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My latest translated titles, Stardust, Sam Smith Mystery Series book ten, and Eve's War, Operation Locksmith, both in Spanish.
The calm after the storm, Paris 1947.
An amazing week for my Eve's War Heroines of SOE Series. Operation Zigzag is #1 while Operation Broadsword and Operation Treasure are top twenty hot new releases. This landmark is dedicated to all the remarkable men and women of the SOE.
So now we know…
An autumnal view of the Goylake River.
You thought that beautiful woman was holding her parasol in her left hand simply because she was left-handed. However, her actions might reveal something totally different…
Men and women of the French Resistance during the summer of 1944, probably after the liberation of Paris.
John Howe, my 5 x great grandfather, was born on 28 April 1761 in St Hilary, Glamorgan. His parents, John and Mary, were successful farmers so it's probable that John spent his formative years learning the business of farm management.
The parish register confirms John baptism. Note the small number of births, marriages and deaths in the parish between 1760 and 1762.
John married Cecily Lewis on 1 January 1785 in nearby Cowbridge, Glamorgan. The location is significant because for well over a hundred years all of the Howe's activities, including births, marriages and deaths, had centred on St Hilary. The family was branching out, which ultimately would lead to mixed fortunes.
Cowbridge was a market town so it's easy to imagine that John met Cecily there while on farm business. Cecily was born in Cowbridge in 1764 and the custom was that marriages took place in the bride's parish.
Some genealogists list Cecily's parents as John Lewis of Swansea and Elizabet Humphreys, but I have found no records to confirm that fact. Lewis is a very common surname and without cross-references it is difficult to identify the correct ancestor.
The parish record reveals that John was literate, but Cicely signed her name with a cross. The witnesses were John's younger brother, William, and John Jenkin, a 'Gentleman' of Cowbridge, which confirms that at this time the Howe family were still members of the gentry.
Continuing the story of my 5 x great grandparents, John Howe and Cecily Lewis. The couple married on 1 January 1785 in Cecily's home parish, Cowbridge, Glamorgan. Five children followed: John (yet another one) my 4 x great grandfather, born 26 February 1786 in St Hilary, Glamorgan; Cecily, born 20 January 1789 in St Hilary; Priscilla, born 13 November 1793 in St Hilary; Richard, born 1 January 1797 in St Hilary – what a wonderful twelfth wedding anniversary present that was; and William, born on 1 February 1799 in St Hilary. Sadly, young Cecily died on 20 April 1798.
Well into the twentieth century, on average a couple produced a child every twenty-four months. However, John and Cecily's children were born three or four years apart, hence 'only' five additions to the family.
Like his father before him, John was an Overseer of the Poor. In 1796-7, he paid 2s 6d to 'Ten men in distress coming from the sea.'
In 1798, the Howe family featured in the Land Tax Redemption register twelve times, far more than any other family in St Hilary, which indicates that they were farming more land than anyone else in the parish.
Early in the nineteenth century, John and his family left St Hilary, moving ten miles west to Coity, breaking the family's bond with the parish. Why did they leave?
By 1799, the Napoleonic wars had taken their toll on Britain. The British royal treasury was running out of money to maintain the royal army and navy. Soldiers were starving and His Majesty's navy had already mutinied. For Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, the solution was simple: impose an income tax. Under the Act of 1799, all citizens who earned above £60 were to pay a graduated tax of at least one percent. Those with an income of over £200 were taxed ten percent. Some people regarded the tax as a patriotic duty while others complained. I don't know what John Howe thought of the taxes, but it seems they were the reason he moved his family to Coity.
The impressive nature of John and Cecily's gravestone suggests that the couple lived in some style in Coity. By this stage the family had become scattered, living in various towns and villages throughout Glamorgan.
After 49 years of marriage, Cecily died on 7 May 1834, aged 70 while John died on 4 February 1835, aged 73. The couple are buried together in Coity.
Tugged away from their St Hilary roots, future generations of the Howe family lost their gentry status. Although a member of the family did become deputy prime minister of Britain in the 1980s, most branches led humbler lives, including John and Cecily's son, John, my 4 x great grandfather.
Which classical composer are you? Apparently, I'm Schubert.
"You have a natural curiosity and enjoy finding out what makes people tick. You are a bit of an idealist who wants to make the world a better place, and you like to help others improve. You might sometimes appear stubborn, but you are only staying true to your values."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/what-classical-composer-are-you/zscrydm
Tags Books in Spanish, Classical Music, Family History, France, French Resistance, Genealogy, Humour, Music, Photography, Second World War, Social History, Special Operations Executive
Looking for Rosanna Mee was a satisfying book to write, mainly because the subject matter tackles one of the great injustices in British society – the Tory government's abuse of disabled people.
I'm delighted that the book will soon be available in Spanish and Portuguese.
Tyrants create chaos and inflict suffering, then comes the moment of reckoning. Nazi leaders on trial for war crimes, 1946.
Health and safety takes a holiday. Photographing a racing car, 1933.
Scientists thought they were extinct…the concretesaurus.
"The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down." – Al Stewart, Roads to Moscow.
On 18 October 1944, the Nazis established the Volkssturm, a national militia staffed by conscripts, males aged between sixteen and sixty. With minimal training, uniforms and equipment they couldn't hold back the Allied advance.
Meanwhile, a ranting Hitler retreated to his bunker and contemplated the end of his evil empire.
Neighbours gather in Spitalfields after the murder of Mary Jane Kelly, widely believed to be the last of Jack the Ripper's victims.
A branch of my family lived in the area at the time and must have discussed the murders. Did they know the victims? Did they know Jack? The former is a possibility.
Yr Lan y Mor. This song features in Branches, book two in The Olive Tree, A Spanish Civil War Saga. My nurse, Heini, sings the song to a dying soldier.
Beside the sea red roses growing
Beside the sea white lilies showing
Beside the sea their beauty telling
My true love sleeps within her dwelling
Beside the sea the stones lie scattered
Where tender words in love were uttered
While all around there grew the lily
And sweetest branches of rosemary
Beside the sea blue pebbles lying
Beside the sea gold flowers glowing
Beside the sea are all things fairest
Beside the sea is found my dearest
Full the sea of sand and billows
Full the egg of whites and yellows
Full the woods of leaf and flower
Full my heart of love for ever.
Fair the sun at new day's dawning
Fair the rainbow's colours shining
Fair the summer, fair as heaven
Fairer yet the face of Elin
On this day in 1943, the RAF launched Operation Corona, an operation to confuse German nightfighters during bombing raids.
Via radio, German speakers impersonated German Air Defence officers and countermanded their orders.
The fight against fascism has taken many different forms including victory on the racetrack thanks to Lucy O'Reilly Schell, 26 October 1896 – 8 June 1952 and René Dreyfus, 6 May 1905 – 16 August 1993.
Lucy O'Reilly was born in Paris of an American father and a French mother. Before the First World War she met Selim Laurence 'Laury' Schell, the son of an American diplomat, born in Geneva and living in France, and the couple commenced an affair.
Lucy O'Reilly Schell
During the First World War, Lucy worked as a nurse, caring for injured servicemen in a Parisian military hospital. In April 1915, along with Laury, she relocated to America. However, in 1917 Lucy and Laury returned to Paris where they married and took up residence.
The couple had two children, Harry born in 1921, and Phillipe born in 1926. They also enjoyed a passion for motor racing, which they pursued with vigour from the late 1920s.
Laury and Lucy Schell, second in the 1936 Monte Carlo rally in a 6 cylinder Delahaye 18CV Sport
In 1936 Lucy inherited her father's estate. She used his money to fund development of racing cars tailored to her requirements and became the first American woman to compete in an international Grand Prix. Furthermore, she established her own Grand Prix team.
In the 1930s, Hitler used Grand Prix racing as a metaphor for war and the superiority of his Nazi party. Motivated by her experiences as a nurse and her life in Paris, Lucy established the Écurie Bleue Grand Prix team with the aim of challenging Nazi and Italian supremacy. To that end she developed a car with Delahaye and recruited René Dreyfus, a French Jew blacklisted by the Nazis.
René Dreyfus
The first race of the 1938 Grand Prix season took place on 10 April at Pau. Lucy's Écurie Bleue entered two cars driven by Dreyfus and his teammate Comotti while Rudolph Caracciola and Hermann Lang represented Germany in their Mercedes-Benz's. However, during practice Lang crashed his car and it was deemed unfit to race.
During the race, Caracciola took an early lead, but the winding circuit limited the Mercedes' greater power. Oil and rubber also made the track slippery. Dreyfus took advantage of these conditions to overtake Caracciola.
The Delahaye had a great advantage over the Mercedes – a much lower rate of fuel consumption. At the half way point, when Caracciola pitted for fuel, Dreyfus drove on and established a lead.
During the pit stop, Caracciola handed over his car to Lang. However, despite facing competition from a fresh driver, Dreyfus powered to victory, winning by over two minutes. Caracciola/Lang finished second while Comotti brought his Écurie Bleue home in third place.
René Dreyfus in Delahaye 145 at Montlhéry, 27 August 1937
Following the German invasion of France in 1940, Hitler ordered the seizure of Dreyfus' car. However, to prevent the Delahaye's destruction, the car was dismantled and the parts hidden.
Sadly, Laury died in a car crash on 18 October 1939 while Lucy was seriously injured in the same accident. During the Second World War, she returned to America with her family.
After the Second World War, Dreyfus became an American citizen and along with his brother Maurice he established a French restaurant in New York, which became a hub for the automobile racing community, a centre that continues to this day.
Tags French Resistance, Grand Prix, Humour, Jack the Ripper, Motor Racing, Music, Mystery Fiction, Second World War, Special Operations Executive, Wales
"But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly because you tread on my dreams." – W B Yeats
I enjoyed the movie Lucie Aubrac this week and would place it in my top ten. I love the Continental style of filmmaking where the camera lingers on a scene and facial expressions say more than words. Some of the linking scenes were dialogue and music free, yet the story flowed effortlessly.
Lucie Aubrac is a French movie and I viewed it in its native language. I find that subtitles draw you into a story and make it more compelling. It's a true story and I knew the outcome. All the same, the movie is gripping from the opening dramatic scene to its heartfelt conclusion.
A fitting cinematic tribute to a remarkable woman.
One of my favourite actresses, Eva Marie Saint, was 96 on 4th July 2020. Happy birthday and thank you for your wonderful films.
A record-breaking sales day for my books and Sam's Song at #1 for the ninth time. Difficult to get excited with so much going on in the world, but many thanks to everyone who supports my books.
The birth of speech. And it all went downhill from there 🙂
René Descartes as Nostradamus?!
Of course, he actually said, "Cogito, ergo sum." – "I think, therefore I am."
One for the album. Nice to see my latest Sam Smith Mystery, Looking for Rosanna Mee, alongside Ian Rankin in the Hot 💯. We will publish Looking for Rosanna Mee in September.
I see my new keyboard is well equipped for the modern age…
Bicycle-taxis, Paris, spring 1945. Research for my Eve's War Heroines of SOE series.
This week in 1932, the Great Depression in America reached its lowest point. After the 1929 Wall Street Crash, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell. Disaster followed for investors, alongside further declines in consumption, production and employment.
Also interesting on this front page: 'State Plans to Roundup Tax Dodgers'. And, 'Jury Believes Her Story'. I'm intrigued to know what her story entailed.
Written in the 1970s, the lyrics are still highly relevant today.
An inspiration for my Eve's War series, Nancy Wake was one of the most remarkable women of World War II. Born in New Zealand and brought up in Australia, she married a Frenchman and became a leading figure in the Marseille Resistance. In 1943, she joined the SOE and was heavily involved in the liberation of France.
This DVD arrived from New Zealand today and I'm looking forward to watching it.
An in-depth article about Nancy Wake will appear on my website in the near future.
Don't believe everything you hear. Don't believe everything you see. This is a stationary image.
Some ideas to lift your mood. Try to achieve at least three a day.
Resistance Couples – Hélène and Philippe Viannay
Hélène Victoria Mordkovitch was born on 12 July 1917 in Paris after her Russian parents had emigrated to the city in 1908.
A brilliant student, Hélène attended the Sorbonne where she studied geography. There, in September 1940, she met her future husband, Philippe Viannay, a philosophy student seeking a certificate in geography.
Hélène Viannay
Opposed to the Nazi occupation of France, the couple decided not to escape to London. Instead they created an underground newspaper, Défense de la France, publishing the first issue on 14 July 1941. The journal took its motto from Blaise Pascal, "I only believe stories told by those witnesses who are willing to have their throats cut."
Despite the dangers of producing an underground newspaper, Défense de la France remained in production until the Liberation in August 1944. By that time the newspaper regularly reached half a million readers, the largest circulation of the whole clandestine press.
Philippe Viannay
Hélène and Philippe married in 1942. Their first child, Pierre, was born the following year while the couple were on the run from the Gestapo. Along with the newspaper, Hélène also organised the mass production of false identity papers for Frenchmen resisting deportation to the forced labour camps in Germany.
In 1944, Hélène joined the Ronquerolles Maquis, a Resistance group led by Philippe. After her husband was injured, Hélène coordinated the group and participated in the liberation of France.
After the war, the Viannays created the Centre for the Training of Journalists (Centre de Formation des Journalistes) in Paris, which continues to this day. In 1947, they also founded Les Glénans (Le Centre nautique des Glénans), which initially served as a convalescent centre for deportees and battle-weary résistants. Hélène managed the association from 1954 until her retirement in 1979.
The Canadian journalist Caitlin Kelly, who studied with Philippe Viannay at the Centre in Paris, later described him as "the most inspiring man I've ever met."
In 1991, Hélène participated in the creation of the Prix Philippe Viannay-Défense de la France, a prize awarded annually to works promoting resistance to Nazism in France and elsewhere in Europe.
Tags 1930s, Cartoons, Europe, France, French Resistance, health, Movies, Music, Optical Illusions, Philosophy, Psychology, Quotes, Second World War, Special Operations Executive
That noble beast, the thesaurus…
The great philosophers…
My Song of the Week
We can be anything, anything at all
We can be everything, everything and more
Another new project, the translation of The Olive Tree: Roots into Spanish. This series is about the Spanish Civil War so I'm delighted that the books are being translated into Spanish.
Chess and music are two of my passions. This is brilliant, a U2 cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" performed by Juga. The lyrics, by Vladimir Kramnik, refer to his World Championship match with Garry Kasparov.
My article about SOE agent Alix d'Unienville appears on page 20 of the magazine. Lots of other interesting features too 🙂
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." – Ernest Hemingway
Difficult times for everyone at the moment with some political leaders making it even more difficult than it needs to be. Hopefully, this calendar will help you in some small way.
Resistance Couples
Lucie Samuel, better known as Lucie Aubrac, was born on 29 June 1912. A history teacher in peacetime, Lucie became a leading member of the French Resistance.
In 1939, Lucie married Raymond Aubrac and after the Nazis occupied France in 1940 the couple joined the Resistance. In 1941, the Aubrac's group sabotaged the train stations at Perpignan and Cannes, and distributed thousands of anti-Nazi flyers.
Despite harassment and threats from the Nazis, the Aubracs published an underground newspaper, Libération. With the help of local printers and trade-unionists, 10,000 copies of Libération were produced and distributed in July 1941, bringing news and hope to the French people; a reminder that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword.
An issue of Libération
In March 1943, the Gestapo arrested Raymond. In May, they released him, only to arrest him again in June. With Raymond sentenced to death, Lucie concocted an audacious escape plan.
Under French law, engaged couples were allowed to marry if one of them was soon to die. Therefore, Lucie claimed that Raymond was her fiancé. She was pregnant at the time, carrying her second child (of three).
Lucie informed the Nazis that Raymond's name was "Ermelin" (one of his many aliases) and that he had been caught in a raid while innocently visiting a doctor. She claimed that she was unmarried and that Raymond was the father of her expected child.
Furthermore, Lucie pleaded with the Gestapo that they should allow Raymond to marry her before his execution. The Gestapo believed her story and granted her wish.
Later, after the 'marriage' ceremony, as the Gestapo escorted Raymond back to his prison the local Resistance executed Lucie's plan. In cars, they ambushed the prison lorry and liberated fifteen prisoners. In the melee, Lucie freed Raymond and the couple escaped.
In 1944, Lucie was the first woman to sit in a French parliamentary assembly and in 1945 she published a short history of the French Resistance.
Outwitting the Gestapo, a semi-fictional version of Lucie's wartime diaries, followed in 1984. Lucie published her book after notorious psychopath, Klaus Barbie 'The Butcher of Leon' claimed that Raymond had betrayed the Resistance after his arrest.
Undoubtedly, there were factions and conflicts within the Resistance, particularly between the Gaullists and the Communists. As a result of these conflicts, betrayals did occur. However, when seeking the truth it is difficult to place great faith in a psychopath, particularly one who had reason to hate the Aubracs.
In support of the Aubracs, twenty leading Resistance survivors published a letter, condemning the accusations. Voluntarily, the Aubracs appeared before a panel of leading French historians. After examining the case, the historians concluded that Raymond was not a traitor.
To date, the Aubracs' story has featured in two films – Boulevard des hirondelles, 1992, and Lucie Aubrac, 1997. While, in 1996, Lucie was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her heroism during the Second World War.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a statement after Raymond's death in 2012, said that Raymond's escape from the Nazis had "become a legend in the history of the Resistance" and praised him and all Resistance members as "heroes of the shadows who saved France's honor, at a time when it seemed lost."
While President François Hollande said, "In our darkest times, he [Raymond] was, with Lucie Aubrac, among the righteous, who found, in themselves and in the universal values of our Republic, the strength to resist Nazi barbarism."
Lucie once said: "Resistance is not just something locked away in the period 1939-45. Resistance is a way of life, an intellectual and emotional reaction to anything which threatens human liberty."
Tags Books in Spanish, Chess, France, French Resistance, Humour, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Second World War, Special Operations Executive, Writing


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Forest & Free: rebuilding the village from the forest in – our 2023 programs for kids
Jan 31, 2023 | children's learning, ecological knowledges, Free to learn, rewilding, village rebuilding | 6 comments
Forest & Free is a place of fun, adventure, challenge, and a place of risk for 8-12 year olds in Djaara Mother Country. The kind of activities the kids will experience are fire making and cooking, bush walking and foraging, fishing and wild swimming, safe knife use and simple tool making, regenerative farming and animal husbandry, deep listening and storytelling, tree climbing and shelter building, embodying ancestral lifeways and learning ecological knowledges and awareness, listening to one another and listening to Country.
There are few places left where kids can use knives, climb trees, navigate forests full of old mine shafts, light fires and generally get scratched up and stung by being participants of life. It is in this spirit that we invite children to attend Forest & Free and for them to experience a healthy interrelationship between safety and risk.
In allowing children to attend Forest & Free, parents agree to sharing the risk with us and with their children. The risk is therefore spread three-ways – we as the facilitators, the parents, and the children – and is distributed this way to build personal responsibility and to avoid blaming, shaming and the possibility of closing down this community resource.
Life happens, and we don't believe this is a good enough reason to submit to the cult of safetyism, which is a mental virus that has bloomed from institutions of the most industrialised countries.
We are not about setting challenges that are too great for the children, and we don't encourage an overtly competitive or risk-taking culture, rather we encourage children to meet new challenges and learn from others around them, and the forest.
Forest & Free is deep listening, embodying resilience, meeting challenges, learning skills and having fun. The broader culture, up until recently, used to see breaking a bone, receiving stitches, getting lost, being burnt by fire, etc as a rite of passage for young people – necessary for the development of children at this age.
While we don't wish any of these things on any child, and we explain each skill, challenge, game or wild food in terms of the risks and benefits involved, adversity is the underlying, ever present flip side of enabling such learning and therefore such growth.
As adults we understand that some of our greatest learnings come through discomfort, and it's how we respond to these situations that really matters in building resilience and bouncebackability.
In 2023 we are running 8 full-day paid events ($20 per child for the day, 10am – 4pm). These dates are either in school holidays or land on public holidays and will be open to not-schooled and schooled kids.
We also run a weekly full-day program for not-schooled kids every Monday from 10am – 4pm. These sessions are based on a gift exchange. If you have surplus homegrown or home-made food, hand-me-down clothes etc, they are gifts we value. When there is abundance let it flow. When there's not we understand.
Children are required to come with water bottle, healthy lunch and snacks, a sun hat, clothing appropriate to the weather, a pocket knife, and a sense of adventure.
We are looking forward to an exciting year of forest play, learning, exploration and celebration of life. We begin each event with a listening circle so as we can all hear where each of us is at. This helps build compassion and bonds the group, while practicing deep listening.
If you are interested to learn more about Forest & Free, or are thinking of starting up a forest group in your own neck of the woods, please get in touch. Similarly if you know of other bush schools in your area or have experience as a participant in another community bush school, please let us know in the comments. We value your stories and your thoughts.
Signing off for now with blackberry scratches on our shins, and bidgee widgee burrs in our feathers,
Patrick and Meg (Blue Wren and Magpie)
Mother of mountain (a pickling recipe music video)
Jan 18, 2023 | fermenting, music video, pickling, song | 22 comments
Hello pickled turnip and purslane lovers, introducing… a new Artist as Family music video to celebrate Meg on her 49th birthday, featuring Maya Green on fiddle.
Now for the recipe:
Add your cleaned turnips to your jar. We pickle ours whole, but feel free to slice yours first. They will taste the same, but will ferment faster if they are sliced. Pick your purslane and wash if needed. As purslane grows along the ground, it can collect soil. Break off the leaves and smaller stems. Keeping these on will turn your ferment into mush. We only ferment the larger stems. Ideally wait until the stems turn red in colour, but dark green is fine too. Add the stems into a second jar. We pickle the turnips and stems separately as they ferment at different rates. Keep the turnip leaves for cooking, and the purslane leaves and smaller stems for eating fresh.
To each jar add:
Pepper corns, mustard seeds, fresh dill or dill seeds, bay leaves, peeled garlic cloves, slices of fresh lemon or dried lemon. For the brine: 1 tablespoon of salt (non-iodised and without caking agent in it) per 2 cups of water. We use salt from Loch Iel (the Pink Lake) and rainwater.
Fermenting:
Make sure all the solids in your jars remain under the liquid and that they stay that way for the duration of the fermenting process. You can keep the lid on your jar tightly, loosely or not at all. As the veggies begin to ferment they will release carbon dioxide and brine may spill from your jars, so it's best to place each jar on a plate or bowl to catch the liquid. You may need to top up each jar if a lot spills out. The time your veggies take to ferment depends mainly on the temperature of your home. The hotter the environment, the faster the process. Fermenting is a relationship. Don't be afraid to taste the brine with a spoon each day to witness the transformation, to embody it, and so the brine can be part of your development too. The brine will start out clear and will turn cloudy. After 10 days or so in a summer home, your veggies might be ready. Taste them. If they are too crunchy, let them ferment for a few days longer. Once you are happy with the flavour and crunchiness, put your jars somewhere cold, such as a fridge, cool cupboard or cellar, to slow the fermentation process right down.
Eating:
We like to put our pickles out in a bowl and just munch them, or chop them up and add them to summer salads.
The body politic (youngtimer edition)
Jan 12, 2023 | bourgeois culture, colonialism, media, neoliberalism, state violence, teenagers | 0 comments
7 minute read or audio version.
https://artistasfamily.is/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/The-body-politic-youngtimer-edition.m4a
Bombing countries to kill terrorists not only ignores the ground conditions of terrorism, it exacerbates those conditions. Locking up criminals not only ignores the conditions that breed crime, it creates those conditions when it breaks up families and communities and acculturates the incarcerated to criminality. And regimes of antibiotics, vaccines, antivirals, and other medicines wreak havoc on body ecology, which is the foundation of strong immunity… – Charles Eisenstein, The Coronation, 2022
Australia's most vulnerable young people have no meaningful support. Those who find themselves in prison experience a nightmarish reality, especially since Covid. If they want to see family they have to keep lining up for jabs, which as we now know are dangerous to young people, and therefore illogical and unethical to mandate. If prisoners want to eat fresh vegetables, breathe clean air, or feel natural sunlight on their skin mediated through the shade of a tree they have Buckley's chance and none. Anything that can help them to heal or grow is road blocked.
Bourgeois culture, which frames much of the Australian experience, clings to strawman crusades promulgated by social and legacy medias, while at the same time this dominant cultural paradigm turns a blind eye on the harsh realities and dark and complex relationships of our most at-risk youth. Judgement and punishment are metered out rather than rehabilitation, deep listening and compassion. "Compared with Australia's 53.1 per cent, Norway's recidivism rate after two years is 20 per cent, in Austria it is 26 per cent and in Finland, it is 36 per cent. The US state of Oregon and the Canadian province of Ontario have recidivism rates similar to Finland." Welcome to the incarceration nation; building more private prisons and growing an internment caste system to advance another lucrative misery industry.
While we can have compassion for all young people in whatever complexes they're moving through, we can also remain critical of the adult world hubris, double standards and doubling down that continues to harm youngtimers. Can we imagine a world where young offenders are treated with as much media compassion and attention as furries? In many other countries programmes are run to help prisoners process their grief – the grief that lead them to drugs and/or crime, the grief they hold for what they did to others, the grief of living in sterile cells exiled from community and ecology.
Our social ills often have similar root causes, it's just the expression of them that differ, based on our personalities and life contexts.
What leads one teen to bulimia, one to furrydom and one to meth and burgs? The answer, in our view, can be found in the disconnected values and projects of neoliberalism. Drugs and crime, body image anxiety, and other kinds of dysphoria all find lucrative legal markets – private prisons, social medias and hyper medicalisation products ranging from ritalin to puberty blockers. Neoliberalism knows that unhappiness and sickness pays handsomely, it trades on it and factors it into GDP. Neoliberal institutions – universities, governments, medias, etc. – that use the forms of neoliberal economics and psychopolitics, are unwilling to self examine how they support and fuel such alienation, disconnection and social destruction.
While this website is dedicated to positive responses to the predicaments of our time, we are also committed to calling out that which stops or blocks the rebuilding of connected communities and ecological knowledges and interrelationships. One of the most profound things we can do to carry out this work is to switch off the neoliberal medias, and invest in an ecology of views, journalism and discussion that is diverse, critical and creative. Aaron Maté for your news on the Ukraine and Russian war, for example, or CJ Hopkins for your awareness of the rise of New Normal fascism, or David Holmgren on the hubris of new energy tech promises, or Vandana Shiva and Bret Weinstein on the genetically modified organism that is Covid.
Neoliberal medias hold the power for neoliberalism to flourish, for propaganda to be normalised, for dissenters and heterodox thinkers to be continually hounded, censored or labelled as misinformation spreaders. The response to any diseased and dying monoculture is for a resurgence of weed species to repopulate and prepare the trammelled ground for the regrowing of forests. The war against weeds is unwinnable, so too the war against diverse approaches to science, politics, health, young offenders and governance. The time to regrow diverse cultures of place is now, and leave behind the medias that grow alienation, fear and control.
This year we've made a further commitment to advancing independent voices and platforms. What reporters, social and ecological commentators, podcasters or writers are floating your boat at the moment? Who are the weeds that are nourishing you? What is the ground they are rehabilitating? As always, your comments are welcome. All power to the those who smell rats and who are acting on all their senses of knowing.
The body politic
Jan 5, 2023 | Coalition of the willing, Conspiracy theorists, drawing, politics | 11 comments
Rebuilding the local village with Bei Yin and Jashan Singh (podcast)
Dec 27, 2022 | podcast, regenerative culture, regenerative farming, relationships, village rebuilding | 2 comments
Join Patrick as he asks timely questions of Bei Yin and Jashan Singh, two recent guests at our School of Applied Neopeasantry. Bei and Jashan's stories offer clarity, warmth, honesty and generative responses to the discussion of how we might reclaim the local village.
You can listen to the audio-only version here.
https://artistasfamily.is/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rebuilding-the-local-village-with-Bei-Yin-and-Jashan-Singh-podcast-audio-.m4a
And here is the audio with an image version:
Since our time together, we have begun discussions with Bei and Jashan and local farmers, land holders and community actors to see what can be achieved to enable young farmers from diverse backgrounds to grow food and sell it to local markets. We have been active in this space for a number of years matchmaking landless wanna-be neopeasants with people willing to share their land, and sharing our own story of farmless farming based not on private property ownership but rather on social relations. Our local food co-op feeds about 300 households and we could do with some more local growers who are willing to raise crops to directly supply them or to sell at the local Sunday market.
The majority of the world's food is grown on small farms ranging between 2 and 70 acres. It is a blatant lie we need to use pesticides. It is a myth farmers need to get big. That's merely the ideology of bankers, chemical companies, and the coalition of the willing found in the agribusiness and government sectors.
Neopeasants arise, take back control of how you grow and who you grow for!
Please feel free to comment or get in touch if Bei and Jashan's story has inspired you and you would like to be kept in the loop about future farming possibilities. Additionally, if you have land to share and would like to offer younger farmers opportunities to start farming without going into debt please head to Land Share Central Victoria, contact us here, leave a comment, or start your own Land Share page in your region. The future of farming is debt and chemical free. We just need to link people up to begin discussions and collaborations.
What a time of the year to think big, farm small and cut out the banks and the middle men.
With love, Artist as Family
Summer solstice celebrations (with Dirty Trees and the men's Firechoir)
Dec 22, 2022 | community gardeners, Djaara mother country, poetry, song, summer solstice | 2 comments
The community garden beside the library in our home town has been a site of commons reclamation since a small bunch of us occupied this so-called 'crown' land, twelve or so years ago. This little patch of non-monetised, unenclosed, available-to-all organic food commons sits as the only ecologically complex environment in the central business district of Daylesford; a town that sells mostly unnecessary things to tourists in service to the dominant economic orthodoxy – hypertechnocivility.
Last night we gathered to celebrate the solstice, re-commoning and Djaara Mother Country at this bright moment – the longest day.
Artist as Family has been playing music with our friend Maya Green for a while now, and we put together a small set of songs to share with our fellow community gardeners at this gathering. At our first gig as Dirty Trees, we featured poems by an anonymous ancestor, William Blake and Martha Postlethwaite that we've set to music, sharing some of the wisdom and lyricism we've been holding dear this year.
In this video we play an instrumental version of Mairi's Wedding (also known as Marie's Wedding, the Lewis Bridal Song, or Scottish Gaelic: Màiri Bhàn AKA 'Blond Mary'). It is a Scottish folk song originally written in Gaelic by John Roderick Bannerman (1865–1938).
We hope you enjoy this little garden-brewed moment as you slide into the summer's downtime or into winter's hibernation, wherever you are.
Thank you to Blackwood Ulman Jones and Anthony Petrucci for your filming craft, and thanks to you, Dear Subscriber, for staying with us in our various forms this year.
A few days earlier we celebrated solstice at David Holmgren and Su Dennett's permaculture home, Melliodora. The mens' Firechoir sang at this event six months after they formed, at the winter solstice. Patrick has so enjoyed facilitating this group with Anthony Petrucci as choirmaster and the men look forward to sitting in circle and singing with the women's group, facilitated by Meg, in 2023.
Much neopeasant love for a festive and heartfelt season of joy,
Magpie, Blackwood, Blue Wren and Zero
Stories from the School of Applied Neopeasantry (podcast) with Coni, Ilenia and Carla
Dec 14, 2022 | neopeasant education, permaculture, podcast, volunteering | 10 comments
Please join us as we shell broad beans at the kitchen table and listen to stories about the homeplaces, wisdom and wildness of Carla Gallego, Ilenia Theuriclat and Constanza Hidalgo. Here's the audio-only version:
https://artistasfamily.is/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Stories-from-the-School-of-Applied-Neopeasantry-podcast-with-Coni-Ilenia-and-Carla.m4a
These three women are the latest volunteers to visit Tree Elbow University and join our School of Applied Neopeasantry. It was a wild week of story, laughter, dancing and communing as we lived life richly together honouring earth, our food, more-than-humans and each other. Coni is hacking industrial design with permaculture, Ilenia wants to hack social work with permaculture, and Carla sees the potential of permaculture to reintroduce spirit into the arts.
This podcast series is dedicated to listening to those who have made themselves students of life, of permaculture and of neopeasantry, and are seeking their own learning pathways in diverse and dynamic ways. This podcast is slow media so feel free to create some space for the conversation. Make yourself a cuppa and catch some sunlight, or gently work through the piled up dishes while you listen. These women's gifts, embedded in their stories, are a slow unfolding.
The week with Coni, Ilenia and Carla was magical and we hope you pick up a little of this spirit in our conversation, the spirit of which flowed into many places around home including the community garden working bee on their final day with us.
Wherever you are in your life right now we hope this hour of story calls to you. Your comments are always welcome and feel free to also tell us where you find your wild man or wild woman, and how you make room for this wildness.
Sending solstice greetings from Tree Elbow to your festive table,
Permaculture & community sufficiency – regenerating ecological culture and economy
Nov 27, 2022 | applied ecology, community sufficiency, David Holmgren, flow of gifts, regenerative culture, subsistence economy | 15 comments
In June 2021, a small French film crew came to Australia to interview several people who are, in very diverse ways, responding to the predicaments of our age. Alongside permaculture elders and friends Su Dennett and David Holmgren, we have been featured in what is now published as a French TV series directed by Thierry Robert, starring Cyril Dion as the narrator. The series is in three parts and this short clip is an excerpt from 'Regeneration | A New World (Part 3)' in which David, Su and Artist as Family speak of the cultural and economic shifts we have implemented in our lives.
When Thierry and his crew visited us to film the conversation we had with David, we recorded an audio version of it for our own purposes, which you can listen to in its entirety here. And you can watch all three parts of Thierry and Cyril's series here: Resistance I A New World (Part 1) I ARTE.tv, Adapting I A New World (Part 2) I ARTE.tv , and Regeneration I A New World (Part 3) I ARTE.tv.
A little while ago we asked our friend, the talented Catie Payne, to illustrate a simple graphic to demonstrate our household's transition from money to subsistence neopeasantry through applying permacultural community sufficiency principles. We gave Catie a crude sketch representing our 15-year transition of decoupling from a destructive, incarcerating and extractive economy to how we are living now, and she came up with several evocative drawings for us to use as teaching aids.
A transition from money, for us, has been a transition from debt to indebtedness, from gratuitousness to gratitude, from mistrust to ever deepening relationships with the living of the world. Yes, money has played a role in our transition, but step by little step it no longer masters over us and crushes our souls.
Barter is a crude and clumsy form of economy, not one we wish to dwell in for very long. However, it is essential for building trust on the way from money to what we call a flow of gifts economy. Trust is always conditional in order for us to arrive at unconditional love, which is the place our economy now mostly resides within – a deepening love for the living of the world.
This transition from scarcity (indulgence mind, unproductive waste, greed, hoarding and miserliness) to abundance (the continual flow of gifts and the reverence for life as sacred, suffering, dying and renewing) is what we have found after 15 years of setting out into the unknown. Knowing what we were moving away from and what we were longing for was all we needed to begin this journey towards a more beautiful world of connection, relationships and self respect.
Thank you Catie, for the gifts of these drawings, thank you David and Su for your wisdom and continuous collaboration, and thank you Thierry and Cyril and crew for the gift of sharing heterodox stories.
Where are you in your transition, Dear Reader? Are you finding it difficult to begin? Are you unable to begin because you lack support and resources? Are you already a certain way along but feel stuck or limited because you are waiting for your community or family members or neighbourhood to step onboard? Or, are you radically flying with abundance because you come from a cultural or family setting where self-respect, generosity and the flow of gifts have always been your main lifeways?
Stinging nettle for arthritis and allergies: neopeasant medicine food series
Nov 15, 2022 | food medicine, uncapitalised medicine, weeds | 33 comments
Patrick speaks to some of the virtues of Urtica dioica – the common stinging nettle – and how we use this generous and powerful medicinal plant as both food and medicine.
The more we interact with the living earth – the gifts, tonics and salves that come from intimate, walked-for and cultivated biomes, which we are participants of – the more we merge with Grandmother Gaia and Mother Country. This is the gift of true medicine.
How do you use nettle? What common complaints does nettle heal for you? What do you bring to nettle? We'd love to hear your experiences with this oldtimer medicine plant.
Paste ups for the Victorian election (the Vote 1 collection)
Nov 8, 2022 | Pharmacolonisation, politics, state-Pharma nexus | 19 comments
We're feeling pretty despondent about the forthcoming election in the state of Victoria. None of the three major parties have admitted to the harm they helped implement on behalf of the state-pharma nexus. This is unsurprising given the Censorship and Suppression of Covid-19 Heterodoxy.
Yep, many have moved on. The pandemic is over. Except pharmacolonisation hasn't moved anywhere, it's digging in and further dragging public institutions and political parties down with it. No Lives Matter is the true creed of the state-pharma nexus.
But out of the despondency comes full moon creativity. Here are three posters you might like to print and paste up in your neighbourhood. While they've been crafted with the local state election (here) in mind, feel free to cut and paste to create your own fit-for-purpose paste ups. If you click on each image they'll take you to a downloadable PDF.
Labor drives the pharmacolonisation program in this state,
Liberals follow along,

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Healthy Smile And Nutrition
|In Health News, Nutrition
Got teeth? Wanna keep 'em? Brush the ones you want to keep. The others? Might as well brush them while you're at it. How come? Because we said so? We can do better than that. Since prevention is truly worth more than the cure, give it a go to keep periodontal disease, like gingivitis, at bay. Though the two terms are often interchanged, they are actually different conditions in the spectrum of periodontal (which means "surrounding the tooth") disease. Gingivitis refers to inflammation of the gums from excess plaque on the teeth, often resulting in redness and swelling, and bleeding when you brush your teeth. In contrast, periodontitis is more severe and the gums pull away from the teeth to form pockets where bacteria can set up house and cause an infection. If it hurts when you chew, if your teeth are getting crooked, if they're getting loose or overly sensitive, it's time to see the tooth doctor. Periodontitis is rare in kids; gingivitis is not. Diligent oral hygiene that entails flossing as well as brushing, and regular professional cleaning, go the distance in the prevention of gum disease and the inflammation that comes with it. Free radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and pathogenic micro-organisms can cause collagen and periodontal cell degradation. It's been found that oral ROS can be scavenged by specific anti-oxidants, thereby reducing collagen abasement (Prakash, 2010). This doesn't mean that a person can pop pills and forget the paste and brush, but it does allow at least one adjunctive measure to enhance their efficacy. The one we have in mind is also the one with the best reputation and subsequent publicity—Co-Enzyme Q 10, sometimes called ubiquinol, ubiquinone, or CoQ10. CoQ10 belongs to a family of substances that are fat-soluble and participate in the electron transport chain, a pathway that produces energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the stuff that fuels our cells.
For the record, number 10 is not the only coenzyme Q. This digital appellation is based on the number of isoprenoids units in the "tail" of the molecule. Isoprenoids, also called terpenoids, are generally the most common hydrocarbons in the human body. In fact, we make them at a rate of about seventeen milligrams a day, to be used in the manufacture of cholesterol and other endogenous steroids, such as the sex hormones and vitamin D. Isoprenes are found in foods. Carotenes, such as beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein are relatives. The coenzymes Q number from 1 to 12.
An enzyme is not the same thing as a coenzyme. Enzymes are proteins (usually) that increase the speed of a chemical reaction without being used up by the reaction; coenzymes are non-proteins (usually) that carry chemicals between enzymes and are continuously recycled. Levels of Co-Enzyme Q10 are depleted by the statin drugs prescribed to reduce cholesterol. This occurs because CoQ10 and cholesterol share a common pathway. When CoQ10 values are diminished, a cell's mitochondria cannot convert food to usable energy. What compounds the matter is that CoQ10 levels decline with age, which often is the time of life when cholesterol is mistakenly treated as an agent of disease. In some countries outside the U.S., statins are combined with CoQ10 to buffer the drugs' side effects, namely the myopathies (Zlatohlavek, 2012) (DiNicolantonio, 2012) (Willis, 1990).
Intake of supplemental CoQ10 has benefits beyond statin amelioration. As an anti-oxidant, CoQ10 prevents damage by ROS and increases efficiency of mitochondrial energy production (Saini, 2011). That it has other significant roles in human health is secondary to the aim of this newsletter, however. Persons with active gingival disease have been found to be deficient in Co-enzyme Q10 (Littaru, 1971) as determined by gingival biopsies (Nakamura, 1974). Because these tissue samples exhibit persistent oxidative stress, researchers inferred that CoQ10 could reverse it (Battino, 2005). Investigating leukocytes from gum tissue deficient in CoQ10, scientists found that such a coenzyme deficit could predispose this tissue to periodontitis, and that periodontitis exacerbates CoQ10 deficit (Hansen, 1976), leading to the suggestion that adjunctive use of CoQ10 will improve outcome.
Dry mouth from reduced saliva secretion, often connected to aging, was assuaged in sixty-six patients given oral doses of either ubiquinone or ubiquinol at 100 mg/day (Ryo, 2011). Is this a factor in periodontitis? Yes. Xerostomia is associated with an increase in cavities, gingival disease, and even Candida (Ram, 2011). Prevention of periodontal disease may even be accomplished with xylitol-laced chewing gum (Feio, 2005) (Curro, 2008) because of increased saliva production. Treatment with CoQ10 reduces the likelihood of long-term tooth loss, too, with the promise of reversal of symptoms. If nicotine, especially, is one's toxin of choice, CoQ10 supplementation is indicated. Spanish investigators discovered that CoQ10 stimulated the pathway of biological mechanisms that promote bone health and growth by exciting the synthesis of powerful hormones dedicated to bone formation (Figuero, 2006). Nicotine is a catabolic oxidative agent—it breaks things down. CoQ10 intervenes.
Good nutrition is related to periodontal health. Several supplements promote the biochemistry of teeth and related bone (Folkers, 1977). For example, zinc and copper enhance immunity; vitamin C helps to prevent bleeding gums; calcium and magnesium help to prevent bone loss; and chamomile tea, though not a supplement, may sooth gum tissue. Control of plaque, therefore, is not the only step to oral health. Diet counts, as well. Topical use of CoQ10 can improve the clinical parameters in periodontal assessment and treatment can heal in a fashion labeled as "extraordinarily effective" (Wilkinson, 1975). If topical sources interest you, there are mouthwashes and toothpastes available made with CoQ10.
Oral supplements of CoQ10 are well-tolerated. Doses of more than 100 mg a day should be separated if mild gastric effects arise. Since most of us don't eat mammal organ meats regularly, capsules might be the most convenient form, although sardines and mackerel count as decent food sources. Vegetables have only moderate amounts of CoQ10, with spinach, broccoli and sweet potatoes leading the pack. Cooking reduces levels in all food sources. If you opt to take CoQ10 for dental health, you'll be glad to realize the benefits we didn't have room to mention.
Battino M, Bompadre S, Politi A, Fioroni M, Rubini C, Bullon P.
Antioxidant status (CoQ10 and Vit. E levels) and immunohistochemical analysis of soft tissues in periodontal diseases.
Biofactors. 2005;25(1-4):213-7.
Curro FA.
Gum chewing as an adjunct to use of medications.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2008 May;139 Suppl:6S-8S.
DiNicolantonio JJ.
CoQ10 and L-carnitine for statin myalgia?
Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2012 Oct;10(10):1329-33.
Feio M, Sapeta P.
Xerostomia in palliative care.
Acta Med Port. 2005 Nov-Dec;18(6):459-65. Epub 2006 Mar 6.
Figuero E, Soory M, Cerero R, Bascones A.
Oxidant/antioxidant interactions of nicotine, Coenzyme Q10, Pycnogenol and phytoestrogens in oral periosteal fibroblasts and MG63 osteoblasts.
Steroids. 2006 Dec;71(13-14):1062-72. Epub 2006 Oct 11.
Folkers K, Watanabe T.
Bioenergetics in clinical medicine-X. Survey of the adjunctive use of coenzyme Q with oral therapy in treating periodontal disease.
J Med. 1977;8(5):333-48.
Hanioka T, Tanaka M, Ojima M, Shizukuishi S, Folkers K.
Effect of topical application of coenzyme Q10 on adult periodontitis.
Mol Aspects Med. 1994;15 Suppl:s241-8.
Mayank Hans, Shobha Prakash, and Subhash Gupta
Clinical evaluation of topical application of perio-Q gel (Coenzyme Q10) in chronic periodontitis patients
J Indian Soc Periodontol. 2012 Apr-Jun; 16(2): 193–199.
Hansen IL, Iwamoto Y, Kishi T, Folkers K, Thompson LE.
Bioenergetics in clinical medicine. IX. Gingival and leucocytic deficiencies of coenzyme Q10 in patients with periodontal disease.
Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1976 Aug;14(4):729-38.
Gian Paolo Littarru, Ryo Nakamura, Lester Ho, Karl Folkers, and William C. Kuzell
Deficiency of Coenzyme Q10 in Gingival Tissue from Patients with Periodontal Disease
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 October; 68(10): 2332–2335.
Littarru GP, Langsjoen P.
Coenzyme Q10 and statins: biochemical and clinical implications.
Mitochondrion. 2007 Jun;7 Suppl:S168-74. Epub 2007 Mar 27.
Mabuchi H, Higashikata T, Kawashiri M, Katsuda S, Mizuno M, Nohara A, Inazu A, Koizumi J, Kobayashi J.
Reduction of serum ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 levels by atorvastatin in hypercholesterolemic patients.
J Atheroscler Thromb. 2005;12(2):111-9.
Marcoff L, Thompson PD.
The role of coenzyme Q10 in statin-associated myopathy: a systematic review.
J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007 Jun 12;49(23):2231-7.
Matsumura T, Saji S, Nakamura R, Folkers K.
Evidence for enhanced treatment of periodontal disease by therapy with coenzyme Q.
Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1973 Apr;43(4):537-48.
Ryo Nakamura, Gian Paolo Littarru, Karl Folkers, and Edward G. Wilkinson
Study of CoQ10-Enzymes in Gingiva from Patients with Periodontal Disease and Evidence for a Deficiency of Coenzyme Q10
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 April; 71(4): 1456–1460.
Päivä H, Thelen KM, Van Coster R, Smet J, De Paepe B, Mattila KM, Laakso J, Lehtimäki T, von Bergmann K, Lütjohann D, Laaksonen R.
High-dose statins and skeletal muscle metabolism in humans: a randomized, controlled trial.
Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2005 Jul;78(1):60-8.
Ram S, Kumar S, Navazesh M.
Management of xerostomia and salivary gland hypofunction.
J Calif Dent Assoc. 2011 Sep;39(9):656-9.
Shobha Prakash, J. Sunitha, and Mayank Hans
Role of coenzyme Q10 as an antioxidant and bioenergizer in periodontal diseases
Indian J Pharmacol. 2010 December; 42(6): 334–337.
Ryo K, Ito A, Takatori R, Tai Y, Arikawa K, Seido T, Yamada T, Shinpo K, Tamaki Y, Fujii K, Yamamoto Y, Saito I.
Effects of coenzyme Q10 on salivary secretion.
Clin Biochem. 2011 Jun;44(8-9):669-74.
Rajiv Saini
Coenzyme Q10: The essential nutrient
J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2011 Jul-Sep; 3(3): 466–467.
Vervelle A, Mouhyi J, Del Corso M, Hippolyte MP, Sammartino G, Dohan Ehrenfest DM.
Mouthwash solutions with microencapsuled natural extracts: Efficiency for dental plaque and gingivitis.
Rev Stomatol Chir Maxillofac. 2010 Jun;111(3):148-51.
Wilkinson EG, Arnold RM, Folkers K, Hansen I, Kishi H.
Bioenergetics in clinical medicine. II. Adjunctive treatment with coenzyme Q in periodontal therapy.
Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1975 Sep;12(1):111-23.
R A Willis, K Folkers, J L Tucker, C Q Ye, L J Xia, and H Tamagawa
Lovastatin decreases coenzyme Q levels in rats.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 November; 87(22): 8928–8930.
Zlatohlavek L, Vrablik M, Grauova B, Motykova E, Ceska R.
The effect of coenzyme Q10 in statin myopathy.
Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2012 Nov 28;33(Suppl2):98-101. [Epub ahead of print]


text:
package generate.minimizers;

import board.Board;
import generate.MinimizeMethod;

public class MinimizeDefault extends MinimizeMethod {

	@Override
	protected int getSymmetryCount() {
		return 1;
	}

	@Override
	protected int getIndexingLength() {
		return Board.GRID_SIZE;
	}

	@Override
	protected int[] applySymmetry(int index, int[] digCells) {
		digCells[0] = index;
		return digCells;
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


For simplicity, we will refer to the dog on the handler as a "pose".
and of course the dog's safety is always paramount.
1… Handler on hands and knees with dog sitting, standing or dropped on handler's back. This could be stationary or with the handler moving.
2… Handler could be sitting on the floor, cross-legged, and the dog comes and sits in handler's lap.
3… Handler could be lying on the floor, face-down, face-up or on side with dog on top most part of the handler sitting, standing or dropped.
4… In addition to 3 handler could roll as dog moved to adjust his balance.
5…For a very small dog you could have both front paws on top of one (handler's) foot and both back paws across the other foot (handler could be sitting or standing). This could also be done across the top of handler's knees while handler is sitting on the ground with legs stretched out or knees up.
6…Handler could be lying face down with legs bent at the knees so that the soles of the feet are free. Dog could stand on upturned soles of handler's feet. I have seen this done and it can look very cute.
7…Handler could be lying on stomach with head held back and the dog is on the handler's back with the front paws on the handler's head. This looks very cute done by a small dog.
8…Dog could be sitting in handler's lap with his front paws wrapped around the handler's neck. Handler could have arms stretched out at shoulder height.


text:
Content Marketing & Publicity
Trade Show Strategy & Graphics
Top of the Page SEO
Marketing in Real Life
Beware Your E-Commerce Return Policy
Written by: Paul Entin
Category: Website
For the thousands of remote workers launching e-commerce Websites to monetize their hobbies, build a side hustle or start entirely new careers, writing a return policy typically ranks far at the bottom of the to do list as barely an afterthought, if it even makes the list. Big companies like Amazon.com can absorb returned items without much consequence, both financially and physically via its retail bricks and mortar partners. But for small businesses on Shopify, Squarespace, Wix or another e-commerce platform, every sale calls for a celebration and every return a funeral.
Small businesses simply cannot absorb a significant number of returns. They typically lack the staff to manage the process with any efficiency from communicating with the customer and providing return authorization forms to physically restocking and updating inventory, plus accounting for any refunds or credits. It isn't just the loss of the sale that hurts. In most cases, the revenue has already worked its way through the company and has been used to pay vendors, taxes or payroll so providing a refund feels much more painful. And given tight cash flows, a full refund on a nice sale might require the owner to forego salary for a month. It's clear that returns must be avoided wherever possible.
Of course, in cases of a defective product or where a warranty applies, returns need to be accepted. To avoid the energy drain from these returns, start by sourcing and selling only high quality products. Not only does this prevent warranty claims, it promotes customer satisfaction, loyalty, repeat purchasing, and word of mouth marketing.
But in the fearful, uncertain business climate the government has created and imposed upon us, some people may decide to cancel orders or return products that are not defective, having shelved new product launches or halted an expansion, for example, or merely thinking the value of the cash has become higher than the value of the product. Wal-Mart may accept almost anything on the day after Christmas but small businesses cannot survive like this. In 2018, $22.6 billion of returns were labeled fraud or policy abuse by the National Retail Federation. It's vital to protect your e-commerce business from these returns by posting a formal, ironclad return policy on the Website.
The online shopping return policy needs to be written to appear as accommodating and forthcoming as possible in plain language to help move prospects towards the sale. However, it also needs to be firm. A 10-day or 30-day deadline provided the original packaging remains intact works for many companies. The policy may differ from one company to the next based on the product. No one expects to be able to return worn underwear, for example, but given Amazon's willingness to accept almost anything returned, consumers have begun to expect this wide latitude in returns from every e-commerce retailer, whether direct to consumer or B2B. Offer a full refund or just store credit? Free shipping on returns? Every company needs to consider the balance between scaring away sales with an onerous returns policy and minimizing the high cost of returns.
To reinforce the policy beyond the Website, it may be repeated in the email order notification, in the email shipping confirmation and again as a printed piece sent with the order. This multi-level series of alerts helps deter people from demanding a return beyond the deadline and provides backup in writing for the store owners considering whether to refuse or accommodate a return request. Of course, any part of a strict return policy can always be waived on a case by case basis. But a written policy establishing the terms and conditions sets clear expectations and provides protection against online shoppers considering return policy abuse at your expense. And don't forget to closely monitor all appropriate social media platforms to quickly address any complaint before it can spread out of control.
For guidance on crafting an e-commerce return policy, call epr at 908-479-4231 or ideas@eprmarketing.com.
Businesses that Support Customers Through Coronavirus Disruptions to Earn Long-Term Loyalty
Before Generating Sales Leads, Get Your Ducks In A Row
Paul Entin's Marketing In Real Life explores every facet of marketing from advertising, PR and lead generation to content marketing, direct response and the latest in marketing automation - and more. Paul Entin's Marketing In Real Life provides real-life insight into the relationship among sales, marketing, and customer service - and the customer - plus quick commentary from epr founder, Paul Entin.
How to adjust B2B advertising for viewing on phones
5 days ago Is #unity overrated? This from 2008 makes quite a point https://t.co/b0jmUSuHWN #wednesdaythought #unityandhealing 5 days ago Today in #media, #Foxnews hemorrhaging viewers as #conservatives recognize this isn't your father's Fox #news anymo… https://t.co/JKxrdqiiiU 6 days ago If your company helped #customers with refunds in 2020, have you felt any lasting goodwill?… https://t.co/dBwJ2HY7cX
Aug 11, 2020 How to adjust B2B advertising for viewing on phones
May 14, 2020 Beware Your E-Commerce Return Policy
Mar 13, 2020 Businesses that Support Customers Through Coronavirus Disruptions to Earn Long-Term Loyalty
Feb 11, 2020 Before Generating Sales Leads, Get Your Ducks In A Row
At epr, we see marketing as a sales support function. We exist to help put hardworking sales people in position to meet the right prospects, get in the door, close sales and drive word of mouth marketing. For a modern, nimble, integrated sales and marketing team, there's no place for the old, top-down thinking of a pyramid.
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