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4. decembra 2017 Comenius ČASOPIS
Legal Profession in England and Wales
The English and Welsh legal system still maintains a division between solicitors and barristers who form the largest part of the legal profession in this jurisdiction. Different skills are required for each of them and each has its own path into practice. The submitted article analyses the nature of these two most common legal professions and expands primarily on the scope of their work, qualification requirements and complicated training routes to become fully-qualified solicitors and barristers. Furthermore, it deals with career options pursued by these legal practitioners once they successfully complete their training.
The term lawyer is a very general term used to refer to a person whose job is to give advice to people about the law and speak for them in court. On the other hand, it can also be used to refer to a person who has completed a study of law regardless of what he/she actually does as a profession. There are different expressions which can be used to refer to a lawyer dealing with a particular type of work, e.g. counsel (or counsellor, counsellor-at-law, pleader, advocate) refers to a lawyer who pleads cases in court; conveyancer is a lawyer who specialises in the business of conveying property; defence lawyer is a lawyer who represents the defendant, divorce lawyer is naturally a lawyer specialising in actions for divorce or annulment; and a trial lawyer is a lawyer who specialises in defending clients before a court of law.[1]
The legislative framework for the regulation of legal services in England and Wales is set out in the Legal Services Act 2007[2]. Under the Legal Services Act 2007, only individuals and businesses authorised by an "Approved Regulator" or those exempt from the requirement to be authorised are entitled to provide reserved legal activities. The six reserved legal activities are: the exercise of a right of audience, the conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate activities, notarial activities and the administration of oaths.
The professionals that can be authorised to carry out reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007 are solicitors, barristers, legal executives[3], licensed conveyancers[4], patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys, costs lawyers[5], notaries[6], and chartered accountants[7].
Solicitors and barristers form the largest part of the legal profession in England and Wales. Such division should reflect their two broadly different roles within the legal system. To put it simply, solicitors generally handle office work whereas barristers plead cases in court but there can be some overlap. The distinction between these two legal professions was originally based on their roles in the English court system where solicitors were lawyers who were admitted to practise in equity courts, whereas barristers were lawyers who practised in common law courts.
The term solicitor refers to a legal practitioner who is admitted to practice under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974[8]. Solicitors form the larger part of the English legal profession. There are approximately 130,000 solicitors on the roll[9] in England and Wales with between 5,000 and 7,000 admitted each year.[10] Solicitors can be organised as sole practitioners, limited companies, partnerships or limited liability partnerships.
The professional body for solicitors in England and Wales is called the Law Society. The Law Society was incorporated by royal charter in 1831 and exists in order to further the professional interests of solicitors and to discharge important statutory functions in relation to the admission to practice, the conduct and discipline of solicitors. It issues annual practising certificates to solicitors (these entitle solicitors to practise) and may strike a solicitor's name off the roll as well as take other disciplinary action. Furthermore, it is responsible for the examination of intending solicitors and organises educational and training courses through recognised universities. In short, the Law Society exists to help, protect and promote solicitors across England and Wales.[11]
Solicitors provide expert guidance on and undertake work related to the issues people regularly face such as conveyancing or drawing up wills and contracts. Furthermore, solicitors also help businesses with the legal side of commercial transactions and advise people on their rights, ensuring they are treated fairly by public or private bodies. In addition to the foregoing activities, many solicitors undertake legal aid work or spend a portion of their time providing free help to those unable to pay for legal services. As for the clients representation, solicitors can represent clients personally in the lower courts (Magistrates' courts, County Courts and tribunals) and are also able to represent them in higher courts with specialist training (Crown Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court).
Once a solicitor qualifies, there is a variety of different career options available. Solicitors can choose to work in private practice. In 2014 there were over 86,000 solicitors in England and Wales who worked in private practices which ranged from sole practitioners to multinational firms with hundreds of partners and offices around the world. In private practice solicitors can be employed at various levels of seniority and one may actually become a partner. There are approximately 16,000 solicitors who are employed by commercial and industrial organisations dealing with their legal business in-house. Around 4,000 solicitors are employed in local government advising on the services the authority provides to the community and around 1,000 solicitors work in the government legal service advising government ministers and implementing government decisions or in the court services. Furthermore, around 2,000 solicitors are employed by the Crown Prosecution Service which prosecutes the majority of criminal cases in England and Wales and advises the police on prosecutions. Other opportunities the solicitors have include the Magistrates' Court Service where they advise magistrates on a wide range of matters including, inter alia, family law or criminal law, law centres, charities and armed forces.[12]
In order to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales, one may follow three different routes – the law graduate route, the non-law graduate route and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executive (CILEx) route. However, in all three routes one could distinguish between two key stages to qualify as a solicitor, the academic stage and the vocational stage.
The majority of solicitors qualify by the law graduate route which starts with completing a qualifying law degree (lasting three years full-time). The qualifying law degree involves studying seven foundations of legal knowledge – contract, tort, criminal law, equity and trusts, EU law, property law, constitutional and administrative law. Having completed such law degree, the intending solicitor has to take the Legal Practice Course which can be studied in two stages with the first stage covering the core practice areas of litigation (business law, property law and litigation) and also dealing with professional conduct and regulation, taxation, wills and administration of estates, and the second stage encompassing vocational electives such as employment law, family law and commercial property law. The Legal Practice Course is offered by a number of colleges and universities and can be taken as either a full-time or a part-time course.
The next step to qualify as a solicitor is to complete a practise-based training which is also known as a period of recognised training (usually lasting 2 years but can be reduced provided that one has gained suitable and relevant previous legal experience) and can take place either after completing the Legal Practice Course or while completing this course. This part enables the intending solicitors to apply, under supervision, the skills and knowledge they acquired during the academic and vocational stages and one is required to gain experience in at least three different areas of law and practice. This training can be undertaken in private practice (which most trainees actually do) but it can also be undertaken within local and central government, commerce and industry, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Magistrates' Court Service or other approved organisations.[13]
Trainees normally also take the Professional Skills Course during the period of recognised training which must be completed by them as well to qualify as a solicitor. This course consists of electives and three compulsory core areas – financial and business skills, advocacy and communication skills, client care and professional standards.
Once the intending solicitor has successfully completed the qualifying law degree, Legal Practice Course, Professional Skills Course and period of recognised training, he or she can apply to the roll of solicitors in England and Wales which entitles him or her to practice as a solicitor.
The non-law graduate route which can also be referred to as the conversion course route is usually followed by 20% of solicitors. Naturally, the beginning of this route starts with completing a degree in any subject (three years full-time) and is followed by a one year full-time Common Professional Examination or Graduate Diploma in Law. The aim of this intensive conversion course is to prepare non-law graduates (whether they studied in the UK or not) for the Legal Practice Course. The course is built around the core curriculum and assessment requirements of the qualifying law degree and is offered by many academic institutions as a one year full-time or two year part-time course. The next steps on this non-law graduate route are the same as in the case of a law graduate route, i.e. completing Legal Practice Course, period of recognised training, Professional Skills Course and finally being admitted to the roll.
A barrister is a legal practitioner admitted to plead at the Bar who must be a member of one of the four Inns of Court by whom he is called to the Bar when admitted to the profession. Barristers have been providing expert advice and advocacy since the 13th century. Advocacy is a key element of the job as a barrister and therefore the primary function of barristers is to act as advocates[14] for parties in courts or tribunals but they can also undertake work such as writing of opinions and some of the work preparatory to a trial. A barrister may only act upon the instructions of a solicitor (there are some exceptions to this, though) and solicitors are also responsible for the payment of the barrister's fee. Solicitors have good working relationships with barristers and are usually likely to be able to identify the most suitable barrister to deal with a client's case. If such identified barrister is available and there are no conflicts of interest, then such barrister is under a duty to take on the pertinent case (under the so called cab rank rule[15]).
Both barristers and solicitors enjoy a right of audience. The right of audience is defined as the right to appear before and address a court including the right to call and examine witnesses.[16] Barristers have the full right of audience in all courts unlike solicitors who traditionally only appeared in tribunals, coroners courts, magistrates' courts, county courts, the Family Court and European Courts, but may now obtain higher rights of audience in the Crown Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
A limited number of senior barristers (of at least ten years' practice) receive silk which means that they become Queen's Counsels (QC) as a mark of their outstanding ability and are normally instructed in very serious or complex cases.
The route which needs to be taken in order to become a practising barrister in the UK starts with the completion of a qualifying law degree or a conversion course in case of non-law graduates.
One has to complete the Bar Professional Training Course next to obtain the required set of legal skills which can be done either full-time or part-time. The full-time course runs for one academic year; the part-time course for two years. The said course may be taken once the academic requirements have been successfully completed. This course is designed primarily to ensure that students acquire skills, knowledge of procedure and evidence and competence to prepare them for the more specialised training of pupillage. There currently are six Bar Professional Training Course providers.
At this stage, an intending barrister is also required to join one of the four Inns of Court[17] and undertake a number of qualifying sessions. Anyone wishing to join the Bar must join one of the Inns first which are responsible for "calling barristers to the Bar". Admission to an Inn is required before registration on the Bar Professional Training Course, although many undergraduates join before this stage in order to participate in activities, use the library, or start their qualifying sessions. The Inn represents a professional association of barristers which provides support for barristers and students through a range of educational activities, lunching and dining facilities. They also provide a number of grants and scholarships for the various stages on the way to becoming a barrister. A student's choice of Inn does not affect the area of law in which they wish to practise or their choice of pupillage and it is usually a matter of personal choice. Students are required to complete 12 qualifying units in order to be called to the Bar. These units, also known as qualifying sessions, are educational and collegiate activities arranged by the Inn(s) for the purpose of preparing Bar Professional Training Course students for practice. These sessions used to be known as "dining sessions" which traditionally focused on dining with senior practitioners and also provided networking opportunities and sharing of best practice. There currently are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. After successful completion of the Bar Professional Training Course and the Inns qualifying requirements, the intending barrister is called to the Bar and can describe himself or herself legitimately as a barrister.
The next stage (and the final stage of qualifying as a barrister) in this route is known as pupillage which is a kind of legal apprenticeship. Pupillage is undertaken at a set of barristers' chambers or another approved legal environment and is split into two periods of six months each, known as the "first six" (non-practising period of pupillage) and "second six" (practising period of pupillage). Students may apply for pupillage once they have successfully completed their Bar Professional Training Course and they must start their pupillage within five years of passing the Bar Professional Training Course. During the non-practising period, pupils shadow their pupil supervisor and they may not accept any instructions, except for noting briefs, where they have the permission of their pupil supervisor or head of chambers. During this time, pupils must also complete the Pupils Advocacy Course. If they complete this period satisfactorily, they will be given a certificate from their pupil master which will allow them to work on their own during the "second six" (the practising period). During that time they will start to take on cases and clients of their own and may represent them in court and are thus entitled to supply legal services and exercise rights of audience provided that they have the permission of their pupil supervisor or head of chambers. The practising period must commence no later than 12 months after the completion of the non-practising period. At the end of the practising period, pupils must submit a certificate from their pupil supervisor certifying that the practising period has been satisfactorily completed.
Once the pupillage has been completed, one is eligible for tenancy, i.e. a permanent place in a set of chambers. However, there is no guarantee that one will be admitted to the chambers where he/she undertook pupillage.
In terms of the professional career pursued by already qualified barristers, about 80% of barristers are self-employed. The rest are employed in industry, commerce or central or local government. The majority of barristers work in specialist legal departments, advising only the organisation for which they work, i.e. they act as in-house counsels, while others work in solicitors firms, advising clients directly. Self-employed barristers work in offices called "chambers", which they may share with other barristers. Once they complete their training, barristers apply for a permanent position known as "tenancy" in a set of chambers. Today, with the increasing globalisation of legal services, barristers practise internationally in numerous other ways, such as in international commercial arbitrations or international human rights tribunals.
The organisation of the legal profession in the jurisdiction of England and Wales is, as one can see above, rather complex. Unlike e.g. in Slovakia, there are two main branches of the legal profession – barristers and solicitors. Having introduced the scope of work of both of these legal professions above, we could generally describe solicitors as being "legal generalists" and barristers as being "specialists". A similar parallel could be drawn between a general practitioner and a medical specialist.
Generally, solicitors undertake work such as advising individuals and organisations on legal matters and ensure that their clients act in accordance with the law. They are more likely the first point of call for clients requiring legal advice and have thus a more direct contact with their clients. Barristers represent clients in court and give specialist opinions on complex legal matters. They generally receive instructions through solicitors. If one is involved in litigation and the matter is proceeding to court, the solicitor will recommend and eventually instruct a barrister.
However, the distinction between solicitors and barristers is ceasing to be as "clear-cut" as it once was. Following the Court and Legal Services Act 1990, even solicitors have the right to become advocates, i.e. represent clients in court, and some commentators thus suggest that barristers have consequently lost their dominance over advocacy in courts. However, we could argue that solicitors take on a more active advocacy role in the lower courts and barristers still maintain their monopoly over the higher courts.
Author: Mgr. Lucia Smolková, Ústav cudzojazyčnej právnej komunikácie, Právnická fakulta, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave
Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition. St. Paul: West Group, 1999, 2052 s.
CHROMÁ, M.: Anglicko – český právnický slovník. Praha: LEDA, 1997. 341 p.
KUMMEROVÁ, S. et al.: Legal English. Fundamental Terms and Topics. Revised edition. Bratislava: Bratislavská vysoká škola práva, 2009. 392 p. ISBN: 978-80-89363-20-9
Oxford Dictionary of Law, 6th edition, Oxford University Press. 624 p.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/47/pdfs/ukpga_19740047_en.pdf
http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page
http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/media/1813606/bsb_handbook_13_december_2016.pdf
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/qualifying-as-a-barrister/
https://www.city.ac.uk/law/careers/become-a-lawyer/becoming-a-barrister
[1] Information available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lawyer.
[2] To access this Act, go to: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/contents.
[3] Legal executives specialise in a particular area of law. The everyday work of a legal executive is similar to that of a solicitor and they have the option to become solicitors in one or two years after becoming practising fellows of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and usually are exempt from the training contract graduates must complete to qualify as solicitors.
[4] A licensed conveyancer is a specialist legal professional that deals with property transactions.
[5] Costs lawyers ensure that a firm's clients are properly charged for work undertaken on the client's behalf. They can represent clients in court when there is an issue over costs.
[6] Notaries are lawyers appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Notaries authenticate and certify signatures and documents.
[7] The title "chartered accountant" indicates that the person has undertaken a minimum of three years training, passed a series of examinations in financial management, auditing, business strategy and taxation, and committed to continuing professional development to keep their skills up to date.
[8] To access this Act, go to:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/47/pdfs/ukpga_19740047_en.pdf.
[9] Roll of solicitors is a list of all solicitors (qualified lawyers) in England and Wales.
[10] Figures obtained from a document prepared by the Law Society titled "Preparing students for the solicitors' profession – a guide to qualification and the profession" as of March 2011 (revised in October 2014). This document is also available at: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/law-careers/becoming-a-solicitor/.
[11] For more information about the Law Society, visit its website at: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/.
[12] All figures provided in this paragraph have been obtained from a document prepared by the Law Society titled: "Becoming a solicitor. Start planning your future today." published in January 2016 and available at: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/.
[13] It is recommended that an intending solicitor starts applying for training positions already in the second year of his or her undergraduate studies since competition for these training positions is very strong.
[14] The term advocate can be understood in two different ways. It is firstly and primarily used to refer to a person who exercises a right of audience and argues a case for a client in legal proceedings. Secondly, the term is also used in Scotland to refer to a member of the Faculty of Advocates which is the professional organisation of the Scots Bar.
[15] The cab bank rule laid down in the Bar Standards Board Handbook states that once a barrister receives instructions from a professional client and the instructions are appropriate taking into account the barrister's experience, seniority and field of practice, the barrister must accept these instructions irrespective of the identity of the client, the nature of the case to which the instructions relate, whether the client is paying privately or is publicly funded and any belief or opinion which the barrister may have formed as to the character, reputation, cause, conduct, guilt or innocence of the client. However, there are several exceptions when the foregoing rule does not apply, e.g. the potential liability for professional negligence in respect of the particular matter could exceed the level of professional indemnity insurance which is reasonably available and likely to be available in the market for a barrister to accept or accepting the instructions would require a barrister to do any foreign work.
[16] The definition provided by the Legal Services Act 2007 (paragraph 3, Schedule 2 thereto).
[17] These institutions of considerable antiquity have historically been responsible for legal education.
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There are terms like the "the dog side of paradise" who show what people think about our four-legged friends.
They are mostly seen as a nuisance or even as a danger. What disturbed the relationship between the human being and animals so much that they often get treated in the most horrible way?
Every day animals suffer in the hands of humans for one reason or another.
Unfortunately but realistically, dogs in small countries are often filthy, malnourished, virtually totally non-socialized and diseased.
They are in fact virtually wild in their existence and even people who had a working dependency on their dog rarely had an emotional bond.
How high is the knowledge about animals and animal protection?
How much does a dog's life count?
It may be so easy to save a dog's life through rehoming those who are in extreme need, providing medical assistance, raising awareness on issues facing dogs all around the world and influencing governments to implement and enforce animal welfare laws.
There is much disagreement as to whether non-human animals have rights, and how we define animal rights. There is much less disagreement about the consequences of accepting that animals have rights.
Animal rights teach us that certain things are wrong as a matter of principle, that there are some things that it is morally wrong to do to animals.
Human beings must not do those things, no matter what the cost to humanity of not doing them.
Human beings must not do those things, even if they do them in a humane way.
It makes no difference if the animals are given 5-star treatment throughout their lives and then killed humanely without any fear or pain - it's just plain wrong in principle, and nothing can make it right.
Is it fair that human animals have rights but every other species should not because giving rights to creatures that are so simple that the idea of them having rights seems to defy common sense?
Because animals are sentient, the only reason humans are treated differently is speciesism, which is an arbitrary distinction based on the incorrect belief that humans are the only species deserving of moral consideration.
Speciesism, like racism and sexism, is wrong because cows, pigs and chickens suffer when confined, tortured and slaughtered and there is no reason to morally distinguish between humans and non-human animals.
Even if a pig doesn't suffer in the same way that a human suffers, no two humans suffer in the same way either.
Eight puppies got abandoned (next to Maritime part of the NUS, if you follow the road where Amanaki is to the very end).
They got found in a little box. No food. No water. If Marie Roeder, a student from the National University of Samoa had found them on Sunday the 22nd of January 2017, they would not have survived that long.
She provided them with water and the day after with food and water. On Tuesday, we went there again to pick them up to go to the Animal Protection Society with the hope that they will take care for these puppies. Six mostly masculine puppies disappeared while two female puppies were still hiding at the same place. The third puppy was dead.
We took them to the APS in Vailima. The help we got wasn't as expected. The low knowledge about the treatment of animals was shocking but it is one of the only shelters in Apia. At the end we decided to take them with us, to take care of them and to look for an appropriate home.


We are perfectly happy dealing with small and large companies alike, after all we are only relatively small ourselves but we take great pride in the size of some of the projects that we regularly undertake.
For over 25 years we have built strong ties with large players in the leisure sector such as Gala & Mecca along with the smaller independents. In more recent years like so many other companies we felt the need to diversify and so have turned our skills to the production of more bespoke Healthcare, Leisure, Retail & Education products. This move has proved to be very successful and we now have client listing including Mamas & Papas, NHS, Argos, Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer. We have not forgotten our roots though and still cater for the more unique companies.


Andrew Sherbet was booked on 2018-01-09 13:55. Sherbet was arrested by in Centre, Alabama. Sherbet was 28 years old at the time of the arrest.
Andrew Sherbet may not have been convicted of the charges or crimes listed and are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Please contact the for more information regarding arrest records.


Yes, it was a perfect day! So much fun had with the planning and then the actual day! Couldn't have been better! Special thanks to our new friend John Berry!
Yes, I'm going to be a serial commenter. I'm obsessed with this blog because (GASP!) you actually update it! I'm still so sad and bitter that I missed your wedding…these pictures literally made my heart ache all over. And all for London…STORY.OF.MY.LIFE! You looked beautiful, as always.
Good news Vicky – serial commenters are my favorite kind of commenters! 🙂 and, yes, total bummer you weren't there..stupid Eski.
Your mom, dad, granddaddy, Cara and I are reading and looking at the blog on the big screen. We're having so much fun reliving the Brown/Patterson wedding and your life adventure. We wish you and Robert were here to help us eat Cara's vegetable supper and granddaddy's cherry cobbler! Enjoy your spare time and put a few blogs together for later when time is short!!!
Glad you all are having fun! Wish I was there.


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A New Game of Thrones Begins in the 'House of the Dragon' Trailer
Matt Singer Published: May 8, 2022
This summer, a new game of thrones begins with HBO's new prequel series House of the Dragon. Set centuries before the events of the wildly popular fantasy series, the new show introduces a whole new set of characters, including Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen, who is supposedly this earlier era's heir to the throne and is described in HBO's press materials as "a peerless warrior and a dragonrider... Daemon possesses the true blood of the dragon." Dragon Blood, isn't that an energy drink? I could swear I've had that.
In addition to Smith, the core House of the Dragon cast includes Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans, who plays the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, who is supposedly not a fan of Smith's character and believes he is the biggest threat to the kingdom.
The first teaser makes a big show of hyping the series' connections to Game of Thrones; there are dragons and oblique dialogue references and they even stuck the Game of Thrones logo above the title just so there is absolutely no confusion about what this show is. Take a look:
Here is the series' official synopsis, from HBO:
Based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood," the series, set 200 years before the events of "Game of Thrones," tells the story of House Targaryen.
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21. The first season of the show is ten episodes long.
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Source: A New Game of Thrones Begins in the 'House of the Dragon' Trailer
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Trump Says Was Joking When Thanking Putin For Cutting U.S. Embassy Staff
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was joking when he thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering deep cuts in U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia because it saves the United States money.
Report: Libyan Strongman Haftar To Visit Moscow On August 12
Powerful Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar is reportedly due to travel to Moscow on August 12.
Snapchat Registered With Russian Regulator 'Without Its Knowledge'
Snapchat's parent company says the U.S. messaging app has been registered with Russia's media regulator without its knowledge.
Russia Holds Military Drills On Baltic Coast
Russia's navy held military drills on the Baltic Sea and along the shores of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Russian Court Sentences Ukrainian To 8 Years On Terror Charges
A court in Russia has sentenced a Ukrainian citizen to 8 years in prison on terrorism charges.
Desperate Mothers Of Missing Chechens Ask European Rights Groups For Help
The mothers of several missing Chechen men have turned to European rights groups for help in finding their sons amid fears that some may have been killed by authorities in the southern Russian region.
'Neutral' Russian Track Athletes Fighting For Medals, Pride At World Championships
Forced to compete as "neutral athletes" at the track and field world championships this week, Russians are celebrating any success as a huge victory and, away from the medal podium, national pride is on full display.
Forget High-Tech APCs, Ukrainian Troops Must Trust 'The Banker'
Some Ukrainian troops must still rely on a shot-out, patched-up Soviet-era transport vehicle affectionately known as "The Banker."
Amnesty International Demands Immediate Release Of Elderly Crimean Tatar Activist
Amnesty International has urged authorities in Russia-controlled Crimea to immediately release a 76-year-old Crimean Tatar activist from jail.
Trump: 'Very Thankful' To Putin For Cutting U.S. Diplomatic Staff In Russia
President Donald Trump on August 10 shrugged off Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand for deep cuts in staff at U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia, thanking Putin for a move he said would help cut U.S. payroll costs.
Russian Court To Hear Wallenberg Case Next Week As Family Looks For Answers
A court in Moscow will hear a lawsuit on August 17 filed by relatives of Raoul Wallenberg against Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) to provide uncensored documentation that could help determine the fate of the former Swedish diplomat and war hero, a lawyer for the family says.
Nearly 90 Percent Of Americans See Russia As Threat To U.S., Poll Shows
A wide majority of Americans see Russia as a threat to the United States, a new poll shows.


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Tech-driven firms are changing PH's financial landscape
The country has made plenty of progress in promoting financial inclusion, and this is supported by the 2017 data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which shows improvement in financial literacy and awareness among Filipinos. But opportunities for providing even greater access to financial products still abound.
According to Annica Witschard, CEO of Prague-based consumer finance company Home Credit Philippines, there is one factor which she believes can help promote better financial inclusion in the country.
"Technology gives us a lot of leverage in improving financial inclusion in the Philippines," Witschard says. "We can, and we have been utilizing it to speed up, increase and generally improve Filipinos' access to financial tools — especially those who are unbanked or previously excluded by the financial system."
Over a third or 36 percent of Filipino adults think that obtaining a loan from formal financial institutions is not accessible to them because of lack of documentary requirements.
"This is one area that technology can address," notes Witschard. "Home Credit, for example, has found an innovative way of underwriting and risk management to provide alternative financing options even for customers with zero credit history. On top of that, we do it at a speed that had been unheard of in the traditional finance industry; and we have technology once again to thank for it."
"This is just the tip of the iceberg though," Witschard continues. "Technology can be used as a gateway to open these options to these people, but they also play a major role in supporting the products and services. For example, knowing your loan details through mobile apps, SMS notifications, and online application of financial products are hugely important in a country with a high rate of mobile phone and internet usage as the Philippines. And they help to make financing even more inclusive."
Witschard adds that financial inclusion goes hand in hand with financial literacy, and with that comes the need to understand and embrace the technology.
"The BSP data says that only 18 percent of Filipino adults use their bank accounts for payments because of concerns on availability, distance, and trust. I think we need to help consumers understand that technology can be trusted when it comes to making financial transactions."
"Without a doubt, we see technology as a cornerstone of our business; it helps us become even better at we do, which means being able to serve customers better. We were able to speed up our application approval time from ten minutes to near-instant approval, with majority of customers approved within one minute of submission of their loan application," Witschard says.
"We have shifted our documentation to paperless which saves us time, manpower, not to mention provide ease to our customers. We are also beefing up our eKYC methods with features such as facial recognition. And all these are aimed at making the customer experience even better than before."
"At the end of the day, that is why we are using, and continuing to improve on, all of this technology: because it can empower and improve the lives of people."
Credit score info applications rise during pandemic


"Why write together?" the authors ask. They answer that question here, in the first book to combine theoretical and historical explorations with actual research on collaborative and group writing.
Lisa Ede and Andrea Lunsford challenge the assumption that writing is a solitary act. That challenge is grounded in their own personal experience as long-term collaborators and in their extensive research, including a three-stage study of collaborative writing supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education.
The authors urge a fundamental change in our institutions to accommodate collaboration by radically resituating power in the classroom and by instituting rewards for collaborative work that equal rewards for single-authored work. They conclude with the injunction: "Today and in the twenty-first century, our data suggest, writers must be able to work together. They must, in short, be able to collaborate."
Lisa Ede is Associate Professor and Director of the Communications Skills Center at Oregon State University.
Andrea Lunsford is Professor and Vice Chair of English at The Ohio State University.


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Late Shift, FMV Thriller Preps For April 18th Release On Xbox One, PS4, PC
April 5, 2017 April 5, 2017 OAG Staff
Wales Interactive's Late Shift is prepping for release on April 18th, set to arrive on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC later in the month. They released a trailer last month letting gamers know that the full-motion video adventure thriller would be coming to home consoles and PC.
The crime thriller focuses on a mathematics student named Matt who ends up being forced into a robbery at a lucrative auction house in London, England. The game centers around players making split-second decisions and life-altering choices as Matt attempts to repair his life and dodge the consequences of a robbery he wanted no part of.
The game follows the choices Matt will be presented with in order to eventually prove his innocence, but every decision he makes will come at a cost.
You can see what Late Shift looks like in action with the full HD, FMV-based sequences below.
The game was written by the same writer for the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film. The game looks surprisingly intense.
In fact, it's shot better than most movie thrillers.
Had they not said it was a game and the trailer had been put together slightly differently, it would have looked like a cool British crime thriller.
They note that the game has multiple endings – up to seven, in fact. There is no looping footage between choices, so you'll have to act fast and react with keen reflexes. I do wonder how much control the game will give players? Will it be similar to the old Phantasmagoria games or Gabriel Knight or will it be more like a long quick-time movie event?
They do note that there are a total of 180 multiple decisions to make throughout the game, and each one can lead toward a path that unlocks one of the multiple endings.
You can look for Late Shift to arrive on home consoles and PC later this month on April 18th.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Trailers, Xbox OneTagged CtrlMovie, FMV, PC, PS4, Thriller, Wales Interactive, Xbox One
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Manager Neal Ardley has said he was very disappointed with the reaction of the players in our loss to Cambridge United at the weekend.
Wimbledon went down two one on the day and it was the end of our unbeaten home run.
Speaking to the Official Site after the game the manager moaned.
Ardley goes on to say that for a good hour it was a very even game against a 'strong and well organised' opponent and he was pretty happy with how we were doing really, because he knows sides won't roll over for us, but unfortunately.
All thoughts now turn to the FA Cup tie at Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend and with a third round place up for grabs Ardley knows it's the perfect game to now see a response from the players in again.


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Assassin's Creed Revelations Review
November 26, 2011 by Asim Tanvir
What's the story, Auditore?
With Assassin's Creed III rumoured to be launching sometime in 2013, it would be fair to say, Assassin's Creed Revelations arrives a hefty amount of pressure placed on its virtual shoulders. Not only is it tasked with concluding the stories of Ezio and Altair, but it has to somehow live up to the gameplay standards set by the wonderful Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Does it manage to tie everything up nicely and succeed, or is it a disappointment? Read on to find out.
Game: Assassin's Creed Revelations
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Reviewed on:
Picking up shortly after the climax of Brotherhood, Desmond is connected to the Animus after suffering a mind breakdown. As a result of this, he is stuck inside a particular part of the infamous machine, and the only way out is for him to run through stories of his ancestors until there is nothing left for him to learn.
The majority of the story is spent following Ezio's adventures in Constantinople, as he attempts to get his hands on keys before the Templars that will give him access to a secret library underneath Masyaf Castle. Yes, the same castle that Altair and the assassins called home before Ezio even knew what a hidden blade was. By gaining access to the library, Ezio hopes to get answers to questions that remained at the end of Brotherhood. This is where the aforementioned Altair comes in, as Ezio plays through key moments of his life, and learns about what happened to his fellow assassin.
Whilst in Constantinople, Ezio also gets involved in the unstable political situation involving the city's leaders. However, this feels like a side dish compared to main course that is the story of Ezio, Altair and Desmond. In fact, even Desmond's tale takes a back seat in Revelations, as Ubisoft attempt to wrap up everything related to Ezio and Altair. It's a difficult task, but one that's handled with real care and attention. If you've been invested in the series right from the beginning, you'll connect with both characters and genuinely care about what happens to them as the game progresses to its gripping conclusion.
Whilst keeping the same visual style as its predecessors, Revelations manages to add an extra layer of polish to an already fantastic looking series of games. Constantinople feels alive, filled with vibrant streets and believable characters.
On a technical level, environments seem to be more detailed, but it's clear to see Ubisoft have paid more attention to character models than anything else, especially the faces. Focusing on Ezio, you can almost tell by looking at him that he has been through quite a bit over the last few years. It's great to see Ubisoft hasn't rested on its laurels, and continued to improve the visuals with every new addition to the series.
The move to Constantinople doesn't usher in any major changes on the audio front when compared to its predecessors, but the alterations that have been made in Revelations suit the change of scenery very well.
Background music matches the on-screen action well, but it is the voice acting in the Revelations that shines the most. Each and every character is voiced expertly, with special mention going to the war torn, yet wise tones of Ezio himself. Even Desmond, voiced by Nolan North, manages to annoy less than previous games, which is a minor achievement on its own.
Following the superb Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was never going to be an easy task, Ubisoft was always in danger of tinkering with the gameplay formula a little too much, and that is certainly the case here. Whilst the core gameplay remains the same, and is highly enjoyable when it works, it just doesn't come to the fore often enough. Instead, Ubisoft has chosen to focus on new gameplay features, which don't really improve the overall experience.
First of all, you have the bomb creation aspect, which is a good idea in theory, but in reality doesn't work well at all. You create bombs by collecting ingredients and materials, which are conveniently placed around Constantinople. Without exaggerating, almost every decision you make whilst playing the game "earns" you an ingredient or material that could help create a bomb. From looting a dead enemy to opening a chest in a secluded alleyway, Ubisoft push the feature to the maximum. Whilst it's understandable that they want you to know about it, the fact that the bombs themselves don't really add anything to the overall experience makes the "promotion" of them slightly baffling. The series has always excelled at making you feel like a slick assassin, unfortunately, the addition of bombs somewhat negates that.
Next up, in an attempt to expand the excellent "Borgia tower" gameplay aspect seen in Brotherhood, Ubisoft has snuck a "Den Defence" mini-game into Revelations. This new addition means that reclaiming a tower and freeing an area from Templar influence is no longer the end of the matter. If you manage to get your "awareness" rating to the maximum level, Templars will attack your "Den" and attempt to take the area back. This is where the aforementioned mini-game comes into play, and your annoyance levels rise. You are told to head back to your "Den" and hold off the attacking Templars via an extremely average example of a tower defence game. It's another gameplay addition that doesn't fit in or compliment the Assassin's Creed universe. Whilst you can avoid these instances to a certain degree by keeping a low profile, or performing specific tasks to lower your "awareness" levels, the fact that it's easier to get noticed in Revelations means multiple encounters are almost inevitable.
Finally, you have the Desmond missions, that see you go into a first-person view and task you with solving puzzles whilst you attempt to reach an exit. Sure, they are essentially side missions, as you have to collect a certain amount of "Animus data fragments" to access them, but they are poorly designed and not enjoyable at all. The Portal inspiration is obvious, but not even one of the Desmond missions match up to a section in the sublime first-person puzzles games released by Valve. As these missions give you an insight into Desmond's back-story, it's a shame Ubisoft couldn't think of a better of way giving you access to them. Almost anything would've been better than the sub-par Portal tribute missions.
Staying on the subject of side missions, whilst some haven't made the cut in Revelations (Codex puzzles), the majority of the secondary content seen in Brotherhood has remained intact. However, sadly, you just don't feel like you want to indulge in Revelations' side missions. In Brotherhood, you felt like you wanted to restore shops and burn all the "Borgia towers", that's not the case in Revelations. Whilst the content is there, it takes a much bigger back seat when compared to Brotherhood. That's not to say you're pushed along the main story path, more encouraged.
It's not all disappointing though, as the core gameplay still remains highly enjoyable. Assassin's Creed is always at its best when you plan a stealthy kill to perfection or are free-running with grace from to rooftop to rooftop, and thankfully Revelations has plenty of those moments. Few games can match up to the sheer joy you experience in Revelations when you're leaping from point to point at high speed, it's just so damn exhilarating. It's a good thing then that the majority of main story missions require you to put one of these elements (sometimes both) to use, as that is when Revelations excels.
If you do get in a bit of stealthy trouble, or just don't want to get to hidden blade dirty, you can call on the help of your fellow assassin's, just like Brotherhood. The mechanic remains untouched, so you'll still need to recruit and level up assassin's to make best use of the feature. In regards to the free-running, again nothing has been drastically changed, but you do have the help of a handy hook blade in Revelations. Doubling up as your second hidden blade, the hook blade enables you to climb buildings faster and slide down ropes you see whilst moving around the rooftops of Constantinople. It's a welcome upgrade, and one that further improves an already excellent gameplay aspect of Assassin's Creed.
If you stick to the main story missions and only dabble in the secondary content, Revelations should easily provide you with around 15-20 hours of gameplay. Indulge in all the side missions the game has to offer, then you can probably add another 10 hours onto that figure. That's just the single player though, if you get into the fantastic multiplayer portion of the game, the Revelations disc just might stay in your console for a while.
The multiplayer options in Brotherhood were great, and Revelations builds on that by featuring a couple of new, much welcome modes. An extension of the Wanted match type, Revelations introduces the tension filled Deathmatch. Here the compass telling you the approximate location of your target is gone, leaving you with nothing but your instinct to rely on. The exclusion of the compass make matches much more interesting, and results are a true show of your assassin skills. Corruption is the other notable addition, and just as enjoyable as Deathmatch. Offering a nice little twist on the standard free-for-all match type, one player starts infected, with the aim of corrupting everyone else. The other players have to avoid being corrupted, and as you can imagine, this ends up adding an layer of tension to proceedings, just like Deathmatch and Wanted.
Whilst it doesn't reach the heights of its exceptional predecessor, Revelations still manages to be a great addition to the series. The core gameplay is still enjoyable, it's just a little harder to find underneath the new additions this time. On the other hand, as far as story goes, Revelations truly delivers. The tales of Ezio and Altair are wrapped up superbly, setting things up nicely for the inevitable Assassin's Creed III. It's not a revelation, nor is it a revolution, but Revelations is still a must buy for fans of the series.
Asim Tanvir
Joint Editor-in-Chief of this wonderful place. Over 10 years of games industry experience on all sides of the fence and more! Huge Metal Gear fan and all-round geek.
@AsimTanvir


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www.artofsport.com
Art of Sport
Art of Sport is a direct-to-consumer body care company that makes body and skin care products engineered to power all athletes. Formulated from the ground up by the world's leading athletes and skincare scientists, Art of Sport sells its lineup of deodorant, bodywash, soap, sunscreen and pain cream products direct to customers. Art of Sport was founded in 2018 by Brian Lee, Matthias Metternich, and Bryant Stibel. The team partnered with other world-class athletes from across sports to help inform the Art of Sport product family, including NBA MVP James Harden, MLB World Champion Javier Baez, NFL Wide Receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, Surf Champion Sage Erickson, Supercross World Champion Ken Roczen and Skating Legend Ryan Sheckler.
ART OF SPORT COMPANY PAGE →
When accomplished entrepreneur Matthias Metternich and good friend/serial entrepreneur Brian Lee met up for a quick basketball game, they found unexpected inspiration for their performance-driven body care brand, Art of Sport, when seeking skincare from a true sports brand. Since that serendipitous shootaround, the 'aha' moment has led to Metternich working collaboratively as CEO alongside co-founder Brian Lee with venture capital partner Bryant Stibel to bring the forward-thinking skincare brand direct to consumers and modern-day athletes, in hopes of realizing the shared dream they all had when they first started working together.
Co-Founder, Art of Sport
Q: Can you give us some background on how Art of Sport came to be?
A: My name is Matthias Metternich and I am the Co-Founder and CEO of Art of Sport. Art of Sport came to be when my Co-Founder Brian Lee and I were basically meeting up to play basketball. Basically, we both forgot sunscreen and we were both trying to be a lot wiser with our skin-care regimen. We went to the CVS across the street and walked in to find these sunscreens that all said "Sport" on them. So we were going to buy one or the other and couldn't figure out which one was better. They all said the same thing and all of the formulas were the same, and it kind of struck us that none of these were actually "Sport" brands, so what makes them "Sport"? So when we didn't see anything in the formulas, we had an "aha" moment where we just felt "Hang on a second" – there isn't actually a brand that, like Nike, that is committed to developing the products that you wear, or Gatorade that is committed to what you put in your body, there isn't a brand that is true to sport that is developing high-performance products with real integrity and efficacy. So we felt that there was a white space and when we walked the rest of the store and we came across the body wash aisle, the deodorant aisle, the soap aisle and so on, we saw "Sport" products everywhere, but it was the same deal – the were using it as a marketing method, but not in the way a true sports brand would approach it.
Q: How did you first come to meet Kobe and how did he get involved as a founding partner?
A: Obviously Brian built The Honest Company and has sort of a pedigree of developing consumer products with well-known entities. But also Brian is an old acquaintance of Jeff's – they've known each other for probably upwards of a decade if I'm not mistaken. While I was noodling on "How do you build a sports brand?" and "How do you build a roster of products that all speak to the athlete?", we were deeply immersed in the idea of, like the Nike's of the world, "How do we surround ourselves with the best athletes?" and "How do we get athletes from the beginning and from the ground up, developing and fine-tuning these products to meet their needs?" When we went through that sort of exploration of what kind of athletes would we like to bring into the mix, Kobe was the immediate and most obvious person that would be the best partner to us. His legacy is unmatched – he is one of the greatest athletes of all-time. What he put his body through, his convictions, his priorities in the game of sport and in the game of life, are all of world-class caliber and very unique.
He has also been someone that has built amazing brands too. His legacy of building brands and products with Nike was obviously unbelievable. He has a lot of hands-on experience both creative and otherwise to where we felt that we'd really benefit from that level of partnership having someone of that caliber speaking on all those different levels. So on our wish list there was really only one name in terms of first exploring the business, before we treaded too far down the trail of engaging a full roster of athletes.
Q: How did Kobe's attention and knowledge of branding help you guys from the get-go?
A: Kobe has been playing sports for such a long time and also has been through the ringer on a variety of marketing initiatives with Nike and other brands. His understanding of branding and building a brand makes him one of the best creative partners out there because he knows the experience of carrying through an idea onto the field and then living it as an athlete. When you work with Kobe, it isn't like just a brand strategist in a room coming up with a cool concept or cool tagline. You know, when he partners with a brand, he embodies all of the language, all of the visuals, all of the excitement and all of the dreams that you know so many other folks thrive off of or feed from. With brands he's partnered with before and with Art of Sport, Kobe has really acted end-to-end, which is a very rare thing for anyone to do. He's a very strategic thinker and he's incredibly creative – not just at a high level but really sort of gets lost in the minutia. As an operator and as an entrepreneur myself, I really only get value from folks who operate at that level and think at that level because otherwise it's just another idea, it's just a loose opinion. To have somebody who really gets into the into the weeds with you and thinks about why we're doing certain things and justifying it down to the letter has probably been the most exciting and has been most rewarding part of my relationship with Kobe.
Q: Kobe has always talked about doing things with the meticulous nature and executing to perfection. Was he involved creatively with some of the packaging and how that went to market ultimately?
A: High level it began with: where does his brand sit in a world that's becoming more about memes and more about short attention spans? It's like, what does timeless mean and what does "Sport" mean? How do you create something that is visually arresting and exciting without reaching to sort of temporary distractions? So really when you start building a brand, you want to put in place these immovable timeless tenets that are the rules governing the business. Kobe really contributed to that.
We then got further down the trail into literal discussions about fragrance. Fragrance is certainly the first impression and one of the most important impressions in the deodorant business and the body wash business. I came down to Kobe's office with a box that had a ton of different vials from our fragrance houses that were in development. He smelled those oils and applied them to his skin and had really strong opinions about what those evoked for him. Then in choosing language and packaging design, he named all of the fragrances and suggested color schemes for them. I was really impressed with how active he was in the feedback phase, when he then took all of those samples with him and truly tested each of these products. He wanted to have more and more and more samples, so I could tell he was burning through all the products and actually really trying them in his routine. He was even giving samples to friends and starting to collect as many opinions as possible. So, in our next meeting with him, he had done his own due diligence on the opportunity and could speak quite fluently about what the products were doing for his skin.
Q: How has Kobe maybe tapped into the networking side of things and how have other athletes gotten involved?
A: When you've got someone like Kobe and you're building a sports brand, having him say "I'll just call Serena" or "I'll just call…" any of the top athletes in the world that are in his Rolodex is just unbelievable. That's huge for building a brand, that's number one. Number two is that when Kobe puts his stamp of approval on something and really gets behind you as a partner, the world of sports and everyone across the spectrum of the sports industry takes note and you suddenly are validated in a way that most startups just don't experience until much further on down the trail. Now mind you, he only does that when he's willing to put his reputation at risk because there is trust there. But when he does do that, there are effects that go above and beyond any investor that I've ever taken money from. That's been huge for us. And that's just the sports world. When it comes to our consumers and when it comes to that kid who's striving to be the best they can and reach their full potential, Kobe's support has those kinds of ramifications with one of their heroes actively involved in backing this idea into fruition. Again, I can't remember the last time my venture capitalists inspired my customers to go buy the product. You know that's a rarity in unto itself.
Q: How did you first come to meet the Bryant Stibel team outside of Kobe?
A: I drove up to Malibu with Brian Lee and Brian was like, "You know you really just need to meet Jeff and hear him out and see what he has to say. He's a smart guy, so whether we work with them or not I would just love to get his opinion." We drove up and we brought some early samples with us. I described my vision for the business to Jeff and Jeff had some immediate thoughts about the products. There was a lot of positive feedback about this as an industry and how this opportunity is something that doesn't come around that often because it really plays to their sweet spot. They're always on the lookout for things that really fit the fairway they want to play down, so we discussed not the initial rollout, but sort of the big picture and how does this come to life. We got into I think less a discussion about the viability of the thesis and more a discussion about the execution into its ultimate manifestation. So that's a much more collaborative and constructive conversation versus somebody just sitting there and asking you questions or basically throwing out a thousand reasons for why it won't work. That holistic view for entrepreneurs in general is the lifeblood of how Bryant Stibel thinks. Having entrepreneurs talking with entrepreneurs about how this brand becomes a giant in the space is a much more rewarding discussion. That was my first impression of Jeff and Pete and the gang was just that this whole team chimes with entrepreneurs because they understand the exercise of dreaming.
Q: How has Art of Sport grown since your launch?
A: We've been pretty blown away by the reception. We launched on Amazon and on our own website. Amazon in some ways because we knew that that's really where we'd get put through the ringer because if you don't succeed on Amazon, why would you succeed on any other marketplace? A lot of startups are very guarded about just trying to get people to come to their own website and create that dot.com experience. But if you can't succeed on your own two feet based on the product integrity and the pricing quality in a marketplace like Amazon, then you probably don't have a reason to build a business.
So we put it on Amazon and it's been a rocket ship for us. It actually caught us out, the growth was that fast. We're dealing in physical goods, so we have to always be ahead of the curve when it comes to placing orders with our factories because lead times can take a long time. For example, if you've under-forecasted, that's a three-month mistake. We've definitely learned there are pros and cons to growing fast, but we've been focused on doubling down and improving our backend to scale faster – which is a good problem to have. Our goal is to power every locker room and every gym bag in every bathroom in the country. In my mind, I will only achieve business success when we're selling tens of millions of units a year and we as a brand have transcended the bathroom to basically live on beyond me as a co-founder to be sort of like the Nike of its class. That goal to me is a barometer of success and everything until that point is just another day of work.
Q: Where would you say Bryant Stibel has created the most value for your business at this point?
A: I think what they've been incredibly good at is understanding the game that we're in. What you'll find is there are a lot of backers that won't be that familiar with the game they're playing. They'll have sort of indicative or general kind of rules of engagement that they've learned about or they've heard through the grapevine; for example, say an investor is getting into the suitcase business and the extent of the investor's operating knowledge is that Away is a hot startup so that means we should put money in. But with Bryant Stibel, they very quickly knew that this was a brand, and brands take time to mature and they require a lot of dedication and focus. You can't short-change the creativity and you can't short-change the integrity or the authenticity of it. It needs to be done extremely deliberately. This is something that you can't cut corners on and you can't be cheap about it because that's what consumers are seeing and smelling. In our case, literally smelling. If it's a cheap fragrance or if it's a cheap product base it won't perform. As a result of understanding how to build brands, Bryant Stibel also knows how to avoid wasting time on conversations that are not creating value and instead focus their time on stuff that will move the needle through the business. In that respect, it's understanding omni-channel, understanding how to get momentum in different channels, and understanding how to leverage celebrities and other athletes that are not directly affiliated (but still obviously have one of the best proxies in the world with Kobe) so they can roll out that logic across all of our influencers as we think of ways to activate them. Obviously, they have sports in their DNA and they understand sport culture. With Body Armor, Kobe had a front row seat on how to build out that beverage brand and how do you bring that to life through sampling and through events. Bryant Stibel has a lot of immediate, practical, and firsthand knowledge that provides value on across multiple parts of the business, not just sort of branding and growth.
Q: How else has the Bryant Stibel team been helpful to you in terms of creating value?
A: My more or less day-to-day contact is Pete, and Pete has been enormously helpful. He's a power fan of what we're doing, and I feed off of his positivity. It's in this collaboration that he will throw out opportunities that are really interesting. Sometimes the opportunities can even seem out of left field but turn out to be really valuable and right down the fairway. Pete has also been traditionally useful in terms of contacts for us in the sports industry and venture capital. He's also thrown out product ideas or product extension opportunities and other partnerships that could be useful to us. We have found a really great rhythm where Pete's hugely value-oriented but also just intuitively knows when it's useful to throw something our way versus when it's useful to throw something our way and follow up on that and chase us to encourage us to get to the finish line. It's been a really good combination of hands-on but also hands-off, and they know how to play that just naturally. The last thing you want to have is someone who doesn't have all of this knowledge and doesn't have this intuitive read on your industry because they will end up badgering you and taking too much of your time. The entrepreneur game is exhaustive as it is, so you want is to make sure you've got pilots in the cockpit who all know how to navigate their way to the landing strip almost without having to talk.
Q: What has it been like to work with Brian Lee directly on Art of Sport?
A: Brian Lee is a true co-founder in the sense that we're constantly talking about new ideas and things that we're concerned about, and ways that we can approve. We spend time together on everything from the culture we want to build in the company to talking about office furniture to products we want extend into and everything in between. It's been great because we complement each other really well. Brian has had the good fortune of building some very big and impressive companies, so he can sometimes be operating at 10,000 feet and then I can be on the ground defining exactly what it is that we're doing and how that gets executed to where we can meet in the middle, then go back into our respective layers. That has made this a really good partnership from my perspective. We can kind of alternate those roles where one of us can always be dreaming out into the future while the other is realizing those dreams in the present. Brian has an unbelievable network and great history of success. When you're talking to folks or partners who say, "Well you've never done this before" or "You guys are brand new. You just launched six months ago. How come you think you are going to be so big?", it doesn't hurt to have players in the room that have built billion plus companies to say, "We're playing our playbook and we know how to do this." It's been a great rollercoaster and fortunately everyone on it knows what we are doing.
Q: Are there any important lessons Art of Sport learned through Brian Lee's time at The Honest Company?
A: The Honest Company is obviously a business that built itself off the back of trust. They produced over 2000 skews at one point, so they had a huge assortment of products and they were developing everything from clinical products like OTC products to diapers and body wipes. As a result, Brian really gained that knowledge of how you formulate great products. It wasn't like we were stumbling our way through the dark trying to figure out how we could sell to a major retailer like Wal-Mart. We knew how to make sure that everything in the supply chain was buttoned down and dialed in to avoid some of the challenges that we saw with Art of Sport.
Q: Has Bryant Stibel influenced the culture at Art of Sport?
A: Yes, they have definitely influenced our culture. The Bryant Stibel culture is expressed through the people in the business every day and how they work and how they interact with each other. Their team dynamic is simply awesome, and they are hugely collaborative as a result. I've attended multiple networking events and social experiences that they've hosted and you'll always find the partners talking about a whole wide spectrum of ideas. That exchange of thought is a very valuable proposition and it mirrors in some ways what Brian and I have always wanted to build, which is that kind of discourse and that kind of commitment to team and getting there together. The puzzle pieces of our teams coming together have always fit really well for us because we are very aligned on culture. Maybe this speaks to the sport arena, but our culture also takes a positive spin on healthy competition, which is something that we're excited about for the future. We were kind of reared in a world of being underdogs where we want to build something and we want to take on big problems. So if that's how you approach your work and your life, then you're never playing a slow game, you're playing it in a full sprint. That's been awesome for us too. It's all about the team and fostering dialogue and making it safe to take risks. We're all swimming in the same direction and we're doing it really fast and really lean with very high integrity. When approaching the product, that's been awesome to have the environment to not have to deal with those learning curves.
Q: How is Art of Sport most unique and what have you learned while building these products?
A: Art of Sport lives in a very unique lane. We're about "better-for-you products that perform." What you'll find is there's a world of kind of "natural" products (many of which aren't actually all-natural) that start with the idea of let's be as close to natural as we can be and then look further on down the trail to figure out if their products can work, if they can last, and if they can actually perform under pressure. In "natural" sunscreens and deodorants, you'll find that in some cases you'll apply deodorant and an hour later you smell like B.O. So, there's a long way to go before natural products actually can perform. I'm not sure they can ever get there based on some of the science behind it, but I love what that trend has done. It has basically inspired people to think beyond what they're just buying every day and consider what exactly they put on their skin. So that's been phenomenal.
On the other end of the spectrum you've got products that for the most part perform better but may be chock full of questionable chemicals. So, Art of Sport inhabits that much bigger middle lane, which is about taking the best from both worlds. One of our tenets is "look to the natural world for the most powerful botanicals that we can source." Let's include those natural botanicals in our product and make sure that they are efficacious and provide a benefit to your skin when applied. But then we're also saying let's make sure that these products really perform, they really last, and they do what they say they do. Because you have to trust what you're putting on your skin. One thing we did early on was take a second look at the chemicals being used in the foundation of the skin care products currently in market. In doing that, we've omitted a lot of chemicals that are pretty routine in other brands that we that we think are either suboptimal or not healthy.
So, we've paired those two worlds of natural and effective into a world where we can look at a better-for-you anti-dandruff shampoo or antiperspirant deodorant stick and look at sunscreens that are part chemical but also part mineral to create products that actually perform for the athlete. The great thing about that middle lane is that nobody is in it. So, we're excited because that effective world in some ways approximates almost 99 percent of where the market is today with 1 percent being the all-natural players. We also feel we're doing this level of thinking and this level of product integrity at very accessible price points, so everything is below 10 dollars which is also pretty unique in the skin care space.
Q: What is your hope for the partnership with Bryant Stibel moving forward?
A: I would love to scale Art of Sport to its Zenith, to its ultimate size, scale, and impact. My hope is that we get to do that together in the same way we do it now, without things getting complicated or having too many layers of bureaucracy and without getting bored. My main hope is to build this company into its full manifestation together. It is the dream that we all shared and had when we started working together.
Q: What words or attributes do you associate with the Bryant Stibel team?
A: Handsome. Dashing (Jeff). Robinson Crusoe meets Tony Stark. They're committed. They're passionate. And they're relentlessly curious about where the world is going and where we are going in it.
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) — The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) needs to build an ecosystem that supports enterprise creation and improves the environment for innovation, as well as facilitates financial inclusion for start-ups, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Ahmad Maslan said.
He said Malaysia recognises the vital role of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in bringing new ideas to the market and fostering innovation.
Ahmad highlighted Malaysia's initiatives for modernisation and automation of MSMEs, including focusing on the Soft Loan Scheme for Automation & Modernisation (SLSAM).
SLSAM seeks to encourage MSMEs in Malaysia to embrace automation and modernisation of their businesses.
E-commerce is another avenue to grow businesses, and both Malaysian and Chinese SMEs are taking advantage of it.
THE 12th China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) in Nanning, Guangxi province concluded on Monday (Sept 21), after four days of trading and business matching.
A billboard near the venue advertised: "You are just one handshake away from the market of 1.9 billion people," referring to the combined population of 1.3 billion from China and 620 million from 10 Asean countries.
The Malaysian pavilion was the busiest at the Caexpo.
Visitors thronged the hall for the food and beverages, health and wellness products, lifestyle products and other services offered by the exhibitors.
While goods changed hands and meetings between potential partners took place under the Jalur Gemilang hanging from the hall ceiling, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were encouraged to give e-commerce a try.
KUALA LUMPUR: Perbadanan Pembangunan Perdagangan Luar Malaysia (Matrade) menyasarkan untuk meningkat eksport barangan pertanian ke Turki tahun ini, diperkukuh oleh permintaan yang semakin meningkat ke atas buah-buahan tropika di negara itu.
Pesuruhjaya Perdagangan Matrade di Istanbul Idzham Abd Hamid berkata buah-buahan tropika seperti nanas, belimbing dan buah naga, mendapat permintaan tinggi di Turki.
Istanbul kini mengimport sebagaian besar buah-buahan tropika dari Belanda.
"Kita patut merebut peluang untuk mengeksport (lebih banyak) buah-buahan tropika kita ke negara itu," katanya kepada pemberita di uar seminar Perjanjian Perdagangan Bebas (FTA) Malaysia-Turki, di sini, Rabu.
Eksport utama Malaysia ke Turki bagi tempoh Januari hingga Julai 2015 terdiri daripada barangan pertanian, dengan dagangan bagi segmen itu bernilai RM386 juta, diikuti barangan pembuatan (RM1.2 bilion) dan barangan perlombongan (RM3.3 juta).
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 (Bernama) — Halal Ingredients Asia 2015, touted as Asia's first event platform for halal food and personal care ingredients industry, opened its doors on Monday.
The three-day event represents the region's best gathering and market place for halal ingredient professionals and industry players in providing thought leadership to further accelerate and enhance the development of the industry.
Halal Development Corp (HDC) Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin, said the event would focus on several components to give a whole new perspective and opportunities via a conference, exhibition and business-to-business (B2B) networking.
"It will also enhance opportunities for trade and investment as well as for local halal ingredient players to be exposed to international buyers," he told the media on the sidelines of the event opened by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi here.
Executive Director Roy Michael said that with over 600 million people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.4 trillion ringgit ($600 billion) in 2013, ASEAN is the seventh largest market.
"Should the trend continues, it has the potential to become the fourth largest market globally by 2050," he added.
He told Bernama ASEAN recorded over $1.2 trillion in total merchandise exports, making it one of the most open economic regions in the world.
"Significant progress had been made in integrating the economies of the 10-member states under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) blueprint which is expected to be a reality by year-end," he said.
Michael was speaking after hosting the ASEAN-US Trade Winds Forum at the Malaysian embassy here on Wednesday. It was attended by American policy and industry leaders.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18: The success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is crucial for ASEAN to be truly integrated, says Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Lee Chee Leong.
Lee said resilient SMEs should start to have a global mind-set.
"They should explore opportunities from liberalisation under the ASEAN Economic Community and expand their trade and investments," he said at the launch of I-Score credit risk management tool.
The I-Score is co-developed by Rating Agency Malaysia Credit Info Sdn Bhd (RAMCI) with global information services company, Experian plc.
The tool, designed for financial institutions, business corporations and consumers, provides a comprehensive credit report ranking consumers, business partners and potential investors for credit risk.
Lee said SMEs could now use the tool to assess the strategies for their businesses if they intended to expand them.
Asean countries are on track for progressive liberalisation of trade within the region, covering 128 sub-sectors via the Asean Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS).
The liberalisation will boost the services sector's contribution to the region's gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 40% to 50%, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said AFAS will be a platform for services providers to take advantage of the market openings as well as to benefit from new ideas and processes arising out of the opening of the services sector.
Efforts has been put into concluding the AFAS 10th package by year-end to provide wider and better opportunities for members in tapping the benefits of the services sector," he said in his opening address at the inaugural Asean Service Provider Confederation (ASPC) meeting yesterday.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) — The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has teamed up with Singapore Corp Enterprise (SCE) to conduct a talent development programme for officers from MITI and its agencies.
Deputy Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan, said the eight-month programme, from September 2015 to April 2016, was the first of its kind for Malaysian civil service and would involve 122 officers.
"The platform, called the Economic Policy Leaders programme, would enhance the professionalism and charisma of the officers," he said after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between MITI Deputy Secretary-General, Datuk Jayasiri Jayasena, and SCE Chief Executive Officer, Kong Wy Mun, here today.
Also present was Temasek Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Benedict Cheong.
Ahmad said the programme would be held in Malaysia and will be followed by a learning visit to Iskandar, Johor and Singapore.


We completely forgot to include our upcoming mini book 'do' in our events listing on the latest episode of the podcast. Yikes!
This Saturday, 12th March we'll be hanging out at Nest in Crouch End in London in the afternoon and we do hope you'll join us! We'll have copies of the London Craft Guide and all the samples on hand to try out. We'll be there from 1:30 to 3:30pm and even do a little matchmaking for the projects in the book to the yarns carried in the shop if you decide you want to cast on right away!


In February 2017 SC Atomtechexport jointly with the specialists of SC VNIIAES (subsidiaries of Rosenergoatom, Joint-Stock Company) and Rosenergoatom, Joint-Stock Company completed the first stage of works on assistance to Bushehr NPP in preparation for IAEA OSART mission.
OSART mission (Operating Safety Analysis Review Team) is scheduled at Bushehr NPP between 13.02.2018 and 30.02.2018.
The key function of OSART program is to assess the activities on ensuring the NPP operational safety for its compliance with IAEA standards, which are developed and continuously improved on the basis of consensus between the member-states of International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as introduction of OSART methodology at the host plant to establish or improve its own self-assessment program. OSART mission is headed by IAEA representatives, the mission involves nuclear experts from different countries.
As a rules, the preparation to OSART mission takes over a year. It began at Bushehr NPP in September 2016. During this period Russian experts arranged a workshop on OSART methodology for Bushehr NPP top and middle-level managers, performed assessment of current operational safety state at the NPP and its comparison with the requirements of IAEA safety standards. These activities resulted in submission to the Iranian party of the integral report that included the findings of Russian experts and a draft plan of corrective actions. These works were performed with involvement of approximately 20 Russian experts and over 40 specialists from Bushehr NPP. The Russian experts produced their recommendations on the activities that require priority attention as well as outlined the good practices to be a positive example for other NPPs.
Latern on, Bushehr NPP management and personnel with support and under supervision of specialists from SC Atomtechexport will have to perform the works in those areas of IAEA attention, where the Russian experts produced their recommendations for further improvement of the NPP operational safety. In 4-5 months the Russian experts will perform the follow-up assessment of the effectiveness of the undertaken corrective actions.
It is also anticipated that the Russian representatives with render consulting for the Iranian personnel directly in the course of OSART mission.
SC Rusatom Service, a daughter company of Rosenergoatom, Joint-Stock Company, completed the performance of the works in the framework of planned-preventive maintenance at Bushehr NPP. The unit was connected to the grid at 20:27 of local time on 06.04.2017. That was the third unit outage performed at Bushehr NPP-1 with involvement of Russian specialists.
The planned-preventive maintenance is a set of organizational and technical actions regularly performed at the units of any nuclear power plants with the purpose of diagnostics of the equipment state and prevention of defects. The planned-preventive maintenance is aimed at prevention of premature wear of components, assemblies and mechanisms and its maintaining in operable conditions.
28 Russian companies took part in the maintenance with total number of the personnel engaged over 200 individuals. During the outage SC Rusatom Service completed all anticipated maintenance activities including maintenance of the main equipment: medium maintenance of the reactor with partial refuelling, overhaul of the reactor coolant pump, maintenance of the turbine plant with disassembly of three low pressure cylinders as well as a large scope of maintenance activities at the equipment of the automatic process control system and electric equipment, maintenance of equipment of the safety channels system.
All maintenance activities were completed in accordance with the schedule and were of due quality that ensured reliable and safe operation of the unit in compliance with the requirements of the regulatory documentation.


This is the traditional design of a panel fencing. It provides a panel with the same design both sides, but is not peep proof. Although normally considered a basic panel we continue to provide a strong panel featuring a complete frame of 19mm x 38mm (¾" x 1½") material plus two centre supports on both sides of the panel. Strong 6.5mm (¼") slats are used. The capping strip on top of the panel is standard.
All our fencing is on display in our yard please come and inspect for yourselves the very high value for money specification that it is made to. Our Timber Fencing materials are treated with the most up to date preservatives. Rust proof staples and nails are used throughout the construction of panels. The materials for our Interwoven, Overlap, Waneyedge, and Trellis panels are totally immersed in a water repellent preservative for a period of 20 minutes.
The framing on Wilfirs fence panels is almost 1½ times as strong as most other manufactures. No other fencing manufacturer uses both this high performance treatment and framing as strong as ours. We recommend a further treatment not before 2 - 3 years to maintain their appearance. All the other timber used for fencing and fencing construction is pressure treated.


Permits for reserved permit parking areas can be purchased by month for $35, quarter for $105 or annually for $400. To apply, view the Parking Permit Application(PDF).
The reserved permit lots located further out at Elmhurst and Michigan and on Hahn St. have open spaces available on a daily basis.
Daily fee parking is available for $2.00 all day and can be paid at pay stations located at each deck and along the Metra Platform or by displaying a monthly permit that can be purchased for $35.00 per month, $105.00 per quarter or $400.00 annually.
Daily fee parking can also be paid on line at ppprk.com or by telephone. You can also register by downloading the PassportParking app or by calling 630-581-2445. The parking ZONE number for Elmhurst is 60126. One time entry of credit card information and transaction fees apply ($0.32/call).
A parking map(PDF) indicating available parking can be obtained at City Hall when purchasing your permit or pass.
Permits for reserved parking can now be used in daily parking spaces. However, they are not valid in employee reserved parking areas.
For additional information, please contact the Finance Department at (630) 530-3117 or (630) 530-3118.


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Adventure Film 101: Adventure Sports for Film People?
As a filmmaker, the best rock climbers, kayakers, mountaineers and cavers can be your mentors. Pay attention. You'll make better movies.
(A kayaker hurdles off a massive waterfall in Mexico during a 1991 expedition. Photo by Nick Brown.)
One of the best aspects of being a filmmaker is that, through our jobs, we get the opportunity to work with some remarkable people. In the proposal stage of creating a film, we seek out athletes with the strongest reputations and do our best make sure that they are being paid for their skill.
The practical reasons are pretty obvious: You get a better and safer result in the film. The less obvious reason is that some of their skill will rub off on those of us who are mere mortals. You'll pick up subtle details of form and attitude just by being close to these people. Watch how they do things, how they approach problems, their attitudes about their sport or profession, and the places they go. What you may not realize, is that these people are often delighted to mentor someone who is new to their sport.
I've run the gauntlet when it comes to working with athletes and almost every time, I take some thing positive away from the experience.
In May of 2000 I was able to reach the top of Mount Everest, and I credit much of that success to my experience in the Himalaya the year before with high-altitude legends Alex Lowe and Conrad Anker. Alex had an ability to always have fun and see the beauty of the peaks and his confidence was infectious and empowering. And Conrad Anker, who was part of the team that discovered the remains of George Mallory on Everest, is one of the best mountaineers out there.
I was able to gain the confidence to climb a 1000– foot 80 degree ice face on Pumori in the Himalayas, and that was all because of Chris Holland who had been my mentor there and the hardest rock I ever scaled was with climbing savant Todd Skinner belaying me offering encouragement.
I've also been able to watch climbers like Lynn Hill and Kevin Thaw and learn from their skill and attitude. In whitewater my first lessons came from my Dad and brother Gordon. Later, I was able to see kayakers Doug Ammons and Gerry Moffatt in action.
When you work with true masters in any number of sports, you never even see bad habits and it's the best way to learn.
On of the most vivid instances of this kind of experience I can think of occurred in 1991 when I worked with Ammons and other kayakers Marcus Schmidt and Bob McDougall in Chiapas, Mexico on film for National Geographic Explorer.
(Expedition members lower a kayak into a cave near Chiapas, Mexico during the 1991 trip. Photo by Michael Brown.)
They would paddle themselves off huge waterfalls on this incredible blue river called Agua Azul. At first it was terrifying and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until someone would get hurt. But, because of their professionalism, they examined their lines carefully and found that the waterfall created so much aeration that the impact was manageable.
The storyline also had them descending into a cave on another river. The cave was huge with the river disappearing for about half a mile. The river tumbled over a waterfall into a giant sump and into a submerged hole. On the other side of a dense jungle it emerged from a giant opening so it was easiest to paddle up into the cave from below. Thankfully, we had expert caver Scott Davis of Ceiba Adventures outfit the trip and he discovered that he could enter the cave from below and get to a point in the cave where he could see up through the entrance. Through this opening he and the kayakers were able to rig a safety line. Without Davis's expertise and the smart decisions of Schmidt, McDougall, and Ammons, who knows what could have happened.
Since then I have had the enormous privilege of working with more of the best athletes in the world. In addition to Hill, Skinner, and Lowe, I've followed Laird Hamilton as he chased monster waves, Doug Coombs into the backcountry, and Dave Hahn up mountainsides. These people were and are great athletes but also shared another common trait: an amazing outlook on life. I think that is what defines the very best in their sports, not so much the skill but the attitude they bring to what they do.
The moral of the story? Find people that love what they're doing and are great at it. You'll pick up essential knowledge that you never knew you needed and, in the process, become a better filmmaker. Who knows, you may even find yourself on the top of Everest. I didn't think I would.
For more filmmaking advice from Michael Brown, check out the Adventure Film 101 Archive.
PLUS: Get Michael's essential tips on shooting in any condition and see his tips on filming your own adventure. For more, go to www.seracfilms.com .
Adventure Film 101: Getting Started and Paying Dues
Adventure filmmaker Michael Brown drops us a line from Iceland to talk avalanches, glaciers, and paying dues in the film business (which share quite a few similarities).
Adventure Film 101: Planning Your Story
Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker Michael Brown dishes on how to plan your documentary film, step by step.
Adventure Film 101- Visualization and Chaos: Planning Your Film and Capturing the Moment
In documentary filmmaking, you need a plan, but you also need to observe your subjects and make good, on-the-fly decisions. Here's how.
Adventure Film 101: The Value of Filmmaking Mistakes
Michael Brown reports from Rwanda where he's documenting the efforts of eye surgeon Geoff Tabin.
Adventure Film 101: Risk, Tragedy, and Filmmaking
Michael Brown weighs the risks, rewards, and lessons he's learned shooting, literally, on the edge.
Next-Level Adventure Film: Foamboating
"Wet Dream Result" pokes fun at kayaking, adventure films in general
Adventure Film 101: Ep. 1: The First, Best, and Most Lasting Thrill in Filmmaking
In his first blog for Backpacker.com, Emmy-Award winning director Michael Brown drops in from Switzerland to talk about how he got his start in the film industry, and where it's taken him— most recently, jumping a helicopter to film dynamite-triggered avalanches.
Climbing Film Makes Progress
Big Up Productions makes a climbing movie even we would want to watch
16 People Air-Rescued Off Grand Teton
Rangers stage a daring helicopter rescue off the Grand after lightning strikes 17 climbers, killing one


There's never a limit to how much you can show off your prettiest flowers. That's why this handy Gothic trellis is also a mirror, to reflect the beauty of your gorgeous flowers as they grow. This gorgeously classical looking mirror will add space, depth, and light to your garden.
This delightful mirror trellis is made from a 9mm medium density fibreboard frame and 3mm acrylic mirror made of Perspex, a shatterproof alternative to glass. The medium density fibreboard is made from reconstituted wood, which is naturally light green in colour but can be painted if you choose to do so. Acrylic is 10 times stronger than glass and weighs 80% less, making it a safer option around children thanks to its shatterproof properties. The mirror trellis comes with 4 pre-drilled holes, so you can easily fix it to a wall or fence.
"Think for the price that screws should have been supplied ! Rather flimsy and not worth the price."
"Quality of product for money not worth it"
"I just love this product, it has given my garden the wow factor."


The new #RomanceClass Podcast features an interview with Chris Mariano, author of Cover (Story) Girl. Listen to this and see more from our YouTube page as we wait for Season 2!
Buy the whole first season from Gumroad!


Stephanie has fond childhood memories of spending time at her family's farm, growing up.
Stephanie has a background in nursing and also obtained a Masters Degree in Epidemiology from the University of Alberta. She is currently working at the Edmonton Southside Primary Care Network as a Clinical Improvement Facilitator - which means she is implementing Quality Improvement initiatives in doctors offices to optimize care for patients. When she isn't at work or at home hanging out with their two young daughters, Stephanie can be found running in the river valley. She is excited about an upcoming kitchen reno that will afford her more room for food storage, prep and fun appliances to be able to be more adventurous in the kitchen.


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Good Reads. 'The Sisters Are Alright.' New Book Takes Aim at Anti-Black Woman Messages in Media and Popular Culture.
by superselected · Good Reads, Tamara Winfrey Harris, The Sisters Are Alright · 22 Jun 2015
The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America, the first book by author Tamara Winfrey Harris, takes a critical look at the classic tropes of the Mammy, the Jezebel, and the Sapphire, and how these tropes manifest themselves in modern media.
Harris, who has written about the intersection of race and gender for a variety of publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Ms. magazine, Bitch magazine, The Huffington Post, and Salon, takes direct aim at the people and outlets who spread anti-black woman propaganda.
"Maligning Black women, regardless of our personal or collective truth, is of America's DNA. The seeds for negative perceptions of African-American women were planted centuries ago, when Black women were chattel, part of the engine that drove the American economy. Many scholars have named, explained and extensively researched historical stereotypes and how they function in the lives of Black women, notably Dr. Patricia Hill Collins, in her iconic work 'Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment.' These 'controlling images,' as Collins terms them, provide a template for Black women's place in public discourse. To understand how people speak about Black women today, you have to understand the source of anti-Black woman ideology."
The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America, hits shelves on July 6th, but you can pre-order it HERE. Read an excerpt from the book below.
Excerpt from "The Sisters Are Alright" by Tamara Winfrey-Harris
Black Women Feminism
Black Women Stereotypes
Black Women Tropes
Black Women Writers
Tamara Winfrey Harris
Writer Samantha Irby Lands New FX Series Based on Her Memoirs and Blog.
Why I'd Rather Be Inclusive Than Diverse.
Good Reads. 'In Search of the Afropolitan: Encounters, Conversations and Contemporary Diasporic African Literature.'