Issue no.24 of Revista de Estudos Anglo-Portugueses/Journal of Anglo-Portuguese Studies returns, in several of the articles, to the study of Travel Writing, understood as a form of div(con)vergence between the Self and the Other, involving (de)construction of imagotypes, an hallmark of research in Anglo-Portuguese studies. It will be recalled that the first Masters' dissertations carried out in this area dealt precisely with the accounts of British travellers to Portugal, particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The results of this research are now available on a database entitled "English Travellers to Portugal" (VIP) which can be consulted online at: www2.fcsh.unl.pt/ceap/pesquisaVIP.htm. Recently, work on Travel Writing has enjoyed something of a revival at the international level, stimulated by the publication of new theoretical works on the subject, many linked to Beller and Leerssen's "Imagology (Revisited)", and the writings of Zacharasiewicz. A series of articles published here, by Mariana Gonçalves – "Travelling through Portugal at the End of the Seventeenth Century: William Bromley's Impressions of the Portuguese Kingdom" –, by Rogério Miguel Puga – "O Romance Epistolar enquanto Escrita de Viagens: o Imagótipo Luso e a Dimensão Anglo-Portuguesa em The Forest of Comalva, a Novel; Containing Sketches of Portugal, Spain and France (1809), de Mary Hill" –, by Maria Zulmira Castanheira – "The Victorian Traveller as Other: Stereotypes and Humour in the Periodical Press of Portuguese Romanticism" – and by Teresa Pereira – "The Enchantments of the Portuguese Countryside': Escrita de Viagens e Propaganda Turística" – which may be considered,essentially, as part of this nouvelle vague, clearly demonstrate that research in this field is far from being played out and that plenty of scope remains, particularly as regards twentieth and twentieth-first-centuries accounts of British travellers/tourists in Portugal and those of their Portuguese counterparts in English-speaking countries. Researchers will soon be able to consult the E-Dicionário de Escrita de Viagens Portuguesa online at www.fcsh.unl.pt/…/e-dicionario-de-escrita-de-viagens-portuguesa-e-dictionary-of-portuguese-travel-writing-cetaps-1 which will undoubtedly include pertinent information concerning the accounts of Portuguese travellers in English-speaking countries.
Teresa Pereira's article, on the one hand, examines the association between travel writing and the tourist propaganda of the Estado Novo, whilst Zulmira Castanheira situates her analysis of travel writing within the framework of the periodical press, an apparently inexhaustible resource for new data on Anglo-Portuguese relations over different historical periods, and which, as a consequence, was chosen as the focus for several Masters and Doctoral dissertations in the area of Anglo-Portuguese Studies. The articles by John Clarke and José Baptista de Sousa – "The Reception of the Braganças in England as Recorded in the British Press, 1827-1851" –,by Paulo de Oliveira Ramos – "Robert Bisset Scott e os seus 'Roman Remains at Lisbon'" –and by António Lopes – "A Voz do Mineiro [The Miner's Voice]: Raising the Working-Class Consciousness in a British-Owned Mine in Southern Portugal – a Discursive Approach" – deal with the analysis of the image of the Portuguese as portrayed by the British press in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, confirming the importance of British periodical journalism as a privileged resource for any researcher who is interested in the analysis of journalistic discourse and consequently the (de)construction of images of the Self and the Other.
The ongoing debate on the question of unity and diversity, a premise which significantly amplifies the perception of identity and is indissociable from any comparison between cultures, is an issue which is thoroughly discussed, albeit from different angles, in the articles by Miguel Alarcão, " 'Identity Matters': Notas para uma (In)Definição de Identidade 'Inglesa' no Relato sobre a Conquista de Lisboa (1147)", on the hybrid nature of Anglo-Norman identity against the background of the Siege of Lisbon; by Karen Bennett, "'Like a Candle under a Bushel': Rhetorical Identities in Portugal and England (16th – 21st centuries)", focussing on discursive strategies associated to the construction of Protestant (English) and Catholic (Portuguese) identities; and Carlos Ceia's review of Landeg White's Letters from Portugal. Kondwani Publications, 2014", an appeal to the quest for Portuguese identity.
The comparative element, which is a constant feature of any work in the field of Anglo-Portuguese Studies, together with the analysis of the effects of British writing on Portuguese authors, or vice-versa, is adroitly exploited in Madalena Lobo Antunes' article on the influence of James Joyce (and also Herman Melville) on Fernando Pessoa.
Laura Martínez-García's article, "A Defence of Whig Feminism in Centlivre's Portuguese Plays The Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret (1714) and Mar-plot; or the Second Part of The Busy Body (1710)" clearly reveals the appropriation of characters and spaces (déplacement) in British literary works to convey social or political messages and, in particular, positive imagotypes of England, whilst maintaining Portuguese stereotypes, a transversal feature of texts analysed in Anglo-Portuguese Studies.
As set down in the previous Editorial (no.23), REAP/JAPS will continue to publicise the work of all those who are working in the area of Anglo-Portuguese Studies, whilst, at the same time, identifying new areas of research (in progress or future), especially in the section entitled "Projects". In this issue, Professor George Monteiro, in "Towards a Bibliography of Alberto de Lacerda (1928-2007)", generously shares with our readers a plethora of bibliographical references, which will undoubtedly provoke a flurry of new work concerning this outstanding Anglo-Portuguese figure, which we hope to see occupying a privileged position in our next issue.


Ignorance is not bliss. It is the alien invader's greatest advantage.
Tales of unearthly beings have long circulated among us, from legends of intelligent life on Earth before Homo Sapiens to conspiracy theories about what really happened at the Battle of Canary Wharf. But the truth is that alien life exists - and here, at last, is proof.
Based on exclusive access to classified government files, The Secret Lives of Monsters collects evidence that has been suppressed for centuries - notes from clandestine meetings, reports of eyewitness accounts, never-before-seen images and documents, secrets provided by a mysterious agent known only as 'the Doctor', and more. It reveals all we know about aliens who are already here, and provides essential information to survive future invasions.
So don't panic. You are not weaponless. The Secret Lives of Monsters will give you the greatest weapon of all- knowledge.


text:
Staffordshire County Council Elections 2021
Burntwood North
Burntwood South
Lichfield North
Alrewas and Fradley
Armitage with Handsacre
Boley Park
Boney Hay & Central
Chadsmead
Chase Terrace
Chasetown
Local Manifesto – May 2019
Summerfield & All Saints
Chris Williamson
Curry and a Pint Night
Lichfield women are being harmed by the COVID-19 situation
National Action Day
So you're interested in becoming a councillor…
Burntwood and Hammerwich
A Rainy Day in Lichfield
An Evening With Gareth Snell MP
Burntwood Councillors Advice Surgery
Local Election Candidates
Race Night at The Grangemoor
Skate Park Clean-up
Lichfield City
Curborough By-election
Curborough By-election Campaign Schedule
Labour get clean sweep in Curborough Ward at local elections
Curborough's Labour Councillors start as they mean to go on.
Lichfield City Branch
Lichfield City – Maps
Lichfield City – City Council Wards
Lichfield City – Constituencies
Lichfield City – County Divisions
Lichfield City – District Wards
An evening with Dr Lily Hamourtziadou
Lichfield City Branch Elect New Vice-Chair
Lichfield Rural
Anti-Austerity Rally
CLP Democracy
Defend Democracy
Nae Pasaran!
National Campaign Day – September 2017
Pause Universal Credit
Lichfield City Council
Council Reports
Lichfield District Council
Councillors' Blogs
Staffordshire CC
"It's not a Conservative Club!"
Steve's Scary Blog
The Lich Leftie
The World According To Rob
NEC Elections
Ann Black
Darren Williams
Jon Lansman
Peter Willsman
Rachel Garnham
Sue's Secret Views
The famous son of Staffordshire, Samuel Johnson, said, "Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth." He went on to talk about "the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages." Some also credit Churchill with saying, "A lie gets halfway round the world before truth puts on its boots" though it was apparently Mark Twain who said it first. A bit of fake new about fake news.
It's been around for a long time but the very worst aspect of the recent General Election campaign was the amount of fake news, or downright dishonesty which went way beyond spin. We even saw the appropriation of a "fact check" name for a social media account by one Party whose interests certainly dictated falsehood, in Johnson's terms, and which was swallowed up by the credulity of some.
There have been many, too many, examples. The most egregious for me was the claim by the Chancellor, Sajid Javid MP that the previous Labour Government was responsible for "the massive rise in homelessness" and that it had "fallen by half" under his Government. What? Really? Eventually, his Party HQ said that he had "misremembered the data" but no correction or apology.
It was left to Shelter, the homeless charity, to comment on the facts which are that homelessness peaked in 2004 and then fell continuously for the rest of Labour's time in government, that there has been a 77% increase in homelessness since 2010 and a 165% increase in rough sleeping and that, now, 84,740 families are living in temporary accommodation (including still, I might say, victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy). Shelter also reports that 135,000 children are homeless this Christmas.
Following the recent death of Frank Dobson, I was struck on seeing a recording of an interview with Jeremy Paxman, hardly a pussycat among interviewers, just how straight he was in answering a series of questions put to him. It was like a bygone age. We have lost so much, both in the willingness to play fast and loose with the truth and in our collective credulity in believing what we want to believe.
It's easy to get disillusioned with politics at the moment. We see the things going on in Westminster and despair. But I want to bring you some good news about local government, happening day by day as councils up and down the country respond to the changes all around them: the increases in demand, the pressures of finances as Government support disappears and the potential impacts of Brexit.There are over 400 principal councils in the UK, 26 County Councils, 192 District and Borough Councils and 190 Unitary councils. Whatever their political flavour, they are all dealing with similar challenges. With the exception of just two or three, they are all members of the Local Government Association which acts as "the national voice of local government, working with councils to support, promote and improve". It's called Sector-Led Improvement (SLI); not a catchy title but it's about councils helping councils in order to improve services for all of their residents. To put it simply, it's keeping our own house in order.
This happens through sharing best practice, challenging each other formally through what's called the Peer Challenge process or informally such as providing mentors for lead councillors. Councils used to be subject to external inspections and it's fair to say that this spot check was a sort of beauty contest with councils wanting to show themselves in the best possible light. (It happens too often in the NHS.) Instead, SLI is used as an improvement tool whereby councillors and officers from the host council and from other councils and review – objectively, robustly and as critical friends – how they are doing and provide a much-needed opportunity for reflection and creative discussion on how a council is performing. You can see the reports on the LGA website, including the most recent one for Staffordshire County Council.
It's all having a very positive effect too as councils are rising to the unprecedented challenges they face. The bottom line is that if a council fails to operate properly, it will be taken over by Government and put into "special measures" like Northamptonshire County Council.
How ironic. I'm not the only one to have observed recently that if the Government were a council, it would be in "special measures".
I heard a very telling statistic at a County Council meeting this week: providing care for children and adults in need costs Staffordshire County Council £6.5 million every week. That figure of over £900,000 a day is rising every week too: around £40,000 an hour, £650 a minute, £11 every single second.These are very big numbers and the continuing rise in demand for social care is affecting every top tier council in the country. It's reached crisis point. For years now, councils have been crying out for successive governments to get a grip on this but proposals have fallen foul of political point-scoring. Remember Tories labelling Labour proposals to use people's capital assets as a Death Tax or Labour calling out Theresa May's proposals as a Dementia Tax? We all need to wise up to the fact that we are not going to get a social care system that is fit for purpose and adequately financed without some sort of additional taxation, wherever that comes from. A Social Care Green Paper, just an initial step on a long road towards dealing with this crisis, has been long-promised but has met with delay after delay.
The new Prime Minister has promised to deal with this care crisis "once and for all". At the same time, he is promising tax cuts. The two don't square up, in my view, especially with Brexit looming and all that's going to cost. Now there's an extra promise to spend £850million on hospitals but if frail, elderly people can't get the social care support that they need to be discharged safely, it won't solve the care crisis. It seems we can patch people up via the NHS, even save lives, but then we don't have the funds for councils to provide the care they need and therefore any real quality of life after the acute problems are sorted. Politicians of all stripes need to be honest with people: we won't get first-class NHS services, social care or any other sort of public service, unless we are prepared pay for them via extra taxation of some kind.
As I write this, the family of local councils is gathering in sunny Bournemouth for the Local Government Association annual conference including a number of representatives from Staffordshire. It's a chance to collectively discuss major concerns (Government funding for decent public services is still high on the list), challenges and opportunities and to share best practice in ever more straitened times.Yes, it's a family. Like any family, there are disagreements at times but there is also a real sense of solidarity across the local government sector as councils of all political make-up come to speak with one voice via the LGA or the other collective organisations such as the County Councils Network.
During election campaigns, we put on our Party colours with great zeal and fight "the others", highlighting our differences. Once the elections are over, the challenge for individual councillors and their Party colleagues is to do their very best to ensure their communities get the best possible representation in order to move forward. This means working together on areas of agreement as well as challenging areas of disagreement. My experience is that, actually, there's far more agreement on issues than people might expect. We all want the best we can get for the areas we represent and, although the details of how we get there might differ, that's the main motivation.
As it happens, both the Leader of the County Council and I as his Opposition Leader are both very much involved in both the LGA and the CCN. We look at Staffordshire's challenges from a national perspective, reach consensus and then speak with one local government voice. To quote the outgoing Conservative Chairman of the LGA, Lord Gary Porter, "It's pretty easy to walk through on a cross-party line as soon as you stop looking at people with coloured rosettes on, and view them as people who care." That may seem like heresy to some but "by the strength of our common endeavour, we achieve more than we achieve alone" – and I make no apologies for that quotation from Clause 4 of the Labour Party's constitution. Now, where's that rosette?
Local politics is always challenging. The lessons to be learnt from the recent elections results are many but making local democracy genuinely local, and democratic, and transparent, and inclusive, and not just reflecting what's happening nationally continues to be our biggest challenge.Two things have struck me this time around though: the debate around uncontested seats and the all-too-regular refrain of "I've never heard of any of them." On the first, I agree that it would be better if electors in every ward had a choice rather than the "coronation" of candidates who were elected unopposed. We can't make people put their names forward as candidates, whether members of a political party or not, and with around 70% of electors not bothering to vote anyway, why should they?As for the complaints that electors aren't given enough information or haven't had leaflets, campaigners across the board spend the pre-election weeks tramping the streets delivering their election literature. (Some of us do it far more often than that.) We can't guarantee that it's always read but it's a bit galling when someone pipes up that they haven't had an election address when you know that you were the person who opened their gate, negotiated their crazy paving, discovered their letterbox (some are in very odd places), got scratched by those letterbox brushes, can describe in detail the design and colour of their front door and closed their gate again on the way out. We do this on a completely voluntary basis too. We also write them, get them printed and raise funds pay for them.
Yes, national politics did impact on local elections. We, the residents of Staffordshire, lost some very good Councillors. We also lost some dead wood. Time will tell but I hope the newly-elected councillors will be the former rather than the latter. I'd like to see electors taking a more active part in local politics, though, by finding out what's going on in their council and who is representing them rather than sitting back, waiting to get a leaflet and leaving it to the 30% who bother to vote. Not just at election time, either.
It was with incredulity that I heard two senior members of the County Council, the Leader and the Chairman of the Corporate Review Scrutiny Committee, agree with a statement by the latter that schools in Staffordshire are "sitting on phenomenal amounts of money". It wasn't just my chin that fell on the table either including at least two others among their Conservative colleagues. I therefore asked governors and parents via social media about the situation at their own schools and here's a flavour of the responses: "running into deficit this year and no chance of clearing in next year", "if they did, we wouldn't need to be doing things like a school lottery to bring in extra funds", "we'd have updated toilets instead the ones that have been there since I was at primary school", "and "ooh, where's this money? Might be able to get some new books to replace the 1990s ones that I am constantly taping back together or mend the broken windows". They were as incensed as I was by these throwaway comments from senior members that add to the general discontent with elected politicians and does a disservice to us all.The debate took place in the context of capital funds spent by the County Council on providing extra school places, including new schools, which are indeed much-needed in certain parts of Staffordshire and therefore very welcome. However, the Council Leader went on to condemn school wage bills. What he actually said (it's on webcast), "If the public knew what the wage bills were in certain schools, they'd be quite shocked and horrified". So there you are: he thinks teachers are overpaid.
Like all other public services, education has suffered badly from Government funding cuts. Take a look at schoolcuts.org.uk. For the primary school where I'm a governor, we have lost £63,501 since 2015 or £129 per pupil. My local high school has lost out on a whopping £1.4m, £438 per pupil. This is happening in schools across the County and across the country. Sadly, schools are not being listened to but it's even worse if they are being blamed.
Most people involved in politics in any way would probably agree with me that it's not a happy place to be at present. Whatever political colour, the national Parties are struggling with their own difficulties, and with Brexit dominating the Parliamentary agendas and the news media. What's being forgotten, with all the heat that's on, is that local authorities are having to make contingency plans for all possible eventualities to ensure that they are ready for the fallout from any deal (or none) that is finally agreed. It may turn out to be a repeat of the efforts made to address potential problems with the Millennium Bug but none of us know and councils will be first ports of call for local people experiencing difficulties of any sort.I was a Remainer. The EU certainly needs reform but, in my view, our membership has brought many benefits to this country, most unseen and unacknowledged, on workers' rights, the environment and crime for example. It's also ensured peace in Europe in our time: not a fatuous comment but one that I genuinely feel. That, in a sense, is now history and the future will tell. However, I just want them to get on with it now. Any second referendum would, in my view, be saying to people that their first vote didn't count, a dangerous path to follow.Votes do count. While councils are preparing to pick up the pieces post-Brexit, they are also preparing for local elections on 2nd May to District, Borough and Parish Councils. These elections are important for our local services yet, on average, the turnout is always far lower than for national elections, about 30% compared to over 70% for national elections. Councillors attract far higher levels of trust than MPs do and, in the main, deservedly so. At a time when people are being turned off national politics, I genuinely hope electors will look closely at what local candidates stand for, ask questions, test them out, challenge them even but then go out and vote.
Is there such a thing as a L-turn as opposed to a U-turn, a partial change of direction rather than a complete reverse? A turn of any sort can be a good thing if it signals a genuine change of heart and I, along with the thousands of residents who signed petitions and campaigned against the proposal by Staffordshire County Council to axe funding for School Crossing Patrols, welcome the policy change on future funding. Our Lollipops have been saved, for the time being at least. I don't think this was so much in response to the 300 or so comments in the recent consultation, as we are told, but far more about people power across the county. If enough people are shouting, councillors just can't ignore them. The Labour Opposition has called for a full and transparent review of Crossing Patrols. The future of our Lollipops certainly shouldn't be about "natural wastage", a horrible term that would see retiring patrols not replaced, but about meeting local needs. A review might lead to changes – one road I use regularly has three patrols in the space of fifty yards yet other busy roads have none – but it would also mean that areas, such as big new housing developments, might get a Lollipop at last. That would be fair.But the Lollipops campaign focused on only a small slice of the cuts, just one seventieth. Other campaigns to save concessionary travel or school buses or community transport schemes are still going on. Come the summer, people will ask why grass verges aren't being cut and, come next winter's first bout of snow, why their grit bins are empty. These are all tips of a very big iceberg. What most of us won't see are the cuts in social care or support for people with disabilities or vulnerable children. We won't see staffing cuts, so-called "back office", until we wait longer to get responses to requests or complaints or reports of things that need fixing. The impacts of these cuts will be felt for a very long time – and our Conservative MPs have just voted for even more.
The debate around the future of School Crossing Patrols has highlighted just how much visible public servants are valued by local communities. These men and women don't just provide safe crossing points for our children, they also act as eyes and ears for local people, picking up on other issues such as safeguarding or crime concerns. In this respect, the outcry over the possible axing of funding for "lollipops" is a sign that residents are getting more and more anxious about the loss of visibility of a whole range of public services, whether police personnel, community safety wardens, parking enforcement officers, even street sweepers. Council staff are being erased from our streets and we are losing the very people who fly councils' flags, day in and day out. It's having the effect of raising community fears and reducing community resilience and cohesion. Some might think that's overstating the case: I don't.I was talking to a trade unionist this week about the RMT Union's "Keep The Guard on the Train" campaign. It's exactly the same issue. Guards are there to respond to emergencies, yes, but also to tackle and inhibit anti-social behaviour, to help people in need whether a parent with a pushchair or someone in a wheelchair and to improve security both directly and indirectly as a trusted person to call on. We all need someone to ask for help at times. There are precious few of them around anymore.As for School Crossing Patrols, the County Council's suggestion is that schools and parents could raise money to pay for them by Bring and Buy Sales, Karaoke nights, raffles or "Cake Sale – everyone loves cake!" (sic). Exactly how many rock buns and fairy cakes will pay for a crossing patrol, this month, next month, next and every other year? And why stop there? How many raffles to pay for a police officer, a nurse, a soldier? It's patronising nonsense and the endgame will be that affluent areas will be obliged to pay for services that less advantaged areas, who perhaps need them most, can't afford. And we'll all be worse off if we allow this to keep happening.
Austerity isn't over. Not at all. In fact, the crumbs of comfort that the Chancellor offered to local Government in the Budget are more than wiped out by the cuts in Government funding for this next financial year. The proposals for a further £35m cuts put forward by Staffordshire County Council therefore still stand unless the Council gets an injection of additional cash in next month's financial settlement – or we use our political muscle to change things.For starters, the cuts propose the loss of all school crossing patrols across the County. Surely, the safety of our school children shouldn't be compromised. Have you lobbied your County Councillor yet about this?Then, there's the proposed loss of travel concessions for young people and older people. Those who use public transport and rely on it for getting to work, education, socialising, shopping or simply staying independent are going to be hit hard. The loss of support for local community transport schemes will add to people's travel misery: how will they get to medical appointments? So far, I've had a number of individual County residents and community organisations contact me about the impacts of these cuts. But not many. Did you know about them? Have you made any noise yet?If people are not yet aware of the proposed cuts, they certainly will be when we get a spell of severe winter weather as grit bins will remain unfilled. Next year, they will notice that grass verges aren't cut and weeds in gutters and on pavements aren't treated. They will also notice when the cuts to "back office" mean that they have to wait far longer for answers to their questions or requests for information, the payment of invoices is delayed or complaints take longer to be resolved. It's too easy, to talk about cuts to administration as though they have no effect. They do.
So please use your political muscle: contact your County councillor, your MP, even your District or Parish councillors if you're concerned and ask what they are doing in the face of these further cuts to services. It's not too late, but it soon will be.
It suddenly feels like autumn. Those "endless" school summer holidays have come to an end, much to the despondency of many pupils, and their teachers. I wish them all a happy and successful new school year.For some families, though, back to school means back to a proper midday meal for their children and it hasn't come soon enough. Holiday Hunger for children, particularly those of primary school age, is a relatively new expression but the reality of not having enough to eat has been around too long and is growing year on year. This summer, foodbanks across Staffordshire were crying out for residents to donate extras to their local foodbanks in order to cope with demand. Many did, thankfully. However, the Trussell Trust which runs over 420 foodbanks across the UK including locally, estimated last year that one in eight children are left hungry during the summer holidays and that one in five families struggle to put enough food on the table. They anticipated that this would increase this year. What a shocking indictment of our country!All of this, of course, affects a child's education too. Holiday Hunger can impact on a child's growth, development, health and wellbeing. It is no wonder that the life chances of children at the lower end of the socio-economic scale are limited from an early age and their potential diminished. Goodness only knows what it feels like for families, ordinary mums and dads, to carry the stigma and guilt of knowing that they cannot put enough on their table to feed their children properly.This year, I know that lots of numerous voluntary and community organisations in Staffordshire, as elsewhere, have opened their doors to feed families and children during the summer, often providing entertainment and activities in an inclusive way at the same time. This can't continue, though, and Government must act to find a solution to holiday hunger and, indeed, hunger at any time of the year. Foodbanks and summer holiday lunch clubs can not and must not become a substitute for a decent living income for all families.
I'm a pragmatist rather than a purist. I'm probably far too impure in my political beliefs for some but I like to try to find practical solutions to problems and, by doing so, make a difference to our communities. That often means working with people from different political parties towards shared goals. I make no apologies for that. I'm not a Cooperative, as well as Labour, councillor for nothing. It's struck me recently though how resistant councils can be to working together in the true spirit of partnership to address community needs, often (usually?) councils of the same political stripe.Everyone knows that County Councils like Staffordshire are under huge financial pressure, mainly because of the ever-increasing demand for social care for adults and children, our most vulnerable residents and neighbours. District and Borough Councils are also under financial pressure. Parish councils may think they are under pressure but, in reality, they aren't. They are the only tier of local government which is not capped to restrict the level of council tax they levy and so have the ability to raise funds to do the things that the community they represent actually want.Too often, I hear the words "cost shunting" as top and middle tier councils ask parish councils to take on more responsibilities. I'm not an apologist for austerity cuts but, if the services under threat really are valued, why shouldn't parish councils take up the mantle and provide them? Surely, that's what we're all about as councillors, providing services and support for the things which our electors think are important. It's simply not possible for top and middle tier councils to carry on as they are but I really can't understand why Parish Councillors refuse to take on some highways responsibilities or maintenance of parks and open spaces or the provision of leisure opportunities or street cleaning. These all make such a difference to the quality of residents' lives and are not statutory services so, come on Parish Councils, think a bit more creatively about what you can do for your residents rather than chiding your bigger brothers/sisters. Small can be beautiful.
This Post is only available in the Members' Area
Bear with me: I'm going to mention three words which strike terror into a lot of
Councillors but which induce complete boredom for most people. Those three words
are Local Government Reorganisation. It's the ultimate page-turner, but not in a
good way. With councils at all levels struggling to meet growing demands with
reducing income and council tax-payers constantly asking themselves, "Which
Council does what?" and, perhaps all the more pertinently now, "Why am I paying
two (or three) lots of council tax?", it's high time we talked openly and honestly about
this.Governments are hesitant to start the discussions as councillors are their troops on
the ground and they don't want to upset them. For councils themselves, turkeys are
unwilling to call for an early Christmas. So we're stuck; stuck with two and more
likely three councils, each with their own administration costs, doing different things
and – too often – pulling in different directions. The County Council and the eight
District and Borough Councils in Staffordshire each have their own Chief Executives,
Chief Finance Officers, Officers leading the different services and, of course, their
own civic offices. That's as well as the local parish councils which each have their
own running costs. Is this really sustainable any more? It's fair to say that a lot of
councils look to share costs by joining up services, particularly back office ones, and
have done for a long time. But progress towards a one-stop unitary model is not just
slow; it's glacial.In other parts of the country, councils have reorganised, reduced the number of
councils and therefore saved shedloads of money to put into services for their
residents. The Secretary of State has pretty much agreed to these proposals as
they've come forward. It's a no-brainer. We've got to focus on improving outcomes
for the residents we represent, on what is important to them rather than self-
preservation. Would the sky fall in if we lost one complete tier of councils? Not at all.
It certainly isn't a favourite topic of conversation anywhere but it's a conversation that
needs to be had.
Staffordshire County Council, like all local authorities across the country, has been faced with swingeing budget cuts from central Government, all in the name of austerity. This budget-making round has been challenging – a euphemism, if ever there was one, for nigh on impossible. Other sources of funding for councils such as retaining all business rates raised within their boundaries or payments for each now house built via New Homes Bonus are still not fully developed. The Government is deaf to all this. That leaves the County Council leaders, like others, scratching their heads about how to balance their books over the next few years especially as demand on services rises. It also leaves them with little option but to raise council tax for residents to the maximum level allowed (or almost the maximum: no-one is really fooled by the 0.05% below the limit any more than we're fooled that £5.99 is a far better bargain that 6 quid). Therefore, the Conservative administration at the County Council voted through a 5.95% increase this week which Labour councillors opposed.We opposed the increase, not because we don't value public services and public servants, not because we don't welcome the commitment to ensure that vulnerable adults and children will be a priority, not even specifically because the budget was based on an assumption of 0% inflation but because the transfer of the tax burden from national to local taxes is unfair, unsustainable and takes no account of ability to pay. I described the budget as fragile, risky and vague. The words "fragile" and "risky" were echoed by two senior Conservative members. It's vague on where further cuts will fall. Words like "review ", "reorganisation", "renegotiation" are supposed to realise savings but there is no detail about how – or the impacts on the residents of Staffordshire. The devil is always in the detail.And what about the much-vaunted extra £5million to repair potholes? That would be fine if it wasn't based on a cut of well over half in next year's Highways budget, from £52million to £22million. Tomorrow, it seems, will have to look after itself.
On the day that the report on Sexism in Parliament has been published, I've been spurred on to push for more visibility of this issue at both Lichfield District and Staffordshire County Councils. It certainly exists. It drives me mad. Here's just one example: as Opposition Leader, I'd had a go at a Committee Chairman that he wasn't doing his job properly and that he should be doing more than simply chairing the periodic meetings; in effect, that he should do a lot more work between meetings to actually earn the extra cash he gets in allowances for the privilege. He couldn't answer my question and was completely flustered in the public arena of the Council meeting but came up to me afterwards, smiley smiley and wagging his finger in a mock telling off, and said, "You little minx." I was nearly apoplectic. Not only was he showing contempt for the Labour Opposition view, he expressed it in appallingly sexist language. I gave him an appropriate response. And it's not just Tories. When I became Leader of the Staffs County Labour Group, two women put themselves forward as Deputy Leader. Oh my goodness. The reaction from some of the blokes, the Labour blokes! "We can't possibly have a woman Leader AND Deputy." Strange that they had never raised any concerns about having male Leaders and Deputies for the aeons before.I'm also keen to raise awareness though of the sexism in the Party and it was good to get unanimous support for challenging sexism in the Party from all members at a recent CLP meeting. But is it translating into any real impact? Do we all do enough, male and female comrades, to call out sexism? Is sexist "banter" outed in Branch meetings or more widely among members? Sadly, I don't think so.As Party members, we all believe in equality, don't we? As Party members, we'd all challenge racist or homophobic comments, wouldn't we? We will do all we can to support people with disabilities, won't we? But do we do enough to challenge sexism or, indeed, its ugly sister ageism? Sadly, I don't think so. Yet.
For anyone involved in Council finance, this is a pretty frenetic period as Councils prepare their budgets for the next financial year starting in April. In the run-up to Christmas, we wait with bated breath to find out from Government how much – or, more frequently, how little – support Councils are going to get and, it's fair to say, there are usually some positives among the negatives. However, when the negatives keep outweighing the positives, it's clear that more cuts to council services are on their way. That's been the case for too long now under the banner of Austerity as councils' funding from central Government is cut year on year on year with more to come. We ain't seen nothing yet.I've heard it said several times now by leading councillors that people don't like paying taxes but I challenge this assumption. We certainly need to bust the myth that you can have good public services without paying for them. Just look at what's happening in the NHS now. From my perspective, national taxation based on income is the glue that binds society together. It's a mutual insurance cover that means services such as health or social care are there when we need them and we can be thankful for our good fortune if we don't. "From each according to his (or her, I might add) ability, to each according to his (or her) need."As funding from national taxes is taken away from councils, councils have again been given the opportunity to raise council tax by a bit more. But this is the most regressive and unfair form of taxation as it's based on the value of your home rather than your income. On top of that, we are being asked to pay directly for more and more services that we have previously paid for through tax and it's those least able to afford it who are hit hardest. As someone has just said to me in relation to a further round of impending cuts to library funding, "Here we go again. Pay more, get less and blame the old".
What's the biggest challenge facing our country, and our County, today? Given the potential impacts on all of our lives, I suspect that many people would say Brexit. Others would perhaps refer to housing, terrorism, climate change, education or something else – or all of the above.For me, the biggest issue is demographic change which has seen life expectancy rise since 1950 from around 67 years to almost 82. These are just averages, of course, and we all know people who are well into their 90s or have passed their century. This is the good news and testament to the success of advances in heakth care particularly. However, the bad news is that more people are spending their late life in poor health, disability, mental and physical frailty.We all look to healthy old age contentedly watching our children and grandchildren flourish – like in the Werther's Originals advert. It's much more uncomfortable to think about impairment, immobility, incontinence and increased dependency on social care for older relatives, let alone for ourselves.The County Council spends 70% of its annual budget on around 2% of its residents, the most vulnerable and needing care including the frail elderly. To manage its budget, the Council recently changed its contracts with home care providers. On the face of it, this helps to balance the books but the changes are causing a great deal of anxiety for some home care users and their families. It's also bringing job uncertainty for hard-pressed care-workers. Unless we are directly affected, we don't see these problems, unlike roads needing repair or libraries reducing services or charges increasing as well as council tax.The Council has recently been congratulating itself on "spending a record £300 million" on "providing three million hours of quality care." Do the math, as they say. Is this enough? Will it ensure quality? Really? There have been calls over many years for a national debate on the costs of elderly care but it's now becoming critical. Honest discussions about the sort of care we want for older citizens and for ourselves and how we pay for it is long overdue.
There's been one thread to numerous conversations I've had recently with residents, community groups, council officers and others: transport. While Government and County Council leaders are engaged with big infrastructure projects like HS2 or trunk road improvements, the current consultation on bus subsidies is in danger of slipping under the radar. (Why do such consultations always seem to happen at holiday time, I wonder.)Whether it's accessing leisure and employment opportunities for young people or enabling older people to remain independent by getting to shops or social groups, they need buses.For many, the loss of bus services will be cutting their lifelines. There doesn't seem to be nearly enough joined up thinking or any real understanding of the impacts of losing bus services on those very groups of people where demand on public resources is increasing, the biggest headache for councils. If people can't get to work, health appointments, community activities, to visit friends and family, they become all the more prone to health problems. In the end, this can lead to even more demand on public services. A vicious circle.Take loneliness, for example. Research shows that it can have as bad an impact on health as obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol intake or substance abuse. Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26%. It also increases demand on social care services.People tell me that getting on a bus and chatting to other passengers is an important part of their weekly routine. Apart from getting people from A to B, the bus services in themselves provide social interaction and can therefore improve an individual's sense of wellbeing. One resident said to me, "It's usually the same people on the bus I catch. We've got to know each other and look out for each other. We have a really good natter on the way and I look forward to my trip." How much better to promote independence than dependence.You may, like me, be so used to getting where you want to by car that you rarely think about bus services. Please think again, not least as a tax-payer, and have your say on this important issue.
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Peter Harris@Pete_the_Teach·
https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2021/01/11/pupils-in-lichfield-and-burntwood-cannot-be-left-behind-by-lack-of-access-to-computers-or-broadband-during-lockdown-councillor-says/
https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2021/01/10/councillors-call-for-creation-of-coronavirus-vaccination-centre-in-burntwood/
https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2020/12/16/labour-group-leader-backs-freeze-on-councillor-allowances-but-says-he-was-disappointed-at-bid-to-turn-it-into-a-political-issue/
Robert Birch@Robbirch1Birch·
Collected the Foodbank donations and delivered them to the Foodbank today. Thanks to all those who have given generously to help others.
BurntwoodLabour@BurntwoodLabour·
Petition: Protect Retail Workers from Abuse, Threats and Violence. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/328621
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Posted on January 21, 2019 July 31, 2020 by Syncrude
Syncrude recognizes Jennifer MacLachlan
As the wife of Mike Caldwell, a team lead at Syncrude, Jenn says, "Be safe" to her husband every day as he leaves for work. And she knows he takes the message to heart. The proof is plain to see, right there on his gloves.
"The very first time Mike wrote on his gloves was before the kids were born, he just wrote my name," says Jenn. "I worked in the tool crib and he came to show me. When Jasper was born, he started writing his name as well and then added Ryder after he was born. Now every time he gets a new set of gloves, he writes all three of our names on them."
Jenn coudn't be more proud that her husband chooses to focus on his family as his motivation to work safely.
"When Mike shows the kids his gloves, he tells them that they're the reason he goes to work every morning and the reason he's so excited to come home at the end of the day," adds Jenn.
The fact that Mike places such importance on worksite safety isn't a surprise to Jenn. She says that safety has always been second nature for her husband.
"Mike has worked so hard to move up into a leadership role so that he can enact real change in terms of safety on the worksite," says Jenn. "
He has always had the safety of others top of mind and he's never been afraid to speak out when he sees or hears about safety hazards on site.
jennifer Maclachlan
As Jenn points out, Mike's safety routine may be catching on.
"A guy at work came up to Mike and showed him that he had wrote the names of his own family members on his gloves. Mike was pretty stunned. He had always just done it for himself and to see that others are doing it makes him feel grateful and proud."
It's clear the Caldwell family feels that safety should always come first. Syncrude applauds Jenn and Mike for their dedication to our deeply-rooted commitment that everyone returns home safely to what matters most.
New fire truck arrives at Syncrude ready to meet demands of oil sands operations
Mikisew Cree First Nation and Syncrude reach agreement


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Posted by The Argonaut | Nov 30, 2016 | News | 0 |
Youth Runners Rally for Standing Rock in Santa Monica
Eagle Tail stands in solidarity with water protectors on Santa Monica Beach
Photo by Stephany Yang
The ongoing water protector protests to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from carrying crude oil through Native American land briefly expanded last week to include Santa Monica Beach, where a group of young activists rallied support for the cause.
Carrying on an indigenous tradition of spreading important messages on foot, the Oceti Sakowin Standing Rock Youth Runners called for unity around a message of environmental protection during an afternoon rally on Nov. 21.
"Send love and strength to [the water protectors]. Send love to Mother Earth," said Eagle Tail, a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe who took part in the Youth Runners' journey from Big Sur to Los Angeles.
In July, Youth Runners traveled from North Dakota to Washington D.C. to deliver a petition against the pipeline to the Army Corps of Engineers.
One of the Youth Runners described "getting pepper-sprayed for offering an officer an apple and water" during protests at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, which have been ongoing since April.
Water Protectors have also been shot at with rubber bullets and sprayed with cold water hoses in freezing temperatures, and this week state officials announced new plans to block food and supplies from reaching protest camps by levying heavy fines against couriers.
— Stephany Yang
County Plans to Cut Down Trees in the Marina
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works plans to cut down 13 trees at five locations in Marina del Rey this month, including along Admiralty, Fiji, Mindanao and Palawan ways.
The trees slated for removal are not healthy and must be removed for public safety reasons, according to county officials.
Local environmental groups have been critical of the county for felling mature trees over the past several years, including those removed from Oxford Basin and replaced with new vegetation in July.
— Gary Walker
Late-Night Drivers Can Expect Santa Monica Freeway Closures
All westbound lanes of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway between Cloverfield and Lincoln boulevards will close for signage replacement from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Dec. 5, 6 and 7.
Traffic will exit the freeway at Cloverfield and follow Olympic Boulevard as a detour, according to a city of Santa Monica information bulletin.
The improved signage is intended to prevent last-minute weaving at ramps, improve lane assignments, and reduce congestion through more efficient lane utilization. The closures are necessary for hoisting large signs over travel lanes.
Additional weeknight closures between Dec. 7 and Dec. 25 will be announced via smgov.net/kbug.
— Joe Piasecki
Marina Dredging Rescheduled to Begin Dec. 5
Plans to dredge roughly 425,000 cubic yards of sediment from the entrance of Marina del Rey harbor were temporarily delayed this week after bad weather in Oregon held up the barge slated to do the work, the L.A. County Department of Beaches and Harbors announced.
The 220'-by-60' dredging barge Heidi Renee is expected to arrive Dec. 5 to begin 'round-the-clock digging on the north side of the harbor's mouth, leaving the south side open for vessels to pass.
The $2.7-million job is being paid for with federal funds.
"During the rougher winter and fall seasons, heavy shoaling can occur within this port and waterway entrances, causing a restriction or 'bottle-necking' effect in water depth and vessel maneuverability," U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Andrea Anderson said. "Once the dredging is completed, the water depth and channel width will increase and allow for much larger passages and maneuverability for Coast Guard vessels into and out of the harbor."
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Anthony, Hubert Lawrence (Larry) (1897–1957)
by Lloyd Brodrick
Hubert Lawrence Anthony, by Angus McNeill
National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an22482228
Hubert Lawrence (Larry) Anthony (1897-1957), politician and farmer, was born on 12 March 1897 at Warren, New South Wales, son of George Edward Anthony, a native-born labourer, and his Irish wife Honoria Elizabeth, née McNab. Educated at Warren Public School, in September 1911 Larry joined the Postmaster-General's Department as a telegraph messenger. He was employed as a postal assistant at Peak Hill when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 28 October 1914. Embarking for Egypt in December with No.2 Signal Troop, he served at Gallipoli from April 1915 until illness caused him to be evacuated to England in August; he returned to Australia in 1916 and was discharged from the A.I.F. on 4 October.
Having worked as a clerk and studied accountancy and economics in Sydney, in 1919 Anthony took up a soldier-settler block near Tweed Heads and was a shire councillor (1919-22). Anticipating that his first crop of bananas would be successful, on 21 June 1921 he married Mary Jessie Stirling (d.1941) in the Ann Street Presbyterian Church, Brisbane. The crop became infected with 'bunchy top' and was condemned. Larry and Mary walked off their farm penniless. He borrowed money and tried to grow sugar-cane on another farm, but this attempt also proved a financial disaster. Using savings accumulated from selling land on commission at Burleigh Heads and Surfers Paradise, Anthony returned to banana-growing and was to emerge as one of Australia's largest producers. In 1928 he founded the New South Wales Banana Growers' Federation; he also helped to initiate research which led to the elimination of the 'bunchy top' parasite.
As a Country Party candidate, he won the Federal seat of Richmond at the 1937 general elections and was to hold it until his death. In October 1940 he was appointed minister assisting the treasurer and the minister for commerce in the government of (Sir) Robert Menzies; in June 1941 Anthony became minister for transport. When Labor came to office under John Curtin in October, Anthony joined a group of Opposition members who fought the government with increasing effectiveness and he earned a reputation as a 'rough, rugged, tough fighter, always in debates . . . restless to get into the fight on all subjects at all times'; he was several times suspended from parliament. On 24 April 1946 in the Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, Canberra, he married a 25-year-old widow Lyndall Marion, née Ingram, late Thornton. Following the coalition parties' victory in December 1949, he was appointed postmaster-general. His progress from messenger-boy to minister gave him immense satisfaction.
Championing the supply of automatic telephone-exchange equipment to rural areas, Anthony endeavoured to improve postal and telegraph services through the use of new equipment. In 1951 he took the additional portfolio of civil aviation. The industry developed rapidly during his tenure: Qantas Empire Airways Ltd expanded its overseas services; the foundations of the two-airline policy—by which major domestic trunk routes were reserved for two principal airlines—were laid; and advanced technology came into operation. Anthony's main responsibility, however, was to supervise preliminary work for the advent of television in Australia. While the government was accused of procrastination, Anthony considered that he could learn from other countries' experiences. After a fact-finding mission to Britain and the United States of America in 1952, he introduced the 1953 television bill, the first step in establishing a dual system of public and private television stations. He was responsible for appointing the royal commission on television which reported next year.
Suffering several illnesses from the early 1950s, Anthony relinquished civil aviation in 1954. He was on sick leave in the last three months of that year, but rejected advice to leave the ministry. Disappointed that he had not been able to finalize the introduction of television, he was finally imposed upon to resign in January 1956. His acceptance next month of a directorship with Philips Electrical Industries Pty Ltd provoked criticism. Dark haired and solidly built, he was a blunt, instinctive politician who worked hard and was a popular local member. He loved reading, took a keen interest in the life of Napoleon and in Marxism, believed in the rights and potential of the individual, and was a staunch anti-communist. Anthony was a devoted husband and father. He died of cerebrovascular disease on 12 July 1957 at Murwillumbah and was cremated with Presbyterian forms. His wife and their daughter survived him, as did the daughter and two sons of his first marriage; his son Doug succeeded him as member for Richmond. The family holds a portrait of Larry Anthony by Leslie Moline.
Parliamentary Debates (Commonwealth), 18 Feb 1953, p 31, 27 Aug 1957, p 3
Richmond River Herald, 5 Oct 1937
Sydney Morning Herald, 28 Oct 1940, 27 June 1941, 19 Dec 1949, 11 May 1951, 24 Nov 1952, 10 May, 29 Sept 1954, 13 July 1957
Sunday Sun (Sydney), 3 Dec 1944
private information.
Magee, Charles Joseph (colleague)
Lloyd Brodrick, 'Anthony, Hubert Lawrence (Larry) (1897–1957)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/anthony-hubert-lawrence-larry-9371/text16461, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 23 January 2020.
Warren, New South Wales, Australia
Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia
country politician
fruit grower
Member of Lower House
public servant
soldier-settler


Nowadays, every company includes an IT sector in their business. With the help of IT support services, you can manage all your technological work at your fingertips. In Toronto, there are many top rated managed IT services and Support Company available. If you are also looking for managed services then you can take a look at Toronto's top rated managed it services & Support Company which offers best services to their clients and customers.
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It is the best way to save your money and time because it is a great investment. And free up your staff from the IT work, so they can focus on the goals of business.


A check constraint consists of a logical expression to identify what is a valid expression.
What will your reality be in this place at the end of despair?
Leslie wins an international award that takes her, Ben, Andy, April and Ron to London, while Tom learns who his business competitor is. Leslie, Ben and Chris go to Eagleton on government business, while Ann takes April to her veterinary school orientation in Bloomington.Ron attempts to destroy every piece of evidence of his existence after receiving a junk mail flier, and Ann suggests that she and Chris move away from Pawnee after their baby is born.The season chronicled Leslie facing the recall vote from City Council, Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) and Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe)'s move to Michigan to start their family, Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt)'s career in London, and the city merger of Eagleton and Pawnee, resulting in the Unity Concert organized by Leslie.Their final episode was episode 13, "Ann and Chris".Needing Ben to have a job, Leslie decides to apologize, but through encouragement from Ben, she gets Tom to once again rebrand fluoride as H2-Flow, which successfully works.Meanwhile, Chris tries to learn parenting techniques from a reluctant Ron, who is really just showing him how to build a crib.
Leslie accepts that she has been recalled, and attempts to introduce Eagleton's water fluoridation to Pawnee, using a new attitude as a lame duck, but Jamm ruins it with fear-mongering.
Pratt made a brief return in the sixth episode, with Schur adding that Pratt would return to the series in the tenth episode, the series' 100th episode.
In February 2014, NBC announced a digital tie-in for the show, titled "The Hapley Group", which aired on February 20.
She realizes Donna was doing the same thing by showing him awful locations, so they both try to make things right.
Andy discovers Ron is Duke Silver and tries to convince him to play the unity concert.


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Applying the Seven Sins: A Case Study
A People's Pathway to Equity
Contemplating 400 Years
1. The 400 Years Timeline
2. The "Seven Sins" of Inequality
3. Finding What You're FOR
4. Collective Recovery
Finding What You're FOR & Fighting for What You Love
"A program of action arises from people's needs and a desire to fix the deep structural problems we face in the city. A program is a compass through the thicket of urban life."
- Dr. Mindy Fullilove
In this chapter you will:
learn about Finding What You're FOR and programmatic strategy for organizing
articulate a FOR statement
see examples of grassroots organizing in communities fighting for what they love.
Finding What You're FOR
Orienting yourself around what you are for is an important skill for change-making. While organizing around what you're angry about or what you fear might fuel or drive you, it can also leave you feeling reactive and burnt out. Instead, holding what you are for at the heart of your organizing allows your values to drive your work. Leading with your values opens you up to the formation of a coalition, by helping you find alignment with others who share these beliefs.
The concept of Finding What You're FOR comes to us from labor organizer Ernie "Big Train" Thompson and his daughter, Mindy Fullilove, MD, who tells us that growing up her dad loved to tell the story of the cat, the fox, and the tree.
Below, Josh and Jaden Thompson, son and granddaughter of Ernest Thompson, perform a musical rendition of his story.
From Remembering Rosa: A Concert for Peace, 2020. Video Courtesy of University of Orange.
Finding What You're FOR allows us to find allies and build coalition. Ernie taught that organizers need to work with many people to develop a program. The program has to identify what the group is FOR. Dr. Fullilove included "Finding What You're FOR" as one of the elements of urban restoration that she writes about in her book Urban Alchemy.
Inquilinxs Unidxs / Tenants United demonstrating FOR residents being able to stay in their homes. Photo courtesy of Dominic Moulden.


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WingBacks ~ 2020 Fantasy FootBall Forecast
WB Travis Kelce ~ His ADP Is currently 18th, middle of the 2nd Round, 1st Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. The Great One, who would've been a Patriot, had I been running the War Room, back when he was drafted, is worth every penny of his Premium. He's incredibly productive, and he's incredibly reliable.
WB George Kittle ~ His current ADP is about 23rd, late 2nd Round, the 2nd Ranked WingBack.
Par Value! A SuperStar in his prime!
FB Amari Cooper ~ His current ADP is about 27th, early 3rd Round, the 9th Ranked WideOut.
Par Value. Cooper is a Star in his prime, worth every penny. Lamb is getting a lot of hype, but not only do I strongly suspect that he'll considerably less Market Share than is generally expected, I believe that this Offense is poised to expand. Now that the previous Coach's catatonic approach is a thing of the past, fresh life comes to Dallas. Cooper'll get his, I think.
SE Allen Robinson ~ His current ADP is about 38th, early 4th Round, the 15th Ranked WideOut.
Par Value. Robinson is a Stud in his prime, who finished 12th, last year, and who gets tons of Targets, but I have no problem with The Market giving'm a slight downgrade, as the Offensive Line might take a step back, this year.
WB Mark Andrews ~ His ADP is currently about 40th, early 4th Round.
Par Value. So far, it's certainly looking like I was as wrong about Andrews being overrated in the 2018 Draft as I was about Jackson. He has all the looks of a Rising Star, right now. He was the #5 WingBack, last year, and is being projected to ascend to #4. The concern is that the young WideOuts will eat into his Target Market Share. But that might work just as strongly in his favor, as their threats open up space for'm. He is currently Jackson's #1 target, so that scenario could translate into Andrews retaining a slightly smaller share of a considerably more productive pie. And with the Ravens inexplicably trading away Hayden Hurst ~ presumably to shift some Market Share to the young WideOuts ~ a young, talented competitor for Snaps at WingBack is out'f the way, to Andrews's statistical benefit. He's well positioned.
WB Zachary Ertz ~ His ADP is currently about 48th, late 4th Round, the 4th Ranked WingBack.
Overvalued. Ertz is a SuperStar in'is prime, and his Stock has actually slid from the late 3rd Round, a few months ago, but I feel that there's a bit more risk involved with him, due to the continuing ascension of Goedert, the injuries to the Offensive Line, the drafting of Jalen Reagor, and the likely return to full health of Alshon Jeffrey and José Joaquín Arcega Whiteside, the latter 2 presenting large Targets that will naturally compete with Ertz and Goedert for Short Yardage and Red Zone Targets.
WB Darren Waller ~ His ADP is currently about #60, very late 5th Round, the 5th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Waller, a long time favorite of mine ~ I love the Georgia State Yellow Jackets, baby! 222-0!! ~ would seem to be generally expected to take a small step back after his sudden, shocking, break out campaign. Or perhaps it'd be more accurate to attribute his tracking 5th among WingBacks, despite being young, on the rise, and scoring 4th, last year, to applying a Wafer Thin Resume Discount, as The Market seems to be doing. And that seems reasonable to me.
FB Terry McLaurin ~ His ADP is currently about #63, early 6th Round, the 26th Ranked WideOut.
Sleeper! McLaurin had an exceptional Rookie campaign, despite a bad situation, finishing 24th, and I see plenty of reason, considering that he's the indisputable #1 WideOut in Washington, to expect a strong step forward, this year. Even a moderate improvement to 75/1080/8 or so would translate into about 15th or so, warranting an early 4th Round Pick.
XB Steven Sims ~ His ADP is currently about #300, UFA, the 96th Ranked WideOut.
SuperDooper DeeperSleeper!! Sims quietly emerged down the stretch, last year, racking up 36 Targets over the last 4 weeks, and producing a 20/230/4 line! The clear #2 behind McLaurin, Sims seems to me poised to at least be a good Bet to rack up 66/800/5 numbers, or even push for 1000 Yards, and yet he's going UFA! That's a Top 40 finish, at least, and quite possibly considerably more! That translates to good value in the 9th Round, much less as a UFA! A huge steal in the late Rounds.
WB Rob Gronkowski ~ His current ADP is about 72nd, late 6th Round, the 6th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value! Resurgent Rob rides, again! I expect that he'll start slowly, but one aspect of Kong that is generally underrated, is his wisdom: he listens, he learns, and he improves. I always said that tales of his demise were vastly exaggerated, two years ago, and now that he's had a chance to rest his bones, I'm expecting a resurgence ~ after a growing pain or two ~ to greatness!
FB Michel Gallup ~ His current ADP is about 72nd, late 6th Round, the 31st Ranked WideOut.
Sleeper! Gallup finished 20th, last year, in his breakout Sophomore campaign, so The Market clearly believes that the drafting of Lamb will not only bleed off Gallup's ascension, but reverse it! I think that that's a mistake. Lamb is a raw Route Runner who quite possibly will attract a far lesser Market Share as a Rookie than virtually everyone seems to believe, I believe. A repeat, more'r less, of last year's success ~ and, therefore, about a 20th place finish, once again ~ seems to me to be a justifiable estimate of Gallup's projection, which would translate to about the 50th pick or so, approximately the early 5th Round.
WB Evan Engram ~ His ADP is currently about 77th, middle 7th Round, the 7th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Engram finished 19th, last year, but he missed half the season. Mind you, Kaden Smith was remarkably effective as his substitute, and must therefore be considered a threat to Market Share, though if the Giants are smart, they'll simply make substantial use of both'f'm. Furthermore, Engram has now missed significant playing time for 2 straight years, now, and is officially suspect. But he's got Top 3 potential, so a 7th Ranking seems, to me, to represent an appropriate Risk Discount.
WB Hunter Henry ~ His Average Draft Position is currently about 77th, middle of the 6th Round, the #8 Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Henry actually finished as the #8 WingBack, last year, his 3rd. He's been steadily improving, and one's tempted to project him to add another 100 Yards a couple TouchDown, but the transition with the Offensive Line, though ultimately to his Fantasy FootBall advantage, if things work out, especially at Tackle, because he'd have to block, less, and receive, more, clouds his short-term picture, as does the uncertain outlook at QuarterBack. #8 sounds just about right.
WB Jared Cook ~ His current ADP is about 80th, mid 7th Round, the 7th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Cook's now been in the league for 11 years, and at 33 is officially dog-old. Do you remember his best 3 year stretch, by far? Of course you do: 2017-2019. Projecting continued success gets to be an increasingly rickety undertaking, but he is clearly the best of the WingBack crew in New Orleans, and should be even more reliable, his 2nd year in town.
WB Tyler Higbee ~ His current ADP is about 96th, late 8th Round, the 10th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Higbee is tricky. His spectacular late-season surge made clear what I said years ago: He's a phenomenal Player, in real life and in Fantasy. But the Rams actually went out and spent a 2nd Rounder on Van Jefferson ~ a wise move, mind you, as Jefferson is a remarkable FootBall Player and Binky of mine ~ which would seem to strongly suggest that, despite Higbee's BreakOut Month ~ December ~ they're going to continue to focus on 3 Wides, not 2 WingBacks.
FB Cederian Lamb ~ His current ADP is about 96th, late 8th Round, the 38th Ranked WideOut.
Overrated! Nothing against Lamb, and he may very well ascend into the prominent role that virtually everyone seem to expect of him, this year, but I say that his Route Running is raw, and that it's therefore likely that his Rookie campaign will produce a few growing pains, and sporadic production. I think he's a risky Bet to make, this year, and should be a Late Round Flier.
Austin Hooper ~ His ADP is currently about 98th, early 9th Round, 9th Ranked WingBack.
Blue Chip Beast Bargain! His ADP calls for a bit of a slide from last year's 7th place finish, presumably because Hooper, who was signed off the Falcons in Free Agency, will have to compete with David Njoku for Snaps, and with both Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry for Targets, Landry in particular for Short and Intermediate Targets. But there are two interesting factors that both play in Hooper's favor: First, the new Head Coach, Kevin Stefanski, just paid Hooper an enormous pile of money, making him, at least temporarily, the highest-paid WingBack in all the land. That doesn't transpire, unless Hooper's gonna be featured. Second, Landry's recovering from surgery and'll likely start slowly. Appropriate value for Hooper, as I see it, would be about the 5th or 6th Round, so he'd be a bargain in the 9th.
WB Noah Fant ~ His ADP is currently 100th, Middle 9th Round, the 11th Ranked WingBack.
Sleeper! Fant's Rookie Production was inconsistent, but nevertheless impressive, and he oozes Star Potential. I have his value pegged at about the 750/8 range, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least, to see him push 1000 Yards. I estimate Fant's value as about the 5th or 6th overall WingBack, and that projects, as it happens, to about the 5th or 6th Round.
FB Darius Slayton ~ His ADP is currently about 108th, late 9th Round, the 43rd Ranked WideOut.
Sleeper! Slayton, who I was very high on, a year ago, despite his 5th Round Pedigree, still doesn't get the Love that he deserves, even after an outstanding Rookie campaign. He finished 33rd as a Rookie, yet is projected to go 43rd as a Sophomore, even though the guy slinging'm the rock ~ Jones ~ is projected to ascend from 23rd to 16th!!! Idiocy. Mind you, the likelihood of the Giants having severe problems at Offensive Tackle puts a damper on Slayton's short-term upside, because his deep threat potential will likely suffer, from Jones not having enough time to get the ball to'm. Even so, Slayton is a rapidly rising Star. I strongly suspect that he goes something like 72/1080/10 this year, which'd project to around 15th, 3rd/4th Round.
WB Hayden Hurst ~ His current ADP is about 114th, mid 10th Round, the 12th Ranked WingBack.
Blue Chip Beast Bargain! Hurst is poised for a 3rd campaign BreakOut Year, the Falcons paid dearly to acquire his services, and he seems to me to be a strong Bet to go Top 10, which would warrant a 7th Round Pick.
XB Sterling Shepherd ~ His ADP is currently about 121st, early 11th Round, the 49th Ranked WideOut.
Par Value. I like Shepherd very much, but he suffered multiple concussions, last year, so I attribute substantial risk to his profile. Mind you, if he plays 16 Games and Jones is running for his life, he prove to be a tremendous bargain!
XB Golden Tate ~ His ADP is currently about 123rd, early 11th Round, the 50th Ranked WideOut.
SemiSleeper. I've always liked Tate, and he finished 41st, last year, even despite missing 5 Games, 4 to a PED suspension. He's getting up there, having just turned 32, and he's got competition for Targets. Even so, projecting his as a 4th or 5th WideOut seems like a severe Discount, to me. Tate gets the job done, and he's a good bet to produce, regardless of circumstances, so long as he doesn't miss much time. To me, he's got a 60/800/6 feel to'm, which'd place'm more like 3rd/4th than 4th/5th, projecting to the 8th Round or so. Not spectacular, but a moderate bargain, in my perception, worth picking up.
WB Thomas Hockenson ~ His current ADP is about 132nd, late 11th Round, the 15th Ranked WingBack.
Sleeper! Hockenson's ankle was still not 100%, even 3 weeks ago, which dampens my expectations, but he's such a supremely talented 2nd year WingBack, and one with such outstanding Intangibles, that I am expecting an enormous surge from him in Coach Bevell's Offense. I foresee a good shot at a Top 10 finish, maybe even pushing Top 5. Late 7th Round Value.
FB Jalen Reagor ~ His ADP is currently about 133rd, early 12th Round, the 51st Ranked WideOut.
Par Value. Reagor is highly talented and tough, and should produce as a Rookie, but with all the competition for Targets in Philly, and particularly with the Offensive Line likely to have issues, 50th or so seems like a reasonable projection for'm.
WB Michael Gesicki ~ His ADP is currently about 135th or so, early 12th Round.
Par Value. I'd be tempted to rate'm higher, as Gesicki closed the back stretch of 2019 strong, racking up 417/5 the last 9 weeks, and is likely to be even more productive, in the future. I'm pumping the breaks only because that Offensive Line seems likely to go through some early growing pains, as quite possibly the entire Line gets blessedly replaced. Theoretically, that could play to Gesicki's advantage, as FitzMagic repeatedly dumps it off to'm, for fear of his life! Theoretically. More likely, it's pure chaos for a month or two or three, followed by a strong finish.
FB Anthony Miller ~ His current ADP is about 138th, mid 12th Round, the 53rd Ranked WideOut.
SuperDooper DeeperSleeper!! I called Miller Highly Overrated when the Bears drafted'm in the 2nd Round, in 2018, giving him a 4th Round Grade, which I stand by, in terms of what his services were worth, then. But my Spidey Sense is telling me that Miller's about to launch. I foresee a big run to the 75/1000/8 range, which would likely be a Top 20 finish, warranting a Pick somewhere in the late 4th or early 5th Round range, and therefore a phenomenal bargain in the 12th Round!
WB Dallas Goedert ~ His ADP is currently about 138th, middle 12th Round, the 17th Ranked WingBack.
SemiSleeper. The perception seems to be that Goedert's 10th place finish, last year was fleeting, due his Market Share enjoying a bump from injuries to others. That's certainly true enough, but Goedert's got Star potential, and I don't believe that the Eagles invested a 2nd Rounder on him in 2018, despite already having Ertz, because they planned on spending a Reserve's Snaps on'm. There's a lot of competition for Targets in Philly, mind you, but Goedert's a riser and could repeat last year's success.
WB Jonnu Smith ~ His ADP is currently about #150, middle 13th Round, the 17th Ranked WingBack.
Sleeper!! I was a big fan of Smith during the 2017 Draft, and he seems to me to be ready to launch. Delanie Walker, a God of mine, has moved on, so Smith now gets the gig all to himself. He got a head start on that, last year, starting the last 10 Games after Walker got hurt, but produced random results. In fact, he finished 17th, so The Market projecting him to duplicate that in 16 Starts is obviously pessimistic, and that mystifies me. More to the point, though, is that he's both an explosive weapon and a savage Blocker, so he'll rarely need to come off the field, and there's not really anybody else compelling on the roster. The Titans prioritize the Run, but in terms of Fantasy production, that's more a problem for WideOuts, not WingBacks. Smith is a strong candidate for a Top 10 finish, an 8th or 9th Round Value.
SE Alshon Jeffrey ~ His ADP is currently about 154th, late 13th Round, the 55th Ranked WideOut.
Par Value. Jeffrey certainly has the potential to dramatically outperform the 55th slot, which is of course a speculative average of the wide spread of slots that he's drawing, this Summer, but he has to stay on the Field to do so. Therein, as they say, lies the rub, as Jeffrey has been plagued by injuries. That, thick competition, and the injuries to the O Line incur a lot of Risk.
Eric Ebron ~ His ADP is currently about 160th, early 14th Round, the 18th Ranked WingBack.
Sleeper! Here, too, there is more risk involved than usual, as Vance MacDonald is still around, but Ebron's clearly the more dynamic Player. The way that I figure it is that MacDonald split 1000 Yards with Jesse James in 2018, 600/400, and that that seems like a very viable projection for 2020, with Ebron getting the 600, and quite possibly more. Ebron's actually averaged just about 600 over the last 4 years. He's been horribly inconsistent, mind you, but he's also played for 3 organizations in that time, and had his best season in 2018 with Andrew Luck. If Ebron hits 600 Yards with a few TouchDowns, we're talking about a push for the Top 10, and that translates to the early 9th Round! Boo yah!
WB Jack Doyle ~ His ADP is currently about 162nd, middle 14th Round, the 20th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. I love Doyle, but that's because I love Blocking. In Fantasy FootBall terms, his Game is...moribund!
XB DeSean Jackson ~ His ADP is currently about 165th, late 14th Round, the 59th Ranked WideOut.
Par Value. All 3 WideOuts here have the potential to significantly outperform their ADPs, especially with XB Marquis Goodwin opting out, and if Jackson stays healthy, this time, he could be a steal, all right. But as with Jeffrey, sustainable health is a question, because Jackson missed most'f last year, and because he's 34. There's also the same issues as with all Philly WideOuts, those being the heavy competition for Targets, and, especially with a Zoomer like Jackson, the O Line.
WB Blake Jarwin ~ His ADP is currently about #175, middle 15th Round, 21st Ranked WingBack.
SuperSleeper!! I know that Jarwin allegedly took a hit when the CowBoys drafted Cedarian Lamb, but The Market appears to've failed to notice that the Player who drew the 4th most Targets on the Cowboys, last year ~ none other than the departed legend, Jason Whitten ~ drew 83 Targets ~ tied for 3rd, actually ~ and that that was with an Ascending Star named Blake Jarwin breathing down his neck and encroaching on his Market Share! Dalton Schultz is an intriguing Reserve, but hardly the threat to Jarwin's Market Share that Jarwin was to Whitten's. That's ironic, considering that Schultz was a 4th Rounder, and Jarwin, a UFA, but true, just the same. My point is that if Jarwin gets, say, the same 83 Targets that Whitten got last year, but at Jarwin's vastly superior 8.7 YPT, that's 722 Yards! And that doesn't even factor in the fact that Lamb is a Rookie, and a very raw one, despite all his hype, and that he is therefore the farthest thing from certain to earn a huge chunk of Market Share in his Rookie campaign. Seems to me that Jarwin's got a very good shot at placing #3 on the Target list, is what I mean to say. Furthermore, that's not even factoring in the likelihood of the 83/41 Target Split between Whitten and Jarwin last year being likely to be more heavily skewed in Jarwin's favor, versus Dalton! You see where I'm going with this. Darwin is actually beautifully positioned to make an enormous 3rd Year Jump. The only question, really, is whether the new Head Coach, that West Coast Offense afficionado Michael McCarthy, will impose his Offense on Dallas ~ one that is unfriendly to WingBacks ~ or let Offensive Coordinator and brilliant mind, Kellen Moore, roll with the current Offense, and Coach McCarthy has agreed to let Moore coordinate as he sees fit! So when I add it all up, I'm looking at another 125 Targets or so going to WingBacks, with Jarwin obviously poised to draw the Lion's share, so I'm thinking 64/750/6 or thereabouts is a good estimate of what to expect.
And if you find these arguments persuasive, then all that translates to a solid Top 10 finish for Jarwin ~ that would've been 8th, last year ~ which in turn translates to about a late 7th Round Pick. A SuperSleeper, baby!
WB Gregory Olsen ~ His current ADP is about 176th, mid 15th Round, the 22nd Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Late Round Flier is spot on. The Hawks do little with WingBacks, and Olsen is dog-old.
WB Ian Thomas ~ His current ADP is about 180th, late 15th Round, the 23rd Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Thomas has Star potential, but with the magnificent Christian McCaffrey on the field, his prospects for enough Targets to eat are dire, indeed. In a transitional Offense, mind you, his value could skyrocket should McCaffrey get hurt.
WB Irvin Smith ~ His current ADP is about 210th, UFA, the 26th Ranked WingBack.
WB Kyle Rudolph ~ His current ADP is about 216th, UFA, the 27th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. I like both WingBacks as FootBall players, but agree that they pretty much cancel each other out in Fantasy FootBall. Obviously, either one become very valuable if the other misses any time, but that goes without saying.
WB O'Terrius Howard ~ His current ADP is about 216th, UFA, the 25th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. A supreme talent, but there'll be many mouths to feed, it would seem!
WB Cole Kmet ~ His current ADP is about 246th, UFA, the 29th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Kmet is a top shelf Talent, but a raw Rookie, wrestling with Graham for Targets.
WB Jace Sternberger ~ His current ADP is about 255th, UFA, the 31st Ranked WingBack.
Blue Light Special! Sternberger's Stock is in the gutter, having missed virtually his whole Rookie campaign, follwing which he missed a big chunk of Camp because of The Plague. But this is a very well-coordinated Offense with a minimum of explosive Weaponry, and Sternberger is a phenomenal matchup with tremendous Intangibles. I foresee'm rapidly rising into a position of prominence, this year, despite his ghostly start. 40/500/5 is very attainable, a terrific Late Round Flier value.
WB Tyler Eifert ~ His ADP is currently about #256 ~ Undrafted Free Agent, the 35th Ranked WingBack.
Blue Light Special! 2 big factors playing against Eifert are that he's always hurt, and that 2019 3rd Rounder, Joshua Oliver, is projected to be the Starter. But Eifert may've finally rounded the corner on the injury bug, last year, suiting up for all 16 Games for the first time in his 7 year career. And Oliver is very talented, but was raw a year ago, and missed nearly the entire campaign because of injury, thus stunting his growth. The best factor might be that the new Head Coach, Jay Gruden, has a long history of aggressively employing 2 WingBacks, extensively. Furthermore, the best example of Gruden's love affair with WingBacks is Eifert, himself, as Gruden had already developed 2x Pro Bowler Jermaine Gresham, for the Bengals, yet spent a 1st Rounder on Eifert, in 2013. Eifert may at long last finally pay off!
WB Jimmy Graham ~ His current ADP is about 261st, UFA, the 32nd Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Graham is a top shelf Talent, but seems to've been aging for several years, now, he's competing with Kmet and other talented Reserves for Targets, and the Bears Offense does not feature the WingBack.
WB Logan Thomas ~ His ADP is currently about #270, UFA, the 33rd Ranked WingBack.
SuperSleeper!! On what I strongly suspect will be a far better team, this year, than is generally expected, I believe that Thomas is poised, at long last, to emerge. His has been a long journey since he arrived, in the 2014 Draft, as a horrible QuarterBack prospect. He eventually gave up that ghost, and has been working, since 2016, to earn Snaps as a WingBack. He's been progressing, and the reports that I'm reading now are extremely positive. We all know about off season hype, but in my judgement, he's finally reached that point where it all starts to click. We'll see. He's barely accumulated 300 Yards in his career, so far, but I'm so bullish on his chances, that I believe he could triple that, this year, or better! As preposterous as that may sound, it's worth noting that The Athletes Formerly Known as RedSkins offer very little in the way of competition for Targets. Thomas has an enormous opportunity in front of him. A gigantic and sudden emergence, a la Darren Waller, last year, is a distinct possibility. I'd be surprised if he isn't at least good for 500/600 Yards or so and a half dozen TouchDowns. And if he manages that, we're talking about Top 10 production from the 33rd Ranked WingBack, currently still slated to go undrafted! Nice!
WB Gerald Everett ~ His current ADP is about 273rd, UFA, the 34th Ranked WingBack.
Par Value. Given the opportunity, Everett is a Top 5 Talent, but as now a 2nd fiddle to Higbee, himself a Top 5 Talent who's now proven it, in an Offense evidently not committed to WingBacks, Everett is a highly talented UFA Flier.
Joshua Oliver ~ His ADP is currently about #312 ~ UFA ~ Unranked.
Blue Light Special! Coach Gruden has had extraordinary success with rapidly developing WingBacks, including Gresham, Eifert, and my erstwhile SuperBinky, Joshua Reed. I believe that the most likely scenario in 2020 is that Eifert leads the statistical way, regardless of Snaps, but while Oliver's Rookie campaign was in many ways a wash, putting Eifert at what I'd consider to be an initial advantage, that doesn't change the fact that there're 1000 growing pains that are now behind Oliver. I expect that he will develop rapidly, and Coach Gruden is more than capable of fielding 2 600 Yard WingBacks.
WB Jordan Akins ~ UFA
Sleeper! Akins enters his 3rd year, having steadily improved for 2. I was a big fan of his when he got drafted. He's a former BaseBall Player who switched back to FootBall really late, but who's been rapidly developing as a Receiver and Blocker. He's going UFA because he shares WingBack duties with Darren Fells, the Power to Akins's Speed, and who's a tremendous Red Zone Target. But with Hopkins gone, that's 150 Targets that need to get redistributed, and Akins is extraordinarily talented and perfectly positioned to reap the rewards. I foresee'm pushing Top 12 Production, quite conceivably landing decisively in the Top 10, which puts his value in the 9th or 10th Round, as I see it.
WB Drew Sample ~ UFA
Par Value, because he's expected to split Snaps, but he's a 2019 2nd Rounder who was decidedly worth it. He's got terrific potential both as Blocker and Receiver, so he could conceivably come to dominate Market Share, before long. I wouldn't drafting him, as yet, but I'd definitely recommend keeping an eye on'm, though he's more of a 2021 Play, I think.
WB Christopher Herndon ~ UFA
Blue Light Special! Herndon is young and talented, but unreliable, missing virtually all of his 2nd season, 2019, because of one suspension and two injuries. He did flash plenty of potential in 2018, however, and if he stays healthy, he'll be Arnold's most talented weapon, as well as a handy safety outlet. Definitely worth a Late Round Flier, I think.
Dawson Knox ~ UFA!!
Sleeper!! Knox is a former QuarterBack who was raw, going into his Rookie 2019 campaign, and went threw the inevitable growing pains. And now the Bills have traded for Stefon Diggs. But he is a 1st Round Talent with outstanding Intelligence and Drive, he's got those growing pains behind him, and is absolutely and utterly poised for an enormous Sophomore surge! I'd assess'm as about a 9th/10th Round Value, evidently available in the 16th! That could change, though!
Devin Asiasi ~ UFA
Blue Light Special! I lean towards less likely than more, of Asiasi making enough of a statistical impact to justify drafting, going into his Rookie year, but he is an extraordinary and underrated FootBall Player, one who I believe will make a significant impact on the Field as Blocker and Receiver, this very year, and might sneak into the Top 20!


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Beth went up for the children's sermon in church on Sunday and gave the whole congregation a heaping helping of BETH. The church member giving the children's sermon asked a young boy to volunteer to be John. She (the ranking adult) told him that he was going to be "the light." Then she asked another group of kids to walk up next to the altar and imagine that they were in a dark bedroom. She asked them how they felt in the dark. "Scared", one of them replied. This was the expected answer. Then she asked them, "where can we find some light?" One of them pointed at "John." This was the expected answer. "John" then produced a make-believe, paper lantern which was placed in "the bedroom". "How do you feel now?", the ranking adult asked. "Better", they replied. Again, this was the expected answer. This happened twice more, with very similar, expected replies. Then it was Beth's turn. The adult brought Beth's group up next to the altar and told them to imagine they were in dark closet. "Where do you think we can find some light?" the adult asked. Beth pointed to the candle on the altar and announced, somewhat incredulously, "it's right there!" This was not the expected answer.
After the adult was finished with her sermon, as is customary, she asked all of the kids to come forward for their candy (presumably a reward for comming up and sitting quietly). Beth took notice that everyone had been called up by name except her friend Cory. Alarmed, Beth asked the adult if she knew Cory's name. Caught red handed, the adult was forced to fess up. "No", she replied. Once again feeling somewhat indignant, Beth loudly advised her that this was Cory, that his mommy was here too, and his mommy's name was Miss Susanne. We were all glad that Beth was there to clear this up. Everyone in church had a good laugh, even the poor adult giving the children's sermon.


text:
require "openssl"

module TLS

  # Extracts the SIP identities in a public certificate following
  # the mechanism in http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5922#section-7.1
  # and returns an array containing them.
  #
  # Arguments:
  # - _cert_: must be a public X.509 certificate in PEM format.
  #
  def self.get_sip_identities cert
    puts "DEBUG: following rules in RFC 5922 \"Domain Certificates in SIP\" section 7.1 \"Finding SIP Identities in a Certificate\""
    verify_subjectAltName_DNS = true
    verify_CN = true
    subjectAltName_URI_sip_entries = []
    subjectAltName_DNS_entries = []
    sip_identities = {}

    cert.extensions.each do |ext|
      next if ext.oid != "subjectAltName"
      verify_CN = false

      ext.value.split(/,\s+/).each do |name|
        if /^URI:sip:([^@]*)/i =~ name
          verify_subjectAltName_DNS = false
          subjectAltName_URI_sip_entries << $1.downcase
        elsif verify_subjectAltName_DNS && /^DNS:(.*)/i =~ name
          subjectAltName_DNS_entries << $1.downcase
        end
      end
    end

    unless verify_CN
      puts "DEBUG: certificate contains 'subjectAltName' extensions, 'CommonName' ignored"
      unless verify_subjectAltName_DNS
        subjectAltName_URI_sip_entries.each {|domain| sip_identities[domain] = true}
        puts "DEBUG: 'subjectAltName' entries of type \"URI:sip:\" found, 'subjectAltName' entries of type \"DNS\" ignored"
      else
        subjectAltName_DNS_entries.each {|domain| sip_identities[domain] = true}
        puts "DEBUG: 'subjectAltName' entries of type \"URI:sip:\" not found, using 'subjectAltName' entries of type \"DNS\""
      end

    else
      puts "DEBUG: no 'subjectAltName' extension found, using 'CommonName' value"
      cert.subject.to_a.each do |oid, value|
        if oid == "CN"
          sip_identities[value.downcase] = true
          break
        end
      end
    end

    return sip_identities
  end

end

unless (file = ARGV[0])
  $stderr.puts "ERROR: no file given as argument"
  exit false
end

unless ::File.file?(file) and ::File.readable?(file)
  $stderr.puts "ERROR: given file is not a readable file"
  exit false
end

begin
  cert = ::OpenSSL::X509::Certificate.new(::File.read(file))
rescue => e
  $stderr.puts "ERROR: cannot get a PEM certificate in the given file: #{e.message} (#{e.class})"
  exit false
end

sip_identities = TLS.get_sip_identities cert

puts
if sip_identities.any?
  puts "SIP identities found in the certificate:"
  puts
  sip_identities.each_key {|name| puts "  - #{name}"}
else
  puts "No SIP identities found in the certificate"
end
puts

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
PBS views the growing evidence of war crimes
Alongside the agony of war in Ukraine (shown here), there's another process: documenting war crimes.
The result, said Tom Jennings – director of a "Frontline" report at 10 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 25) on PBS – will be a tribunal that "will essentially be a new Nuremberg: Nuremberg 2.0."
That, however, would be a long time from now. Raney Aronson-Rath, the "Frontline" producer, points to the successful conviction of Ratko Mladic, a Bosnian general. That "took over five years – just the trial …. Collecting of evidence before that was multiple years." Read more…
By Mike Hughes / October 21, 2022
Best-bets for Oct. 23: killer clown, deadly dragon
1) "The Simpsons," 8 p.m., Fox. Even now, in its 34th season, the show manages to change. Previous years had "Treehouse of Horror," with three offbeat tales; that will be here next week, but first is a fresh twist — "Treehouse presents" a take-off on Stephen King's "It." Homer and other teens fight a killer clown (shown here) … then return 27 years later, to try again. The Homer/Marge romance is flipped, in a tale that's too gory for some viewers, but great fun for many. Read more…