text:
Where Small Business Sentiment Is More Positive for 2021
Ben Geier, CEPF® Jan 02, 2021
The Census Bureau's Small Business Pulse Survey shows that during the first week of December 2020, business expectations were depressed nationwide. While less than 2% of small businesses have closed during COVID-19, 52.9% of small businesses nationally expect they won't return to normal levels of operation for at least six months or ever.
Though that outlook may seem a bit bleak, business sentiment remains stronger in some places compared to others. In this study, SmartAsset used data published in the Small Business Pulse Survey to determine the metro areas where small business sentiment is more positive heading into 2021. We compared the 50 largest U.S. metro areas across four metrics: percentage of small businesses that are operating at normal levels, percentage of small businesses that do not expect a return to normal levels of operations within six months or ever, percentage of small businesses looking to hire new employees and percentage of small businesses with three or more months of cash on hand.
Responses we considered were collected between November 30, 2020 and December 6, 2020. It is important to note that because the survey is experimental, sampling errors tend to be high relative to other Census-reported data. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, check out the Data and Methodology section below.
A strong showing from North Carolina. Three of the top 10 metro areas where small business sentiment is more positive heading into 2021 are at least partially located in North Carolina. They are Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina; Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia-North Carolina; and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina. Though 52.9% of small businesses nationally do not expect a return to normal levels of operations within six months or ever, less than 45% of small businesses in all three of these metro areas report that expectation.
Travel troubles. Metro areas that rely heavily on the tourism industry rank at the bottom of our list. The four places where small business sentiment is most negative for 2021 are Orlando, Florida; New York, New York; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Los Angeles, California, all of which attract many travelers throughout the typical calendar year.
Just one in four small businesses has enough cash. On average across the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, only 26.0% of small businesses have at least three months of cash on hand, the minimum safety net generally recommended for a business.
1. Raleigh-Cary, NC
Around 37.5% of small businesses in Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina are operating at normal levels, the second-highest rate in our study. The Raleigh-Cary metro area finishes in the top 10 for two additional metrics: fifth-best for the percentage of small businesses that do not expect to return to normal levels of operation within six months or ever, at 44.9%, and eighth-best for the percentage of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand, at 30.3%.
2. Salt Lake City, UT
In the Salt Lake City, Utah metro area, 33.2% of small businesses were operating at normal levels during the first week of December. This metro area is also a relatively good place to be if you are currently looking for a job, as 27.3% of small businesses are currently looking to hire new employees, the eighth-highest rate for this metric in the study. Finally, the Salt Lake City metro has the 11th-lowest percentage of small businesses that do not foresee themselves returning to normal levels of operation within six months or ever, at 49.0%.
3. Birmingham-Hoover, AL
In the Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama small business community, 32.2% of companies have at least three months of cash on hand, the highest percentage for this metric of all 50 metro areas. The Birmingham metro area also places third in terms of new small businesses looking to hire, at 33.4%. Furthermore, it ranks in the top 20 for the other two metrics, including 19th-lowest for its percentage of small businesses that don't foresee returning to normal operating levels in six months or ever, at 51.4%.
4. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA
Virginia Beach, Virginia and its surrounding metro area leads the study in terms of its percentage of small businesses looking to hire people, at 40.1%. It also places fourth for its relatively low percentage of small businesses that are not expecting a return to normal operation levels in six months or ever, at 43.2%. The metro area falls behind slightly in terms of the percentage of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand, finishing in the bottom half of the study at 25.2%.
5. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (tie)
The Baltimore, Maryland metro area ranks seventh in this study for the percentage of businesses with fewer than 500 employees operating at a normal level, at 31.5%. Charm City and its surroundings also rank 10th-highest for the percentage of small businesses looking to hire new employees, at 25.4%, and 13th-lowest in terms of the percentage of small businesses that do not expect to return to normal operations within six months or ever, at 50.0%.
5. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC (tie)
Charlotte, North Carolina's metro area has just 39.6% of small businesses that don't expect to return to normal operations within six months or ever, the smallest percentage we observed in the study for this metric. The Charlotte metro area also finishes fifth in terms of the percentage of small businesses currently operating at normal levels, at 32.3%. It finishes in the bottom half of the study in terms of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand, at just 24.0%.
7. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX (tie)
The Austin, Texas metro area has the fifth-highest percentage in the study of small businesses looking to make new hires, at 32.5%. The Austin area sees 47.6% of small firms not expecting a return to normal levels of operations in six months or ever, the eighth-lowest percentage we observed. Austin does not fare as well, however, in terms of the percentage of small businesses currently operating at normal levels: It places 28th, in the bottom half of our study, at 24.0%.
7. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI (tie)
The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota-Wisconsin metro area has 30.9% of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand, the fifth-highest percentage we observed. Though that is the metro area's only top-10 metric, it finishes in the top 20 for the other three, including placing 13th for its percentage of small businesses operating at normal levels, at 27.7%, and 15th for its percentage of small businesses looking to make new hires, at 24.6%.
9. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN
The Indianapolis, Indiana metro area places third in terms of its percentage of small businesses operating at normal levels, at 35.3%. It also places sixth-lowest for the percentage of small businesses that don't expect a return to normal levels of operation within six months or ever, at 46.3%. Indianapolis does not perform as well in terms of the percentage of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand, finishing in the bottom half of the study at 25.9%.
10. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN
The Nashville, Tennessee metro area places 10th for two different metrics: the percentage of small businesses operating at normal levels (29.4%) and the percentage of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand (30.1%). That said, Nashville is closer to the middle of the pack, ranking 23rd-lowest, for the percentage of small businesses that do not expect to return to normal operations in the next six months or ever (52.2%).
Data and Methodology
To find the places where small business sentiment is more positive for 2021, we compared the 50 largest metro areas in the country across the following four metrics:
Percentage of small businesses that are operating at normal levels.
Percentage of small businesses that do not expect a return to normal levels of operations within six months or ever.
Percentage of small businesses looking to hire new employees.
Percentage of small businesses with at least three months of cash on hand.
All data comes from the Small Business Pulse Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Small businesses are defined as those with fewer than 500 employees. Small business responses were collected between November 30, 2020 and December 6, 2020.
To put our final rankings together, we ranked each metro area in every metric, giving a full weighting to all metrics. We then found each metro area's average ranking and used this average to determine a final score. The metro area with the best average ranking received a score of 100. The metro area with the worst average ranking received a score of 0.
Please note that because the survey is experimental, sampling errors tend to be high relative to other Census-reported data.
Tips for Weathering a Tough Business Environment
In a time as difficult as now, getting professional help can be a good idea. Finding a financial advisor doesn't have to be hard. SmartAsset's free tool connects you with financial advisors in your area in five minutes. If you're ready to be matched with local advisors, get started now.
Even in times when money is tight, it can't hurt to think about the future. Use SmartAsset's retirement calculator to see if you are on track for a solid retirement.
Planning is key. If you're having trouble keeping your money in order, the first step should be to make a budget – and then to stick to it.
Questions about our study? Contact press@smartasset.com.
Photo Credit: © iStock/Georgijevic
Ben Geier, CEPF® Ben Geier is an experienced financial writer currently serving as a retirement and investing expert at SmartAsset. His work has appeared on Fortune, Mic.com and CNNMoney. Ben is a graduate of Northwestern University and a part-time student at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He is a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing and a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®). When he isn't helping people understand their finances, Ben likes watching hockey, listening to music and experimenting in the kitchen. Originally from Alexandria, VA, he now lives in Brooklyn with his wife.
7 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Hiring a Financial Advisor
20 Questions to Tell If You're Ready to Retire
The Worst Way to Withdraw From Your Retirement Accounts
Read next article
Compare Up to 3 Financial Advisors Near You
Calculate Your Capital Gains Tax
Should I Refinance My Mortgage?
Compare Mortgage Rates
Join 200,000+ other subscribers


text:
Vanessa Paradis is one of the most beautiful French actresses. Vanessa Paradis was discovered on the TV show L'École des fans in 1980. Vanessa Paradis recorded ...
Joe Biden was born November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph R. Biden, Sr. and Catherine Eugenia Finnegan and the first of ...
Shannon Elizabeth
In March 2008, Elizabeth joined the cast of Dancing with the Stars. Shannon Elizabeth was partnered with Derek Hough and, after five weeks, rumors of ...
He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, ...
Rene Zellweger
Zellweger was born in Baytown, Texas, an eastern suburb of Houston. Between junior school and high school her family moved to Katy, Texas, a western ...
Biography of Vanessa Paradis
Birthdate: December - 22, 1972
Birthname: Vanessa Chantal Paradis
Birthplace: Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, Val-de-Marne, France
Nationality: French
Famous biography website provide biography of Vanessa Paradis including Vanessa Paradis birthdate, Vanessa Paradis birthplace, Vanessa Paradis birthname and Vanessa Paradis height.
In this famous biography website, we have tried our best to list biography of Vanessa Chantal Paradis and all information about this famous French people for you. Beside biography of Vanessa Chantal Paradis, we also provide a lot of biographies of other famous people. We are very appreciated with any contribution to make a better and more exactly biography of Vanessa Chantal Paradis by give us information about Vanessa Chantal Paradis such as Vanessa Chantal Paradis bio, Vanessa Chantal Paradis news, Vanessa Chantal Paradis photos, Vanessa Chantal Paradis pitures, Vanessa Chantal Paradis images, ...
Biography of Vanessa Paradis:
Vanessa Paradis is one of the most beautiful French actresses. Vanessa Paradis was discovered on the TV show L'École des fans in 1980.
Vanessa Paradis recorded her first single La Magie des surprises-parties in 1985. Although it was not a hit, it paved the way for the song with which Vanessa Paradis would become internationally famous - "Joe le taxi" in 1987, while Vanessa Paradis was still only 14 years old.
[1] It was #1 in France for 11 weeks[2] and, unusually for a song sung in French, was released in the United Kingdom the following year, where it reached #3. It was taken from her first album M&J (it stands for Marilyn & John) which, although it gained a number 13 placing in France, drew little attention in the UK and did not chart.
Thank you for visiting famous biography website, a leading website about biography of famous people. You can find not only biography of Vanessa Chantal Paradis but also biography of almost famous people around the world.
If you think we missed some information about Vanessa Paradis, please help us to complete this biography of Vanessa Paradis. Thank you for your contribution!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Innovation is the key factor for the success of any business. Updating the features of a product to improve quality is required to survive the competition. The airline industry is witnessing continuous innovations to improve the booking process and to deliver the better experience to travelers. Every day, the number of feature and options are increased right from booking of tickets to ordering of meals in flight. All these changes are done to improve customer experience with the journey.
Time: Search results can be modified on the basis of the convenient time of travelers. Travelers can access results by choosing their time zone such as morning, early morning, afternoon, evening, night. It is beneficial for business travelers as it saves their time, they just need to select only their preferred time zone and they can book a ticket from multiple search options.
Airline Company: Nowadays travelers are loyal to brands. They are very particular about it. So, travelers can directly select their preferred brand of airline and can book the ticket.
Number of Stops: Online flight reservation system lets travelers choose flights on basis of stops like no stop (direct), one stop or two stop. Travelers who are short of the time prefer no stop flights and travelers who like to visit and travel different places consider one stop or two stop flights.
Prices: Travelers can filter search results on basis of prices. They can select a range of minimum and maximum prices and get options of flights in that range. This basically gives them value for money as generally, travelers select the best option in their defined budget.
All these filter options help in the quick booking of flight tickets and save the time of travelers.
Advance Seat Booking Feature: Many times travelers get the middle seat which generally people don't like while traveling alone or travelers don't get their preferred seat. Sometimes it also happens that you sit 3-4 rows away from your family on the same flight. These types of situations somewhere sour the travel experience. Flight reservation system lets travelers decide their own seat. While booking the ticket they can have access to the seating plan of the flight and book the desired one. This feature results in increased number of flight tickets.
Communication on WhatsApp: With more than 1 billion users in the world and 200 million-plus users in India, WhatsApp is most used messaging platform by users. Airline Reservation System sends all important documents such as e-ticket on WhatsApp. Booking confirmation and other information such as seat plan, PNR Number, flight details are shared with travelers on WhatsApp. This feature has resulted in better communication between traveler and travel companies and in the delivery of better travel experience to travelers.
Live Chat Feature: Live chat increases the conversion ratio and thus increases sales of travel agencies. It transforms visitors into customers. Now many travel websites run PPC campaigns to drive traffic to their website. Sometimes they have to pay the heavy amount of per click to get the visitor to their site, to utilize this marketing strategy live chat at least helps to take data of visitors such as the mobile number and email address. Later, these details are transferred to the marketing department, which in turn increases sales. Sometimes visitors face problems during booking process such as not getting desired flight or problems in payment or in search of any information. With live chat features, all problems faced by visitors can be solved by the technical support team. This increases the trust of customers with the travel companies.
All these features help travel companies to establish themselves as a brand in the industry.


text:
Freaky Friendly - Fareway And Quik Trip
Hello shoppers...
Any company that wants to compete for our hard-earned drachmas and doubloons, can't offer so-so-stinky customer service and expect to get them, not in this so-so-stinky economy. You don't bring a butter knife to a gun fight unless you're a GUESS model shooting a "West Side Story" themed ad rip-off.
Some companies, however, bring customer service howitzers - and shoppers are thankful for the heavy artillery. Here's a peek at two such gun-slinging retail heros.
Fareway in Norwalk - Bringing It Freaky Friendly
Talk to Brian Greiner, store manager for Fareway in Norwalk, and you immediately want to rub his head, toss him a nickel and tell him to scoot and go buy himself a wad of Bazooka. That's because the youthful-looking 32-year-old Greiner appears closer to 14, the age he started bagging groceries and got his first taste of the biz.
"I have a lot of family who work in the grocery store business," said Greiner when I chatted with him last week. "I started young and just never left."
That career arc took him through several grocers around Des Moines, including one who emphasized the front end of the store.
"You learn the importance of personalizing your service," says Greiner. "That's my expectation with this crew - and they're awesome."
The Norwalk Fareway opened in August 2007 with a young Greiner at the helm and an even younger staff under his wing, which makes what they've accomplished even more impressive; creating an exceptional customer service culture that Greiner calls "Freaky Friendly."
It was a term he first heard during a seminar presentation by nationally renown marketing guru Harold Lloyd, who works with the Iowa Grocers Association.
"Lloyd teaches that if you're going to claim to be good, be the best," says Greiner. Clearly the staff at Fareway in Norwalk has taken the message to heart.
I discovered this, and everything else about Norwalk's Fareway, entirely by accident as I stumbled in one day searching for emergency mushrooms and less emergency toothpaste. The very-young girl at the check-out counter wasn't your typical ambivalent teen, killing time till her shift ended and the lip gloss and Miley Cyrus began.
Instead, she blew me away. "How are you doing today? Doing anything exciting? Have you had a good day?" Wow - I've had dates that were less engaging.
When I told her how impressed I was with her friendly demeanor, she smiled and said, "We call it freaky friendly."
Greiner says that when a customer asks, "Where are the eggs?" the employees won't just point to the aisle, they'll take you there, and tell you what's on special. I suspect they'd also carry them to your car, ride home with you and cook them.
"Everybody's bought into the freaky friendly idea," says Greiner. Bingo! There's the key to creating a customer service culture in a retail setting - having complete buy-in from the top, down. Greiner says it's contagious.
"The entire staff works very hard on the front end of the store, watching customers, watching each other, engaging patrons. We get a lot of calls from customers about how good our service is."
And the occasional blog mention. Keep up the freaky friendly work, kids. I know old farts who could learn a lot from you.
Quik Trip - The Ultimate Greeters
Try walking into a Quik Trip, any Quik Trip, without being greeted with a "Hi!" or "Hello!" or "How are ya?" Go ahead, I dare you. It's almost impossible, unless you come in through the chimney - like trying to pass metal through an airport detector without the alarm going off.
All that glad-handing is by design, says Mike Green, store manager at QT on Ingersoll in downtown Des Moines - one of the best of the best local QT's when it comes to delivering "freaky friendly."
"We're trained by corporate to either greet each customer as they come through the door or before they're rung up, "says the Houston-born Green, who originally got on with Quik Trip "until something better came along." 15 years later, nothing has.
Green says QT hires good people, for positions that pay above the competition, then run them through a rigorous in-store training process. But that's only the beginning.
"Each store is secret shopped once a week by corporate," says Green, "and each employee is scored on specific sets of criteria, including customer greeting, counting back change correctly, store cleanliness and employee appearance." Green says that if an employee meets all the criteria, they receive a $50 bonus in their next paycheck. "It's a great incentive." Plus the entire store is also graded once a month - if it meets certain criteria, then that store also receives a bonus.
"Managers also attend a half-day "Good Merchant School," says Green, "and we're encouraged to read customer service training books." He counts Raving Fans and Fish, the classic chronicle of a Seattle fish market store, among his favorites.
I asked Green - who has achieved a certain level of fame among longtime downtown QT patrons - if he gets recognized when he's not working at the store.
"I get it all the time - someone will shout, 'Look! It's the Quik Trip Dude!' My kids think that's cool."
So do we, Mike - thanks for giving us all these years of hi's, as one of the best QT dudes in DM.
Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, marketing strategist and radio show host. Email him at jonniewright@thebuyosphere.com.


Fort Severn is the most northerly inhabited community in Ontario, located where the Severn River empties into Hudson Bay. As such, coordinating diesel fuel deliveries into the community of about 500 people can pose challenges. Fuel trucks travelling by ice road and fuel deliveries by barge are possible only during certain times of the year and under the right weather conditions. If fuel delivery by truck or barge is impossible, then the First Nation must import diesel fuel by aircraft at a very high cost.
To reduce the Fort Severn's reliance upon diesel fuel, a 20kW photovoltaic system was installed on the rooftops of two of the community's 4-bay garages. These buildings consume a large quantity of electricity to remain heated over the winter months. The 20kW system provides an estimated 26.8MWh of electricity per year, and any surplus electricity produced by the system flows into the community's local electricity grid for use by other buildings.
The 20kW system is a first step towards reducing Fort Severn's reliance upon diesel fuel. A microgrid slated for construction over the summer of 2016 will further assist the community with energy independence.


Alie is a corporate attorney focusing on representing emerging companies and venture capital investors. She has advised emerging companies on 30+ venture capital investment deals with a cumulative value in excess of $300mm, in addition to 35+ investor-side financings, buy- and sell-side M&A, and fund formation. Prior to joining Atrium, she practiced at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP.
While not advising clients, Alie enjoys skiing, tennis and playing with every golden retriever she meets.


text:
August 7, 2021 August 6, 2021 K.R. Phoenix About the Author, New Release 2021, Release Blitz & Giveaway
Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway: The Prince and the Ice King by Amanda Meuwissen
The Prince and the Ice King
By Amanda Meuwissen
Gemstone Kingdoms, Book 1
Every Winter Solstice, the Emerald Kingdom sends the dreaded Ice King a sacrifice—a corrupt soul, a criminal, a deviant, or someone touched by magic. Prince Reardon has always loathed this tradition, partly because he dreams of love with another man instead of a future queen.
Then Reardon's best friend is discovered as a witch and sent to the Frozen Kingdom as tribute.
Reardon sets out to rescue him, willing to battle and kill the Ice King if that's what it takes. But nothing could prepare him for what he finds in the Frozen Kingdom—a cursed land filled with magic… and a camaraderie Reardon has never known. Over this strange, warm community presides the enigmatic Ice King himself, a man his subjects call Jack. A man with skin made of ice, whose very touch can stop a beating heart.
A man Reardon finds himself inexplicably drawn to.
Jack doesn't trust Reardon. But when Reardon begins spending long days with him, vowing to prove himself and break the curse, Jack begins to hope. Can love and forgiveness melt the ice around Jack's heart?
"Jack, is it? Far better than 'Ice King,' I suppose."
The king frowned.
"I'll call you Majesty until we trust each other. But on that day, I will call you Jack."
"Is this a game to you?" The Ice King straightened. Reardon stood almost directly before the throne now, chilled and shivering but without any creeping frost on his hair or clothes. "What do you hope to accomplish?"
"My father is wrong for what he does, but seeing this curse on you makes me wonder if he is right about magic's corruption, despite all the wonders it can do."
"Magic alone did not curse us!" the king roared. "One person who wielded it did, and I brought her wrath upon me myself."
That gave Reardon pause. There was so much he didn't know. "You could tell me your story."
"It is a long one, little prince, and I grow weary of your presence already." He stood, crunching down the steps between Reardon and the throne and bringing a gust of icy wind with him.
Reardon sensed how close he was to death but stood his ground. "I only want to bring my people home."
"And where are they supposed to go? Home, you say. The thief who almost lost her hands because she was starving, the man who lusted after the wrong noble's son, your friend who has visions—do they have a home to go back to when their own people cast them out as villains?"
"I didn't."
"Good for you. You only cared once it finally affected someone you knew."
Reardon's fists clenched to be called a heartless coward, but he'd called himself worse this past year.
He also couldn't overlook the example of a man and a noble's son.
"I suppose you've taken in all the corrupted, haven't you?"
"You call them corrupt"—the Ice King stomped another clawed foot closer—"yet ask for leniency?"
"I only speak as I was taught. I don't agree with it. I don't believe they're corrupt. Not any of them. I don't want to. If my father understood—"
"He'd still keep up the status quo. Your kingdom shuns what they don't understand because of my curse, yet they don't even remember the time before."
"So tell me! Let me know the truth so we can learn from our past instead of continuing to repeat it." Reardon stepped forward—too close, he knew—but like before, instead of reaching out and ending him, the Ice King backed away. "You'd really let them all go, wouldn't you? If they wanted it?"
"They don't, but you are welcome to ask them, including your friend."
"Then I am not a prisoner either?"
"That is up for debate."
If Barclay had seen Reardon's death in his vision, it couldn't be now. Not yet. "Give me the chance to prove I will go back and change things for the better. I'll stay for as long as it takes, but once you believe me, once you know me and I know you, let me go."
"And what if I never believe you? You're the prince. You could bring an army to my door after learning my secrets."
"If you never believe me… then you either have another servant or another statue to crush. But that means you take an audience with me every day."
The king scoffed, turning to stomp back up to his throne and throw himself onto it with an elegant ease that should have been impossible. "Sounds frightfully dull."
"Yes, I can see your calendar is quite full."
He rumbled with laughter like a brewing winter storm.
For a long stretch of minutes, he stared at Reardon with his uniquely human eyes—different from his companions. The Ice King was more tied to his humanity, even if he'd lost the feeling of it in his heart, and more cursed and tortured because of it, perhaps.
Yet still he said, "Fine. But make no mistake, little prince, if you prove unworthy or attempt to betray me, I will not hesitate to turn you into frozen rubble like that thief."
All Reardon could do was return his stare and wonder—What was this curse? Why had it been cast? And what had the king been like before it changed him and his kingdom? He had to know, even if a mysterious and frightening future stretched out before him.
Love, death, and blue eyes in a sea of white.
Whatever that might mean.
"You have a deal, Your Majesty."
To celebrate Amanda's new release, we are giving you a chance to win an 2 e-copies of The Prince and the Ice King!
Amanda Meuwissen is a bisexual, happily married, and self-proclaimed geek. Primarily an M/M romance author with a focus on urban fantasy, she has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed Creative Writing major from St. Olaf College and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games. Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, John, and their cat, Helga. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. For more information, visit amandameuwissen.com.
Connect with Amanda:
Website: https://www.amandameuwissen.com/
Newsletter: https://sendfox.com/amandameuwissen
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmandaMeuwissen
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmandaMeuwissenBooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6831429.Amanda_Meuwissen
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Meuwissen/e/B00IASVAJO/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amanda-meuwissen
Tagged Amanda Meuwissen, Book Love, Courting Nightfall, Dark, Gay Book Review, Gay Romance Authors, Horror, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Books, MM Romance, Paranormal, Supernatural, The Prince and the Ice King, Vampires
Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway: Dear Mr. Brody by A.M. Johnson
Check out this stunning Cover Reveal for Mia Kerick's new self released version of Whatever He Needs!


This small necklace bust covered with white leatherette with a rosewood top and base has two hooks to help you adjust the length of the necklace. The glossy rosewood finish will give your jewelry an elegant look. Jewelry not included.
STURDY CONSTRUCTION - It's a wooden display stands at an angle.
ADJUSTABLE HOOK- The hooks on the back holds necklace up to 18" long.


text:
You are here: Home » Gambling, addiction, and responsibility
Gambling, addiction, and responsibility
by Marc on November 1, 2016 in Connect
Last post I described common denominators between drug addiction and compulsive gambling. Today I want to ask: how do we assign responsibility for promoting products that benefit some while seriously harming others — because they are too attractive?
I got back from my trip to Australia about three days ago and I can finally see straight this morning. I came home travel weary but armed with some great new insights and perspectives. Most of what I learned was by way of the "Many Ways to Help" conference organized by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. In particular, the counsellors, case workers, policy makers, and researchers in the audience and at the podium repeatedly raised the question of responsibility — and how responsibility is related to technology, access, and profit.
Let me unpack that. Gamblers in the Melbourne area come in droves to the Crown Casino, a multi-level pleasure palace packed with every conceivable form of entertainment and an enormous number of high-tech slot machines distributed among the bars, bandstands, restaurants, craps and roulette tables…along every corridor, in every nook and cranny. These machines have been designed to appeal to a great variety of individual tastes. In some, the spinning character set settles into a poker hand — usually a losing hand. Others rely on matches among fruits, goblins, jewels, and shining, flickering, mesmerizing tokens lifted from fairy tales and Kung Fu movies. Some mix cards, dice, and fairy-tale images on their glittering screens. The variety and artistry are incredible.
What offers all this excitement, this sense of fun, and what keeps gamblers playing and losing and playing and losing, derives from innovations in design, programming, psychological modeling, video game development, and the technological know-how to package all these in a single product. And of course the paycheques of the designers, programmers, artists, and so forth come from a casino industry that rakes in enormous profits.
The attendees at the conference were pretty pissed off. Because, despite the various placards encouraging gamblers to take it easy, and despite various government regulations that force casinos to notify gamblers when they've reached the danger zone, there's a confluence of factors that attract people to play as much as possible. Especially at the slot machines, where play becomes almost mindless (see previous post). The conference attendees spend their lives trying to help people who continue to lose — not only their money but their homes, marriages, interpersonal relationships of all sorts, and even their lives — sometimes directly via suicide, sometimes slowly through the alcoholism and other forms of escape that ride on gambling addiction. It just doesn't seem fair. The casinos know what they're doing, and they've got the resources to do it very effectively.
But there's another side to this argument. The casinos (and other gambling outlets — I've chosen slot machines at casinos as an overt example) are just businesses. They exist to make money, pay their employees, and increase their profits, just like any other business. Does it make sense to blame them for being good at what they do? Is it their responsibility to protect the fewer than 1% of adults in the Melbourne area who are "problem gamblers" (and the 2.4% who are "moderate-risk gamblers")? See recent research findings here. Or should the government come down hard on an industry that brings pleasant entertainment to many but serious harm to a few? These are some of the questions at the forefront of the discussion about problem gambling in Australia. And the same questions are debated just as hotly in the US and the UK.
If the answer is "maybe," then let's take the argument further: Should the manufacturers of fast cars be held responsible for accidents that result from speeding? Should the makers of video games like The Sims and Candy Crush be penalized for making the most attractive (and addictive) games ever known? Should Facebook be banned? Nir Eyal has a fascinating blog that explores the issues and ethics at the core of addictive technology, and the answers to these questions aren't simple.
Aren't adult humans supposed to be responsible for controlling their own impulses? After all, the world is full of temptations, some of them natural, some manufactured. It's hardly conceivable to block temptations at the source, especially when most people can steer around them quite successfully. And would we want a world that minimizes tempting attractions, even if we could achieve it?
Where this conundrum interests me most is where it intersects with the problem of drug addiction. And alcoholism. The parallels are mind-blowing. First, stigmatization, family disintegration, avenues of treatment, and support groups continue to blossom in both realms. Second is the question of making profits off people's suffering. Third, how do we balance the suffering of the few against possible benefits to the many? The sale of addictive drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, and crack line the pockets of drug lords and gangsters, but they also pay simple farmers all over South America and Asia. And the legal addictive drugs like oxycodone and Vicodan (most famously) certainly profit Big Pharma, but they also provide badly needed relief for the millions suffering pain. Next, should we restrain what might be called the technology of attraction at all? The substances I just listed, as well as modern slot machines and internet gambling, evolved from links between profit and technology. Technology needs money (e.g., profit) to grease its wheels. Even scotch whiskey — at least the good scotch that I like — is the product of an industry that harms a portion of its users while feeding some of its profits into technological advancement. Alcoholism kills 88,000 Americans per year. Yet almost nobody recommends a return to Prohibition.
So maybe it's the same problem in general — the same problem for gambling industries, video game makers, social media designers, drug manufacturers, and distilleries with exotic names like Glenkinchie and Laphroaig. Many of the products that make modern life fun, pleasant, interesting — or even just bearable — for many of us also make life hell for those who lose control. Should we assign blame for making, selling, or buying something that's too desirable? Do we just turn responsibility over to the user, or is there a sensible way to restrain the dealer? Is there any concept of regulation, packaged warnings, education, or harm reduction that could help across the board?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
40 thoughts on "Gambling, addiction, and responsibility"
Matty H. November 1, 2016 at 10:13 am #
In Opium and the People, Virginia Berridge describes the situation in the UK where in the 19th century, opium in oral form was widely and legally available, but led to very few problems and addiction rates. I would start by looking at this model and then asking important questions about the people, the society and culture at the time. What is different now and would it be possible to introduce cultural elements that would lead to a similar outcome now? And then how to use those cultural elements for other addictions as well?
"In a particular historical period and in the social context of a particular country, and with opium as a drug available only in oral form, we can begin to see the outline nature of the equilibrium reached between society and the drug – a plateau at a high general level of usage and with regional variation, no persuasive evidence of large-scale social incapacity, but with associated mortality levels which, though not too disastrous when matched against certain modern drug experiences, were nonetheless cause for concern."
Marc November 6, 2016 at 1:34 am #
This is a thoughtful perspective. Those cultural elements might include globalization — see Bruce Alexander's book, the Globalization of Addiction. Nobody actually belongs to the artificial culture that's sprung up in the middle of real, actual cultures. So a lot of people feel this disenfranchisement or alienation.Trump supporters? If they feel they're boxed in and their lives are meaningless, they're more likely to get more than a little smashed when strong psychotropic drugs are available, to gamble compulsively, eat to excess, in short to do whatever gives them the sense that they can change reality from the inside. That's when the usual human constraints start to fail, and then people start to split into two groups: addicts and those who loathe and fear addiction.
Victoria Tegg July 8, 2019 at 4:35 am #
My top 5:
Dragon ball bodukai tenkachi 3
Mortal kombat Armageddon
Yes mk 9 is my favorite since i grew up with it
Beth@WeightMaven November 1, 2016 at 3:09 pm #
I don't have any great thoughts on solutions, but wanted to point out that this is a huge issue when it comes to food and the food industry. Whether or not you believe in food addiction (I do), there are very compelling arguments that the food industry is doing the same kind of innovating in design, modeling etc to help sell their products, more often than not at the expense of our health (ref Michael Moss or David Kessler for lots on this).
I totally agree. Walking down the desserts and snacks isles at the supermarket is mind-blowing. Reminds me of my early days in Berkeley, where there were different pills (different colours, different highs) available on every corner of Telegraph Avenue.
matt November 7, 2016 at 6:46 am #
How old are you? I remember seconal, nembutal, amytal, tuinal…reds, yellows, blues and rainbows… all barbiturate sleeping aids supposedly replaced by the "harmless" benzodiazepines (like the harmless substitution of heroin for opium and morphine addiction in the early 20th century). "Whites" (and blacks) were typically reserved for the amphetamines. Then came LSD and the color coding went off the rails…
Orange Wedge sticks in my mind…probably in more ways than one. Yes, I remember all those drugs….and then some. What were "black beauties" anyway? I never figured those out, but I do remember liking them.
matt November 10, 2016 at 8:56 am #
Amphetamine + dextroamphetamine. Then came Eskatrol, a buffered form of dextroamphetamine in time release spansules. Another "mother's little helper" diet pill from the 70's. Packed a wallop punctuated by a horrible depressive episode.
Rita November 2, 2016 at 4:23 am #
Sleep debt from artificial light, sedentary life; inflammatory pollution make for addictive brains. Big cities suffer most from these risk factors, so drugs and gambling can be prohibited in the cities and allowed in rural areas.Each municipality can decide for itself, based on the addiction rates in its population.
Mark November 2, 2016 at 5:44 am #
I suspect that the best any of us can do is whatever we can to "put a little dent in the suffering in the world." Beginning with our own. It's one of the things I think neuroscience has great potential to do. Neuroscience and the mystical poets: a dynamic duo! 😉
That rings true, Mark. There is so much suffering — a new brand of loneliness partly because the old supports of family and religion are fraying and disappearing. No, neuroscience can't help much….though I'm reminded of the study by Coan and colleagues (http://pss.sagepub.com/content/17/12/1032.abstract) showing reduced activation in stress-related brain regions when participants held the hand of their loved one. So brain research shows us how much we need closeness with others to feel safe — as if that weren't already obvious.
I think this recent editorial by the Dalai Lama and Arthur C. Brooks speaks to another element of loneliness that is at work in addiction, and why service to others can be so therapeutic: the need to feel needed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/dalai-lama-behind-our-anxiety-the-fear-of-being-unneeded.html?_r=0
Mark, I just came across some words of Alan Watts that somehow seemed to fit what we are talking about:
"you will cease to feel isolated when you recognize, for example, that you do not have a sensation of the sky: you are that sensation. For all purposes of feeling, your sensation of the sky is the sky, and there is no "you" apart from what you sense, feel, and know."
–this came from Maria Popova's wonderful weekly blog: https://www.brainpickings.org/
Mark November 6, 2016 at 5:31 pm #
Thanks, Marc. I've been following Maria beginning the first year she started posting. Seems like it must be ten years now.
Wouldn't it be interesting to see a side by side comparison of Alan Watts brain, say, with mine. I suspect they would look as different in mass, connectivity and integration as these two … http://www.committedparent.com/Gauss.html
Sherilene November 2, 2016 at 7:25 am #
That's a very interesting parallel you make with fast cars and alcohol. The thing is though, we have laws that restrict the speed you can drive and the amount of alcohol you can drink (at least whilst driving anyway). There are also pretty strong social norms around acceptable alcohol consumption. To my knowledge, there are no laws, or even government endorsed guidelines, for how much money you can safely gamble. People are free to literally gamble their lives away. Maybe it's time to start thinking about the health risks of gambling in the same way we think of other harmful products, like alcohol, tobacco, and fast cars!
Matty H. November 2, 2016 at 1:10 pm #
Interesting sidenote: There aren't any speed limits on the majority of German highways. 🙂
Sherilene November 2, 2016 at 4:53 pm #
No doubt there are countries that don't have blood alcohol limits for driving too! At least in Australia we do … and we're all safer for it. 😊
Karen November 3, 2016 at 2:30 pm #
Germans can't get a drivers' license without doing courses with a registered professional driving instructor, and the standards for passing are considerably higher than in NZ and Australia. There is a Fahrschule (driving school) on every corner. This has been so since the 1960's I believe. The population in Germany is twenty times as dense as ours, and if they drove like us NZers and Australians do, it would be a blood bath. I think Germans are much more law-abiding and considerate, less aggressive and competitive, on the road than we are – quite a different attitude. Parallels with alcohol and addiction? I believe alcohol is consumed more as part of a meal or social eating in Germany, so non-addictive consumption of alcohol is modelled frequently for children.
And I don't think it's the majority of German highways where there's no speed limit either – only a subset of them, the Autobahns, which are engineered to the highest of standards, and have awesome high tech surfaces.
Okay, but a lot of that comes down to social norms — people's sense of what's decent and proper. I live in Europe and I love the way people drive here…compared to N.America. The word respect comes to mind.
And those same social norms apply to excess in gambling and intoxication.
Karen November 14, 2016 at 1:56 am #
Which comes first, social norms or laws and regulations? Chicken and egg?
Sherilene, I think you're wrong about that. At this gambling conference I attended, a lot of the discussion was about stigmatization. Problem gamblers are not well regarded by friends and family. So social norms are present and they are overt, and people who cross those lines pay for it with a major loss in esteem!
Hari's book, Chasing the Scream, points to milder forms of stigmatization that help young people avoid nasty drugs in a country where they are available and more or less legal.
Donna Jaroslawski November 2, 2016 at 8:08 am #
I think a good solution is to rethink our tolerance for the ways of our capitalist economy. Most of the organizations profiting from it have not taken any real responsibility. They benefit tremendously and are not required to use those benefits to help those in need. We really need to rethink about how our capitalist economy is benefiting the few at the expense of the "little guy" (whether that is financial or personal power) What kind of world is this that we allow this kind of wide-spread abuse to exist with no responsibility and call it free market economy. To claim this is inaccurate is to choose to put our heads in the sand and fear any change of the status quo. I believe the answer is to require the profits (beyond a sustainable level for industry trail blazers who work hard to create new and interesting products and services) need to be used for education. Real education. Not some stupid placard that puts the onus back on the individual but as Marc and Johann Hari have taught us … these problems are societal and require a societal solution. A new infrastructure that does not tolerate taking advantage of those who struggle. That is, they need to be extremely honest about the problems and solutions to those problems that their products create and not make a person feel they are personally weak and suffer. No, they suffer because it is inherent in that product to cause them a loss of personal power. With this way of taking responsibility, those who can enjoy without personal harm get to do so and at the same time we are being totally honest and transparent to help those who fall prey. How do we accomplish this? Marks post (above) says it best: "I suspect that the best any of us can do is whatever we can to 'put a little dent in the suffering in the world.' Beginning with our own." Or the old Margaret Mead-ism: "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
I don't deny anything you're saying, Donna. But just the concept of responsibility in the way you mean it is completely novel on the human landscape. If the other guy suffers because you're making a profit, tough shit for him. That's the way it's always worked. Even in my (beloved?) Canada, there are no restraints on developers and retailers who have the ethical proclivities of reptiles — Shoppers Drug Mart comes to mind, as does the condo and billboard infestation of my home town, Toronto.
I'd love the world to be different, but I don't know how to make it so.
When you codify,institutionalize, and commercialize the activity of winning and losing, you codify institutionalized and commercialize the role of winners and losers
Terry Klingberg November 2, 2016 at 10:01 am #
When social and personal responsibility is not taught or fostered in the home, church, synogogue, mosque, school, etc, it cannot be assumed that people will behave within these parameters, especially in a capitalistic free-market system which our country's economy is based upon. People can act morally reprehensible and be rewarded for this callousness…i.e. Trump … remember Atlantic City. Get involved in local politics and listen to what the candidates are promising, and then do your due diligence by discovering what big corp lobbyist is funding which candidate. Only invest in stocks that reflect socially responsible business practices, etc, etc…I believe it must begin with the individual.
Investing in companies with ethical practices is a great way to help…a little. Despite what you say, humans and other animals have some kind of intrinsic pull toward altruism….though, agreed, it sure is hard to see it much of the time.
What about teaching emotional intelligence in schools? Teaching people to, in Marc's words, control their own impulses, to successfully steer around the many temptations in the world, natural and manufactured. These are skills and attitudes that are learned, mostly in childhood – or not, if you happen to be born into a dysfunctional family or society. Use some of the money which the "free market" system allows casinos, alcohol retailers, and drug pushers to amass in such large amounts, to set up attitudinal healing / spiritual / emotional intelligence programs in schools.
Hi Karen. There is movement in exactly this direction. Some call it teaching emotional intelligence, a la Goleman..others call it teaching social regard or empathy, not exactly the same thing but certainly related. The Dalai Lama's idea (which the Mind and Life Institute is trying to implement) is to teach compassion for self and other at the earliest phase of public education (i.e., kindergarten or so).
Lisa Martinovic November 2, 2016 at 9:09 pm #
The problem needs to be addressed on both individual and societal levels. Those of us who have sufficient intellectual and psychological resources must be responsible for our own behavior, and beyond that it's incumbent upon us to make whatever positive impact we can on the larger world. This while recognizing that we need a socioeconomic reprioritization to undo the devastation wreaked by free-market capitalism run amok.
What Donna describes above speaks to what economists call "externalities." If a factory employs people and produces useful goods everyone thinks that's a market success. Meanwhile the factory is dumping carcinogenic effluent into the river that won't start killing people until years after the factory has shut down and left town. The factory and its wealthy owners never have to pay the full price of doing business, which would by rights would include victim compensation and environmental restoration — all those costs are externalities to be borne by individuals or, if they're lucky, the government.
Similarly, the junk food, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling industries provide pleasure that most people can handle in moderation but many cannot. The damages suffered by individuals, families and communities are externalities that industry has no responsibility to ameliorate. I like Donna's idea of using profits for education. But, boy howdy, that's a hard sell — try convincing a libertarian! They don't even want to be taxed or regulated at all. Of course, the ever lowering corporate and superrich tax rates is one of the reasons why we have such a crappy educational system for all but the wealthy.
And given the abysmal state of public education in the US, many students emerge functionally illiterate. Combine that with the emotional and psychological deficits that result from poverty and dysfunctional social settings and you have a recipe for intergenerational disaster. How can these people be expected to evaluate the risks of worldly temptations, much less know how to resist them? I'm with Donna and Karen on this — use some of the profits generated by capitalizing on addiction to educate people about how to take control of their own lives. For so many people this does not come naturally.
A separate issue is this: I wonder if there is a way we could legislate against intentionally making products more addictive. Tobacco in its natural state is plenty addictive, but Phillip Morris, et al, juice up their product with even more nicotine. Why is this allowed?
In the junk food world, scientists are employed to make their products as addictive as possible with just the right balance of fat, sugar, salt, and flavorings. Does the world really need a more compelling Dorito? Ah, but this is the logic of capitalism. If you can make a buck it doesn't matter that you're contributing to the obesity epidemic. This also raises the question of conscience. How do scientists justify their role in the relentless assault on public health?
A very thoughtful comment, Lisa. What you say about "externalities" makes excellent sense, as these are measurable costs — although only measurable by projection, math modelling, etc., but then we're very good at such things when we send rockets into space and and buy stocks and bonds (I think). Sure, these are real costs, and conceivably industries could be made to pay them.
But when you speculate on whether or not manufacturers can or should be made to stop short of making their products maximally attractive, and when you reflect on the ethics of company scientists, I think you're entering a dream state. The world doesn't seem to work that way.
As far as education….a much bigger issue. Carl Hart has become somewhat famous for advocating decriminalization of drugs in general — including nasty drugs like meth — and putting our energies into education instead. Kids need to be taught, not restrained. This has a solid ring to it. Yet, if meth, for example were available at the corner smart shop (here in Holland) the externalities would ALWAYS be many times the price tag, so it seems.
I'm painfully aware that my suggestions are based on an idealized world that does not currently exist. But a gal can dream, can't she? I'm also a big believer in asking for what I want — for myself and for society at large. I think it's important that we articulate a more humane and sustainable vision of what's possible as as a first step in the manifestation process.
200 years ago an America without slavery was inconceivable. 100 years ago advocating for women's suffrage was heresy. So I don't think it's unreasonable to envision and work towards a world where human and environmental rights take priority over profits — in fact, it's essential. And, yeah, I get that it's an uphill battle.
Regarding availability, I believe in the decriminalization of all drugs. But I don't think they should be available at the corner store. The middle ground is the medicalization/harm reduction model. If you're strung out on meth, there should be facilities available where you can get and use clean product in a supervised setting that also provides counseling, detox and rehab. So much of drug addiction is wrapped up in the thrill of outlaw life (it certainly was for me!) By making drugs available in a clinical setting, we take the sexy out of using.
And it's true that some percentage of the population will not avail themselves of help and will simply drug themselves to death. They will be society's collective externalities. But the system as it exists now creates far far more externalities in terms of human and social suffering caused by the criminalization of drug use. People will always kill themselves using drugs, but with sane policies we can minimize how deeply their toxicity penetrates the rest of the culture.
I think you're dead right about decriminalization…and making drugs available for addicts in supervised settings. Hari writes about success stories in Portugal and Switzerland, and Switzerland is particularly interesting because the addiction rate keeps dropping even though heroin is available and accessible legally. The thrill is gone, baby….so might as well get on with life.
Joanna Nicci Tina Free November 7, 2016 at 12:19 am #
A young man in India is a friend of mine. He studied here in the States for a year and worked with me on a video and other projects. During his time here he visited an amusement park. The thing he found most amusing about the park was the litany of words used to protect the owners and operators of the rides from litigation. He said, "When you go on a ride or some other amusement in my country, you know that you are taking your life into your own hands." Then he laughed his gentle laugh and said, "That's part of the excitement!" He said people can get maimed or killed on the rides there, and no one has a leg to stand on if it happens (pun intended). We have such a drive now to sanitize and protect and behave and be appropriate… things are packaged up so neatly so that no one gets hurt and, if they do, it's the fault of the one bringing the service, the amusement… we don't want to take responsibility for sh*t.
In my work, I talk with people about how to kick tobacco, but I am NOT anti-tobacco. I'm pro-freedom. I'm also pro-pleasure. I smoked tobacco for decades. I was 12 years old when I started in 1969 and hell, I knew the risks then… how did anyone NOT know the risks? You're inhaling smoke. That's how people are most likely to die in a burning building, not by the fire… goodness, we know this, right? I chose to do it anyway for a long list of reasons. The bottom line is: it made sense at the time. That's it. And then I was IN… until I found the way OUT..
I am in favor of a world in which we offer options AND the ways – effective, free and low-cost ways – to delight in or shun those options. Offering ways to resource everyone, across socioeconomic status, returns to them the power of choice. You and Hari and Maté and Brady and more are giving us the leg to stand on in asserting the need for this kind of collective reform. I am most grateful! YES – as you said, let's teach (AND nurture), not restrain. Best to you – Joanna Free
Omar Manejwala, M.D. November 14, 2016 at 4:52 pm #
I think you make some great points here. At the end of the day, we won't be able to restrict our way out of these problems and access to prevention, treatment and recovery seems to be whats needed most.
An interesting approach is to tax the negative externalities (i.e. the so-called "pigouvian" taxes.) I think that makes sense and aligns the costs with the risks.
I take a more simplistic public health approach–interventions that improve lives with minimal costs monetarily or to basic rights are the low hanging fruit.
Carmelia November 23, 2016 at 11:27 pm #
Gambling in casino is fun and risky as it is associated with lots of money. If one is gambling once in a while for fun it won't of a great deal but if one becomes addicted to gambling then it's the end of his life. Whatever he earns he will spend it in casino, I have seen many people who even lost their house and job.
I personally am against gambling because of my father. He started gambling for entertainment but carried away and lost everything. He left us and we faced many difficulties in growing up. Once in a while father comes and get money for gambling from mom. She is weak and cannot fight against dad. So I'm thinking of taking him to an addiction rehab centre in Toronto but not sure if he is ready to stop gambling.
Dave Jansa November 29, 2016 at 12:22 pm #
Marc, your question: Do we just turn responsibility over to the user, or is there a sensible way to restrain the dealer? Is there any concept of regulation, packaged warnings, education, or harm reduction that could help across the board?
Yes. Consider the journey the US and other nations have taken in their efforts to deal with tobacco/nicotine. Apply that general template to many/most addictive substances or behaviors and you have the best possible balance among competing interests. Growers and suppliers, public health, public safety, prevention and personal wellness choices are either protected or made available.
Sonia horn May 22, 2019 at 2:10 am #
Great weblog right here! Additionally your web site a lot up fast! What host are you the usage of? Can I get your associate link in your host? I desire my site loaded up as fast as yours lol
soniahorn1122 May 27, 2019 at 5:30 am #
Your style is very unique compared to other folks I've read
stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you've
got the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this
evehunt1122 June 1, 2019 at 2:37 am #
I'm hoping to start my own site soon but I'm a little lost
on everything. Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices
out there that I'm completely overwhelmed .. Any ideas? Thank you!


Martin Taylor began his career as a youth at Mile Oak Rovers before he turned professional with Derby County in 1986.
He went on to make nearly 100 appearances for the Rams, although his 11 year spell at the Baseball Ground did see loan spells with Carlisle, Scunthorpe, Crewe and Wycombe.
In 1997 the former goalkeeper made his loan move to Wycombe permanent and went on to make over 230 appearances for the Chairboys. He was then loaned out to Barnsley where he made just three appearances.
After his spell at Barnsley, Taylor moved into non-league to play for Telford United in 2003 before he joined the Brewers in 2004. He became part of Nigel Clough's coaching staff at Eton Park.
Taylor was also part of Clough's coaching staff at Derby County and Sheffield United.


According to many entertainment and events magazines, jumping castle identified by many party planners to be a satisfying means of enjoyment especially for the children when they are having their parties, birthday parties are identified to lite up with the presence of a jumping castle for the kid. In order to ensure the kid is the most popular, this has resulted to many parents ensuring their kids have the utmost party by having one of the biggest and beautiful jumping castle for their parties, children absolutely love the jumping castle, from the moment the children get into the jumping castle it is identified to be very difficult to make them leave. It is important to highlight according to many parents, the innocent happy faces that the children portray when they are playing, while in the jumping castle it can be considered one of the happiest memories for the kids. Party planners have explained, aside from the total entertainment that is given to the children with their friends during the parties there are other advantages that jumping castle provides.
While playing in the jumping castle the children are happy as given an opportunity to interact with their friends, thus while playing on the jumping castle they are allowed to socialize with their friends, often children identified to make best friends while playing. Children have the ability to form friends at a faster rate as opposed to adults who take considerably a longer time, when the kids are able to bond with their friends while playing in the jumping castle they are capable to develop stronger socialization skills. Internet connectivity identified to have infiltrated the children world, hence, umping castle identified as one of the best ways to get the kids get away from their gadget, with the advancement in technology it can be often difficult to remove the kids from their gadgets, thus with the jumping castle the children are often willing to go out and play with their friends.
An additional bonus is gained while the kids are having fun in the jumping castle, they are given an opportunity to do their physical exercise, of the parents identified to have an issue to take their kids out to have fun with the busy schedule, but the jumping castle put up in the house yard the kids are allowed to go and play while exercising. Jumping castle allows the parents to monitor their kids while they have fun, the bigger the jumping castle the better as the parents are allowed to have fun with their kids as they can join them in the castle, while playing with the kids the parents and the kids allowed to bond.


text:
Q: Any alternatives to the RedBean/Fuse Model naming convention? RedBeanPHP uses class naming convention to tie a model to a table. I can't abide by that naming convention since I have a project where table names aren't set in stone. I need a way to connect a RedBean_SimpleModel to a table name without the naming convention - How do I do that?

A: OK, I found one solution while going through the API documentation. I can set my own "Model Formatter", which just means that I can create a class that is given the responsibility of connecting the name of a table with the name of a class. My RedBean setup code now looks like this:
# Redbean
require('vendor/redbean/rb.php');

R::setup("mysql:host=".MYSQL_HOST.";dbname=".MYSQL_DATABASE.";",
         MYSQL_USERNAME, MYSQL_PASSWORD);

# Set custom model formatter
class CustomRedBeanModelFormatter implements RedBean_IModelFormatter
{
    public function formatModel($model)
    {
        switch($model)
        {
            case foo\bar\OmniDataManager::TABLE_DATA:
                return 'foo\bar\OmniDataModel';
            case foo\bar\OmniDataManager::TABLE_GROUP:
                return 'foo\bar\OmniDataGroupModel';
            default:
                return false;
        }
    }
}
$customRedBeanModelFormatter = new CustomRedBeanModelFormatter();
RedBean_ModelHelper::setModelFormatter($customRedBeanModelFormatter);

It's a bit of an ugly solution. I would much rather be able to do something like this:
RedBean_ModelHelper::setModelForTable($modelName, $tableName);

For that reason I will hold off on marking this as the correct answer for a while.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


According to census data in the year 2000 there were 470 housing units in Stacy. This represents a 18.7% growth from 396 in 1990.
Of those housing units, none were located in either urbanized areas or urban clusters, and 470 were located in what is classified as a rural area.
Homeownership rate in Stacy is about 90.2%. Stacy's vacancy rate, including seasonal lodging, is about 2.8%. Average household size is 2.74 people.
The majority of houses, apartments or condos in Stacy were built after 1979.


text:
Q: Скопировать все слова \ DelphiXE Есть текстовый файл, в нем текст:
№34434(Принято_15)_приход-01.01.2018\№544341(Принято_7)_приход-08.01.2018
№84434(Принято_17)_приход-06.01.2018\№944381(Принято_9)_приход-04.01.2018
№74434(Принято_43)_приход-09.01.2018\№544341(Принято_12)_приход-04.01.2018

Как вытянуть и записать построчно все между скобок - (). То есть на выходе получится текст:
Принято_15
Принято_17
Принято_43
Принято_7
Принято_9
Принято_12

Делаю так но у меня получается вытянуть только первые слова и полно пустых строк:
 Readln(f1,s);
    s:=Copy(s,Pos('(',s)+1,Pos(')',s)-Pos('(',s)-1);
Writeln(f2,s);

Примечание: слов со скобками в одной строки может быть и больше.

A: Var
  s:string;
  sPos:Integer;
  ePos:Integer;

begin
  s :='№34434(Принято_15)_приход-01.01.2018\№544341(Принято_7)_приход-08.01.2018';
  sPos:=1;
  while sPos>0 do
  Begin
    sPos:=Pos('(',s,sPos);
    ePos:=Pos(')',s,sPos);
    if(ePos-sPos>0) then
      Memo1.Lines.Add(copy(s,sPos+1,ePos-sPos-1));
    sPos:=ePos;
  End;

Это просто демо как именно сделать через Pos
Тоже самое на регулярке:
Var
  s:string;
  i:Integer;
  RegEx : TRegEx;
begin
  s :='№34434(Принято_15)_приход-01.01.2018\№544341(Принято_7)_приход-08.01.2018';
  RegEx:=TRegEx.Create('(\([^)]+\))+');
  with RegEx.Matches(s) do
  Begin
    for i := 0 to count-1 do
      Memo1.Lines.Add(Item[i].Value);
  end;

p.s. для регулярки можно убрать скобки, для этого регулярное выражение меняете на вот такое:
'(\(([^)]+)\))+'

а результат получаете вот так:
Item[i].Groups[2].Value

A: var
  StartPos: Integer;
  EndPos: Integer;
  s: string;
  part: string;
begin
  while not Eof(f1) do begin
    Readln(f1,s);
    StartPos := Pos('(', s);
    while StartPos > 0 do begin
      EndPos := PosEx(')', s, StartPos + 1);
      if EndPos = -1 then
        raise Exception.Create('")" not found');
      part := Copy(s, StartPos + 1, EndPos - StartPos - 1);
      Writeln(f2, part);
      StartPos := PosEx('(', s, EndPos + 1);
    end;
  end;
end;

Функция PosEx определена в модуле StrUtils. Если у вас Delphi XE3 или новее, то вместо функции PosEx можно использовать функцию Pos. Начиная с этой версии у функции Pos появился третий параметр


It is a mistake to assume that to break the law you have to be a terrible person. In reality, laws can be broken, even accidentally, and without the right know-how and knowledge your mistake could end up ruining your life. Very few crimes are done on purpose, after all. Most are done either out of necessity, by mistake, or in the heat of passion. Simple mistakes or acting on impulse could see you finding yourself in a sticky situation. This could lead to a jail sentence and a permanent record if you aren't careful. By following this guide, however, you can minimize the charge and get through this trying time.
Everyone has the right to remain silent. What this means is that you have freedom from self-incrimination. When arrested, it is best to stay silent and wait for a lawyer to represent you instead. There are far too many ways you can be tricked or end up convicting yourself without your knowledge. It doesn't matter if the police seem sympathetic to your plight, or if you think they will understand.
Hiring a professional like the best criminal lawyers Anchorage can offer should be your first step. You get one phone call, after all, and making that call to get a lawyer to represent you is the best move forward. Very often when you are brought it in, it will most likely be for questioning. If the police cannot get past your lawyer to acquire anything other than circumstantial evidence, then you won't be bothered further. Similarly, if there is concrete evidence, then your lawyer can argue on your behalf to get the best possible outcome. This may involve paying a fine, or community service without a charge on your record.
Unless you are charged with very serious crimes you will be allowed bail. What this means is you need to put up a financial sum to the court with the promise that you will make an appearance at your hearing. This sum can be a huge amount, which is why there are many loan systems out there to help you. Regardless of how you are charged the money will be released back to you so long as you make the necessary appearances.
Don't go online and try to make a case for yourself there. You can just as easily self-incriminate yourself in an interrogation room as you can on a Facebook post. Stay offline, and don't stir the pot.
Work with your lawyer to build a strong case in your favor. This way you can at the very least reduce your sentence.
Everyone can be pushed to a breaking point, and far more can have an accident that can ruin their lives if they aren't careful. If you are charged with a crime, take it seriously. It doesn't matter if you don't think you are guilty and therefore have nothing to hide, hire a lawyer and rely on their expertise to get the best outcome for you.


text:
Home Authors Posts by Waliullah Ahmed Laskar
Waliullah Ahmed Laskar
Waliullah Ahmed Laskar is an Independent Journalist and Human Rights Defender, and Director of Law and Legal Affairs at Barak Human Rights Protection Committee in Guwahati, Assam.
Arunachal Pradesh Fails to Ensure Transparency in Land Acquisition for Airport
The proposed airport will totally uproot 237 families from five Chakma Blocks No. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10. Therefore, the airport would lead to mass displacement of already impoverished Chakmas.
Manipur Student Body Condemns Racism and Calls for Peace in Delhi
MSAD condoled the untimely demise of Dolaipabam Mohammad Sharif Ahamed of Manipur, a student of Cotton College in Assam, who was allegedly thrown out of a running train and killed in West Bengal on 19 August 2012.
NHRC Moved Over Custodial Death and Communal Clash in Assam
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been moved over custodial death of Ajijur Rahman of Kalain in the district of Cachar in Assam.
NHRC Takes Up Case of Intimidation of Assam Activists
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken up the case of intimidation of, and police high-handedness on, the members of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and other organisations
India Fails to Protect Human Rights While Deporting Foreign Nationals
Attitude of both the central and state governments is indifferent to both the questions of deportation and deportation under due process and approach of the judiciary is also deplorable
People's Union For Democratic Rights Condemns Arrest of Assam Activist
Activist Mr Pallab Barbora was arrested from his home in Merapani of Golaghat district in Assam on 3 June 2012 and has been remanded to ten days custody of National Investigative Agency (NIA) on 6 June.
NHRC Seeks Report on Extra-Judicial Killings in Manipur
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the secretary, ministry of home affairs of the government of India, district magistrate and district superintendent of police of Ukhrul district of North East Indian state Manipur.
Flesh Trade Flourishes in Assam
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) taking strong exception at the flourishing flesh trade in red light area in Silchar, Assam which was started for British soldiers during the World War-II
NHRC Scrutinizes Assam Over Hunger Deaths and Rights Violations
The NHRC ordered Assam government to pay 1.8 million Indian currency to the kin of tea labourers of Assam who died due to starvation rejecting the plea of the government that the deaths were not caused by starvation.
NHRC Hears Cases of Starvation Deaths and Right Violation in North...
The NHRC will hear cases of human rights violations concerning Assam and Meghalaya including the cases of starvation deaths of the tea workers in Cachar district in camp sitting in Guwahati and Shillong from 28 May to 30 May 2012.
AHRC Voices Concern Over Case of Police Brutality in India
The AHRC has expressed concern over case of illegal arrest, detention and police brutality against Mr Golam Kibria from Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India.
Assam Doctor Charged with Rape
When the AHRC asked the BHRPC for its comments on the report of the SP the latter submitted a detailed response pointing out why the medical report can not be relied upon.
Inquiry Ordered Into Death of New Born Baby, Over Alleged Doctor...
The nation's child rights watchdog moved into action after receiving a complaint from the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC) on 11 April.
Another Assam Tea Garden Worker Dies Of Malnutrition
Tea garden worker died in India at the age of 38. He was Mr. Lakhi Prasad Dushad, a resident of North bank division of the Bhuvan valley tea estate in Assam
New Born Baby Dies Due to Doctors' Negligence in Assam
The conditions of both the mother and child started to worsen soon thereafter. Still no doctors in the hospital saw them. They then went to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Silchar (SMCH) and the baby died there at about 6pm on 1 April.
Reporter Assaulted in Assam for Exposing Corruption in Government
The BHRPC received a written communication from the victim Mr Sibir Ahmed Barbhuiyan on 7 April 2012 giving details of the incident and other relevant information.


Meet us at PRS Europe!
High-technology transforms plastic waste into high-quality raw materials – patented and Made in Germany.
Minimizing waste and the consumption of electricity and water while maximizing quality and material yield – that's how recycling works today.
Development, consultation, construction, operation: We get recycling going.
Optimal retrofitting, quick assembly, easy maintenance, space saving units: the efficient container system.
The patented cleaning process from HydroDyn® Systems generates recycled plastics for the first time that allow for an equivalent substitution of new plastics – and at a fraction of the price.


I love where Sauvignon Blanc is going. I love that winemakers are now working with various clones, implementing various aging techniques, and finding ways to finesse the Sauvignon Blanc expression while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of the fruit.
About the Wine: The Flora Springs 2017 Sauvignon Blanc is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes (60% Soliloquy clone, 40% Musque clone) harvested from the winery's Crossroads Vineyard in Napa Valley's Oakville appellation. The wine was fermented in stainless steel, then aged for seven months in a combination of stainless steel, large wooden oval casks, concrete "egg" tanks, small French oak barrels and stainless steel drums. The wine in barrel rested on its lees and was stirred every two weeks.
Flavor Profile: Open the bottle of the Flora Springs 2017 Sauvignon Blanc and enjoy aromas of grass, passionfruit, and pineapple. This Sauvignon Blanc is a Champagne-like hue on the pour, settling into the glass just the same, but with just a tinge of green when held up to the light. Initial aromas in the glass are of green apple, green pear, lychee, grass, and tropical flowers. Swirl and the scent tropical fruits become more prominent. Indeed, there's that lovely "stink" that comes with those fruits as you sit out in the sun licking your sticky fingers from the utter juiciness of it all.
That being said, this wine is dry. The palate of the Flora Springs 2017 Sauvignon Blanc presents a pointillism of texture on the tongue — a shadow of a background. The front of the palate has an almost oil-like texture (not oily per se, but smooth and slippery), but again it's just lightly present like a translucent screen or curtain. The mid-palate is where these two meet, like the wet sand on the shore. (Does this make sense?) The acid is medium plus to high with the citrus leaving a tingle on the tongue and a salivating sensation throughout the palate.
Dominant Flavors are of lime leaves, lime zest, passion fruit, river rock, lychee, light white floral aromas, melon, and a finish that's simultaneously calm and clean yet somewhat decadent — reminiscent of a orange cream-cicle.
Food Pairing: I paired the Flora Springs 2017 Sauvignon Blanc with a pizza topped with mushrooms and olives. And yes, it was a delicious pairing but, more importantly, it was a fun pairing. Notes aside, this wine has a gluggability rating of ten out of ten. And if you're in the mood for something light and refreshing that won't impede on your meal, or can cut through the decadence of your favorite Friday night meal (mine's pizza, obviously), then this is a wine to keep in your cellar for just such an occasion.
More Info: I received the Flora Springs 2017 Sauvignon Blanc as a sample for review. (Cheers Mora!) Retail: $27. For more information about Flora Springs, their wines, and to purchase wines directly, please visit the Flora Springs website.


text:
Features & Blogs
Furor Over Claims Of Turkish Hand In Syrian Chemical Attack
April 09, 2014 08:32 GMT
By Carl Schreck
A Syrian boy, affected by nerve gas, breathes through an oxygen mask while receiving medical attention in Damascus. Hundreds of people died in the chemical weapons attack on August 21, 2013
An acclaimed American journalist has come under fire over his report suggesting Turkey was behind an August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria that brought the United States to the brink of military action against Damascus.
Both U.S. and Turkish officials have rejected claims in Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh's report that Syrian rebels carried out the deadly assault with the aid of Turkish intelligence to provoke Washington into launching strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Analysts, meanwhile, have criticized the reliability of key sources and individuals in Hersh's story published recently in the "London Review of Books," while accusing him of ignoring evidence they say corroborates the U.S. position of the Assad regime's culpability.
Hersh, however, told RFE/RL that he stands by his report, in which he cites a classified June 20 document issued by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency as saying that the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front rebels in Syria maintained a sarin-gas production cell that constituted "the most advanced sarin plot since al-Qaida's pre-9/11 effort."
Furthermore, "chemical facilitators" based in Turkey and Saudi Arabia "were attempting to obtain sarin precursors in bulk, tens of kilograms, likely for the anticipated large scale production effort in Syria," Hersh cited the document as saying.
"You have internal reports written in June – there were five other, four or five others that spring, all about the threat of sarin and the Turkish involvement in it, all known to the American community," Hersh told RFE/RL on April 8.
The August 21 poison-gas attack in the eastern Ghouta neighborhood near Damascus on August 21 left hundreds of people dead and marked a pivotal escalation in the Syrian civil war. U.S. President Barack Obama had said the deployment of chemical weapons by Assad's forces would constitute a red line that could prompt Washington to intervene in the bloody conflict.
'Funneling Weapons'
As U.S. officials publicly spoke about preparing a military response, Obama pulled back and ultimately negotiated a deal with Russia under which Assad would place his chemical weapons under international control for eventual destruction.
But Hersh cites an unidentified former intelligence official as saying that Russian intelligence operatives recovered samples of the chemical agents used near Ghouta and obtained by the Americans via the British had cast doubts on U.S. claims of Assad's responsibility, and that this prompted top U.S. military brass to warn Obama against intervention.
The report also claims that the United States was secretly funneling weapons from Libya through Turkey and onto Syrian rebels, and that the alleged arms pipeline was halted after the deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
Hersh cites the former intelligence official as saying the August 21 chemical attack was a covert Turkish action to force a U.S. intervention. The Turkish government was worried the halting of the weapons from Libya would be a death knell for Syrian rebels, he cites an unidentified U.S. intelligence consultant as saying.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told an April 7 news conference that the allegation of Ankara's involvement in the poison-gas attack is a "lie and slander," the Istanbul based "Hurriyet Daily News" reported.
Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, also pushed back against claims in Hersh's report that the Syrian government was not responsible for the Ghouta attack.
"We're not going to comment on every inaccurate aspect of this narrative, but to be clear: the Assad regime, and only the Assad regime, could have been responsible for the chemical weapons attack that took place on August 21," Turner said in a statement.
Turner added that "the idea that the United States was providing weapons from Libya to anyone is false."
Analysts have also taken Hersh to task for his report, including for basing part of his report on chemical weapons samples obtained by intelligence officers working for Russia, which vocally opposed U.S. intervention in Syria and has supported Assad's government.
Homemade Rockets?
Hersh dismissed this criticism, telling RFE/RL that the sample cited in his report was vetted by a U.S. ally before being passed on to Washington.
"The point is it just didn't come from the Russians. It came to the United States via the British high command via laboratory analysis, went to the president via the chairman [of the joint chiefs of staff]," Hersh said. "It makes it much more complicated than just the Russian issue."
British analyst Eliot Higgins at the Syria-focused "Brown Moses Blog" charges that Hersh ignored evidence that Syrian forces have used the type of munitions deployed in the August 21 attack for more than a year.
Hersh cited the work of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Theodore Postol as evidence that the munitions used in the Ghouta attack were improvised and that their range of about 2 kilometers means they could not have been fired from outside rebel-controlled areas.
"I will tell you right now: They were homemade rockets," Hersh told RFE/RL.
Higgins wrote in an April 7 blog post that video footage from journalists embedded with Syrian forces indicate the impact sites were around 2 kilometers from the frontline, meaning the munitions may have been capable of being launched from Assad-controlled areas.
Hersh won a Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his reporting on the My Lai massacre, in which U.S. soldiers murdered hundreds of Vietnamese civilians, as well as numerous other prestigious journalism awards. In recent years he has harshly criticized the Obama administration, which last year he accused of lying about details of the death of Osama bin Laden.
Carl Schreck
Carl Schreck is enterprise editor for RFE/RL.
SchreckC@rferl.org
Explainer: What Comes Next In Syria Chemical Weapons Deal?
UN Begins Dismantling Syrian Chemical Arms
Ban Recommends 100-Strong Chemical Weapons Team
Syrian Chemical Weapons Delay Concerns U.S
Third Batch Of Syria Chemical-Weapons Material Shipped Out


text:
Lyle Bento's Hawaiian BBQ Bathtub
Traditional kalua pork in Houston.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/lyle-bentos-hawaiian-bbq-bathtub/
The two types of kalua pork presented together on a platter with Hawaiian rolls, mustard, and pickles.
Lyle Bento scooped shovelfuls of warm sand from a bathtub behind his restaurant. The claw foot tub was draped with strung-together grass skirts, signifying its new use as an imu—a Hawaiian barbecue pit usually reserved for whole pigs. Bento had layered pork shoulders and a Benton's country ham between banana tree stalks and leaves beneath the sand. It was the Thursday night special at Southern Goods in Houston. Final preparations had to be made to the meats for service, which would start in just an hour. A television crew was arriving soon for a live spot, and a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico had just been upgraded to a hurricane. Bento was anxious.
But Bento was also excited to share his native barbecue style. He spent his first thirteen years on Oahu, in Hawaii, where his father often cooked whole pigs in an imu. The result is kalua pork, which you can find on menus all over Hawaii. Still, much like Texas barbacoa, most of the stuff labeled as kalua pork has been cooked in an oven. The real thing, however, spends hours underground over wood coals, so when Bento was planning to stage his first Texas luau at Southern Goods a while back, he needed a creative workaround. "I couldn't dig a hole in the backyard, so I had to figure out a way to make a hole," Bento explained. So he went searching on Craigslist where he found a free hot tub. After filling fiberglass shell with sand (he recommends sand from the hardware store instead of the beach), Bento dug a hole in it and started a fire. His fingers were crossed that the fiberglass would stand up to the heat, and it did.
Bento's Benton's ham after being crisped in the oven.
After the successful luau, Bento once again employed the hot tub for a Texas Monthly barbecue event, selecting Benton's country hams for the menu instead of a whole pig. The meat was good, but far too salty for any serving thicker than a credit card. The addition of unseasoned pork shoulders into the mix (a ratio of three shoulders to one ham) for this latest cook provided the necessary relief. The new cooking vessel, a bathtub, was also easier to heat up.
A proper imu uses wood for fuel, but also requires rocks in the bottom to retain the heat for the long cooking times. But the rocks found in the Houston aren't up to the task, and would burst under the intense heat of the fire. You need rocks like they have in Hawaii, but "you can't take rocks from Hawaii," Bento reminded. "That's bad ju-ju." Some neighbors offered him fire bricks that had been rigorously tested. "They're from the original kiln from Memorial Herman Hospital here in Houston," Bento said with a wry smile. The kiln was used for cremations, he said, so "we just got them out of retirement."
Lyle Bento (left) and Issa removing the sand from the bathtub pit.
The process for the hams and shoulders takes hours. It starts with digging a reservoir on the sand-filled tub. The bricks are layered on the bottom and hardwood (Bento uses oak, but mesquite would also work well) is piled on top. The wood burns for a few hours until white hot coals remain. Smashed banana stalks, foraged from the back alleys of Houston, go on top to provide a mat for the meat. Bento stresses the importance of the banana stalks and leaves (that go over the meat), which provide most of the seasoning on the pork.
Bento shows off the country ham after the banana leaves have been pulled away.
It all cooks overnight. Once the sand and leaves have been cleared away, the pork shoulders are revealed. After cooking for hours in its own fat, the meat is incredibly juicy. It easily shreds, so I pulled a bite directly from the pit, which was subtly flavored by the banana leaves. It's perfect as a foil against the dense, salty richness of the ham, which goes directly from the pit to a hot oven to crisp the fat that covers its surface.
For service, the two types of kalua pork were presented together on a platter with Hawaiian rolls, mustard, and pickles. "You can't have kalua pork without mac salad," Bento insisted. His version of the Hawaiian specialty is made with Texas-shaped pasta instead of macaroni. It's appropriately playful from the Hawaiian chef who mixes Tennessee country ham alongside pulled kalua pork—all at a restaurant in Texas. I wouldn't be surprised if cow heads were next for some sort of Hawaiian barbacoa. Bento even hinted that emu might go in the imu for Thanksgiving.
Bento is back in Houston after spending several days delivering much needed food and goods to communities in Beaumont, Nederland, and Port Arthur. He's happy to have the Southern Goods kitchen open again. Writing about food, especially in Houston, still seems trivial post-Harvey, but it's heartening to see how chefs responded to those in need during and after the storm. Folks like Bento have earned the support from those who can give it now that they're back in business. It just so happens that Southern Goods is celebrating its second anniversary this weekend with a Saturday barbecue event. Sure, there will be brisket, but Bento said folks should also be on the lookout for a bathtub full of pork.
Southern Goods
632 W 19th St.
Sign up for our BBQ Newsletter
A biweekly dispatch of BBQ news, our new favorite joints, and everything else you need to know about 'cue in Texas.
BBQ (Biweekly) Your pit stop for BBQ news, reviews, and upcoming events
Tags: BBQ, Smoked in Texas, Houston, Lyle Bento, Southern Goods
Don Skakie
They had me until they said they forage the bananas out of the back alleys. That does not appeal to me.
RebeccaWGardner
my co-worker's step-aunt makes $79 /hour on the internet . She has been out of work for 9 months but last month her payment was $20682 just working on the internet for a few hours. over at this website
http://www.jobsclubproductsgraphics…
✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹::::sh30
Mayo Thompson Pays Off Corky's Debt
By Andy Beta
Lizzo Says Goodbye to Twitter
A Barbecue Missionary From Midland Serves Real BBQ in Shreveport
BBQ News Roundup: A One-Stop Barbecue Pro Shop, Chili Time in San Antonio, and a $75 Baked Potato
Wright on Taco Plants Barbecue Roots in a Tiny East Texas Town
Bare Barbecue's Savory Pork Steaks and Juicy Brisket Are a Great Value
The Best Texas BBQ Bites of 2019
BBQ News Roundup: Corky's Closes in Katy, BBQ Revolution Escapes to L.A., and Smiley's Is Relocating to Roanoke


Emma Shane - Emma Shane writes Romance and Erotica from her quaint Victorian in coastal Virginia. She stays up all night, snacks on red hots, and drools over Eric Northman and Hank Moody frequently and without an ounce of shame. Her family pretends to ignore this behavior.


The contributor/developer makes the suggested changes in a branch, pushes that branch to his/her own fork (on github) and submits a pull request.
The core team reviews the code in the pull request. The suggested change should make sense, fit in the larger strategy, should be consistent with other code, and should be documented.
The code in the pull request is tested by the core team to ensure that it does not break anything.
After successful reviewing and testing, the core team merges the pull request with the master branch.