text:
Jan XXIII (, ; właśc. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; ur. 25 listopada 1881 w Sotto il Monte, zm. 3 czerwca 1963 w Watykanie) – włoski duchowny rzymskokatolicki, tercjarz franciszkański, patriarcha Wenecji w latach 1953–1958, 261. papież i 3. Suweren Państwa Watykańskiego od 28 października 1958 do 3 czerwca 1963. Święty Kościoła katolickiego.

Był jednym z trzynastu dzieci urodzonych w chłopskiej rodzinie. Święcenia kapłańskie przyjął 10 sierpnia 1904. Pełnił szereg funkcji, jako nuncjusz apostolski we Francji i delegat do Bułgarii, Grecji i Turcji. W 1925 przyjął święcenia biskupie. 12 stycznia 1953 na konsystorzu Pius XII kreował go kardynałem, a także nadał mu tytuł patriarchy Wenecji. Wybrany na papieża 28 października 1958 w jedenastym głosowaniu, po trzech dniach konklawe.

Jego poglądy na temat równości zostały podsumowane  w jego stwierdzeniu: "Wszyscy zostaliśmy stworzeni na obraz Boży, a zatem wszyscy jesteśmy podobni do Boga". Wywarł ogromny wpływ na Kościół katolicki, otwierając go na zmiany ogłoszone na Soborze Watykańskim II. Jego celem była modernizacja Kościoła poprzez podkreślenie jego roli duszpasterskiej. Porzucił zasadę ograniczenia liczby kardynałów do 70 wprowadzoną przez Sykstusa V, zwiększając ich liczebność do 88, mianował pierwszych kardynałów z Afryki, Japonii oraz Filipin. Promował ruchy ekumeniczne we współpracy z innymi wyznaniami chrześcijańskimi.

Jego proces kanonizacyjny rozpoczął 18 listopada 1965 papież Paweł VI, ogłaszając go Sługą Bożym. 3 września 2000 został beatyfikowany przez Jana Pawła II. 27 kwietnia 2014 wraz z Janem Pawłem II został kanonizowany.

Życiorys

Wczesne życie
Urodził się w Sotto il Monte (obecnie Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII – nazwane na jego cześć), w prowincji Bergamo we Włoszech 25 listopada 1881 r., w biednej, liczącej 13 dzieci rodzinie chłopskiej. Jego rodzeństwem byli:

 Maria Caterina (1877–1883)
 Teresa (1879–1954)
 Ancilla (1880–1953)
 Francesco Zaverio (1883–1976)
 Maria Eliza (1884–1955)
 Assunta Casilda (1886–1980)
 Domenico Giuseppe (1888–1888)
 Alfredo (1889–1972)
 Giovanni Francesco (1891–1956)
 Enrica (1893–1918)
 Giuseppe Luigi (1894–1981)
 Luigi (1896–1898)

Jego rodzina osiadła w tej miejscowości w XV wieku, choć pewne jej gałęzie zamieszkiwały inne części Włoch. Rodzice przyszłego papieża byli biednymi rolnikami. Ojciec, Giovanni Battista Roncalli, był dzierżawcą. Dopiero w latach późniejszych udało mu się wykupić dom rodzinny oraz fragment pola od hrabiego Ottavio Morianiego. Matka, Marianna Giulia Mazzola, była gospodynią domową. Wprowadzała ona również do domu religijną atmosferę. Pierwszą komunię przyjął w 1888 r., natomiast bierzmowany był rok później.

Angelo Roncalli ukończył trzyklasową wiejską szkołę powszechną. Od 8. roku życia uczył się łaciny u miejscowego proboszcza. W 1891 r. dzięki protekcji dostał się do gimnazjum w odległym o 7 km od rodzinnej wioski miasteczku Celana, w którym naukę musiał jednak przerwać już po roku. W październiku 1893 r. 12-letni Angelo rozpoczął naukę w małym seminarium duchownym w Bergamo. Było to możliwie dzięki pomocy finansowej proboszcza, ponieważ na opłacanie czesnego rodzina nie mogła sobie pozwolić. Tu szybko nadrobił braki i stał się jednym z najlepszych seminarzystów. Pasjonowały go nauki humanistyczne, a w szczególności historia. W Bergamo dokonał się rozwój intelektualny przyszłego papieża. Ukończył gimnazjum, liceum, a mając 19 lat był już na trzecim roku teologii.

3 stycznia 1901 r. został przeniesiony do seminarium papieskiego św. Apolinarego w Rzymie jako stypendysta fundacji księdza Casaroli. Rok później musiał na kilka miesięcy przerwać naukę z powodu konieczności odbycia zasadniczej służby wojskowej, gdzie w 1902 .r dosłużył się stopnia sierżanta.

Prezbiter

8 grudnia 1903 r. otrzymał święcenia diakonatu. 8 czerwca 1904 r., po ukończeniu czwartego roku teologii, złożył wniosek o święcenia prezbiteriatu, które otrzymał 10 sierpnia w kościele Santa Maria in Monte Santo na Piazza del Popolo. Trzy tygodnie przed święceniami uzyskał doktorat z teologii.

Pod koniec 1904 r. młody ksiądz zapisał się na wydział prawa kanonicznego, jednakże już w kwietniu 1905 r. przerwał studia, gdyż 9 kwietnia otrzymał funkcję sekretarza nowego biskupa Bergamo Giacomo Radiniego-Tedeschi. Pełnił ją przez 10 lat, aż do śmierci Radiniego w sierpniu 1914 r. Oprócz obowiązków sekretarza Roncalli wykładał również w seminarium duchownym historię Kościoła oraz apologetykę. Był diecezjalnym kapelanem Akcji Katolickiej kobiet, wiele czasu spędzał w bibliotekach i archiwach. W 1905 r. rozpoczął pracę nad wydawnictwem źródłowym "Akta wizytacji apostolskiej diecezji Bergamo przez św. Karola Boromeusza". Pracę tę ukończył dopiero w 1957 r., już jako kardynał.

W 1908 r. opublikował swoją pierwszą książkę – "Kardynał Cezary Baroniusz. Z okazji trzechsetlecia śmierci", zaś w 1912 r. wydał monografię "Wyższe miłosierdzie w Bergamo i inne dzieła dobroczynne zaprowadzone przez Zgromadzenie Miłosierdzia".

Biskup, kardynał
W 1915 r., na początku I wojny światowej, został powołany do wojska, gdzie początkowo był sanitariuszem, a następnie kapelanem (służbę pełnił do 1918 r.). W 1925 r. papież Pius XI mianował go Oficjałem w Bułgarii, a także tytularnym arcybiskupem Areopolis. Sakry udzielił mu kardynał Giovanni Tacci Porcelli. Jako swoje hasło biskupie wybrał Obedientia et Pax (Posłuszeństwo i Pokój), które stało się jego mottem przewodnim. W 1931 r. został mianowany wizytatorem apostolskim w Bułgarii. W 1935 r. został delegatem apostolskim w Turcji i Grecji.

Po wybuchu II wojny światowej korzystając ze statusu dyplomatycznego pomagał ludziom prześladowanym przez hitlerowców, m.in. wysyłając do Palestyny podrobione świadectwa chrztu i imigracji dla Żydów węgierskich. Ambasador niemiecki Franz von Papen ocenił, że Roncalli uratował około 24 tysiące żydów. W 1944 r. papież Pius XII mianował go nuncjuszem apostolskim w Paryżu, a od 1951 r. także stałym obserwatorem przy UNESCO.

12 stycznia 1953 r. został mianowany kardynałem, a trzy dni później patriarchą Wenecji. Prezydent Francji Vincent Auriol powołał się na stary przywilej francuskich królów i sam włożył czerwony kapelusz na głowę kardynała Roncallego w czasie ceremonii w Pałacu Elizejskim. Jako kardynał był członkiem trzech kurialnych dykasterii: Kongregacji ds. Kościołów Wschodnich, Kongregacji Rozkrzewiania Wiary i Kongregacji ds. Zakonników.

Od 1 marca 1896 r. należał do Franciszkańskiego Zakonu Świeckich.

Wybór na papieża
Konklawe w 1958 r. trwało trzy dni, podczas których odbyło się jedenaście głosowań. Ku zaskoczeniu samego Roncallego kardynałowie wybrali go 28 października, uznając go  za "Papieża Przejściowego" – ze względu na zaawansowany wiek (77 lat).

Pontyfikat

Wkrótce po wyborze Jan XXIII oznajmił, że jego głównym pragnieniem jest, by mógł być przede wszystkim pasterzem. Zaraz potem podjął cztery ważne decyzje: zwiększył liczebność Kolegium Kardynałów (unieważniając dekret Sykstusa V), postanowił zwołać synod i sobór powszechny, a także zrewidować kodeks prawa kanonicznego.

Pierwszy w historii Rzymu Synod Biskupów odbył się w dniach 24–31 stycznia 1960 r. i był określany jak wstęp do soboru. Historycy są jednomyślni, że najdonioślejszym wydarzeniem pontyfikatu Jana XXIII było zwołanie II soboru watykańskiego, którego zadaniem było otwarcie Kościoła na odłączonych i dostosowanie go do wymogów nowej epoki. Pierwsza komisja przygotowująca sobór zaczęła obradować w czerwcu 1959 r.. Rok później papież utworzył dziesięć komisji soborowych i komisję główną. Wkrótce potem rozesłał zapytania do biskupów świata z prośbą o propozycje tematów – odpowiedzi było na tyle dużo, że nie zdążono nawet wszystkich przygotować. W Boże Narodzenie w 1961 r. papież postanowił, że sobór zostanie otwarty 11 października 1962 r. (początkowo przewidywał, że potrwa kilka miesięcy). Na obrady zaproszonych było 18 Kościołów niekatolickich. Sam papież nie brał udziału w obradach. Raz jednak interweniował, kiedy to schemat o objawieniu został odrzucony większością ojców soborowych, lecz niewystarczającą większością 2/3 (papież skierował wówczas schemat do ponownych obrad specjalnej komisji). Pierwsza sesja soboru zakończyła się 8 grudnia 1962 r..

Zdaniem historyków  żaden wcześniejszy papież nie podjął takich wysiłków na rzecz ekumenizmu jak Jan XXIII. 5 czerwca 1960 r. utworzył Sekretariat Jedności Chrześcijan, mianując jego prefektem kardynała Augustina Bea. 20 grudnia 1960 r. odbył godzinne spotkanie z Geoffreyem Fisherem, arcybiskupem Canterbury. Było to pierwsze od 400 lat, od ekskomuniki Elżbiety I, spotkanie arcybiskupa Canterbury z papieżem. Wymienił także (poprzez wysłanników) pozdrowienia z patriarchą Moskwy Aleksym i patriarchą Konstantynopola Atenagorasem. Za zgodą papieża w 1961 r. obserwatorzy katoliccy wzięli udział w Światowej Radzie Kościołów w Delhi.

Udzielał się także w reformie liturgii: zatwierdził nowy brewiarz i mszał, a także wprowadził do kanonu mszalnego wspomnienie św. Józefa i wyraził zgodę na używanie języków narodowych w Kościołach unickich. W sprawach dogmatycznych jego działanie jest oceniane  jako nieco zachowawcze, jak np. gdy przestrzegł przed niebezpiecznymi treściami dzieł Pierre'a Teilharda de Chardin.

Już w pierwszym roku swojego pontyfikatu napisał cztery encykliki, z których najważniejsza, Ad Pedri Cathedram (wydana w czerwcu 1959 r.), zawierała oficjalną zapowiedź soboru. Trzy kolejne, które ukazały się od sierpnia do listopada 1959 r., traktowały o stanie kapłańskim, modlitwie różańcowej i pracy misyjnej. W maju 1961 r. została wydana encyklika społeczna Mater et Magistra, w której podjął i rozszerzył społeczną naukę Piusa XI i Leona XIII. W podobnym tonie Jan XXIII wypowiedział się także w ostatniej swojej encyklice Pacem in terris (kwiecień 1963 r.), gdzie nawiązał także do pokojowego współistnienia pomiędzy Zachodem a komunistycznym Wschodem.

Dodatkowo, podczas kryzysu kubańskiego, publicznie apelował do ZSRR i USA o ostrożność w działaniach, czym zaskarbił sobie sympatię prezydenta Kennedy'ego i I sekretarza Chruszczowa. Dzięki temu ociepleniu stosunków dyplomatycznych, 7 marca 1962 r., Jan przyjął na audiencji córkę i zięcia Chruszczowa.

Wbrew panującemu przekonaniu papież Jan XXIII nie ekskomunikował 3 stycznia 1962 r. Fidela Castro. Doszło jedynie do pogorszenia relacji, m.in. poprzez odpowiedź papieża na wiadomość od kubańskiego prezydenta, Dorticósa Torrado, w której wyraził swoje "szczere życzenia chrześcijańskiej pomyślności dla umiłowanego narodu Kuby". Przesłanie miało jednak dość ekspansywny charakter. Również w tym samym czasie władze watykańskie podjęły decyzję o nieprzyjęciu listu uwierzytelniającego dla nowego ambasadora Kuby, Amado Blanco y Fernándeza. Napięcie stosunków wynikało z nagonki i prześladowań duchownych katolickich na Kubie.

Człowiek Roku 1962 według magazynu "Time". Jego sekretarzem osobistym był abp Loris Capovilla. Palił fajkę. Był pierwszym papieżem od 1870 r., który odbył oficjalne spotkanie poza Watykanem – była to wizyta w więzieniu i jednym ze szpitali w Boże Narodzenie w 1958. W 1962 r. odbył także podróż do Asyżu i Loreto. Kreował 52 kardynałów na pięciu konsystorzach.

Choroba i śmierć
23 września 1962 r. u papieża zdiagnozowano raka żołądka, z którego miał kilka krwotoków. Ostatnie publiczne wystąpienie ojca świętego odbyło się 11 maja 1963 r., kiedy to włoski prezydent Antonio Segni przyznał papieżowi nagrodę za zaangażowanie dla pokoju. Jego ostatnia publiczna wypowiedź zaś, dzięki przekazowi radiowemu, została skierowana do pątników zgromadzonych w piekarskim sanktuarium u stóp Matki Boskiej Piekarskiej w Piekarach Śląskich. 25 maja 1963 papież doznał kolejnej perforacji, w wyniku której zapadł na zapalenie otrzewnej i wymagał transfuzji krwi; miał też coraz wyższą gorączkę. O agonii papieża informowało szczegółowo polskich słuchaczy Radio Wolna Europa.

Jan XXIII zmarł w Watykanie 3 czerwca 1963 roku o godzinie 19:49. Jego ostatnie słowa brzmiały: "Nie mam innej woli jak tylko wolę Boga – Ut unum sint. ()". W związku z jego śmiercią kilka państw ogłosiło żałobę narodową m.in. Hiszpania (10 dni), Filipiny (9 dni), Włochy (3 dni), Paragwaj (3 dni), Gwatemala (3 dni), Kongo (1 dzień). Pierwotnie grób Jana XXIII znajdował się w krypcie w podziemiach bazyliki Świętego Piotra. Po beatyfikacji ciało papieża zostało złożone u stóp ołtarza św. Hieronima w bazylice św. Piotra na Watykanie. Natomiast 5 lat później tj. 8 kwietnia 2005, w pierwotnym miejscu pochówku papieża Jana pochowano Jana Pawła II.

Proces beatyfikacyjny i kanonizacyjny

Nazywany był za życia "Dobrym papieżem Janem" (a także "Janem Uśmiechniętym" i "Janem Pokornym") .

Proces beatyfikacyjny rozpoczął się 18 listopada 1965 r.. Jan XXIII został ogłoszony, razem z Piusem IX oraz z trzema innymi sługami bożymi, błogosławionym Kościoła katolickiego przez papieża Jana Pawła II 3 września 2000.

Cud, który przesądził o ogłoszeniu papieża Jana XXIII błogosławionym, miał miejsce w Neapolu 25 maja 1966 r.. Uzdrowiona została siostra zakonna ze Zgromadzenia Sióstr Miłosierdzia św. Wincentego à Paulo – Caterina Capitani. Zakonnica cierpiała na przewlekłe zapalenie błony śluzowej żołądka. Choroba postępowała i niemożliwa z punktu widzenia medycyny była jakakolwiek poprawa. Siostra wraz ze współsiostrami prosiła o wstawiennictwo Jana XXIII; miała zostać uzdrowiona po wizji. Przypadek ten został zbadany przez zespół lekarzy współpracujących, jako konsultanci medyczni, przy Kongregacji Spraw Kanonizacyjnych.

5 lipca 2013 r. Watykan ogłosił iż Franciszek zamierza wpisać do katalogu świętych papieża Jana XXIII oraz że razem z nim zostanie kanonizowany Jan Paweł II, któremu tego dnia podpisano dekret w sprawie cudu za wstawiennictwem papieża Polaka. W przypadku Jana XXIII papież Franciszek zdecydował o odstąpieniu od stwierdzenia cudu za wstawiennictwem błogosławionego. Data kanonizacji obu papieży została ustalona na konsystorzu, który odbył się 30 września.

27 kwietnia 2014 r., w Niedzielę Miłosierdzia Bożego, papież Franciszek przy koncelebrze emerytowanego papieża Benedykta XVI odprawił na placu św. Piotra mszę świętą kanonizując obu papieży. W uroczystości uczestniczyło wiele zagranicznych delegacji, w tym także z Polski.

Była to pierwsza podwójna kanonizacja papieży w XXI wieku i zarazem pierwsza kanonizacja głowy Kościoła od czasu kanonizacji Piusa X w 1954 r..

Wspomnienie liturgiczne
Wspomnienie liturgiczne w Kościele katolickim obchodzone jest 11 października – w rocznicę dnia, w którym nastąpiło uroczyste otwarcie Soboru Watykańskiego II.

We wrześniu 2014 r. papież Franciszek zarządził, że św. Jan XXIII będzie czczony w liturgii całego Kościoła w randze wspomnienia dowolnego.

Dokumenty papieskie

Encykliki Jana XXIII
Encykliki są najważniejszymi i podstawowymi dokumentami papieskimi. Jan XXIII napisał ich osiem:
 Ad Petri Cathedram – 29 czerwca 1959
 Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia – 1 sierpnia 1959
 Grata Recordatio – 26 września 1959
 Princeps Pastorum – 28 listopada 1959
 Mater et Magistra – 15 maja 1961
 Aeterna Dei Sapientia – 11 listopada 1961
 Paenitentiam Agere – 1 lipca 1962
 Pacem in Terris – 11 kwietnia 1963.

Adhortacje apostolskie
 A quarantacinque anni – 21 kwietnia 1959
 Sacrae Laudis – 6 stycznia 1962
 Novem Per Dies – 20 maja 1963

Motu propria
 Divini Pastoris Ecclesiasticis – 12 listopada 1958
 Boni Pastoris – 22 lutego 1959
 Cum inde – 17 maja 1959
 De Pontificio Consilio Ecclesiasticis Italiae Tabularis curandis – 29 lutego 1960
 Rubricarum Instructum – 25 lipca 1960
 Ad Suburbicarias Dioeceses – 10 marca 1961
 Consilium – 2 lutego 1962
 Suburbicariis sedibus – 11 kwietnia 1962
 Cum gravissima – 15 kwietnia 1962
 Appropinquante Concilio – 6 sierpnia 1962
 Summi Pontificis electio – 5 września 1962
 Templorum Decus – 11 września 1962
 Fidei propagandae – 1 października 1962
 Dominicianus Ordo – 7 marca 1963

Konstytucje apostolskie

Listy apostolskie

Inne dzieła
Poczytnym stał się Dziennik duszy (wł. Il giornale dell'anima e altri scritti di pietà), który papież Roncalli zaczął pisać w 1895 r. i kontynuował aż do swej śmierci w 1963 r. Dzieło to przetłumaczono na wiele języków, w tym na język polski (tłum. Józefa Ledóchowska, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1965).

Jako Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli wydał Il cardinale Cesare Baronio. Nel terzo centenario della sua morte (Monza, 1908) oraz Mons. Giacomo Maria Radini-Tedeschi, vescovo di Bergamo (Rzym, 1963).

Krytyka papieża Jana XXIII
Wielu konserwatywnych katolików – tych, którzy krytykują Sobór Watykański II – uważa, że Jan XXIII zapoczątkował ruch odwracania się od prawdziwej wiary.

Współczesne teorie spiskowe
Niektórzy uważają, że papież Jan XXIII celowo ukrywał tajemne przesłanie przekazane przez Najświętszą Marię Pannę w objawieniach fatimskich.

. Chociaż papież Jan istotnie prowadził pamiętnik, nie ma żadnego dowodu na to, że miał wizje przyszłości.

Odnowiciel Kościoła w perspektywie luterańskiej
Jest uważany przez wiele organizacji protestanckich za reformatora chrześcijaństwa. .
Jan XXIII jest wspominany w roku liturgicznym części Kościołów luterańskich jako jeden z odnowicieli Kościoła (do grupy tej należą m.in. także Marcin Luter i Jan Kalwin). Dzień 3 czerwca jest w luterańskim kalendarzu liturgicznym obchodzony jako Wspomnienie Jana XXIII, biskupa Rzymu. Podczas wspomnienia biskupa Jana XXIII, używana jest biała szata liturgiczna. Wspomnienia nie obchodzą natomiast np. kościoły staroluterańskie.

Ordery i odznaczenia

Stolicy Apostolskiej
Papież jest ex officio suwerenem zakonów podległych Stolicy Apostolskiej, z tego tytułu przysługują mu:
 Order Najwyższy Chrystusa
 Order Złotej Ostrogi
 Order Piusa IX
 Order Świętego Grzegorza Wielkiego
 Order Świętego Sylwestra
 Kawaler Naszyjnika Orderu Grobu Świętego

Włoskie
 Krzyż Zasługi Wojennej (Włochy)
 Pamiątkowy Medal Zjednoczenia Włoch (1922)
 Międzysojuszniczy Medal Zwycięstwa (1920)

Zagraniczne
 Prezydencki Medal Wolności
 Legia Honorowa
 Order Zasługi Republiki Federalnej Niemiec

Obecność w kulturze masowej
We Włoszech zrealizowano dwa filmy telewizyjne opowiadające o życiu papieża Jana XXIII:
 Ojciec Giovanni – Jan XXIII w reż. Giorgio Capitaniego, z Massimo Ghinim i Edwardem Asnerem w roli głównej, w 2002 (2 odcinki).
 Dobry Papież w koprodukcji włosko-amerykańskiej, w reż. Ricky'ego Tognazziego, z Mario Erpichinim i Bobem Hoskinsem w roli głównej, w 2002.
Jako Patriarcha Wenecji występuje w książce Marcin powraca z daleka Jana Dobraczyńskiego.

Upamiętnienie

Zobacz też
 kult świętych
 beatyfikowani i kanonizowani przez Jana XXIII
 beatyfikowani i kanonizowani przez Jana Pawła II
 beatyfikowani i kanonizowani przez Franciszka
 modlitwa za wstawiennictwem świętego
 święci i błogosławieni Kościoła katolickiego

Uwagi

Przypisy

Bibliografia

Linki zewnętrzne
 Oficjalna strona internetowa domu Jana XXIII [dostęp 2013-09-17]
 Publikacje Jana XXIII w serwisie Intratext [dostęp 2013-09-17]
  [dostęp 2001-09-03]

Jan XXIII
Patriarchowie Wenecji
Nuncjusze apostolscy
Uczestnicy soboru watykańskiego II
Ekumenizm
Ludzie roku tygodnika Time
Odznaczeni Krzyżem Wielkim Legii Honorowej
Odznaczeni Prezydenckim Medalem Wolności
Odznaczeni Orderem Najwyższym Chrystusa
Odznaczeni Orderem Złotej Ostrogi
Odznaczeni Orderem Piusa IX
Odznaczeni Orderem Świętego Grzegorza Wielkiego
Odznaczeni Orderem Świętego Sylwestra
Odznaczeni Orderem Grobu Świętego
Osoby wspominane w luterańskim kalendarzu liturgicznym
Tercjarze franciszkańscy (biografie)
Urodzeni w 1881
Zmarli w 1963
Pochowani w bazylice św. Piotra na Watykanie
Święci papieże
Kapelani
Włoscy kardynałowie
Kardynałowie z nominacji Piusa XII
Kanonizowani przez Franciszka
Beatyfikowani przez Jana Pawła II
Watykańczycy
Papieże we współczesności
Papieże XX wieku

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


With over 400 million speakers, there are many benefits in helping children to learn Spanish. From numerous professional opportunities to broadening their cultural horizons, why not give children the gift of learning Spanish?
A phonetic language, Spanish is easy to read. You will be spoilt for choice when selecting the best Spanish children's books. When it comes to writing, children who already know how to write the English alphabet will find it easy to start writing Spanish. A mix of Spanish books for kids, flashcards, games and toys will help your child develop the early language skills they need to learn Spanish.
There are many types of Spanish books for kids, from dictionaries and "first words" books to factual and picture books. A selection of Spanish children's Books online can be found here. There are 100s of words that are the same in Spanish and English and this can make "first words" books valuable in gently introducing Spanish to children. Some "first words" books such as the "100 First Spanish Words" and the "Easy Spanish Words" include stickers. The time children spend searching for the stickers to match the words on the pages helps children remember and recall new vocabulary.
Other Spanish children's books that are useful include factual books about the language itself. One Such book is "Languages of the World – Spanish" which helps children learn about the where and who speaks Spanish and provide basic vocabulary phrases. It also highlights differences and similarities between English and Spanish.
You can find a fantastic collection of Spanish children's books online including picture books for younger children and non-fiction and fiction. However, a collection of Spanish books for kids will not be complete without dictionaries. Children with beginning reading skills find picture dictionaries easy to learn from. The pictures help with word association needed to develop Spanish vocabulary and the translations make such dictionaries accessible and fun to use by both parents and children. The "Big Book of Spanish Words" is a wonderful example of a clear and an engaging picture dictionary with captivating illustrations. Another great example utilising a brilliant idea is "My First 1000 Spanish Words", which is based on a "search and find" concept. Children select a shown object in Spanish, and with the Spanish word in mind, they scan a scene to search for its picture. Again, the length of time spent actively thinking of and using the Spanish word helps with longer term retention of newly acquired Spanish vocabulary.
In addition to Spanish Children's books, when it comes to vocabulary building, flashcards are unbeatable. With minimal distractions, children focus on one word at a time. The "Usborne Everyday Words Spanish Flashcards" have a picture on one side and the word on another and are great for self-assessment.
One of the best Spanish flashcard sets you will ever find is the "Write & Wipe" series. These flashcard kits serve two proposes: they teach both reading and writing at the same time. With bright images on white backgrounds and the clear colour-coded text, they present new vocabulary to children in a very clear and engaging manner. The very thick oversized glossy cards serve as whiteboards. Children can practice writing the Spanish words on the back of each card in three easy steps. There are 4 sets: The Spanish Alphabet, Numbers in Spanish, Colours and Shapes in Spanish and Actions in Spanish. All the Spanish Write & Wipe kits include 2 pens (red and blue) with removable erasers. The kits come complete with an instruction booklet, multilingual translation and sound stickers, and smiley stickers to reward young learners. All the items are neatly packed in a durable box with a magnetic lid.
Including games and toys in the learning environment is key to stimulate multisensory play, engage children and make learning real, fun and relevant. Interactive games will facilitate learning Spanish in a different way to children's Spanish books and flashcards. One entertaining game is "Snap in Spanish" which will support vocabulary building and fast recall. Another highly engaging Spanish memory game is "BrainBox Let's Learn Spanish". Here, children have 10 seconds to remember facts in Spanish from a card, then the dice is rolled and a question is asked. If the answer is correct, the child keeps the card and the winner is the one with the most cards. This clever game will promote observational skills, listening, speaking and memory skill, all which are vital when learning Spanish.
Whether used independently, or to support learning from Spanish books for kids, worksheet provide opportunities for children to practice reading and writing in Spanish. You can download and print worksheets in Spanish for free here.
Whichever resources you choose to support children learning Spanish, a mix of different resources, from Spanish children's books and flashcards, to games and toys, will facilitate learning in different styles. They will help children develop early language skills at a critical learning time, when they find it easy to learn a language naturally and are more receptive to unfamiliar sounds. Furthermore, they will engage children and maintain an enjoyable learning journey of the Spanish language.


text:
Category: UNESCO
UNESCO Futures of Education Report Issued
UNESCO Futures of Education Commission. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. Paris, France: UNESCO.
UNESCO launched its Futures of Education Initiative in September 2019. Drawing on extensive consultations, the International Commission has just released their final report, Reimagining Our Futures Together: a new social contract for education. The brief overview of their conclusions is here. Most critically, they conclude that: "we need a new social contract for education that can repair injustices while transforming the future. This new social contract must be grounded in human rights and based on principles of non-discrimination, social justice, respect for life, human dignity and cultural diversity. It must encompass an ethic of care, reciprocity, and solidarity. It must strengthen education as a public endeavour and a common good."
Among other comments in the report, those most directly related to CID are probably these:
The world is rich in multicultural and multi-ethnic societies and education should promote intercultural citizenship. Beyond learning about the value of diversity, education should promote the skills, values and conditions needed for horizontal, democratic dialogue with diverse groups, knowledge systems and practices. The basis for intercultural citizenship is the affirmation of one ́s cultural identities. Knowing who you are is the starting point for respecting others. (p. 53). . .Education at its best is a collective process that acknowledges the value of peer and intergenerational as well as intercultural learning. (p. 134)
[CID was one of the organizations consulted by the initiative, and is acknowledged in the report; see the CID Report for UNESCO Futures of Education for the conclusions of 3 focus groups we organized at their request.]
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on November 11, 2021 November 10, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCOLeave a comment on UNESCO Futures of Education Report Issued
UNESCO Futures of Education Report Coming
UNESCO Futures of Education initiative: Launch of the Report will occur 10 November 2021 1:30-2:30 CET (Webinar open to the public and broadcast in multiple languages).
UNESCO launched its Futures of Education initiative at the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2019. Chaired by the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, H.E. Madame Sahle- Work Zewde, an International Commission of thought-leaders from the worlds of politics, academia, the arts, science, business, and education, undertook a broad, inclusive global engagement effort involving educators, youth, researchers, governments, business and civil society. [Read basic information about the Futures of Education Initiative. CID was one of the organizations consulted; read the CID Report for UNESCO Futures of Education, sharing the results of 3 focus groups we organized at their request.]
Drawing on their extensive consultations, the International Commission has prepared a Report that will be the third in a series of UNESCO global reports on the future of education. The Commission's Report, Reimagining Our Futures Together: a new social contract for education, will be officially launched at UNESCO's 41st General Conference.
This launch event will present the key ideas and recommendations of the new flagship report to Member States, and initiate the mobilization of the global education community and UNESCO strategic partners to take forward the global debate and action on the Futures of Education. The event will be livestreamed to the general public in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Please click here to join the livestream of the event.
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on November 8, 2021 November 5, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCOLeave a comment on UNESCO Futures of Education Report Coming
UNESCO: Reporting on Migrants and Refugees (Handbook)
UNESCO. (2021). Reporting on Migrants and Refugees: Handbook for Journalism Educators. Paris, France: UNESCO.
This handbook enables journalism educators worldwide to address one of the challenges of the 21st century – migration and refugee matters. In a set of thirteen modules, journal-ism educators are provided with a comprehensive curriculum. It covers all aspects needed to train analysis, research, presentation, marketing, and ethics of migration coverage.
The handbook is unique as it comprises results of communication studies as well as political and social sciences. It has been developed by an international and cross-cultural group of media researchers, media educators and media practitioners. (p. iii)
Reporting on Migrants and Refugees: Handbook for Journalism Educators is published as part of the UNESCO Series on Journalism Education, and is available in Open Access.
Author C LPosted on September 6, 2021 August 29, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags journalism education, migrant and refugee reporting, UNESCOLeave a comment on UNESCO: Reporting on Migrants and Refugees (Handbook)
UNESCO: COVID and Intercultural Dialogue
UNESCO. (2020). The socio-cultural impact of COVID-19: Exploring the role of intercultural dialogue in emerging responses. Paris, France: UNESCO.
This report published by UNESCO argues that intercultural dialogue (ICD) is a substantial part of how the world responds to global challenges such as the pandemic.
[T]he emerging post COVID-19 world will be shaped by new dynamics and complex realities immersed in virtual inter-connectivity and driven by cross-sectoral engagements. To this end, the ICD agenda will have a significant role to play in developing a new socio-cultural compact that will contribute to shaping the way we live, work, connect and engage across national, ethnic and civilizational lines. (p. 15)
In addition to agreeing with the general sentiment, I was delighted to read the friendly comments about the report I prepared for UNESCO 8 years ago:
In its influential 2013 report 'Intercultural Competencies: conceptual and operational framework' UNESCO approaches intercultural dialogue (ICD) as assuming 'that participants agree to listen to and understand multiple perspectives, including even those held by groups or individuals with whom they disagree'. (p. 2)
Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on July 6, 2021 July 2, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags intercultural dialogue, UNESCO1 Comment on UNESCO: COVID and Intercultural Dialogue
UNESCO: Art-Lab for Human Rights & Dialogue (Online)
Art-Lab for Human Rights and Dialogue, for World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, UNESCO and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (webinar), 22 May 2020.
Five "artivists", artists/activists, will share with the audience how they adapted, in light of Covid-19, their strategies to reach out to the most vulnerable, who are also, most often, the most invisible. Moreover, they will explain how the pandemic has uncovered human and social realities that we can no longer afford to avoid in the post Covid-19 era.
Art-Lab places human rights and dignity at the centre of sustainable development where cultural diversity and dialogue play a fundamental role. In particular, it strives to mainstream artistic and cultural programmes to reposition the central issue of human rights for policy-actors and to support vulnerable communities in the advancement of their human rights and dignity, by providing them with the necessary resistance resources through the Arts.
The webinar aims to shed light on the important role of art and culture as a tool for Dialogue and Development within a context where economic, social and cultural gaps are growing in parallel with the pandemic – echoing #ArtConnects and #ResiliArt, UNESCO's recent social media campaign shedding light on the resilience of artists during the pandemic.
Held every year on 21 May, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development celebrates not only the richness of the world's cultures, but also the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development. The United Nations General Assembly first declared this World Day in 2002, following UNESCO's adoption of the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, recognizing the need to "enhance the potential of culture as a means of achieving prosperity, sustainable development and global peaceful coexistence."
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on May 19, 2021 May 15, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Art-lab for Human Rights & Dialogue, UNESCO, world day for cultural diversityLeave a comment on UNESCO: Art-Lab for Human Rights & Dialogue (Online)
UNESCO: Concrete Experiences for Transformational Change
Report Addendum: Concrete Experiences for Transformational Change, CID Focus Groups for the UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative, May 2021.
In January, UNESCO invited the Center for Intercultural Dialogue to participate in the Futures of Education Initiative by holding focus groups on how education needs to evolve today, in order to be more relevant tomorrow. Three sessions were convened, on January 28, 29, and 30, 2021. A report of our conclusions, framed as a response to the UNESCO document, Education in a Post-COVID World: Nine Ideas for Public Action, was submitted in February.
We proposed a tenth idea, that learning to live together requires intercultural dialogue, which was also published as CID Poster #14.
In April, UNESCO asked the Center to return to the forum group participants, this time requesting "innovative and inspiring concrete experiences to serve as good illustrations of activities and approaches that can contribute to transformational change." Eight members of the original group were able to submit examples by the tight deadline in early May. Thanks to the participants who were able to respond so quickly:
Evangelos A. Afendras (Greece/Malaysia): Stumbling on adverse realities while building a "Humaniversity" for MDG ideals: Some autoethnographic notes
Giovanna Carloni (Italy), Virtual exchange as a transformative process in the Global South
Mohammed Guamguami (Morocco): COIL education: Glocal principled innovation
Nazan Haydari and Onur Sesigür (Turkey): Gender and sound culture workshop in Turkey
Maria Hussain (UK): Nurturing inclusive intercultural dialogue beyond borders through student-led podcasts: The case of Cultural Insight Wednesdays
Sr. Teresa Joseph (India): Don Bosco: Word in the Ear
Maura Di Mauro (Italy): Systemic university change towards internationalisation for academia (SUCTIA)
Yehuda Silverman (Canada/USA): Incorporating diversity into intrapersonal peace and conflict prevention
One of these examples has already been published as Constructing Intercultural Dialogues #12, and several others are in preparation as further publications on this site.
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on May 17, 2021 July 20, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCOLeave a comment on UNESCO: Concrete Experiences for Transformational Change
UNESCO Futures of Education Progress Update
Progress Update, UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCO, Paris, France. Response deadline: April 30, 2021.
This document presents a progress update from the International Commission on the Futures of Education to inform global consultation and public engagement processes taking place in March and April 2021, prior to the final drafting of the Commission's Report. It begins with background information on the initiative and its ambitions. This includes an introduction to the co‐construction and consultation features of the initiative and brief discussion of how the Commission is framing the report. The second section of the text presents the provisional outline of the report, followed by an explanation of the main points and arguments currently envisioned for each section and sub‐section.
They are requesting comments and suggestions on this document—particularly around (a) the coherence of the arguments presented, (b) what elements need further attention, development or are missing, and (c) what is most novel and promising about the forthcoming Report as currently envisioned. Responses to be received by the end of April 2021 may be submitted online or sent by email.
Read basic information about the Futures of Education Initiative. Or read the CID Report for UNESCO Futures of Education, sharing the results of 3 focus groups we organized at their request.
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on March 29, 2021 March 25, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCOLeave a comment on UNESCO Futures of Education Progress Update
UNESCO Futures of Education Webinars
UNESCO Associated Schools Network Webinars on UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative (on Zoom), March 26, March 31, or April 1, 2021.
In the last six months, UNESCO's Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) has mobilized several thousands of teachers, students and their parents from across the globe to engage in joint reflections about education in the future. How can education promote sustainable development (ESD) and global citizenship (GCED), not only today but also tomorrow? How should what, how and where we learn evolve in the future? Learn about the good practices and innovative ideas that came out of these discussions through the Futures of Education x ASPnet Webinar Series.
Webinar in English: Friday, 26 March, 14:00 – 15:00 CET
Moderator: Fernando REIMERS, Professor of International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Member of the International Commission on the Futures of Education
Webinar in French/English: Wednesday, 31 March, 14:00 – 15:30 CET
Moderator: Abdelbasset BEN HASSEN, President, Arab Institute for Human Rights
Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English and French
Webinar in Spanish/English: Thursday, 1 April, 16:00 – 17:30 CET
Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English and Spanish
Please note that there will an opportunity during this webinar for the audience to engage with the speakers.
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on March 26, 2021 March 24, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCO1 Comment on UNESCO Futures of Education Webinars
UNESCO Futures of Education Weekly Polls
Weekly poll, UNESCO Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCO, Paris, France.
UNESCO's #FuturesOfEducation initiative is exploring how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet. The question they have posed is: What do we want education to look like in 2050? Everyone is invited to participate in their weekly Education 2050 Poll and help design the #FuturesOfEducation. (It is unclear how long they will host these polls.)
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on March 12, 2021 March 6, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCOLeave a comment on UNESCO Futures of Education Weekly Polls
CID Report for UNESCO Futures of Education
UNESCO invited CID to host focus groups as part of the Futures of Education Initiative. Three focus groups held discussions in January. The report has now been completed, and submitted to UNESCO.
We are delighted that UNESCO invited our participation, and hopeful that they will incorporate our recommendations into their final conclusions. A copy of the report may be had by clicking on the image below.
Thanks to Linda de Wit, former CID intern and skilled graphic designer, for taking on the project of turning the written report into a polished final document. Thanks to Nazan Haydari, Advisory Board member, for moderating one of the focus groups, and managing the technology for all of them. Thanks to all of the participants, who are named in the report, for their ideas, their time, and their energy for this project.
Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue
intercult.dialogue AT gmail.com
Author Center for Intercultural DialoguePosted on February 15, 2021 February 17, 2021 Categories UNESCOTags Futures of Education Initiative, UNESCO5 Comments on CID Report for UNESCO Futures of Education

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Thomas Harrison, Board Of Directors
Thomas Harrison is Chairman Emeritus of the Diversified Agency Services (DAS) division of Omnicom Group Inc., having served as its President, then Chairman and CEO. During his 17-year tenure, DAS became the world's largest holding company of innovative, entrepreneur-led marketing services companies, including national advertising agencies, specialist PR companies, crisis management, branding/design, sales promotion/CRM, talent procurement, and highly strategic, clinically-focused companies competing in the healthcare/wellness industry sectors.
Harrison's multi-faceted career brought him to Omnicom in 1992 when the firm he co-founded, Harrison & Star Business Group, the most successful and rapidly growing agency in the healthcare industry at the time, was acquired. Harrison served as Chairman of the Harrison & Star Group and Chairman of Diversified Healthcare Communications, a group of eight healthcare agencies within Omnicom, until his appointment as President of DAS in 1997. He was named Chairman and Chief Executive of DAS in 1998.
Harrison serves on a number of prestigious boards, including Montefiore Health System, Fifth Street Asset Management, Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, and Madison Logic. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Montefiore Health System, has served as a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and Governor of the New York Academy of Sciences where he served on the Sackler Global Nutrition Committee, a long-time passion of Harrison's.
He served as co-chairman of the New York Chapter of the U.S. Olympic Committee and raised substantial funding to support U.S. Olympic Athletes. Harrison is the author of INSTINCT Tapping Your Entrepreneurial DNA to Achieve Your Business Goals, and has appeard on CNBC, CNNI, Bloomberg and Forbes.com discussing his book.
Harrison was recognized with the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award and where Harrison received an Honorary Doctorate in 2007, the highest honor an American University grants to an individual. He is a recent recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and has been honored by Long Island College Hospital, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, The Lymphoma Research Foundation, New York City's Health and Hospital Corporation, Mt. St. Vincent's College, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the New York Arthritis Foundation, each for his philanthropic work.


Dan's brand-new novel, which covers a variety of topics such as sibling rivalry, sporting ambition, knife crime, gangs and peer pressure, was recently named The Times' Children's Book Of The Week.
There have been quite a few early reviews, such as one by The Book Trust emerging for Unstoppable, which was described as a "thrilling page-turner" which feels "authentic" by The Times arts editor Alex O'Connell.
If you would like a book which challenges you to think about the next step in your life, then UNSTOPPABLE is the book for you.
← COMPETITION: Win a copy of Unstoppable!


text:
Vintage Machines Workshop
Vintage Machines Workshop demonstrates the potential of video game systems for making music. Attendees will:
learn about chiptune music, including a survey of examples and practices
experiment with chiptune software using hardware emulators
receive a demonstration of my own methods and techniques with vintage Nintendo Gameboys
New computer and video game systems are released at regular intervals, often before the full limits and possibilities of existing systems are reached. Communities of artists and musicians use these legacy systems to create new work. The goal of this workshop is to introduce students to the practice of using legacy video game systems to make music. We will listen to a small sampling of music from these communities, including some of my own, and then we will explore different creative software using emulators of Nintendo Game Boy and Commodore 64 hardware. The advantage of working with emulators is that they offer the opportunity to test ideas and experiment in these environments without having to invest in the vintage hardware first.
For this workshop, students will be required to bring a laptop computer and a pair of headphones. They should be comfortable installing software and working with new software. A background in music is helpful, but not required. I will provide emulators, software sequencers that run in these emulators, and example files that demonstrate how I build a composition using these tools. During the workshop we will explore both emulator environments and learn how to use the provided tools. Students will spend time working on their own pieces, with regular feedback and assistance. Each will leave the workshop with copies of all demonstrated software and the beginnings of their own pieces.
My own work with the Nintendo Game Boy began in 2006 through a collaboration with choreographer Boris Willis titled Abandoned Revolution—a dance work that incorporated video game story elements. I composed and performed a score that supported the dance and added emotional underpinnings to the story elements in his piece. My work since then has focused on the Gameboy as a performance and production tool. I have presented new work in concert halls, clubs, and on air, including an 8-channel surround sound piece that was premiered at Electronic Music Midwest and then presented at Stony Brook University and at Circuit Bridges in New York.
Often, the use of these gaming systems to make music is rooted in nostalgia. I try to explore beyond that impulse. Using a legacy system in the context of current and emerging media and practices embraces the limitations of the earlier technology in the pursuit of self-expression. Within these limitations—such as the Nintendo Game Boy's severely limited sound crafting capabilities—I find the landscape of possibilities inspiring and fertile, and capable of expressiveness. My goal in this workshop is to provide students with both the tools to explore and an appreciation for the aesthetic of legacy gaming systems.
Each attendee will need to bring a laptop computer with the necessary emulators installed (a list will be provided in advance).
The hosting facilities will need to provide speakers for playback of music, a projector and screen, and enough table space for all participants.
I will provide all necessary ROM files, which will be distributed to all workshop participants.
Work Samples and more
Vintage Machines Project
© 2018 5of4 Music || david@5of4.com
No suffocating pretension, no restrictive worldview, no arcane dogma, no overwhelming angst; just music content to be what it is—the pure and reasonable expression of the composer as realized by the performer and perceived by the listener.
[banner photo by Yuri Pires Tavares]


Happy Pride! This month, we're celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community and its many contributions to our culture and economy. Whether you're a member of the community or an ally, we hope that you're celebrating with us.
At StartBlox, we're proud supporters of LGBTQIA-led small businesses around the United States because, well, we're one of them!
According to a report by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in October of 2016, there were only 909 (out of 28.8 million) small businesses registered as LGBT business enterprises (meaning, they're at least 51% led and operated by an LGBT person).
American culture is often one about supporting the underdog, but unfortunately, minority-owned business "underdogs" can get the opposite treatment. America is diverse, and someday business ownership might reflect that better. That's why it's important for existing minority-owned businesses to be visible and supported, encouraging other minorities to start their own businesses and infusing new ideas into Main Street. This month is our shout out to our brother/sister organizations making it happen.
The first and most important way to support an LGBTQIA+ company is to give them your business. As with any small business, you'd be surprised by the amount of your daily needs can be fulfilled just as well by your neighborhood small businesses. Rather than ordering a book online, consider stepping into a bookstore near your home and finding out what's in stock. Instead of stepping into a Starbucks, walk into the coffeeshop around the corner for a more local vibe.
If you have a business background or run your own successful business, volunteer to mentor or coach LGBTQIA+ business owners in your community. In addition to supporting these leaders through the tough process of running a business, you'll be able to develop a closer relationship with a fellow entrepreneur. As with most coaching and mentoring relationships, the value will go both ways and can grow both of your businesses.
If you operate your own small business, make your support for the LGBTQIA+ community known by pledging to be #OpenForAll. This pledge announces your commitment to serve all customers, regardless of their sexual orientation and adds you to the growing list of allies around the United States.
If you've found a local business that you love, shout about it. Whether sharing their posts on your own Facebook page or letting all of your friends know about the great haircut you got (and who it was by), letting your network know about these businesses is a crucial part of helping them be heard in your community.
Make a concerted effort to review businesses that will benefit the most from what you have to say. In today's economy, online reviews matter more than ever, so take a moment to post a review on Yelp, Angies' List, or their Google Company Listing. This will help the business gain credibility and (in most cases) even increase their visibility.
Supporting LGBTQIA+ small businesses isn't just about the companies that are already operating. Your support can also help to secure the future of these companies by donating to organizations that support LGBTQIA+ people of all ages.
Whether you're considering hosting a networking event or a party, every opportunity you have to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community is a good one. If you own a small business or have access to an event space, you have the opportunity to bring together small business owners, business leaders, potential customers, and more to facilitate lasting relationships or meaningful business connections that will help these companies grow.
Don't be shy about your support. Helping to grow LGBTQIA+ small businesses shouldn't be a tightly-kept secret, so showcase your support on your personal social media, car bumper stickers, and everywhere else. If you run a small business, make it clear to your customers that you support LGBTQIA+ communities. The community can be very loyal to businesses who support us.
If you have the means, consider partnering with a business in your community to help grow their business and yours at the same time. A great example of this is by utilizing co-marketing to drive customers to both of your businesses in a single day. You could also reward customers of their establishments with additional discounts at yours, and visa versa.
Nothing is more impactful than a story. If you're an LGBTQIA+ business leader, share your story and become a role model for individuals within your community. The more you open up about your experience, the more you encourage more businesses to proudly tout their status as allies or members of the community.
If you're looking for ways to grow your own business this month, check out the SBA resources for LGBT-owned businesses.


text:
What are you playing? (2022 Edition)
Page 20 of 22 First ... 5101516171819202122 Last
Thread: What are you playing? (2022 Edition)
21st Nov 2022 02:18 #476
Chakat sex pillow
Location: not here
Originally Posted by henke
Good write-ups Sulph. Think I'll be skipping Sommerville then. As for Plague Tale 2, I've made it to the island, but kinda stopped there. I need to get back to it.
Thanks! I loved the island, because it's very reminiscent of actual islands I've been to in the past (minus the, uh, stuff). Also, it's a well-earned change of pace that I enjoyed, given what came before it.
I'm so pleased to hear that Plague Tale 2 lives up to the expectations. Really looking forward to playing it in the near future (which in my case means anything between 0-5 years).
Malf
Thing What Kicks
I'm currently dipping in and out of Obsidian's latest, Pentiment (while also playing Deadfire on the side).
Pentiment is absolutely gorgeous to look at, but man, is it taking a while to get going.
Effectively, it's an Obsidian game, but with the action stripped out, so that you're just playing one of their conversation trees. It's basically a visual novel, but without the anime stylings and deeper conversations.
It's very charming, and there's lots of "This will be remembered" stuff going on, but it hasn't really grabbed me yet (although to be fair, I am going through an extended gaming funk at the moment).
There's also a lot religious and social concepts to get your head around, although these are explained very well in the margins (despite clicking on some underlined words occasionally not triggering said description). In that respect, I'm finding it to be very much akin to when I read Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, where I had to first get my head around several complex social aspects of 19th century Russian society before I could really enjoy the story. Indeed, as Pentiment focuses on a murder too (although I haven't got that far yet), and there's a heavy religious aspect to it, I wouldn't be surprised if The Brothers Karamazov directly influenced it.
But apart from that and another playthrough of Deadfire, Guild Wars 2 still gets played on a daily basis, and is still very fun (currently enjoying playing a Norn core Thief with Celestial gear).
GW2 does a lot of stuff that many open world games do, but across a MUCH larger area while other people are running around too, and it means it's got one of the best open worlds in gaming. You're rarely at a loss for things to do.
If you like your Assassin's Creed or Horizon Games, I'd recommend giving GW2 a go, especially as it's now free to play on Steam.
And Streets of Rogue is my current Steam Deck game of choice, where I'm currently trying to complete a basic (no mutators) gang member run. I finally completed a basic Gorilla run recently, and had a funny ending where no-one came to dance because there weren't enough people left alive, which the game acknowledged.
I seriously cannot wait for the second game. If it's even half as good as the first, it'll be my game of the year.
Last edited by Malf; 21st Nov 2022 at 06:52.
22nd Nov 2022 08:33 #479
Level 10,000 achieved
Dakar Desert Rally, babyyyyyyy!
So this game had a rocky launch a month ago, has since been patched up a bit, is now on a -30% sale on PS5.
Picked it up yesterday and have been playing it a bunch since. The vehicle handling is good, a definite step up from Dakar 18, and it also looks great. It has 3 separate game modes which drastically change how the game plays. The "Sport" mode is the most accessible and straightforward one. Its got big glowing checkpoints and arrows pointing you in the right direction, and lots of other racers on the track at once. It is purely a test of how well you handle your vehicle, and it's fun! The "Professional" mode however, is the real reason to play this game. It's the classic Dakar 18 rally raid gameplay, which is as much about orienteering as it is about driving. It's a checkpoint race, but all the checkpoints are invisible, and often the only clue you have where you're supposed to go is a compass heading. Frequently you'll mess up and have to do a u-turn, head back to the last known checkpoint and try again. You also have to be listening to your co-driver's instructions. You know how you often do best in racing games when you zone out and just go with the flow? Not possible here, you have to be at full alert and using both your eyes AND ears if you're gonna be successful. There's also a 3rd game mode called "Simulation" which is even more hardcore, but this one unlocks later in the game so I haven't had a chance to try it yet.
Here's a bit of Professional truck gameplay, on one of the shorter and easier stages. This one mostly has you following traces, but you still have to pay attention to the co-driver to pick the right paths. Only towards the end does it go off-road.
What I don't like? No free roam mode yet, tho it's supposed to come as a free DLC before the end of the year. The game takes a cue from the Forza Horizons by letting you spin a wheel at the end of successful events, which can earn you a new vehicle, but these are just standard rally vehicles, which are a bit boring. The more fun vehicles are the unlockable classics. But the game is TOO stingy in doling these out. You need podium-finishes on an event using all 5 vehicle categories to unlock a classic, which can easily mean 5+ hours of gameplay, doing the same races over and over again just for ONE lousy Citroën 2CV! Ngl tho, I want that 2CV.
Anyway, overall first impressions, it's good!
Last edited by henke; 22nd Nov 2022 at 08:38.
23rd Nov 2022 06:59 #480
Originally Posted by Aja
Henke I sent you a friend request ages ago but you never answered it! Don't you want to enter into a Strand Contract with me?? (one of the NPCs told me that's what I should do)
(username is dimedancing in case you didn't know who it was)
Ah sorry. Totally forgot about this till just now. Yeah I think I rejected your first friend request because I didnt recognize the name. Sent a new request.
26th Nov 2022 00:53 #481
Anarchic Fox
Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Maupertuis
Thanksgiving break is a good time to catch up with family and... catch up with gaming.
FixFox is a fix-em-up (this should be a genre) with an emphasis on physicality. You scrounge for low-tier equipment and materials to fix basic items, which reward you with mid-tier stuff to fix more complex items. Not a complex game loop, but a satisfying one. The commitment to making everything tactile and kinaesthetic reminds me strongly of Ultima VI and VII. You rummage through your backpack Ultima VII-style for what you need, you apply items directly on components, you save by dragging cassettes around, and your cursor on informational screens is a big ol' hand. It's fun, though I have some quibbles I may articulate more later.
Creeper World 4 is an RTS where your enemy is fluid physics. Each map will have sources of viscous, corrosive group that slowly oozes across the terrain destroying whatever it engulfs. Thankfully bombs and bullets seem to be effective against it. All resources must flow from destination to destination across the map, via solar towers and energy relays. Resources have no hard caps, and efficiency is all about spotting bottlenecks before they become disastrous, so you can play quite slow and methodically if you like. Further missions (I'm about a third of the way through) have introduced complications like enemy organisms that can launch the goo behind your front lines. It's fun, but fatiguing.
Finally, I've played a bit of Avernum: Escape from the Pit, which is a remake of a remake of Jeff Vogel's first game. Solid world design, but rather unsatisfying leveling.
Finished A Plague Tale: Requiem. Gameplaywise it's more polished and better than its predecessor. I like how Amicia gets built up to be a badass action hero over the course of TWO entire games! What if the Tomb Raiders had shown that kinda restraint. Storywise tho, I don't think it was as good or focused as part 1. Kinda feels like the plot doesn't really get focused more than halfway through, and then it reaches the end too quickly. Not sure how to feel about the ending. In a way, learning that there is no cure and there only was one inevitable end kinda undoes everything that came before it. Like, the happiest possible ending would've been if Hugo died at the start of the first game! As for the post-credits tease... eh, ok. Still, I liked it. Not as much as Sulph did, but still. A good bad time through a beautiful apocalypse.
I think less focused is a fair piece of critique. It's definitely a bit rambling in terms of what happens, and the motivations for a bunch of its characters are a bit... askew, but I appreciate that it's trying something more character-driven than Innocence's apparent interest in interrogating religion and The Inquisition and then having nothing to say or do with it except as a horror movie threat before it becomes full on fantastical (I'll never forget chuckling at the rat tornadoes while fighting the pope Grand Inquisitor. It was so OTT ludicrous you could have used it in a Bayonetta game). Less good is more subjective, and that's fine, it was better at being more human compared to the roughness of Innocence, IMO.
In a way, learning that there is no cure and there only was one inevitable end kinda undoes everything that came before it. Like, the happiest possible ending would've been if Hugo died at the start of the first game! As for the post-credits tease... eh, ok. Still, I liked it. Not as much as Sulph did, but still. A good bad time through a beautiful apocalypse.
I don't think that's what it was trying to say. It's not that there's no cure, it's that things would have been all right if the world had just left them alone. It's a direct follow-through on Innocence's theme where the world's full of people who wouldn't think twice about using a child as a tool, and while they all ultimately pay a price, the one for whom the cost is too high in the end is Hugo. Amicia does her best to protect him, but you can't keep someone innocent forever, and his breaking point is losing both his mother and, in his head, Amicia, because they were his only (tenuous) tether to the world as a place with good in it. Fairly depressing, yes, but I think there's enough emotional truth to the way it wraps up that Hugo needing to die doesn't necessarily cheapen everything that came before it. It does stumble a bit by trying to contrast Amicia's values with everyone else's, and then dangles her into the abyss of bloodlust for a bit before pulling her back, but she's always at the uneasy boundary between 'not a killer' and 'they deserve it... a little'.
The dream does seem to be a huge bit of misdirection, but you can read it as an analogy for just finding a place to be at peace.
Also I may be a bit biased because as the youngest kid in my family, my sister did do a fair bit of bringing me up, so YMMV on how much you can relate to that. But even that aside, I think it's a much better game than the first one overall.
Originally Posted by Malf
I spent a lot of time (too much time) on Guild Wars, so I remember being very excited for GW2. Pre-ordered it and everything. Played it on day one. I don't know why, but I just never got into it. It was a disappointment. I guess I just didn't really like to play with other random people all the time. There was this one boss fight that I remember, some underwater monster. There were dozens of other players swarming in a ball formation around the monster, and I couldn't even see the bloody thing that I was supposed to be fighting.
I gave up pretty soon, I don't think I ever even got to the maximum level with my character(s). I thought about giving it another chance some time, but I would imagine that you need to invest a lot of time in the game to get any good, and that's something that I can't afford right now. Do a lot of people still play GW2? Is GW1 still running? I'd like to see that again after all these years.
GW2 is very active, even more so since it came to Steam earlier this year along with a new expansion.
But the beauty of it is that because they never increase the level cap, you can pretty much jump back in whenever you want once you've hit the level cap.
It does have what they call "horizontal progression", in that there are a bunch of abilities, skills and elite professions you can pursue once you're 80, but the "power level" never increases.
It does still have visibility issues in big fights, made a bit worse by the fact that a lot of veteran players look like violent Christmas trees at a disco, but the later developed events suffer from this less thanks to more refined encounter design.
However, they do seem to have improved ground attack indicators, meaning that if you're on the ball, it's quite easy to stay alive.
Most "PvE" content, especially in "Core" Tyria (the first area that was available on release), is quite easy to play through as long as you pay even a little attention to your build, although Heart of Thorns (the first expansion) is a massive step up in solo difficulty, being designed to make you cooperate with other players roaming the world. The second expansion, Path of Fire, steps down the solo difficulty somewhat, and introduces the best mounts in video games.
Overall, I still recommend it if you like open world type games, as there's just a HUGE amount of stuff to explore, with a lot of variety.
Guild Wars 1 is also still running, and ArenaNet have promised to keep it going in perpetuity. I even reinstalled it recently, thanks to a YouTube streamer I follow playing it live on Sunday night.
But they really are completely different games, and pretty much all they share is the setting.
GW1 plays more like some weird hybrid of party-based RPG, RTS and card-based game, whereas Guild Wars 2 is slightly more traditional (if not still breaking the MMO mould in numerous ways).
I think GW1 was definitely the more revolutionary design, and I sometimes wish they'd hued closer to it when making the sequel (seriously, I rank the first game's AI alongside FEAR and Black & White, while GW2's AI is thick as a brick, in a "Standard" AI kinda way), but GW2's active and mobile combat is incredibly moreish.
GW2 does however suffer from a stupidly bloated number of "currencies", that take a long time to get your head around. And a lot of the end-game content almost requires having the wiki page open in order to understand exactly WTF you're meant to do.
1st Dec 2022 02:00 #486
EvaUnit02
PC Gamering Smartey Man
I <3 consoles and gamepads
Just finished Halo 5. It was meh. Level design was mostly super linear, very bad for a Halo game. You get little to no sandbox sections to levels which is a staple of Halo. Story was nonsense, I totally see why Halo Infinite has a time skip in order to more or less ignore it. The copypasta Warden Eternal boss fights got boring after probably the 3rd time.
A gameplay aspect I liked was the rudimentary squad AI and didn't mind the jet boosting manoeuvrability options. The grapple hook which replaced the jet boosting in Halo Infinite was far more fun, IMO. The Promethean weapons as they were in Halo 4 - reskins of human ones + visually very cool, IMO.
Overall I feel that $1 I paid to play it wasn't a waste of money (for a Game Pass sub). Paying $15-30 NZD to outright buy a copy would've been a waste however.
Thirith
I can't remember quite when I started playing Sekiro, but it was this summer. Well, yesterday I finally beat the game... admittedly with a somewhat cheesy strategy for the final boss fight, but even this took practice and coordination, so I'm fine with it. I greatly enjoyed this for how it varied the From Software formula, and the Japanese setting made for a great change from the world of Dark Souls, but I'm also glad to be done with it. I greatly enjoy From Software games - every couple of years. I'm certainly going to play Elden Ring at some point, but not yet, not yet.
I'm also close to the endgame of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow. It's a lovely game, but the horror doesn't entirely land for me; there's something too cosy and leisurely for point and click adventures to feel consistently unsettling or scary, at least to me. It's difficult to be frightened if you're trying to get an egg so you can exchange it for a peach, which you'll use to distract the boy who's watching the local shop, where you need to steal a map of the area - no, that's not an actual puzzle from Hob's Barrow, but you know how P&C games work. Still, it's a definite recommendation if you like the genre and if you're okay with relatively easy puzzles as long as there's good characters and an interesting story.
2nd Dec 2022 04:39 #488
Yup, finished Hob's Barrow. I like the endgame and its puzzles, even if there is still a bit of a disconnect between the plot and the puzzles. It's by no means egregious, but as in most P&C games there is an extent to which you have to suspend your disbelief and accept that this door would've been locked by a relatively straightforward puzzle, even though the purpose was to keep something locked in forever. Hey, at least they didn't try to banish a Great Evil by creating a lock that could only be broken by solving a Towers of Hanoi puzzle or a simple Sudoku!
Since I've got an active Game Pass sub I'm playing through CrossfireX: Operation Catalyst ATM. It looks like fuzzy poo and runs like a dog, probably 25fps - on a Xbox 1 S. It's a generic CoD clone that feels like it fell out of 2009. Even by CoD standards the enemy AI is utterly brain dead.
The Remedy signatures are few but there. There's a dream-like delusion every other level, where live action footage of the protagonist's wife is projected - akin to Alan Wake. The mo-capped acting in the cutscenes does look very good.
Only half of the story is on Game Pass. If you want the concluding campaign, Operation Spectre, you have to buy it. It's $10 USD, but the campaign is only ~3 hours long.
If you must play it, avoid on Xb 1. Only play on Xb Series.
Last edited by EvaUnit02; 2nd Dec 2022 at 19:37.
4th Dec 2022 02:57 #490
Gungrave GORE feels like a PS2 era AA game, made using modern tech. It's a pretty brainless game where you'll be encouraged to keep spamming attacks to increase the hit count. A turbo controller or mouse macro program is recommended to spam the fire button, until you encounter shield dudes. You have to do charged shots to break shields. You can purchase moves between levels, but the trouble is most of them are for melee attacks where you're swinging around your coffin. Keeping mobile and shooting is for the best, IMO. You're better off sinking points into upgrading your stats, like shield recharge rate and more HP.
This launched directly into Game Pass, which is fitting because it's very much a Game Pass fodder calibre game. When I saw that they're charging $90 NZD for this on Steam I LOL'ed, they're definitely taking the mickey here.
Aside from the occasional UE4 shader caching stutter, it runs really well on my PC (i5 12600, RTX 3080, 32GB DRR5). I'm getting 120+ fps at 4k, max settings inc ray tracing w/ DLSS 2.3 Balanced enabled.
The story is seems to be on the barebones side. So if you're a fan of this old IP from the Trigun creator (Yasuhiro Nightow), you're probably going to be disappointed.
They added a full auto mode in a patch, so scratch that thought about turbo controllers.
NEW ADDED SYSTEM
FULL AUTO:
PS4, PS5: Pressing [Down Button on D-Pad] while playing the game will toggle Normal/FULL AUTO mode. When using FULL AUTO mode, you cannot use Death Spear, but if you toggle back to Normal mode, you can use Death Spear again. Use whatever mode when the situation requires you to use it.
Xbox One, Xbox Series X: [Down Button on D-Pad] while playing the game will toggle Normal/FULL AUTO mode. When using FULL AUTO mode, you cannot use Death Spear, but if you toggle back to Normal mode, you can use Death Spear again. Use whatever mode when the situation requires you to use it.
PC: Pressing [CapsLock] while playing the game will toggle Normal/FULL AUTO mode. When using FULL AUTO mode, you cannot use Death Spear, But if you toggle back to Normal mode, you can use Death Spear again. Use whatever mode when the situation requires you to use it.
Activates Burst mode when using FULL AUTO while standing still
Added parrying and missile reflection in Funeral Strike
Added shield-breaking function in Executioner's Blood
When Grave/Bunji/Quartz knocks down, they'll stay invulnerable for a while.
Last edited by EvaUnit02; 4th Dec 2022 at 04:17.
Location: NeoTokyo
I'm playing Stray these days. It more or less deserves the hype. The vibes I'm getting are close to the ones I was getting when I played Mirror's Edge, I mean in feeling it's a special game right off, and it holding that feeling as it went on. The visuals, story, flow, and cat stuff are all great.
There's some wonk, and I wish they would have had more parkour kind of gameplay in it, or made it a little more open in which ways you can go for the running parts like ME. But what it does makes sense for what the game is, so I can understand it. And I like the open storytelling and puzzle parts.
FixFox ended up disappointing. While the story and presentation remained charming throughout, the gameplay developed no complexity or difficulty over the course of its ~10-hour span. A distressingly large chunk of my enjoyment came from organizing my inventory.
I'm also about two-thirds through Super Panda Adventure, a dollar-cheap metroidvania with RPG elements. The art is a tad weak, and the gameplay is mostly conventional, but everything is solidly designed. Some interesting things about it are its blocking mechanic (with an entire resource dedicated to blocking), its lack of convenient healing, and its bonus-XP mechanic based on dealing continuous damage. It's worth a look if, like me, you're running dry on metroidvanias.
I played through Beacon Pines recently, and it was a pretty good experience. It's a story that's tilted into that exact zone of 'creepy Halloween-inflected adventure starring kid protagonist' from your childhood, but everyone's a cute animal person. There's a fun branching narrative to navigate, with the conceit of it all being an illustrated story in a book that the narrator's reading. There's a somewhat ingenious (I thought) mechanic of playing through each available path to pick up something called a charm, which is essentially a word you can slot into the various branching decision points in the story, and each charm lets you move to a different branch on the narrative tree, usually. It incentivises exploring all the available paths instead of committing to a single outcome, which you have to do anyway because while there's a few endings, there's only one true ending. In essence, it looks non-linear, but it's actually a very linear game, which is a neat trick as long as you're not the sort to feel shortchanged by linearity.
I liked it all: the art's gorgeous, all hand-drawn and kissed with warm colour and loving detail, the music's lovely, and the characters are fun. Luka, the kid you play, even learns a thing or two about loss and friendship by the end, just like in the good stories from your childhood. As it's fairly short - about 4 to 5 hours - there are some threads and characters that are crimped off towards the end instead of fleshed out, which was disappointing but not in a way that significantly impacted my overall opinion of the game. It's a creepy but warm and fuzzy little tale, the kind of story you'd save for the childhood summers when you scraped the skin off your knees and shins while climbing a tree so you could spend an afternoon reading in the sun.
Edit: oh, and the narrator's VO is impressive as all heck. She's incredibly talented and brings almost all of the life and charm to the narrative with the way she handles each emotional beat and character, just like someone would reading out a story to you.
Last edited by Sulphur; 5th Dec 2022 at 01:20.
After finishing Sekiro, I'm pretty much playing a game at the opposite end of the spectrum: Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a shorter spin-off of the main Spider-Man game. It's exactly what I need right now: it's charming, fun, the combat is exciting but not too difficult, and webswinging across NYC is greatly enjoyable. While it is shallow the way that most open-world games are, it doesn't waste your time like many of them do. Getting from A to B is fast and fun, the individual activities don't take all that much time, and they're wrapped in nice bite-sized bits of characterisation and lore. You can also go about combat encounters in a systematic way, picking off one enemy at a time, which will take a few minutes - or you can just swing into the fray and use the combat system. Also, while it took me a while to get the settings right, I'm enjoying playing this with most of the ray-traced bells and whistles. In a city where most of the surfaces are reflective, it's cool that things reflect in them even when these things aren't on the screen.
Obligatory congratulations/hell yeah for beating Sekiro.
Man, Death Stranding is wild. I'm about 70 hours in, still on chapter 8, and I could've probably finished it by now, but I've been spellbound with the minutiae of being a courier and doing side-mission deliveries. This game, Eva will be pleased/infuriated to know, is absolutely one hundred percent a genuine walking simulator in that its main accomplishment is simulating how it feels to walk over rough terrain. And when you're in the mindset to enjoy it on that level, it's addicting.
It's almost got an immersive-sim-like quality in that it provides enough tools and systems to allow for emergent gameplay. Any time I find myself in dangerous territory without the proper equipment, interesting things happen as I scramble to improvise and stay alive. The flipside is when you have a clear mission in mind, you plan it out step by step, and execute it perfectly. Both scenarios can be so satisfying.
That said, times when I find myself slogging back and forth between deliveries, paging absent-mindedly through the menus, skipping the dialogue, it can get tedious. But that's a signal to stop playing and come back later, when I'm in the mood for it. If you're not willing to play it slowly and carefully, it's not as good.
The story is insane and nonsensical, there's way too much dialogue, the carefully-curated music is corny, and the cutscenes are all like 400 percent too long, but it's hard to deny that the immersion that stems from all this worldbuilding. And some of the story beats, particularly the ones with Heartman, are delightful and captivating.
My PSPlus subscription is expiring soon, and I don't plan to renew it at least at the mid tier, but I'm enjoying this so much I snagged an eBay copy that should hopefully arrive right in time to keep playing.
Pyrian
It's kind of funny, but Death Stranding's actual walking simulation mechanics arguably disqualify it from being a "Walking Simulator" in the traditional sense.
paging absent-mindedly through the menus
This. I must've seen those "delivery completed" screens which are packed with text hundreds of times in my last playthrough and I still have no idea what they say because all I was focused on was trying to skip through them as fast as possible. Really feels like a lot of the UI could've been streamlined. Buuuut hey it's Kojima so I'm sure there's some very clever reason behind it all like bombarding the player with the tedium of bureaucracy!
Anyway, loved my replay of DS. Stopped playing in the post-credits chapter, which I think might be new to the Director's Cut?
They just tell you how many points you get in each of the delivery categories: speed, weight carried, damage, and distance, I think. My feeling is that yes, Kojima is trying to evoke the tedium of bureaucracy, but I also think he just likes absurd amounts of pointless detail and probably finds it funny to bombard the player with a constant stream of it. I think of it as an aesthetic choice, and I'm mostly fine with it. At least we get an auto-skip button. Also it makes me wish that giving people a thumbs-up in real life would confer a like.
nicked
Location: On the tip of your tongue.
Also it makes me wish that giving people a thumbs-up in real life would confer a like.
People's Republic of China will remember that.
Yeah, the holo-likes whenever someone gives a thumbs-up is a great touch.
Quick Navigation General Gaming Top Back to Forum
obligatory megathread
View Tag Cloud | Who tagged it?


And what are these foes? Dr. Davies did not forthrightly enumerate them; she only implied them. And she closed her stirring Oration by stating emphatically that we as a people must change our ways by practicing personal responsibility, instead of passing the blame for not doing what we were supposed to do.
How many Liberians want to see Liberia become obsolete? Surely, none of us. But in order for that NOT to happen, we must combat, "with valor unpretending" all the foes that haunt and threaten our nation.
Speaking not as a politician, but as a psychologist which she has been for over 40 years, Dr. Russell declared that Liberia needs, more than anything else, the transformation of our minds, attitudes and behaviors. She listed 10 characteristics by which this may be accomplished. They are the attributes which a "servant leader" possesses. A servant leader is one who performs not as a master, but a SERVANT, serving in the highest interest of his/her people.
The first of the 10 characteristics is listening: the ability to listen to the views, opinions and cries of the people. What is the leader that does not listen?
The second is empathy, having sympathy, concern, compassion on one's people, neighbors, citizens. What is the leader that is not actively, responsively concerned about the people's plight, suffering, despair, distress?
Healing is the third—healing oneself and one's relationships—in the case of the leader, the people—healing them of their ills, including poverty and deprivation. What is the leader that does not do that?
The fourth characteristic is general and self-awareness, which means taking care of oneself, others and the environment. What is a leader who fails to do that?
Fifth, persuasion, moving the people along in positive directions, not through coercion or dictatorship, but through urging, convincing. What is a leader that acts dictatorially?
Foresight is the seventh. This, according to Orator Russell, means "understanding the lessons of the past, the realities of the present and the consequences of a decision for the future. What is a leader who fails this all important test of foresight?
Stewardship is the eighth characteristic of the servant leader. This means pursuing the greater good for the greater society. What is the leader that neglects the people in favor of the already rich and powerful?
The ninth characteristic of the servant leader is commitment to the growth and development of the people—deeply committed to their development and advancement. What is the leader that does not seek this for the people?
Finally, building community—giving rise to urbanization, or improving the people's living conditions—housing, health, sanitation and endowing them with the blessings of modernity and modern technology and all the good that it brings. What is the leader that denies the people that?
To each of these characteristics we have asked what is the leader who denies the people this? The answer is obvious. Remember all the leaders of the world and of our own country who have performed, not as servants, but as masters of the people, neglecting, or failing to adhere to any of these 10 characteristics which Dr. Russell outlined in her Oration?
The Orator implicitly (unspokenly) replied that such leaders are, wittingly or unwittingly, foes to their own peoples and nations.
She called on Liberians to transform our minds, attitudes and behaviors if we truly want to see Liberia move forward.
We pray that all of us—not just our leaders—will work so conscientiously, so farsightedly and so patriotically that we will meet our country's every foe "with valor unpretending" and move Liberia forward into a brighter, more peaceful, more prosperous future.


text:
Microsoft is set to Attack Apple during Holiday 2020 with an All-New Foldable Tablet and Foldable Phone
Future iPad Virtual Keyboards may use Next-Gen Haptics Technology giving users a Superior Typing Experience
Classrooms across Europe are Celebrating EU Code Week where they learn how Apple's 'Swift' can unlock new Opportunities
Classrooms across Europe are now celebrating EU Code Week. Students of all ages are living proof that coding opens doors to opportunities never before possible. At Layton Primary School in Blackpool, England, coding principles are helping 5 and 6 year-olds track down a rogue dinosaur. And in Italy, at Milan's Institute De Amicis, coding is the key that unlocked a life-changing career for 28-year-old Belinda Tagariello.
These schools are part of a growing number of European institutions relying on the power and versatility of iPad, Mac and Apple's Everyone Can Code and App Development with Swift curricula to teach coding to a new generation of students. Both schools say the programs have led to more engaged, innovative learning with proven results.
Meet teachers Alice Nutt (above) and Clare Scott (below). They were introduced to coding only two years ago, and now use Swift Playgrounds to incorporate coding principles into every subject they teach to their young pupils at Layton Primary School in Blackpool, England. The school, located in one of the most deprived areas of the country, has seen a remarkable change in its students since the program began.
Teacher Clare Scott, 45, who has been teaching for more than 20 years, stated for the report: "Children would sit there [before] and wait for things to happen. But children with a coding mentality know that if they do something, something will happen. There will be an output if they put in an input — and they are more resourceful in terms of being able to tackle problems."
In Scott's classroom, her 5 and 6-year-old students practice coding skills in tasks both ordinary and extraordinary. She posed a problem to them: how do you get an escaped dinosaur back into the zoo? Her students decided they would make jam sandwiches and leave them out for the creature.
Scott brought in bread, butter and jam and asked her students to give her step-by-step instructions on how to construct the sandwich. The exercise introduced them to the individual commands required to execute a coding sequence.
Scott added that "We then left the jam sandwich outside the classroom overnight. And obviously the dinosaur came back and ate it — the next day there was just a crust."
That coding mentality has proliferated every area of the school, and students apply coding principles to all subjects, most often through Swift Playgrounds.
Teacher Alice Nutt, 28, stated for the report that "We realized we'd already been using the skills of coding everywhere in the curriculum. When we write, we go back and edit and improve it — we were debugging. We sequence stories, we sequence events and things that we do in our everyday lives. So it's just making everyone at the school realize that coding really is all around you."
In Italy, Belinda Tagariello spent most of her 20s bouncing from one unfulfilling job to another. In 2017, she enrolled in a government-funded course that taught Swift, Apple's powerful and easy-to-use programming language, to under- and unemployed young adults at the Institute De Amicis in Milan. As a first-time coder, Tagariello learned coding basics in Swift Playgrounds on iPad and quickly advanced to App Development with Swift on the Mac to start building something of her own.
Fast forward to today and Tagariello now teaches that same course, has one app already on the App Store, and is working on developing her second.
Tagariello stated for the report that "When I started to develop the app, I started to feel free because I could do it myself. When I found this, I found my way.'
Forty-one students have completed the course and collectively they have produced 14 apps in two short years. Sixteen of the graduates have found jobs in the tech industry, and five have decided to enroll in university.
This October, Tagariello will welcome the third cohort of 29 students, most of whom have no coding experience. But their teacher says they shouldn't be dissuaded by that — and she speaks, of course, from experience.
Tagariello added: "When I started I didn't know anything about coding so they could take me as an example. If they apply themselves to this course they could go very far, farther than me — they could find their way."
While Tagariello first introduces her students to coding through Apple's fun and engaging Swift Playgrounds app for iPad, she gradually progresses to App Development with Swift curriculum on Mac.
Apple's Everyone Can Code helps students from kindergarten to college and beyond learn coding to solve problems and prepare them for the workforce. With teacher guides and lessons, students learn the basics on iPad with Swift Playgrounds and App Development with Swift helps aspiring developers build their first iOS apps. Today more than 5,000 schools, community colleges and technical colleges worldwide are using Everyone Can Code curriculum. Find out more at apple.com/everyone-can-code.
About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments.
Posted by Jack Purcher on October 03, 2019 at 01:55 AM in 5. Apple News | Permalink | Comments (0)