text:
The Price of Success: Bolivia's War against Drugs and the Poor
first appeared in North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), Volume 31, Issue 1, July/August 2001
Ben Kohl
Linda Farthing
Andean Information Network
In 2001, Bolivia was dropped from the list of major drug-producing countries for the first time in nearly half a century. The country has been hailed by U.S. officials as the only South American country that has successfully eradicated coca production. The resulting devastation of the country's economy has left ex-dictator President Hugo Banzer, no friend of the Bolivian poor or the social movements that defend them, begging for substantial U.S. economic support to keep the export economy permanently off coca/cocaine revenues. The U.S. response to these pleas for economic assistance has been vague and unsubstantial, preferring to continue its emphasis on supporting repressive measures. As a consequence, the economic crisis, described as worse than the hyper-inflation period of the early 1980s, has created a level of social upheaval not seen since the protests leading to the 1982 return to democracy.
When Banzer came to office in 1997, on his fifth electoral attempt to win the position he had held as a military dictator between 1971-1978, he pleased the U.S. embassy with his commitment to eradicate "excess" coca production by any means. There was considerable irony in Banzer's program, called "coca zero" or "Dignity Plan," since the original insertion of Bolivia into the coca/cocaine economy took place during his dictatorship. He vowed that by the end of his presidency in 2002, his government would destroy all coca beyond the 30,000 acres grown in the Yungas, the region northeast of La Paz, that the government estimates is needed for traditional Andean daily ritual and medicinal use.
In the 1970s, coca production began expanding from the Yungas, where it has been grown since before the Spanish invasion, to the Chapare region east of Cochabamba. Production in the Chapare mushroomed in response to increasing northern demand for cocaine, mostly from the United States. At its peak, coca was grown on an estimated 100,000 acres, with approximately 90% dedicated to the cocaine market. Until Banzer came to office, for every acre eradicated under voluntary programs that offered some limited financial incentives, another acre was planted.
Using United States financing of a combined military-police force, the Joint Task Force (FTC), the "Dignity Plan" destroyed about 70,000 acres of coca in the Chapare. Certainly the U.S. is pleased. "Bolivia has done in the past two to three years what no other country has done in the drug war in Latin America," said Manuel Rocha, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia since July 2000. "In Latin America, this is the success story."[1]
This "success" has come at huge expense to the poorest and least powerful actors in a global commodity chain. Coca eradication has cost the Bolivian economy an estimated $500 million a year and decimated the regional economy of Cochabamba. It has also contributed to the serious social upheavals that began in April 2000, revived in September and violently erupted again this April. According to one Cochabamba businessman who wished to remain anonymous: "This is the worst I've ever seen it. There's no money on the street and nobody's got any work. It's not just the poor, but the middle classes too who are hurting. For example, house prices are down a lot—50-60% in some cases and nothing is selling."[2]
The Banzer government announced in January that it would begin coca eradication in March or April in the Yungas, where the government has decided that 4,200 acres of coca cultivation is "excess." The current government offer includes a one-time payment to affected coca growers of $1,000 per acre, almost exactly the same as the compensation offered in the early 1990's in the Chapare, which both Bolivian and U.S. officials acknowledge was completely ineffective. "Even if they offered U.S. $4,000 per acre, it would not be enough," states Fidel Ticon, a campesino leader.[3] The package also includes $20 million in development aid to an area where previous efforts to promote alternative crops failed miserably, despite the UN's expenditure of $32 million between 1984 and 1993.
This April, in a bid to defuse the growing unrest in the region, the government agreed to suspend forced eradication in the Yungas until it recalculates whether excess coca is really under cultivation. At the end of the month, as marchers protesting a range of issues converged on La Paz from around the country, the government convinced leaders from targeted areas in the Yungas that they would be spared immediate forced eradication. These moves have effectively served to separate coca growers in the Yungas from those in the Chapare, who are once again being isolated from broader social support. This divide and conquer strategy was extremely effective during in the uprisings last September/October, and worked again in April 2001, when coca growers from the Chapare set out from Cochabamba, along with trade unions, organizations against the privatization of water and other campesinos, towards La Paz on a "March for Life and Sovereignty." For coca producers the march was the latest response to the U.S.-financed war on drugs, which over the last three years has forcibly eradicated these peasant farmers' coca fields, the most economically productive crop in the region. Although the peaceful marchers finally reached La Paz despite police and military attacks en route, the popular movement fizzled in early May due to ongoing deep internal divisions in the country's campesino and social movements.[4]
If the government opts for forced eradication, the rugged and rainy Yungas promises to be a significantly more difficult target than the flat plains of the Chapare region. There is only one narrow winding road that connects the region with La Paz. The six organizations of coca producers in the Yungas have emphatically sworn that they will never allow their coca plants to be destroyed.
While the government pushes ahead with its plans for the Yungas, in the Chapare, coca growers are reeling from the eradication campaigns of the last four years. "Coca was taken away and the campesinos were abandoned—this is not a battle won. It is a human tragedy for thousands of poor families with no way to support themselves now," says Rev. Sperandio Ravasio Martinelli, pastor of the largest parish in the Chapare.[5]
"What comes after coca?" asks Carlos Torranzo, of the Latin American Institute for Social Research in La Paz. "To sustain 'zero coca,' you need an economic plan. And we still haven't seen that plan."[6] Speaking before the representatives of 150 countries at a United Nations Conference against Transnational Organized Crime in December 2000, Banzer warned, "If there's not concrete assistance to Bolivia, there is the risk that many people will begin to plant coca again."[7]According to the Andean Information Network (AIN), this is precisely what is happening. AIN's co-coordinator Kathy Ledebur says, "Everyone we know in the Chapare is starting to replant. Alternative development has simply not offered anything quickly enough."[8]
Despite all this, eradication of coca in the Chapare has had little impact on regional production. While significant reductions in coca acreage have occurred in both Peru and Bolivia, which between them provided three-fourths of world production in the early 1990s, Colombia is now the largest producer, with almost 336,000 acres, which represents an 11% increase in the last year alone and leaves worldwide coca production effectively unchanged. This scenario illustrates the balloon theory—suppressing coca production in one place only leads to it reappearing in another. So in addition to creating chaos in Bolivia, coca eradication has fueled "more of a mess in Colombia than we started with," according to Stephen E. Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York.[9]
Nor has success in Bolivia had an impact on the price of street cocaine in the United States or Europe. An April 19 article in The Guardian reported that prices in England are at a all-time lows.[10] Even if coca production had not simply shifted to Colombia, there is little indication that forcing the price of coca higher in the Andes through repression would have an impact because the cost of leaves comprises less than one half of one per cent of the price of cocaine on the streets of U.S. and European cities. As part of the broader strategy of the war on drugs, source eradication has long been understood to be a blunt and inefficient policy tool, both creating enormous problems in other countries and wasting U.S. taxpayer's money. According to a highly respected 1994 RAND study, investments in source-country control, such as those in Bolivia, offer the worst payoffs in drug control, generating only $0.15 in benefits per dollar invested. In contrast, treatment and education programs reduce the social costs associated with drugs by almost $7.50 for each dollar spent. In other words, treatment and education in the U.S. returns 50 times that of coca eradication.[11]
The approximately $350 million that the United States has pumped into the drug war in Bolivia since 1993 has largely been directed at militarized solutions to a complex set of social, economic and political problems. Beginning in late 1997, as coca eradication targets were met, the Banzer government's repeated requests to the Clinton Administration for additional aid to Bolivia's ruined economy fell on deaf ears. While insisting that Banzer continue full steam ahead with the coca eradication plan, Madeline Albright, on a three-hour visit to La Paz last August, said she could not promise any additional funds. She pointed to Washington's forgiveness of $450 million of Bolivian debt in the last decade (of a total debt of over $6 billion) as a significant U.S. contribution, but this has had little impact on the lives of those most affected by coca eradication.[12]
Fueling the existing mistrust of U.S. intentions, the U.S. Department of State stated in a report last year that the Bolivian government must reevaluate in 2001 whether the 30,000 acres deemed "legal" coca is in fact needed to supply the traditional market.[13]Indeed, coca has been an important commodity for over a thousand years; it was one of the first trade goods in the Andes. It has been a highly symbolic article within a precapitalist context and a valuable commodity in a capitalist one. The cultural importance of coca has in fact been ignored throughout the war on drugs. Coca dulls hunger and fatigue, aids in digestion, provides vitamins and minerals lacking in Andean staples, and is used in medicine. Coca is offered in all ritual and ceremonial events from the sowing of crops to the beginning of a house and all life passages.[14] Its celebration in traditional legends and poetry can be glimpsed in these lines from Legend of Coca, an oral Andean poem:
"Guard its leaves with love. And when you feel pain in your heart, hunger in your flesh and darkness in your mind, lift it to your mouth. You will find love for your pain, nourishment for your body and light for your mind."
Since cocaine was discovered to be a highly addictive drug, coca has been demonized and, in a very real sense, is another victim of the war on drugs. Removed from its original cultural and economic context, the sacred leaf has become a commodity that threatens to disrupt the essential fabric of Andean life.
Part of theUnited States' ongoing assault on coca has involved development aid directed at creating "alternatives" to the leaf. In 2000-2001, Washington committed a total of $85 million in development aid, much of it directed to balance-of-payment support. That which remains, called the "Progress Plan" by the Banzer government, is largely directed at rural electrification, which will do little to address the immediate problem of losing the region's major cash crop. Bush's proposal for next year, part of Plan Colombia, includes $101 million, of which $54 million is for police and military aid. Only some of the $47 million that remains is planned for alternative development, a paltry amount given the economic challenges faced.
Development programs, and the promises that accompany them, are nothing new in the Chapare—significant investments in U.S.- financed "alternative" development began with George Bush's 1989 Andean Initiative. But these initiatives have been failures overall. An examination of these programs reflect the advantages coca offers as a cash crop—it grows like a weed; it is pest resistant and produces four harvests a year; it is light and easy to transport; and it offers a return higher than any other crop in the region because there is a constant market demand. Before eradication, it is estimated that coca accounted for over 90% of agricultural income in the Chapare.
Not only is coca close to an ideal crop, but alternative development programs have been plagued by political considerations, poor design and botched implementation. Some critics blame the failure on the shortsighted and politically motivated development strategies, which have informed the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) programs. AID has absolutely refused to work through the local campesino federations, which since the 1960s have not only represented the interests of the population, but in many cases served as the local authority in areas where government presence never reached. Since the establishment of direct municipal elections in 1995, representatives of coca growers have also held power in municipal governments throughout the Chapare.
The characterization of poor campesinos who make less than $1000 a year as drug dealers by U.S. AID and Embassy officials meant all programs were met with distrust and suspicion at the grassroots. While substantial resources went into developing a demonstration farm to promote alternative crops, only a handful of extension agents, who are supposed to provide technical support to campesinos, were employed to serve the 35,000 families that grew coca. In the early 1990s alternative agricultural development projects encouraged campesinos to shift to other crops, such as pineapples, pepper or turmeric. Yet the projects did not ensure markets for these crops, and projects failed when campesinos, many of whom had borrowed money to plant new crops, could not sell what they had reaped. Instead, they found their labor rewarded with debts and further hardship.[15]
The vast majority of alternative development funds have been spent in high salaries for foreigners and local experts, along with luxury offices and vehicles. Year after year coca grower federations heard of the substantial sums invested in development without ever seeing significant results in the Chapare. This has led to a profound cynicism about U.S. intentions and capabilities in any area except repression.
The government's refusal to recognize coca producers continues. In January, current Agriculture Minister Hugo Carvajal reaffirmed that the government rejects the legitimacy of the coca growing federations to represent the area's campesinos. Says Feliciano Mamani Quispe, Secretary General of the largest Chapare federation of coca growers: "The government has never allowed our participation, and in fact conditioned people's involvement in alternative development on leaving the union. All that this money has done is make government officials rich. We have always been willing to demonstrate to the government that we can manage these funds, and make these projects work. They refuse to give us the chance."[16]
The eradication of coca was characterized by escalating confrontations between growers and repressive forces. In the past year alone, in this traditionally peaceful country, more than a dozen campesinos and soldiers have been killed. Human rights organizations have complained vigorously for years about violations. Godofredo Reinicke, Bolivia's human rights ombudsman for the Chapare region, Human Rights Watch, the Bolivian Permanent Assembly on Human Rights and the Andean Information Network, have all documented that U.S.-funded soldiers have stolen goods, burned houses and tortured coca growers.[17]
Chapare coca growers, led by Evo Morales, a dynamic activist who has been elected to the Bolivian Congress, have vowed to continue the struggle to defend their livelihood. The U.S. and Bolivian governments place "hard core" support for Morales' leadership at about 2000 Chapare families, but as the impact of the destruction of coca radiates out into the economy, the frustration, resentment, and resistance of the general population has grown. Coca seeds are being kept, and it is widely suspected that if Plan Colombia is successful in reducing coca production in Colombia, large-scale replanting will begin in Bolivia and Peru.
For the majority of coca growers, coca has represented the one possibility to fend off starvation with the economic collapse of the 1980s and the International Monetary Fund's imposition of a rigid structural adjustment plan in 1985. "Cocaine is not a Bolivian problem," says grower Adrian Martina. "I've never even seen it. Cocaine is an American problem. Our problem here comes from those who treat us like criminals because we grow coca, which we have done for thousand of years."
[1] Anthony Faiola, "In Bolivia's Drug War, Success has Price: Farmers Victimized by Coca Eradication", Washington Post, March 4, 2001
[2] Phone interview with author, April 23, 2001
[3] "Coca's Second Front," The Economist,January 6, 2001.
[4] The decision by the Aymara leader Felix Quispe, known as el Mall' ku, to postpone the road blockades that he had committed to begin in the Altiplano on May 1st left the rest of the popular movement with little other option but to agree to temporarily halt blockades in other parts of the country. On May 3, COMUNAL, representing the marchers from Cochabamba, and the government agreed to negotiations and discussions on subjects including the Structural Adjustment Law adopted in 1985, land tenure laws, national water and forestry laws, and anti-drug laws. See Andean Information Network Alert, Agreement Signed – 17 Days for Negotiations, May 5, 2001.
[5] Anthony Faiola, "In Bolivia's Drug War, Success has Price: Farmers Victimized by Coca Eradication", Matthew Lee, "Albright pleased by Bolivian drug fight, unable to promise aid", Agence France Presse, August 18, 2000
[6] Clifford Kraus, "Bolivia Wiping out Coca at a price", New York Times, October 23, 2000
[7] Los Tiempos, Cochabamba, December 13, 2000
[8] Personal communication with Kathy Ledebur, April 6, 2001.
[9] Christopher Marquis, "U.S. finds that coca cultivation is shifting sharply to Colombia," The New York Times, March 2, 2001.
[10] Jeevan Vasagar, "Cocaine spreads among young as price falls," The Guardian, April 19, 2001.
[11] M.. P. Reuter Kennedy and K.J. Riley, A Simple Economic Model of Cocaine Production, Santa Monica, CA, Santa Monica, CA, Rand, 1994
[12] Matthew Lee, "Albright pleased by bolivian drug fight, unable to promise aid," Agence France Presse, August 18, 2000
[13] "The 2000 Report of the Department of State on International Narcotic Control Strategy" cited in "Los Cocaleros Preparan Medidas de Resistencia", Los Tiempos, Cochabamba, March 5, 2001
[14] See Catherine Allen, The hold life has: Coca and Cultural Identity in an Andean Community, Washington: Smithsonian1988 for a complete account of the role of coca in Andean life.
[15] Linda Farthing, "Carrots for Coke" This Magazine, Toronto, October 1992. In 1998, Robert Lessman, approached one of the agencies working on alternative development, the Bolivian Institute for Agricultural Technology (IBTA) with a proposal to market pepper through a German spice company. The company had been impressed by the samples from the Chapare they had seen, and were interested in buying the entire harvest. Even though the income from pepper production is potentially twice per hectare of that of the coca, Lessman found that IBTA officials had no marketing plan for pepper, no one competent to negotiate with the spice company and inaccurate figures about production levels. As a consequence, the proposal went nowhere. (Robert Lessman, Where the pepper does not grow, June 27, 1998 in the European NGO council on Drugs and Development wevsite: www.tni.org/drugs/encod/dyd.htm
[16] Interview with Felciano Mamani Quispe, conducted by Veronica Ramos and Jose Luis xx, April 30, 2001
[17] For example, see "Bolivia under pressure: Human Rights Violations and Coca Eradication", Human Rights Watch/Americas, May 1996
Mama Coca Home Contra la Guerra Química Enlaces Contáctenos


all of the really cool places she finds!
in the Hillcrest area of San Diego!
You can order mimosas by the carafe!
with the juice of your choice!
when she was living in Italy!
our own San Diego backyard!
You two are definitely making San Diego even more beautiful.
It does look like a fabulous place! And I love your pants, Tamera! Both of you are so lovely!
What an amazing spot and photos! I didn't realize you are in San Diego until now.
It looks like a fun spot for brunch and the painted walls make a great backdrop for your photos!
You both look so gorgeous! What a great little place to enjoy a celebration.
Thank you Susan! It is so fun exploring a 'new city' … right in our backyard!
Yes she does! I am always honored when she wears one!
You both look stunning and so happy!
Thank you Hollii for your kind birthday wishes! It was such a fun day! Always so lovely to have you visit here!
What a wonderful celebration with your beautiful daughter. I love the custom Mimosas!!
What a glorious post! You make me full of the knowledge of how important a daughter is, how much fun they are and also so very special. Even though I speak to my daughter all the time when I read this I picked up the phone and clued her just to say how much I love her. The crowns are incredible, your outfit and you are gorgeous and your daughter's dress is just so ethereal. Wishes for a wonderful year for your daughter and for you too.
My dear, thank you for your lovely words! There is something truly special about daughters … thank you for sharing your love of yours! I couldn't be happier to hear my post inspired a call to remind her of your love! Beautiful!
Thank you for your kind words regarding the crowns! I am so excited about making modern crowns "for the everyday"! And am thrilled to hear your complimentary words … as I have the highest of regard for your ever chic style my dear!


In Japanese culture, the intense beauty of cherry blossoms or "sakura" symbolizes the transience of life. Inspired by the exotic and delicate cherry blossom flower and its light, pretty floral fragrance, we created our Japanese Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette. The deliciously decadent yet romantic fragrance opens with Fuji apple, Chinese magnolia and osmanthus flower, mingling with a heart of star jamine, Japanese cherry blossom and Japanese persimmon. Base notes of sandalwood, hinoki wood and fruity musk help to create the perfect fusion to delight the senses.
Fragrance personality: Feminine, romantic, decadent. This beautiful, light floral fragrance captures the ethereal elegance of the Japanese cherry blossom.
Fragrance Notes: Top notes: Fuji apple, Chinese magnolia, osmanthus flower. Middle notes: star jasmine, Japanese cherry blossom, Japanese persimmon. Base notes: sandalwood, hinoki wood, fruity musk.
The Japanese Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette is my idea of a perfect romantic floral. The fragrance opens with a buttery smooth floral, the warm sweetness mixed with a hint of fruit. The woody, musky notes mix in with time resulting in a soft, clean, floral. It's a perfect scent for anyone looking for a softer perfume for the daytime and/or mild enough to be worn to work. As with most lighter EDTs, I find that layering over a similar body butter helps a lot with the staying power.


The beauty of integrity: the focus here is on first class ingredients and honest flavours. A variety of fish and seafood are grilled with a few well-chosen additions – like calamari with smoked paprika, or sardines with rosemary salt - but essentially ingredients are allowed to speak for themselves. Crayfish soup and fish stew offer contrast. Contemporary cuisine at its finest.


text:
« Where games and movies cross over: L.A. Noire and Heavy Rain
Haunting Melissa »
Where games and movies cross over: Beyond: Two Souls
By bombshell | Published: February 11, 2014
I've now played Beyond: Two Souls. It's the story of Jodie Holmes (Ellen Page), a young woman who has an unbreakable connection with an "entity". The entity is an unpredictable being with no corporeal form. His name is Aiden (pronounced Eiden) and he and Jodie share a mental link. He behaves a bit like a poltergeist except that he does Jodie's bidding. So on her behalf, he moves through walls and other structures, opens locked doors, throws items around, takes possession of people's bodies and gives her a link to the memories of the dead. (These last two things may not be typical of poltergeists. But he has a certain malevolence about him, which is. And the only noise he makes is like a soul lost in hell.)
Jodie grows up as a kind of lab rat, but one that is looked after by fatherly professors (one of whom is played by Willem Dafoe). As an adult she is handed over to the CIA so they can use her as a weapon. Later, when she escapes from them, they hunt her. But none of this happens in chronological order so we have to piece the story together. I like this narrative device.
The whole story is about Jodie, so David Cage (the writer/director of this game) has had to develop a solid, believable, well-written female character. And he has. In a number of episodes we see her as an 8 or 9 year old and I grew very attached to that little girl. I would play a whole game around little Jodie. I've tried to understand what it is that I'm responding to – I think it's the way she talks, the way she walks. The expressions on her face. What she says. She's so serious and so full of longing. And wise in ways she shouldn't have to be. (So I'm responding to pretty much everything about her then.)
I don't have the same reaction to adult Jodie, though Ellen Page is fantastic. I think the difference is we see a lot more of adult Jodie and in a variety of situations, some of them really quite random and not particularly well written.
When Heavy Rain, Cage's previous game, came out, he spoke about believing in emotion in games and said that that experience could be generated by following someone's everyday life. He seems to have stepped away from that idea somewhat because this game has a good amount of running, shooting and fighting. But as well as that, you also deliver a baby, busk on the street and cook a meal and tidy up your apartment in preparation for a date. I enjoyed all of that more than I enjoyed the shooting and fighting, though some of the running away (particularly on a motorcycle) was quite good.
But some of these episodes were random. Jodie ends up homeless. In terms of the story, I can understand why that happens, but it's in that episode she busks on the street and delivers the baby. I've just said I liked those things, and I do, but in terms of a cohesive overall storyline, they're quite random.
At another point, she's hitch-hiking in the middle of the desert and ends up staying with a Navajo family. This doesn't have to be random, but it is. How did she get to the desert? Why is she there beyond needing to be there for this particular story? It turns out these people are being tormented by an entity, which is rather convenient. There is a grandmother living in the house and she has not spoken for 30 years. So of course, on cue, the grandmother will find her voice and remember the words of a ritual to rid the family of the demon. Deus ex machina. I don't want to see the hand of the writer at work in the story. I want to believe the story.
The random stories don't help the overarching narrative. Everything needs to be firmly connected to advancing a combination of the plot and characterisation, which will also hopefully illuminate some central themes for us. If I'm in the middle of playing one of the chapters and I'm asking myself "why is this chapter here?" then it's not doing its job and shouldn't be there. In this context, the more actiony stories that make sense are the ones that involve US or other governments building hardware to access the entity world (called the Infraworld) and Jodie needing to help when something goes wrong. I think it's good we see Jodie on a CIA mission, though the one they've chosen is again, just random. It was a missed opportunity to have her interact with entities and their world in a way that would turn out to be threatening to herself and Aiden, because that's something we don't see. But having Jodie need to leave, and then be chased by, the CIA after the mission does make sense.
The stories that lie at the heart of the game are the ones about Jodie's everyday life. These stories all make sense, pretty much by definition, because they're helping us understand who she is and what her life is like. We see her as a child and a teenager first at home and then in the lab. We experience her trying to fit in with other kids her age and then later the first freedom she has when she gets her own apartment. I wish there were more of these, particularly when she's a young adult. The chapter where she found her mother was a stroke of brilliance. But I am undecided how I feel about the homeless episode. I think it could have fit better if it had been positioned better into the overall storyline.
As I said, fighting and shooting have been added. But Cage doesn't believe in Game Over so Jodie can't die. Not until the end anyway. So when the CIA parachutes her into their random mission (going into Somalia to kill a warlord), the fighting is really boring. There are very well-mannered soldiers who keep their back turned to her so she can jump them and gunmen who operate in a predictable fashion so she can kill them. She might get captured but she's never going to die. And that's fine, I don't want her to die, I don't particularly like Game Over either. But then the story needs to stretch itself. Can she get hurt so badly she ends up in a Somalian hospital? Or do the CIA have to rush in early and get her out? What else can happen as a repercussion from the fighting going badly or well? Otherwise it's boring. It's very boring.
Aiden's abilities are crafted according to the needs of the particular storyline you're playing. Therefore, they are riddled with inconsistencies. He can move away from Jodie, but only to a certain distance. I can't tell you exactly how far that is though, because in one story it could be about 500 metres, but in another it could be 50 metres. When you want to access him, you press the triangle button on the controller. Theoretically, you can do that at any time. Unless the story doesn't want you to at that particular moment. And while he has the ability to possess people, it's only some people – the ones the game has decided you need.
There is very little freedom in this game. Everything has been prescribed in advance. Even when I walked into a room, I would discover that I had access to only part of the room. Cage does not make open world games. Heavy Rain imposed limits on how far I could go in any given environment. But Beyond: Two Souls further reduces the space in which I have to move. And that dramatically decreases my agency as a player.
Cage has said there are 23 endings to the game. But these endings are just about who is left standing. And whether Jodie winds up with a companion or not. When I played Heavy Rain I felt that I had minimal control over the storyline, but it wasn't the case. In Beyond: Two Souls it is the reality. This game is much less like a game than Heavy Rain. And so, even though overall I enjoyed it more than its predecessor (thanks to playing Jodie), it's a backwards step. That crossover place where games and movies meet should be a true hybrid of the two creative forms, where they bring out the best in each other. It's not meant to be mostly movie and not very much game.
As a fortunate coincidence, I read Ian Bogost's thoughts about Flappy Bird on the same day that I finished Beyond: Two Souls. He gave me much to think about when he said
"Games are encounters with squalor. You don't play a game to experience an idea so much as you do so in an attempt to get a broken machine to work again.
In this way, games are different from other media. Sure, a movie or a book or a painting can depict squalor, can attune us to the agony of misfortune. But unlike film and literature, games do not primarily depict human events and tell stories… We don't watch or read games like we do cinema and novels and paintings, nor do we perform them like we might dance or football or Frisbee. Rather, we do something in-between with games. Yes, we "play" games like we do sports, and yes, games bear "meaning" as do the fine and plastic arts. But something else is at work in games. Games are devices we operate."
I think Beyond: Two Souls forgot that it was a game.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Connector enables subcontractor to be visible in Gebrüder Weiss internal systems and meet requirements for cooperation.
Connector enables transporter to be visible in Gebrüder Weiss internal system and meets requirements for cooperation.
Using this connector you will be visible in Gebrüder Weiss internal tracking system and fulfil requirements of logistic company to cooperate with. Even more – you can manage and schedule your vehicle's visibility to logistic company in advance (start / stop date & time).
There is no transporter sources required – just equipped with TomTom LINK equipment or higher and access to WEBFLEET. All infrastructure is running out of transporter as service and there is no IT installation or additional HW required on customer site.


text:
Tony Blair: UK doesn't need Brexit to curb EU immigration
Britain could bring in tough new controls on immigration from the European Union without actually having to leave the bloc, former prime minister Tony Blair said on Sunday.
Concerns over the impact of high levels of immigration on public services and housing were cited as a factor by many who voted to leave the EU in last year's referendum.
Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative government has said free movement of EU citizens coming to Britain must end.
Many Brexit supporters blame Blair's government, which allowed citizens of former communist states to settle immediately in Britain despite a long transition period implemented by other EU countries, for a big influx of EU migrants from 2004.
"There is no diversion possible from Brexit without addressing the grievances that gave rise to it. Paradoxically, we have to respect the referendum vote to change it," Blair, who has said Brexit can and should be stopped, wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper.
"We can curtail the things that people feel are damaging about European immigration, both by domestic policy change and by agreeing change within Europe to the freedom of movement principle," added Blair, who led a Labour government for a decade from 1997.
Asked about Blair's proposals, defence minister Michael Fallon said the government had to get on with delivering Brexit.
"The country has taken its decision, we are leaving the European Union now and that means freedom of movement has to end … there have got to be restrictions on those coming here," he told BBC Television.
A leaked government document last week said Britain was considering measures to restrict immigration for all but the highest-skilled EU workers, plans some companies called alarming.
A paper published on Sunday by Blair's Institute for Global Change said the government could take steps including registering EU migrants when they arrive to keep track of whether they meet EU rules about finding work.
EU migrants could also be forced to show evidence of a job offer before being allowed to enter Britain, and those without permission to reside could be banned from renting, opening a bank account or accessing welfare benefits, it said.
The paper also proposes seeking an 'emergency brake' to implement temporary controls on migration when services are stretched — a strengthened version of a deal offered to former Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the referendum


text:
package org.jetbrains.jps.incremental.scala.sbtzinc

import java.util

import com.intellij.openapi.util.Key
import org.jetbrains.jps.ModuleChunk
import org.jetbrains.jps.incremental.CompileContext
import org.jetbrains.jps.incremental.scala.SourceDependenciesProviderService
import org.jetbrains.jps.model.module.{JpsDependencyElement, JpsModule, JpsModuleDependency, JpsModuleSourceDependency}

import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
import scala.collection.mutable

/**
  * Keep track of dirty modules and dirty dependant modules for a single build
  */
object ModulesFedToZincStore {
  // We need to duplicate storage since context data somehow miss recompiled modules/scopes
  private val dataKey: Key[Set[String]] = new Key[Set[String]]("MODULES_FED_TO_ZINC") {}
  private val modulesFedToZincStore = java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap.newKeySet[String]()

  def checkIfAnyModuleDependencyWasFedToZinc(context: CompileContext, chunk: ModuleChunk): Boolean = {
    val modulesFedToZinc = ModulesFedToZincStore.get(context)

    def wasCompiledBefore(name: String) =
      modulesFedToZinc.contains(name) || modulesFedToZincStore.contains(name)

    def isModuleAndWasCompiledBefore(elem: JpsDependencyElement): Boolean = {
      elem match {
        case moduleDep: JpsModuleDependency =>
          wasCompiledBefore(moduleDep.getModule.getName)
        case   _: JpsModuleSourceDependency =>
          wasCompiledBefore(elem.getContainingModule.getName)
        case _ => false
      }
    }

    def hasDependencyCompiledBefore(module: JpsModule) =
      module.getDependenciesList.getDependencies.iterator().asScala.exists(isModuleAndWasCompiledBefore)

    val wasFedToZinc = chunk.getModules.iterator().asScala.exists(hasDependencyCompiledBefore)

    wasFedToZinc
  }

  def add(context: CompileContext, moduleNames: Seq[String]): Unit = {
    dataKey.synchronized {
      val previous = getValue(context)
      val next = previous ++ moduleNames
      context.putUserData(dataKey, next)
      modulesFedToZincStore.addAll(moduleNames.asJava)
    }
  }

  private def get(context: CompileContext): Set[String] =
    dataKey.synchronized(getValue(context))

  private def getValue(context: CompileContext): Set[String] =
    Option(context.getUserData(dataKey)).getOrElse(Set.empty[String])

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Home / alden richards / Aldub / Eat Bulaga / Lazada / OPPO F1 / Selfie Expert / sm mall of asia / Alden Richards, The New Face of OPPO F1s Limited
Alden Richards, The New Face of OPPO F1s Limited
Alex De Vera Dizon 11/10/2016 alden richards, Aldub, Eat Bulaga, Lazada, OPPO F1, Selfie Expert, sm mall of asia
All smile and kilig - that's what the everyone experienced after OPPO F1 finally and officially welcomes its new ambassador during its launch at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City last November 08.
Finally, putting an end to it guessing game, mobile technology brand OPPO happily shared the 'new face of the selfie expert' with its special edition F1s Limited that sports a metallic grey color - and it's no other than the Kapuso and Pambansang Bae Alden Richards.
"We are thrilled to welcome Alden Richards to our growing OPPO family. We can't wait to see how Alden will help us redefine our selfie-taking experiences, " says Brand Marketing Manager Stephen Cheng.
Stephen Cheng
The F1s first made waves among Filipino smartphone users last August. The new smartphone was such a hit that more than 19,000 units across the country sold out in just three days after its debut.
National sweetheart
Alden Richards expressed his excitement to work with OPPO, the Philippine's second bestselling smartphone brand according to a report by German-based market research firm GfK.
"Selfies capture life's most unforgettable moments in a very spontaneous way. I'm proud to be part of a family that celebrates those special moments," Richards shared.
Richards is the other half of the phenomenal power couple AlDub, who stars in a segment of long-running noontime show Eat Bulaga. The love team generated a record-breaking number of tweets last March in one of their episodes, a feat recognized by the Guinness World Records during the tenth anniversary of micro-blogging site Twitter.
The selfie expert
Nicknamed the 'selfie expert', the OPPO F1s has a 16-megapixel front-facing camera that can snap bright selfies even in dim light thanks to its large aperture. It also helps users achieve a flawless look through its upgraded beautifying app, Beautify 4.0.
Apart from static selfies, the F1s can create moving images using its Super GIF feature, as well as double-exposure shots that juxtapose two images in one photo to create a sense of motion.
Lightning-fast fingerprint recognition also unlocks the phone in 0.22 seconds. Five fingerprints can be assigned to five contacts or applications for quick access.
The F1s is currently available in gold and rose gold. Concept and dealer stores nationwide will take pre-orders of F1s Limited starting today until November 11. Pre-orders can also be placed through the online shop Lazada. Customers who pre-order will also receive anexclusive set of VR and selfie stick for free.


BitcoinCash Review (BCH) – The Best Money in the World! Each of Bitcoin holders Are owners of Bitcoin Cash. We all welcome to combine with the Bitcoin Cash community as we proceed in creating sound money reachable to the world.
Bitcoin Cash brings the best money to the World, fulfilling the original promise of Bitcoin as "Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash". Advertisers and retailers are empowered with low fees and dependable confirmations. The near future shines brightly with unrestricted growth, global adoption, permissionless creation, and decentralized development.
On Chain Scalability – Bitcoin Cash follows the Nakamoto roadmap of international adoption together with on-chain scaling. As a first step, the blocksize limitation has been made adjustable, using an higher default of 8MB.
New Transaction Signatures – a brand fresh SigHash type provides replay protection, improved hardware wallet security, and removal of the quadratic hashing problem.
New Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA) – Reactive Proof-of-Work difficulty modification allows miners to migrate out of the heritage Bitcoin series as desired, while providing protection against hashrate changes.
Decentralized Development – Using multiple independent teams of programmers providing software implementations the future remains secure. Bitcoin Cash is resistant to political and social attacks on protocol development. No single group or project can control it. The bitcoin-ml subscriber list is just a fantastic venue in making suggestions for changes that require coordination across development teams.
A network which conducts without any congestion.
A payment system that's a proven store of significance.


Join us at the 2019 Dance Marathon Reception to learn more about the Pediatric AIDS Coalition and our cause!
The reception will take place at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Dining Room. Check-in will begin at 5:45 pm. Festivities will begin at 6:00 pm and will include a silent auction as well as various speakers and presentations. Dinner and drinks will be served free of charge. The program will end at 8:00 pm. Attendees will then be invited to take a tour of Dance Marathon following the end of the program.


Managing your fleet is a difficult task. We understand the frustrations with paper logs, inspection reports, payroll, driver tracking, asset management and all the accompanied tedious work. Now optimizing your fleet is as easy as a click-of-a-button. Mobile Warrior automatically captures and reports driver data, including Hours of Service (HOS), inspections, expenses, loads and more. When it comes to improving your fleet's performance, it's never been easier and more affordable. From smartphones and tablets to your screen, Mobile Warrior puts you in control.
Customize driver payroll reports by miles, hours, shifts, etc.
See how Mobile Warrior can benefit with the right fleet software solution.


Another Facial mask, another review!
Today's mask: Montagne Jeunesse Apricot scrub!
WHAT'S IT'S SUPPOSE TO DO?
According to Montagne Jeunesse, it is suppose to revitalize and deep cleanse. The crushed Apricot Kernels removes dead skin cells whilst Aloe Vera softens & soothes leaving skin super soft.
This mask seemed as if it came with a little in the packet but when you pour it on to your hand/fingertips it was A LOT and very thick. You also feel the apricot kernels, which are used to exfoliate your skin.
I am not gonna lie, this mask burned my skin as soon as I put it on. A tad. But it smelled so good and from the first 2 minutes seemed as if it was doing its job!
I let it sit for 10 minutes. I felt it tingle after 5! You know when it tingles, its doing its job.
My skin felt SUPER exfoliated! and CLEAN!! It did what it said it would do!
You look gorgeous as always! I love their scrubs, they are so affordable and work so well!
Great review girly and I'm a regular user of this product too.


text:
H.R. 1822: Polar Security Cutter Acquisition Act of 2019
The text of the bill below is as of Mar 18, 2019 (Introduced).
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. Gibbs introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
To provide acquisition requirements for Coast Guard Polar Security Cutters, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the Polar Security Cutter Acquisition Act of 2019 .
Polar security cutter acquisition requirements
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012
Section 222 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–213) is amended by—
redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
inserting after subsection (b) the following:
Acquisition requirements
Subject to the availability of appropriations, in acquiring any polar icebreaker, except for an icebreaker authorized under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115–91), the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall—
limit military specifications for such vessel to armament, aviation capabilities, communications equipment, and navigation equipment, as described in the letter report, unless funding is provided from other than appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security;
ensure specifications and key drawings are complete before awarding the contract for construction;
ensure detail design of the vessel is complete before the start of construction;
to the extent practicable, use the block-buy contract authority provided under section 1137 of title 14, United States Code; and
ensure all icebreaker hulls are science ready and icebreaker hull number four is science capable, as described in the letter report.
In this subsection, the term letter report means the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on Polar Icebreaker Cost Assessment letter report entitled Acquisition and Operation of Polar Icebreakers: Fulfilling the Nation's Needs and dated July 11, 2017.
Technical correction
Section 207(a)(6) of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–120) is amended by striking in subsection (d) ( and inserting in subsection (e) ( .
The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall be effective upon the enactment of such Act.


Free Shipping: Many big name retailers offer free shipping during the holiday season. Some will require a minimum purchase, and most will also provide free shipping on returns. Check online to find out where you can get free shipping.
Price-Comparison Apps: These apps can help find the best deals, saving you time and money. A few price-comparison apps to try include the Amazon app, which has a barcode scanner so that when you're shopping in a store, you can see if that item is cheaper on Amazon; Wal-Mart app and its Savings Catcher, which lets you compare prices on your purchases at Wal-Mart against competitors; and ShopSavvy, which can save you money by comparing prices, finding cash back retailers, and keeping you up-to-date when prices drop on a specific item you're interested in.
This holiday season, find the best deals and look for freebies for a debt-free holiday!


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text:
Henkel prepares for June start in Stamford
by Building and Land Technology
The city's largest corporate arrival this year is planning to make its move within the next few weeks.
In June, Henkel Corp. will open its North American consumer-goods headquarters at 200 Elm St., according to a billboard advertisement posted a block away on South State Street. The company is relocating its laundry, beauty and home-care divisions from Scottsdale, Ariz., a transfer announced last October.
"Henkel knows innovation," reads the message inside the silhouette of a detergent bottle in the ad. "Join us," says another line in the ad, which contains a link to listings for Henkel jobs in Connecticut.
A similar billboard ad is posted on Greenwich Avenue, a few hundred yards from the downtown Metro-North train station.
"It's great news for Stamford," Catherine Smith, the state's economic and community development commissioner, said Monday. "It's great for the state to have these well-paid and good jobs landing in Stamford. They're a very classy company."
Messages left for Henkel were not immediately returned. Building and Land Technology, the landlord of 200 Elm St., did not respond to a request for comment.
Henkel will occupy 155,000 square feet at 200 Elm St., which comprises part of the BLT Financial Centre complex. The company will use all of the sixth floor and most of the fifth floor. The company plans to start with 266 Stamford-based employees and expand to about 500 by 2018.
In addition to offices, Henkel's space will include a laboratory for the development and testing of its beauty products. The laboratory will include a center focused on product formulations and packaging, a clinical testing facility and a "hair learning" salon, according to the company.
"As research activities are conducted in partnership with business functions like marketing and supply chain, we feel it is ideal to have our beauty care research and development in the same site," Henkel officials said in a statement in January. "This enables close collaboration and exchange of ideas with colleagues."
The company's roster of consumer-goods brands includes Persil, all, Purex, Schwarzkopf, Snuggle, Dial, got2b, Renuzit and Loctite.
In addition to the transfer of its Arizona operations, the company is also moving Wilton-based Sun Products, which was acquired in September, to Stamford.
Up to $25 million in state loans and tax credits and a $30 million investment from Henkel are funding the creation of the Stamford hub. Henkel's global headquarters are in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The signing of Henkel marked the second recruit for the BLT Financial Centre, a property that covers some 590,000 square feet, since it was acquired in 2012 by BLT. In November 2014, professional-services giant Deloitte moved into about 120,000 square feet in the clock-tower building at the adjoining 695 E. Main St.
Audit, tax and consulting firm RSM also plans to move to 200 Elm St. later this year. It will lease 27,800 square feet on the second floor.
When BLT purchased the Financial Centre, the property stood vacant following the departure of Gen Re a couple years earlier for a new home on Long Ridge Road. BLT then embarked on a major renovation that included splitting the structure into two connected buildings and creating a large atrium and separate entrances.
BLT's other Stamford holdings include most of the Harbor Point mixed-use development and the Silicon Harbor office complex in the South End and the Long Ridge Health and Science center on Long Ridge Road.


If you have a valid subscription, than you are eligible for cloud Limited support.
– Configure your new account.
– Migrate your E-mail from another services.
– Our dedicated technical person will help you select the right service required for your business or assist you with our Limited Technical support.


"When in the Course of human events," a child is born is it morally proper for the child's parents to obtain a State-issued birth certificate? Do State birth certificates violate "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"? If "all men are created equal," and "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," does the issuance and possession of a government birth certificate allow some children to take advantage of government-granted privileges (which would not otherwise be permitted to them)? In short, does a government birth certificate make some people "more equal" than others? This question obviously leads us to ask: what are the ramifications of not having a birth certificate in a statist world?
While working on my anthology, NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS: ESSAYS IN OPPOSITION, my wife and I discussed these questions because birth certificates are one of the primary ways in which the State counts and controls its citizens. As the laws are written in most states, it is the obligation of the parents, the attending physician, or the midwife, to "register" the birth of a child with State authorities. Their failure or refusal to do so will possibly make them subject to some sort of criminal penalty for "failure to register a birth." However, so far as I know, there is no crime in "not having a birth certificate." In other words, there is no law that operates upon the person who is born to have a birth certificate. The penal sanctions are upon those who witness the birth, not upon the newborn.
In stateless societies birth certificates would generally be a private or religious matter. Parents might choose to make a private or church record of the births of their children, or they may chose to make none at all. Only since the rise of the nation-state in the later Middle Ages has it occurred to anyone that there might be a reason to have governments document human births. In many areas of the world, for many centuries before the official beginning of the United States there was never any requirement that births be registered with the political authorities. Under such circumstances, it was never a crime not to report or register a birth. When it did become a crime, one might have asked: Who has been harmed by not reporting a birth or obtaining a birth certificate for one's newborn? Failure to report a birth can thus be seen as a violation of a "political" statute, but it is clearly not a "real" crime. It is certainly not a crime against God's law or Nature's Law not to have a birth certificate, and that being the case, it certainly cannot be a real crime to fail to report the birth to the political authorities.
Are we "owned" by the State or is each individual a self-owner? Isn't everyone "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights"? Or do children need to be registered with the government of their native country in order to "legally" exist and receive whatever privileges and benefits that government condescends to grant them? Isn't the birth certificate really a badge of slavery?
Parents by your actions, you make this choice for your children.


To be honest, carrying a cable in your car or bag to keep your phone charged probably isn't that big a deal to most people. But for those of us who can't be bothered to take one along, the ChargeCard is a brilliantly designed gadget to keep your mobile phone or iPod topped up at all times.
The ChargeCard is, more or less, a USB cable sans cord. It's the size and shape of a credit card, so it stores handily in your wallet or pocket. You can keep one in your wallet at all times just in case of an eventual iPhone battery emergency – and you'll never even know it's there.
This cool idea earned way more than its goal on Kickstarter, and it's generated a lot of interest from people who presumably find themselves stranded with a dead phone pretty often. The device comes in two flavors: iPhone/iPod or Micro USB. They'll each run you $25 – not a terrible price for such a handy little piece of battery insurance.


The Badminton World Federation (BWF) Superseries is a 12 tournament series designed to attract the top 32 players from around the world. This year 5 of the tournaments were specially selected to form the Premier Series events which included the Yonex All England Superseries Premier 2011.
It is now possible to watch these super series tournaments live online via The Badminton World TV's Youtube channel. This weekend saw the first tournament, the 2011 Li-Ning Singapore Open, streamed online.
Future online streaming for the 5 Premier Superseries will begin from the round of 16 matches, while the remaining 7 legs of the Superseries will showcase TV-court matches from the quarterfinals day to the finals. At least 5 matches will be streamed on each day.
For more information, check out the official BWF announcement.


"It's a horrific scene in there," Dean said in the parking lot. "There's blood everywhere.
"It's a gun culture. It's a culture, and it's not about being Democrat or Republican," he said. "You can't go to a bar or nightclub? You can't go to church or synagogue? It's insane is the only way to describe it.
The normalization, that's the only way I can describe it. It's become normalized."


Boer Group comprises 11 companies based in, amongst others, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Boer Group also participates in a large number of organisations and takes part in initiatives. It has partners around the world.
For more information, click on the various companies of the Boer Group in the overview below.
You can search per category or country.


Zhang Zhixin (张志新, 1930-1975) is a very unusual martyr in the official Party register: she spoke out against Lin Biao, Jiang Qing and even Mao himself during the Cultural Revolution.
Zhang was born in Tianjin and had an exemplary career. She joined the People's Voluntary Army during the Korean War, studied Russian at People's University, and worked for the Party's Propaganda Bureau in Shenyang (Liaoning Province).
In 1969, Zhang was sent to a 7 May Cadre School, where she had to perform manual labor and undergo ideological reeducation, like countless other cadres and intellectuals from the cities. But during this period of 'reeducation', Zhang expressed her opinions strongly. According to her, Mao had become theoretically weak, immodest and less democratic, Lin Biao was too leftist, Jiang Qing and the Central Cultural Revolution Group should be exposed.
Zhang was arrested in September 1969. Even in prison she refused to yield, and kept proclaiming to be an honest Party member defending justice and truth. She was sentenced to death, later changed to life imprisonment. In prison, Zhang was repeatedly tortured and raped.
Forced to attend a "Criticize Lin Biao and Confucius" meeting in 1973, Zhang shouted that Mao should be held responsible for what now were seen as Lin Biao's crimes. Zhang was sentenced to death again, and executed in a brutal manner on April 4, 1975.
Zhang's relatives started a campaign for her rehabilition after the end of the Cultural Revolution. In March 1979 Zhang was declared a Revolutionary Martyr, which received a lot of national and international attention. Later that year a statue of Zhang Zhixin as a fierce archer on a striding horse was erected in the People's Park in Guangzhou.The "Zhang campaign" was toned down after some time. Too much attention for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution was judged undesirable.


text:
module Imagery
  module Test
    def self.included(base)
      Imagery::Model.send :include, Imagery::Faking
      Imagery::Model.mode = :fake
    end

  protected
    def imagery
      if ENV["REAL_IMAGERY"]
        Imagery::Model.real { yield true }
      else
        Imagery::Model.faked { yield false }
      end
    end
  end
end


Kristine Pelatt, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Physics, received an $800 Curriculum Development Award to develop an applied math course for physics, math, and engineering students. The course will focus on mathematical concepts that are currently not covered in courses offered at St. Kate's and application of advanced mathematical concepts to physics and engineering. The course will prepare students for upper level physics and engineering courses and increase the breadth and depth of courses offered to math majors at St. Kate's.
Pelatt, Kristine, "Developing an Applied Math for Physics Course" (2014). Internal Grant Awards. 62.


LAKE CHARLES – The Bossier High Bearkats defeated Washington-Marion 42-39 to win the Class 4A state basketball championship Saturday night at McNeese State's Burton Memorial Coliseum Complex.
Tyrese English led the Bearkats with 14 points. Larry Robinson III was named the Class 4A Most Outstanding Player, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game.
The Bearkats outscored Washington-Marion 21-14 in the second half and held the Indians to just three points in the third quarter. The Indians missed a 3-pointer with just four seconds left that would have tied the game.


Former New Star chief investment officer Alan Miller has unveiled his new business venture that he says will look to revolutionize the private client wealth management industry.
Spencer-Churchill Miller Private is planning two offerings to be based purely around the use of exchange traded funds.
The first product will be managed in the same vein as a managed pension fund. The product will have a long-term bias towards equities with a benchmark exposure of 70 per cent. Bonds and cash will account for 22.5 and 7.5 per cent of the portfolio respectively.
The second offering is set to be an absolute return offering that will be managed on a more aggressive basis, with the aim of beating cash by 5 per cent.
Both will make use of a number of liquid ETF's and will have a minimum investment of £1m. The two products will have an annual management charge of 0.75 per cent with a performance fee of 5 per cent.
All investments will be held in the client's own name via Pershing Securities Limited, a Bank of New York Mellon Corporation subsidiary.
Despite research from Spencer-Churchill Miller Private that shows that the wealth management sector is growing, Miller says many clients of wealth managers have received a dreadful service which has been highlighted by the recent fall in markets.
The concept is not so "new". Martin Asset Management, LLC (www.martinassetmgt.com) has been managing ETF-based strategies since 2007.


New York based Egg Collective's trio, Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis, and Hillary Petric are super busy creating the next generation of heirlooms. With backgrounds in architecture, woodworking and art, they continuously achieve furniture that is quietly highbrow.
True conception, seamless craftsmanship and a sublime choice of materiality ensures longevity. Each piece a hero in its own right, their collection also works as an eclectic complementary family. The 'Ritter Chest's warm grey lacquered wood body is topped in stone and floats above its petite bronze feet. The marble base of the 'Hawley ' side table sits firmly on the ground while its hexagonal brass disc radiates invitingly. The 'Hanger Bookcase', 'Turner Sideboard', and 'Morrison Sideboard' are divine examples of storage in materials such as walnut, bronze, stone and leather.
This ensemble of wonderful talent are perhaps just in time to save us all from consumerism as their legacy of furniture will outlive us all.


text:
Phoenix area hit with another round of dust storms Tuesday
(Screenshot)
PHOENIX — Just one day after a massive monsoon engulfed the Valley in wind, rain and dust for the first major storm of the season, officials in Phoenix warned residents that another major weather event would take place on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service in Phoenix issued a dust advisory for parts of Maricopa and Pinal counties in south central and southeastern Arizona until 5:45 p.m. A flash flood warning was also issued for parts of Maricopa and Gila counties in east- and south-central Arizona until 7:30 p.m.
Cameras captured a large wall of dust extending from Arizona Mills Mall to seven miles southeast of Estrella Mountain Park to six miles southwest of Big Horn. It was moving northwest at 25 mph.
The dust storm has moved into downtown Phoenix! Watch our live #ValleyView cameras https://t.co/3cFxNaGOoJ pic.twitter.com/n64L9HcH9q
— Maricopa County (@maricopacounty) July 11, 2018
458 PM: Dust Advisory: The wall of dust continues to push northwest. Drivers in the hatched area use extra caution and pull aside if you encounter dust. #azwx pic.twitter.com/eeBlajExJc
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) July 10, 2018
Bianca Hernandez with the National Weather Service told KTAR News 92.3 FM that the dust was unlikely to bring the massive rain storm that residents saw on Monday, but warned that anyone driving on freeways in the area should pull aside in an attempt to stay safe.
"We've had pretty good activity down in southeast Arizona today and that's starting to push toward the northwest," she said. "As a result, there was an outflow boundary that's now progressing toward the Phoenix area and it's actually picking up some dust and producing a dust storm.
Monsoon storms blows through Phoenix area, thousands lose power
Monday storms bring blowing dust, strong winds, rain to Valley
Videos show severe thunderstorm making its way across the Valley
See spectacular images of enormous dust walls in Arizona
"It looks like the wall of dust with some rain behind it, so there is a potential for some of these storms to creep into the Phoenix area, but it's looking like the potential is there for the blowing dust and the dusty winds," Hernandez added.
"It doesn't look like we're going to see the same thing that we saw yesterday today. Just remember, if you encounter the dust, pull aside. It's really dangerous to attempt to drive through something like this."
* STORM ALERT * The rain is falling in the West Valley. These photos show the I-10 at El Mirage and Avondale. #PhxTraffic pic.twitter.com/5ourVicD6Z
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) July 11, 2018
The monsoon season officially kicked off June 15. Valley residents saw it in action Monday.
Many parts of the Valley had at least a half-inch of rain or more, with the area just south of downtown Phoenix receiving the highest rainfall total at 1.34 inches.
Both SRP and APS reported power outages as the storm rolled through, with more than 70,000 residents affected.
But it did not stop there: Heavy rain from a monsoon storm in southern Arizona reportedly caused a train derailment in Marana around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Northwest Fire District officials said there was no indication any hazardous material spilled from the derailment, but debris was scattered across train tracks and a frontage road.
At one point, more than 2,000 Tucson Electric Power customers were without electricity because of the storm.
Company officials said crews quickly restored power to most of the homes and businesses.
However, there was some good news: The National Weather Service said the high temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Tuesday was 98 degrees — about 9 degrees below normal.
KTAR News 92.3 FM's Ali Vetnar and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
5 things to look for when selecting an ophthalmologist
Clean energy: Why it matters for Arizona


Fountain of Neptune anchors Bologna's Piazza Maggiore.
BOLOGNA —- Bologna's location is one of its major attractions, said Na'ama, the young Israeli economist who came here to study at the oldest university on the continent.
There's also Turin, Venice, the Italian lake country, Padua, and Florence all within a two-hour train ride.
After a 45-minute ride, we debarked onto the comfortably clean streets of Parma and fine-tuned our noses to hone in on a local delicacy — not parmesan cheese but prosciutto di Parma. Cut thin enough to almost see through, this version of the Italian cured ham is tender on the teeth and has a keen flavor that still lingers.
The following day, we headed in the opposite direction to Ravenna, just off the Adriatic coast.
Before tracking down a site to gorge on a plate of overflowing seafood, we made our way to the Basilica di San Vitale to view 1,500-year-old mosaics that reflect the town's tenure as capital of the Byzantine Empire in Europe for three centuries.
We stopped by Dante's tomb on the way. Dante was tossed out of is native Florence after he picked the wrong side in the ongoing battle with the papacy. In exile, he wrote "The Divine Comedy" after taking up residence in Ravenna.
Incidentally, you won't find any baloney in Bologna. The model for the U.S. version of the large round ground-pork sausage is mortadella, which houses delectable chunks of fat and, when copied on this side of the Atlantic, was dubbed bologna/baloney.
And the street-and-sidewalk no-baloney bustle convinced us we weren't in the typical town when one thinks of somnolent sunny Italy.
The desk clerk gave us a polite but brisk "Bon giorno." The fellows who put together our coffees, rolls and fruit in the eating emporium down the street must have known we weren't fully awakened to local prices. The bill for a banana was more than $4, which taught us quickly to ask the locals where they munch.
The clerks in the bank where I set off alarms by trying to exit through the wrong door did not take operatic offense. They just politely pointed me to the designated door without much more than a polite shrug.
The point is, Bologna is as much business as badinage. But it's still as much about food as finance.
For our introduction to what Bolognese boast about — tortelloni made on the premises — we checked with merchants in the old quarter. A florist suggested Trattoria da Gianni, a hole in the wall down a little alley that we would have overlooked. The proprietor ushered us to a table crammed amongst many jammed with men and women in office attire who gathered here for the same reason we did. The fine food.
After getting fortified with the local specialty, we moved on to visit the two leaning towers that anchor the historic downtown. While not as attractive nor as storied as Pisa's I Torre Pendente, these two monoliths lounge unruffled by the hurrying hordes and beeping buses rumbling around their bases. They appear more attuned to the music and musings that emanate from the nearby University of Bologna grounds, where Copernicus and Dante once scurried to class.
There's an outdoor market every Friday in the Piazza dell' VIII Agosto on the rim of the commercial hub that offers everything from boots to bracelets. Merchants in the nearby market-and-bakery complex display an array of fruit, vegetables, breads and sweets to match all the sights and scents of one's dreams.
Among them we found a fist-sized roll with thumb-sized studs poking out in all directions. They appeared on our table at Trattoria Fantoni, another enticing hole-in-the-wall eatery, where we watched other diners break off these protuberences and eat them as breadsticks.


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The 2023 Córdoba Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 5th edition of the Córdoba Open, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2023 ATP Tour. It took place at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba, Argentina, from 4 until 12 February 2023.

Champions

Singles

  Sebastián Báez def.  Federico Coria, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3

Doubles

  Máximo González /  Andrés Molteni def.  Sadio Doumbia /  Fabien Reboul, 6–4, 6–4

Point and prize money

Point distribution

Prize money

*per team

Singles main draw entrants

Seeds

 1 Rankings are as of 30 January 2023.

Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:
  Tomás Barrios Vera
  Juan Manuel Cerúndolo
  Guido Pella

The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:
  Luciano Darderi
  Federico Delbonis
  Hugo Dellien
  Andrea Vavassori

Withdrawals
 Before the tournament
  Laslo Đere → replaced by  Juan Pablo Varillas
  Fabio Fognini → replaced by  Pablo Andújar
  Corentin Moutet → replaced by  Alejandro Tabilo
  Jaume Munar → replaced by  Hugo Gaston

Doubles main draw entrants

Seeds

 1 Rankings are as of 30 January 2023.

Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:
  Guido Andreozzi /  Guillermo Durán
  Nicolás Kicker /  Thiago Seyboth Wild

The following pairs received entry as alternates:
  Boris Arias /  Federico Zeballos
  Hernán Casanova /  Andrea Collarini

Withdrawals
Before the tournament
  Pedro Cachín /  Francisco Cerúndolo  → replaced by  Boris Arias /  Federico Zeballos
  Albert Ramos Viñolas /  Bernabé Zapata Miralles → replaced by  Hernán Casanova /  Andrea Collarini

References

External links
Official website

Córdoba Open
Córdoba Open
Córdoba Open
Cordoba Open

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Slaughterhouse & Ne-Yo Weigh In On Frank Ocean's Sexuality (VIDEO)
Dimas Sanfiorenzo
The biggest story of the last couple of weeks has been Frank Ocean revealing to the world that he was once in love with a man.
Since Frank tweeted out the letter to a man he called his "first love," more and more artists have been publicly showing support for his decision to open up about his bisexuality.
PHOTOS: Beyonce Shows Support For Frank Ocean!
The two latest artists to show their support are super rap group Slaughterhouse and R&B singer Ne-Yo.
Fuse TV was interviewing Slaughterhouse when Frank Ocean's decision came up. The group's two leaders, Joe Budden and Royce Da 5'9, showed the most vocal support. Budden, one who isn't afraid to be honest in his music, said:
"This is great. I mean, I applaud him. Like I said, the album is amazing, and hats off to him. Hats off to anybody that's comfortable with himself or herself. Much better than ninety-nine percent of these people running around, pretending to be something they're not."
While Royce then added:
"A huge part of the industry is insecure. So I embrace integrity. Definitely. I think it's awesome."
EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Hamilton Says Frank Ocean's Sexuality "Doesn't Matter"
Ne-Yo was asked about Frank while talking with Yesi Ortiz of Power 106. Ne-Yo's comments mirrored Slaughterhouse's:
"To each his own, if that's how he rock, that's how he rock, you know what I mean. It don't change the fact that his music is incredible, it don't change the fact that he's an incredible artist."
However, while on the topic of sexuality, Ne-Yo also requested that the gay rumors that have been plaguing him most of his career stop:
"Call me ugly or something, let's think of something else, this whole gay thing has been lingering for a little too long. Say I'm adopted, I'll take the ninja turtle comments, I'll take that, let's do something else."
It's refreshing to see that the majority of comments on Frank Ocean's decision have been full of great positivity.
SOURCE: FuseTV, HotNewHipHop
Frank Ocean Slaughterhouse


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Paramount Gets China Infusion: $1 Billion, 3-Year Slate Co-Financing Deal With Shanghai Film Group & Huahua Media
Posted by aurelius77 on January 20, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has made its most significant long-term alliance in China since Viacom chief Shari Redstone nixed a 49% stake sale to Dalian Wanda for $4.9 billion last year. The studio has closed deals with Shanghai Film Group Corp and Beijing-based Huahua Media for those companies to fund 25% or more of the studio's entire film slate for the next three years, with an option for a fourth.
The deal is worth a potential $1 billion in slate funds, which is retroactive to Par's fourth-quarter films. It extends a relationship between the studio and Chinese companies that already was growing. The deal also will help Paramount with the release and marketing of its films in China. Shanghai United, the country's second-largest distributor, will be very involved in assisting Paramount with the dating and distribution of its movies in China going forward. The prospect of a team-up in co-productions of Chinese films also is being eyed.
Paramount was hamstrung by poor picture choices and Dauman's strategy of stock buybacks at the expense of growing Viacom's core film and television businesses. That left Paramount unable to buy Marvel or DreamWorks Animation, when it released films for both. Markets share has been lower than most rivals, as annual output of films in some years dipped as low as eight titles. The studio experienced the worst performance of Grey's 11-year tenure in 2016: While year-end films Fences, Arrival and Silence have been in the awards mix, the expensive pictures Allied and Monster Trucks failed to catch on with audiences.
With the Dauman fiscal constraints gone, Grey is moving as fast as possible to build the studio's output up to 15-17 films per year. Covering the risk of one-quarter or more of that certainly will help that effort, particularly as a deal with its most reliable co-financier, Skydance, moves toward expiration. Paramount will fill the 15-to 17-film slate with mostly homegrown fare, with some pre-buys and acquisition of a festival film.
The funding level makes it different than the pact Sony signed with Wanda in September that calls for China's largest exhibition company to take minority stakes in some films; that deal was mostly done to facilitate entry into China for Sony's tentpole fare.
Full article: Paramount Gets China Infusion: $1 Billion, 3-Year Slate Co-Financing Deal With Shanghai Film Group & Huahua Media (Deadline)
This entry was posted in Business & Economics, China, Economic Warfare, Espionage, National Security & Terrorism, Politics, USA and tagged Beijing, Brad Gre, Business & Economics, China, Chinese companies, Chinese films, Chinese production, Dalian Wanda, DreamWorks Animation, economic warfare, Espionage, hollywood, Huahua Media, Marvel, National Security & Terrorism, Paramount Gets China Infusion: $1 Billion 3-Year Slate Co-Financing Deal With Shanghai Film Group & Huahua Media, Paramount Pictures, Philippe Dauman, politics, Shanghai Film Group Corp, Shanghai United, Shari Redstone, Skydance, Sony, Sumner Redstone, U.S. film industry, United States, Viacom. Bookmark the permalink.
Jack Ma: America has wasted its wealth
Turkey, 'Axis of Gold' and the End of US Dollar Hegemony


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Q: Intermittently not receiving form emails SMTP I run a classic asp website in which several thousand emails are sent a day through SMTP.  I use Cdo.Message.  A single "To" Email address and a Single "From" email address are used.  The majority of these messages are received; however, recently several messages each day are getting stuck somewhere (not sure where).
Logs show that users have accessed the page; therefore, the message should be sent (It is sent on page load).  There are no traces of emails not sent in any of the SMTP folders.  Where else should I look?

A: Could those users be search engine robots? What does it take to get to that page? how about robotic submissions that are brute forcing their way thru?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Custom engineered products with off-the-shelf convenience tailored to your exact requirements.
Our innovative design and engineering facility brings you an all-in-one solution for any automotive project.
At the heart of our unique motorsport and automotive business is an expert team driven by a passion for what we do and how we do it.
Our team is small but what really counts is our wealth of experience gained from over a decade working together at the top level of motorsport - the World Rally Championship. A combination of this knowledge and our advanced engineering facility makes us somewhat unique in the market place. Our in-house technology and relentless development allow us to innovate and offer some of the best solutions available for you and your car.
Our clients have come to recognise our passion to deliver with every challenge and request. We work hard to earn trust, we treat everyone as individuals, and and we usually take the first steps over a cup of tea or coffee!
With one of the leading setups in Europe, our capabilities know no bounds. Whether you ask us to develop a motorsport vehicle from scratch, you simply want to get the best performance from your road car or you need a 4x4 to trek across Africa – we have the expertise for the job.
From concept to completion every ProSpeed vehicle is lovingly designed, engineered and maintained – for you.


Eco friendly sky blue Modal top with side ties.
Eco friendly sky blue top made of soft modal fabric, with side ties and scoop neck.
Model wears size S and is 5.9 tall.
Blue top made in modal. Made of wood pulp from sustainable resources.


Apple Box Design Studio is an Edmonton atelier offering workshops and custom painting.
Please contact Apple Box Boutique for information, appointments or media requests.
By Appt. or if attending a workshop.
© 2013 - 2017 Apple Box(TM) Design Studio, a division of Apple Box(TM) Boutique Inc.


A Soviet commercial ship is legally transporting opium for pharmaceuticals. While at sea, it is attacked by pirates who have a goal of seizing the opium and selling it on the black market. To cover their crime, the pirates make a ruthless attempt to eliminate all witnesses—to kill all the crew. Several survivors have different plans, however. They want to have their ship back and bring the pirates to justice. This exciting Russian film, Pirates of the 20th Century, sets the stage for a unit in which students learn about a Russian historical event, and compare Russian ideas of heroism with their own, and have an opportunity to connect the past to the present by perhaps talking with survivors of local disasters.
Learners may at first doubt the relevancy of a film on sea piracy. Help make the link between the past and the present by asking a variety of questions such as the following: When we say sea pirates, what period in history do we picture? What kind of piracy can we expect today? Cyber piracy? Intellectual property theft? Terrorism? Why does an attack by sea pirates seem incredible in today's world? We do not expect sea pirates in the modern world, but this fact may only make us more vulnerable. Students may name various cases of modern piracy including international act of terrorism such as the Munich Olympics in 1972 and the more recent attacks on the World Trade Center.
Provide a world map to locate regions that learners mention, and supply key vocabulary as needed to help them express as many of their ideas in Russian as possible. Such words as terrorists, attack, pirates, etc. can be learned easily because they are cognates. Several verb phrases in the past tense can be repeated by the teacher such as captured hostages, held hostage, demanded ransom, claimed responsibility, and attempted to negotiate. The class can compile a common key vocabulary list to which they add, or learners may keep a personal vocabulary list of topic-related words to use throughout the unit. Students further discuss in smaller groups what they know about terrorist attacks or any disasters in Russia using the new vocabulary to the extent of their comfort. Their goal is to name as many as possible and briefly describe each (a sentence or two) using the new phrases. (Normally, students try to copy their teacher. When the teacher values communication over a vocabulary exercise, students eagerly use the new "cool" phrases.) To illustrate real-word use of the vocabulary, the teacher should bring several newspaper articles in Russian featuring the new word, if possible.
Watch the video before showing it to the class, and choose language structures to review or introduce relative to your curriculum and the students' proficiency level (e.g., adverbs such as suddenly, unexpectedly, and fiercely; names of the characters who survived; action verbs).
To begin, announce that the movie is based on real events. (At this point, students have reflected on a lot of battles with terrorists. However, there still are those only a few know about.) Prepare and give students a list of 5-10 true/false statements based on the first part of the movie, which includes the seizure of the ship and cargo by the pirates. Sample statements include: "The pirates demanded a ransom," or "Sergei escaped alone." Students watch part one with either Russian or English subtitles, depending on their Russian proficiency. As they watch, their task is to mark all the statements on the list as true or false.
After viewing, students get into teams and discuss their answers, sharing intelligence. As if a special division of police investigating the case, they retrace the terrorist attack on the ship using a map and their imagination. Students talk about what the surviving crew should do next, and they create an emergency plan of action. Help students by providing key words in Russian as needed. Students may also review or be introduced to several Russian nouns and action verbs (infinitives) as well as some modal structures such as they should, they should have first … and then… Before watching the second part, students work as a class to summarize what happened in the first part, using the new phrases they learned in past tense. Each group reports on their emergency action plan, summarizing what they think the surviving crew should do.
After groups have specified all the steps on their action plan (5-10 items), they next transform the plan into a hypothetical scenario of what they think will happen next, creating their own list of true/false statements in the present tense ("Sergei swims to the neighboring island and sets a fire," etc.). As they watch the second part, students compare their strategy proposals (T/F statements) to what the characters are actually doing. Here they may learn more verb phrases in the past tense as well as try out some should have constructions. They check their statements as true or false in the same way as the list of statements prepared by teacher. Finally, learners can read the true statements from both parts to summarize the movie plot.
Learners have an opportunity to expand their understanding of the topic and language use through a variety of activities and final projects that demonstrate what they have learned about the topic. The teacher may choose an activity/project to engage the whole class, or students may choose one for themselves or a group from among those that follow.
Students reflect on the concept of courage as they see it exemplified in their own culture and as they saw it illustrated in the Russian film. They investigate through newspapers and the Internet other events in Russian culture involving acts of courage, comparing the concept in the two cultures as illustrated by the events they have researched. As a final product, these students imagine a reunion of the characters in 10 years. (What are they doing? How have the events they lived through together changed their lives? When they meet, what are they discussing?) Students stage a short play in which the former heroes are meeting in a restaurant to remember their heroic past when another accident happens (e.g., a bank robbery with several people taken hostages) and their courage and leadership is needed again.
The movie is based on real events. Learners search newspaper archives in the library and the web (NPR archives, CNN, History Channel, etc.) to learn more about the event and several other real episodes where planes or ships were seized by pirates. Students could explore such emergency situations as the Kursk submarine disaster or space emergencies. They learn about the people involved and what they had to do to survive. Students may interview members of the local Russian community about whether and how one of the disasters affected them personally. Eventually, students make a presentation on an event of their choice before their classmates and parents who have been invited to the presentation.
As a final project, students can make a collage, develop a PowerPoint presentation, or create a graphic organizer to discuss the images of a hero in Russian and American cultures based on what they have learned in the preceding activity. As an alternative, they may present a dramatization of the real story of the Pirates of the 20th Century or a similar real life story before their classmates, school, or community.
In all cases, the teacher may want to connect with the local community by inviting the local television station to cover the final presentations. Publicity could be posted in school and around the community announcing the broadcast on the evening news. The television station would likely be willing to provide a copy of the tape which could be replayed for the school. If the television option is not available, try the school newspaper or invite some parents to do the filming and mix it into a short movie. Show the movie at Back To School Night.
Communication: The interpersonal mode is used during group discussions and activities; the interpretive mode is used as students watch the video and search for information on-line and in the community; the presentational mode is used when students present their final projects.
Cultures: Students investigate Russian practices and perspectives as they reflect on the concepts of heroism and courage in Russian culture.
Connections: Students use Russian-language sources on the Internet to learn more about the events of the movie. They connect to other disciplines such as social studies as they learn about historical events in Russia.
Comparisons: Students compare people's actions in critical situations in Russian and American culture; they compare the image of a hero in both cultures.
Communities: Students search local information and present their final projects before their school and/or local community. They engage members of the local Russian community or those of Russian heritage in the activities where possible.
After watching the movie, more advanced students could discuss what security devices should be installed on ships and what measures taken by the crew to prevent being cut off from the rest of the world—or prevent terrorist attacks altogether.
NOTE: These Internet resources may have changed since publication or no longer be available. Active links should be carefully screened before recommending to students.
The Air Crew (NTSC, English or Russian subtitles) Another capturing thriller; a Russian passenger aircraft with 150 passengers aboard is moving down a runway chased by burning magma when an emergency occurs.
This book in Russian speaks about the mystery of the Kursk tragedy, as well as other military tragedies during the peace time.
Offers good Russian movies and music as well as links to books, magazines etc.


White Visitation (a.k.a. Nicolas Guerrero) is an artist from Mexico City whose music is not especially classifiable. Guerrero offers elements of dub techno, but, crucially, executes them with a refreshing simplicity. (Dub techno is frequently maligned for being plodding and overproduced.) He also spices his tracks with organic instrumentation, often in unlikely (but rarely jarring) ways. The producer surfaced on the Opal Tapes compilation Cold Holiday last winter, and had his self-released cassettes Tape 1 and Tape 3 sold through the RVNG Intl. online shop (there's a third called Dubs), but Ancestors is the first time he has actually put out a record on a label. Its three tracks are in line with the material on those prior efforts.
The Opal Tapes connection is a bit of a red herring, as Guerrero's music is generally smoother and more expansive than that label's signature crusty sound. The RVNG connection makes a bit more sense. That label's Blondes offer perhaps the closest contemporary analogue to this music, best evidenced on Ancestors' slow-burn finale "Blood Revision." Building on a framework of unpolished kick drums and languid, elongated lines, Guerrero steadily overlays chords and simple percussive flourishes. It is only when he introduces an open hi-hat halfway through that one realizes how much is roaring at once. Using an easy switch to catalyze a teeming foundation is a very Blondes technique, and so is the way Guerrero pushes the track thrillingly further, toward a climax that is more suggested than attained. "Permanent Swing" is more subdued, and everything seems to echo from its pulsing center: drowsy organ, oscillating hi-hats, splinters of guitar. Again, all of it seems to be awaiting a force, namely a kick drum, to culminate, but Guerrero dashes expectation by tailing it off into a foggy, unrelated hip-hop loop. "Home" hits on a different touchstone—Burger/Ink's seminal Las Vegas LP. It's a sustained, trance-inducing thruster, marked by the rustling of a twangy, dusty guitar, the type of which popped up several times on that LP. With its linear plotting, "Home" sounds like a track that was made for the open road. That said, much like its counterparts, it's an accomplished piece that speaks to Guerrero's potential as a purveyor of the driving, visceral, and sensual.


Success factors can be many things, including work ethic, motivation, and opportunity. Success can be found through many success factors, and can be seen in our lives through many different outlets. Read on to find out how to be successful in every arena!
Ephesians 4, verse 28; it says,"Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need." I love this verse, because, he says, don't steal anymore because stealing is wrong but that's not the end of the message, it's not just deny yourself from stealing. If at any point, denial becomes the point, we've missed the point.
If at any point in our faith journey denial becomes the point, we just completely missed the point. And for many of us, isn't it true? Your entire religious Christian experience, your entire perception of God has just been put down on the Goldfish, don't do that anymore! And what does he say in the next part of it?
He says, who has been stealing must steal no longer, but instead, do something useful with his own hands that it may benefit the poor, that it may help people in need, that that's a bigger, more wonderful reality of what to do with your life. It's not just stop it, it's not just put down the Goldfish. It's begin to experience what God's intended for you, that essentially stealing or sin is adrenaline gone wrong. It's mis-aimed passion and desire, where we don't realize the beautiful thing that God's inviting us to to experience and our heart will merge with the wrong thing and ignore the better thing that God wants us to experience and have.
Jesus said it this way, in Mathew chapter 13, and talking about the kingdom, the way that God's invited us to live, He says, "The kingdom of heaven, the way of God, the way and the life of God is like a preacher that makes everybody feel guilty." Just kidding.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field."
it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak." But over and over again, you, me, we clutch Goldfish and our heart merges with something that is far less than what God's intended. Where is the thing, where is the place, in your life, where you're clutching Goldfish, where God's invited you into a better life, maybe it's in terms of concealment, you find yourself living a life of secrecy. We invite you to stop by the connection center and just begin to confess and begin to be open, and free, and live a different kind of life, a better kind of life. Maybe you find yourself, maybe you are not a Christian, and we invite you today, and it's not that you are a bad person, but you keep clutching all the wrong things in life. And it's time just to say, God, I want you to sit here, I want you to be on the throne of my heart. We invite you to stop by the connection center.
Pray with somebody, maybe you find yourself rejecting God in terms of community, you find yourself saying, God, I would rather live in isolation. I invite you to join a life group, begin to experience the beautiful joy of being in community, relationships, you've been wired, you've been built as a communal person.
What is the area of life? Where you need to begin to put down the Goldfish, to begin to experience the things that God wants you to experience. Let's pray together. God, I thank you for the invitation of the Gospel, "The Taste and See That the Lord is Good." God, I pray all across this building, areas where we hold on to things, we clutch the Goldfish, I pray we would release it, so You can put something new in our hands.
A better life. I thank you God that You invite us to a life that's not always the easiest life, but it's a better life, and will we say yes to it. It's in Jesus's name we pray, Amen!