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storgy July 20, 2015 Uncategorized
David Calcutt: Inferno
The lad sat on the wall top, legs dangling down. Sallow face, thin mouth, close-cropped stubble of hair. His world crudely made, his mind given to violence. Frost sparkled on the shards of glass set into the concrete on either side of him. He raised his head to the clear, midwinter sky. There was a quarter moon. He spoke aloud.
"It's just a lump of rock." Then, louder, listening to his voice in the silence. "There ain't nothing there. Nothing."
He laughed and pulled the hood over his head. Then, pressing his palms into the wall, he pushed himself off and dropped down into the yard.
He landed awkwardly with a burst of profanity and then he was bent over and stamping up and down on the frost-hard ground and clutching his left hand with his right, filling the night with his cursing. After a while he stopped. There was dark blood oozing out between his fingers and he lifted his right hand away and wiped it on his trousers and looked at his injured left hand. There was a straight gash running from just above the wrist to below the little finger. He swore again through teeth clamped tight against the pain and he squeezed his hand into a fist and the blood came out even faster. He looked up towards the wall and cried out.
"What they put glass there for?" Then swung round to face the yard. "What you doing putting glass there? There ain't nothing worth keeping anybody out for!"
There was a steady flow of blood from his hand which ran down his wrist and dripped thickly onto the ground. He unzipped his coat and shrugged it off then worked his tee shirt over his head and held it between his teeth, standing with pale and naked torso exposed to the freezing night. Gripping one end of the tee-shirt with his right hand he worried it with his teeth until it tore, then stood panting with the torn tee shirt hanging down and shook his left hand to clear it of blood. He gasped, swore, and dropped the tee-shirt. He swore again, then picked up the tee-shirt and put it once more between his teeth and pulled and worried at it until it was ripped almost in two pieces. Taking the bloodstained, flimsy rag in his right hand he wrapped it several times around his wounded hand and pulled it tight and secured it so that it wouldn't come loose. Then he picked up his coat and put it back on and zipped it up and pulled the hood back over his head. He closed his eyes and stood, aching with cold and pain, and waiting until his legs had stopped shaking and he was steady again on his feet.
He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear them and looked at where he was. It was a large yard filled with scrap, some in small heaps, some in large tottering piles. Metal and plastic. Cookers, bathtubs, fridges, bikeframes. Hubcaps and prams. A steel cabinet with no drawers. A rusty garage door. Computer consoles, an ancient telephone. Twisted sheets of metal no one could put a name or use to. The broken town's broken castoffs. All stood before him as if carved from ice.
He caught sight of a length of metal tubing lying on the floor near one of the heaps, and went across to it and picked it up. Some kind of rusty iron pipe. He tested its weight in his hand, then swung it through the air a few times and grinned. Armed, he went in among the piles of junk, looking for something else, he didn't know what. He hadn't gone far when he smelled smoke. He stopped, turning his head this way and that, then went in further, sniffing the air, following the thread that itched in his nostrils.
Before long he became lost among the piles of junk which seemed to be packed closer together and to tower higher above him so that he felt increasingly penned in, almost as if he was in some kind of trap and he held the iron pipe aloft in his fist. His hand throbbed mercilessly and his head swam and strange thoughts crept into his mind. He spat out a string of vicious and obscene curses at everyone and everything he could think of and this made him feel better. He went on deeper into the junk, then came suddenly to an open space between the heaps and saw the fire.
It was burning in a large metal bin with holes punched in the sides. He could see the glow of the fire through the holes and the flames licking out of the top. It was burning fiercely as if it had only recently been lit but there was nobody around. Nobody that he could see, anyway. He went a few steps towards the fire then stopped and pulled a face. Whatever was being burned in the bin gave the smoke a thick, unpleasant smell that made his eyes sting and caught him with its bitterness in the back of his throat. He wiped his eyes with his right hand, which still held the iron pipe, and walked up to the fire. The flames burned with a deep red light and there were little golden threads that wriggled like living creatures among the flames. It was good to feel the heat on his face, and he bent to lay the iron pipe on the ground then stood again with his face over the top of the bin.
The flames writhed and flickered and he felt himself drawn to them in such a way that he even forgot about his injured hand, and as the heat poured upward over his face he closed his eyes.
He was awoken by a low, growling voice speaking close to his ear.
"What you doing?"
He let out a cry and jumped back away from the bin to confront the figure that stood in front of him. It was an old man, shorter than he was but a lot stockier, wearing a thick, ragged overcoat and a shapeless hat squashed down on top of his head. The face, lit dimly by the glow from the fire, was bearded, and the skin where it showed through the beard was streaked with filth. There was something that gave the face a strange, unnatural look, but as the man was standing partly in shadow, and the hat pulled down low, he could not properly see what it was.
"Well?" the old man growled again.
"Well what?" he said.
"What you doing here?"
He lad straightened up.
"What's it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like you're warming yourself by my fire."
"I didn't know it was your fire."
"You knew it was somebody's. Fires don't go lighting theirselves."
The lad shrugged. "I was only trying to get warm."
The old man looked at him and said nothing. Then he turned and put out his hands over the flames, his blackened, stumpy fingers sticking out through the shredded remains of a pair of woollen gloves.
"Well," he said at last, "it is a chilly night." He was staring down into the fire as if returning to some deep train of thought and it was beginning to seem to the lad that the old had forgotten all about him, when suddenly, though still keeping his gaze fixed into the flames, he spoke again. "You better come over, then, if you want to get warm."
The lad stepped up to the bin and as he did kicked against the iron pipe. It rolled on the concrete floor with a dull clinking sound and the old man looked down at it.
The lad too looked down at the pipe, then up again.
"It looks like some kind of metal pipe."
"How did it get there?"
"You didn't bring it in here, did you?"
"No," said the lad. "I never seen it before."
He looked down into the fire. He could feel the old man staring at him. He put his right hand over the flames and kept his left hand down by his side. He shivered, then shivered again, and couldn't stop.
"Cold are you?" said the old man.
"You need something warm to wear, this weather. It's clothes that keep the cold out. Like this coat of mine. It keeps me good and warm, this coat."
The lad looked at the old man's coat. He wanted the shivering to stop.
"It's a good coat."
"It's seen better days." The old man ran one hand down the front of his coat, touching with his gnawed and stubby fingertips its loose, cracked buttons, its pulled threads. "Had some wear and tear, it has, all right. But it still does the job."
The lad felt his own clothes flimsy and thin against his bare flesh.
"I wish I had a coat like that."
"I bet you do."
"I could do with a coat like that."
"You could. Specially on a night like this. Shame you ain't got one."
He was looking at the old man's coat.
"Maybe I'll get myself one."
"Maybe you will."
He glanced up to see the old man's face staring straight into his, and now he could see clearly what was strange about it. The entire left side seemed to have been pulled and twisted out of shape and the area around where the eye should have been was puckered and squashed and lashed with deep red welts. There was no eye visible there at all. The old man pushed his face even closer.
"It's a beauty, ain't it? Go on, have a good look." He turned the damaged side of his face towards the lad and when he grinned it twisted his face even more. "You look at it and remember it. 'Cos one way or another we all have to pay for what we've done."
He shook his head. "What?"
The old man gave a contemptuous, snorting laugh and turned back to the fire. "You'll find out when your time comes."
The lad became aware of the pain in his hand again, a burning weight dragging at the end of his wrist. "I ain't got to pay for nothing that I've done," he said.
"Ain't you?" said the old man. "So what they after you for?"
"Them who are after you."
"There ain't nobody after me."
"They're always after somebody out there."
"Well they ain't after me."
"What they do that to your hand for, then?"
The lad thought that he had managed to keep the injured hand hidden from the old man. "Nobody did anything to my hand. I did it myself."
"I didn't do it for anything." He looked down at the hand. Wrapped in the bloodsoaked tee-shirt it felt twice its normal size, and as if it wasn't his hand at all, but some kind of creature that had attached itself to him and was slowly eating its way up his arm. "It was an accident. I cut it on some glass when I come over the wall."
The old man's face suddenly loomed close, distorted, grotesque.
"You shouldn't have come over the wall, then."
The lad's whole left arm felt as if it was on fire, his eyes swam, the face was bobbing up and down in front of his like some horrible mask, and he wanted to smash it, smash the thing that was looking at him through the mask, but when he lifted his right hand and tried to clench it into a fist the fingers wouldn't close and his arm when he swung it round flapped emptily, and at the same time his knees buckled and he fell forward against the old man. Then he was being held and lowered to the ground, and something was happening to his left hand. He looked down at it and saw it lying there, raw and swollen and bloody, and at the same time heard the old man's voice coming from far away then close up.
"That's nasty. Could go bad. You don't want it going bad. We'll have to do something about it."
Then the old man was lifting his hand and the lad didn't know how he had the strength to because it was so heavy, but he was lifting and taking it somewhere and when he saw where he was taking it it was too late because even as he tried to pull it back it was already there pressed against the side of the bin and his hand burst into flame and the flame poured through his body with a long searing scream that he could hear for a long time after he was unconscious.
He came to in the bright light of early morning. The sun hurt his eyes and his hand hurt. He was covered by the old man's coat. He drew his hand out of the coat and looked at it. All along its side it was burned and blackened but the wound was dry. He tried clenching his fingers but the scab began to crack so he stopped. He pushed himself to a sitting position, testing the weight on his left hand and it was all right. Then he stood and stamped his feet and looked around. The fire was out, just a glow of warm ash in the bottom of the bin. He couldn't see the old man. He bent stiffly and picked up the old man's coat and put it on. He picked up the iron pipe. It was covered in frost and the icy cold of it burned his palm. He looked around once more then pulled up his hood and went in amongst the piles of junk.
By daylight it didn't take him long to find his way back to the place where he had first jumped into the yard and the old man was there, as if waiting for him. He grinned crookedly at the lad.
"You're up and about, then."
"Looks like it," he said.
"Leaving, are you?"
"How's your hand?"
"Good job I did that. You wouldn't want to lose your hand. You need both hands out there." Then the old man came a few steps closer to him. "My coat keep you warm, did it?"
"I suppose so," he said. "I didn't know much about it."
"It's a bit big for you.," said the old man.
"It'll do," he said.
They stood facing each other, then the old man raised his hand towards him.
"I'll take it back, now."
"I think I'll keep it," he said.
The old man nodded and smiled as if this was what he had expected. He took off his hat so that the whole damaged side of his face was revealed with shocking clarity in the morning light and the lad grimaced at the sight of it. Then, placing his hat carefully on the ground beside him, the old man lowered his head and ran forward. The lad stood rooted in surprise for a moment, but, as the old man drew near, sidestepped to his blind side and swung the iron pipe hard and heavy against his head. He felt it hit and the old man dropped without a sound and lay still. He struck down again and there was a crack and he stepped back sharply to watch the dark blood pooling out around the old man's head. The old man was lying on his side and he pushed him over with his foot so that he was facing upwards. He crouched down beside him and spoke to the one eye staring up cold and empty.
"I got your coat, old man, and I'm keeping it. Now I'll be warm forever and you'll be dead."
He stood and walked across to the old man's hat lying on the ground and picked it up and put it in on. Then he walked to the wall, took a breath, and jumped up, scrambling and pulling and kicking against the brickwork and hauled himself up to sit on the top. He gripped his left hand with his right and clenched his teeth against the pain and looked out. Ahead lay the broken streets, the derelict houses, lit as if on fire by the early risen sun flashing from the ice and frost. There was flame and there was shadow and a frozen nothingness beneath, and he squinted against the glare and dropped down into it.
David Calcutt is a playwright, poet and novelist from Walsall in the West Midlands. He has written for BBC radio, touring and community theatre. He has three novels for young people published by Oxford University Press, and one for Barefoot Books, and two pamphlets of poetry published by Fair Acre Press. His one man play, "The Life and Times of the Tat Man", has been on tour since April 2014.
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Inferno | David Calcutt	 on July 20, 2015 at 13:28
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Tomek Dzido: Snakes and Ladders!
Lawrence Pratt: "Blind Faith"


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Josh Reed, Staff Reporter
Favorites: One of these teams will be pretty happy by April 3rd
UVA: UVA is a number one seed for the third time in five years, and look ready to capitalize off an extremely dominant season. They absolutely manhandled the best conference in basketball, and only lost two games the entire season. Don't let ACC Sixth Man of the Year De'Andre Hunters' injury absence scare you off: UVA is the team to beat.
Purdue: The Boilermakers' have looked amazing this season. Expect nothing to change. With an offense that has more options than an all-you-can-eat buffet and a ferociously tough defense, expect a huge run this year.
Villanova: The Big East champions are preparing to do what they were doing around this time in 2016: cut down nets. Watch for junior Mikal Bridges to continue his remarkable season and end it on a high note.
Kansas: The Jayhawks just won their 11th Big 12 championship, continuing their history of dominance. Expect them to roll in March with guns blazing. Coach Bill Self's squad always seems to play their best in March, and this year is no exception.
Michigan: The Wolverines come into the Tournament red-hot and full of energy. They're just coming off a Big-10 tournament in which they beat rival Michigan State in the semi's and beat Purdue to win it. With confidence aplenty, expect Michigan to ride its ride to the Final Four.
Prepare for the worst: Expect these favored teams to head home early
Kentucky: After a disappointing season from Coach John Calipari's squad, expect a disappointing tournament run (or lack thereof), especially in the stacked South bracket. They've been on fire lately, but expect them to be doused by either Arizona or UVA.
Duke: Duke has been uncharacteristically vulnerable this season. Duke's road to the Finals is extremely difficult. With possible matchups against Kansas, Michigan State, and an underrated Rhode Island team, Coach K's squad's chances look slim at best. If future NBA prospects Grayson Allen, Marvin Bagley III, and Wendall Carter Jr. don't step up, they're in trouble.
UNC: The reigning champs have historically had a bad case of Championship Hangover. They'll make a bit of a run, but history will repeat itself.
Xavier: Even if they do get past a Sweet Sixteen matchup with either Ohio State or Gonzaga, they'll meet UNC or Michigan. If this scenario plays out, expect them to go down.
Upset Alert! : These teams have the opportunity to bust some brackets
Virginia Tech: With huge wins against UNC, Virginia, and Duke, Virginia Tech has shown they can come out on top in big-time games.
Kansas State: Despite a disappointing loss in the Big-12 semi-finals to Kansas, they've had impressive moments. If everything clicks, they have a chance to beat UVA in the Round of 32.
Dark Horses:
Arizona: Having the best player in the country in Deandre Ayton certainly helps their case. If they find a way to win the South, they can ride that momentum to a title.
West Virginia: Defense wins championships. A WVU defense led by senior guard Jevon Carter could live up to that adage if they win some decisive games.
Michigan State: Possible meetings with Duke, Kansas, and Purdue certainly look intimidating, but if any team can come out on top of this stretch, it's the Spartans. Look for star freshman Miles Bridges to have a monster tournament.
Champion: UVA
South: UVA (1) Advance to Natl. Champ
West: Michigan (3)
East: Purdue (2) Advance to Natl. Champ
Midwest: Kansas (1)
Josh Reed, Staff Writer
Successful club fair encourages participation
Sea level rise impacts Hampton Roads: What does this mean for Norfolk?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It's not a travel bike. It's a bike that travels. Get the skinny on the secret sauce that makes the Ritchey Break-Away such an ideal bicycle for traveling. You'll also learn how to assemble it once you arrive at your destination.


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A collaboration between aA and Diller Scofidio + Renfro of New York City, the CCC will provide a new home for the University of Toronto's School of Cities, the Faculty of Arts & Science (including history, and Near and Middle Eastern civilizations), as well as the Institute of Islamic Studies, an arm of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, and the Archaeology Centre. The new building will also provide facilities for the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Music, with a special performance hall and a 400-seat event space overlooking the downtown skyline.
The nine-storey building will foster a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment, and draw the public into ongoing discourse on modern and ancient civilizations and culture. The rational, cohesive north block of faculty offices and workspaces gradually deconstructs, as the building curves around the heritage Falconer Hall, into a composition of public programs clustered around a central atrium and staircase that links the CCC's floors and program spaces.
UofT Centre for Civilizations, Cultures & Cities


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19 million vaccine doses administered in Canada
COVID-19 vaccination in Canada started in the week of December 13, 2020.
As of May 19, 2021, when Philippine Showbiz Today went to the presses, the federal government counts 19,349,980 doses administered so far.
The country has a population of around 38 million, based on current estimates available online.
Canada continues to ramp up its vaccination effort, with five approved vaccines.
Four of these are Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and COVISHIELD Verity/Serum Institute of India (SII) (COVISHIELD), which are given as two doses.
People who have received only one dose are considered partially vaccinated.
People who have received both doses are considered fully vaccinated.
The fifth approved vaccine is Janssen, which is given as one dose. People who have received only one dose are considered fully vaccinated.
The B.C. provincial government says online that people who have received the vaccine must follow provincial health orders.
Vaccinated people are also to wash hands regularly, stay home when sick, keep a safe distance from others, and wearing a mask in public indoor spaces.
On May 17, the Angus Reid Institute, a well-known polling agency, released a report about changing attitudes to vaccination.
Angus Reid reported that as the rate of Canadians who have been vaccinated with at least one-dose of a COVID-19 vaccine surges to more than 50 percent of the adult population, new data shows Canadians have moved consistently and significantly away from attitudes of "don't know" or "wait and see" to a place of "getting it done".
"The Institute's most recent public opinion survey shows 53 per cent of adults reporting they have received their first vaccine, while another 29 per cent say they would like to receive theirs as soon as possible," Angus Reid stated.
In addition: "The number who say they are unwilling to receive a vaccine is also trending down – though at a much slower rate."
Based on its survey, Angus Reid reported that vaccine hesitancy plunges to three per cent.
Moreover, one-tenth of population remain unwilling to be vaccinated.
Canada recorded 4,035 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday (May 18).
As of May 18, Canada has a total of 1,338,141 COVID-19 cases.
Based on the federal government's online tracker, 37 people died on May 18, bringing the total number of deaths due to the pandemic to 25,018.
The country reported its first COVID-19 death on March 9, 2020.
Canada surpassed 20,000 deaths at the end of January this year.
Also, the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed on May 18 that Canadian residents are allowed to head to the U.S. for a COVID-19 vaccine and avoid quarantine on return if they meet conditions.
Those conditions include having a note from a licensed health-care provider in Canada that the inoculation is medically necessary.
Also, there should be a written proof from the licensed U.S. vaccine provider.
Quarantine regulations passed by the federal government feature an exemption for essential medical services obtained abroad.
A coronavirus vaccination shot falls under this definition.
Canada expects to receive nine million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in June.
Dismantling Barriers & Fostering Belonging: An Anti-Racism Initiative Begins on May 4th
Old Age Security increase targets older seniors' higher risks


The executive coaching world is full of articles about coaching ROI (return on investment), touting the benefits of coaching in boosting your company's performance in this and that way, with return on investment of such and such %. ROI is then the latest buzz word in coaching and I am afraid much of it is bogus marketing.
I am a coach and believe in the power of coaching. That's why I do it. I believe in its power to provide new insights, improve professional and personal relationships, increase self-awareness, manage change, support conflict resolution, bring more clarity, unlock new ideas; and overall, to create a better world where people are more fulfilled and live well. It is one thing to know that something has power, it is quite another to falsely and naively claim to be able to quantify it.
Before I became a coach I was a professional investor. And, I feel compelled to call out the misleading marketing that some in the executive coaching world are now engaged in.
Please stop – it is devaluing our profession.
ROI is too complex to measure in coaching.
Anyone who runs a business or is directly responsible for if the business does well, will know that there are so many factors involved in determining success that they are usually impossible to delineate. Sometimes, even with simple tangible assets such as a new piece of machinery, it is not always possible to directly attribute financial gain to that new investment, particularly if it is part of a wider system of other machines. Things become much, much more complex when we are dealing with coaching, a fundamentally intangible and impossible to quantify intervention.
But, this error is not new. We live in a culture where for example CEO's often get glorified or blamed for things that are beyond their control. Things that are fundamentally macro get pinned to them because they happen to be steering the ship at the time. In reality, CEO performance is only about 10% points above random guessing*. Not quite what you might have expected from the amount of CEO worship we see.
Furthermore, when we are dealing with ROI, we need to talk about time horizon? Return over what period? And, anyone who has thought about this beyond the most superficial level will know that putting a time horizon on the impact of coaching is very, very, very difficult. In fact, near impossible. The impact of a particular question or insight might come months or even years from now, or the person might be triggered to have an insight during the coaching because of accumulated existing insight – a sort of the last straw that catalysed the insight effect. So, how do we deal with that? Well, we can't really. Not in an intellectually honest way, anyway.
Also, what is the return generation metric — cash flow, profit, avoiding bankruptcy, better team interactions, higher employee confidence? If for example, it is better team interaction, how did that translate into better performance or better sales? How do we know the better sales were not simply the result of the macro market environment? The bottom line is that when it comes to financial performance, the macro usually dwarfs the micro. As someone recently asked: "Where were all the coaches when the financial crisis happened"? What about an analysis of coaching ROI there? Would we say coaching ROI was negative % in 2008. Hopefully, you are now starting to follow my point.
I am afraid that much of this coaching ROI talk is then bogus. Coaching is very powerful, but unfortunately it is one of these things whose power cannot be precisely pinned down. In a way, you can't even put a price on it, and you can't really quantify its impact through financial terms. ROI is too narrow a definition then. It would be like trying to measure the ROI of love, compassion and courage.


I am starting to do affiliate marketing for Sparkol. I can get to the Affiliate page and the Affiliate T&Cs page, but cannot find anywhere that reports on my commissions earned. Does anyone know how to find out if I have earned any commissions or not prior to possibly getting an amount in PayPal at some point in the future?
There isn't a place that shows you the amount that you have earned but you can see how many monthly, yearly and one-off licences people have purchased after following your affiliate link by logging in at my.sparkol.com/services.
To see how much you get for each purchase, go to my.sparkol.com/services/affiliates.
To see how and when you will get paid, go to Affiliate terms.
I have looked there previously and thee is no place I can see where that it the case. Does something appear after the first sale only? I can see where to enter my PayPal account email, the terms, the commission schedule, etc, but nothing that refers to monthly, yearly, or one-off licenses people have purchased under services.
Thanks - think I have it now. I will not see anything until after something happens. Some dashboards are there right away with a bunch of zeros all over the place. Thanks. Will get it going!
I would like to create an affiliate link for people to click on, I didn't understand how to do that, could you please explain me how it works? I've red that we all have an affiliate code but can't find it either.
The affiliate program is currently being updated and you will information on the new scheme this week.


Throughout the many luxurious layouts you will find outstanding features from slide outs which open up the living area immensely to maximize your internal space right through to the full width bathrooms.
All of the kitchens provide you with a top quality area to cook your fresh meals with ease. The modern appliances work in well with the stylish design and ample storage space allows you to stock up on all of the essentials for longer periods between shopping trips.
The list of standard features in the Monte Carlo range seem almost endless all designed to keep you on the road for longer. The generator will give you 240 volt power no matter the location and the solar will keep a constant trickle charge going into the batteries…. This is just the start!
They all have one simple thing in common, to provide you with an easy and comfortable home away from home while traveling and exploring Australia.
Take a look at the floor plans below and find the right Monte Carlo for you. Also, feel free to drop in for a personalized tour or contact us for more information.
Cabin seats upholstered to match interior.
2 door 180 Ltr 3 way fridge.
Outdoor kitchen - BBQ, fridge & sink.
2 x 150 Ah in house battery.
250 Ltr fresh water capacity.
90 Ltr grey water capacity.
House reel with auto fill tap.
Bedroom roof fan & hatch.
Living room roof fan and hatch.
Tow bar & bull bar.
External kitchen incl. BBQ, fridge & sink.
External 24" TV & speakers.
32" LCD TV with DVD player in lounge.
32" LCD TV with DVD player in bedroom.
24" LCD TV - Exterior.
Innerspring mattress - Main bedroom.
Upholstery - Fabric or leather.
1.8m couch - Folds to double bed.


Want to be that "6 Rotation" player all coaches are looking for? Want to be confident passing serves or making a second touch on the ball when the setter can't? This workshop is all about serve receive and ball control techniques and will help you stay on the court all the way around.


The first of two columns about the pending sale of 330 acres at Fort McPherson to Tyler Perry Studios. Part one: Why we should not sell Fort McPherson to Tyler Perry.
Before Fort McPherson and its 488 acres of beautiful rolling hills, historic houses and officers quarters, a golf course, a post office, several office buildings and a lake ever went on the market, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed gave movie mogul Tyler Perry a private tour.
Don't move Tyler Perry Studios to Douglas County, the mayor pleaded with Perry in early 2014. Move it to Fort McPherson.
Since then, whenever there's been an obstacle in negotiations between Tyler Perry and the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority (MILRA), Reed has let authority members know to give Perry what he wants.
That is how Atlanta has ended up with what may become known as one of the worst transactions in the city's history. Perry is getting 330 acres for $30 million (a bargain by any measure), and he is getting the fort's prime real estate.
In return, the city has received precious little.
What guarantees exist that Perry will maintain the historic properties on the site? What allowances are being made for the federal requirements to house the homeless?
What assurances have Tyler Perry and the city given to the surrounding neighborhoods that the fort will not continue to seal off to the community, sucking even more life away from one of the most disadvantaged areas of Atlanta?
Has the city set a height restriction on how high a wall or fence Tyler Perry can build around his 330 acres to keep people out?
And what kind of job guarantees will Tyler Perry provide, and how many will be local residents?
In truth, the answers to most of these questions are still unknown.
But if we trace back through time, we can see a pattern of how Tyler Perry operates his business. That will clue us in on what may happen at Fort McPherson.
When Tyler Perry bought the Krog Street property in Inman Park, where he shot the first 100 episodes of House of Payne, he built out most of the facility without architectural plans, much less building permits.
A city building inspector came by and shut it down. Most of the property – the Atlanta Stove Works – was sealed off with police "Do Not Cross" tape.
When asked whether they should speak to community groups about Tyler Perry's plans, studio executives were not interested.
Perry then moved his operations to Greenbriar Mall. Once again, there was shoddy construction with all sorts of problems – studios that were too small, spaces built out of concrete that became echo chambers and acoustic nightmares.
People familiar with Tyler Perry said that over time, he became obsessed with security. "He walls off everything he can," one person said, adding that the fear is that Fort Mac will become a prison within a fort.
When Mayor Reed and Tyler Perry publicly talked about their deal at a MILRA board meeting last August, Perry pledged to meet with the community. Perry has yet to meet with neighborhood leaders.
MILRA officials keep talking about the economic development boost that Tyler Perry Studios will bring to Atlanta's southside. But all one has to do is to take a look at the area around Greenbriar Mall. It is almost impossible to identify any economic stimulus the studios have brought to the area.
And then there's the question of Tyler Perry's movie and television empire.
In 2014, Lionsgate Films ended its distribution agreement with Tyler Perry, a business relationship that the two had shared since 2005. When there is no major distributor for Perry's films, it is a lot harder for him to make money.
And when it comes to his televisions shows, TBS had been Tyler Perry's biggest ally. But now that's over, and Tyler Perry is working with Oprah Winfrey and her network – OWN, a small cable network where the audience is much smaller. It could be an outlet for his movies and television shows, but the revenue potential is more challenging.
Here is what is disconcerting. The city is turning over two-thirds of Fort McPherson to one owner. That is a risky play because if that business falls on hard times, it will be another setback for Fort McPherson and the whole southside.
If MILRA and Mayor Reed were wise, they would look to see how the Integral Group is redeveloping the 165-acre Doraville GM plant.
It has hired a nationally-renowned master planner to develop a strategic plan. Six acres (not 330) is currently being built out as Third Rail Studios, a facility that will eventually be 270,000 square feet for film and television production with the first phase opening by the end of this year.
Incidentally, Integral, Cousins Properties and Forest City were part of a team that had originally been selected by MILRA to do a master plan for Fort McPherson, but the team members walked away when the Authority told them they also had to pay for MILRA's administrative costs.
So as Atlanta dives headfirst into a deal with Tyler Perry, just remember, it didn't have to begin or end this way.
Next week's column will explore what approach MILRA and the City of Atlanta should have taken to bring new investment to Fort McPherson.
Note to Readers: Given how determined Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is to close the Fort McPherson sale with movie mogul Tyler Perry, I thought long and hard about whether I should even write another column on this unfortunate deal. The backlash from the mayor's office can be intense when you disagree with him. Those attacks have stifled the kind of debate and discourse every city needs to make sure all the voices are heard, that a community consensus is reached and that the best decisions are made for Atlanta's future.
With this administration, it appears as though only one person's opinion matters – the mayor's. And as a lifelong resident who cares deeply about our city's future, I believe that collaborative leadership trumps raw power.
I can not be a silent bystander and watch one of the worst deals in Atlanta's history proceed without protest.
To be honest, I gained the courage to write these two back-to-back Maria's Metro columns by reading Tavis Smiley's book: "Death of a King" – especially by reading a passage from Martin Luther King Jr.'s final Sunday sermon before he was assassinated.
My dear readers, please know this is my conscience speaking.
This column will make sense … when its writer and anyone who agrees with it can identify one single buyer for this property. One … single … buyer. The fellow who put in a bid for a fraction of the land who has no assets, no film projects, no company and – until recently – not even a website does not count.
Personally, I hope that Perry walks and the property just sits there, undeveloped and gathering dust. When that happens, expect any number of impassioned, righteously outraged columns by this writer about how the feds, the state or some well-heeled philanthropic concern ought to provide the sort of progressive, community-centered redevelopment for this area. Which, of course, will never happen because it never does. Abandoned areas in bad parts of town that – even at relatively cheap real estate values – would cost more to develop than anyone would ever recoup in profits stay that way precisely because of that.
It isn't as if it hasn't been tried. It has been, including in the Atlanta area, where folks have built malls and movie theatres. Even Magic Johnson and Lee May both tried the movie theatre thing. Johnson was smart enough to lend his name to the project and not invest much of his own money but May … not so much. You can have progressive dreams and social justice wishes, but at some point you run up against cold economic (and social) reality when it comes to why some areas are economically viable and others aren't.
Fine. Let Perry pull out. He will build elsewhere, such as in the suburbs. And let the movie projects that would have generated jobs and tax revenue in Atlanta go to the suburban movie studios like Ant-Man (the first Atlanta major studio project that is not a sequel or hasn't been through the developmental wringer) being shot in Fayetteville or the number of good projects that are headed to the TWO massive studios being built in Gwinnett County. That is right, despite Atlanta bringing the entertainment city to the metro area in the first place (thanks to first the Turner Networks, then the R&B/rap music industry, then black filmmakers like Perry, who had a thriving entertainment sector here long before the tax credits) it is being left behind AGAIN, with the bigger studios and better projects going to the suburbs with the city getting mostly urban-themed basic cable projects and B-movies, thanks in large parts to attitudes and people like this. But of course, when it happens AGAIN, folks like this are going to blame white flight and racism AGAIN.
Not having a pay system in place for the streetcar was worse.
Thank you for standing up against this Maria!
I was once on the Community Engagement Subcommittee for MILRA but resigned after it truly became a dog and pony show to approve TPS. My breaking point was the unnecessary removal of the ONE MILRA Board Member that supported the community and criticized the Perry deal. She didn't even have the support on MILRA to stop it, nonetheless she had to be removed. I guess there was fear she may turn others so had to be removed to show the other Board Members that they should stay in step.
It's a horrible deal for Atlanta, I'm even more disappointed that East Point has members at the table, out of Reed's reach, yet they have rolled right over and helped hand the base over to Perry.
Please know, there is a glimmer of hope. On the Subcommittee I was told if a deal split the community or all parties couldn't agree, the Army has stopped deals in the past. It was told to us in a manner that we wouldn't want that to happen, however I can't see how stopping this deal could be anything but good. So call the Army, write your Congressperson and put up a stink if you think Atlanta deserves better than back room, buddy-buddy, inside deals like this.
Maria thank you so much for your courage, and yes I know it took courage, to write this piece.
ATL taxpayers not only deserve, but have a right to know what is going on with this deal and others.
@atlman Oh my, I so hate that I agree wit h you, but you are correct, no one else came forward to purchase this property.
However, I don't think any here has mentioned how close the Atlanta beltline is to this property. I have a relative that lives in the area and every day someone is buying a property in and around this area and it is slowly turning around after being greatly affected by mortgage fraud before the the real estate crisis. As with most areas going through transition those that aren't close to it don't notice. Yes, it's slowly being gentrified but what I've noticed it that it's both black and white that are moving in.
Anytime you have a government agency or a large developer you get something as sterile as Atlantic Station when it first opened. Compare that to the organic redevelopment of East Atlanta Grant Park and until recently Inman Park.
I applaud your "conscious raising journalism" Maria. You among the best of a dying breed of authentic political reporters!
Second that. Unfortunately, atlman made some good points.
sheba_frost I will try to address several of these points in my column next week.
Many cities have redeveloped vacant forts and army bases, and they have been strategic in their master plans and development strategies.
Atlanta never gave the market a chance to respond to the opportunities that existed for Fort McPherson. And it never needed to be one buyer. In fact that was the totally wrong approach.
You want a multi-layered, diverse community of residents, retail, offices, parks in a completely unique historic setting in Atlanta accessible by two rail transit stations located in between downtown and the airport.
The city, the state, MILRA never gave it a chance to blossom into a thriving community that could have sparked the renaissance of the southside. It would have been perfect timing for this development cycle (and the next).
1. It has been stated elsewhere that Mayor Reed gets some cut of the deal. If this is in fact true, then that pretty much tells you all you need to know: it is a self-serving and inherently corrupt deal.
2. Several people have asserted that Tyler Perry is "the only one coming forward to do a deal". This makes little sense to me, as it seems like a phony premise to assume that the best and highest use would be achieved by a single entity. This is a large parcel (over 300 acres), so this seems more like a situation where a Master Plan should be created, and then let developers of various sizes sign up for various pieces.
3. 330 acres for roughly $100K/acre seems like a steal. Which is why this deal smells crooked.
OrganicDevelopment johnradams OrganicDevelopment, love your screen name — we need lots more of it. As far as Reed getting a cut of the deal, I do not know, which is why I qualified my remark. I have read in several places that supposedly he gets something, but I do not know if this is true. As far as comparing to Gov Deal, I don't know.
You never do or are you doing it now include in the discussion all the work the neighborhood asso. put into the Fort McPherson community report or reference 'actual members' involved they really did their homework and I witnessed it at a few meetups at presentations. Where is Georgia Standup in this conversation. I have no issues with Tyler Perry, but the idea was always to open FM back up to the neighborhood not another wall.
Let's put politics aside and look at this as a business deal.
The deal is FUBAR; look it up on Wikipedia if you are not familiar with the term.
There are at least four layers of government involved: Federal, State, City, and MPLRA. Each layer has its own agenda and puts handcuffs on potential bidders. Each contributes to the FUBAR.
Every handcuff translates into added cost for the bidder and makes the project less desirable. The bidders know they can't sell a condo for a higher price than the going rate just because they paid too much for the property.
These handcuffs and the political pressure by the City are the reason we are where we are today, almost 6 years after Fort McPherson was closed.
If you want Fort McPherson put to best and highest use, get ALL of the governments out of the picture and let professional property sales people like CBRE, JLL, etc. handle the deal.
Will Packer is a successful movie producer.
Oh please. Your history is well known. You want politics taken out of the deal because you don't like the politicians – Kasim Reed and people that look like him – having more power than you. Let's see you demand that politicians should stay out of the Braves relocation to Cobb County. Or all of the boondoggles that have been going on in Henry and Gwinnett County the past few years. But since those politicians look like you, that is fine. It is only when they are in Atlanta and do not that we hear all of these accusations of corruption and people getting paid under the table.
You cannot be convinced that a movie studio is the highest and best use of this property? Fine. Tell me what is. It has been 6 years and no one has named one yet. You think that if the government were to get out of the way and the folks that look like you would be able to invest in condos down there? Excuse me, but as someone who used to live and work and shop near there before I moved downtown … where are all the other condos? There are PLENTY of areas in that wide open mostly barren and bereft of economic or other activity part of town that is not being meddled with by governments and black politicians that anyone can buy and develop. They haven't. No condos there. Why? Because A) the locals who live there cannot afford them and B) the people who can afford them prefer other areas of the city.
That is the problem. Everyone talks about "what could be done" with Fort Mac, but there is a lack of investors willing to step up and make it happen. Why? Because there is no money in it. There are more profitable places to build in Atlanta, all over the metro area, all over the south. The folks who live down there spent years trying to attract biotech firms to locate there. Guess what? They all went to the suburbs, which is where the people with the education and training to actually work in that industry live. Yes, I know that folks with the skills to work in that industry live in the city proper, but they live downtown, near Georgia Tech and Georgia State, or in Midtown. Or in North Atlanta.
But I say let Perry and Reed walk away. Let Ms. Saporta and everyone else bandy about dreams and wishes for this facility. And then sit and watch absolutely nothing happen. Especially when Reed – the most pro-business mayor Atlanta has had in 30 years – leaves office and gets replaced with another Shirley Franklin, Bill Campbell, Maynard Jackson or Andrew Young. You know, the same crew who let the infrastructure rot and crumble, who came up with boondoggles like Fanplex and a dozen failed schemes to save Underground Atlanta, allowed Freaknik to paralyze the city for years before they FINALLY did something about it and who turned the Olympics into a swap meet. The people who presided over decades of rising crime rates, the spiraling out of control situation with Atlanta schools, MARTA losing millions a year, and educated residents – including blacks and Hispanics who wanted decent schools and safe neighborhoods – abandoned the city in droves, and when the city's pensions was driving our bond rating down to Detroit's level.
Don't worry Ms. Saporta and the other liberals. You will have another mayor like that to drive the city back down soon. All this horrible, evil stuff like major corporations relocating from other cities – and the suburbs – into Atlanta will once again be gone. No more great headlines like Porsche's headquarters opening and fixing up the old abandoned GM plant anymore. All that will be gone. That day is coming, and I am hoping that Reed gets as much accomplished before it does. So cut bait from this Perry deal and concentrate on the Turner Field to Georgia State and Underground Atlanta deals. Let the parts of the city that are willing to move forward do so now, and let the folks in south Atlanta … well remain south Atlanta.
@atlman Burroughston Broch You're correct about one thing only. I dislike all politicians and I dislike their sycophants like you even more.
Burroughston Broch Haha, oh right. When you do it, it's out of the purity of your own heart. When other people do it, it's for unbridled political ambition.
mnst Burroughston Broch I promote my agenda for my own reasons, and have never pretended to be pure. Political ambition is not one of my reasons.
I don't know why sycophants do what they do, but political advantage and personal financial gain are two potential reasons.


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Innovate4Health: mPedigree Battles Counterfeit Drugs Through Innovative Verification System
Author Kevin MadiganPosted on March 17, 2017 May 2, 2017 Categories Innovate4HealthTags Africa, Bright Simons, copyright, counterfeit drugs, EarlySensor, global health, Goldkeys, mPedigree, patent, trademark
This post is one of a series in the #Innovate4Health policy research initiative.
Counterfeit medicines sold under a product name without proper authorization are a serious threat to global public health. Classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as substandard, spurious, falsely labelled, falsified and counterfeit (SSFFC) medical products, counterfeit drugs are regularly designed to appear identical to genuine products. However, they fail to effectively treat the disease or condition for which they were intended, and in some instances, they can cause adverse reactions or death.
A recent BBC investigation revealed a multi-billion-dollar global trade in counterfeit drugs resulting in 120,000 deaths a year in Africa alone. And though counterfeit drugs affect economies, health care systems, and patients worldwide, developing nations are most at risk, with an estimated counterfeit rate of 10%-30% of medicines sold. The prevalence of unauthorized drugs in countries with less advanced health care systems has created a dangerous pharmaceutical market with few resources to help consumers distinguish between a drug that could potentially save their life and something that might kill them.
In 2007, Ghanaian tech entrepreneur Bright Simons set out to address this troubling threat to public welfare by creating a way to quickly confirm the legitimacy of a pharmaceutical. Realizing that low literacy and technical capacity were limiting the efficacy of existing consumer-targeted controls such as holograms and bar codes, Simons wanted to create a user-friendly system that would help consumers instantly check the authenticity of a drug using their mobile device. Simons envisioned a verification mechanism that would not only enable consumers to protect themselves against dangerous counterfeits, but also help pharmaceutical manufacturers defend their brands and shield shopkeepers from the liability of selling fake drugs.
Simons partnered with drug companies and other stakeholders to upload pedigree information from individual packs of medicine into a central registry using standard mass serialization methods similar to those employed in the radio-frequency identification (RFID) barcode system familiar in the United States and other developed countries. Calling his company mPedigree, Simons built a mobile verification service that enables consumers to text a product code that is then checked against the registry of authentic medicines, instantly verifying that the medicine they've acquired is legitimate and safe.
Since forming mPedigree in 2009, Simons has brought his system to Nigeria, Kenya, and India, with pilot programs in Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and Bangladesh. In 2015, mPedigree codes appeared on over 500 million drug packets from clients such as AstraZeneca, Roche, and Sanofi, and its verification network has been essential in combating a serious counterfeit antimalarial drug scheme that was putting thousands of Africans at risk.
Though mPedigree is best known for its work with pharmaceutical certification, Simons has expanded its verification system to address counterfeits in other industries through his development of the cutting-edge supply chain transformation technologies, EarlySensor and Goldkeys.
mPedigree's EarlySensor technology offers a proactive solution to companies plagued by unauthorized imitations by identifying patterns in counterfeiting activity and alerting partner government agencies of suspicious trends. The project "scans large pools of authentication, traceability, supply chain & logistical referencing, and user-generated data to mine insights and plot evolving patterns" to empower both manufacturers and consumers to predict counterfeiting activity before it occurs. EarlySensor technology is currently used by three major pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies in Nigeria, and empirical analysis has shown a 65% reduction in the circulation of counterfeit versions of their brands.
With Goldkeys, mPedigree has developed a set of web tools to provide brand owners with "complete, real-time, control of key events in their supply chain." The technology enables companies to manage distribution networks and retail point integration, as well as track end-consumer activity through web applications and cloud computing. Goldkeys also allows consumers to "call in" their product by voice call or text on a mobile device to ensure authenticity and receive consumer support.
Through the combination of EarlySensor and Goldkeys, mPedigree's innovative technology is facilitating the protection of both brand owners and consumers and ensuring that data collection and authentication mechanisms are leading to the safer distribution of medicines, cosmetics, seeds, and other essential products.
As a company dedicated to helping others protect their product reputation and brand, mPedigree understands the importance of effective IP rights and has utilized patent, copyright, and trademark protection in the development and commercialization of its own brands and services. In the early days of the company, as it formed partnerships with tech and pharmaceutical industry giants, mPedigree was careful to retain the rights to its creations, with Simons stating in a recent interview that, "[w]e had one interest to protect: our intellectual property."
By providing a dynamic link between consumers and manufacturers, mPedigree is making communications at the point of purchase routine and creating value for consumers, manufacturers, regulatory agencies, and sellers. A project ten years in the making, mPedigree is built on the recognition that protecting intellectual property—both mPedigree's and its clients—can save lives.
Bright Simons' vision and dedication to fighting the counterfeit drug epidemic in Africa and beyond through pharmaceutical verification is a testament to the vital role innovation and technology play in confronting global challenges, and as its motto states, mPedigree is indeed "bringing quality to life."
*Images courtesy of mPedigree Global Image Archives
#Innovate4Health is a joint research project by the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF). This project highlights how intellectual property-driven innovation can address global health challenges. If you have questions, comments, or a suggestion for a story we should highlight, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact Devlin Hartline at jhartli2@gmu.edu.
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Ben Ali Beghouach (born 5 February 1967) is an Algerian handball player. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

1967 births
Living people
Algerian male handball players
Olympic handball players of Algeria
Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Algerian people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Wedor Corporation Company Profile
Wedor Corporation is a chemical supplier, contract packager, and private label re-packager.
Wedor Corporation is a family owned business. It started out in a small garage, moved to a larger leased structure & then to it's present facility in West Allis.The President of the company managed & led sales for the chemical companies he worked for before going on his own with th...
Wedor Corporation is a family owned business. It started out in a small garage, moved to a larger leased structure & then to it's present facility in West Allis.
The President of the company managed & led sales for the chemical companies he worked for before going on his own with the help of his sons.
The family has had many years of experience in the chemical industry and provides personal, specialized service to it's customers.
Wedor Corporation
West Allis, WI


Apply now to lease an Audi or finance an Audi with Audi Financial Services. At Audi New Orleans, buying a new Audi or certified pre-owned Audi is easy with our secure online financing application. An Audi finance agent will contact you with more information about your Audi finance offer or Audi lease offer.


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Belief in the world is what we most lack.
Marcus Quent
Elapsing Time and Belief in the World
Translated by Michael Turnbull
It was Gilles Deleuze who in various contexts underlined that what we most lacked was "belief in the world." The odd remark appears, for example, in a conversation in 1990 with the Italian Marxist Antonio Negri about revolutionary emergence and the political force of minorities. In this dialogue Negri examines his interlocutor's thought in the light of the "problem of the political," which connects the various stages of the philosopher's intellectual biography. Deleuze's remark here is the reprise of a motif that would be familiar to readers of his second book on cinema, which appeared in 1985, in which Deleuze contends that the "power of modern cinema" is based on its ability to "give us back" our lost "belief in the world."
At the end of the conversation Negri asks his dialogue partner about the possibility of present-day processes of subjectivization. After initially emphasizing the "rebellious spontaneity" of such processes, Deleuze utters the following sentence in an act linked to such spontaneity: "Belief in the world is what we most lack; we have completely lost the world, we have been robbed of it." In the context of this conversation the sentence takes on the character of a strange conceptual escapade. Bemoaning a lack of belief, a loss or robbery of the world, without establishing an unambiguous relationship of causality, Deleuze's intellectual insert remains impetuous to a certain extent, and evades categorization because it has neither been prepared by what was said before it nor does it introduce a new line of thought.
Disregarding for a moment the irritated reactions this remark provoked from many commentators, and furthermore leaving aside the irritation that can come about through the affirmative treatment of the instance of belief and bringing it into play precisely in the context of an intraworldly practice of change, we can attempt to take this idea further and extend it into our present.
If one lacks "belief in the world," if one has lost the world or been robbed of it, then all that remains in such a state of unbelief is the elapsing of time. The elapsing of time, which seems to be coming more and more into itself today, to be inclining towards completion, is a process experienced by individuals as obscure and contradictory, but that in its incomprehensibility begins to look like an incontrovertible fact. That time can only elapse, that it only exists in this mode, as the measure of its own elapsing, is generally accepted and presupposed. Yet this dominant conviction, which presents itself as pure fact, is based on forgetting and betrayal. As Deleuze says, the "events" brought about in the world and the "time-spaces" brought into it, which attest to the possibility and reality of a different measure of time, are forgotten and betrayed, as is the basic creative power that as such and again and again resists the elapsing of time.
Our current situation is characterized by both: forgetting, which isn't innocent; and betrayal, which actively pursues the business of annulment. Their specific sedative effect is amplified today by the jaded offshoots of critical thought, by an either opportunistic or orthodox criticism that challenges creativity in art and politics. But the tools once used to denounce the ideological pretense of art and politics, to expose the appearance of autonomy, are now part of the inventory of the present and have lost their pointedness. Having almost completely forfeited their percussive edge, these lifeless critical forms now tend to merge indistinguishably with forgetting and betrayal. An only apparently critical questioning prevails, passively blending into the current process of homogenization and unification of time because it has nothing to oppose the elapsing of time, to which it quietly acquiesces.
In its homogenizing and unifying temporal order, the present leads to an extension of the adolescent phase. It's as if a society in which contemporaneity is absolute—the single valueless value, as it were—is naturally attracted to the insignia of youth, and falls in love with ahistoricity of its own moment. The adolescent phase of experimentation and invention escalates; the peculiar heedlessness of youth, its state of vital instability, is required to last. Adolescence is no longer understood as a transition but as the highpoint of a way of being entirely reduced to the senses. But after this highpoint, according to the unspoken threat, all we can expect is decay. And as can be observed, the expansion and conservation of adolescence goes hand in hand with a converse infantilization of adulthood, from which at some point it can no longer really be distinguished.
Parallel to the current dominance of the semi-adult, a differently weighted process is playing out that has not yet received much attention, nor could it be captured in the above description. We might attempt to call the most striking feature of the primacy of elapsing time, one of its concrete everyday forms of expression, the premature ageing of the young. This ageing process of the young is not so much expressed in signs of physical decay than through a weakening of forces, a paralysis of the affects, and an exhaustion of the imagination. It's as if the extension of adolescence intersects with a premature ageing. While adolescence extends forward to a certain degree, ageing takes the reverse direction.
But what is the connection between a premature ageing that can be discerned in the striving for an endless deferral and a loss of "belief in the world"? Since there is nothing but the elapsing of time, personal history falls into disjointed fragments. Even the experiences specific to childhood and adolescence are marked in advance by an approaching loss, which is their only measure of appraisal. Lacking in orientation and ideas, but calculating in every respect, the prematurely aged attempt to enjoy their youth to the full and retain it forever. It's a kind of equalization of tension: a strangely moderate and balanced state that admittedly doesn't exclude regular doses of mobility, upheaval, and excess. But the pull of affirmation or the resistance of negation are never attained here—the gestures and attitudes have become unreal, the gaze friendly and empty. In retreat, one has already arrived, fatally calm and collected.
What drives the process of ageing forward is the fact that without a "belief in the world" time can't be experienced as anything other than elapsing. What the process of premature ageing accelerates is the current enslavement to the incessant registration of time passing. This registration is refined by an almost endless segmentation, in which all time periods are functionally allocated and subsequently evaluated. Today the tacit work of classification and assignation, of verification and utilization, is part of a perfected organization of survival. This organization is associated with constantly new forms of body care and the optimization of physical efficiency. The aim is a high degree of health and productivity, whose maintenance becomes a value in itself. The currently escalating fetishization of potentiality gives rise to a peculiar form of mortification in which stasis and acceleration form a neutral entity. Potentiality revolves around itself: effort is made to preserve or increase it, to refine or improve it. Time—this is the dilemma—can only be experienced as elapsing here. For we find ourselves in the mode of continuously passing by, whose characteristic perception is a consistent escalation of the possible. This escalation of the possible—and this is the decisive thing—isn't an extension but rather a restriction of potential. (The possible is arguably the only thing that becomes smaller as it expands.) A purely quantitative possible comes in to eliminate the remaining gaps. For the individual this colonization of the impossible has the result that under the precisely surveyed sphere of influence of the possible every action now seems to be the realization of something already potentially existent, a selection from a series of potential conditions. This may explain why even biographically a sequence of choices replaces decision-making. The individual is free to choose or abstain. But the two are experienced as painful: both the endless sojourn in a state of possibility, of potentiality or the retention of "investment," which leads to peculiar form of exhaustion—without having moved—and every individual choice, each of which is felt to be an irreversible intervention into the realm of the possible, a reduction of one's own potentiality, and only a relative factor in the sequence of empty time. Here we watch ourselves playing the inanimate roles of a life passing by; here we are sound as a bell but already corpses.
The "organization of survival" (Badiou) replaces the invention of "life chances" (Deleuze), possibilities in the emphatic sense that presupposes a "belief in the world." Following this loss of belief, which relates to a loss of the world, all that ultimately remains to a person is a kind of animal lifeform concerned with self-preservation and the satisfaction of its needs, and with it a society devoted exclusively to securing these ends. The ideological remnants of the restorative present—which is simultaneously a present without a past or future, an absolute present, which knows nothing but the elapsing of time—can thus aptly be described following Alain Badiou as "animal humanism." The inventive and creative, which can never be organized and through which the animal body becomes something more than itself, is suspicious in advance to this stance, even a purely ideological effect; as is everything of permanence and endurance, which represents resistance to the elapsing of time. What remains in this absolute present is mere life—a life that Hannah Arendt calls life without world, Alain Badiou without idea, or Gilles Deleuze without life.
Is it possible to regain a lost belief? Is it possible to do as we will with belief? What help is the knowledge of a loss? "The shame," says Deleuze in his conversation with Negri, "consists in having no secure means of preserving becoming, and above all of initiating it, within ourselves too." So what is the task in a time of unbelief, in an interim without event that appears as a presentless present? A first step perhaps consists in inventing new constructions of time that contrast with the structure of a universal and totalizing model of history in their assemblage and rearrangement of the "time-spaces" brought into the world. Inventing new constructions of time initially means diverting the attention from the elapsing of time that has occupied the vacant place of belief. Perhaps, for the moment, it just means dealing with forgetting and combating betrayal. "Belief in the world" must initially be attempted in the present on the level of ideological struggle, which is always a struggle against oneself.
Time has to become altogether experienceable again as a mode of real change. But is it enough in this sense to understand the work in an "absolute present," in which the cementation and disappearance of the present moment come together, as one of reconstruction or cure? Is such adherence to constructibility strong enough to renew the "belief in the world" spoken of by Deleuze? Strictly speaking, a lost belief can't be restored by an act of will or a conscious manoeuver. No field of knowledge, insight, or criticism would ultimately be capable of replacing a lost world or renewing a lost belief. So the thing that action is intended to enable—belief—must paradoxically be created retroactively by action that runs ahead of its own possibility. Put differently, if we have lost the world and lack "belief in the world," the only way out of this free-floating, steadily elapsing time is a belief in belief. Believing in belief means practicing an objectless belief, one that has finally detached itself from the lost world and solely affirms its own pure possibility as a subjective act.
In times of lost belief, universalized skepticism, and generalized relativity, action running ahead of itself and belief in belief have the appearance of obsession. Belief in belief, running ahead of itself as action and possibly appearing futile as objectless in the elapsing interim produces the masks of the obsessive. Beyond idealized bodies and fantasies of immediacy, beyond the fanatical denial of the world and the terrorist death drive, we admire the techniques of the maniac, who has learnt to take possession of his obsessions, to put them to service, and is capable of a kind of libidinous redeployment. A way out of the interim will ultimately only initiate a hypomanic leap.
If we lose our way in the midday sun of the desert, we won't direct our eyes to the horizon in order to crawl along the ground looking for water like animals. Instead of scuttling sideways, we'll break out upwards.
studied philosophy and dramatics in Leipzig (GER) and Wales (UK). He is lecturer at the Universität der Künste Berlin and editor of Absolute Gegenwart (2016) and Das Versprechen der Kunst (2014).
Other texts by Marcus Quent for DIAPHANES
Ohne Halt OPEN
No Respite OPEN
Verrinnen der Zeit und Glaube an die Welt	ABO


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Mangelia subcostellata is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Mangeliidae.

Description
The length of the shell attains 19 mm.

Distribution
This extinct marine species was found in Miocene strata of Aquitaine, France.

References

External links
 Fossilshells.nl: Mangeliinae

subcostellata
Gastropods described in 1865


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Q: Error en consulta de JavaScrip con API REST Estoy accediendo a una api con javascript, pero al momento de ejecutar el bloque de código, me aparece el siguiente error:

Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: can't access property "length", Data is undefined

Este es el códdigo que tengo:
function Get_Product(id)
{
fetch(url, {
    method: "GET",
    boddy: JSON.stringify({
        id: id
    }),
    headers: {
        "Accept": "application/json",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
}).then(function (reponse){
    if(reponse.ok)
    {
        return reponse.text;
    }
    else
    {
        return alert("Error");
    }

}).then(function(Data){
    for( i = 0; i < Data.length; i++)
        {
            let div = document.createElement("div");
            div.classList.add("card");
            let p = document.createElement("p");

            var img = document.createElement("img");
            img.src = Data[i].url_image;

            p.innerHTML = Data[i].name;

            div.appendChild(img);
            div.appendChild(p);
            document.getElementById("content").appendChild(div);
        }
})}

No se si estoy usando mal al momento de mandar el dato, para que me regrese la consulta. Lo que quiero, es que cuando yo envío el id, me regresa los productos que son de esa categoría, pero ni siquiera llega al API.

A: No se suele enviar datos por body en una llamada GET,esto puede hacer que sea rejected. Podría ser un method post o un get pasando el id por query string.
Por otro lado en el primer then se está haciendo response.text, en caso de ser un texto lo recibido debería ser response.text(), aunque de acuerdo al resto del código en el primer then debería utilizar response.json().
Restaría confirmar en la documentación de la API como se le debe enviar el id.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The red team is winning, and winning by a larger and larger margin each day. To reverse this trend and ultimately bring protection to our healthcare facilities, everyone needs to share what they know. We believe in open source and responsible vulnerability disclosure.
Insight into the workings of an enterprise is essential to effectively and efficiently manage and defend its assets. However, in the operational technology (OT) space, which includes medical devices and equipment (MDE) and facility-related control systems (FRCS), stakeholders have a restricted understanding of what is actually happening within their organizations. This is painfully obvious when examining average dwell time (nearly one year), how quickly new devices are discovered (some ?new? devices have been on the network for years), and the difficulty engineers / managers have with quantitively stating their positions and needs.


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Statesman Sound Station: May
Welcome to the Statesman Sound Station, the monthly recap of what stood out to us in the music industry. For this month we got Jack Harlow, Doja Cat and Kendrick Lamar.
Griffin Brown, Dylan Barbee, and Nick Corso
Courtesy of @jackharlow on Instagram
Jack Harlow – Come Home The Kids Miss You – May 6, 2022
Jack Harlow's popularity on social media has exploded recently, with his charismatic, comedic character becoming a sensation online. A joking, flirtatious line appearing in many of his comment sections, "come home, the kids miss you," is what Harlow has named his recent album.
This album is his seventh in a stacked discography which spans over the last six years. At around 45 minutes long, the album features thirteen new releases and singles "First Class" and "Nail Tech" which dropped earlier this year, both trending on social media and topping the charts.
This album is a typical Jack Harlow album: an embrace of his cocky character is backed up with his clever lines and charismatic quips. We noted the empowering feeling that this album, and other Harlow's projects, give of being on top of the world with Jack rapping in our ears. "The king's back in his hometown," he says in "Nail Tech."
The album also has some quality features from Pharrel Williams, Drake, Justin Timberlake and Lil Wayne. All of these features propel the songs they're in to make them the best in the album. With that said, given the quality that we have come to expect from these artists, all of them underperform mostly when it comes to lyrics.
Harlow's consistency and personality is why we find him so appealing and entertaining. This album is fun and romantic but also shows some emotional vulnerability with lines like "I told my therapist about you" on "Lil Secret" and Drake's line on "Churchill Downs" criticizing those who "say they run the game and they not even in it."
All in all, this album is very solid. We enjoyed what has become the typical, Harlow-esque brand of subtle arrogance and comedic charisma. The album makes for an excellent listening experience but lacks a high relistening value. Regardless, Jack's got his character down, and we can't wait for what's next from him.
Score: 7/10
Courtesy of Doja Cat on Spotify.com
Doja Cat – Vegas (From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ELVIS) (Single) – May 8, 2022
The King of Rock and Roll is getting a movie in July, and an unlikely Doja Cat, the Billboard Female R&B artist of the year, is one of the artists starring in the soundtrack. Her song "Vegas" references and samples a song Elvis covered: Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog." The song has the bouncy, exciting, fast-paced feel that is typical to Doja's music. We love it.
"You ain't nothing but a – dog," she says and in the chorus repeats the phrase "hound dog." She continues to sing about an individual in Vegas, calling them a "fraud, player, ah," and references a passionate romance beginning to stir in Sin City.
So far, Doja Cat is the only artist that has been announced for the Elivs movie, which comes out this July. However, the label told Variety that "the album will include variations on Presley material that include contributions from a number of name artists representing different genres." We really like this choice, as part of Elvis' legacy is his lasting impact on music— taking on his material with a modern twist is an inspired choice.
This song is very reminiscent of any other Doja song, but the Elvis aspect of it brings a level of complexity that we may not understand until we see the movie. This song makes us even more excited for the Elvis film, as it suggests that there may be various modern arsts paying their respects to "The King."
Courtesy of @KendrickLamar on Instagram
Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – May 13, 2022
We've long awaited the return of Kendrick Lamar, and after his part in the Super Bowl performance, hope began to brew for a dramatic return. On April 18, a post was made on his highly inactive Instagram account revealing the release of an album on May 13. Kendrick's latest album is his first since 2018's Damn and wow, is it everything we hoped for and more.
Kendrick is an established great in hip-hop and this album continues to prove it. The high quality production is tip-top, and the typical Kendrick intros which jump into beats with his various voices, flows and styles are incredibly memorable.
Aside from the excellent sound and production value, which we have come to expect from Kendrick, this album packs in a lot of profound and compelling topics. In "Auntie Diaries," Kendrick talks about his aunt who transitioned genders and was outcast from his family; he notes that those who are discriminated against often discriminate against others, and that they are no better than their oppressors. On "Father Time," he delves into the life of having struggles with his father and reflecting on how toxic masculinity impacted him while growing up.
The features also star on this project. They add to the album in a manner in which they don't steal the show or stand out, but instead contribute to the sound and meaning of each song they're on. Kodak Black's features and interludes stood out to us, showcasing his enduring musical ability amidst setbacks from personal issues.
The album takes on intense topics, with Kedrick's bars demonstrating a raw, emotional tone. On "Mother I'm Sober" Kendrick raps about his family's generational trauma when it comes to sexual abuse. Kendrick Lamar also takes a deep dive on the cycle of toxic relationships in "We Cry Together." This is accomplished by Kendrick and the feature artist Taylor Paige shouting and crying back and forth at one another. This track is honestly very raw and vulnerable, to the extent that it might even make a listener uncomfortable. Regardless, it's still impressive performance art. Religious undertones and album cover with the crown of thorns are quite present.
Through all of these pieces of art, Kendrick Lamar rejects his life of fame and money. In "N95", he creates a metaphor of wealth and material possession being a mask; when those who wear that mask take it off, they have nothing of substance beneath. He does not desire the fame that artists glorify and he realizes that he cannot please everyone with his music. Instead, Kendrick remains quiet in the public eye, building a family and living a reasonably private life while becoming a far more understanding person. Once again, Kendrick lets his art speak his truth for him on Mr. Morale and Big Steppers, which is why he remains arguably the greatest artist of this generation.
We hope we won't have to wait another five years for what's next from K-Dot.
Score: 10/10
Griffin Brown, Managing Editor of Web
Griffin Brown is a returning staffer for the 3rd year in a row. This year, he is one of the two Managing Editors of Web. On his free time, he loves watching sports and listening to music and podcasts. Griffin is a swimmer and water polo player for Stevenson. He likes hanging out with friends and playing with his dog.
Dylan Barbee, Sports Editor
Dylan is a senior at Stevenson and a Sports editor for the Statesman. He enjoys traveling, watching sports, and listening to music and podcasts.
Nick Corso, Sports Editor
Nick is a second year member and the sports section editor for this year. In school, Nick enjoys playing Varsity lacrosse, broadcasting Stevenson sports games, and being a Transfer Student Leader. Outside of school, he enjoys listening to music and playing basketball with friends.
Haunting Halloween Horrors
Spooky Specials Extras
A Meal To Remember
Taste Testing the PWC
Gun Violence Solutions Start With Us
Statesman Sound Station: April
CODA Review
Statesman Sound Station: March Part 2 – Mar. 16 – Mar. 31
Statesman Sound Station: March Part 1 – Mar. 1 – Mar. 15
Hope Makes a Hero