text:
A clear choice
Posted on March 12, 2014 by Rev. Stuart Campbell
The big story in UK news this morning is Ed Miliband's statement of Labour's position on an EU referendum. "Ed Miliband will dramatically pave way for in-out referendum on Europe if Labour come to power", says the Mirror, while "Ed Miliband rules out EU referendum" is the Spectator's take and the BBC goes with "Ed Miliband says Labour will not commit to EU referendum". Ah, the media, bringing clarity as ever.
On this occasion, the right-wing magazine is closest to the truth. Miliband's statement is about as unambiguous as Labour ever get on anything these days – "We strongly believe Britain's future is in the EU, and my priorities for government after the next election are very different from those of the Conservatives" is pretty hard to misinterpret in the context of the Tories having expressly pledged a referendum long before their manifesto is published.
It is, in the language of politics, a "brave" move.
The New Statesman blogger George Eaton, who's rapidly starting to be seen within the commentariat as the Labour leader's unofficial spokesman, concurs with the Spectator's analysis (our emphasis):
"In an article in today's Financial Times, [Miliband] announces that a public vote on the UK's membership will be held under Labour if new powers are transferred from Britain to Brussels.
But crucially, he also makes it clear that he does not believe this condition will be met: "It is unlikely there will be any such proposal in the next parliament." In other words, don't expect a referendum under Labour."
Eaton assesses the move as a wise one on the grounds that polling suggests EU membership is seen by voters as a low priority. But that rather depends on which polls you read, and on the dangerously flawed belief that in the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system all votes are created equal.
It's true that the British public tends to put EU membership low on its priorities list when asked directly. But there's an issue they DO rate very highly indeed.
Let's be clear on this: there's one reason and one reason alone for the popularity of UKIP south of the border, and it's not because English people are in an all-consuming froth about regulation concerning how bendy bananas should be. The rest of the UK's hostility towards the EU, and its support for Nigel Farage's shambolic party, is almost entirely based around opposition to immigration.
And what that means in terms of Ed Miliband's announcement is that UKIP supporters will now be faced with a very stark and unmistakeable choice in 2015. If they want an EU referendum – and pretty much by definition it's the one thing they want above all else in the world – the only way they can make it happen is by making sure David Cameron remains Prime Minister.
Next year, UKIP voters – for all that many of them are full of a burning antipathy towards the Conservatives – will have to choose between voting against the Tories (and thereby risking letting Miliband sneak into 10 Downing Street) or holding their noses, voting tactically to keep Miliband out and bringing their heart's desire within reach.
As we've noted before, if just half of UKIP's support returns to the Conservatives when the chips are down, that'd already be enough to put the Tories ahead in almost every opinion poll of the last year, and Labour's lead has been steadily declining over the same period to now roughly half what it was 12 months ago.
It seems unlikely that ruling out a referendum will win Labour many votes. (Who, or where, from?) And it might cost them crucial ones in exactly the sort of marginal Middle England constituencies where they need them most – the seats which carry such hugely disproportionate weight in the UK's massively broken electoral system.
Today Ed Miliband put all his eggs into a single basket – one fashioned from the assumption that UKIP voters are too dim to realise any of the above. Perhaps he's right. But in unequivocally telling them that the only way to get what they want is to make sure he isn't the Prime Minister, it's a very big gamble for little discernible gain.
And with the entire core message of the No campaign in Scotland being predicated on the fragile credibility of a Labour win at Westminster in 2015, that's no small bet.
Category analysis, uk politics
Heroes of Europa | A Wilderness of Peace
90 to "A clear choice"
SquareHaggis says:
Schmeagle 😀
thomas William Dunlop says:
No toast to put the jam on.
Alex Beveridge says:
Mibbes aye, mibbes naw.
I haven't even read it yet, but this post gets a big thumbs up just for the photo alone! 😀
para4 "staring"?
Love the screen grab. I have a particular dislike of that individual.
…you have misunderstood.
His stance should be considered "flexible".
This latest announcement is to re-assure the Scots that we will stay in Europe if they vote NO in the referendum.
Labour will obviously have a revision when that issue is put to bed and they need to win a >bb< general election.
M4rkyboy says:
I know how that bloke feels.
I am pretty sure I heard Lord Foulkes say on Radio Scotland a couple of weeks ago that Labour would win in 2015 and there would be no EU referendum. That there is no uncertainty over the EU because it simply isn't going to happen.
A rare monent of clarity and clear policy choice. Milliband will be under zero pressure to hold a referendum unless he creates pressure for himself by making vague promises.
It'll all end in tears. 🙂
It's a suicide note.
Great analysis Rev.
If UKIP do well in the Euro elections, as I expect they will, I suspect that Ed Miliband will do a quick u-turn because he too will realise that UKIP voters will switch to voting Tory in the 2015 UK election.
This has not been well thought out by Labour.
Dave Beveridge says:
Anybody else think "Stan Laurel" when they seen that pic?
G H Graham says:
I have no faith in the "wisdom" of the English voters who are currently leaning towards UKIP on the basis of being offered the possibility of an EU referendum.
They will either favour UKIP or the Conservatives if a referendum does indeed turn out to be a higher priority for them than we might imagine.
Either way, it makes a win for Labour at the next British general election less likely.
The only way I see for Miliband to improve his chances is to also offer a referendum. That might sound contradictory because of his preference for the rUK to remain in the EU.
But it also reveals his own lack of faith in himself & in his party's ability to convince the electorate to vote NO & remain within the union, should a referendum be offered by Labour.
Thus Miliband will continue to fudge the issue, by appearing to consider offering a referendum while never actually being committed to offering one.
And that to me is just more evidence that Labour, although not exclusively, will do just about anything to get back into office.
Alfresco Dent says:
What that graph quite clearly demonstrates is that when Scotland re-asserts her independence the fUK will quite quickly descend into becoming a fascist state. It's just one of the reasons Alex Salmond is often likened to Hitler, Stalin & Mugabe. It's a condition called Projection. They know it themselves.
Johnny has three apples and gives mary one apple, how many oranges does johnny have ?
Jim T says:
Might be O/T – but has Ed's statement had this effect on sterling a few minutes ago …
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market_data/currency/11/13/intraday.stm
and Dollar
Can't see anything in the "economy" news on our favourite truthful BBC that might hint at an answer.
Scrapin the bottom o the barrel now
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc52OMftJSk
Albalha says:
Business for Scotland take on GERS
http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk/new-figures-confirm-that-scotland-would-have-been-8-3-billion-better-off-an-independent-country/
@ Alfresco Dent
From the opening paragraph of the Friends of the Union website: http://conservativefriendsoftheunion.com/
"The decision we make this year will determine the future of the country we love for the next thousand years."
A poorly disguised and distastful attempt to imply that this will be Alex Salmond's 'thousand year Reich'?
I want to be a man, man cub?
Ot but if Alistair Carmichael is meant to act in the best interests of Scotland why would he endorse the 'UK' position of them being the continuator state which would clearly be to the detriment of Scotland?
Lord Mandelson, "Miliband's stance on EU referendum is courageous"
which when translated;
"For f**k sake Ed you have just handed victory to the Tories"
O/T This will sound familiar as thing brew up in quebec. The whole article is like something the Hootsman
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2014/3/5/Separatist-battle-in-Canada-rekindled-with-Quebec-election.aspx
The reason people in England,and some in Scotland too,want out of Europe is due to all the years of Europe bashing by the three parties. They blame everything on Europe! So now we have UKIP ! You reap what you sow!
So let's get this straight The Labour Party and Ed Milliband was given the lead story on the BBC at 6am and the headlines in the paper to tell the nation in effect -I will do nothing at all .
Gers figures are not good ,so BBC going to be discussing it . ( probably ad nauseum ) !
Nice to hear Labour having a definitive policy about something.
Looking at that graph also shows how effective a compliant media have been in raising the immigration issue to roughly the same level as the economy on voters concerns.
Tories – 'For God's sake we have to get the plebs to stop thinking about the economy, sooner or later they'll twig that we're absolutely bankrupt, lets play the immigration card.'
As the great Adam Curtis has often remarked – politicians used to deliver dreams and aspirations to the public, that died with along with our trust for them. Now all they do is scare us by delivering pretend nightmares that only they can save the people from – terrorism. immigration etc.
Is he doing an impersonation of Norman Wisdom, or Willie Rennie? Full marks in either case.
msean says:
Labour as good as lost the 2015 when they 'elected' the wrong brother as leader.It's all been downhill from there.
Aside from that,I'm no Nick Clegg fan,but he got it right when he described UKIP at that conference the other day.
If the anti-devolutionist UKIP do well in the Euro elections and the devolution-sceptic Tories win the UK elections, as a consequence of Ed Miliband's 'doing nothing' on a EU referendum, then you can kiss goodbye any thoughts of more devolution for Scotland – it will be Devo-Nothing.
This is a game changing moment.
REV Here is link to AlexS' speech at New Statesman which you have been looking for.
Alt Clut says:
Have to disagree with "Alfresco Dent". Rise of UKIP will certainly be another step to the right in the rUK political centre of gravity but it won't be "fascism" i.e. not a physically predatory, authoritarian state systematically smashing all opposition to it's left.
If that was the real prospect, and Scotland staying within the union could prevent it, then we would have to consider our position very carefully. The independence movement would lose many supporters in moves to prevent us having a stronger, fascist power on our doorstep ! Fortunately, this is not the case but we mustn't, inadvertantly, frighten people into thinking on those lines.
The real situation is that Labour's position on independece is shown to be yet more bankrupt. If he sticks to the 'referendum on Europe unlikely' position, which his dominant opportunist instincts may lead him to ditch if UKIP does well in May, Miliband is much less likely to win a UK general election. So, Labour's pathetic, eleventh hour, greater devolution talk will come to absolutely zero. If by a miracle he won an election after a No vote in Scotland why should he give us anything ?
We need to use this Miliband announcement to drive home the blind alley that Labour has put itself into in Scotland. He's just given us a bit more ammunition if we play it sensibly !
I'm of the belief that Westminster parties will say anything and/or do anything to anybody as long as it allows them to hold on to power. What Milligan says today is subject to change without notice.
Westminster becomes, with each passing day, more & more like the USA. Choice? What choice?
Not Spike, obviously (only because he's dead though).
The last poll out(yesterday)had Labour just 3% ahead of the Tory's!
Labour have no chance, even if Ukip voters don't back the Tory Party.
The discussion around how Ukip and Tory Party's will not fight each other in marginal seats, so as to make sure Labour do not get in by the back door, looks like an idea that will appeal to them both, as the election draws near and Labour are still in with a chance.
This and the news that their is unease at postal voting and some people want to see it scraped for all but the genuinely disabled, will be a disaster for the Labour Party.
Which is nice 😉
labour EU referendum,Devo + must be twinned
pages an pages of waffle,fudged then nothing dne
scottish_skier says:
Highest Tory score since last July in today's ICM.
35% Con
38% Lab
12% Lib
9% UKIP
http://archive.is/acYx4
I look forward to the day when the petty squabbles of Westminster figure little in the politics of Scotland.
Labour aren't in favour of an EU referendum but aren't ruling one out either.
However, that could all change in future to being in favour of a referendum but not ruling out not being in favour of one…or something.
FlimFlamMan says:
@M4rkyboy
…why would he endorse the 'UK' position of them being the continuator state which would clearly be to the detriment of Scotland?
Is it clear?
According to their statements, Westminster would retain control of sterling and of the Bank of England, which would protect the rUK economy. Since Scotland wouldn't get its share of that asset it would also not get its share of the corresponding liabilities.
Scotland could start off with a blank slate, which seems like a good position for a nation that wants to do things differently.
Here's a nice blog post on the accounting:
http://www.3spoken.co.uk/2014/03/scottish-independence-myths-national.html
Anyone sighted the Survation poll cropping up anywhere yet?
Scottish Skier
That ICM poll states that the SNP and PC have 2% each. That seems a tad unlikely to me unless Plaid support has gone through the roof
Quantum Ed Dynamics –
http://orderorder.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/quantum-ed.gif?w=480&h=509
Some are sceptical of the claims for the existence of Quantum Ed Tunnelling, whereby such weak Labour spin is able to escape the seemingly impenetrable barrier of Ed's woeful Leadership Satisfaction ratings and help it win the next general election.
That ICM poll states that the SNP and PC have 2% each. That seems a tad unlikely to me unless Plaid support has gone through the roof.
Subsamples way too small. You need to look at 10's of polls UK wide to try to pin down numbers for Scotland.
Survation had the SNP on 38% for UKGEs with only 33% for Lab last month in their Scotland-wide poll. Also SNP 44% / Lab 31% for Holyrood matching Panelbase and in line with ICM (44% SNP for EU elections).
Previous ICM UK (dec-feb) had 4,4,3. So add your 2 and take an average. That'd be 39% Scotland-wide and more like the 40-44% I have them on for UKGE, matching Holyrood and similar to survation.
The SNP continue to be well ahead of Labour at both Holyrood and UKGE level.
Thought that, so more likely 3% and 1% which would tie in for those sort of numbers in Scotland and give Plaid about 20% which I think is roughly where they are (although their support is very strong in some places and less so in others)
The money drain doon the pan in Westminster says:
Westminster gov is again ruining the Scottish economy. Oil production is down because Osbourne/Alexander increased Oil tax 11% (£2Billion) a year in 2011 Budget to 60- 80%. Oil Companies cut funding and Projects. Costing Scotland £5Billion a year in lost revenues.
Scotland could have saved £1.5Billion by cutting Trident and redundant weaponry and £1.5Billion by putting a tax on cheap 'loss leading' alcohol = £3Billion a year.
Block Grant was cut £1.3Billion a year in 2011 Budget but Scotland is still being charged for interest for monies borrowed and spent in the rest of the UK and for tax evasion in the City of London. £4Billion+ = £12Billion a year. Scotland loses as part of the unequal Union.
@Flimflamman
It appears to me to be the lynchpin of all the negative stories used to attack the Yes movement.I see what you mean though,there are obviously benefits to the clean slate principle but i think it doesnt aid the campaign when we are talking about a smooth transition.
After this non-committal (suicide note) by Ed Miliband on a EU referendum there is no way Labour will win the UK election in 2015. It is likely Labour will be punished in the Euro elections as well so Ed Miliband could change his mind; but to flip-flop on this issue is going to be so damaging to Miliband's leadership.
As for Scotland it means the proposect of a return of a Tory government scared to upset UKIP and unwilling to do anything on devolution. Scotland will be treated harshly under this regime.
For Labour voters in Scotland who will dread the certainty of a returning Tory government they now have only 6 months to make up their minds.
The only way to say "NO" to the Tories is to vote YES.
It is interesting to play "what if" but I think in practice the Scottish Government has always planned to take on a fair share of the service costs of UK debt, they can't take the actual debt because they didn't borrow it and the creditor might have something to say about their loan being passed to a third party.
At this point though there is a bit of posturing, initiated by Westminster taking an aggressive stance and trying to pre-empt negotiations by setting apparent conditions in order to add to the uncertainty and scare stories. A currency union may not happen but it will form part of the horse trading whether Westminster likes it or not.
O/T Latest GERS figures getting big licks on BBC but no mention of the following
Over the past 5 years Scotland's would have been £8.3 billion better off as an independent country.
Scotland generated £800 more in tax per person than the UK average during the last financial year. Scotland's spending was also lower than the UK average over the past 5 years.
Scotland's spending was 44.2% of GDP over the last 5 years. The UK average was 45.4%.
Spending on social security last year was also lower in Scotland than the UK average. In Scotland it was 15.5% of GDP compared to 16% for the UK.
Scotland's economy is 11% better off in terms of GDP per capita than the UK.
call me dave says:
Tattie-bogle
Two banana skins! That's right init..init?
What has labour North or South of the border got to offer Scotland.
The EU referendum will be fudged, big business will exert pressure on Cameron and reasons will be found, like those caught short, to gently trickle it into the long grass, what a relief.
@HaS
Do you know if anyone has done a cost analysis of the various options?The Scotland analysis paper talks of 3 possibilities:
'There are three possible outcomes of negotiated Scottish independence in international
law: (a) one state that is the continuator of the UK and one new state; (b) two new states
(neither of which is the continuator of the UK, which would be extinct); and (c) one state
that is the continuator of the UK and one state which reverts to the status of the pre-1707
Scottish state.'
I think each option needs looking at in-depth.
For those with more time can someone trawl through the archives to see how big the licks were on the GERS figures by the BBC in previous years.
I'm not saying that they are untrustworthy but
http://evangelineholland.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/im-not-saying-that-it-was-aliens-but-it-was-aliens.jpg
The obvious thing for UKIP voters is to vote for UKIP in the European elections, and then for the Tories in the general election, to get the referendum on the EU that they desire.
M4rkyboy
A) No debt and assets IN Scotland
B) Negotiations on splitting assets into a fair share (8.4%)
C) Negotiation on splitting assets into a fair share (8.4%)
Have you looked at the white paper?
a Supporter
Good find, thanks. The Q/A part is missing which is a pity but the sound link covers it.
I'll do you a deal. I'll look at them in depth if you PUT SOME FRIGGING PARAGRAPH BREAKS IN YOUR COMMENTS.
Believe Labour on its promises with the past.
http://www.eunow.eu/UK_referendum_outrage.html
The OBR is the least reliable source for oil revenues as in 2010 it predicted $86 for 2013 / 2014 To-day's Brent Crude price is $108.50 and one year forecast is $115 a barrel.
Oil and Gas is coming ashore on West Coast later this year and the Laggan-Tomore field has 20% of the UK gas reserves with a 30 year lifespan
http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2013/09/17/more-than-30-years-life-in-west-of-shetland-gas-fields
Underground coal gasification (UCG) means gas can be produced from the massive North Sea Coal fields and be the next energy bonanza for an independent Scotland
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10518072/UKs-next-offshore-energy-fortune-lies-in-coal.html
I think it would quite hard to do a cost analysis although I would be surprised if both sides do not go into the negotiations with a fair idea which each of the options mean. rUk will push like hell for a or c. b would be totally unacceptable to them. I doubt if they would worry overly about the impact for Scotland under a or c other than new states can start with zero debt, the successor state taking all.
Option d is that both are recognised as successor states with rUK retaining original membership of the EU, UN, NATO, Security Council etc., and Scotland obtaining membership to some of these bodies as an ongoing entity. This would lance some of the scare stories but also certainly mean that Scotland would assist in the debt payment. After a Yes vote Westminster would have no need of scare stories and the emphasis would be on obtaining the best outcome for rUK..this would in some matters also require a good outcome for Scotland.
Yes and no,i haven't read it all.Does it acknowledge and examine the 3 possibilities from a cash perspective?
Personally,i think option B should be the de jure consequence but, de facto, A or C will be the likely outcome with my preference leaning towards option C.
@Linda's back
I also note that young Douglas's article in the Scotland section of the news website has no opportunity to comment. Don't need to ask why.
Sorry Stu,i just copied and pasted it from the pdf.
I will exercise more diligence in the future.
From the 2013 press Freedom Index
"In dictatorships, news providers and their families are exposed to ruthless reprisals, while in democracies news providers have to cope with the media's economic crises and conflicts of interest. While their situation is not always comparable, we should pay tribute to all those who resist pressure whether it is aggressively focused or diffuse."
UK drops one place to a highly respectable 29th place (are you sure about that – Ed?)
http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=classement&id_rubrique=1054
bjsalba says:
Remember the BBC Headline "Immigration impact report withheld by Downing Street"
"Downing Street has withheld publication of a cross-governmental report that suggests one potential impact of immigration is smaller than claimed.
It suggests "displacement" – the number of UK workers unemployed as a consequence of immigration – is well below the figure used by ministers of 23 for every 100 additional immigrants."
Whatever happened to that? Buried in a deep and dark place. Maybe it didn't fit with what the powerful want the story to be.
The MSM and the tabloids in particular, like the immigration issue because it provides lurid headlines which drive sales.
The City of London likes the immigration issue as it they see it as a tool for Cameron to use in his negotiations for a new deal with the EU. What they really want is opt-outs on the the financial transactions tax and salary/bonus caps. They want to stay in to have access to the markets.
It will be interesting to watch how this plays out.
an_obersver says:
Actually the 'big story' was that GERS report.
I guess £100k doesn't stretch far enough to mention it though.
"…in UK news". England doesn't give a shit about GERS. Rest assured that we'll have coverage on it, though. Donor, are you?
Ivan McKee, at least, got most of these points in on BBC Radio Scotland in the last half hour.
Discussion between him and I Gray, started around 1233 – 1246.
I enjoyed the image of George Best in his short-lived Scottish renaissance as a player, a neat spoof on pitiful Brown coming to Labour's rescue to dismiss progressive democracy. Google: grousebeater.wordpress. You might enjoy my view, if not, many thanks again for all you're doing on behalf of the cause.
Grouse Beater
I kinda thought the much farther reaching ramifications of Ed's statement were way more important than a GERS report which, lets face it, can turn on the head of a pin from year to year. GERS will reflect how well you're doing coping with economic circumstance within a given year. Eds wee bombshell could possibly effect the political direction of the UK for certainly the next five and with knock on effects to the independence campaign, for decades to come.
Maybe just me though. 😉
Macart- it is not just you.
Ed's non-committal means he has just handed the 2015 election to the Tories.
For Scotland this means Devo-Nothing, the end of the Barnett formula, a Westminster attack on Scottish public services, continued austerity well into the 2020s.
It is Labour voters who will decide who wins the independence referendum. It is up to us to impress on them that their choice is no longer difficult, it has become simple. To save Scotland from the Tories and UKIP only a YES vote will do.
@M4rkyboy – No there are no costings for it, as we don't know what we'll get, nor we do know the value of the assets at that moment in time….depreciation for example.
It was pointed out that we could for instance forego a share in something for a reduction in debt….
However, I'd imagine that it is indeed option D as HandandShrimp says….both are continuing states, this is the most easiest way of transitioning everything like EU membership, NATO etc etc
Trying to cost it is impossible just now!
As for Milliband, I think his position will change after the Euro elections.
I guess he'll be having an in/out referendum then:
The European Commission proposed a new Directive to make it easier for people to exercise their right to work in another Member State on 26 April 2013 (see IP/13/372). The European Parliament approved the proposal on 12 March 2014 (see STATEMENT/14/67). The proposal is due to be definitely adopted by the EU's Council of Ministers in the coming weeks.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-187_en.htm
an_obersver (really?)
I was just saying we should look back and see how big the GERS report has been in previous years…wouldn't want the BBC being accused of bias to the Better Together cause now would we? The bottom line is that Scottish fiscal deficit is 8.3% of the UK fiscal deficit or identical to our proportion of population. A fall back from previous years but hardly the wheels off the wagon.
@Gillie
Agreed. In fact I'd go farther than that. I'd try to impress upon them that if they want to have a Scottish Labour party concentrating on the issues which affect their daily lives, then there's only one logical vote.
Ed has sold them out for soundbites and marginal seats. God he couldn't even name all the candidates for Labour's own leadership election in Scotland. Plain fact is he couldn't care less about the needs of our electorate.
If they want a Scottish Labour, then vote YES. Ditch the current team and clean house. Lose those who have patently failed to represent their interests and get people in whose loyalty and aspirations start in their own back yard.
Labour's stance on the EU could, as some have suggested above, be a boost to the Tories. Increased prospects of a Tory Westminster win in 2015 has to be worth a few more percentage points swing to Yes!
So this is all good then? Ed commits electoral suicide in the crucial battleground shires as the Rev notes, and we're (they're) guaranteed a Tory victory in 2015.
It's all grist to the Radical Independence mill. The more it looks as though England will vote Tory in 2015, the more likely that we'll get a Yes vote in traditional Labour-voting areas, while the SGE in 2016 will give a chance of a Labour government and consign the Tories to the sidelines almost in perpetuity.
Ah GERS again. Yes campaign doomed. SNP out and Labour sweeping to victory! Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves…
Let's see. In SSAS surveys over the past 5 year period, the number of people believing Scotland would be economically better/worse etc:
32(+/-3)% Better off
24(+/-2)% No difference
33(+/-3%) Worse off
10(+/-2)% Dinnae Ken
Margin of error / sampling variance = ~3%.
Right, so that's only 33% worried and that's because they're mainly British/Brit Scot people who don't want and end to their country to end, i.e. Britain. It's not necessarily what they really think at all.
Meanwhile, 57% are not worried at all with 10% not knowing enough nor probably caring to do so.
Ok, lets remove the dinnae ken's as they'll never ken nor ever vote.
57/(57+33)*100 = 63.3%
Look familiar that number? Have you seen it before? Pops up all over the place.
GERS 'poll effect' prediction base on past effects = nada.
P.S. any poll which has greater than 33(+/-3)% thinking Scotland would be economically worse off should be treated with suspicion. The SSAS is rock solid on those numbers in the long term. They don't vary because they are strongly tied to national identity, not economics.
And before anyone questions the rounding 'error', it's 56.6/(32.5+56.6)*100 = 63.5%; a number which should be even more familiar given it hasn't changed a great deal since 1997.
Oh I do hope you're right….
He's right.
Bloody 'phone. Was reading a thread on the Shell internal message board regarding their statement the other day. The anger from the employees was palpable – some even wondering what Shell were going to say to voters in Crimea. Because at the end of the day, it was a political statement. Excluding non-Scottish reside
FFS! Scots' comments – roughly 75% tending to yes.
Eoan says:
Note what Douglas Fraser says in his comments, where he tries to paint the Yes side as changing the argument:
"The argument has changed to taking a five-year time-frame, which makes the figures look better, and saying the deficit is explained by higher investment by government and the oil industry."
Then look at last year's BBC Report on the figures for 2011/2012 where they quote John Swinney:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-21684684
"Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said Scotland was better off to the tune of £824 per person and, over the last five years, was in a stronger position relative to the UK as a whole by £12.6bn."
Argument seems to be the same to me ?
Bill Walters says:
"The more it looks as though England will vote Tory in 2015, the more likely that we'll get a Yes vote in traditional Labour-voting areas, while the SGE in 2016 will give a chance of a Labour government and consign the Tories to the sidelines almost in perpetuity."
I'm not so sure this will have much effect on the referendum to be honest. Even if there's a major swing away from UKIP toward the Tories in 2015 (and I think that underestimates the depth of feeling the UKIP crowd have at the moment) you won't really see that in the polls in September. September is still 8 months off the next general election and most of the evidence on tactical voting suggests it doesn't kick in until closer to the vote than that.
It's also worth saying that it has to swing a lot more than a few percentage points for the Tories to actually win the next general election. Electoral calculus still have it at a 7% chance of a Tory majority, while a Labour majority or Lib/Lab coalition has an 83% chance under their model. I'll put my faith in the numbers and say there's still very little chance of an EU referendum being passed in the next parliament.
Arel says:
If its a No vote, then I'm fairly certain that there'll be a backlash against Labour from its traditional support in Scotland. The sight of Balls closing ranks with Osbourne and the ginger rodent has left a sour taste with many supporters (I'm one of them and have a large family who feel likewise. Consequently the usual obedient vote in Scotland will be lost or badly dented leading to a Tory win – probably in cahoots with Farage's ragbag of loonies and the unhinged. That is one scary prospect, may we be spared from such a nightmare scenario.
UKIP are against the EU and to a lesser extent against immigration. [As discussed above]
When 'normal' politicians discuss immigration they mean economic migrants (work visas), students (study visas), asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. However I am certain, in the minds of many ordinary people another group are considered immigrants – EU citizens. These are not immigrants and they have a right to be here, such is the way with the EU.
UKIP I assume have tuned into this popular categorisation of EU folks (Poles, etc) as immigrants. Here's my point … UKIP want the UK out of the EU … should they succeed, then presumably a couple of million EU citizens would no long have any right to be here.
Labour have made it (for now) unlikely that they will play a part in helping to get the UK out of the EU. So, those who think along the lines above ie EU Citizens = immigrants & out of EU = immigrants will leave, Labour is not going to get their vote.
UKIP supporters see a connection between EU membership and EU citizens working here, I believe. Labour thinking, hasn't made this connection.
Therefore, Labour's policy on the EU will loose them votes, which might make a Tory 2015 victory more likely. The more likely that is, the better for Yes in September!
What a sad day when I believe the likelihood of a Tory victory in London is helpful! Makes me cringe a bit!
Saw Milliband speaking yesterday. IF any powers to be ceded to EU, THEN an in/out referendum. Not enough for the swivel-eyed loons. Tories have promised one, UKIP promised one. LibDems have the same policy as Labour but have no chance of retaining their share of the vote or any power in the Cabinet. Labour – Milliband is seen as weak by his own support and is as right wing as some of the Tories. May be either an outright Tory win, or a Tory/UKIP coalition. In the event of a YES vote, Labour will be quite happy to lose – they can snipe from the sidelines rather than take the blame. If UKIP are in a coalition, the Tories can blame them for any cock-ups in the negotiations. Course in the event of a YES vote all bets are off – how will the English public feel about it, will they care?
← Scotland's Future In Scotland's Hands
Sympathy for the devil →


The game is never over for Colts fans. Fans demand instant content both on- and off-season. They want to interact. They want to be involved. They want to watch anytime, anywhere. This can be anything from player interviews, press conferences to cheerleading tryouts. Thankfully, it doesn't take much to feed a hungry audience with Verizon's platform.
Colts fans keep Colts.com busy, both on- and off-season. The demand for instant, engaging content means Colts.com has to rely on a powerful network to stream continuously and without fail. The sky's the limit for the types of content and the amount that Colts.com can stream, but keeping up with the fans' appetite for new, engaging content can be troubling without the right tools, resources and the right network partner.
Verizon's lightning-fast platform empowers Colts.com to take control of its content and then stream live to a huge audience. There's no waiting around; fans can practically glue themselves to their favorite player's side in real time, whether it's watching the actual game, catching the highlights post-game or listening to interviews. Fans can even watch games on demand. Verizon makes sure that fans get what they want, when they want it.
Transform the way you deliver online experiences.


Make Inspace your smart business workspace! As a masterpiece designed by well-known SLB and Oxley Holdings, Inspace is an 8 storey high factory building located in District 19, 24 New Industrial Road. It is just 2 minutes' drive away from Tai Seng MRT and Bartley MRT. Inspace is in close proximity to 2 major expressways, Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and Pan- Island Expressway (PIE). Inspace is FREEHOLD land, making it rather limited. FREEHOLD industrial property retains value over time. Foreigners are eligible to purchase and there is no time decay for this property. All of these makes it a perfect location for a business.
Inspace is a modern industrial development built for Business-1 usage. Businesses that provide software applications, media activities and infocomm and telecommunications infrastructure are suggested to make this industrial purchase. The developer of Inspace, Lian Beng Group, has been in construction and development business since the year of 1973, they have worked on many industrial, residential and commercial projects. They have ensure Inspace has the features that helps expand your business visibility and build a dynamic network.
Adding on to the good location, exciting developments are coming up at Paya Lebar Air Base and Bidadar Estate. It is also situated next to NEX mall, Heartland Mall, BreadTalk IHQ, Paya Lebar Square, Singpost centre, Serangoon gardens, Kovan food centre, Singapore sports hub and Kallang Riverside Park. Some other amenities near Inspace includes NTUC, GIANT supermarkets, primary and secondary schools.
Inspace is a multi-user industrial development comprising one block 8-storey factory building with 84 factory units with Mezzanine and other Ancillary Facilities have been made available. It has sky terraces on levels 2, 3, 4 and 5 and root courtyard facilities such as swimming pool, outdoor fitness corner and pavilions. Parking Lots have been designated for the respective vehicles. 42 car lots, 6 lorry lots and 50 Bicycle lots. There are also ramps designed that leads to each unit with common car parking.
Each unit is provided with 60 Amps 3 Phase isolator. Fibre service and telephone point services are also available. The building will also have 2 common service lifts and 3 common passenger lifts for loading and unloading, this way business operations will be made much easier. There will also be provision of smart system which consists of CCTV, visual door bell, door lock and smart hub.
However, Inspace can be seen as a well-developed industrial building that can be of good use to businesses in need of growth. The developers are experienced, reliable and well-skilled. The infrastructure development includes electrical installations, fibre services, lifts, smart systems and much more. This development features will help a business add value for their customers. Smart office features are also available to make the building a suitable place to build offices and perform daily operations successfully. The location of the building is also convenient, as it's near many amenities such as trains, shopping malls, schools and supermarkets making it more convenient and accessible.
Inspace is your space! The space that you need for your business.


Some unknown person sent an email to a number of undisclosed recipients containing information that was critical of the hiring and other business practices of the Caribbean resort Sandals. Irritated by this communication, Sandals filed an action in New York state court seeking a subpoena to compel Google to identify the owner of the offending Gmail account.
The trial court denied the petition seeking discovery. Sandals sought review with the appellate court. On appeal, the court affirmed the denial of the petition for discovery.
Under New York law, a person or entity can learn the identity of an unknown possible defendant only when it demonstrates that it has "a meritorious cause of action and that the information sought is material and necessary to the actionable wrong." In this case, the court held that the petition failed to demonstrate that Sandals had a meritorious cause of action.
The court found that nothing in the petition identified specific assertions of fact as false. It also found that the lower court did not err in reasoning that the failure to allege the nature of the injuries caused by the statements in the email were fatal to the petition.
It went on to find that even if the petition had sufficiently alleged the email injured Sandals' business reputation or damaged its credit standing, it would still deny the application for disclosure of the account holder's identification on the ground that the subject email was constitutionally protected opinion.
The culture of Internet communications, as distinct from that of print media such a newspapers and magazines, has been characterized as encouraging a "freewheeling, anything-goes writing style." […] [T]he e-mail at issue here . . . bears some similarity to the type of handbills and pamphlets whose anonymity is protected when their publication is prompted by the desire to question, challenge and criticize the practices of those in power without incurring adverse consequences such as economic or official retaliation. […] Indeed, the anonymity of the e-mail makes it more likely that a reasonable reader would view its assertions with some skepticism and tend to treat its contents as opinion rather than as fact.
This entry was posted in Anonymity, Defamation and tagged Anonymity, anonymous, Defamation, discovery, google, sandals on May 21, 2011 by Evan Brown (@internetcases).


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The Vedic Aryans were quite familiar with mysteries of sound and colour. Mental correlations of the two senses of "sight" and "hearing" were as common a fact in their days, as that of a man in our own seeing objective things before him with eyes wide open at noon. Any student of Occultism, the youngest of chelas who has just begun reading esoterically his Vedas, can suspect what the real phenomenon means; simply – a cyclic return of human organisms to their primitive form during the 3rd and even the 4th Root Races of what is known as the Antediluvian periods.
The Theosophist, April 1886
The contemporary renaissance of primordial spirituality is a necessary function of collective cyclic law and concerted individual resolve. Within the triadic framework of human evolution, the relative balance of the monadic, mental and physical components varies with the cycles and sub-cycles of Race evolution through the Rounds. At the same time, the rich fabric of Nature itself and the cumulative rapidity of karmic precipitation of events initiate significant changes according to the parameters of the yugas. The inherent complexity of the Manvantaric scheme cannot be reduced to a simplistic model. Yet there do exist fundamental axioms of cyclic evolution which may be applied with Buddhic discrimination to the shifting circumstances and opportunities presented by the moving locus of human growth.
Witnessed from the standpoint of Eternal Duration, the entire changing universe is but a kaleidoscopic reflection of divine thought in the Divine Mind. Witnessed from the standpoint of the compassionate hosts of Bodhisattvas freely incarnated in evolving manifestation, the transformations of time, of pravritti and nivritti, are a perpetual yet progressive re-enactment of a single cosmic archetype. Each and every cycle of existence may be grasped in relation to that which Ever Is, that which was in the beginning and which will be at the end, for it is ever becoming. To the apprehension of the Rishi mystically attuned to Brahma Vach, cyclic events are, one and all, circumscribed within the principle that the first shall be the last, and last shall be the greatest. For the individual seeker this principle helps to unravel not only the cycles and sub-cycles of birth and death, but also the mysteries of self-conscious self-insertion into the broader cycles of Race evolution.
Since the inception of Manasic humanity upon this globe over eighteen million years ago, and through every successive transformation of the myriad faculties of man, the Mahatmas have maintained intact the integrity of the Mysteries for the sake of the spiritual enlightenment of humanity. Gupta Vidya is a comprehensive framework of initiations into the spiritual and psychological mysteries that underlie human evolution. In every civilization throughout the past eighteen million years, the sacred fires of the Mysteries have been preserved in sanctuaries for groups of enlightened seekers who fulfil the preparatory conditions for spiritual wisdom, having taken vows and undergone a period of probationary self-training resulting in the incomparable strength of moral purity and mental reliability. Through deep meditation each aspirant must acquire a capacity for effortless resonance with the minds and hearts of all other aspirants, and thereby learn to come closer to Mahat, the cosmic Mind behind manifested nature and the great hebdomadal heart of all humanity. Without such systematic self-training, in personal invulnerability, impermeability to lower titanic forces and a quickened sense of the immortality of the soul, it is not possible for the lanoo-shravaka to become fully attuned to the collective mind and heart of the human race.
In order to become a candidate for initiation into the Mysteries, it is necessary to draw closer to the living centre of universal humanity, and therefore to draw apart from mundane concerns. In practice, this means developing the capacity to withdraw from the sensorium and to enter transcendental states of consciousness through meditation based upon intensified powers of concentration, calm contemplation and a greater continuity of consciousness in Spirit. Mystically, this means attuning oneself to the music of the spheres and becoming able to listen, amidst diverse temporal circumstances, to the Soundless Sound, the Voice of the Silence. Such an awakening to the reality and presence of Spirit implies a retraining and refining of the senses, bringing about a fundamental alteration in their polarity. Each of the sensory faculties has its ultimate origin in one of the seven Dhyani-energies that constitute in their aggregate the Logos. On the universal plane these seven centres have virtually unlimited creative potential, but in their restricted reflections on the astral and physical planes the range and reach of each are severely restricted. They are limited not only by the intrinsic properties of matter and the radius of perception appropriate to the sense-organs on the physical plane, but also by the insufficient use of the sensory powers by individuals under karma. There is, therefore, an enormous variation amongst human beings in the perception of colour and sound, a variation based on their relative capacities to use sight and hearing. There is a further variation in the capacity of individuals to correlate the entire set of sense-organs and sensory faculties in daily life.
The mystical seeker, concerned to awaken the compassionate creative capacity of the higher faculties, must turn from a half-life of outwardness to a full life of inwardness. By progressively withdrawing attention from the phenomenal plane, and intensifying the power of concentration combined with vairagya, he must detach his mind from the world and the concerns of the separative self. As he does this, the polarity of the linga sharira, the astral form, which is the seat of the subtle sensory powers, will change. There follows a gradual unfoldment from within without, bringing an attunement to supersensuous spheres of consciousness and a correlative extension and integration of the range and scope of perception.
This inward mystical development, the process of withdrawal (nivritti), must be understood in relation to the overall collective development of humanity throughout the Rounds and Races. Otherwise the aspirant may fall prey to the fatal delusion called individual progress. Because everyday consciousness has fragmented so violently in the present period of evolution, most human beings are highly susceptible to psychic intoxication when confronted with the enormous potential of the inner senses. Without a firm grasp of the cyclic laws pertaining to the evolution and involution of the sensory faculties, they can scarcely hope to avoid a disastrous moral inversion of their aspirations when met with the first stirrings of their dormant power. Specifically, the future awakening of the sixth and seventh senses represents a cyclic return of the wave of human evolution to a degree of spirituality shared by all of humanity in prior Rounds and Races. A future era in which sight and hearing are experienced as mental correlates is prefigured in that distant age pointed to by the Vedas wherein radiancy and colour, light and sound, sight and hearing, were synonymous terms. Assembling both philological evidence that all representations and conceptions of light and sound are found to have their derivation from the same roots, and mythological evidence of the correlation between the deities of light and the divine singers of the Vedic hymns, H.P. Blavatsky spoke of that time when all the senses were united.
Beginning with the First Root Race of the present Fourth Round on this globe, the evolution of primitive humanity on the physical plane proceeded through the development of one of the seven senses in each of the successive Sub-Races. The separation of the senses characteristic of humanity in the Fifth Root Race represents a later and transitory stage of development which will eventually be resolved through a return to an earlier integrity of the faculties.
Human speech, as known to us, came into being in the Root-race that preceded ours – the Fourth or the "Atlantean" – at the very beginning of it, in sub-race No. 1; and simultaneously with it were developed sight – as a physical sense – while the four other senses (with the two additional – the 6th and 7th – of which science knows nothing as yet) – remained in their latent, undeveloped state as physical senses, although fully developed as spiritual faculties. Our sense of hearing developed only in the 3rd sub-races.... "Sound is seen before it is heard", – says the book of Kiu-ti. The flash of lightning precedes the clap of thunder. As ages went by mankind fell with every new generation lower and lower into matter, the physical smothering the spiritual, until the whole set of senses – that had formed during the first three Root-races but one SENSE, namely, spiritual perception – finally fell asunder to form henceforth five distinct senses.
This paradigmatic and dominant mode of cognition characterized the entire Third Root Race and extended into the early periods of the Fourth Root Race. The gradual differentiation and subsequent fragmentation of spiritual perception into the present set of five senses all occurred during the present Fourth Round. This is of critical importance in comprehending the relationship between mental or self-conscious Manasic evolution and the development of the physical vestures. The full implications of these past periods in the present Round cannot be understood, however, until they are placed in the yet larger perspective of the overall balance between spirituality and mentality as affected by the cycling of the Rounds. Before the unfoldment of self-consciousness in the Fourth Round, the incipient humanity of the Third Round was characterized by a supernal and ethereal quality of vesture and form which pervaded the use of all the inner sense-organs in the Third Round.
In the words of one in whom live Truth and Wisdom..."in the 1st half of the 3rd Round the primordial spirituality of man was eclipsed, because over-shadowed by nascent mentality"; Humanity was on its descending arc in the first half of that round and in the last half on its ascending arc: i.e., "his (man's) gigantic stature had decreased and his body improved in texture; and he had become a more rational being though still more an ape than a Deva-man."
Thus, in the Third Root Race of the present Round, as self-consciousness dawned, humanity was in a state of blissful primordial spirituality. Human beings felt effortlessly at one with one another on the plane of divine ideation, universal compassion and spiritual will owing to the extraordinary intensity of spiritual perception. This authentic aboriginal condition of humanity is associated with the Eye of Dangma, the Third Eye of spiritual insight and vision.
Just as the nascent mentality of mankind eclipsed primordial spirituality in the Third Round, so too in the present Round, during the Fourth Root Race, there was a tremendous heightening of mental development focussed upon increasingly differentiated planes of existence. This allowed for a quickening of kama manas in relation to the world of objects and subjects, of comparison and contrast. As a result, there was also a corresponding decline in the intuitive faculties of self-conscious human beings, and a corresponding weakening of the centres of spiritual perception. Whilst this process represents the natural descent of spirituality into materiality, the identification with form over essence poses the central challenge to the dawning powers of noetic Manasic intelligence. Yet during the Fourth Root Race, and accompanying the natural development of mental and spiritual powers, many classes of souls misused these powers chiefly in the service of the egotistical self. Consequently, disappearance and atrophy befell the eye of spiritual wisdom. In the chilling statement of the Stanzas of Dzyan, "The Third Eye closed."
Since this spiritual and mental self-degradation over five million years ago, the physical organ of spiritual perception has receded deep within the brain and there has been an extraordinary difficulty in the human organism to restore its spiritual vision. Since the beginning of the Fifth Root Race over a million years ago, the powers of mental awareness and self-consciousness – particularly the power of mental apprehension through meditation – have quickened. When human beings through meditation become capable of gaining control over the power of thought and of directing thought-forms, Manas is heightened. Owing to the karma of the Fourth Root Race, the humanity of the present Fifth Sub-Race of the Fifth Root Race has experienced considerable difficulty maintaining itself in pace with the forefront of human evolution. Contrary to the natural degree of progress at this point in the Manvantaric scheme, many are unable to control their emotional nature and continue falling back into a relative state of mental obscuration through assigning an excessive sense of reality to the separative self and the world of sensory objects. Through the overdeveloped principle of kamic desire, and an undernourished resistance of those conflicts that erode the power of mental concentration, humanity has sunk to the nadir of its spiritual development. Through fragmentation of consciousness, through inability to stay still, through inability to concentrate, to engage in self-transcendence and to learn, vast numbers of human beings have become needlessly handicapped both morally and spiritually.
Yet, an honest and humble individual can still take advantage of the inherent possibilities of the scheme of cyclic human evolution. A vanguard of heroic forerunners will always extend the horizon of human potential. Through effortless empathy they will spontaneously show a concern for the weak and act on a sympathy for the sick and retarded. And through their compassion they will constantly reawaken the latent Buddhi, a spiritual love in human beings for fellow men and women. It has always been, and it always will be, possible to arouse the latent sense of empathy for other human beings; thus it will always be possible to arouse reflected Buddhi. And thus spiritual perception can be heightened and the lost eye awakened. The present karmic condition of humanity is serious, but it is by no means desperate. Even extremely materialistic people, upon encountering the evidence of other and ancient civilizations, immediately or through friends who can tell them of undreamt possibilities, can continually extend their sense of the horizon of human potential.
This capacity for buoyancy and ascent, inherent in human nature, reflects the primordial spirituality of the human race. This works continuously but can become intensified and deliberate only through conscious resolve. Few people today are in a position to become monks, capable of a spiritual discipline more demanding and more complete than anything within the secular realms of music or mathematics. Yet, just as in these arenas one can increase an appreciation of mathematics without becoming a genius or a love of music without becoming a performer, so too one can develop a sense of spiritual excitement without being an adept. Whatever his or her limitations, everyone can reach out through admiration to those who extend the horizon of human potential, and everyone can shatter walls of separateness and loneliness which otherwise loom like a gloomy curse. So long as the forces of unity are greater than the forces of disunity, so long as the forces of light are potentially greater than those of darkness, so long as the forces of love are more potent than those of hate, there is hope for humanity. Even the most apathetic classes of souls can unwittingly benefit from the more advanced souls of humanity. Through this continuous process of reciprocal interdependent quickening of potentials, there is a collective preparation for the future. And even if the full flowering of that future and the restoration in its fullness of the primordial spirituality of man may be a hundred thousand – or a million – years away, it is already evident in some extraordinary individuals. Many children can see sounds and hear sights, drawing the two senses together, with responses to vibrations that their parents cannot apprehend. Such individuals are seminal forerunners for the future, souls naturally attuned to that spiritual perception which is the germ of the sixth sense.
All the senses must be controlled and directed by self-conscious Manas. It is only through concentrated thought enriched by deep meditation, in silence and secrecy in the quiet hours of the day, that one may gather into oneself the spiritual forces of the cycle, and form a coherent inner body of meditation. By preparing for sleep and by coming out of it with a strong current of ideation, one can quicken the spiritual will and release the faculties, skills and knowledge of the soul which would otherwise be locked up. Not every age, and hence not every incarnation, is equally filled with opportunities for inward development; thus, access to spiritual teachings at those moments when the opportunities are great is a privilege indeed. The present decade is such a time because it is a period when those who will link themselves up to the humanity of the future can, and must, intensify their spiritual current of ideation. Those who cannot keep pace with the forward march of human evolution will accordingly be much more deranged and disordered than they otherwise might be. Nonetheless, all this occurs under karma; all the teaching of cosmic and cyclic evolution is designed to help the individual to insert himself or herself into the larger perspective. When more and more individuals come to see that they cannot separate their own individual growth from universal enlightenment, they will become more and more selfless and relaxed, cheerfully shedding the unnecessary weight of excessive concern for the personality. In the archetypal instruction of The Voice of the Silence:
Thou shalt not separate thy being from BEING, and the rest, but merge the Ocean in the drop, the drop within the Ocean.
So shalt thou be in full accord with all that lives; bear love to men as though they were thy brother-pupils, disciples of one Teacher, the sons of one sweet mother.
Of teachers there are many; the MASTER-SOUL is one, Alaya, the Universal Soul. Live in that MASTER as ITS ray in thee. Live in thy fellows as they live in IT.
In the vast pilgrimage of each individual ray there are certain moments when it is necessary to go up or down, to go forward and selflessly merge with all humanity, or to slip backwards towards the imprisoning vortices of self-destruction in negative meditation. In such moments of choice, it is impossible to avoid the pain and suffering naturally attendant upon every true birth. One cannot be reborn into the new type of humanity unless one is willing to die as the old Adam, the old creature of habits given to spiritual paranoia, mental drowsiness and psychic daydreaming. This tattered shell must be replaced from within the voidness of one's own meditation by the embryo of the person of tomorrow.
We are in the 5th race, and we have already passed the turning or axial point of our "sub-race cycle". Eventually as the current phenomena and the increase of sensitive organisms in our age go to prove, this Humanity will be moving swiftly on the path of pure spirituality, and will reach the apex (of our Race) at the end of the 7th sub-race. In plainer and fuller language...we shall be, at that period, on the same degree of spirituality that belonged to, and was natural in, the 1st sub-race of the 3rd Root-race of the FOURTH Round; and the second half of it (or that half in which we now are) will be, owing to the law of correspondence, on parallel lines with the first half of the THIRD Round.
The quickening of spiritual perception and the restoration of the primordial spirituality of the First Sub-Race of the Third Root Race by the end of the present Fifth Root Race are not nearly so distant as they may seem to human beings as yet unprepared in consciousness to slough old skins. Indeed, they are the vital components of the Logoic impulse of the Aquarian Age. The incapacity of human beings in general to recognize the immanence of the restoration of archetypal spiritual humanity is bound up with their ostrich-like obsession with life in a physical form. The difficulty of extricating oneself from this mental obscuration is aggravated for many by the accelerated pace of karmic precipitation during the present Kali Yuga. This yuga, which has already passed away some five thousand of its four hundred and thirty-two thousand years, is a relatively short time when seen from the perspective of the Root Races and Sub-Races. It will indeed end before the completion of the present Fifth Root Race, and be followed by an ascent through the yugas towards the Satya Yuga, the whole process proceeding pari passu with the development of the final Sub-Races of the present Root Race.
The four yugas may be understood in terms of a descent from the most golden age to the most decadent, followed by a reascent to a golden age that represents a spiralling spiritual advance over the starting-point of the cycle. But these yugas do not mechanically and automatically apply to all human beings in the same way. Babies, for example, are not in Kali Yuga, but rather experience something like a Satya Yuga, albeit briefly. The yugas are relative to states of consciousness, and since all people even in a single city are on different planes of consciousness, their states of mind vary dramatically according to the dominant concerns of what may be called their lines of life's meditation. So too they vary in their capacity to control the twenty-eight-day cycle of the moon and to master the cycles of the seasons of nature. Whether it be for a day, a week or an entire year, individuals must therefore train themselves to adapt their plastic mental potency to the prevailing conditions of periodic phenomena. Through the noumenal power of resolve they can always establish counterbalancing measures capable of producing successively higher levels of equilibrium.
For those capable of taking and adhering to vows, Kali Yuga affords a great opportunity. In other times one may postpone the results of one's actions; in Kali Yuga the results return very rapidly. Many people, experiencing this intensification of karma, have developed elaborate theories regarding the pace of change in the modern era, culture shock, future shock and the like; in truth, it is simply the result of an acceleration in the vortex of precipitation in Kali Yuga. When this factor is compounded by the embryonic forces of the Aquarian Age, everything happens much faster within a month, within a week, or even within a day, than was considered possible a century ago. Souls either lose their spiritual vibration more quickly, or hold a vibration and move much faster with it. They can more rapidly descend into a lower state of consciousness or more speedily ascend to a higher state of consciousness. As in mountain climbing, the higher one goes, the greater the danger of giddiness and falling, and the more precipitous the potential fall the higher and more rarefied the atmosphere in which it takes place. But if one maintains steadiness in the thin air of higher altitudes, one's perspective may suddenly expand. This is true both on the mental and physical planes; in Kali Yuga karmic causes may be rapidly exhausted, and illusions rapidly destroyed. Opportunities are thus unusually abundant. As more and more individuals experience this rapid destruction of illusions, they can experience many more lifetimes within a single incarnation than ever before. As the consequences of a fall are much more serious and severe in Kali Yuga, so too the possibilities of spiritual self-regeneration are much more golden.
Because humanity will soon find itself at a level corresponding to the First Sub-Race of the Third Root Race, the ability to participate self-consciously in the self-regeneration of humanity will require the awakening of trans-rational powers of apprehension. Since the latter half of the present Round corresponds to the first half of the Third Round, renascent primordial spirituality has already begun to overshadow and eclipse the actual mentality, the cold human reason, characteristic of the earlier eras of the Fourth Round. Anticipations of this tendency have grown increasingly strong, so that in many individuals spiritual intuition outruns mental capacity or analytic facility. Many either do not take the lower mind seriously, or will not subject what is valuable in their lives to the narrow tests of analysis. Psychoanalysts or other types of analysts seem increasingly unnecessary, as people work out their problems on their own, often by simply preserving their intuitions in the face of adversity. There is also a growing awareness of the reality of spiritual vibrations. Insofar as people think of themselves as starved for affection, they put an enormous and double-edged emphasis upon the feeling nature. As this makes them more passive, it makes them more vulnerable, more removed from their spiritual toughness and mental strength. But it also kindles a sense of empathy and sensitivity, and allows them to unfold more intuitive insight.
As the work of the present cycle proceeds, and the ratios affecting the quality of souls taking incarnation are shifted upwards, towards the mystically inclined, even the outward character of humanity will witness a gradual shift of tonality and colour. Already, the contemporary emphasis upon tenderness and sensitivity has begun to shift attention away from the equations of aggressiveness and success, of success and happiness. Like a Neanderthal monster, the loud-mouthed, over-assertive personality is being replaced by a new kind of soul whose ideal is a delicacy of perception. The bullies of old have lost their fascination for the great mass of human beings, and are able to reinforce themselves in their desperation only by ganging together in cowardly cliques. Like museum pieces or relics, they conceal their weakness only by frightening those who are so foolish as to be predisposed to be frightened by them. It would be wiser for individuals to concentrate their attention upon that which is truly significant for the forward march of human evolution. Here as elsewhere everything is a function of spiritual attention; one can either set one's vision upon the stars or else bury it in the sand. One can either raise one's senses to the potential richness of human evolution, or lower them to the enslaving excrescences of the past. Now more than ever before vast numbers of human beings are choosing the former and setting their sights upon a higher consciousness more and more.
Spiritual endurance can only be acquired by rethinking one's whole life and by reshaping one's psyche. This requires enormous courage and deep resolve. One can either remain captive to the endless recurrence of old mistakes, or guide oneself firmly in the opposite direction. At seasonal times of renewal, it is possible to reaffirm and renew one's spiritual resolutions. It is always possible to tap the infinite resources of the primordial spirituality of the human race, and thereby draw into the current of the Mahatmas and Bodhisattvas who live eternally, regenerating the world and its humanity. Yet every resolve is tested during karmically necessary subsequent descents into materiality and form. Those strong in the power of meditation can, at the end of a month, look back at their New Year's resolutions and assess their progress. With each succeeding week, month and season they can reaffirm their resolutions, progressively strengthening within themselves the ladder of ascent in consciousness. Others may momentarily or entirely forget their resolves, and find themselves waiting for the next new year. There will always be some who are carried away by a momentary enthusiasm, and others who choose to stay with their decisions and cooperate with the forward march of human evolution into the indefinite and infinite future. So long as human beings are self-conscious and have the power of choice, nothing is automatic. Because spirituality progressively dominates over materiality, it is becoming increasingly more difficult and disastrous to stand still or regress. If individuals do not self-consciously insert themselves into the archetype of the humanity of the future, they are confronted after death by the increasingly precarious technical problem of finding vestures for their further human incarnations.
Those who awaken and use compassionately the higher powers of creative reason and imagination will be blessed to find themselves able to incarnate in future civilizations where collective enlightenment and spiritual advance proceed swiftly. Others, less able or willing to take advantage of sacred privileges and opportunities, will find themselves wrapt in the protective folds of spiritually and mentally sluggish cycles. Throughout human evolution, the mathematical law of karma works ceaselessly, setting limits and affording opportunities. The twin threads of justice and mercy are the warp and woof of karma, weaving the dominant patterns which determine the overall changes, mutations and transformations in human consciousness. Each human being has the opportunity to awaken and restore an awareness of the primordial mystery of Spirit, and joyfully enter the reascending stream of human consciousness as it spirals back to its eternal source.
Hermes, December 1982

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Art is Theft
Mango Snatchers
Art is Theft is the proud winner of the Toronto Independent Film Festival 2017, in the category of Best Animated Short.
For more info about the winners, please click here
Art is Theft is a personal project I've been planning for a long time. Here's a deep inside the creative process behind this animation.
I call this form the Tesseract (although is not really that form). It represents all the matter concentrated in one small spot before all creation takes place, like in the Big Bang. The elements inside are abstract creation forms. I went all philosophical when working on the layers in this element and named each part after a Galaxy. It has 8 parts and their names are:
Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Crux, Equuleus, Gemini, Lynx, Taurus and Perseus.
This form was also inspired by this Juan Gris painting:
The hand is the creator´s hand. We sometimes try to grab everything without a though or process, as the hand does with the Tesseract. The creative process won't usually work that way, that immediate. The hand can´t just grab everything at once.
Human characters and hands are black to mimic the ancient Greek pottery style. It´s a nod to Classic Hellenic art, which Picasso would do often in his work
Grabbing all the forms of creations at once is not possible.
Hence the hand gets rejected by the Tessaract.
But forms come out of the Tesseract. These are basic shapes, forms, abstractions. Building bricks to other creations. They are there; we just have to grab them and work with them.
Even though it doesn't really look like, I thought a lot about Joan Miro and Matisse making these forms:
Creative thinking is often very ambiguous and abstract until we give it form. Is like clay we have to mold. Here is depicted like a blob, a dense liquid mass, carrying the forms of creation. The creative process is about to start, first in a very overwhelming, undefined way.
This is also a nod to one of my all time favorite animations: Akira. At the end of the film there´s a serious transformation with one of the characters in a similar way.
The blob or undefined form collides with the Muse. Often, in ancient times (and not that long ago), artists would wait for "The Muse" to come to their souls to inspire them and create. Here is a Muse, in black, like the Hellenic pottery, caught by the creational forms. Hence, the inspiration comes.
The creation blob grabs the Muse. This fusion will give birth to new creations the artist will eventually develop through trial and error.
Picasso once said: "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child".
I´ve always been fascinated by this quote. Taking the immediate and pure sense of children in art is very hard and difficult, and often we loose that ability as the years go by. To catch up that magic and immediate pure art is a lifetime achievement.
Picasso did a bunch of amazing experimental sculptures and this creature is bases upon them and their infant, pure, naive style.
Even though everything falls apart, the child spirit carries on. It is something we can't really kill, but often hide very deep inside us until we find it again.
More geometric, freestyle forms.
I was in Toronto last May and went to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). They had lots of awesome Inuit devices and took a lot of inspiration from there
I also went to the Bogota Gold Museum in June and also took a lot of inspiration from the pre-Colombus style in there. At the end, it´s a mix of a bunch of stuff and nothing at all.
The geometric forms are also based upon tropical fruits:
The forms finally unify together in a more concrete element. It goes fast as a rocket. Once we get the idea, in many ocassions the creation of them go very fast after conceptualization. It happened to me making this project. It took me a couple of months to come out with the idea, script and style and so. Once I had everything clear on my mind, the animation took me around three weeks in a frenzy pace of creation between professional projects, during the nights and weekends. I´m sure it happens to everyone.
Note the forms inside this arrow-like object are the same as in the first form, the Tessaract. The form also reminds of an ancient stone-arrow.
This is a bit of an obvious idea, but there we go: The form injecting itself in an uterus, like the inception of the new creation. The conception.
13, 14, 15, 16 & 17.
More forms based upon Picasso style creatures.
These vases remind me of Hellenic style vases, but also pre-Colombian southamerican vases.
The smoke coming out is like the essences ancient Greek temples would have to ascent and merge with the divine Gods. Virgins living in the temple would use essences to commune with the divine will.
I went last year to Cartagena, Colombia, and bought there two beautiful vases made by real south American Indians with ancient techniques. I´ve always been fascinated but that type of art.
The vases I bought:
This is who I call "The thief". It could be any of us. The big forms conforming his body are based upon the "Classic Period" of Picasso. He would make classical, greek looking people, but with very round, big forms:
Finally, when our forms are created, that´s not the end of the process. It´s all a giant balance between different pieces. To picture this, I thought a lot about the work of Calder:
Imitating, or not taking nothing from nowhere leads to nothing. So all the possible creations fall into the pit of obscurity, where there´s no creation. I thought a bit about the classic 1982 Tron movie when I made the trails of the objects falling.
When we refuse to look around us we create nothing. Hence, obscurity and creativity get blocked. When the realize the process and embrace it, ideas will come and will enlighten our soul. I though about the feeling you get when you see Christmas lights in the dark. A very warm and comforting feeling indeed.
I love african masks. They picture the human face in a very primitive, basic, stylized way. Picasso, Braque and Cezanne were very impressed by the African art as a very primal, deep way of treating art into different forms, far from the classical approach.
Some African masks I saw at the National Museum at Bogota, last June:
This mask has some Parrot feathers. I saw some beautiful macaws in Cali, Colombia zoo. They are stunning to see and the colors pop like nothing else you could see.
A final creation comes from the darkness after all the process. This is an homage to the classic Still Life paintings that hundred of painters have done through ages. Picasso, Braque, Cezanne and Juan Gris used this medium to develop a classic form and break with tradition, introducing new forms and approaches. It also depicts the union of lots of different arts: painting, music, writing, sculpture, pottery... you name it
Daniel Cordero 2020. All works © Daniel Cordero 2020 .Please do not reproduce without the expressed written consent of myself and clients. Powered by Adobe Portfolio


I'm kicking myself for not having subscribed to the Official Xbox Magazine, as subscribers are due to get a free Left 4 Dead premium theme to zombify their Xbox 360s. Wait, do I subscribe to OXM? I can never remember.
This nice little bonus for those of us who have turned their Xbox 360s into a dedicated Left 4 Dead player will almost assuredly spawn more anti-Valve sentiment because they're clearly wasting their time on themes and not precious campaigns. Please sign my petition.


Hi! It´s Denisa here with an art journal spread.
Had to do something a bit vintage, powerful and wild. No sparkles and stars this time. We´re starting a brand new year and there´s no doubt we´ll have to face new problems, difficulties and struggles.
Therefore my positive motto for you today is to be strong, be daring and never give up without a fight! Never fall on the floor defeated! And this is the theme of my AJ.
I started with a double page of thick scrapbooking paper. I rounded the edges and covered the whole paper with a thin layer of White Gesso using my old credit card. Let it dry.
Next I did some stenciling using my fave stencil and Light Paste.
When dry, I added a bit of colour using various sprays. No holding back. Wild and dominant colours. I let it dry and applied another thin layer of White Gesso here and there, this time applied with my fingers and a wet baby wipe to achieve the smoky look.
When dry, I did some random stamping using black and red Archival Ink. I added some more colour, stamping and started to build up the cluster.
As the focal point I chose a vintage lady whose pic I framed three times using a chippie, a wire and a canvas ornament.
I also used some lace, Mechanicals Flowers, Mechanicals Stars, paper bits and leather bracelet leftovers.
I printed out the sentiment saying: She battled with fears inside her mind but never fell on the floor defeated. I adhered it to the paper using Soft Matte Gel.
Next I inked the edges using dark blue Archival Ink. The last thing I did were some Ecoline splashes and drips.
To make the texture of my page even more intereting, I sprinkled some Berry Micro Beads.
Hoping no problems come in your way this year and if so, just remember my motto.
Wishing you a perfect year all around - full of inspiration, peace and love!
Your journal pages are gorgeous - wonderful bold colors, awesome photo and sentiment!


text:
Can El Niño end California drought?
Posted by EarthSky Voices in Earth | Science Wire | September 2, 2015
El Niño is expected to bring heavy rains to drought-stricken California. That prospect raises the question: what would it take for the drought to be over?
Storms coming? El Niño is projected to lead to much-needed rain in California next year. Photo credit: Chris Michaels/Flickr
By Faith Kearns, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Doug Parker, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
The excitement about a potentially rain-bearing El Niño is building, and hopes for a swift end to California's ongoing drought are multiplying. At the same time, many of us who have worked extensively on water issues in the state fear the momentum and progress made on much-needed water reforms will be lost.
The prospect of a rainy year raises the question: what would it take for the drought to be over? The answer to that question turns out to be more complex than it might seem.
Defining drought
It is common to think of drought as a lack of precipitation, but there are many ways to look at drought. For example, from a physical standpoint, researchers might use soil moisture indicators and are increasingly using temperature as well. However, these measures don't directly address the social and economic aspects of drought.
To that end, the National Drought Mitigation Center has a helpful guide that identifies four kinds of drought: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic. This lens helps to explain the widespread impacts of California's current drought, where we have been experiencing all four kinds simultaneously for several years. We have reduced precipitation and streamflows, irrigation water cutbacks and communities without running water. From this perspective, it becomes clear that increased precipitation alone will not signal an end to the drought.
The last El Niño year from 1997-1998 brought heavy storms and mudslides to California. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Take two key drought-related issues the state is facing right now: lack of snow and groundwater depletion. Even with more rains, we are not guaranteed to get snow. In fact, this is one of the biggest caveats about El Niño this year – researchers are predicting more rain for southern California but are less confident about precipitation, particularly snow, in the northern part of the state.
In addition, the severity and timing of storms play a big role. Heavy, intense, fast-moving storms can lead to high levels of runoff or snowmelt that may not be stored in dams and reservoirs. Milder, slower-moving storms increase our ability to capture water in both surface and groundwater systems.
Groundwater recharge is also a complex issue. There are certainly places where groundwater will be replenished by increased precipitation and decreased use as we are able to switch to surface water use once again, but there are also places where restoring groundwater levels could take anywhere from decades to centuries.
Another way to look at drought is through the lens of supply and demand, and while a wet winter might help with supply, it won't much affect demand. In a helpful article, Kelly Redmond of the Desert Research Institute explores the supply-and-demand challenge in depth, noting that the questions of whether there is "enough" water and for what purpose are big ones that are often left out of the equation. So, for example, the commonly referred to estimates that the state needs an extra year or two of rain to end the drought are interesting to contemplate but are focused on making up for a precipitation shortfall and do not say much about demand.
Finally, no matter how you define drought, its impacts have been incredibly variable across the state, so it makes sense that recovery will also be contextual, differing from place to place. For instance, as a recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California points out, many urban centers have been resilient in the face of drought, while many rural communities have faced a suite of drought-related challenges, ranging from a decline in air quality to lack of running water.
So, what would it mean to end the drought?
In California, it has become clear that drought is a multi-faceted challenge and may in fact exist on more of a continuum than anything else, potentially limiting the utility of the word over time. On a practical level, however, here are some of the factors we will be monitoring:
– snowfall: Increased rain will be helpful, but we also need snow since the mountain snowpack supplies surface water to streams and lakes. And both are needed in the right places and at the right times across the state.
– groundwater: The impacts of the current drought have not been severe, particularly for the agricultural community, because groundwater stores have been used to replace diminished surface water in many places. How long it will take for some of those groundwater sources to be restored is variable by location. What it means to truly replenish groundwater is also an open question.
– reservoirs: California depends on a complex set of reservoirs, canals and natural waterways to store and move water. Location and storm intensity will be important for refilling depleted reservoirs and lifting supply restrictions.
– river and stream flows: Fish and other wildlife continue to be challenged by drought conditions. Flows will need to return for healthy, diverse ecosystems to thrive.
– surface water for agriculture: Irrigation cutbacks have been severe in some parts of the state. As noted, groundwater has helped to offset these reductions, but having surface water flows for agriculture restored will be a key sign of relief.
– water for communities: Urban water users have faced state-mandated reduction targets this year. For rural communities, teasing drought impacts apart from underlying issues of poverty and uncertainty is a challenge. Water security, or ensuring reliable supply, for the state's residents should be the primary objective of any future water policy.
California's current water situation offers an invitation to expand how we think about water and drought conditions. A more nuanced perspective about what drought means and our water needs can help continue the momentum on the shifts, such as conservation measures and groundwater management, needed to deal with what is certainly an uncertain future.
Faith Kearns is Water Analyst, California Institute for Water Resources at University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Doug Parker is Director, California Institute for Water Resources and Strategic Initiative Leader for the Water Initiative at University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
EarthSky Voices
Members of the EarthSky community - including scientists, as well as science and nature writers from across the globe - weigh in on what's important to them. Photo by Robert Spurlock.


That's it! One word of caution: these edges can shed a bit. I'd like to figure out how to get all the shedding out of the way before they are framed, so that the little fibers don't end up on the inside of the glass!
This print and others from the Faces of Chaos series went into shadow boxes and are currently in an exhibition at Highland Beach Library. You can buy fine art prints like this, either unframed or framed, for quite reasonable prices at my online store for digital fine art.
Cool! What's a bone folder? Have you tried wetting the folded edges, then pulling it apart? I've never tried this for artistic reasons, but I do it when I can find scissors.
Thanks! A bone folder is that pointed off-white tool in one of the photos – traditionally made of bone, but mine is made of plastic. It's useful for creasing, especially if you're doing a lot of it, but you can definitely get by with your fingers / fingernails. I've tried the wetting method before but the digital fine art papers seem to be too strong for this, and/or I didn't like the edge I got (it's been awhile since I tried that).
Fantastic! What have you got the final print mounted on? From the close-up, it looks like it's floating a bit – I really like that effect!
Thanks Heather! The final print is mounted on a piece of acid free foam core that's narrower and shorter than the print, so you can't see it around the edge, giving it the floating effect.
This is the easiest and best tutorial for making deckled edges! Thanks!
Wonderful tutorial. Exactly what I needed. Many thanks.
Glad to hear it, Madeleine!
Thanks for the info! Can you tell me where you got the shadow box frame?
You're welcome Allison! I had the shadow box frame made by a local framer. Anyone that does custom framing should be able to make you a shadow box. Of course it costs more than buying a pre-built shadow box, but the results will be better. You can probably find some pre-built at Target or maybe Michaels if you're in the US.
Hey what is the best paper to do this effect? And can't you just use deckle tool like the logan?
Hi Robert, I haven't used the Logan deckle tools before, but it would be interesting to compare the results. I think a nice thick fine art paper works best for this. I encourage you to experiment and see what paper and technique you like best, and feel free to let me know!
This is a great tutorial, thank you! I just tried it on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag and my edges came out way too clean and neat. I might have erred by folding the edges back and forth several times before tearing, which would make for a cleaner tear. Do you typically only fold once in each direction? Might also have to do with the paper's weight — used 188gsm. I have a piece of 250gsm Arches Velin Museum Rag I might try next…. anyway, if you have any insight, please let me know!
Thanks Ed, glad you found it useful. Great photos by the way. I only fold once in each direction, yes. I would imagine heavier paper would produce more texture at the edges as well.
First, Nathan, your art is exquisite. I've just begun playing with watercolor (with a background in absolutely nothing) and after several months of learning to really see, and presently trying to get that (or a reasonable facsimile) on paper, I'm awed by your shading; its uniformity, blending, colors and placement. I can't even begin to imagine how you create such precise symmetry, and I'm hoping for creativity. Was yours just there when you began? Anyway, I'm so, glad I tumbled into your Website so I could see more clearly what I aspire to.
Last, and not at all least, thank you for sharing your deckling technique. I'm anxious to try it. I certainly have good tools for it, so I will let you know how it works.
I tried a wet edge method (no folding). I found it tedious and time consuming, but I produced three edges that suitably matched the Arches 300 lb deckling.
I tried a wet edge method (again, no folding) using a pedicure file. Less tedious, less time consuming and fabulously effective. And WAY messy. And 300 lb paper takes a while to dry when saturated.
And then I took a piece outside and used my sander on the paper about 1/4″ from the edge, sanding on both sides for the same amount of time until sanding produced deckling. Beautiful effect. Outrageously messy. If I did that again, I'd wear a HazMat suit!
Needless to say, I can't wait to try your method! Thanks again!
You're welcome, and thank you for the kind words. These prints are mathematically generated and printed from the computer, which is where the precise symmetry comes from!
I am having an original watercolor printed on watercolor paper. These prints will be 3×3 inches…miniatures! I will need 300 of them for a wedding! I'm not an artist and have no experience with this. What's the best way to print these…use small paper and print 1 per page or print multiples on large paper…what kind of watercolor paper, what size and what weight should I use, etc. Would I use the same technique? Thanks so much for you help…your instructions are just great!
Hi Nancy, if you have any friends or know anyone with some experience in digital printing, you'll get better results in less time as there is a learning curve with all of this (not to mention having the right equipment, especially the printer itself).
Great site, clear, concise, and easy to follow instructions.
If you haven't found a way to get rid of the fibers that shed I suggest a small brush, perhaps a tooth brush. If that doesn't work you could try a metal brush used in cleaning delicate parts in various instruments and mechanical devices. You can find them in electronics catalogs, they usually come in brass, nylon, and stainless steel and are approximately 25mm (1″) long. My thought is to gently brush away from the edge to loosen the fibers then lightly spray a fixative on the back of the paper to seal them in place.
Thank you Frank. Those are good ideas; thanks for commenting! I'll have to try that next time I deckle a print and frame it in a shadow box.


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