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Paul (Louis Paul) Maistre, journalist and author, was born on 17 May 1851 at Cluny in Burgundy, son of Claude Paul Maistre (b. 1819), a liberal in the tradition of the 1848 revolution, and Marguerite Deligny (b. 1825). Cluny would remain his base in France throughout his consular career and beyond.
Paul Maistre was one of France's longest-serving consular representatives in Australia, although, in the end, not one of the most successful. The bulk of his career in the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères turned around the consular post of Melbourne. His rise in the hierarchy, slow and painful, was hindered by his socio-economic background and his family circumstances. When, in his late fifties, he finally reached the position of consul 2ème classe in charge of the vice-consulate of Melbourne, he unexpectedly encountered the implacable opposition of a small group of members of the Melbourne establishment who obtained his recall by the Quai d'Orsay, thus putting an end to his career in Australia.
Having attended the Lycée Lamartine at Mâcon, Paul Maistre served as a volunteer during the 1870 war. Like his father, he was attracted to the art of writing and at first journalism. His first job was contributing to Le Matin (Paris), Le Phare de la Loire (Nantes) and L'Union républicaine (Mâcon) as their London correspondent. He also gave private lessons in French and German. The English connection probably went back to his father's exile from France under the Second Empire. In 1873 he married Charlotte Allen, an English orphan from Warwickshire. They had six children and no expectations from either side of the family. Most of their married life was a constant struggle for financial survival.
From 1879 Paul's father was employed by the French Consulate-General and then the French Embassy in London successively as commis auxiliaire, commis de chancellerie, chancelier and secrétaire-archiviste. In 1881 he persuaded the Quai d'Orsay to employ his son in the same capacity and for a short time father and son worked together as commis de chancellerie in London. Paul was bilingual in French and English, proficient in German and knew some Italian.
In 1885 he was appointed chancelier 3ème classe and in the following year he took up his new staff appointment at the French Consulate in Melbourne. He served in that post in different capacities until February 1909, with only a single two-year break, from 1898 to the beginning of 1901, in Wales (Cardiff and Swansea). In 1887 Léon Dejardin was appointed consul to Melbourne, then consul-general in 1891, and Maistre served under him for twelve years. He himself progressed to vice-consul in 1892, and in 1905 was promoted to consul 2ème classe.
During his first Melbourne term (1886–1898) Maistre was at times in charge of the consulate or consulate-general, and in 1888 he acted as deputy commissioner of the French Section at the Melbourne International Exhibition. During this period he also continued his literary and journalistic writing activities, contributing to the Nouvelle Revue Internationale and the Revue Universelle. Oscar Comettant, in Au pays des kangourous et des mines d'or (1890), describes Maistre as 'un érudit, un écrivain et un poète quand il lui plaît de l'être'. Léon Dejardin was far less enthusiastic. He saw Maistre as a superior clerk rather than as an author or a potential diplomat. He praised, however, the quality of his report writing and year after year recommended his promotion, realising how difficult Maistre found it to support his wife and his six children on his modest salary: according to Dejardin he had become 'embittered', even 'desperate'. The Consul-General supported Maistre's repeated requests for a move to a European posting, which would have facilitated his children's education in France. This eventually occurred in 1898. From Dejardin's point of view such a transfer was the ideal solution: he was reluctant to send negative reports on his Vice-Consul, but 'after ten years of tête-à-tête with Maistre', as he put it, he wanted him to go. He cabled the Quai d'Orsay that under no circumstances should they allow him to return to Melbourne.
Dejardin's last wish was not to be fulfilled. On the proclamation of Federation, the French consular services in Australia were reorganised and the Melbourne post was downgraded to vice-consulate. Dejardin retired to France and the vice-consulate was placed under the control of his rival, Georges Biard d'Aunet, previously 'Consul-General of France in Sydney', now titled 'in Australia'. In February 1901 the original appointee to the newly downgraded post (a certain M. Monnet) came, looked at the situation and refused to take up the post, returning to France on the very same ship which brought him to Australia. Maistre was then offered the vacancy, returning to Melbourne in April after his term in Wales.
Maistre's second Melbourne term (1901–1909) was far more dramatic than the first. He was now head of the post, at first with the rank of vice-consul and then, from 1905, as consul 2ème classe. However, he was not his own master: he was responsible to the Consul-General in Sydney (Georges Biard d'Aunet until 1905, and Albert Pinard from 1905 until the death in office of the latter in January 1909, just a few weeks before Maistre's own departure).
During his new term in Melbourne a great deal of Maistre's time was dedicated to the reform of the Alliance Française de Victoria, very much along the lines that Biard d'Aunet had imposed on the more recently founded Sydney Alliance, focusing on its educational and cultural mission, rather than on social functions. One would therefore have expected a good understanding between the local vice-consul and the remote consul-general, especially given the tension between Maistre and the now departed Dejardin. This, however, is not what occurred. Biard d'Aunet also recognised that Maistre was hard-working and conscientious and had a thorough knowledge of the consular system, but he found him reserved, excessively shy and difficult to communicate with, presumably on account of what he called his 'honourable but modest' background. Consul-General Biard d'Aunet deplored that due to his financial circumstances Maistre was not in a position to invite important people to his home, and, not being an 'homme du monde', did not mix easily with them. Both Biard d'Aunet and his successor Albert Pinard found that the rapport between the consulate- general in Sydney and the Melbourne vice-consulate left a lot to be desired, blaming Maistre's personality for this. Biard d'Aunet further suggested that Maistre had served in Melbourne in a subordinate position for far too long to be able to command the moral authority required for his new role.
Although he appeared 'to have been a gregarious personality with a wide circle of friends' (Thornton-Smith 1994, 4), Maistre might have had a problem relating to his superiors, as well as to the women in the Melbourne establishment.
Although the Alliance française de Victoria was founded by Mme Mouchette, a teacher and native speaker of French, it gradually lost sight of its original purpose and became a pretext for social gatherings for a small group of society women, predominantly English-speaking but professing a love of the French language and French culture. Pedagogical pursuits were neglected and the main activities were teas, dances and evenings of light entertainment. Once in charge of the vice-consulate, Maistre was determined to restore the Alliance to its primary objective and re-establish its links with France, the Paris head office, the local French community and the teaching profession. Having consulted in person with the Paris headquarters of the Alliance during his 1906 leave in France, Maistre felt emboldened to assert his demands. On his return he wrote a document entitled 'Notes sur l'Alliance Française de Victoria : sa fondation, ses statuts ; son but et ses moyens d'action', which defined his principal objectives. The most important was the promotion of the French language by means of lectures, talks, exhibitions, publications, competitions, examinations, prizes and scholarships. Maistre further advocated the observance by the Alliance committee of its own constitution and of the Paris regulations governing local branches. He also suggested that the committee include more native speakers of French, a better gender balance and some men with business experience. All the changes put forward by Maistre were opposed and indeed sabotaged by the core of the old committee. When the Secretary-General of the Paris Alliance, Léon Defourmantelle, confirmed the organisation's total support of the Consul's proposals, Maistre's opponents resigned and a new committee, predominantly of native speakers, was set up, with Maistre as president.
However, the opponents, led by the former president Lady Holroyd and the former French co-president Mme Crivelli, a long-established expatriate who identified herself with the local establishment, sought to put an end to the Consul's appointment to Melbourne. They used their connections with the Foreign Office in London to request that the British Ambassador in Paris demand Maistre's recall. This was four years after the signature of the Entente cordiale and Stephen Pichon, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, yielded to the British pressure. Without giving Maistre the right of reply and in spite of the support Maistre received from the Melbourne French community, as well as from the Australian public and officials and the press, the Quai d'Orsay ordered him home. He sailed back to France on 25 February 1909.
This recall also put an end to Maistre's other duties in Melbourne. At different times Paul Maistre represented Imperial Russia and Italy as acting consul for the former and acting consul-general for the latter, which earned him the title of Commander in the Order of St Stanislaus (1908) and also a royal decoration from the Italian government. At the time of his recall the only French honour he had received was his appointment as Officier d'Académie in 1889.
Although there is no evidence that the Quai d'Orsay ever apologised to Paul Maistre for the way he was treated in the last year of his Melbourne posting, almost immediately after his return to France he was appointed consul 1ère classe in charge of the French Consulate at Santiago de Cuba (decree of 3 April 1909). Maistre embarked for Cuba on 21 June to take up his new post, but, by mid-September, he realised that his health, already adversely affected by his Melbourne experience, would not stand up to the climate of Cuba. His application for early retirement was approved, and on 31 December 1909 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur.
We have no trace of Maistre's activities between his retirement and his death in 1932 in his birth town of Cluny other than producing two monographs.
His work as a writer was never given any weight by his superiors, although the reports he produced during his first term in Melbourne were duly praised by Consul-General Léon Dejardin. Most of his writings are about Australia. His articles (in French) in the Melbourne weekly Table Talk, under the well-chosen nom de plume Paul Le Franc, his five 'semi-fictional' short stories, as C. B. Thornton-Smith characterised his 'Scènes de la vie australienne' published in the Nouvelle Revue Internationale between 1894 and 1897, also under the nom de plume Paul Le Franc, and Dans la brousse australienne, a first-person account of a hunting trip with a group of French and Australian friends to Gippsland, as well as a more formal book on the Commonwealth of Australia (1913), all portray different facets of Australian life.
His attitude to his host country was complex and not devoid of contradictions. Although married to an English woman and having spent some of his formative years in London, he was critical of Australia's close copying of English customs and institutions. Generally sympathetic to 'ordinary Australians', with a preference for bushmen above urban dwellers, he showed a definite prejudice against Protestants, Scots and their attitude to business as he perceived it. (This was probably motivated by the anti-French sentiments and policies of some of Victoria's Protestant politicians.) When it came to comparing Continental Europeans (especially Germans and the French) with Australians of English background, his preference clearly went to the former. However, he admired Australia's younger generations, their healthy attitude to life, their openness and dynamism, their love of sport and their growing interest in music, literature and the arts.
Maistre was aware of Australia's limitations as a continent, especially the harsh interior, but in Dans la brousse australienne he revealed a deep love of the bush and a sensitivity to its beauty and grandeur, and what he called its 'magic'.
Although sharing his white contemporaries' low opinion of the level of civilisation attained by Aboriginal Australians, he readily acknowledged that the wretched state of many of the original inhabitants had been brought about by the presence of the colonisers and he strongly condemned their ill-treatment by the latter. Like many of his contemporaries, he believed that Aboriginal Australians were unsuited for work in white man's society and were bound to decay and die out.
Maistre acknowledged Australia's rapid progress, especially in its urban centres (which, incidentally, he found 'artificial') but he attributed it to exceptionally favourable circumstances such as auspicious geography, plentiful natural resources, an absence of threat from inside and outside, and, not the least, bountiful support in the form of the provision of capital and skills from the mother country.
Although professionally committed to free trade, he admitted it was protectionism that allowed the inhabitants of the continent to enjoy a high standard of living. Maistre was in two minds about the determination of Australians to limit immigration, even from Britain, but he was openly in favour of the White Australia policy.
While he had reservations about what he saw as the inordinate power of the trade unions and the excessive control of the State in regulating many aspects of life, he could not help but admire the nascent Australian democracy. In Maistre's opinion, the Constitution of 1901, which invested power in the people, without buffers between the electors and the elected, was 'one of the most radical political instruments created'. He thought that Federation, having abolished the artificial customs barriers so thoroughly contrary to the interests of all the colonies, would eventually lead to the unity of the Commonwealth and the weakening, and eventually the abolition, of State borders. No doubt, some links to the mother country survived, especially as regards external relations, but they were tenuous and did not affect life within the Commonwealth.
Although his diplomatic career in Australia ended in failure, his writings demonstrate a perceptive and largely sympathetic interest in a country on the cusp of nationhood.
Image: The title page of Paul Maistre's Commonwealth of Australia (1913).
Author: Ivan Barko, Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney, September 2020
Note: Special thanks to Sibylle Duhautois, French historian and research assistant for ISFAR, who located most of the French sources used for this entry.
Keywords: Paul Maistre, Australia at Federation, Quai d'Orsay, social classes in diplomacy, Melbourne, Alliance Française
Kirsop, Wallace, 2001, 'Paul Maistre's First Farewell', Explorations 31, pp. 37–38.
Maistre, Paul, Personal File, Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, La Courneuve.
Maistre, Paul, 'Scènes de la vie australienne', in Nouvelle Revue Internationale, Paris-Madrid, ('Le Squatter',1894, 1er semestre, pp. 42–49; 'Le Sélecteur', 1895, 1er semestre, pp. 198–204, 276–279, 363–368; 'Les Chercheurs d'or', 1896, 1er semestre, pp. 273–81, 598–607; 'De mineur à ministre', 1896, 2ème semestre, pp. 781–788; 'Messieurs les tondeurs', 1897, 1er semestre, pp. 41–48, 217–226.)
Maistre, Paul, 1901, Notes pratiques à l'usage des consuls et des armateurs : naufrages et avaries ; accidents en mer ; abordages ; jet de marchandises ; emprunts à la grosse ; hypothèques maritimes, etc., Paris, A. Challamet.
Maistre, Paul, 1901, Dans la brousse australienne : scènes de chasse, Paris, Mongrédien et Cie.
Maistre, Paul, 1911, 'Cuba, étude de géographie économique', Paris, Librairie Ch. Delagrave.
Maistre, Paul, 1913, Le Commonwealth d'Australie ; étude de géographie physique et économique, Paris, Librairie Ch. Delagrave.
Maistre, Paul, 1997, 'Scènes de la vie australienne : De mineur à ministre', translated and introduced by C. B. Thornton-Smith, Explorations 23, pp.13–32.
Thornton-Smith, C. B., 1991, 'The Australian Semi-Fictions of Paul Maistre', in Bruce Merry (ed.), Essays in Honour of Keith Val Sinclair, Townsville, James Cook University of North Queensland, pp. 83–99.
Thornton-Smith, C. B., 1994, 'Paul Maistre, Vice-Consul and Later Consul for France in Victoria, 1886–1898, 1901–1908', Explorations 17, pp. 3–47.


As Terragens have expanded throughout the galaxy, they have formed a great number of different views and ideas about the nature of life and the universe. However, it is not uncommon for a sophont's personal beliefs to conflict with known evidence. Perhaps one of the most infamous cases of this can be found in the phenomenon known as xenodenial. Simply put, xenodenial refers to the minority belief that no true xenosophonts have ever been physically encountered, and that the various xenological Institutes (such as Eden and the HIE) have been feeding misinformation to Terragen civilisation for millennia. It should be noted that xenodenial is largely a term applied to this belief by outside groups - xenodeniers have a number of names for their beliefs (Denvolism, xenoskepticism, etc.). Although many would argue that xenodenial has existed in some form since alien life was first detected, nearly all modern forms can be traced back to the claims of Pravis Denvol.
Pravis Denvol (7796 - 8001) was a near baseline human hailing from Avon, a small cluster of plebhu habs located in the Archaipelago. Pravis was one of fifteen known clonechildren of Tramen Denvol, a xenologist of the Eden Institute, who ascended to posthuman status in 7869. In 7871, Denvol released a virchpaper entitled "The Empty Universe" onto the Known Net, wherein he made a number of outlandish claims about the nature of xenolife (which he claimed had been revealed to him by his clonefather), many of which are believed by most extant xenodenier groups in the Current Era.
◾ All radio transmissions of supposed alien origin are either hoaxes made by Terragen astronomers or previously undiscovered natural phenomena.
According to Denvol, Tramen had told him that the alien cover-up had been set in place by transapients, who believed that modosophonts would be unable to handle the concept of total isolation in the universe. Although "The Empty Universe" received heavy criticism and has been condemned by many xenologists, a small number of readers expressed genuine interest in Denvol's claims, and decided to spread the word on the "true nature" of alien life. These individuals were termed "xenodeniers" by the media, and despite the ridicule they faced from outsiders, banded together to form various Net-based communities.
In 7896, a user appeared in a number of xenodenier boards on the Known Net under the name of TRAVOL. TRAVOL claimed to be the posthuman that was once Pravis' clonefather, Tramen, and openly voiced his disgust at his clonechild's "petty grab for attention". Most xenodeniers on these boards believed that they were simply being harassed by one of the many who disagreed with their views, and simply ignored TRAVOL (whose stay was very brief). Whether or not this user was the entity it claimed to be is unknown to the present day, although the event coincided with Pravis Denvol's decision to leave the xenodenier community for good.
It should be noted that there has been some conflict between xenodenier communities over differing views and ideas. Some of the stauncher xenodenier communities will refute the existence of all forms of alien life (including even basic xenobacteria), whilst some of the more liberal groups will accept the existence of long-vanished and extremely distant xenocivs, but reject the existence of intelligent aliens in the Terragen Sphere. Two of the longest-lived and best-known xenodenier communities are the Empty Universe Foundation and the Lonely Minds Society. Both organizations are known to consist almost entirely of modosophonts, and are noted to have a large percentage of baseline humans amongst their membership. The two communities (particularly the former) have also faced heavy criticism for targeting well-known artists for their membership in order to get their message across. Notable living xenodeniers include Gray playwright Fidelfa Lytez (b. 10376) and Childofmars composer Stalpo Jovinal (b. 10497).
Initially published on 21 December 2015.


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Cloverleaf Cold Storage To Open $30 Million Monmouth, Illinois, Refrigerated Warehouse-Distribution Center
Illinois Basic Business Taxes
Illinois Direct Financial Incentives
Market Report: Food Processing Companies Grow at a Steady Pace
Market Report: Innovations in Food Processing Help to Meet Economic Challenges
Cloverleaf Cold Storage Company will open a $30 million, 235,000-square-foot, refrigerated warehouse and distribution center in Monmouth, Illinois, with plans to create create 155 full-time jobs.
The facility will serve the Smithfield Farmland Corporation, which has an adjacent site in Monmouth. The refrigerated warehouse and distribution center is the first Illinois site for Cloverleaf, which has 15 locations around the country.
A family-owned company that dates from 1934, Cloverleaf provides public and contract storage for the meat processing and packaging industries. Cloverleaf hopes to expand the new facility to 315,000 square feet within three to five years and increase employment by another 50 jobs.
"Cloverleaf's investment in this new facility highlights not only the strategic location that Illinois occupies in the food distribution network, it emphasizes our faith that we will be able to hire and retain a highly-skilled and technically proficient workforce," Cloverleaf spokesman Adam Feiges said.
"This new facility will create more than 150 good jobs and help Cloverleaf and Smithfield Farmland grow together in western Illinois," Governor Pat Quinn said. "The cooperative effort between state agencies and local officials to build this remarkable facility shows that even in our Prairie State, we'll move mountains when it comes to creating jobs."
"There has been great cooperation between private enterprise and state and local governments, including the necessary capital investments, infrastructure work and incentives, to help make this project a reality," Monmouth Mayor Rod Davies said.
Cloverleaf will receive an assistance package with an estimated value of $6 million. The city of Monmouth and government agencies in Warren County have authorized incentives totaling $3.4 million for the project, most of it in the form of 10-year abatement on property taxes.
Programs from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will provide the company an estimated $1.2 million in benefits, including an investment tax credit and a sales tax exemption for being in an enterprise zone. The DCEO package includes a $325,000 grant to the city for infrastructure work associated with the plant. The Illinois Department of Transportation committed to approximately $1.5 million in road improvements, much of it for widening U.S. Route 67 and a new access road to accommodate truck traffic. DCEO's agreement with Cloverleaf requires the company to repay a portion of the grant if it fails to hit its target of 155 new jobs by the end of 2015.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home » The CyberArk Blog » Privileged Access Management: A Matrix Approach for Account Ranking and Prioritization
Privileged Access Management: A Matrix Approach for Account Ranking and Prioritization
August 2, 2017 Art Chaisiriwatanasai
Throughout the course of my six years in helping KPMG clients with their Privileged Access Management programs, there has rarely been a simple answer to the critical questions of exactly which privileged accounts in an environment should be integrated first (e.g., application/infrastructure/personal accounts), and exactly how we should control each type of privileged account. The ways an organization can control privileged accounts using a solution like CyberArk can vary greatly (e.g. vaulting, password rotation, brokering, etc.).
A common approach to password management includes treating all vaulted credentials with the same level control measures; this is typically a symptom that indicates a lack of a risk-based approach to assigning criticality to accounts. Alternatively, we also see cases of wild inconsistencies in the way passwords are managed, typically leaving it up to the individual platform owners to pick and choose the right security controls for them. This typically an indication of a lack of defined PAM standards that can be applied enterprise-wide. When developing strategies and roadmaps for KPMG clients, our teams apply an "Account Criticality Matrix" to help answer these questions. This matrix is designed to help standardize the way we rate and weigh the criticality of a given account. It includes a set of predefined criteria that we tailor to meet the unique needs of each organization. Example criteria in the Account Criticality Matrix include:
* Number of individuals that have access to a given privileged credential
* Frequency of account usage
* Potential to access sensitive data
* Scope of privilege across single/multiple systems or platforms
* Control level granted
Based on the numerical scoring derived from the Account Criticality Matrix, we then begin to build a profile of what an organization would consider a "high-risk" account versus a "low-risk" account. This profile helps on numerous fronts. First, it allows for consideration of account types that typically would not be considered as true "privileged" accounts. For example, many application or service accounts are inadvertently excluded from management in organizations due to a lack of understanding of enterprise privileged account definitions by the application owner. In the absence of pre-defined account prioritization criteria, those owners are left to decide what constitutes a "privileged" account or not. Many will opt for the latter without prescribed guidance. The matrix will allow an organization to take any account type and provide a standardized metric to determine whether it meets the criteria to be integrated into CyberArk.
The second benefit is the standardization of account controls across the organization based on the calculated account criticality. Depending on licensing and hardware limitations, recording all privileged accounts may not be feasible. Based on a pre-defined policy, an organization could mandate that only "high" rated accounts require dual control and PSM recording, but periodic password rotations of "medium" rated credentials are sufficient.
Thirdly, combining knowledge of "high" severity accounts and implementation effort can provide a window to prioritization of the path of integration. When various stakeholders ask why the decision was made to start with default local accounts first and not their specialized application, you can point them not only to the fact that those accounts rated as high based on the user base, scope of privilege, and access granted, but also because the implementation effort was lowest for those accounts.
Art Chaisiriwatanasai is a Director within KPMG's Chicago office and is a member of their IT Advisory – Cyber practice. Art has in-depth experience in information security focusing on privileged access management, security operation center implementations, vulnerability management, risk assessment, and incident response initiatives.
Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates.
© 2017 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and the U.S. member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. [Printed in the US].The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.
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You know when you get stuck sitting next to that one relative who takes forever to tell a story or get to the punchline of a joke? Executive board meetings and quarterly updates sometimes go...
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Greetings to all of my furry and non-furry friends, dogs and humans alike (as well as humans who are furry and dogs that aren't furry).
My favorite Sophie and human mom have seen "The Lego Movie" twice so far. And my human mom has been warbling the chorus of the film's song "Everything Is Awesome!" to everyone's great dismay. But the song is the perfect musical accompaniment for today's blog post. Why, you ask? Read on, my loyal fans, read on.
It was supposed to be a bonding experience for Sophie and me. It was her naptime, and I wanted to relax a little too. After all of us returned home from running errands and having lunch, we went upstairs so that she could nap next to me in our bed.
(1) Dinner at 6:30 pm, because if it's any later, I have to deal with Mr. Hyde (i.e., Sophie, see related post here), who turns into an inconsolable crank if she hasn't eaten by then.
(2) Chloe must stay seated at the table until Sophie is done; otherwise, Sophie will inevitably follow her sister into the other room before her tummy is full. Saying the word "done" out loud is also verboten for the same reason. Chloe has since taken to spelling it out. Sophie is smart, but she's not that smart.
(3) And no interrupting! The hubby goes nuts if we cut him off while he's trying to make a crucial point.
So, it was with great pleasure that, after we finished cleaning up the mess Sophie made of the pasta, tomato sauce and parmesan cheese this evening, our two daughters asked to HELP(!) us fold the laundry. Had a passerby bothered to look through our dining room window, she would have seen the girls diligently trying to fold their father's ratty old t-shirts – why such rags are even worthy of a folding effort is beyond me, but you do what you gotta do to keep the spouse happy. Of course, we had to refold everything they touched, but Chloe learned a thing or two from her father about proper folding methods. And Sophie amused herself by grabbing as many pieces of clothing from the basket as her little arms would hold, and putting them on her head.
In between folding episodes, the two little kidlets danced to their favorite music, including "Rollover DJ" by Jet and various songs by the Blues Brothers.
I smiled quite a bit during that 1/2 hour. However, in the interest of full disclosure, the girls managed to exasperate me plenty of times after we finished the laundry, so the warm and fuzzy feelings didn't really last all that long. But the episode gave me fodder for the blog, so that certainly counts for something, right?
Sophie may be our second child, but it's our first time experiencing the terrible twos. I always thought the image of a misbehaving two-year old was such a cliché – our first child, Chloe, was an angel until she hit three, when she unleashed her toddler fury in all its glory.


Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, the revenue minister said: "We — the prime minister, Asad Umar sahab, and myself — have all been saying this. This is because the extent of the damage to the economy was such that time will be required in its recovery."
"We are told a lot that we must not keep referring to past mistakes and instead only talk about our own [plan]. When we are still suffering the after-effects of old [economic] policies, then how can we not talk about the past?" he asked.
"The policies we are drafting now are directly related to redressal of the harm done, the effects of which are still being felt. This is why we refer to the past time and again."
Examine: Will the anticipated IMF programme make things better for all Pakistanis?
"A ship is drilling at a distance of 250 kilometres off of Karachi's coast. There is no doubt that if gas reserves are discovered there, experts are of the opinion that it [the site] will be included among the world's top ten reserves.
"He [Vawda] only expressed hope; his style is such that he expressed it very firmly. The statement must be understood in the context it was given," Azhar explained.
"We have devalued the currency by 10.8pc. PML-N in the first eight months of their tenure had devalued it by 10.1pc and in the last seven months had devalued it by 17pc," he said.
"So kindly refrain from concocting stories of devaluation and casting sand into people's eyes," the revenue minister said while addressing Hamza Shahbaz.
"Let me also go on to state for the record why we had to devalue the currency. When your foreign currency reserves in August are depleted to the extent that you can not meet your short term liabilities, you cannot afford to throw billions of dollars into the market to defend an over valued currency," said the minister.
Azhar went on to say that "today the value of the rupee stands closer to its real value."
"The false numbers quoted by him [Hamza] today, I believe, were so that he can basically draw attention away from his case, which he made no mention of at all," said Azhar.
"No matter how much you scream and shout, we will not give you an NRO," avowed the revenue minister.
"Looking at the media reports that are emerging which describe how the money was taken abroad and then brought back makes it abundantly clear that there is no discernible difference between the Omni Group case and the Hamza Shahbaz case."
"Hamza Shahbaz sahab, no matter how much you cosy up to Maulana Fazlur Rehman sahab or to Asif Zardari, you will not get an NRO now. Everything stands exposed before the nation.
"So it would be better if you redirect your focus to the serious charges levelled in the case against you."
Further digging into the figures misquoted by the PML-N leader, Azhar said that Hamza had spoken of the stock market plummeting but had "failed to mention that in the last year of their tenure, from May 2017-18, the stock market had dropped down from 53,000 points to 44,000 points and provided no reason for why this occurred."
"If rivers of milk were flowing, then why did such a drop occur?" the revenue minister questioned.
Such novices sitting on high pedestals they dont even remotely qualify, must be stopped from making such senseless projections harming the morale of the society.
Finally the blunt truth. Hard times have come.
I think amateurs pti ministers will further aggravate this poor economy.
Not next year and half. Say next decade and half.
They think bashing Shreefs will make propel forget the economic pain they are facing at the hands of incompetent government. Before election it was 100 days plan which PTI and its supporters were defending after election it was three month then six month then year and now two and half year?
He finally found out what all the country knows.
Highly immature statement from the minister. This will only aggravate panic .
Since I grow up I have been listening to this news, not surprised.
It is highly possible that Next 4 years and a half (Imran Khan Niazi's prime ministership period) will be difficult for Pakistan's economy.
It seems like the difficult period will continue forever.
@M. Emad, no one cares, only those with money care.
There will be no recovery as long as PTI is in power. Mid term elections should be called.
What the minister meant to say was that next 1&1/2 years will be bad and the next 1&1/2 years will be worse and after that things will not improve but people will get used to it.
Zak, Of course we have had a string of novices ruling not governing this country - the result is total collapse and chaos in all areas of government. Corruption speeded the debacle. Politics is a business and profit is enormous!
I am glad they are honest. but lets not make this tough time for the masses only...lets make it tough on corruption as well which your voters have yet to see. We will bare torture if that puts corrupt behind bars.
PTI you need a good spoke person. Azhar sb tone is not good. Cannot explain in simple terms what is the issue. Secondly they should expkain the measures to improve exonomy. What is the plan that will take 2 years to bear fruits?
Good Competent PTI ministers are coming forth to clarify to the public. When temporary downward blips occur, explain it explicitly to the people. We know how PTI is turning the ship towards progress.
@Mahmud, Incorrect statement. Most loans taken in the past ended up in corrupt people pockets, none for pakistani people. Fixing is not easy, IK will turn things around but their will be hardship for 2 years.
@Gordon D. Walker, .... What are you talking about.
@Mahmud, --- When has Pakistan ever been a modern country? How many decades will it take for the economy to equal European countries?
We are hearing this nonsense since last 72 years !
@SHAHID SATTAR, agree. 30 years of poor and in some cases, fraudulent reporting, has consequences. Better to be honest and face them. Rather than sweeping under the rug.
These PTI people were projecting great days a head before elections . Everyone was expected honey and milk in showers !
@Zak, don't want to hear the truth, go back to sleep.
@Sparky, perhaps a better estimate of time. Public not ready to hear it.
@M. Emad, BD troll, get the facts correct. The PMs used name is Imran Khan. Use it, or shut up.
@Mahmud, would you rather have a lying looting Ishaq Dar back? A new fool born each day.
@Noman , please read the news regularly. It is all public info.
@fairplay, And yet the lavish lifestyles of our current rulers too continue at public expense. So what has changed? No one among the present rulers is willing to get down to the level of the masses. All one can hear is the hollow rhetorics about the corruption committed by the past rulers. Any one who changes his loyalties in favor of the present government automatically becomes a holy person despite of his past misdeeds.
Mark my words, this corrupt government make foul of us as much as they can, then they will flee with all taxpayers money while leave us in dark waters.
@Renuka, you just concluded the topic nice.
The expectation from this government was as they had said, lowering prices for the common man and making life easy. What we have gotten is perhaps the worst times to be living in Pakistan. This rhetoric will aggravate the situation and people will hoard cash in closets. The government must understand the fabric of society before climbing onto their wild horse of honesty. Tax reforms must be friendly and lower in cuts so volumes are achieved. Their folly cannot be undone so they want us to just sit tight and bear it. This is very inhumane and cruel.
Jailing people doesn't revive the economy, wise planning is the trick. This nonsense going on about cases and more cases and no results must never make it to the news. All interest of people is lowering gas and electricity prices, lower commodity prices, lower local car manufacturer's prices which have skyrocketed for cheap materials being used and fleecing the public and make the common man or middle class more comfortable and powerful.