matthew/6-6.htm But you seek fellowship with people of like minds. None of the Uniting/Methos/Pres churches are any good? Unitarian church (non-denominational)? I wish you comfort in your faith and continued good works. And Happy Easter.
I'm with you. I'm at a state educational institute and there is more God there than anything else. I've got to the point that my husband wrote something on-line so I could stop getting all e-mails with the word God in them. I do believe, but also believe in the right for all of us to do it our own way without having pressure put on us - ie whole school prayer meetings - I'm out. I can pray by myself and actually wish people would stop praying for me and judging me when I don't turn up... we all do things in our own way!
Somehow this appeared on my Facebook Deb. I read it and so hear you. For me I have had to learn this saying "its okay to be not okay" for me its okay to sit and wait, watch and wonder . God for me is in the still small things. Daily little things appear to remind me that God is there. Hes all around us. God loves us and He knows my heart, your heart and God does not judge. Know that you are a worthwhile woman and God has not ever left you. You love God and He loves you. I have had to find out what that means for me, my journey and so far its not a church. Yet I have found God in my heart and around me. "You are awesome".
When I was serving in a church in Dunedin, the minister there was fantastic. We had great discussions about the church vs religion vs belief vs faith. He firmly believed that your faith is between you and God. Religion doesn't make it, Church doesn't make it. Your church is supposed to be a community of support within the same set of beliefs, but it isn't necessary. As long as you are happy in your faith, you live God and commune with him in your everyday life, and are content in his love for you: then you have outgrown the muddy politics of man within the church system.
He believed that some people need the church community to feel validated, and others are strong enough in their faith to see Good in everything and not need the security of the fold.
I was studying theology then, and this discussion and his reflection on how religion has been twisted to suit man's desires has stuck with me for years now.
You're on a right path. Being self-aware and reflecting is a healthy thing to do, and timely.


text:
Hire our spaces
Visit the Garden
Schools at the Garden
What's looking good
Herbarium Room
Visit the Arboretum
Upcoming Friends' events
Friends' visits
Friends' Newsletter
Join the Bobarts Patron Group
Join the Danby Patrons' Group
Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum hold unique and internationally important species, some of which now exist nowhere else.
Our collections centre on four core key scientific themes.
Taxonomy and Evolution
Our collections are a teaching and research resource to illustrate and explain the evolution, diversity and classification of plants. The traditional taxonomy beds are currently being reconfigured in line with the latest DNA-based classifications. We are also placing a strong focus on evolution and adaptation in our glasshouse collections. Together, these collections represent a 'living library' for evolutionary and comparative genomics research.
Heritage and Landscape
As the oldest botanic garden in the UK, we have a unique and unrivalled heritage. Our 'Herbarium Room', which will open to the public later this year, will physically connect the Garden with the Oxford Herbaria and showcase collections not currently accessible to the public. This theme will also drive the establishment of 'historical' borders of plants reflecting the botanical legacies of former Professors, Keepers and Curators.
Conservation and Biodiversity
As part of our commitment to delivering objectives set by the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, we are developing and enhancing our conservation collections with a focus on local rare flora, and plants from the global biodiversity hotspots of Japan and Chile.
(Image: Temperate forest in Hokkaido, Japan, where many plant species have been collected for our Japan flora collection)
Plants and People
This theme celebrates the importance of plants to society and everyday life, and promotes the message that all life on earth depends on plants. A series of new plantings with engaging interpretations will include our new 'flagship' collections of 'Plants that Changed the World' in the Lower Garden.
Want to find out more about Science at the Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum?
Families at the Garden
Guide to the Garden
Families at the Arboretum
Guide to the Arboretum
School visits to the Garden
School visits to the Arboretum
Gardens, Libraries & Museums in Oxford
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology
Bodleian Libraries
Museum of the History of Science
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Download our Chinese Language App for Oxford University Museums
Explore the University of Oxford's other gardens, libraries and museums
Site design: One Ltd
List of site pages


"My husband dreams of a specific tree in his village – and this will probably never leave him".
Musician, Faith Ristic, and her father, Derek Elliot, a furniture maker, have travelled within their collaboration.
Living separately in Vienna and the Cotswolds, they have physically and imaginatively worked across the distance of their own lives, and that of others.
They visited the Hunder twasser Museum in Vienna together, a visit shared with Faith's husband Branko, a musician and member of the Romani people. Derek paid attention to the atmosphere of peaceful refuge at the spiritual sites of the tomb of the 13th century Persian scholar and theologian Rumi, and at the House of the Virgin Mary above Ephesus, both in Turkey.


"Assume full responsibility to meet all demands of our clients; achieve continuous advancements by promoting the growth of our clients; become the final permanent cooperative partner of clients and maximize the interests of clients for Antistatic Abs Plastic Roll , Antistatic ABS Plastic Roll , Antistatic Plastic Reel , we have now 8 years experience of production and 5 years experience in trading with the customers all over the world. our clients mainly distributed in the North America, Africa and Eastern Europe. we can supply high quality products with the very competitive price.


HALLOWEEN SALE. BUY MORE. SAVE MORE.
Monster Halloween sitewide sale going on now with our "Buy More, Save More" event! You can save up to 30% off the entire shop. Valid on purchases made from October 28, 2016 to October 31, 2016.


American Energy Coalition - Is Natural Gas a Cleaner Alternative Energy or a Danger to Communities?
Is Natural Gas a Cleaner Alternative Energy or a Danger to Communities?
Natural gas is often touted as a clean alternative fuel, but to more than a dozen families sharing the neighborhood with natural gas wells in Dimock, Pa., natural gas has been anything but clean, according to a story on ABC News. The majority of people in this small town in northeastern Pennsylvania leased their land to Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas, which has 62 gas wells in the area. Not long after the drilling began, residents along Carter Road noticed their water was turning bad. "I was getting dizzy and almost blacking out. Sometimes I did black out," says Pat Farnelli, a mother of eight who has gas wells are both sides of her property.


Whitley Bay is in Tyne & Wear, a county bounded on the east by the North Sea, and bordering Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south. It is located around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear, two rivers that have played a key role in the development of the area. The Romans were the first to realise the potential of their success by using the rivers as a form of defence when they built forts as part of Hadrian's Wall. Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside are to the north of the county and Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside are to the south.
Whitley Bay has an 18 hole links type golf course. Claremont Road, Whitley Bay, NE26 3UF. Tel: 0191 2520180. About 1 mile north of Whitley Bay.
St. Mary's Lighthouse, St. Mary's Island, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. Tel: 0191 200 8650. Cross the causeway, climb the tower and experience spectacular coastal views. Exhibitions and gift shop. Outside is a nature reserve with facinating rockpools, flights of birds, a beach and clifftop walks. About 2 miles north of Whitley Bay.
Whitley Bay Cricket Club. West Park Whitley Bay Established 1926.
Blue Reef Aquarium, Tynemouth, Grand Parade, Tynemouth, NE30 4JF. Tel 0191 258 1031. Blue Reef Aquarium is part of an exciting new generation of wildlife attractions. Open-top tanks allow close encounters with friendly rays. spectacular underwater walkthrough tunnels. bluereefaquarium.co.uk. About 1 mile south of Whitley Bay.
Royal Quays Outlet Shopping Village, Coble Dene, North Shields, NE29 6DW. Tel: 0191 296 3743. Royal Quays opened in 1996, with over 50 outlet shops selling famous brands. Offers regular entertainment and live events. royalquaysoutletcentre.co.uk. About 3 miles south of Whitley Bay.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle, Tyne and Wear - NE30 4BZ. Tel: 0191 257 1090. Managed by English Heritage, Tynemouth Priory ia the burial place of saints and kings, and is a place of religious significance. About 1 mile south of Whitley Bay.
Whitley Bay Playhouse, Marine Avenue, Whitley Bay, NE26 1LZ. Tel: 0191 252 3505. What is now known as the Playhouse was first named The Kursaal and opened on March 24th 1913. The Whitley Bay Playhouse is a theatre and cinema offering films, comedy, musicals, dance, jazz and drama. whitleybayplayhouse.co.uk. In the centre of Whitley Bay.
Other Attractions - Northumberland Attractions Durham Attractions Cumbria Attractions. Also see Whitley Bay Whitley Bay travel. Also Newcastle upon Tyne hotels & South Shields hotels.


text:
(Anastasio/Marshall)
© Who Is She? Music, BMI
Throughout the night
when there's no direct light
and a thin veil of clouds
keeps the stars out of sight
I can smell the colors
outside on my lawn
the moist green organic
that my feet tread upon
and the black oleander
surrounded by blues
I'm soon overwhelmed
by olfactory hues
At The Roxy
Hampton Comes Alive
Slip, Stitch and Pass
Performed On
07/15/16 Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
07/03/16 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga, NY
06/26/16 Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville, IN
01/01/16 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
08/14/15 Walnut Creek Amphitheatre, Raleigh, NC
08/04/15 Ascend Amphitheater, Nashville, TN
07/28/15 Austin360 Amphitheater, Austin, TX
01/01/15 AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, FL
10/31/14 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV
10/18/14 Key Arena, Seattle, WA
08/31/14 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
07/26/14 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
07/16/14 DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
04/26/14 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA
10/27/13 XL Center, Hartford, CT
08/30/13 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
08/05/13 The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA
07/20/13 FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island, Chicago, IL
07/10/13 P.N.C. Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
08/24/12 Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, Birmingham, AL
07/07/12 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
06/16/12 Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ
08/08/11 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
07/02/11 Super Ball IX, Watkins Glen, NY
06/05/11 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
10/23/10 Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
08/14/10 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI
07/04/10 Verizon Wireless at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA
06/15/10 nTelos Pavilion at Harbor Center, Portsmouth, VA
12/31/09 American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
11/22/09 Oncenter, Syracuse, NY
10/31/09 Festival 8, Indio, CA
08/14/09 Meadows Music Theater, Hartford, CT
07/31/09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
06/19/09 Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN
06/06/09 Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA
03/07/09 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA
08/12/04 Tweeter Center At the Waterfront, Camden, NJ
06/25/04 Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI
08/02/03 It, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME
07/10/03 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
03/01/03 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
02/18/03 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
04/04/98 Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
04/26/96 "New Orleans Relief", New Orleans, LA
11/18/95 North Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, SC
10/19/95 Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO
06/17/95 Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge (was Cellar Door at Stone Ridge), Bristow, VA
12/10/94 Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
11/14/94 DeVos Hall, Grand Rapids, MI
10/29/94 Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, Spartanburg, SC
10/08/94 Patriot Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
07/06/94 Theatre St-Denis, Montreal, QUEBEC
05/02/94 Five Points South Music Hall, Birmingham, AL
04/08/94 Recreation Hall, Penn State University, University Park, PA
12/31/93 Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA
08/21/93 Saltair, Salt Lake City, UT
08/12/93 Meadow Brook Music Theater, Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI
07/23/93 Jones Beach Amphitheater, Wantagh, NY
07/18/93 I.C. Light Amphitheater, Pittsburgh, PA
05/06/93 Palace Theatre, Albany, NY
05/03/93 State Theater, New Brunswick, NJ
04/30/93 Sports Pavilion, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT
04/23/93 Cotterell Court, Reid Athletic Center, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
04/20/93 Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
04/10/93 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
04/01/93 Roseland Theater, Portland, OR
03/28/93 East Gym, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
03/21/93 Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA
03/16/93 Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
03/09/93 Pike's Peak Center, Colorado Springs, CO
03/03/93 Tipitina's, New Orleans, LA
02/27/93 Florida Theater, Gainesville, FL
02/23/93 The Edge, Orlando, FL
02/19/93 Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA
02/19/93 The Roxy, Atlanta, GA
02/18/93 Electric Ballroom, Knoxville, TN
02/13/93 Bob Carpenter Center, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
02/11/93 Haas Center for the Arts, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA
02/06/93 Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY
02/04/93 Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence, RI
12/08/92 Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI
12/05/92 Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
12/03/92 Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH
11/27/92 The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY
05/17/92 Achilles Rink, Union College, Schenectady, NY
05/01/92 The Rave at Central Park, Milwaukee, WI
04/19/92 The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA
04/12/92 Arizona Ballroom, University of Arizona Student Union, Tucson, AZ
04/05/92 Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO
04/01/92 Liberty Hall, Lawrence, KS
03/24/92 Flood Zone, Richmond, VA
03/20/92 Broome County Forum, Binghamton, NY
12/31/91 Worcester Memorial Auditorium (The New Aud), Worcester, MA
12/06/91 McCullough Social Hall, McCullough Student Center, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
11/22/91 Warren G. Hill Gymnasium, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
11/15/91 Trax, Charlottesville, VA
10/30/91 Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO
10/26/91 Club West, Santa Fe, NM
10/17/91 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
10/02/91 The Cubby Bear, Chicago, IL
09/28/91 Amherst Roller Rink, Buffalo, NY
09/26/91 State Theatre, Ithaca, NY
08/03/91 Larrabee Farm (a/k/a Amy's Farm), Auburn, ME
07/26/91 Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA
07/21/91 Arrowhead Ranch, Parksville, NY
07/19/91 Somerville Theatre, Somerville, MA
05/17/91 Campus Club, Providence, RI
04/22/91 Billings Lounge, Billings Student Center, UVM, Burlington, VT
04/13/91 Biddy Mulligan's, Chicago, IL
04/11/91 The Cave, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
04/04/91 WOW Hall, Eugene, OR
04/02/91 International Beer Garden, Arcata, CA
03/17/91 Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO
02/27/91 Flamingo Cafe', Knoxville, TN
02/16/91 The Marquee, New York, NY
02/09/91 John M. Greene Hall, Smith College, Northampton, MA
02/08/91 The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH
02/04/91 The Front, Burlington, VT
02/02/91 Alumni Gymnasium, Bates College, Lewiston, ME
11/28/90 Clement's Brew Pub, Syracuse, NY
11/15/90 Lengyel Gym, University of Maine, Orono, ME
11/02/90 Glenn Miller Ballroom, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
10/17/90 The Pterodactyl Club, Charlotte, NC
10/11/90 The Jade Elephant, Richmond, VA
09/29/90 The 23 East Cabaret, Ardmore, PA
09/22/90 Student Union Ballroom, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
06/16/90 Townshend Family Park, Townshend, VT
06/09/90 The Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY
06/07/90 The Bayou, Washington, DC
06/05/90 Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC
06/01/90 Cotton Club, Atlanta, GA
05/28/90 Jazz Gig at McConnells', Hilton Head, SC
04/28/90 Strand Theatre, Dorchester (Boston), MA
04/26/90 The 'Sco, Wilder Hall, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
04/22/90 Cutler Quad, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
04/18/90 Herman's Hideaway, Denver, CO
01/26/90 The Tree Cafe', Portland, ME
12/16/89 Contois Auditorium at City Hall, Burlington, VT
12/09/89 Huden Dining Hall, Castleton State College, Castleton, VT
12/08/89 Withey Hall Dining Room, Green Mountain College, Poultney, VT
12/07/89 8X10 Club, Baltimore, MD
12/01/89 The Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA


text:
Lina's Wrath & The Carried Interest Wars
Notes on what everyone is mumbling about on Wall Street: Buffett's boffo earnings, more of "the dead cat bounce," Lina Khan's Meta example, and the Ackman diatribe of the summer.
FTC commissioner Lina Khan. Photo: Graeme Jennings/AFP
Somehow Warren Buffett, at 91 years old, is still living his best life. While other elite value investors were wondering if the time was right to pick up Google, Amazon and Microsoft on the cheap(er), Buffett was mining value where others feared to tread—the oil and gas patch—and amassing significant stakes in companies that are exacerbating our climate problems. He's been gobbling up Chevron of late and now the 140-year-old oil company has just had its best quarter ever. Buffett, the iconoclast, has been rewarded for his willingness to buy value when others were afraid to get flattened by the E.S.G. steamroller.
Buffett, of course, doesn't have such concerns. Yes, he theoretically reports to a board of directors at Berkshire Hathaway but as by far the company's largest shareholder (and surrounded by either family, friends or fans), there isn't going to be a whole lot of pushback on what Warren decides to buy or sell. If he wants to buy Chevron and Occidental Petroleum, as he has for the last few months, in bulk, no one on his board or at his minimalist office in Omaha is going to question him. He might have a debate or two with Charlie Munger, but other than that, he's free to roam around the country. Other money managers don't have such freedom, or think they don't. They probably think they have to be much more responsive to the E.S.G. police or find themselves in the political crosshairs. That means no fossil-fuel investing even though many of those stocks are printing money and are trading at single digit price-to-earnings ratios.
That reluctance has paved the way for Warren to swoop in, seemingly without political repercussions, and to make a fortune, even though he already has a fortune of $105 billion these days and counting. I think others would follow Warren's lead if they felt that they could without getting beat up for investing in fossil fuels. All of which raises an interesting question: If you are a money manager, what investing path provides greater job security: staying out of the limelight by avoiding oil and gas stocks, or making a name for yourself by plunging into securities that no one else will touch and then reaping the rewards by outperforming others? We know which path Warren has taken, all the way to the top. But there probably won't be any other investor like him in our lifetime.
By the way, I'd love to hear from readers on this illustrious distribution about whether we should admire Warren for investing in oil and gas stocks on the cheap, even when such a move is politically incorrect, or whether we should admonish him for helping to enable these companies. It's quite a conundrum, don't you agree?
More "Dead Cat Bounce" Blues
What to make of this summer's favorite economic riddle? The economy declined for a second straight quarter, and yet the S&P is about to have its best month in two years, adding fuel to the burning political controversy of the moment, namely whether we are in a recession or not, or whether these are really meaningful concepts in a world in which inflation has surged but unemployment is still near historic lows.
Of course, one never quite knows "what's going on here" but to me the present stock-market rebound feels more like a triumph of hope over experience. Investors are hoping that the rate of inflation is starting to slow sufficiently for the Federal Reserve to begin putting the brakes on its aggressive raising of interest rates. They hope that corporate earnings will remain relatively high, as some indeed have (most notably Chevron, Exxon, and the other petro giants). They are hoping we are not in a "recession," even though G.D.P. growth has turned negative for two consecutive quarters. And they are hoping that the declines in various stock and bond indexes—the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down some 10 percent year to date, and the Nasdaq is down 22 percent—is enough of a correction to satisfy the market gods.
I still have my doubts that the rallies we've seen in the stock and bond markets are anything more than a "dead cat bounce," in Wall Street argot. But the truth is that no one knows what the market will do today, tomorrow or a year from now. To paraphrase Howard Marks, the co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management and a leading investor in distressed securities, one can't predict or know the future but one can know and understand the present—and making a decision about what to invest in or to divest is a "today" decision. I guess that's what keeps things interesting. There is only the smallest of constituencies for high interest rates and a floundering stock market. Most people prefer a soaring stock market and low interest rates. The change in investor sentiment in the past two weeks is palpable. But I can't for the life of me figure out what's driving it, even though I am not complaining about it.
It seems to me that the Fed still has a long way to go to tame inflation by raising interest rates—we're still some 700 basis points in increases away from real interest rates being positive—even though Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has started hinting that the Fed is thinking about slowing the rate of the interest rate increases. (Remember two years ago when he was not even thinking about thinking about raising interest rates? It's sort of the converse of that.) And as for being in a recession or not, does it really matter one way or the other? What matters is whether people are feeling good about their economic prospects or not. And at the moment, that seems to be a function of the low unemployment rate as much as anything. It's been steady at 3.6 percent for a few months now, about as low as we've seen in our lifetimes. If the people who want jobs have them, and are making decent salaries, then high gas, food and money prices can probably seem somewhat manageable, emphasis on somewhat. But that calculus will change quickly, and dramatically, if unemployment starts ticking back up. Weekly unemployment claims had been rising in recent weeks but reversed modestly in the week ending July 23. If and when job losses start trending up again, that's when I think we'll see a return to the gloomy sentiment we experienced in the winter and spring. Until then, I guess it's party on, Garth.
Lina's Risk
The head scratching lawsuit filed last week by the F.T.C. to prevent Meta's acquisition of a small virtual reality fitness app doesn't make much sense on the merits, but it represents a clear and unmistakable message from the agency's progressive chair, Lina Khan: There are new sheriffs in town. It's that simple.
The Biden administration seems intent on making a statement or two about business combinations after a long era during which any kind of merger or acquisition proceeded unchallenged, with the notable exception of the Trump administration's unsuccessful move to stop AT&T's acquisition of TimeWarner because Trump, himself, did not like the coverage he was getting from CNN. (I bet AT&T now wishes the acquisition had been blocked.) The agency also took a serious look at the combination of the talent agents CAA and ICM, as my partner Matt Belloni has documented well, before allowing that deal to proceed to closing last month, even though the deal was relatively small.
When there are three examples, it starts to look like a trend. And there is a third: The agency will also be starting a trial on Monday to try to block the combination of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, two of the Big Five book publishers. That, too, is a relatively small deal, at $2.2 billion, but one that the government worries will materially reduce competition in the book publishing business. It has made the rather ludicrous argument that the combination will hurt the industry's ability to pay big advances to the most successful authors. Well, news flash Washington: whether there are four big publishers or five big publishers, authors who sell hundreds of thousands of books will be paid. That's a given. Whether the government is changing legal tactics in this case—as it should if it wants to win—will be seen starting on Monday.
In the meantime, it's clear to me that the M&A regulators in Washington are asserting themselves. Usually when the F.T.C. or the Justice Department makes noises about blocking a deal, the deal architects begin looking for a compromise or an off-ramp. It's fascinating to me that Penguin Random House and S&S are taking their dispute with the government to trial rather than abandon the deal or look for a compromise (that apparently was not forthcoming). CAA and ICM plowed forward too, despite the government challenges. And of course AT&T ended up with TimeWarner, much to its detriment. It seems to me that the outcome of the PRH/S&S trial will set the tone for the rest of the Biden administration's M&A agenda. And now there's another piece of low-hanging fruit for Khan to think about going after if she so chooses: the recently announced combination of JetBlue and Spirit, to create the fifth-largest airline. Will that be a bridge too far in an industry that has already consolidated and is basically dysfunctional at this point?
Khan and her cohorts at the F.T.C. are also examining Microsoft's acquisition of BlizzardActivision and Amazon's recently announced acquisition of One Medical. Indeed, Khan seems determined to make her mark, by bringing legal actions against business combinations, regardless of the prospects for victory. "Even if it's not a slam-dunk case," Khan told CNBC, "even if there is a risk you might lose, there can be enormous benefits from taking that risk."
Ackman's Fix
Perhaps the most interesting element of the Manchin-Schumer Pact, or the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, is the carried interest loophole adjustment, which allows private equity practitioners to use the lower, capital-gains tax rate on the profits they make from managing their profitable investments. It doesn't raise much revenue—about $14 billion a year—although most people in Washington seem to think it's overdue. Will the loophole, long a sacred cow of private equity and a pinata for various advocacy groups, finally be truly amended or repealed?
Private equity will fight this, probably by applying extreme pressure on Schumer and reminding him where his bread has been buttered. Our billionaire friend Bill Ackman has something to say about all this, and filled up a Twitter thread recently with his views. "Put simply, there should be no difference in the tax rate on the management fee income investment managers receive compared to the incentive fees they receive as they are simply fees in various forms they charge their clients for the basic service they perform," he wrote. "They don't need the extra boost from lower rates to motivate them to work better or harder for their clients. The fees are sufficient to motivate their behavior."
I'm not sure Steve Schwarzman, and his man in Washington, Wayne Berman, would agree with Ackman's assessment, especially since Ackman himself has benefited financially from the loophole. A squabble between billionaires is always amusing to watch. Ackman does make one important point, though. He makes the case for entrepreneurs—the people who take the risk of starting the companies we know and love—getting a disproportionate share of the economic spoils. He applauds the system where entrepreneurs, such as Steve Jobs "and a few friends," were issued 100 percent of the common stock initially of Apple until the idea behind it could be developed sufficiently to attract capital from outsiders at higher and higher valuations. There would have been no Apple, Ackman wrote, without this "system," which has created "enormous job and wealth creation" and is the "biggest driver" of our economy. He makes a distinction between buying and selling existing companies, as private equity firms do, and the kinds of companies that start in a garage and make it big. "We should never change the system that allows a woman or a man with nothing but a good idea, hard work, talent and drive to own a disproportionate share of an interest in an enterprise," he wrote. "We need to fix this now before ill-advised politics kill appropriate entrepreneurial incentives which we need to drive innovation and sustain and grow our country."
Objectively speaking, Ackman is right, even though like other hedge fund and private equity moguls, he made his pile from the carried interest system that he's now happy to eliminate as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. But this is just the early innings of a fight that private equity somehow manages to win every time it surfaces. How they do it—who they call and what they say—has never been fully explicated. (That would be some great story!) The battle is just beginning. But I wouldn't bet that this time the outcome will be any different than it has been every other time.


text:
Detainees start hunger strike in Egypt
May 20, 2012 Updated: July 27, 2017 5:47 a.m.
CAIRO -- More than 100 Egyptians held since a mass arrest over two weeks ago began an open-ended hunger strike Sunday to protest their continued detention and the possibility they will face military prosecution, activists said.
Hundreds of activists outside prison, including a presidential candidate, meanwhile, held a symbolic 24-hour strike in support of the group and against the military trials of civilians.
The protest comes on the eve of presidential elections that are supposed to lead to Egypt's ruling military council stepping down in favor of a civilian government-- but also amid rising fears that the generals will continue to transfer civilians to military tribunals after the transition. The military is suspected of trying to retain considerable powers past the handover.
The military says that the courts are essential to keeping order in the turbulent aftermath of the 2011 toppling of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. Its critics say the tribunals are used to suppress dissent, and human rights groups say they are a violation of international law.
On Sunday, activists, journalists and others gathered at the Journalists Union in Cairo to show support for more than 300 detained in a sweeping roundup by the military following a violent protest earlier this month outside the Ministry of Defense in which one soldier was killed.
The mass arrest and referral to military prosecution was the largest since Mubarak's overthrow.
The day before, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said the detainees were beaten and tortured. "Military officers have no sense of limits on what they can do," the group said.
An estimated 11,000 civilians have been sent before military tribunals since Mubarak's fall. The issue has become a major point of conflict between the ruling generals who took over from Mubarak and the youth revolutionary groups who led the uprising against him.
So far, 141 detainees have joined the hunger strike that started Sunday, said Salma Abdel-Gelil, an activist organizing the solidarity protest.
She said another detainee had refused food since a day after his May 4 arrest, and that activists were worried about his health.
"The detainees will continue their hunger strike until their demands are met," said Abdel-Gelil. They want to be released and not be referred to military trials.
She said more of them will join the hunger strike after the first round of presidential elections. The race begins May 23-24 and Sunday is the last day of campaigning. A runoff vote is set for June 16-17 if no candidate wins outright in the first round.
Khaled Ali, 40, a presidential candidate who represents to many the face of the youth movement, said he is joining the 24-hour strike. Ali is the youngest of 13 candidates making a bid for Egypt's top job.
Other well-known protesters were lawmaker Ziad el-Oleimi, one of the leading figures in the 2011 uprising, and Reem Magued, a presenter for a popular private-sector television station.
Nazly Hussein, a member of an activist group called No to Military trials, said there is growing fear the military trials are used to crackdown on critics of the military.
"We decided to join them (detainees) in the strike to let them know they are not alone, and that we will not forget them because of the presidential elections," she said.
Military authorities have released less than a hundred of those detained, including a handful of journalists and a dozen women pending investigation. They can still face trial on charges including attacking troops and disrupting public order.
Many activists had hoped that Egypt's newly elected parliament would curtail the use of military trials. However, while legislation passed earlier this month limited the powers of the next president to refer civilians to trial, it allowed the military to continue the practice at its discretion.


text:
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There's just no there there on Benghazi
I understand there are readers here who, by now, think I'm a hyper-partisan neurotic writer wanna-be prima donna asshole. Hi, thanks for reading. Partisan and the other stuff, yeah maybe. Hyper? Probably not. And imo I'm moderately partisan for a good reason; we have a party deeply compromised by big money that fucks over their base from time to time causing everything from short term disgust to permanent nausea, and then there's a bug fuck crazy party composed of scads of lunatics and — not sure if this is worse or better — sociopathic grifters shamelessly peddling mind numbing, bug fuck crazy destructive nonsense for a shred of profit of any kind. It's an easy choice at the ballot box.
Maybe that does color my perception. I'm intellectually honest enough to recognize the possibility. Then something like right-wing Benghazi-hysteria rears its ugly head on a regular basis and reminds me that, no, I'm right and they really are shameless destructive sociopaths:
Daily Kos — So while Rove's video claims that Hicks was informing Clinton that that al Qaeda was behind the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans, the reality is that neither Hicks nor Clinton yet knew that Stevens was dead. Instead, they were trying to find him—and protect other American personnel.
As you might guess, Rove's first distortion was designed to establish the basis for a second distortion: The claim that Clinton personally blamed Benghazi on an internet video despite knowing that it was actually the work of religious extremists. Follow the below fold to continue exploring Rove's attempted sleight-of-hand.
The Hill — "Of all the great cover-ups in history — the Pentagon papers, Iran-Contra, Watergate, all the rest of them — this … is going to go down as most egregious cover-up in American history," Inhofe said.
When Humphries suggested that the Democratic-controlled Senate would not impeach the president, Inhofe said that was true. He said that Benghazi would "endure" and impeachment could come after the 2014 midterm elections, when Republicans hope to retake control of the upper chamber.
Republicans have accused the Obama administration of changing the "talking points" about last year's attack in Benghazi for political gain in the heat of the 2012 presidential election.
OK, first of all, if you want people like me to take this seriously, if you want it objectively thought thru outside of the Fox News/Moonie Times/Rush Limbaugh axis of evil, Karl Rove is not the person you want talking to persons like me. He and a whole skadoodle of his like-minded pals have been utterly discredited, time and time again, and that's saying it politely. He is the last one among the dozen top finishers for last ones you want.
The greatest cover up in American history? R-r-r-really W-w-w-ilber? Even when I step back from the brink and try to roll this around in my brain like a morsel on the tongue, clinically, checking for any taste of fact, it comes up blander than unflavored gum. At the worst, a President in an election year may have put some minor spin, within hours of a tragic, confusing event before releasing better info, i.e., changing the talking points, over the next few days? That's the worst case scenario, it's debatable if that much even happened, and excuse the sarcasm … that's the greatest cover up ever?!? Or the many examples of mythology that has grown around it, like the President wasn't quick enough to call it an act of terror?
Let's go to the tape and see how well that strategy worked out the last time it was presented in an objective format where facts count.
On people like Karl Rove as the messenger (Or Inhofe for that matter): the guys and gals who won elections based on scaring us shitless to disastrous effect, who rammed neocon policy after neocon policy down our throats to disastrous effect, who stacked regulatory orgs with lobbyists to disastrous effect, who clearly and intentionally hyped a traumatic, terrifying terrorist incident and used it to stampede an already tweaked out panicked nation into a pointless bloody, unending trillion-dollar war to disastrous effect, those same guys are bitching about anything? Let alone about politicizing terrorism for electoral or legislative, policy purpose?
There is no sarcasm up to the task.
There are plenty of ways to get me pissed off at Obama. You could talk about drones and Afghanistan, or GITMO, or the drug war, or social security chained CPI, etc. But you'll never get me to vote for your guy on any of those, you are so far out in the wingnut weeds on every single one of them that the light from Obama would take a million years to reach your perch.
Conservatives, I tell you this from the bottom of my heart, for Benghazi to take off in the non wingnut universe, the way you seem to want it to, you must have an actual deplorable, documented disgusting conspiracy/ideology that crashes and burns hotter than the Hindenburg to even come close to out doing your own recent record. There has to be some there there; in fact it now has to be even worse because you've built it up so much anything truthful and significant would get lost in a morass of arm-waving fictional noise at this point. Like someone claiming aliens probed them in bed last night.
It's just pitiful.
Stephen "DarkSyde" Andrew
2012 election, Benghazi, drone, Terrorism
Ulysses says
"I don't think there's a smoking gun…I don't think there's a lukewarm slingshot." -Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)
khatru2112 says
nothing there,
nothing to see at all,
don't pay attn to the lying liars behind the curtain!
" In his 22 years of diplomatic service, Hicks testified, every congressional delegation he has ever received has been afforded one-on-one meetings with chargés d'affaires. But in the aftermath of Benghazi, State Department lawyers explicitly instructed Hicks not to speak to Representative Jason Chaffetz, nor to allow Chaffetz to speak with security personnel, without their presence as babysitters — a massive breach in protocol. When lawyers were nevertheless excluded from one meeting because they lacked appropriate security clearance, Hicks received an angry phone call from Cheryl Mills, Secretary Clinton's chief of staff and chief fixer (whom you may remember as Bill Clinton's attorney before the United States Senate). Said Hicks of the call: "She demanded a report on the visit and she was upset."
The whistleblowers' testimony is recounted here with little adornment, because to read it is to understand its import. It shows an administration characterized ex ante by incompetence and ex post facto by panic and cold calculation, willing to subvert national security for campaign-season politics. And it paints Hillary Clinton's inner circle as eager to shift blame from political appointees to mid-level career employees, to intimidate foreign and civil servants into toeing the company line, and to punish those who refused (Hicks was demoted). "
Stephen "DarkSyde" Andrew says
Why not simply state what it is you think happened and why it's so bad? Watch: Watergate, Nixon used covert ops techniques to spy on domestic political opponents, that's illegal, then they got caught covering it up and it made a juicy story. Clinton lied about an affair to the nation and under oath, illegal and super juicy, Reagan really sold weapons to Iran to fund the Contras against explicit law enacted by Congress, etc. Illegal but not that juicy.
These are simple statements, no one with any credibility and no one much at all disagrees with them any more, even the people who did them. What exactly is it you think happened with Benghazi outside of "changing the talking points"? Not around the edges, not vague accusations of hidden conspiracy, what specifically do you think happened and why do you think it's as bad or worse as any of those above?
Because if that's all it is, the answer is easy: we just saw how shitty first reports can be in Boston, and even after things are sorted out any President damn well better think long and hard, a week or two is the absolute minimum I would imagine, before freely revealing top secret info to the general public simply because Fox News or any other outlet asks him to. It's not illegal, quite the contrary, and it's sure not juicy.
machintelligence says
I am of the personal opinion that the vast majority of the American public realizes that Benghazi type incidents happen in that part of the world, and don't tend to hold the president in power responsible. Most folks think of it as unfortunate semi-ancient history and really do not give a shit.
Thanks for the video clip. Note to future debaters: if your opponent says "please proceed", you are being given a shovel to dig your hole deeper.
Yeah, that was my reaction as well…
Who did what wrong? Exactly?
Ooo, Hillary Clinton did something something something something something…SCARY!!! And made phone calls!!!Eleventy!!11 EEEEEK!! Hide the children!! Run away!!!!
It's almost as if they're trying to spin some scenario where Clinton knew there would be an attack on the embassy, told Obama about it, who then deliberately removed security personnel in order that his own ambassador would be killed. Because reasons. Something about Obama being a Muslim Brotherhood member and importing 500 million Muslims into national parks. And Area 51. Or something.
1. Congress cut funding for security at embassies. The State Department stupidly cut security at the Libyan embassy. Because stupid.
2. Some local group got a wild hair about something that caused a protest at the embassy. Because reasons. Note: even if this were a direct plot to assault the embassy rather than just random milling about ululating about something, doesn't matter. Because reasons.
3. The local LEOs were completely out-manned and under-motivated to do anything other than let this protest wind down of its own accord. Because indifference.
4. The protestors eventually breached the embassy walls and killed some people, including the ambassador. Because hate-filled idiots in a mob.
5. The State Department then tried to mitigate the fallout of #1. Even though it's probably likely that increased security would have prevented precisely nothing (with the exception of maybe being able to get the ambassador out of harm's way). Because protecting their own asses.
6. Obama said, "what the fuck happened here"? And waited until he got a credible response before making public statements. Because responsible.
I think that's about the gist of it.
Randomfactor says
This is all about taking down the presumed Democratic frontrunner in 2016, since the Republicans haven't got a single credible candidate apart from Chris Christie, whose lap-band may or may not make him one by then.
@6: That's an interesting hypothesis, one that I've also entertained. But I don't think these people are that forward thinking. After all, the whole "controversy" started prior to the last election and has continued pretty much unabated.
If Obama had lost (yeah, right), I'm sure there would be nary a peep about it.
I think it's all about Obama; trying to pin "something" on him. Although to what end, it's impossible to say. Surely, unless there's a video tape of Obama chatting with a Libyan terrorist telling him "the coast is clear, attack at dawn" this doesn't even rise to the level of anything worthy even of a Congressional investigation.
No, I'm sticking with hatred of Obama. Because black.
Yeah. They could (and should) go after Obama for covering for the torturers. That's a high crime, not even a misdemeanor. There are probably other violations of us law regarding domestic surveillance. Go after him for those; I'm all for it. They're crimes that make Clinton's lying under oath look quite benign.
There's a curious reluctance on the part of the republicans to see justice done, there, where crimes have been done and admitted to. It kind of makes me think they're not really so serious about what's right. For some reason. I can't figure it out.
I am, however, utterly shocked to hear that the State Dept may have been incompetent. What's next? FEMA?
Republicans haven't got a single credible candidate apart from Chris Christie,
And we all know how much the Republicans love him, because he said nice things about Obama and told Romney to buzz off because the hurricane was a real crisis and not just another photo-op.
wpjoe says
Maybe the repubs don't really care about Benghazi, but instead they are just bored and looking for some entertainment (on the Tues – Thurs that they are actually in Washington). What's left to do when you have already voted to repeal Obamacare 357 times? It's not like there are bridges that need repairing in the US where you could direct some money to do something good for the people. It's not like there is a lack of accountability on Wall Street that needs addressing to avoid another fiscal crisis. It's not like there are problems with the tax code. And the gun situation is perfectly fine. The sequestor is not hurting anyone, not anyone that matters. Yeah, the best thing to do is get an investigation going that everyone can watch and enjoy on Fox news.
I kinda forget about that Kevin but you're right. There's a powerful undertone that Obama set it up, that's he a Kenyan Muslim Manchuarian candidate, and since that's insane even to a lot of republicans they don't have anywhere to go with it beside grifting to the most ignorant teahadists.
Ben P says
I find it interesting that you say this, because we know know to a reasonably high degree of certainty that's not what happened.
1, 3, and 6 seem to be generally accurate. The whole dispute is narrowly concerned about what happened with 5 and whether the president was involved.
But two and four are not correct. In replacement, what actually happened.
2. Some groups around the islamic world (particularly in Egypt) got a wild hair about protesting some random video made in the United States that was intentionally derogatory toward islam. Because ,,reasons (it's well known muslims get upset about shit like this, even if unreasonable).
4. At approximately 9:40 p.m. on September 11, 2012, approximately 140 heavily armed men launched a determined military assault on the consulate compound backed up by grenades, explosives and truck mounted heavy machine guns. At the time, there were four individuals present in the Consulate,, Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith an "information management officer" and two bodyguards, Stock Strickland and Glen Doherty. The attackers breached the outside walls in short order and began assaulting the embassy compound itself.
The ambassador, CHristopher Stevens called Richard Hicks (the *whistleblower*) in Tripoli (several hundred miles away) to tell him that the compound was under attack. Hicks ignored the first two phone calls because he didn't recognize the number and answered the third. They also called Washington and a quick reaction force at the consulate annex (i.e. the CIA compound) about a mile away. That call was cut off after "We're under attack and need help." The Ten Member security team at the CIA compound mounted a rescue at about 10:05. They notified other officers up the chain of command and local military units were trying to find a way to get to Benghazi.
The rescue force reached the embassy and came under heavy fire. They located the body of one security agent, but were unable to find others in the burning compound. They retreated.
At about 1am locals found the body of Ambassador Stephens, he was taken to a local hospital.
4.2 Just after midnight, an attack, presumably by the same group, was launched against the CIA annex in Benghazi. Security officers at the CIA compound held off the attackers for 4-5 hours until a rescue force arrived. This rescue force was comprised of 2 special ops soldiers and 5 CIA personnel who had paid $30,000 in cash for a private plane charter from Tripoli to Benghazi at midnight.
4.5 Seperately, in Washington, the State Department was notified of the attack at about 9:40 Liybian time, about 3:40 p.m. Washington Time. State Department Officials told Leon Panetta at about 4:30 p.m. and a drone was dispatched to Benghazi from a ship in the Med. It arrived about 5:11 p.m. and began offering a live video feed from the scene. At 5:41 p.m. Hillary Clinton called David Patreus (CIA) to coordinate a response.
What you're missing from 5 – The next day (September 12th) Obama made a speech from the White House calling the action an "Outrageous attack" and separately referenced "Acts of terror." Hillary Clinton made a seperate public statement specifically stating that the attack was perpetrated by a group of "heavily armed militants…not the people or the government of Libya"
On September 14 Jay Carney said in a press conference
There was no intelligence that in any way could have been acted on to prevent these attacks. It is – I mean, I think the DNI spokesman was very declarative about this that the report is false. The report suggested that there was intelligence that was available prior to this that led us to believe that this facility would be attacked, and that is false… We have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack. The unrest we've seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims find offensive. And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of, or to U.S. policy."
Then on September 16th, Susan Rice, based on Talking points she'd been given, said on several different news talk shows that
Based on the best information we have to date, what our assessment is as of the present is in fact what began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy—sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that– in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into something much, much more violent." "We do not– we do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned.""I think it's clear that there were extremist elements that joined in and escalated the violence. Whether they were al Qaeda affiliates, whether they were Libyan-based extremists or al Qaeda itself I think is one of the things we'll have to determine."
Then on September 18 Carney said in another news conference
I'm saying that based on information that we – our initial information, and that includes all information – we saw no evidence to back up claims by others that this was a preplanned or premeditated attack; that we saw evidence that it was sparked by the reaction to this video. And that is what we know thus far based on the evidence, concrete evidence."
I'll put my thoughts in a seperate post.
I neglected to add in the prior post that eventually, by early October, the US government came to the official position that it holds today, which is that the Behghazi Attack was in fact a deliberate, premeditated attack by an armed group on the consulate. The source of the attack is believed to be an Al Queda offshoot in Libya.
Now, Republicans assert that the two and three days later statements of Carney and Rice suggesting that the attacks arose out of a protest in front of the embassy were a cover up, deliberately designed to suggest that what occurred was a reaction to the video and, as Republicans assert, not a terrorist attack that might reflect poorly on Obama.
Democrats say "well, no one really knew what was what at the time"
Republicans have responded "Well, we want to find out exactly who knew what and why these people were saying these wrong things!"
Hillary Clinton, perhaps unfortunately, said in her congressional testimony said the other way "what does it matter at this point."
Although it's undiplomatic to say so, at the end of the day Hillary Clinton seems to be more or less correct. The whole of the controversy is whether the Obama administration or individuals within it attempted to spin the facts about the attack a certain way in the absence of hard knowledge. That's it, and there's really nothing else.
Republicans of course, want to make as much hay about this as possible, and are pulling the lawyer trick of betting that if you ask enough questions, you'll get inconsistent statements at some point, then you can pretend that it was a lie. They've pretty much failed at this so far, but are loudly crowing that they've gotten exactly what they want.
And because it's highly relevant to this thread.
THe Washington Post: What's the real lesson of Benghazi?
What's the real lesson of Benghazi? It's that the party-aligned press works so well for Republicans that they've become too lazy to bother explaining their ideas, or doing the hard work of actual oversight.
Remember, to begin with, Benghazi was a policy disaster: Four people died, and there's every possibility that it didn't have to happen. A normal political party could get some mileage out of that (yes, it's crass, but that's politics). In fact, the political system depends on the out-party demanding that the president, the White House, and the executive branch in general be held to account when things go wrong.
Instead, we've had months of gobbledegook about a set of talking points that supposedly were part of an effort to…you know, I don't even want to bother. What matters is whether there were mistakes made that caused the disaster, whether people who made those mistakes were held accountable, and whether things have changed to make another disaster less likely. Unfortunately, Republicans don't seem very interested in any of that.
Part of what's happening is, as Jamelle Bouie pointed out today, the strong demand within the conservative marketplace for scandal. But there's more than that; it's not just a demand for scandal, but how easily the customers accept anything presented to them. The result — and Alex Pareene is very good on this today — is that they don't bother putting together a "coherent or convincing narrative."
Pareene usefully contrasts Benghazi and other Obama scandals to the Bill Clinton scandals of the 1990s. One key difference, however, is that there was no Fox News through much of the Clinton presidency — the GOP-aligned network signed on in 1996 and didn't pass CNN in viewers until 2000. That meant that in order for a story to reach a really mass audience, or at any rate to get beyond Rush Limbaugh, it had to be sold to the neutral press. True, a lot of those Clinton scandals were pretty nutty anyway, but many of them were at least coherent.
With Obama, there's no need for these scandals to make sense; the conservative press will run with them either way. And there might even be an advantage to incoherence. After all, if the accusations are gibberish, the neutral reporters will tend to ignore them — and then conservatives can go on conservative talk radio and Fox News and charge the rest of the press of ignoring these extremely important charges.
All of which means that Republican politicians have little incentive, and perhaps even some real disincentives, for doing the hard work of government oversight — or even the hard work of first-rate scandal-mongering. No wonder they get lazy!
Unfortunately, that leaves us with hyped-up accusations, but no real government oversight — no one really probing for real mistakes, or even real malfeasance, from the Obama Administration. There's just no reason to bother. And that leaves everyone worse off — except perhaps those reaping profits in the conservative marketplace.
Although I'm now quad-posting, I'll revise this slightly before someone calls me out on it.
There are some, particularly in the fringe elements of the Republican media that openly suggest Obama somehow directly ordered other available military forces not to attempt to rescue people at the Embassy because…well….some made up trash about it being embarassing because they'd have to admit al-queda are terrorists? Plus Obama is evil.
More mainstream conservative media (i.e. FOX) imply this and hint at it, but don't say it directly.
Needless to say, there's no evidence for this whatsoever.
That looks pretty rock solid to me Ben.
d.c.wilson says
The thing is, the republicans are following the exact same playbook they were in the late 1990s:
1) Refuse to negotiate and play brinksmanship games with the administration (Government shutdown vs. Sequester).
2) Tie up the administration with endless investigations, hearings, and eventual impeachment (At this point, not a question of "if" but "when."
3) Do everything they can to tie the potential successor to the scandals and damage their chances in the next election.
The only difference is, Clinton actually did lie about a blow job. Obama has done . . . what, exactly? Wingnuts keep saying how "obvious" this scandal is, but none of them can even explain to me what actions he took or did not take that rise to the level of "treason, high crimes, and misdemeanors."
No One says
What was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya doing in Bengazi that he could not have done from the embassy in Tripoli? He had a meeting with a Turkish official earlier that day. I wonder what they had to talk about.
@13 … pproximately 140 heavily armed men launched a determined military assault on the consulate compound backed up by grenades, explosives and truck mounted heavy machine guns
Perhaps taking advantage of the protesters as cover and to divert attention?
brucegee1962 says
16 Ben P.
Thanks for the well-written breakdown. I was going to put in some clarifications, but you've done it much better.
One question though: "There are some, particularly in the fringe elements of the Republican media that openly suggest Obama somehow directly ordered other available military forces not to attempt to rescue people at the Embassy because…well"
The fact is, though, that someone did order the available military forces to stand down. You're right, the Republicans haven't really been able to come up with a reasonable narrative as to why, because really, any explanation would sound crazily conspiratorial. Still, someone did give the order, and we don't know who. Until we know who, and why, people are going to come up with crazy theories.
As for me, this scandal certainly would never make me vote for a Republican for anything, or to support some kind of crazy impeachment. But it may be enough for me to take a serious look at Hillary's primary challengers in 2016, whereas a month ago I'd been figuring on supporting her without question.
There were big protests at the Embassy in Cairo that day, but little evidence of any protests at the consulate in Benghazi. The point of it being a highly organized terrorist attack is that it is exceedingly unlikely it was organized on the spot, either in reaction to the video or to try to use the video as a cover.
Subsequently, you had Jay Carney and Susan Rice saying things that, well, are kind of dumb.
Seperately, as some others have pointed out, there was some bureaucratic infighting over who got access to the investigation. (Gee, during an election season? you don't say!).
Republicans very much want there to be a scandal in why Carney and Rice were saying dumb things, but every attempt so far to find a smoking gun has come up kinda short.
This is based solely on media statements of Greg Hicks and not his actual testimony. During hearing testimony on Benghazi, Republican congressional staffers repeatedly asked about a stand down, but got very evasive answers from hicks. He maintains that a Lt. Col. was told not to board an airplane, but can't say why the order was given or even who gave it, beyond this, this all purportedly happened after the earlier team had already left. He further maintained he was told jets could not be dispatched from Italy because there were no tankers available to support them.
Perhaps most importantly, the official report house republicans have put out on the investigation doesn't mention this purported "stand down" order anywhere.


I've been yearning for a good, actually scratch that, great nights sleep for almost 10 years now. With a million reasons to take something to help me sleep I have 4 (very needy) reasons not to, until recently.
My kids have gotten to the point where they no longer get up during the night and if they do my husband can easily tell them to go back to bed. I wake up at 7 AM and fall asleep at 1 AM most days. My mind won't shut off until I'm so exhausted that I pass out the moment my head hits the pillow. I'm at that point where I want to get a little help to fall asleep and stay sleeping for the whole night, even if it's only once in a while.
No More Late Coffee. Coffee is my jam and it is the only way that I get out of the bed and manage to be a nice person most days but it is best done in the mornings and before the kids get home from school. Peppermint tea is a great way to get some extra zing in my step without the added caffeine in the evening.
Take a Hot Bath. I like my bath hot, but it's the after that makes a bath before bed the ideal situation. If you take a hot bath and than let your body cool down you will get tired naturally. Its a trick I learned a few years ago and one that I use when I am trying to trick my mind into falling asleep.
Getting Outside. If I need to get some exercise I would much rather go do some work in my backyard. Working with a purpose works much better for me that going for a walk or run. Plus with the lack of coffee it will surely exhaust me.
The only time I get to my self is when the kids go to sleep so I have become used to staying up late. Even if I fall asleep while putting the kids to bed I find myself waking up around 11 PM and staying up until 1 am as I normally would. Something like Vitafusion SleepWell gummies can keep me sleeping through the night.
If you are like me and have want to just get a good nights rest you can pick up Vitfusion SleepWell gummies at most mass retailers in Canada. You can also check out the other products in the line here. Always read the label before use and consult a health care practitioner to ensure that this product is right for you.
I am a Church & Dwight Brand Ambassador and as such this post is compensated. The opinions stated are my own and ones I stand behind.
I want to try these gummies – do you find that they work?
I need to pickup some of these gummies and see how they work for me !
I would be curious to try these as well – I am a horrible sleeper and the exhaustion is not safe!
For me it's all about getting rid of the stress. If only I could do that!
I suffer from insomnia and it wears on you. I'd be interested in trying these but like you, I don't want to rely on drugs. I like the idea of this much more because melatonin is naturally found in our bodies.
I'm lucky I don't have any problems getting to sleep these days. If I do happen to have difficulties then I just count 1 when I breathe in and 2 when I breathe out and I'm asleep in no time.
I atarted listening to a guide meditation, and find it realy help, it's only 16-18 minute and most of the time I fall asleep before it's done.
The tip for a hot bath is good, a long time since I had one it's usually a shower these days. A cup of coffee and book and a nice long soak before bed, lovely.
I have used this product before and can definitely say that it worked for me!
I will have to try it; been having trouble sleeping of late. Thank you for the review.
I think I should try these for myself, some nights I just can not sleep at all even though I am tired!
Now I am disgusted, I've just got the results from my sleep test (managed to fail the first five!), I have a mild sleep apnea but what disturbs me the most is that I apparently snore something like 169 times during the night! That is incredible.
I haven't slept well in years because I have a lot of pain but I take medication now so I sleep better but a good mattress is definitely the key when trying for a good night sleep.
We've tried these gummies, highly recommended!
Thanks for the tips and I would like to try these Vitafusion sleepwell gummies for myself.It was nice to read this review about them.
I think I need to get some of these to try, sleep and I are not friends right now so anything that might help I am willing to try out.


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Thisdaylive: Ogunrinde: Nigeria's Education System Requires Radical Change
The Executive Director, Foundation for Skill Development, Mrs. Omowale Ogunrinde, in this interview speaks about the commitment of the foundation to empowering unemployed youths. Ugo Aliogo brings the excerpts:
What is the idea or goal behind Foundation for Skill Development (FSD)?
FSD is a people-oriented initiative with verifiable and measurable outcomes; providing practical vocational, technical and entrepreneurial training for unemployed persons and business owners. The activities of the institute have been carefully designed to help people reach their goals, through acquisition of practical entrepreneurial and vocational / technical skills. The value of FSD's work with unemployed youths in Nigeria has attracted many international recognitions and awards. The success stories of FSD trainees are verifiable with many of the trainees having ease of access into industry jobs or setting up their own businesses. Born out of a burden to reduce the number of youths that walked the streets aimlessly every day; the institute has achieved good success with seven vocational and technical departments, electrical installations, renewable energy, refrigeration and air conditioning maintenance, carpentry and joinery, catering, hospitality and tourism, fashion and textile designs, hair dressing and cosmetology.
Since 2003 when the organisation was founded, how will you access its role in building capacity and skills in various jobs?
One simple example of our success story when it comes to creating access to jobs for our trainees happened this year, when we graduated 295 trainees from an enrollment of 300 and over 80 percent of them got jobs in less than three months after training.
Some of the young men have entered industry with only the skills they acquired from FSD without gaveling a degree from any other higher institution. All over the country, the testimonials abound. We still get calls from men and women who were trained in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and who have now returned to their villages to set up small, but sustainable businesses from the skills we taught them. Calls come in regularly from all over the country with testimonials of good success.
What have been the success stories from FSD?
FSD without mentioning names of employers can boast of having its alumni working in the best companies in construction, catering and fashion industries. The verified list of companies employing FSD has more than 200 companies. Some of these youths who are now gainfully employed include rehabilitated drug peddlers, prostitutes and even deportees. Some of these trainees have no formal higher education aside from their exposure to training at FSD. This has granted them access to superior technician jobs in industry and we have very many of them owning their own business and becoming employers of labour. FSD has a strong alumni network all over the country. In fact, FSD alumni in various companies now facilitate internship opportunities for the newly graduated ones, while some others directly employ newly graduated students.
What is your assessment of entrepreneurship development in Nigeria? Are we getting it right or are there things that need to be done right?
Nigeria has a very large population with a youth bulge that is restless with limited access to training required for empowerment. Even though a lot is being done, yet many youths have been left behind in the scheme of developing intellectual capacities to generate sustainable incomes for their families. Firstly, we need a radical change in the educational sector to ensure that even as a teenager, you are able to earn at least a small income to support yourself and family.
Secondly, we need a growing economy that will enable the creation of new jobs for the teeming youths that walk the streets aimlessly every day. Finally, we need to have more organisations open their doors to accept youths who want to be apprentices after they have acquired basic technical skills.
As it obtains all over the world, corporate organizations in Nigeria must be compelled to create job opportunities for unemployed youths through paid apprenticeships. This will give support to various government incentives to create jobs.
How do we drive entrepreneurial education in our tertiary institutions, so that the country will have youths who are job creators not job seekers?
We must understand that you don't learn if you are not taught either through self-learning or 3rd party interventions. It is obvious that though we have several interventions to create jobs in Nigeria, much learning does not occur. We need to build capacity in the educational sector. These changes must start right from the primary schools. Teaching values and basic skills required for a citizen to contribute his / her quota to economic development.
By the time the students are in tertiary institutions, we should be expecting them to generate business ideas that are internationally competitive and not teaching basic vocational skills in higher institutions.
How can the government make the sector agric sector attractive for the youths to invest in and reduce the craving for white collar jobs?
So much emphasis is being given to the development of agriculture. This is good but it is not only in agriculture that we have to develop economic prospects for this nation.
There is so much we can do to help farmers turn their produce into finished products through preservation and packaging. There is so much we can do to help farmers ensure they get value for their products through infrastructure and even logistics support. For example, Nigeria has one of the sweetest pineapples in the world. There is so much money the country can generate from pineapples, which rot away on the farms in Delta and Edo States, but is greatly desired in every country of the world.
We have a huge population that requires so much to keep us out of poverty.
Let's look at other natural resources, our construction industry and arts sector. We have the skills required to cloth the whole world with Adire and leather from hides and skin. However, foreigners come here and smuggle the precious metals away with little or no pay to the hardworking artisans. We need to support everyone who is able to generate alternative sources of foreign exchange for our nation.
Going further, what are the future plans of the organization in the business of skills development and vocational training?
As at today, FSD has worked in over twelve states of Nigeria and this year we are working in four additional states. We will continue to work hard to reach more Nigerians with skills to have a transformed economic life and we will continue to look for more opportunities through partners to expand our reach.
What are the challenges you have encountered over the years and have you surmounted those challenges?
We need more partners to become more effective in reaching more unemployed youths. At every advertisement we place for free training, we turn down more than the number we enroll. Hence, if training can create opportunities for 200 youths, we will end up interviewing over 500 people and have to turn down 300.
This is the most painful part of our work; that we do not have the resources to provide training for all those who sincerely desire a change in their life.
The absence of adequate partners is not good for the economy. We need more wealthy Nigerians and corporate organizations to support job creation through the provision of professional vocational, technical and entrepreneurship training.
The idle hand will always find something to do – "good or bad". However, the empowered Nigerian is one more miscreant drawn away from crime.
Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/08/29/ogunrinde-nigerias-education-system-requires-radical-change-2/
By FSD|2019-08-31T21:42:33+00:00August 31st, 2019|News|0 Comments
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For those of you who, like me, are interested in microtonal music, figuring how how to communicate it effective can be the biggest challenge.
Microtonal music, as the term is typically used, is really any pitch organization besides the 12 note-per-octave equal temperament that modern pianos are set up to use. This includes other equal temperaments, just intonation-based scales, mean-tone temperaments, and virtually anything else, too. As such, it is really way too vague of a term for productive discussion. When I end up talking about such music, I never refer to 'microtonality' any more, but to the more specific terminology: 31-Equal Temperament, or 5-limit Just Intonation, or some other more descriptive term.
In musical terms, usage of any of the microtonal systems has a very obvious benefit: to expand the possible color palette with which we composers and performers can create music; to make the music a lot more potentially interesting to listen to. The tricky thing is in how to communicate it between musicians. In particular, notating the various forms of microtonality can be a real challenge.
I have had to do a bit of research about this, because I am interested in the specific form of microtonality called just intonation. One of the first people to come up with an elegant way of incorporating the harmonic language of just intonation into readable notation was Ben Johnston, whose notation system of additional accidentals bears his name: Johnston Notation. It really is a pretty good system, and has been the basis for several other systems that came after it. The biggest problem with his system is the manuscript: he uses separate accidentals for each change in pitch that may affect a note, which can sometimes end up producing some rather complex accidental-chains before a note; and some of the accidentals actually are not very easy to read on a 5-line staff, the '+' and '-' in particular. It turns out that this problem between precision and legibility is a pretty tough problem to solve.
It is not a problem that I have to solve by myself, however. After a bit of looking around (in truth, a couple of years) I believe that the team that produced Sagittal notation has come up with the best solution I've seen between precision and legibility. Tuning purists will say that these two systems have a major difference in how they assume the 5-line staff is organized. Johnston Notation assumes a 5-limit C major scale, and Sagittal notation assumes a Pythagorean major scale. This can produce some differences in when a certain type of accidental (representing the Syntonic Comma) is used in each system, but in my humble opinion this is really not an important difference. Both scales work just fine, and roughly equally well. The best argument I've seen over whether to use the 5-limit or the Pythagorean major scale is not the usage of accidentals, but the more regular spacing of whole and half steps in the Pythagorean version, which actually may produce some benefits in dealing with complex enharmonics.
The major difference, however, is simply how the accidentals are written on the staff. Whereas Johnston notation uses a different accidental for every pitch adjustment and accidentals in front of a note are added together, Sagittal uses a system of vertical arrows and arrow parts to represent combinations of pitch adjustments, combining them into exactly one accidental per note. Because none of the parts of their accidentals are horizontal to the lines of a staff, they are much more legible, and they spent an incredible amount of time refining the representation of the different parts of the symbols to be as clear as possible in visually representing how much of a pitch change the accidental represents.
For more information on the Sagittal notation system, visit their website. My preference for this system is with how it is useful in notating just intonation, but it can be applied to many other forms of microtonality as well. Sagittal was developed by George Secor and Dave Keenan.


Naomi is a total inspiration!! She makes sure each lesson is balanced, challenging the student with music theory yet keep it lighthearted and fun. Our daughter started piano lessons with Naomi over year and half ago and takes a lot of pride in her musical skills. I have been to recitals where some of her students barely old enough to count, were playing piano. Need I say more?
There is enormous amount of work, rehersal, and study behind Naomi's success. She always sets high objectives, and is determined to achieve them. She brought so much happiness and joy to my life with her music.
She is a very dedicated, hard working, and talented young pianist. I have observed her artistic development year after year, as well as the maturity of her thought process. She developed an interest in a difficult and varied repertoire as well as an impeccabe piano technique.
Naomi has great patience for young children. Her teaching methods are creative and captures my grandson's attention. She is also reasonably priced.


TV channel Lifetime original series You was cancelled due to a lack of interest and a weak following from the audience. Now, Netflix has picked it back up, adding just enough twists to create suspense and infuse a bit of uniqueness to what used to be a typical show about a love story. Upon first seeing it in the spotlight on Netflix, I barely regarded it, assuming that the show would be nothing but another sappy love story where stalking is romanticized and seen as an effort to pursue a relationship. Falling in love usually entails a preoccupied mind and obsession without crossing the stalker line, but when it comes down to a cunning, psychological character with a dark past, lines will be crossed.
The show stars bookstore owner Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) who falls in love with aspiring writer Guinevere Beck, better known as Beck (Elizabeth Lail). Their first interaction takes place in his bookstore, and soon after Joe finds her address and begins to stalk her. Joe's obsession spirals out of control once he steals Beck's phone and begins following Beck to every event she attends. Soon enough, he starts attacking Beck's loved ones who stand in his way of being her lover, but with his believable words and actions, he is able to cover up his tracks, diverting all the attention away from himself. Despite Joe's relentless and potentially dangerous obsession, he still manages to get with Beck as his ordinary personality screams anything but extreme, psychotic stalker.
I've wanted to punch the screen in uncountable instances while watching You, mainly because of Beck's absolute obliviousness to Joe's stalking. Her walls are glass windows that allow any passerby on the street to see into her home and watch her. Joe uses this to his advantage and stands across from her house watching her while she changes right in front of the windows, which I find to be nothing short of terrifying. When eating out with friends or going to family events, Beck either doesn't catch Joe in plain sight or believes Joe's excuses for why he is where she is. Her lack of wit and suspicion makes me beyond unsettled, as I would think it's simple enough to have the least bit of concern when a boy you've met once shows up everywhere you go.
The plot occasionally diverts from Joe's obsession with Beck and follows Joe's constant care for Paco, a boy who lives with his abusive stepfather and helpless mother in Joe's apartment building. By defining Joe as a morally sound person with good intentions, it becomes even more difficult for Beck to realize that he has a killer (literally) obsession with her. The plot thickens when Joe knows exactly what Beck is in need of, especially in one instance when he offers to go furniture shopping after witnessing Beck break her bed one night. Beck thinks he is the perfect lover because he can "read her mind." The show leaves no chance for her oblivious, hopelessly romantic character to realize he really just knows everything about her because he stalks her.
By showcasing Beck as a girl yearning for love, it contradicts the show's attempt to portray a strong, feminist character in her. I could never blame Beck for this, but I do blame only the writers of the show for this huge contradiction. Beck is pictured to be a desperate, submissive woman trying to get a TA job by her professor, insisting that the writers think the idea of sleeping with people in power to get jobs is still acceptable. At one point, she calls out her professor for his sexual advances and makes this whole feminist speech, but her character is still outweighed by the weak, feeble image that molds her throughout the show.
In the spirit of positivity, the show itself seems sarcastic as Joe narrates everything in his calm tone, despite the excessive murdering, stalking and obsessions. I find this beyond entertaining as Joe attempts to normalize his actions and concerns with his intentions. So, despite all the faults in Beck's character, Joe has a distinct charm that overpowers his creepy obsession and three murders that we really can't blame him for. No wonder Beck falls for him.
heyo! i prefer cats over dogs and pour milk in before the cereal. that's all.