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Max Mazzim – "Stranger" ft. Boogiie Byrd puts our emotional sensibilities into perspective
Staff — June 2, 2020
Nothing excels better than excellence. Max Mazzim is a U.S.A based songwriter, actress, and R&B/Pop singer who has managed to defy all odds, reaching a pinnacle of success, while making her mark both on and off the stage in the music and movie industry worldwide. The multi-nominated and three-time award winner for Best Music Video in the Pop / R&B genre, was discovered and signed in 2008 by George Hookz the CEO of the Str8team Entertainment Record label then based in Germany.
Max Mazzim has never looked back since. The now doctor by day, musician by night, who was raised in a Christian home in Cameroon, West Africa, has blossomed into a passionate R&B artist blending her Afrocentric roots into her international aesthetic.
Max Mazzim's hit single "Out Ya Body", formerly "Birthday Love", featured Reggae Legend Beenie Man, Kirko Bangz and YK Supe. The song gained global attention, especially in France, Russia, Germany, and Cameroon, where she has held major sold out concerts. Her debut album "Un-Veiled", featured USA Rap Star Mike Jones.
In 2017, Max Mazzim performed in front of two and half million spectators at the 70th anniversary of Brooklyn's Historic Labor Day Festival. The list of Mazzim's achievements is almost endless, and also includes ongoing projects, like her Skin Line product SkinGlow by Max & Co Cosmetique, and her originally designed jewelry and clothing line, MaxWoh & Co.
Now in 2020 she takes yet another step forward in an already rewarding career, with the release of her highly anticipated single, "Stranger" featuring Murder Inc/300 Ent artist Boogiie Byrd. The song depicts a woman who finds herself suddenly in love with a stranger, and what unfolds next is portrayed, within the lyrical content.
While fans have been patiently awaiting this release, Max Mazzim has been using her time wisely, quietly becoming one of R&B's most dependable names. "Stranger" is the type of track where Mazzim shines. She navigates thumping percussion as she leaps the hurdles in her love life. It's easily one of the standouts in her catalog.
"Stranger" ft. Boogiie Byrd, is sophisticated urban with the sensual style of R&B comfort. Magical. The lightly airy and fuzzy sound melds with Boogiie Byrd's smooth falsetto creating a seductively mysterious mood, as Max Mazzim slides in on a sultry but determined note: "I just need your lovin'. I just need you baby. Let's get back to Venus, lovers can't be strangers."
So what makes "Stranger" special? The answer is simple. A good melody. Melodies are so important on this type of song because it creates the music's flow and vibe. It allows Max and Boogii to create an atmosphere that complements the story-line.
Max Mazzim effortlessly exudes sex appeal which is at the forefront of the track. "Stranger" was clearly intended to showcase Mazzim abilities as a fully developed artist, which it does admirably.
Her vocal performance on this track definitely supersedes her last musical offering, and isn't even overshadowed by memorable lyrics or the first-rate production. Set against the backdrop of summery R&B and hazy contemporary hip-hop soul, Max Mazzim occupies a unique stylistic space.
Moreover, there's an emotional maturity that's palpable across this track, as Max Mazzim puts our emotional sensibilities into perspective: romance, like human life, is transient and ephemeral, it needs to be constantly fed to survive and thrive. This is incisive songwriting – all whilst retaining pop-inspired sensibilities. It is this sensibility that underpins the success of "Stranger" ft. Boogiie Byrd.
OFFICIAL LINKS: STR8TEAM ENT – SPOTIFY – INSTAGRAM – TWITTER – FACEBOOK
Tags: Boogiie ByrdGeorge HookzMax MazzimPopR&BStr8team EntertainmentStrangerUrban
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Smaller, cheaper firetruck up for approval in Windsor
A Nov. 3 referendum question on a proposal to buy a new firetruck comes on the heels of a June vote against the purchase of a larger, more expensive one.
By Keith EdwardsKennebec Journal
The purchase of a smaller, cheaper version of the pumper firetruck Windsor voters rejected in June is on the ballot for approval on Nov. 3.
This time the proposal has the unanimous support of both the selectmen and Budget Committee.
In secret-ballot voting June 9, residents voted 166-61 against borrowing $350,000 to buy a new pumper truck with a six-person cab. The truck would have cost $406,000 with $50,000 from a reserve account and up to $10,000 from the Windsor Volunteer Firefighter fundraising account supplementing the proposed but rejected $350,000 bond.
Both the Board of Selectmen and the Budget Committee opposed that purchase. The selectmen said at the time they thought the proposed truck was too big and too expensive for Windsor.
The proposal before voters this time is to appropriate a total of $335,000 for a new two-person-cab pumper truck. Funding for that would come from a $250,000 loan, $50,000 from a reserve account for fire equipment, and $35,000 from the town's general fund balance, which is generally made up of money unspent in previous years.
Ray Bates, chairman of the selectmen, said the truck is essentially the same pumper truck firefighters sought in June, but with a smaller cab and a smaller price. He described it as "more suitable."
"This is the same truck they wanted before, just without the six-man cab," he said.
Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Strout said the new truck will be on a commercial chassis instead of a custom chassis as the larger truck would have been, will have a shorter warranty, and won't have a light tower, but other than that, is "pretty much the same" as the previously proposed truck, but with a smaller cab.
"It will be adequate. We have a truck like it right now," said Strout, son of Fire Chief Arthur Strout. "We had hopes to go to a six-man cab, and the town decided it was too much money. So we'll drop back to this one. It will do what we need it to do."
The new truck would replace a 28-year-old pumper the Fire Department bought used in the late 1990s. The Strouts said that truck needs to be replaced because of its age and deteriorating condition and because it just barely passed its last certification.
The proposed new truck would be an E-one/Freightliner rescue pumper.
With the interest rate on the $250,000 bond proposed for buying the new truck figured at 3.44 percent, interest on the seven-year loan would be $34,434, for a total interest and principal cost of $284,434.
The firetruck purchase is the only local item on the Nov. 3 ballot in Windsor. Polls are scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Windsor Town Hall.
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
Twitter: @kedwardskj

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Textarea's and syllable counter. [JQuery/Javascript] I have 2 text areas;

*

*Textarea #1 contains standard text,

*Textarea #2 contains the total syllable count

they work fine but they dis-align on line breaks.
I have a feeling the snippet of code here contains my issue;
    function $count_how_many_syllables($input) {
        $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").keyup(function () {
            var lines = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").val().split(/\n/);
            var arrayOfLines = [];
            for (var i=0; i < lines.length; i++) {
                arrayOfLines.push($.trim(lines[i]));
            }
            var $content;
            var $word = 0;
            var $syllable_count = "";
            var $result = "";

            for (var i = 0; i < arrayOfLines.length; i++) {
                $content = arrayOfLines[i].toLowerCase();
                word = $content.replace(/(?:[^laeiouy]es|ed|[^laeiouy]e)$/, '')
                        .replace(/^y/, '')
                        .match(/[aeiouy]/g).length;
                if ($content.length < 1) {
                    $result = $result + "0\n";
                } else {
                    $syllable_count = word.toString();
                    $result = $result + $syllable_count + "\n";
                }
            }

            $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").val($result);
            // set scrolling
            $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").scrollTop = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").scrollTop;
            $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").scrollLeft = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").scrollLeft;
        });
    }

    setInterval(function ($) {
        $count_how_many_syllables("a");
    },100)(jQuery);

Here is a JsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/tq3zzhna/ (type something and you'll see my issue)

A: The problem is the regex you are using to split the lines up. Because you are just finding each group of lines (i.e. non-line breaks), you are not taking empty lines with 0 characters into account. A better approach is to split by line breaks instead, so the empty lines are included:
This matches an optional carriage return and a line break:
var arrayOfLines = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").val().split(/\r?\n/);
Another issue once that is fixed is that you are checking $content.length < 3 which will include the empty lines. The fix to this is to only find the word count if $content.length > 0.
Lastly you can type words with no vowels which currently break the syllable match (match() returns null), so I added a bit of a hack to cope with it, you can probably do it better:
function $count_how_many_syllables($input) {
    $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").keyup(function () {

        // split into separate lines
        var arrayOfLines = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").val().split(/\r?\n/);
        var $content;
        var $word = 0;
        var $syllable_count = "";
        var $result = "";

        for (var i = 0; i < arrayOfLines.length; i++) {
            $content = arrayOfLines[i].toLowerCase();
            var word = $content.length;
            // if we have content, find the syllables
            if($content.length > 0) {
                word = ($content.replace(/(?:[^laeiouy]es|ed|[^laeiouy]e)$/, '')
                    .replace(/^y/, '')
                    .match(/[aeiouy]/g) || 'a').length; // handle word with no vowels
                if ($content.length <= 3) {
                    word = 1;
                }
            }

            if (word !== 0) {
                $syllable_count = word.toString();
                $result = $result + $syllable_count + "\n";
            } else {
                $result = $result + "0 \n";
            }
        }

        $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").val($result);
        // set scrolling
        $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").scrollTop = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").scrollTop;
        $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").scrollLeft = $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").scrollLeft;
    });
}

(function ($) {
    $count_how_many_syllables("a");
})(jQuery);

http://jsfiddle.net/tq3zzhna/3/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The St. Matthew Children's Ministry Team is so excited about our new season of Bible Adventure! We are hard at work preparing to teach God's littlest ones all we can about His love for them! Our kick off for the Walled Lake Campus is on September 9th and for the Wixom Campus, we will kick off on September 16th, but we need YOU to make it complete. Please prayerfully consider being a part of a great ministry at St. Matthew. It is fun and such a blessing to help mold a child's heart to help them learn the love of Jesus!


NAIC update: Fall 2018 National Meeting has been added to your bookmarks.
NAIC update: Fall 2018 National Meeting has been removed from your bookmarks.
As the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) met in San Francisco for its Fall 2018 National Meeting, smoke from wildfires served as a constant reminder of just how critical insurance is in today's world. The final meeting of the year was relatively lowkey, with several key issues remaining to be resolved, including new reinsurance credit models and the fate of the Annuity Suitability Model.
The banner headlines and big decisions usually associated with the final meeting of the year were absent from the Fall 2018 National Meeting. When the year began, it may have been reasonable to expect that by its last national meeting of 2018, the NAIC might have addressed the most serious and potentially the best of issues facing state regulation. Last-minute concerns stalled adoption of new reinsurance credit models consistent with the EU–US covered agreement. On the plus side, the new models are still scheduled for adoption at a special session of the plenary. The fate of changes to the Annuity Suitability Model Act is less immediately obvious. Many stakeholders expressed concerns for various reasons, and as of now, there is still clear potential for fragmentation.
In other news, November Congressional election results strengthened the possibility that a federal data security law would not be imposed on insurance, and even if such a law were to be approved, it would not preempt state insurance regulation.
The next meeting will see new faces. The term-limited host Commissioner Dave Jones is handing the baton to his successor, and turnover may be more than usual, given some statehouse election results. Perhaps by the April meeting in Orlando, we will be able to ascertain the impact of political changes on the NAIC's agenda.
Chair Dean Cameron led Annuity Suitability Working Group discussions about the latest draft revision of the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275), which met both praise and opposition. Concerns were expressed that the proposed change would narrow the scope of the regulation. The working group planned to report its progress to the A Committee and expose the amended draft for comment.
Ongoing differences among regulators concerning new standards for annuity sales were at the center of a lively discussion at the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee meeting. The working group has received more than 400 pages of comments on the new suitability model but is waiting to see if anything the SEC or DOL does should be factored in. After much discussion and some dissension, the working group received an extension until the next national meeting.
An IAIS working group has finalized drafting of the first application paper on ICPs 12 and 16, which have been exposed for comment. ICP 12 covers market exit and resolution powers, and ICP 16 addresses enterprise risk management for solvency purposes. The group received and reviewed comment letters, including concerns over the Warrantech decision in Pennsylvania, which the task force will continue to monitor. NAIC comments will be directed through G committee, and a resolution paper is expected in January.
Stakeholders attending the meeting of the Reinsurance (E) Task Force heard that the current list of qualified non-US jurisdictions would only be good up until December 31, 2019. The task force also adopted a report from the Reinsurance Financial Analysis (E) Working Group (ReFAWG) identifying 29 reinsurers that were certified for passporting and were being monitored. The revised Credit for Reinsurance Models were a major topic of discussion, but the task force resisted requests for more time for concerns to be addressed and adopted the draft to be sent to its parent committee.
The Cannabis Insurance (C) Working Group is charged with looking at individual state markets and developing a whitepaper with information about the architecture of the cannabis industry, available insurance, and what gaps there may be both in admitted and surplus lines. Cannabis industry associations have been very helpful and progress on the whitepaper is good. A California cannabis insurance case study revealed the availability of insurance, with claims so far primarily for theft or fire. Data is being gathered to develop actuarially sound pricing. For admitted insurers, the biggest concern for now is competing with surplus lines.
Big Data (EX) Working Group discussions were wide-ranging, covering data accuracy, company validation methods, whether regulators have sufficient tools to evaluate appropriate data use (e.g., data from wearables to predict mortality), and questions about whether states should examine vendors. NAIC consumer representative Peter Kochenburger of UConn Law School said he believed big data could be a win for consumers and insurers, that concerns will continue to exist in the absence of regulatory tools, and it is important to help consumers understand data use.
The Health Insurance and Managed Care (B) Committee discussion focused on rising health care premiums, dynamics that contribute to the continuing increase, and the potential role of state and private insurance providers outside of the federal exchange in managing premiums and out-of-pocket costs for consumers. Discussions also included analyzing the impact of federal regulation, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and identifying opportunities to innovate outside of the federal exchange to reduce costs.
The Casualty Actuarial and Statistical Task Force (CASTF) update began with discussion on appointed actuary charges and comments received, with the committee's initial recommendation to move forward without changes based on the comments received so far. The CASTF also discussed a whitepaper in progress on the best practices and necessary data items for regulatory review of generalized linear models (GLMs) used for rate-making. Other topics included predictive analytics update, NPR mortality adjustment, and YRT reinsurance—premium rate increase treatment.
Our full NAIC meeting update provides a table with information on accounting and reporting changes discussed, adopted, and exposed by the Statutory Accounting Principles (E) Working Group, the Accounting Practices, and Procedures (E) Task Force, and the Financial Condition (E) Committee during the Fall 2018 National Meeting.
Read our comprehensive update on the Fall 2018 National Meeting in San Francisco.
Need to catch up on the NAIC's priorities and progress? Explore Deloitte's collection of NAIC meeting updates.


The founding of the United States of America has been deemed a secular event and at least a generation of young Americans has been taught it as a fact. It ias time you and I defend and promote the truth that The Declaration of Independence is a Christian document. Let this post be our commencement.
Those proclaiming or looking for a secular Declaration of Independence are about to lose the ground on which they stand blown away. By the end of this Post they, like you, will know the powerful truth about the Christian character of the Declaration of Independence and of the men who adopted it.
Gary T. Amos, J.D., is the living authority on the Biblical basis of Declaration of independence. Those led to study beyond this post will do no better than reading his book, Defending the Declaration: How the Bible and Christianity Influenced the Writing of the Declaration of Independence. Here are the basics in this delightful video: God as Supreme Judge—Defending the Declaration of Independence.
Did you hear him? Listen! Did you hear? These "fathers" were not founders, they were mid-wives! Notice it is not, "conceived in liberty;" it is, "conceived in Liberty!" Liberty is from God. Actually, it is more than that. Liberty is a quality of God. That capitalization is not used casually. Liberty was born from above!
A clear reading of the Declaration of Independence and theConstitution for the United States of America shows that, from the beginning, Americans have acted with the confidence that We the People have a sovereignty under God and the government together with the officers of that government (at any level) are subject to We the People. That American reality is called into question today by the secular forces at large and, too often, from Christian pastors and leaders.
But for the American revolutionaries (and us), rights are gifts from our Sovereign God. Government cannot give what it does not have. Governments can only take.
On the other hand, for the French revolutionaries, and, in our time, the left (including our courts) and Islam, rights are made up by an all-powerful government. Rights are parceled out to the supplicants. What they always do, however, is impose restrictions and penalties and taxes and regulations that choke and smother Liberty.
Let us commit to turn our country back to her birthright and her promise. Now, enjoy with me the 266 words of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
At the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.And for fear of him the guards shook and became as dead men.
"All power is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Amen.
Every Christian is changed because He lives so shall we live with Him eternally in Heaven. But, what about non-Christians? I did say above, His resurrection "touches the life of every single human being in some way." Here are just two examples: time and women.
From the time humanity fell into sin (Genesis 3:1-7) women have not been treated equally. They were, of course, created equally with men. Jesus life on earth was the only break women really ever had. Jesus' life and recorded ministry was the example of equal treatment of "male and female" created different but equal in His image.
Women are to this day not treated equal. Most women and girls within Islam are slaves with no rights. But in the rest of the world, Christian and heathen, women are treated better. Men, who have never heard of Christ, know women should be accorded at least respect and kindness. In the West, especially the United States, women led the effort for equality in the 19th Century. The notable leader was a Quaker, Susan B. Anthony. It seems clear that without Christ women all over the world would be living in the darkness that is the life of Muslim women.
Tomorrow we observe greatest act of love in creation. It is known throughout Christendom as Good Friday. Some would say killing anyone on a cross, let alone One who is perfectly innocent, is the opposite of good. These selections of scripture help me explain it. Perhaps they will help you as well.
Let's start with Abraham, who had been commanded by God as a demonstration of his faith to sacrifice his son Isaac on the holy place, Mariah, in Genesis 22:7-13.
And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." And he said, "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering." So they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." And He said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked; and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
The Passover: . . . when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over . . .
The children of Israel, following God's command, are spared from the visit to Egypt from the Angel of death to be delivered from Egypt. This is the account from Exodus 12:5-7, 21-32.
Your lamb shall be without blemish . . . and shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses . . .
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them, "Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing as an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass, when ye come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, 'What mean ye by this service?' that ye shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron; so did they.
And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the Passover.
Now when the evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. . .
Get your mind around that!
Jesus does not say what the sign of the Son of man is but I have never heard anyone dispute that it is the cross. I believe all on earth will see that sign. It is hard to imagine the image He vividly paints. How can we see the glory of "the clouds of heaven." Notice this Twenty First Century King James version (which I use) capitalizes Heaven whenever the context is that realm where we will dwell forever with God. The context, in these verses, for heaven, is created universes, galaxies, and this solar system.
Perhaps you are not certain you are His elect. Clear that up now. In prayer receive His forgiveness for your sin and confess Him as your savior.


I'm Tim Teeling, an award-winning web worker living in Baltimore, MD working at Tenable.
I'm obsessed with the web. I'm constantly tinkering, building, reading and learning. Currently obsessing over service workers, maintainable design systems and security.
I like to teach and share with others. I've taught elementary students and college students how to code. (You'll have to ask me in person which group surprises me more).
When I'm away from my computer, my dog Henry keeps me busy on hiking trails around the area.


Will the Unlimited version do this?
it is planned to add support for Mobile sitemaps in the next version of sitemap generator.
Any idea when that might be available?
I am also looking for a tool that will help create a mobile sitemap that is compliant with Google's standards. Is that going to be incorporated into your product fairly soon, or should I attempt to create it manually?


text:
An ALGBreadcrumbs is a GUI component that is responsible for displaying the current hierarchy.

Instance Variables
	controller:		ALGController 		reference to ALGController

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Sungmin: Take care of your health!
Eunhyuk: I need to practice being the leader.
Leeteuk: If popularity drops, I'll make you responsible.
Yesung: I'll follow you in the army.
Kyuhyun: I want to speak informally to you once. Jungsoo-ya!
Donghae (already with tears in his eyes like Leeteuk before starting to speak): I know you since I'm 14. You're like my family and like my real brother.


text:
Filter: Subject of Civil War, 1861-1865
Gettysburg (39)
Vicksburg (20)
civil war, 1861-1865 (1941)
military art and science (1939)
military uniforms (779)
indoor photography (668)
Print (387)
Bennett, H. H. (Henry Hamilton), 1843-1908 (68)
Simplot, Alexander (64)
Barnard, George N., 1819-1902 (59)
United States. Engineer Department. (27)
Brady, Mathew (23)
Curtiss, E. R. (18)
Special Conditions (7)
Col. William W. Robinson
Vignetted quarter-length carte-de-visite of Col. William W. Robinson, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.
Camp Randall
Lithograph of Camp Randall, where the majority of Wisconsin's soldiers were trained and mustered into the Union Army. This view, which was taken from Basc...
Camp Randall looking southwest. In April 1861, Governor Alexander Randall asked that the State Agricultural Society fairgrounds be converted into a militar...
Harriet Douglas Whetten
Harriet Douglas Whetten (b.1822). Whetten was a volunteer nurse during the Civil War. She served on hospital ships out of New York and Philadelphia from 18...
2nd Wisconsin Officers' Mess
Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry officers' mess. Pictured are: Surgeon A.J. Ward, Major Thomas S. Allen, Lt. Colonel Lucius Fairchild, and Colonel Edgar...
Swearing-In Native American Civil War Recruits
Thomas Bigford (in cap, on left) and another official swearing-in two Native American Civil War recruits. Thomas Bigford (1815-1890) of Taycheedah, Wiscons...
Military Band at Lookout Mountain
Albumen stereograph of the Union Army brass band posed and playing atop Lookout Point. The Tennessee River is in the background.
Old Abe and the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
"Old Abe" and "Color Guard" of the Eighth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, posed in uniform, outside with Old Abe on a shield perch. Likely Edward H...
General Winfield Scott Hancock and Staff
Civil War General Winfield Scott Hancock and division commanders, (standing left to right) Generals Barlow, Birney, and Gibbon (previously commander of the...
The Iron Brigade
Civil War General John C. Starkweather, center; Lt. Colonel George B. Bingham, left; and General Rufus King, right; all of the Iron Brigade.
Herman Anderson
An oval-framed, seated studio portrait of Anderson Herman, a private in Company I, 15th Wisconsin Infantry in uniform, holding a musket across his chest. T...
26th Regiment Poster
Recruitment poster in German for the 26th Regiment of Wisconsin volunteers.
William H. Brisbane
William H. Brisbane, Chaplain of the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry. Inset photograph taken from a large Civil War commemorative roster.
Halbert Eleazer Paine
Formal vignetted head and shoulders studio portrait of Brigadier General Halbert Eleazer Paine.
Gettysburg Battleground
Stereograph of Gettysburg battlefield showing trees and a stump. Handwritten on reverse, "On the right of our line." This is probably a reference to the te...
Gettysburg Battlefield Memorials
An advertisement by the Smith Granite Company showing illustrations of various Gettysburg Battleground Memorials.
Wisconsin Commission to Locate Monuments on the Gettysburg's Battlefield Site
Members of the Wisconsin commission to locate monuments gather on the battlefield at Little Round Top.
Soldiers' Orphans Home
Stereograph of Soldiers' Orphans Home, formerly Harvey Hospital. The octagon house was originally built for Governor Leonard J. Farwell and designed by Aug...


text:
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Messaging, please do take this personally
September 10, 2018 September 11, 2018 Tim Banks
Around 20 years ago, marketing guru Seth Godin pioneered a big new idea: permission marketing. He recognised that the emerging digital channels could change the way companies spoke to their customers. In short, brands finally had an alternative to merely 'shouting' their messages from TV and radio.
"Permission doesn't have to be a one-way broadcast medium," he wrote. "The internet means you can treat different people differently, and it demands that you figure out how to let your permission base choose what they hear and in what format."
"Permission marketing is the privilege of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them."
Two decades later, Godin's ideas are mainstream. But does that mean the practice of mass personalised messaging is commonplace? Not really. Most internet communication is blunt: "You've just browsed that, maybe you'll like this." Mobile messaging is a little better. But not much. Most companies send the same marketing alerts to thousands of customers with little differentiation.
Most internet communication is blunt: "You've just browsed that, maybe you'll like this."
What a wasted opportunity. It's been said many times before that mobile is the most personal communication medium ever invented. People carry their phones with them every waking hour. They read messages almost immediately. Crucially, with text, they can also respond at their leisure. A phone call can be intrusive. It demands attention now. An SMS, by contrast, is 'asynchronous'. Recipients can respond when convenient.
So mobile, to re-quote Godin, is a channel through which to "deliver anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them."
Well, here's the interesting news. Two new innovations are changing the mobile messaging space. And together they make the dream of mass, personalised, two-way – and actionable – communication a reality. The innovations are CPaaS (communications platform as a service) and rich media.
Before we dive into them, let's look at a hypothetical example of mass personalised messaging in action. Imagine you are a cable TV customer. Your package has just expired. It's time to renew/upgrade. Here are three things your provider could do:
1. Nothing.
2. Send an automated text message: "Your contract has expired. Please call us."
3. Send a personalised video message detailing the upgrade offer. The offer would be based on your preferences and include video, audio, text and images. It might even let you click a button to upgrade immediately from your mobile wallet.
Self-evidently option three is best. So let's see how the two previously mentioned innovations make it feasible.
First, there's CPaaS. This turns communications into software. It means companies can manage their own comms internally. Rather than 'buy' messages in bulk from a third party, they can use APIs to send text, audio and video messages from their own customer-facing applications.
Combine this with the opt-in data they have on their customers, and the dream of 'mass personalised' messages moves closer.
The second major innovation is a new messaging format called Rich Communication Services (RCS). RCS is essentially SMS 2.0. This new standard will deliver messages to one inbox that contain rich content such as images, maps, coupons, videos and reply buttons that can link to further menus and functions. RCS also includes read receipts so marketers can perform A/B testing, gauge the success of campaigns and make changes on the fly to improve responses.
In a sense, RCS makes a message behave like a mini-app. The world's operators are currently building out the infrastructure to put RCS on every phone in the world.
So, to recap, brands could soon have the opportunity to send thousands of rich media messages that are personal and relevant to the recipient. They could send them with a click from inside their own systems.
Unsurprisingly, there's widespread excitement about the potential of CPaaS and RCS to transform marketing and customer service. In fact, a small number of companies have already demonstrated great success with their own rich media platforms.
One is Vehicle, a US company that helps brands send dynamic text, images and personalised videos tied to individual customer attributes. It's worked with customers including Macy's, Chipotle, Miller Lite and more.
In April 2018, Vehicle was acquired by Sweden's CLX Communications. CLX is one of the world's largest CPaaS providers. Post-acquisition, the two companies are working towards bringing mass personalised messaging to major brands, including CLX's global network of customers.
They are also preparing for the opportunities presented by RCS. And with it the chance to make customers feel like individuals again.
Matt Ramerman, CEO and co-founder of Vehicle
← Commify acquires Massenversand.de and SMSUP to build its European messaging credentials
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[infographic] Consumer demand is shaping the future of video calling for enterprises
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text:
Nosotros contra Nosotros: Aryz Releases Limited Edition Diptych
Coinciding with a series of exhibitions around France, Aryz recently announced the release of a limited edition release that further explores the concept of La Pugna. Using conflict as a constructive element, Aryz composed Nosotros contra Nosotros, a limited edition diptych comprising two separate prints, available both individually and as a set through Aryz.es.
A post shared by A R Y Z (@mr_aryz) on Dec 8, 2019 at 10:00am PST
Through his practice, Aryz honors manual labor and its imperfection. Regularly using raw sketches as a final blueprint for both canvases and large scale murals, he often leaves mistakes and over-corrections as an essential part of the finished piece. "I prepare each layer manually, working on different transparent papers that later transfer to the screen. I hope you can appreciate the fact that there is no computer involved. That makes the final piece have more strength on the strokes and keep the flavor that an original drawing would have."
For Nosotras contra Nosotras, Aryz reworked a large mural he painted in Berlin back in September, creating a diptych depicting vintage-looking men wrestling. With unexpected color shifts and deconstruction of subjects, the artist creates a dynamic atmosphere that accents the intense image summarizing his current creative practice and interest. Each print measures 50 by 70 centimeters, and are done on Somerset velvet newsprint grey, 250 gr acid-free 100% cotton paper. Signed and numbered by the artist. The edition is available as a set and individual image.
Nosotros contra Nosotros 1 is available here. Nosotros contra Nosotros 2 is available here. The Nosotros contra Nosotros diptych is available here. –Sasha Bogojev


text:
A Fractured Giant
A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT
Ethiopia's struggle to build a nation
To escape fighting in Tigray, many Ethiopians crossed into neighbouring Sudan. Nov. 22, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Filed Dec. 21, 2021, 11 a.m. GMT
Civil war has pushed millions of Ethiopians to the brink. History shows how deep the country's divides run.
Filed: December 21, 2021, 11 a.m. GMT
An Emperor murdered. Famine used as a weapon. Tanks storming a dictator's palace. And today, a civil war that threatens to tear the country of 109 million people apart. For the past half century, the history of Ethiopia has been punctuated by episodes of such drama and tragedy that each chapter is an epic in its own right. But there's a deeper story unfolding behind the headlines that helps explain why the present-day crisis is proving so hard to resolve.
Ever since the formation of modern Ethiopia in the late 19th century, successive governments have grappled with the same basic question: How best to weld the country's mosaic of more than 90 ethnicities and nationalities into a cohesive whole? The pendulum swings back and forth between attempts to build a strong central state, and moves to devolve power to the regions – with fundamentally different political visions and readings of Ethiopian history co-mingling with raw struggles for power.
In November, 2020, the latest installment erupted in the Tigray region, where a conflict between rebels and government forces has claimed thousands of civilian lives and triggered a humanitarian crisis. Some 400,000 people have been plunged into famine and 9.4 million are in critical need of food aid across northern Ethiopia, according to the United Nations. Beyond the enormous human suffering, the fate of the country has implications for the stability of the wider Horn of Africa, and Western, Chinese, Egyptian and Middle Eastern interests jockeying in the strategically important region.
Based on historical accounts and independent reports as well as Reuters archives and other material, this timeline situates the latest crisis in the context of the long-running struggle for the soul of Africa's fractured giant.
Mohamed Amin/CAMERAPIX/Handout via REUTERS
"Today is the day on which we defeated our enemy."Emperor Haile Selassie, on his return to Addis Ababa
1941 | Lion of Judah
By the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Elect of God. When he ascends the throne in 1930, Emperor Haile Selassie's official title evokes the mystique of a royal family that traces its ancestry back 3,000 years to the Biblical King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. In more recent memory, the new emperor's forebear, Menelik II, had waged brutal wars of slave-raiding and conquest at the close of the 19th century, carving out the borders of modern Ethiopia, and imposing ethnic Amhara culture and language on assimilated groups. Conflicting perceptions of nation-building as "unification" and "colonisation" dating from this period remain major political faultlines to this day.
In 1935, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini invades Ethiopia from Eritrea, a territory under Italian colonial rule. Haile Selassie flees into exile in the English city of Bath after Addis Ababa falls the following year. The Italians deploy chemical weapons, bomb Red Cross ambulances, and massacre many of the educated elite. Five years later, and true to his title, the emperor stages a triumphant return to Addis Ababa after Ethiopian partisans and British forces drive out the occupiers. In a country where peasants live in thrall to feudal landlords and slavery is endemic, Haile Selassie pledges to usher Ethiopia into a new era of modernity by creating a strong centralised state.
"By virtue of His Imperial Blood, as well as by anointing He has received, the person of the Emperor is sacred. His dignity is inviolable and His power indisputable."Article 4 of the revised Constitution of Ethiopia (1955)
1941-1974 | An aging autocrat
While Haile Selassie is romanticised as an icon of African liberation on the global stage, and is considered a living Messiah by devotees of the Rastafarian faith in the Caribbean, discontent is building at home. Electrified by independence movements sweeping Africa, a younger generation of leftist student leaders begins agitating for land reform, greater democracy and more inclusive forms of Ethiopian identity. In 1960, Haile Selassie survives a coup attempt by conspirators including the commander of his palace bodyguard. In the northern territory of Eritrea – annexed by the emperor in 1962 – insurgents wage an armed struggle for independence. The government's military response includes massacring civilians, burning villages, forced relocations, killing livestock, poisoning wells, and blockading food. Haile Selassie's legitimacy erodes further in October, 1973, when a British television news report called The Unknown Famine exposes the deprivation gripping the northern Wollo region, where at least 40,000 people will die from hunger. The contrast between scenes of people starving and the emperor's lavish 80th birthday celebrations catalyse fresh protests by striking students, taxi drivers, unions and some air force units.
"Let it be clear to everybody that I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!" Mengistu Haile Mariam, vowing to take on the imperial elite
1974-1975 | A dynasty deposed
Seven centuries of monarchical rule are severed as a committee of army officers known as the Derg seizes power. In a coup that unfolds from February to September, 1974, the 120-strong junta effectively hijacks the push for reform spearheaded by student revolutionaries – then rapidly descends into bloody infighting. On Nov. 23, General Aman Andom, a larger-than-life war hero, who briefly serves as Ethiopia's first post-imperial head of state, is killed in a shootout by supporters of Mengistu Haile Mariam, an ambitious colonel. In an early sign of the ruthless tenor of the new Mengistu regime, 60 of Haile Selassie's top officials are summarily executed by firing squad.
Less than a year later, the toppled emperor is himself secretly murdered – said to have been suffocated with a pillow. His remains will later be found interred under a cement slab in his palace grounds. Adopting Marxist rhetoric and courting the Soviet Union, Mengistu bows to popular demands to redistribute land to the peasantry in one of the most sweeping land nationalisations in the world. Although the imperial era has ended, there is some continuity, with Mengistu equating nationhood with a strong central state.
"Henceforth we will tackle our enemies that come face to face with us and we will not be stabbed from behind by internal foes."Mengistu Haile Mariam
1977-8 | "Red Terror"
Despite his pledges to liberate the country from its feudal yoke, Mengistu sets about crushing all opposition. In a speech in April 1977, he declares "Death to the Counter-Revolutionaries" and smashes three bottles of red liquid on the ground to symbolise the blood of his opponents. The gesture marks the start of a two-year campaign of mass arrests, torture and killings known as the "Red Terror." Tens of thousands of young people are killed; mutilated bodies are routinely dumped in the streets of Addis Ababa. Families have to pay a symbolic fee for what the authorities describe as the "wasted bullet" used to kill their relative. Far from uniting the country, Mengistu's Soviet-backed forces find themselves mired in conflict with a resurgent rebellion in Eritrea, then part of Ethiopia. Rebels also take up arms in neighbouring Tigray and what is now Oromiya in the south. The leaders of these various fronts will shape Ethiopia's destiny in the decades ahead.
1983-1985 | Famine as a weapon
As the Derg military junta celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Marxist revolution, northern Ethiopia once again suffers a catastrophic famine. From 1983-1985, at least 400,000 lives are lost, according to an exhaustive report later compiled by Human Rights Watch. Although drought exacerbates the crisis, the scope, scale and severity of the starvation is a direct result of Mengistu's embrace of famine as a weapon of war, the report finds. His government blocks food aid to rebel-held areas in Tigray, bombs markets and relief convoys, and embarks on a programme of forced relocation designed to cut off the insurgents from their rural supporters. Some 600,000 people are rounded up and moved from Tigray and other northern areas to Oromiya in the south; another three million are subjected to "villagisation" programmes that force scattered rural populations into villages with communal farmland. At least 100,000 people are estimated to have died in 1985 during these resettlement operations, according to Médecins sans Frontières.
May 1991 | Rebels at the gates
With Ethiopia ravaged by hunger and civil war, Mengistu's repression enflames opposition to his rule. Soviet military aid dwindles after Mikhail Gorbachev takes over as leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 and winds down Cold War-era proxy wars in Africa. Rebels seize their opportunity to advance, and the 450,000-strong Ethiopian military begins to implode. Slumped in the back of a car, the man who once struck terror into a nation is seen making his way to the airport through near deserted streets soon after dawn on May 21, 1991. After the former dictator flies into exile in Zimbabwe, the New York Times reports that he arrives looking "close to tears." Mengistu is granted safe haven by then President Robert Mugabe, who remains grateful for the support he provided to the country's anti-colonial movement. Days later, Tigrayans, Eritreans and allied rebel factions under the umbrella of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seize Addis Ababa in a dawn assault. The sound of sporadic artillery and machine-gun fire echoes through streets as fighters overwhelm remaining pockets of Mengistu loyalists within hours, and reach the inner sanctum of the presidential palace.
"If I failed, it was only because I was betrayed."Mengistu Haile Mariam
1991 | Rising from the ashes
Mengistu's attempts to centralise power in Ethiopia under a Marxist-style state have failed. The regime could not survive the impact of years of economic mismanagement, resentment unleashed by its political terror campaign and multiple regional rebellions. In exile, Mengistu insists he was betrayed. While he ruminates on his defeat, the EPRDF rapidly consolidates its grip on power. Meles Zenawi, the head of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant faction, emerges as the country's new leader. Although Tigrayans form a majority in their home region, they make up about 6% of Ethiopia's total population. Despite their minority status, the rebel take-over will see Tigrayans take many key positions in the central government and security forces. Resentment grows among Oromos, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, and Amharas, who rank second in terms of size but who were pre-eminent during the imperial era that ended with Haile Selassie.
REUTERS/Pool
1991 | A new era
Known for his sharp intellect and political acumen, Meles leads Ethiopia's nation-building project in a radically new direction. With a plethora of regionally-based rebel groups clamouring for greater autonomy, Meles places an explicit recognition of the central importance of ethnic identity at the heart of his political vision.
Reversing the Mengistu regime's push for greater centralisation, a constitution adopted in 1995 divides Ethiopia into nine ethnically-based federal regions. Their governance structures are modelled on Tigray, which the TPLF had been running as an autonomous region since 1989. Uniquely in Africa, the new constitution enshrines the rights of each of the country's regions and recognised ethnic groups to hold a referendum on self-determination. Supporters present the constitution as a vital counterweight to historical attempts by the country's Amhara imperial-era elite to assimilate other communities by forcing them to adopt Amharic culture and language, and expropriating their land.
But Meles' privileging of ethnicity represents a contrarian bet on a continent where conflicts playing out along ethnic lines represent one of the greatest impediments to the formation of stable post-independence states. Advocates of a more unitary approach to governing Ethiopia fear ethnic federalism will further polarise the country and lead to its eventual dismemberment.
REUTERS TV
1993 | A nation is born
Mengistu's fall marks victory for Eritrea in its 30-year armed struggle for independence. Former rebel leader Isaias Afwerki, who fought Mengistu alongside Meles, pursues international recognition for the Eritrean government. In April 1993, Africa's youngest country formalises its new-found status by staging a referendum in which more than 99% of votes are cast in favour of independence. Hopes are high that Isaias and Meles will build on their shared struggle to cement peaceful relations. In the spring of 1998, during a 10-day trip to Africa, then U.S. President Bill Clinton extols an "African Renaissance" led by a new generation of progressive leaders – his aides name Meles and Isaias as prime examples. But the marriage of convenience forged while fighting Mengistu is not to last.
REUTERS/Corinne Dufka
1998 | Friends turn foe
Against a background of economic tensions and growing personal enmity between Isaias and TPLF leaders over who should be the pre-eminent regional power, fighting breaks out – ostensibly over who can claim the town of Badme on the disputed border between Eritrea and Ethiopia's Tigray region. Tit-for-tat air raids at the onset of hostilities cost civilian lives.
The war revives Meles' credibility among Ethiopian nationalists, who had previously criticized him for allowing Eritrea to assert its independence.
REUTERS/Sami Sallinen
1998-2000 | Fighting yard-by-yard
The war grinds on, with withering casualties in fighting over barren plains in World War One-style trench warfare. An estimated 70,000 combatants are killed. Ethiopia forcibly expels as many as 75,000 people of Eritrean origin, most of whom were born in Ethiopia and have lived there their entire lives. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Ethiopians are expelled or repatriated voluntarily from Eritrea. The conflict sets the stage for years of continuing enmity between Eritrea and the TPLF after Ethiopia keeps Badme for itself.
REUTERS/Andrew Heavens
May-April 2005 | Elections, then crackdown
In a near revolutionary atmosphere, elections in May, 2005 are a lightning rod for growing discontent with the Tigrayan-dominated federal government. Fractious opposition parties backed by energetic crowds of Oromo and Amhara youth unite to confront Meles with the first concerted challenge since he took power. After an initial strong showing by the opposition, the government declares a state of emergency. Allegations of massive rigging by the ruling coalition mar the polls. Security forces open fire into crowds of protesters in Addis Ababa, killing almost 200 people; 20,000 to 30,000 more are swept up in mass arrests. Meles' reputation is increasingly tarnished at home – but he remains a key partner of both the West and China.
REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
2010 | Increasing repression
Meles' government becomes increasingly authoritarian. Ethiopia's federal system of government – formalised by the 1995 constitution that divided Ethiopia into nine ethnically-based regions – is under increasing strain. Armed Oromo and Somali factions fighting guerilla campaigns in rural areas say Meles has failed to live up to his promises to devolve political power. Meanwhile, many urban, educated Ethiopians see the system's basis in ethnic identity as a retrograde impediment to building a modern, cohesive state.
REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri
2012 | Era of uncertainty
Ethiopia enters uncharted waters following Meles' death in August 2012. After the chaos of the Mengistu years, Ethiopia has earned a reputation as a bastion of stability in the volatile Horn of Africa, with Meles presiding over a period of rapid economic growth that opened opportunities for many. But critics say that Meles' embrace of ethnic federalism may have served to mask the country's tensions, rather than resolve them. Southerner Hailemariam Desalegn, a technocrat, takes over as prime minister and pursues continuity. But pressure for reform grows as youth from the Oromo and other communities hold three years of protests against inequality, economic mismanagement and repression. Hundreds of demonstrators are killed and around 30,000 are arrested. Detainees include opposition leaders, journalists and bloggers.
April 2018 | Watershed moment
A marked change occurs in April 2018 when the ruling coalition installs Abiy Ahmed as prime minister. A member of the coalition's Oromo faction, the then 41-year-old Pentecostal Christian is hailed by supporters at home and in the Ethiopian diaspora with almost messianic fervour – a phenomenon dubbed "Abiy Mania" in the media. A former cyber security chief, who joined the armed struggle against Mengistu as a teenager, Abiy styles himself as a unity candidate who can hold Ethiopia together through reform – not repression. Political prisoners are released; exiles return; and dissidents are appointed to important posts. Abiy characterizes his approach to government as medemer, or "coming together." To advocates of greater regional autonomy, the emphasis on unity evokes traumatic collective memories of the centralising campaigns waged by both Mengistu's dictatorship and the Amhara conquerors of the imperial past.
July 2018 | Rapprochement
While consolidating his position at home, Abiy pursues rapprochement with Eritrea, whose repression and isolation has earned the country a reputation as "the North Korea of Africa." The neighbours have been frozen in a state of "no war, no peace" since their 1998-2000 border war. Abiy breaks the deadlock by accepting the findings of a U.N.-backed boundary commission that awarded Badme to Eritrea.
"Forgiveness frees the consciousness," Abiy tells a huge crowd in Addis Ababa in July 2018, hugging visiting Eritrean president Isaias to celebrate their newly-forged peace. The pact gives Abiy an important ally against the once-dominant TPLF.
This new alliance raises hopes in the West of broader regional collaboration to stabilise the Horn of Africa. But Ethiopia's underlying tensions are intensifying as Abiy's moves to open up political space allow suppressed ethnic rivalries to boil over. Communal strife intensifies as ethnic strongmen seek to build powerbases by demanding more land and resources.
Late 2019 | Balance of power shifts
Politics undergo a tectonic shift as three of the four ethnic-based parties that make up the ruling EPRDF coalition that has governed Ethiopia for almost 30 years vote to merge into a new ruling Prosperity Party. After intense negotiations, the TPLF – formerly the dominant faction – declines to join the new party but remains in power in Tigray. With the TPLF no longer in a national ruling coalition, Tigray becomes the first region to be run by government opponents since the federal constitution was adopted following Mengistu's fall. Senior Tigrayans are removed from important posts in the military and central government - and some face charges of corruption or human rights abuses - as the balance of power in Addis Ababa tilts towards Oromos and Amharas. Abiy says he is distributing posts more fairly. Opponents fear that his focus on national unity heralds another swing of the pendulum towards greater centralisation.
NTB Scanpix/Stian Lysberg Solum via REUTERS
"War is the epitome of hell – I know because I have been there and back."Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech
2019-2020 | Peace Prize and unrest
In October 2019, Abiy is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his reconciliation with Eritrea, catapulting him into darling status on the international stage. But tensions continue to fester at home. In June 2020, the murder of popular Oromo singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa by unknown assailants sparks deadly riots that claim more than 150 lives; 9,000 people are arrested.
In Tigray, many feel excluded by Abiy's peace agreement with Eritrea – which they fear he will use to forge an alliance against them with Isaias, who has regarded the TPLF as an arch-enemy since the 1998-2000 border war. Tensions escalate sharply when Abiy's government postpones general elections due in August, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Tigrayan leaders recall their representatives from Addis Ababa and hold their own elections in Tigray in September in defiance of federal authorities. Abiy likens the polls to the construction of a "shanty" by squatters; Tigray media cast his government as a "dictatorship."
REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
November 2020 | Conflict erupts
In the early hours of Nov. 4, 2020, Tigrayan forces seize military bases across Tigray – later saying they had no choice but to launch pre-emptive strikes in response to a build-up of government forces in the region. Abiy orders his troops to retake control. The conflict widens as Eritrean forces enter Tigray to support the Ethiopian military. This cross-border incursion prompts accusations from Abiy's opponents that he struck the peace deal to unite with Isaias to crush their shared foes.
Forces from the neighbouring Amhara region also enter Tigray from the south. Within days of the conflict starting, reports emerge of communal killings in a farming town called Mai Kadra in western Tigray, a fertile swathe of land claimed by both Tigray and Amhara.
Reuters reporting establishes that the first killings in the town were committed by Tigrayans against Amharas; the TPLF says its regular troops had withdrawn by then and were not involved. Then come revenge killings of Tigrayans by Amharas. All over western Tigray, tens of thousands of Tigrayan residents are driven out; many have their homes burned and land seized. Amhara claims western Tigray as its own territory, stations its security forces there and begins to administer it.
The killings trigger a cycle of widening bloodshed – watched anxiously by other ethnic federal regions amid fears of further eruptions of communal violence. All sides deny committing abuses.
Meanwhile, Reuters reporting finds that the government is sweeping up thousands of Tigrayans in mass arrests, including prominent businessmen, diplomats, generals and even opponents of the TPLF. The government says the arrests are solely for security purposes – but Tigrayans see them as a witch hunt.
REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
March-June 2021 | "Sexual slavery"
As the conflict intensifies, the United Nations speaks of possible war crimes by all sides in Tigray's war. U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock tells the Security Council, "There is no doubt that sexual violence is being used in this conflict as a weapon of war." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says there have been acts of ethnic cleansing and calls on Amhara forces to withdraw. In April, Reuters details accounts of women tortured and raped in central Tigray by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops; a regional official says some women are being kept in "sexual slavery."
The humanitarian crisis in Tigray continues to worsen as Ethiopia's government and its allies impose a de facto blockade on food aid, according to the United Nations. All the warring parties deny blocking aid.
By now, more than 350,000 of Tigray's nearly 6 million people are living in famine conditions, U.N. agencies and aid groups say. Another 2 million are on the brink of such dire deprivation.
REUTERS/Giulia Paravicini
June-July 2021 | Rebels rebound
TPLF forces stage a comeback, recapturing Tigray's regional capital Mekelle in June and taking thousands of troops prisoner. Government forces withdraw from most of the region. Pushing south and east into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions in the ensuing weeks, the Tigrayan forces trigger a fresh wave of mass displacement and edge nearer to Addis Ababa. TPLF leaders say they aim to break what they describe as an aid blockade on Tigray and free contested western Tigray from Amhara control. The TPLF also raises the prospect of a referendum to determine Tigray's future. The conflict is increasingly framed in ethnic terms, and hate speech proliferates on social media. In July, Abiy describes the TPLF as "weeds" and "cancer."
"Famine looms. It is not a crisis; it is a catastrophe."USAID chief Samantha Power tweets in June
July-August 2021 | Hunger intensifies
The U.N. World Food Programme warns that aid deliveries to more than a million people in the northwest of the country and parts of southern Tigray have only reached half of those it planned to help – including communities on the edge of famine. Meanwhile, in August, Tigrayan forces publicly align with the Oromo Liberation Army, a rebel group fighting in rural areas to the west of Addis Ababa – raising the risk the conflict will further fracture the country. International concern grows. Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, serving as African Union envoy to the Horn of Africa, and his U.S. counterpart Jeffrey Feltman make little headway in bringing the warring parties to the negotiating table.
August-November 2021 | Fighting spreads
Lalibela, home of the iconic rock churches sacred to the Ethiopian Orthodox church and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, is among towns that repeatedly change hands as government and rebel forces wrestle for control of strategic locations. In November, a joint investigation by the United Nations and Ethiopia's human rights commission concludes that "all parties to the Tigray conflict have committed violations of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law. Some of these may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity." The U.N. Human Rights Council votes in December to establish an independent investigation.
The report accuses all sides of abuses ranging from the torture and killing of civilians, to gang-rapes and arrests on the basis of ethnicity. Prime Minister Abiy says he accepts the report despite some "serious reservations." Eritrea calls it "utterly false." The TPLF accuses Ethiopian investigators of bias.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner
November-December 2021 | State of emergency
The unthinkable suddenly beckons for Abiy as the rebels push towards Addis Ababa. Advancing south through Afar and Amhara, Tigrayan forces clash with government troops near a town just 190 kilometres (118 miles) from the capital. Jolted by the pace of the rebel gains, the government declares a state of emergency on Nov. 2. Abiy appeals to Ethiopians to mobilise in defence of the nation, then dons fatigues and travels to the front to personally command the counter-offensive.
By December, government troops have pushed the rebels back hundreds of kilometres. Under mounting military pressure, the TPLF says on Dec. 20 that it has withdrawn its forces from the northern regions neighbouring Tigray. The move is seen as a possible step towards a ceasefire.
After the decades of struggle to forge a united Ethiopia, the country is once more searching for a viable formula to reconcile tensions between centre and regions, assimilation and autonomy.
Sources: This account is based on research materials including books and reports, and Reuters archives
Photo editing: Simon Newman
Graphic: Aditi Bhandari
Art direction: Troy Dunkley
Edited by Janet McBride
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A rainy Sunday meant only three films, once again very different. I'll talk more about The Square in a separate review, which leaves one film experimenting with a new cinematic language and another steeped in the language of old.
The film opens with two women a slow, existential discussion in a forest. Throughout the film, dialogue between people is almost uniformly written; they are not actors, but the director has set out to blur the distinction between documentary and fiction. The effect of this is to observe this intriguing halfway point between two very different worlds. Surrounded by forest, these villagers exist outside of modern society. Their day-to-day life, as shown, is rudimentary.
Much of Encisco's focus is on effect on nature. In the opening shot, the women appear like inserts between trees, in another a perfectly still body of water ripples perfectly, its reflection becoming hypnotic and kaleidoscopic. When a man is shown helping a cow give birth, the camera ensures that we know that the calf has been tied to a rope to help pull him out.
What, then, is the effect of this? It's hard to say. It's very deliberately restrained and poetic, but it's fascinating to learn about these people who seem to live both within and outside of time. The pacing is glacial which makes it difficult to focus and engage with at times, though much of the imagery is stunning and at 70 minutes it's not exactly a slog. It's just that it seems to be showing us one idea about these people and repeating it over and over.
No, I'd never seen this before. But now that I have, I understand why it's considered such a masterpiece. I had little foreknowledge or preconceptions, so it took my some time to adjust to the sheer delicacy of it all. The way the conversations play out slowly and with no rush to get to the next scene. The way the characters engage fully in mundane things like removing shoes. It's beautiful, really.
I became so immersed in the world Ozu creates that I barely noticed how slowly it moved until the final act where this fragile shell shatters. All of a sudden, it's like there's all the time in the world but it's slipping rapidly away. Watching the relationships between the children and their parents develop makes the coldness of their attitudes at the end all hit that much harder.
A brief side note: if you're not going to be respectful when you see older films in cinemas, please, PLEASE just don't go. There's a growing pandemic of people who like to snigger through older films when people don't talk or act like we've come to expect in modern cinema. It becomes particularly odious in foreign films because it's essentially laughing at the behaviour of other cultures. It's gross, it's disrespectful to both the films and fellow film-goers, and frankly, it just makes you look utterly stupid. Save that garbage attitude for your own home, plebeians.


A big thanks to some who made my life better in July!
This is from an interesting article " 8 Science-Based Ways You Can Increase Your Charisma" by Yehuda Freundlich (LinkedIn, July 2016).
Charisma is the compelling attractiveness or charm in a person, which can inspire devotion in others. It plays an integral role in leadership and persuasion, and can translate into more sales, better negotiations, and phenomenal relationships between your clients and your co-workers.
Metaphors - Stirs the other person's emotions and invokes meaning into what you're talking about.
Anecdotes - Helps others understand what you're saying and makes it easier for them to remember.
Empathy - Shows you care about the other person by trying to understand and share their feelings.
Curiosity - Ask about others' opinions and needs. Be patient, hear them out.
Feeling - Put yourself into what you're doing.
Rhetoric - Use contrasts to bring out your point. Create mental lists in the other person's mind by speaking out a specific number and then going through it one-by-one.
Physical Appearance - Keep yourself well groomed. People want to connect with attractive people.
Expression - Smile and use hand gestures when you speak and try to maintain eye-contact.
Freundlich suggests using both the verbal and the non-verbal techniques to develop your charisma and make your message more memorable.
Felicia Spahr's article " Three Questions To Ask Instead Of Saying "Nice Job"" in Fast Company (July 08, 2016) says we need to do better at giving praise; specifically, that "nice job" doesn't cut it.
Instead, Spahr recommends asking questions: Questions (instead of comments) will "
move the conversation forward in ways a desultory "nice job" can't." Besides, she argues, you shouldn't make the team member guess why they are getting praise!
1. What Inspired You To Do That? This gives you more insight and can help encourage more of the same.
2. How Is This Different Than What You Were Doing Before? In order to deepen the meaning of the praise and help your employee internalize the lesson, ask them about the change that brought about the new outcome. Later, if they find themselves in a similar situation, they can refer back to this moment and recall exactly what they did.
3. What Do You Need In Order To Do More Of This?
The question is designed to get the other person thinking not just about what worked and why, but also how they can turn that into a regular process that happens more often. That potentially benefits them as well as everyone on the team.
I just found out that the green stuff we get with our sushi is NOT wasabi.
Apparently the real wasabi is very expensive and hard to get at, so what we get in restaurants (to approximate the taste and burn of wasabi) is just European mustard, horseradish, and green food colouring.
Furthermore, if we were able to get the real thing the root needs to be ground fresh as it loses its "zip" in 15 minutes.
In short, it's better sushi through chemistry!
It has been quiet! Glad you're all enjoying the summer and maybe even getting to a few "rainy day" tasks.
"Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others. It is the only means."
"Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along."
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting."
"When you hand good people possibility, they do great things!!"
I was just wondering when my summer would get started and the ads for school supplies started. Somehow I missed most of it, so I need to get cracking.
Unlike last year, it seems many non-profit boards are getting the summer off. This is good news, as we all need to rest and rejuvenate. Don't worry Executive Directors! Your boards may start out groggy in the fall but they'll regain momentum before the end of September. They always do.
Once I decided to start my summer I reached out to many friends and colleagues to arrange coffee and lunch dates. It has been wonderful to not be in such a rush and to dig a little deeper into what makes us really tick (not just what we do for our jobs).
Summer is also a good time to clean the office and to catch up on some administrative and bookkeeping work. Even as I type that my nose is crinkled up and I have a sneer on my face. That said, when the phone isn't ringing and the deadlines aren't staring me in the face, these tasks are tolerable. Given a ten hour, uninterrupted span I can even find Zen moments in accounting.
I had an awesome camping trip with the women and girls in my family. Even though I only got to stay 11 hours and was only an hour out of town, I was able to disconnect completely. It was a fabulous outing and I hope we can do it again next year.
Rehearsals continue for my Fringe production of TRAIL AND ERROR, and am more impressed every day with the talented people involved. I am also grateful to so many who help out our productions behind the scenes (see below).
Even though we've had a string of hot days (and a team that isn't playing hot at all), much has been happening with respect to Grey Cup in late November. We got our game tickets, flights, (secured hotel ages ago), and Spirit of Edmonton breakfast tickets. I love having something to look forward to. Now all that's left is to pay for it all!
In looking forward, I always look back. Here's a photo that spurred TRAIL AND ERROR (and a ton of other things in my life). I hope as you start planning for fall, you will enjoy the memories you are making this summer.
1997 -- A lifetime ago!
"Allow the world to live as it chooses, and allow yourself to live as you choose."
Q: I'M ON A PROVINCIAL BOARD AS WELL AS THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR OUR PROFESSION. WHICH GROUP GETS MY ALLEGIANCE?
This question demands a recap of the principle of "Fiduciary Duty." You'll recall that a "fiduciary" is anyone in a position of authority (so Board members, CEOs, etc.).
When you sit on the provincial (or local) board for your profession or industry, you have a fiduciary duty to that organization. That means you put the interests of the organization before your own and avoid conflict of interest. Most people can grasp this concept. Sure, some people still manage to get elected to boards with their own personal agenda, but thankfully MOST are there to further the objectives of the organization.
Where it gets interesting is when you also end up on a national (or provincial) board because of your role on the provincial (or local) board.
So now who is owed your fiduciary duty? Honestly, it's whichever group whose meeting you are at! To use a football analogy (which I love to do), this is not just the difference between a home jersey versus an away jersey. When you are involved in this way, you need to wear a jersey for an entirely different team!
A provincial (or local) group may try to direct you to vote a particular way at on an issue at the national (or provincial) table. This is completely inappropriate because of your role as a fiduciary. When you get to that national (or provincial) table, you must vote in the best interests of THAT organization. It's not only your duty, it's the law. And sometimes it just doesn't fit with what the provincial (or local) organization wanted. Tough tarts.
The days of "being a representative of 'x'" on a board need to be behind us. This model just don't allow for good (and lawful) governance, plus confused/conflicted expectations are really hard on people!
I recently watched the film " Our Brand is Crisis." It is (allegedly) a political satire but it parallels so closely what we are seeing today world politics that I found it more troubling than entertaining. So I was glad when an article by Joseph Grenny on manipulation (May 05, 2015) appeared in my inbox.
Grenny is one of the "Behavioural Science Guys" and his YouTube videos are usually very insightful and entertaining. I've summarized below, but encourage you to click the link below the title and watch the video to see the social experiments they did.
Grenny talks about how easily people are manipulated. He cites social science experiments that prove someone can make you/me/us do almost anything. He says, "It's time we acknowledge how little control we have over our own behavior and start taking control of the things that control us. Only then will we be the real agents of our own behavior. Only then will we be able to live up to the morals, goals, and aspirations we most cherish."
Grenny says that in order to take control we need to be able to spot the influencers. To do that, he suggests that we pick an influence tactic we see in action and study it. His reason? Because "you are least subject to manipulation when you are most conscious of its attempt." For example, if you know someone is raising her voice in order to intimidate you, you may feel less intimidated.
He offers four common ways that we are manipulated "into supporting and doing despicable things" (based on Albert Bandura's book Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live With Themselves).
1. Minimizing the behavior. Using sanitizing euphemisms to describe what we're doing (e.g., "enhanced interrogation" rather than "torture" or "waterboarding").
2. Minimizing consequences. Minimizing the consequences of choices with advantageous comparisons (e.g., "One ice cream cone won't cause a heart attack!").
3. Dehumanize victims. Manipulating the representation of victims, often through making them a caricature or by labeling. Grenny uses the example of "The Interview", a comedy film that depicts an assassination of Kim Jong Un. He argues you could not get away with doing the same with other sitting heads of state, but the world let this one go because Kim Jong Un is seen as "a ruthless buffoon" and "not human." With respect to labeling, Grenny noted that we also behave more favourably towards things that have pleasing names (e.g., furry-nosed otter versus sharp-clawed otter; or a particular nationality versus "enemy combatants").
4. Moral justification. Behaving badly because something good will come out of it (e.g., Cheating because the winner gets to donate the proceeds to charity).
Grenny suggests that we sort out our opinions because "there are things we and others do that cloud and confuse the moral calculation." He says, "To stay connected to your conscience, the best course is to learn to spot these manipulations -- both self-imposed and external -- and reframe the choice in an honest way."
Anyway, it seems like the universe wants us to pay attention to this stuff, and who am I to mess with the universe? Happy reading!
I help associations and boards with tasks that can't be done in-house due to lack of capacity, time, skill, or a combination. I spend most of my time with governance, planning, bylaws, board development, interim management, and writing. I'm also a playwright, a funeral celebrant, and a big fan of the Canadian Football League. I have a great life. If I can help to improve your life, let me know.