#also its only 5 weeks long so its super accelerated

[tacoma-narrows]

Six Flags Great America! - 5/4/24

Finally decided to put together my post from going to Great America about two weeks ago lol. Sorry it took so long! With moving back home after college, I kept getting distracted by other things haha.

Here are some of my fav pictures I got! In-depth thoughts about each coaster I rode are below them!

So I went with a friend from college and rode about half of all the major coasters there (7 out of their total of 15) since lines were pretty long all day. American Eagle, Whizzer and Sprocket Rockets were closed all day (this was only the third weekend of the season so it was to be expected - you know how it is with Six Flags lmao), and then everything else we didn't get to ride was either a kiddy coaster (Little Dipper) or has a clone somewhere else that I've ridden before (Batman the Ride, Joker, Flash: Vertical Velocity, Superman Ultimate Flight). So not super bummed about missing any of those. Getting on American Eagle and Whizzer would've been fun since those are both classics, and even with clones, a credit is still a credit lol. My friend and I are hoping to go back when we come back to school in August, so we'll hopefully be able to ride what we missed then.

But enough about what we didn't ride, onto what we DID ride! (This will be in the order we rode them throughout the day, plus what number they are in my credits list)

Maxx Force - Credit #162! This was easily my favorite coaster in the park! I am a huge sucker for launch coasters, especially ones with powerful launches. With Maxx Force now having one of, debatably the, fastest accelerating launch on any coaster in the world, that did not disappoint! The funky inversions were a lot of fun and I really liked the high speed heartline roll in the middle. Of course the one downside to Maxx Force is that it's a very short ride in duration, in addition to the brakes kicking in while you're still going through the final element. But overall, it was still an absolute blast of a ride and I definitely wanna ride it again next time I'm at the park!

Raging Bull - Credit #163! I knew this B&M Hyper has gotten mixed reviews in the past, so I knew going in it wasn't going to be the best Hyper out there. I did really enjoy it's more unconventional layout for its model and the focus more on lateral and positive forces throughout the layout, and it was pretty smooth all the way through. What did disappoint me a bit though was the airtime. Like I said, I knew not to expect the 5+ second floater airtime hills you get on other Hypers like Diamondback or Candymonium, but I had heard that in the back row, the main first drop off of the pre-drop had some crazy ejector air in the back row. We rode in the back row and there was definitely some air, but not the crazy throw-you-out-of-your-seat type air that I was expecting. There were a few other good pops throughout the layout, but like I said, I liked it's focus on laterals and positives more. Definitely solid all around.

Viper - Credit #164! Viper I was slightly underwhelmed with. Going in, I had heard that Viper is one of the more underrated coasters in the park, both from other enthusiasts and locals who visit the park regularly. It was definitely smooth for a wooden coaster, it had clearly been well taken care of and looked to have gotten some recent re-tracking, which was very welcome. It also had some good laterals going around some of its turns, but similar to Raging Bull, I found it to be kinda lacking in the airtime department. Again there were some good floater hills here and there but not every hill hit like it should I felt like. This is one I wanna give another shake next time I'm there to see if I just missed something.

Demon - Credit #165! Demon was, not my favorite I'll say. Like it wasn't awful, I've certainly ridden worse Arrow loopers but this one was kinda middle of the road. I didn't think it rode as smoothly or had as much hangtime as the other Demon at California's Great America did. I liked the theming that this one had around it though, much like it's sibling in California. The rock work around the lift and corkscrews and the tunnel you fly through after going through the loops were both pretty cool. Other than that though, I wasn't huge on this one.

X-Flight - Credit #166! Opposite of Viper, X-Flight was better than I had expected! I had heard going in that it was the weakest Wing Coaster in the US, so I wasn't really expecting much, but really ended up enjoying it! We rode in the back row on the right side, so we really got whipped through some of the elements, especially the first wing over drop. I sat on the outside seat, so it was a little rattly there but that's to be expected with B&M Wings lol, and it wasn't really that bad. There were a lot of positive Gs that were a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the hangtime on the first drop and the final in-line twist through the tower (which was also a really cool visual moment both on and off the ride). Of the three Wing Coasters I've ridden, I put it in the middle. I liked it more than Wild Eagle at Dollywood, but not as much as GateKeeper at Cedar Point.

Goliath - Credit #167! Goliath was the longest line we waited in throughout the day at over 90 mins, but I would say it was worth it! I knew this was one of the shortest RMCs in duration, so that wasn't an issue for me but I really enjoyed the elements here. Great first drop and some really strong airtime moments. Both inversions were awesome too! The dive loop was really weird in a cool way, since I turned my head up while we were upside down to look through the structure as we dove down, which was a wild moment. And then the HUGE stall under the lift was soo cool as well. I'd only done prolonged stalls on Jersey Devil and Wildcat's Revenge (the one on Steel Vengeance is really quick and snappy unlike the ones mentioned here), but this one was just so big and so long that it was just a crazy moment. Easy number 2 in the park after Maxx Force for me!

Dark Knight - Credit #168! The last coaster we rode was Dark Knight, the indoor Wild Mouse. I know there are better coasters we could have ridden like Batman or Superman, but at this point, it was about 4 o'clock and we just wanted to get out of the heat and sun for awhile, so we chose to wait in the indoor queue of the Dark Knight lol. I knew what to expect since I had done the one at Great Adventure before, but I think this one was a bit better. The trims didn't seem to be hitting at all on the switchbacks, or if they were, they weren't hitting very hard. So lots of laterals all over, and it looked like more of the theming elements were either on or working than on Great Adventure's (at least from when I rode that one back in like 2018 lol). So it was fun, but in the end it was still just a Wild Mouse in a box lmao.

So that's my recap of my day at Six Flags Great America! I had a great time, at least until it started POURING as we were heading out at about 6 lmao. I'm definitely looking forward to going back, hopefully in August like I said. It definitely had similar bones to California's Great America, but I liked the charm of CGA a bit more, although Six Flags Great America has way more coasters lol. If you've been to SFGAm, let me know what you think of their rides or how your thoughts compare to mine! I'd love to know!

Here's all of the coasters I rode at the park from most to least favorite, along with where they landed in my overall credits ranking (plus which coasters are before and after them on my list for frame of reference):

Maxx Force (#20, between Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood and Thunder Striker at Carowinds)

Goliath (#30, between Volcano the Blast Coaster [formerly] at Kings Dominion and Candymonium at Hersheypark)

X-Flight (#46, between Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point and Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure)

Raging Bull (#50, between Great Bear at Hersheypark and Impulse at Knoebels)

Viper (#65, between Flight of Fear at Kings Dominion and Comet at Hersheypark)

Demon (#101, between Iron Dragon and Wild Mouse, both at Cedar Point)

Dark Knight (#113, between Racer at Kennywood and Dark Knight at Six Flags Great Adventure)

[i-am-arcana-trash]

I'm gonna whine for a second.

I know I'm in a grad program and theory is important to practice .....but a theory class with hundreds of pages of reading each week is my literal nightmare.

[c-c-cherry]

Jojos Doing Jojo Things (with each other)✨😌

*sweating as the part 5 hc asks start piling up in my inbox*

 *looks at the one that mentions Jonathan*

Hello~~ I’m sorry for being criminally inactive here, I forgot during that long 6 month lockdown that I actually had a real life outside of the internet and now I have to go do real life things?? Instead of doing nothing but writing?? Crimes, I tell you.

I love the idea of Jonathan interacting with all the other jojos so I thought I’d take a little break from part 5 whump headcanons to fulfill this one :D SO HERE’S SOME SELF-INDULGENT HEADCANONS ABOUT JONATHAN DOING FUN LITTLE ACTIVITIES WITH THE OTHER JOJOS BECAUSE I KNOW WE ALL NEED IT RIGHT NOW😭😭😭

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Joseph (lets say Youngseph in this case because shhh)

-Hear me out but KNITTING

-Let this man do some nice calm things please

-Joseph has absolutely no way to connect with Jonathan. Like. Nothing.

-He doesn’t see the two of them as anything alike even though they both have the star, and when it comes to connecting with such a righteous, nice dude he’s a bit :/ about it

-He also doesn’t want to do anything stupid (In his words.) He hates baking, he’s never been into reading and school, and the two can never really click with sports

-Our man Jonathan has searched his heart and soul for something to bring the two of them together but Joseph is always just not into it >:(

-He’s almost given up on connecting at all BUT—

-One thing they do have in common? Erina.

-BOOM. Johnny-boy suddenly has ideas >:)

-Joseph is really put off when Jonathan shows up with a ball of yarn and needles and in the most innocent way possible he’s like “I have something to show you ^-^”

-the first thing Joseph thinks is NO FUCKING WAY. If Caesar or his mother or anyone caught him fucking knitting he’d never be able to live it down

-So instead he just watches as Jonathan sits by the fire, and it looks really boring at first but he just starts going at it

-And of course the gears start turning and all his brain sees is “fast task?? task I can be good at? something quick my hands can do??”

-And Jonathan looks up to take a break to see Joseph perched on the edge of the chair in complete awe, but the moment he asks if he wants to know how to do it, Joseph gets really withdrawn :/

The rest of their conversation goes a little like this:

“Isn’t that meant for girls?”

“Why would hats and scarves be only for girls?”

“But its—”

“You know...I’m making Erina a matching hat and scarf for her birthday. I could use a little help with the scarf…”

“...”

“We can make it a race.”

And with a fire lighting in his eyes, Joseph accepts the contest even though he has no idea what he’s doing. But isn’t that what he does best?

-Needless to say, he becomes obsessed.

-When his greatest fear comes true and Caesar finds out, he’s too obsessed to care about the teasing

-Joseph is good at something that Caesar isn’t. Caesar is jealous. Caesar picks up knitting.

-Are knitting contests even a thing?? I don’t care because Joseph and Caesar could probably open a fucking etsy shop with all the stuff they make (and absolutely shamelessly at that)

-Anytime they meet someone new it's immediately “which hat is better?” “Joseph’s is worse, right?” “Can you start the stopwatch for us?”

-Even in his older years, he never actually stopped making things for Holy, Suzi, and even sometimes Jotaro (thought Joot wouldn’t be caught dead wearing any of it in public)

-He actually progresses past knitting and making clothes in general becomes a secret passion of his

-The hat he’s wearing in part 4? He definitely made that. And don’t even think he doesn’t send Josuke the tackiest shit in the mail

Jonathan is very proud :)

Jotaro

-Animals. Is that even a question?

-Jonathan was always more of a dog or cat person, but the moment he finds out that Jotaro’s interested in marine life? MAN GOES ALL OUT

-He not only researches the shit out of marine biology just so he can hold up a conversation with him, but he also buys A SHIT TON OF BOOKS for his favourite angst man

-We all know that Jotaro isn’t exactly a man of words, but his heart is touched when they exchange a few sentences and Jonathan shows up the next day with a book all about what they were talking about🥺

-Like—Jonathan was always scolded for never listening to his father, but when it comes to stuff like this, Jotaro swears he’s able to read his mind

-Most people can barely get him to utter a sentence, but when these two are alone they’ll talk for hours about the ocean

-Holy was actually pretty worried for a while that Jotaro rarely ever opened up to anyone, but after seeing the two of them talk it was like a weight lifted off her shoulders :)

-They go on trips all the time to study water life. First, it's just to the river a few minutes away. Then they start going out to the lake nearby, and then they’re suddenly borrowing Joseph’s private boat and going on all these “research trips” together

-Which just consist of Jotaro taking hundreds of pictures and surprisingly never shutting up about what he sees (which is definitely a first)

-They pass by snooty, rich fishermen all the time who make fun of them for only looking at the animals, and Jonathan secretly uses Hamon to attract the fish to anywhere but where the fishers are lol

-I can blame snipster on instagram for introducing me to Smiletaro but the pure happiness and smiles of happy Joot on this boat with Jonathan is like a DRUG

-Star Platinum is absolutely thrilled, and when Jonathan realizes that Star is an amazing artist, he actually buys the stand a cute little purple notebook to draw all the ocean life they come across :3

-The moment they get back to shore Jotaro’s all -_- again around people, but you can still see the excitement in his eyes if you look hard enough

-When he gets into school for marine biology, Jonathan is so fucking proud

-This is an au which means anything can happen so I formally declare that Jonathan definitely got Jotaro those golden dolphin-shaped coat pins when the man first goes off to Uni

-He wears them as a good luck charm :3

Josuke

-Josuke is soooo easy to get along with, especially since both of them are such warm people :)

-Jonathan figures that it wouldn’t be hard to find something fun to do together, but when he actually thinks about it...he really knows nothing about what Josuke likes to do

-He ends up just asking the kid next time they see each other, and they end up just agreeing to teach each other one thing the other doesn’t know

-Because the power of KNOWLEDGE BABYYY

-Josuke shows up the next day with an entire fucking Nintendo 64 and is absolutely set on teaching him how to play something

-Erina just kinda watches like 👁👄👁 as Josuke plugs it in and Jonathan is confused but also SUPER EXCITED because he barely even knows what a video is but there are also video games??

-After much internal debate, Josuke decides on Ocarina of Time because he’s worried Jonathan will have a fucking heart attack if they play something like Mario Kart

-Also he thinks Jojo would enjoy the whole “righteous hero coming of age” archetype thing because,,,you know,,,

-They start it up and immediately Jonathan is like WHAT and has no idea how to play and dies in ways that Josuke didn’t even know were possible, but they somehow make it to the first temple with a lot of help from Josuke

-Right before the boss fight, his mom pulls up like “bitch we gotta go come on” so Josuke sees no harm in leaving the system at Jonathan’s and coming back next week

-Oho,,,ohohooo,,,

-He comes back a week later to a dark house,,,Erina’s off on some trip, and he can hear the faintest “HYAH!” coming from the living room

-He walks in to find Jonathan in the exact same spot he left him, ALL OTHER SAVE FILES ARE COMPLETE, and he’s in some obscure location doing a side quest Josuke didn’t even know existed

-Turns out he’s really good at quest games

-After Josuke realizes that Jonathan’s managed to beat the game more than once, he asks if he wants to try out another game

-To which Jonathan replies: “There’s MORE?”

.

-Aside from giving Jonathan a crippling video game addiction, Josuke also learns a vital thing about Jonathan Joestar

-Hamon ^-^

-Josuke’s a little surprised that Jonathan can even see his stand, and Jonathan has no other way to explain it than that it must be connected to his Hamon somehow

-To which Josuke is like “what” and Jonathan realizes that his stupid fucking grandson decided not to tell ANY OTHER Joestar about Hamon

-He’s no Zeppeli, but he could try and teach him...even if it didn’t work, it would still be a nice bonding activity

-When Jonathan finds out that Josuke’s stand ability is revolved around healing, he’s overjoyed because he might have a better chance

-They start small with breathing exercises and meditation, which eventually lead to Jonathan trying to teach Josuke how to make things like flowers

-Since it doesn’t exactly come naturally to Josuke, things don’t exactly work out,,,but both are unsurprisingly happy when Josuke manages to make a single flower bloom :3

-It’s not much, but it’s there and it honestly makes Josuke feel much better knowing that he could eventually learn how to heal himself, too :)

Giorno

-Jonathan considered teaching Giorno Hamon a while ago, but he realized that his stand already has the properties of Hamon, if not just in a more humanoid form

-And when Jojo puts two and two together that he and his son can both grow a lot of plant life, he has the perfect idea

-Garden buddies!!!! :D

-They grow everything you could possibly think of, and to top it all off, Giorno fills the garden with all this animal life :)

-When it comes to biology, Giorno never shuts up about it. He’s the quietest kid when it comes to virtually anything else but prepare for MAJOR info dumps about frogs and his vast knowledge of flowers

-Speaking of flowers, them just sitting and growing them together and talking about all of their favourites? Yes please

-Although they love to accelerate plant growth, there’s one patch in the middle of the garden that they’re determined to grow naturally

-Also them growing and eating carambola (star fruit) together because it’s my pocket dimension that makes no sense and I get to decide what fun fruits the Joestars get to eat together

-the garden becomes a great place for picnics and outings and the best place to go when things get too chaotic

-Giorno starts a plant journal where he records everything that ends up growing there, and Jonathan starts impulse buying all these flower guide books so they can look at pictures of them and put their favourites in the garden :3

-They end up creating a little pond in the middle of everything, and Giorno puts a whole bunch of frogs and fish in it and it's all very tranquil and calm and nice :))

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

I was gonna do part 6 (maybe part 7 too?) but mental energy? I don’t know her, sorry y’all :(

Feel free to add on though!! I wanna see what y’all would think Jonathan would wanna do with Jolyne or anyone else I missed :D My first thought for Jolyne was Rugby because Jonathan was a rugby KING and I feel like she’d be really good at it lmao

[cathkaesque]

Why is supernova – the explosion and death of a star – an apt metaphor for what could now be about to unfold? Why could the coronavirus, an organism 1000th the diameter of a human hair, be the catalyst for such a cataclysm? And what can workers, youth and the dispossessed of the world do to defend ourselves and to ‘bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old’, in the words of the US labour hymn, Solidarity Forever?

The first stage of a supernova is implosion, analogous to the long-term decline in interest rates that began well before the onset of systemic crisis in 2007, which has accelerated since then, and which fell off a cliff just as coronavirus began its rampage in early January 2020. Falling interest rates are fundamentally the result of two factors: falling rates of profit, and the hypertrophy of capital, i.e. its tendency grow faster than the capacity of workers and farmers to supply it with the fresh blood it needs to live. As Marx said, in Capital vol. 1, “capital’s sole driving force [is] the drive to valorise itself, to create surplus-value… capital is dead labour which, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.”

These two factors combine to form a doom loop of awesome destructive power. Let us examine its most important linkages.

Many things both mask and counteract the falling rate of profit, turning this into a tendency that only reveals itself in times of crisis, of which the most important has been the shift of production from Europe, North America and Japan to take advantage of the much higher rates of exploitation available in low-wage countries. The falling rate of profit manifests itself in a growing reluctance of capitalists to invest in production; more and more of what they do invest in is branding, intellectual property and other parasitic and non-productive activities. This long-running capitalist investment strike is amplified by the global shift of production – boosting profits by slashing wages rather than by building new factories and deploying new technologies. This enables huge mark-ups, turbo-charging the accumulation of vast wealth for which capitalists have no productive use – hence the hypertrophy of capital.

This, in turn, results in declining interest rates – as capitalists compete with each other to purchase financial assets, they bid up their price, and the revenue streams they generate fall in proportion – hence falling interest rates. Falling interest rates and rising asset values have created what is, for capitalist investors, the ultimate virtuous circle – they can borrow vast sums to invest in financial assets of all kinds, further inflating their ‘value’.

Falling interest rates therefore have two fundamental consequences: the inflation of asset bubbles and the piling up of debt mountains. In fact, these are two sides of the same coin: for every debtor there is a creditor; every debt is someone else’s asset. Asset bubbles could deflate (if productivity increases), or else they will burst; economic growth could, over time, erode debt mountains, or else they will come crashing down.

Since 2008, productivity has stagnated across the world and GDP growth has been lower than in any decade since World War II, resulting in what Nouriel Roubini has called “the mother of all asset bubbles,” while aggregate debt (the total debt of governments, corporations and households), already mountainous before the 2008 financial crash, has since then more than doubled in size. The growth of debt has been particularly pronounced in the countries of the global South. Total debt for the 30 largest of them reached $72.5tn in 2019 – a 168% rise over the past 10 years, according to Bank of International Settlements data. China accounts for $43tn of this, up from $10tn a decade ago. In sum, well before coronavirus, global capitalism already had ‘underlying health issues’, it was already in intensive care.

Global capitalism – which is more imperialist than ever, since it is both more parasitic and more reliant than ever before on the proceeds of super-exploitation in low-wage countries – is therefore inexorably heading to supernova, towards the bursting of assets bubbles and the crashing of debt mountains. Everything that imperialist central banks have done since 2008 has been designed to postpone the inevitable day of reckoning. But now that day has come.

10-year US Treasury bonds are considered the safest of havens and the ultimate benchmark against which all other debt is priced. In times of great uncertainty, investors invariably stampede out of stock markets and into the safest bond markets, so as share prices fall, bond prices – otherwise known as ‘fixed income securities’ – rise. As they do, the fixed income they yield translates into a falling rate of interest. But not on March 9, when, in the midst of plummeting stock markets, 10-year US Treasury bond interest rates spiked upwards. According to one bond trader, “statistically speaking, [this] should only happen every few millennia.” Even in the darkest moment of the global financial crisis, when Lehman Brothers (a big merchant bank) went bankrupt in September 2008, this did not happen.

The immediate cause of this minor heart attack was the scale of asset-destruction in other share and bond markets, causing investors to scramble to turn their speculative investments into cash. To satisfy their demands, fund managers were obliged to sell their most easily-exchangeable assets, thereby negating their safe-haven status, and this jolted governments and central banks to take extreme action and fire their ‘big bazookas’, namely the multi-trillion dollar rescue packages – including a pledge to print money without limit to ensure the supply of cash to the markets. But this event also provided a premonition for what is down the road. In the end, dollar bills, like bond and share certificates, are just pieces of paper. As trillions more of them flood into the system, events in March 2020 bring closer the day when investors will lose faith in cash itself – and in the power of the economy and state standing behind it. Then the supernova moment will have arrived.

During the middle two weeks of March, imperialist governments announced plans to spend $4.5 trillion bailing out their own bankrupt economies. An emergency online summit of the G20 (the G7 imperialist nations plus a dozen or so ‘emerging’ nations, including Russia, India, China, Brazil, and Indonesia) on 26 March, declared “we are injecting over $5 trillion into the global economy.” These are weasel words; by ‘global’ they actually mean ‘domestic’! The response of the ‘left’ in the imperialist countries is to clap its hands and say, we were right all along! There is a magic money tree after all! – apparently not realising that this is exactly what happened post-2008: the socialisation of private debt. Or that, unlike post-2008, this time it will not work.

Some highlights of John Smith’s excellent article on the economic crisis induced by the coronavirus. The pandemic has popped the bubble that has been keeping our imperialist system coherent since the 2008 crisis. In order to keep that bubble going, Central Banks have been undertaking unprecedented financial measures which they are attempting to repeat again. The result will be a reckoning, as the bad debts of the system pass from the private banks and become concentrated in the Central Banks that are core to our monetary systems. We need to use this crisis to begin building a rational system based on the using resources for human need rather than the exploitative anarchy of capitalism. 

[crazy4tank]

These 10 Rock Stars Own The Sickest Cars | HotCars

New Post has been published on https://coolcarsnews.com/these-10-rock-stars-own-the-sickest-cars-hotcars/

These 10 Rock Stars Own The Sickest Cars | HotCars

"It's a long way to the top in case you wanna rock and roll. " And nobody wants to move slowly to the top! This really is probably one of the reasons why rock and roll stars have always cherished to have super cool vehicles in their garages, and indeed, they had to be fast.

Over the years, rock celebrities have, at times, preferred elegant and elegant cars to take pleasure in high-end rides. But it is also true that most of the time they might have some sports car as a back-up, which in a certain sense, much better embody the transgressive plus out-of-the-line lifestyle they would embrace. Most of the time, these cars are also highly valuable . Here are the sickest traditional cars owned by some of the tour's most famous rock stars.

Associated: 7 Celebs Whom Got Banned By Ferrari (And 13 VIP Proprietors No One Knows About)

ten Mick Jagger’s 1966 Aston Martin Db6

via robbreport. com

Mick Jagger is the frontman of The Rolling Stones, and they are spreading rock'n'roll culture forever. Just like their music, Mick's Aston Martin will never walk out fashion: this cool plus sporty coupe is one of the many sought after British cars of the era.

through robbreport. com

Chrome bumpers accept the body of the car plus make it look like a rocket. Race wheels match with the race soul of the car, which usually must have given Mick Jagger some satisfaction.

nine Nick Mason’s 1962 Ferrari 250 Gt0

via classic-grid. com

Pink Floyd drummer Computer chip Mason has collected more than 60 classic cars; Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari are his favorites. Their passion for Italian style is measured in remarkable figures; one of his Ferraris, the 250 GTO, may be worth over 52 million bucks.

via forbes. it

Nick's Ferrari GTO two hundred and fifty is a 1962 sports car along with 3. 0-liter 12-cylinder motor, capable of delivering about 300HP. It is one of the most iconic Ferraris created by the Maranello company and naturally one of the most expensive ones on the planet.

8 Elvis’ Custom Order The cadillac Sw

through mecum. com

We know Elvis Presley was obviously a real car fanatic plus some of the coolest cars offered at his time came to be their. In his selection, there had been also the BMW 507, which recently became one of the coolest barn finds ever . Based on the car’s history, this 1972 Cadillac DeVille wagon has been ordered by Elvis with regard to his manager, Colonel Parker. But , the King lent it back so frequently that will Parker simply returned this to the rock star.

via mecum. possuindo

Elvis allegedly drove this automobile from Beverly Hills, Ca, to Las Vegas, Nevada, very often. The King’s The cadillac wagon displays just 71, 000 first miles and is in totally original condition, including the fancy and unique 24-carat gold badges, chromed cable wheels and dark brown vinyl fabric top.

7 Mark Knopfler’s 1956 Maserati 300S

via pinterest. com

Mark Knopfler was the frontman of Dreadful Straits, and he is also the '50s race car admirer. Not only the ultimate Sultan of Swing , their taste in terms of classy sports vehicle makes him the Lord associated with Races as well.

via pinterest. com

One exceptional example of his collection are these claims stunningly clean Maserati 300S. It was produced in 26 devices and took part within the FIA sports prototype planet championship. The six-cylinder a few. 0L engine produced 245HP at 6200 rpm.

6 Billy Gibbons’ Slampala

via stateofspeed

ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons is not only famous for his catchy tunes on his vintage Gibson Guitars, but also for his huge love for classic vehicles. One of these cars is the one of a kind Low'n'Slow Impala, which has become Slampala. Fair enough.

via stateofspeed. com

Although Slampala looks stock, it has been subtly modified, including the lowering work that is actually a Firestone air-bag system. The share engine has been replaced having a 1967 327ci small-block Chevy that was optional in ’62.

Associated: These Are ten Of The Sickest Chevrolets Through the 1960s

5 Elton John’s 1955 Bentley Ls

via thesun. co. uk

Elton David has always been into cars. It has been said that he utilized to purchase a different car each week. Among the 4-wheel rockets from the Rocket Man, there was a wonderful Bentley Continental S1, that can be described by Elton themself as one of the best car design actually.

via bonhams. com

One of 431 units, the particular Continental S1 was created between 1955 and late 1950s. Merging luxury and sportiness, the S1 featured the 4. 9L straight-six motor and automatic 4-speed tranny.

4 Slash’s Porsche 1989 911 Speedster

through mecum. com

This is a highly treasured Porsche Speedster, and is mostly of the units imported from European countries. Guns'n'Roses iconic guitar player Slash drove this very design.

through mecum. com

Dressed up in all dark, both interior and exterior, this 911 Speedster features some cool chromed Fuchs wheels. Packing the fuel-injected 3. 2L faustkämpfer engine and 5-speed guide transmission, it gives its greatest on corner exits plus fast accelerations.

several Bruce Springsteen’s 1960 Chevy Corvette

via morrisonhotelgallery. possuindo

Born to run, but additionally to drive some of the coolest vehicles, Bruce Springsteen features in the historical collection a gorgeous first-generation Chevrolet Corvette. Bruce purchased this beautiful Tuxedo Black 1960 C1 in 1975 from a nearby ice cream stand attendant right after his Born To Run concept album hit #3 in Billboard 200, making "The Boss" a worldwide star.

via flickr. com

The fuel-injected 283ci V8 could launch some 290HP, making the C1 a very sophisticated car for the time. The lightweight entire body, possibly inspired by the Western spiders, granted good overall performance and a promising start for your upcoming generations of Corvettes.

Associated: Collectors Spend A Fortune For These Classic Chevy Muscle Cars

2 Billy Gibbons’ CadZZilla

via pinterest. possuindo

Insane and absurd, this design owned by Billy Gibbons is a 1948 Cadillac Sedanette. Or at least it was, since it went through one of the sickest — and many famous — modifications actually. Now the CadZZilla provides a totally custom, lead sled, hot pole look.

via reddit. it

The motor is a 500ci 8L Cadillac OF V8 with custom-built Holley energy injection and several mechanical elements were taken from a mid-eighties Corvette. Custom 22-inch tires and the body turned into an ideal art masterpiece pushed the particular evaluation of the car in order to something like 1 million bucks... HotWheels even made the toy version of it.

1 John Johnson’s 1965 Lola T70 Spyder

through pinterest. com

The T70 is really a car built by the Uk car manufacturer Lola Race Cars from 1965 in order to 1969. AC/DC's singer John Johnson was an enthusiastic motorist of this car until he or she sold it at an public sale.

via pinterest. com

Fiberglass and aluminum had been used to build its entire body, and it was always intended to be powered by bulky United states engines. In fact , one of the share engines available was a Chevrolet V8 5. 7 liters with 550 hp.

Associated: Battle Of The Rock and roll Gods: The Coolest Cars Possessed By Brian Johnson Plus Nick Mason

[morwensteelsheen]

I’m starting grad school this autumn and honestly I’m getting nervous. Like yes I am v excited about the whole prospect overall and I do miss being a student but am intimidated by 3 hr long seminars and thesis writing and massive amounts of reading… everyone keeps saying it’s gonna be very different from undergrad so okay, but how specifically? Is it the large amounts of reading? I already had insane amounts of reading (humanities degree hurrah) especially in my last two years but could you expound on your own experience and how you take notes/read quickly/summarize or just how to deal with first time grad students?

Oh, yeah for sure! A necessary disclaimer here is that I'm at a certain poncy English institution that is noted for being very bad at communicating with its students and very bad at treating its postgrad students like human beings, so a lot of these strategies I've picked up will be overkill for anyone who has the good sense to go somewhere not profoundly evil lol.

So I'll just preface this by saying that I am a very poor student in terms of doing what you're supposed to. I'm very bad at taking notes, I never learned how to do it properly, and I really, really struggle with reading dense literature. That said, I'm probably (hopefully?) going to get through this dumb degree just fine. Also — my programme is a research MPhil, not taught, so it's a teensy bit more airy-fairy in terms of structure. I had two classes in Michaelmas term, both were once a week for two hours each; two in Lent, one was two hours weekly, the other two hours biweekly; and no classes at all in Easter. I also have no exam component, I was/am assessed entirely on three essays (accounting for 30% of my overall mark) and my dissertation (the remaining 70%), which is, I think, a little different to how some other programmes are. I think even some of the other MPhils here are more strenuous than that, like Econ and Soc Hist is like 100% dissertation? Anyways, not super important, but knowing what you're getting marked on is important. I dedicated considerably less time than I did in undergrad to perfecting my coursework essays because they just don't hold as much weight now. The difference between a 68 and a 70 just wasn't worth the fuss for me, which helped keep me sane-ish.

The best advice anyone ever gave me was that, whereas an undergrad degree can kind of take over your life without it becoming a problem, you need to treat grad school like a job. That's not because it's more 'serious' or whatever, but because if you don't set a really strict schedule and keep to it, you'll burn yourself out and generally make your life miserable. Before I went back on my ADD meds at the end of Michaelmas term, I sat myself down at my desk and worked from 11sh to 1800ish every day. Now that I'm medicated, I do like 9:30-10ish to 1800-1900 (except for now that I'm crunching on my diss, where, because of my piss-poor time management skills I'm stuck doing, like, 9:30-22:30-23:00). If you do M-F 9-5, you'll be getting through an enormous amount of work and leaving yourself loads of time to still be a human being on the edges. That'll be the difference between becoming a postgrad zombie and a person who did postgrad. I am a postgrad zombie. You do not want to be like me.

The 'work' element of your days can really vary. It's not like I was actually consistently reading for all that time — my brain would have literally melted right out of my ears — but it was about setting the routine and the expectation of dedicating a certain, consistent and routinized period of time for focusing on the degree work every day. My attention span, even when I'm medicated, is garbage, so I would usually read for two or three hours, then either work on the more practical elements of essay planning, answer emails, or plot out the early stages of my research.

In the first term/semester/whatever, lots of people who are planning on going right into a PhD take the time to set up their applications and proposals. I fully intended on doing a PhD right after the MPhil, but the funding as an international student trying to deal with the pandemic proved super problematic, and I realised that the toll it was taking on my mental health was just so not worth it, so I've chosen to postpone a few years. You'll feel a big ol' amount of pressure to go into a PhD during your first time. Unless you're super committed to doing it, just try and tune it out as much as you can. There's absolutely nothing wrong with taking a year (or two, or three, or ten) out, especially given the insane conditions we're all operating under right now.

I'll be honest with you, I was a phenomenally lazy undergrad. It was only by the grace of god and being a hard-headed Marxist that I managed to pull out a first at the eleventh hour. So the difference between UG and PG has been quite stark for me. I've actually had to do the reading this year, not just because they're more specialised and relevant to my research or whatever, but because, unlike in UG, the people in the programme are here because they're genuinely interested (and not because it's an economic necessity) and they don't want to waste their time listening to people who haven't done the reading.

I am also a really bad reader. Maybe it's partially the ADD + dyslexia, but mostly it's because I just haven't practiced it and never put in the requisite effort to learn how to do it properly. My two big pointers here are learning how to skim, and learning how to prioritise your reading.

This OpenU primer on skimming is a bit condescending in its simplicity, but it gets the point across well. You're going to want to skim oh, say, 90% of the reading you're assigned. This is not me encouraging you to be lazy, it's me being honest. Not every word of every published article or book is worth reading. The vast majority of them aren't. That doesn't mean the things that those texts are arguing for aren't worth reading, it just means that every stupid rhetorical flourish included by bored academics hoping for job security and/or funding and/or awards isn't worth your precious and scarce time. Make sure you get the main thrust of each text, make sure you pull out and note down one or two case studies and move right the hell on. There will be some authors whose writing will be excellent, and who you will want to read all of. Everything else gets skimmed.

Prioritisation is the other big thing. You're going to have shitty weeks, you're probably going to have lots of them. First off, you're going to need to forgive yourself for those now — everybody has them, yes, even the people who graduated with distinctions and go on to get lovely £100,000 AHRC scholarships. Acknowledge that there will be horrible weeks, accept it now, and then strategise for how to get ahead of them. My personal strategy is to plan out what I'm trying to get out of each course I take, and then focus only on the readings that relate to that topic.

I took a course in Lent term that dealt with race and empire in Britain between 1607 and 1900; I'm a researcher of the Scottish far left from 1968-present, so the overlap wasn't significant. But I decided from the very first day of the course that I was there to get a better grasp about the racial theories of capitalism and the role of racial othering in Britain's subjugation of Ireland. Those things are helpful to me because white supremacist capitalism comes up hourly in my work on the far left, and because the relationship of the Scottish far left to Ireland is extremely important to its self definition. On weeks when I couldn't handle anything else, I just read the texts related to that. And it was fine, I did fine, I got my stupid 2:1 on the final essay, and I came out of it not too burnt out to work on my dissertation.

Here is where I encourage you to learn from my mistakes: get yourself a decent group of people who you can have in depth conversations about the material with. I was an asshole who decided I didn't need to do that with any posh C*mbr*dge twats, and I have now condemned myself to babbling incomprehensible nonsense at my partner because I don't have anyone on my course to work through my ideas with. These degrees are best experienced when they're experienced socially. In recent years (accelerated by the pandemic, ofc), universities have de-emphasised the social component of postgrad work, largely to do with stupid, long-winded stuff related to postgrad union organising etc. It's a real shame because postgrads end up feeling quite socially isolated, and because they're not having these fun and challenging conversations, their work actually suffers in the long term. This is, and I cannot stress this enough, the biggest departure from undergrad. Even the 'weak links' or whatever judgemental nonsense are there because they want to be. That is going to be your biggest asset. Talk, talk, talk. Listen, listen, listen. Offer to proofread people's papers so you get a sense of how people are thinking about things, what sort of style they're writing in, what sources they're referring to. Be a sponge and a copycat (but don't get done for plagiarism, copy like this.) Also: ask questions that seem dumb. For each of your classes, ask your tutors/lecturers who they think the most important names in their discipline are. It sounds silly, but it's really helpful to know the intellectual landscape you're dealing with, and it means you know whose work you can go running to if you get lost or tangled up during essay or dissertation writing!

You should also be really honest about everything — another piece of advice that I didn't follow and am now suffering for. The people on your courses and in your cohort are there for the same reasons as you, have more or less the same qualifications as you, and are probably going to have a lot of the same questions and insecurities as you. If you hear an unfamiliar term being used in a seminar, just speak up and ask about it, because there're going to be loads of other people wondering too. But you should also cultivate quite a transparent relationship with your supervisor. I was really cagey and guarded with mine because my hella imposter syndrome told me she was gonna throw my ass out of the programme if I admitted to my problems. Turns out no, she wouldn't, and that actually she's been a super good advocate for me. If you feel your motivation slipping or if you feel like you're facing challenges you could do with a little extra support on, go right to your supervisor. Not only is that what they're there to do, they've also done this exact experience before and are going to be way more sympathetic and aware of the realities of it than, say, the uni counselling service or whatever.

Yeah so I gotta circle back to the notes thing... I really do not take notes. It's my worst habit. Here's an example of the notes I took for my most recent meeting with my supervisor (revising a chapter draft).

No sane person would ever look at these and think this is a system worth replicating lol. But the reason they work for me is because I also record (with permission) absolutely everything. My mobile is like 90% audio recordings of meetings and seminars lol. So these notes aren't 'good' notes, but they're effective for recalling major points in the audio recording so I can listen to what was said when I need to.

Sorry none of this is remotely organised because it's like 2330 here and my brain is so soft and mushy. I'm literally just writing things as I remember them.

Right, so: theory is a big thing. Lots of people cheap out on this and it's to their own detriment. You say you're doing humanities, and tbh, most of the theory involved on the humanities side of the bridge is interdisciplinary anyways, so I'm just gonna give you some recommendations. The big thing is to read these things and try to apply them to what you're writing about. This sounds so fucking condescending but getting, like, one or two good theoretical frameworks in your papers will actually put you leaps and bounds beyond the students around you and really improve your research when the time comes. Also: don't read any of these recommendations without first watching, like an intro youtube video or listening to a podcast. The purists will tell you that's the wrong way to do it, but I am a lazy person and lazy people always find the efficient ways to do things, so I will tell the purists to go right to hell.

Check out these impenetrable motherfuckers (just one or two will take your work from great to excellent, so don't feel obliged to dig into them all):

Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels (I'm not just pushing my politics, but also, I totally am) — don't fucking read Capital unless you're committed to it. Oh my god don't put yourself through that unless you really have to. Try, like, the 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon for the fun quotes, and Engels on the family.

Frantz Fanon — Wretched of the Earth. Black Skin White Masks also good, slightly more impossible to read

Benedict Anderson — Imagined Communities. It's about nationalism, but you will be surprised at how applicable it is to... so many other topics

Judith Butler — she really sucks to read. I love her. But she sucks to read. If you do manage to read her though, your profs will love you because like 90% of the people who say they've read her are lying

Bourdieu — Distinction is good for a lot of things, but especially for introducing the idea of social and cultural capital. There's basically no humanities sub-discipline that can't run for miles on that alone.

Crenshaw — the genesis of intersectionality. But, like, actually read her, not the ingrates who came after her and defanged intersectionality into, like, rainbow bombs dropped over Gaza.

The other thing is that you should read for fun. My programme director was absolutely insistent that we all continue to read for pleasure while we did this degree, not just because it's good for destressing, but because keeping your cultural horizons open actually makes your writing better and more interesting. I literally read LOTR for the first time in, like February, and the difference in my writing and thinking from before and after is tangible, because not only did it give me something fun to think about when I was getting stressy, but it also opened up lots of fun avenues for thought that weren't there before. I read LOTR and wanted to find out more about English Catholics in WWI, and lo and behold something I read about it totally changed how I did my dissertation work. Or, like, a girl on my course who read the Odyssey over Christmas Break and then started asking loads of questions about the role of narrative creation in the archival material she was using. It was seriously such a good edict from our director.

Also, oh my god, if you do nothing else, please take this bit seriously: forgive yourself for the bad days. The pressure in postgrad is fucking unreal. Nobody, nobody is operating at 100% 100% of the time. If you aim for 60% for 80% of the time and only actually achieve 40% for 60% of the time, you will still be doing really fucking well. Don't beat yourself up unnecessarily. Don't make yourself feel bad because you're not churning out publishable material every single day. Some days you just need to lie on the couch, order takeout, and watch 12 hours of Jeopardy or whatever, and I promise you that that is a good and worthwhile thing to do. You don't learn and grow without rest, so forgive yourself for the moments and days of unplanned rest, and forgive yourself for when you don't score as highly as you want to, and forgive yourself when you say stupid things in class or don't do all of (or any of) the class reading.

Uhhhh I think I'm starting to lose the plot a bit now. Honestly, just ping me whatever questions you have and I'm happy to answer them. There's a chance I'll be slower to respond over the next few days because my dissertation is due in a week (holy fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but I will definitely respond. And honestly, no question is too dumb lol. I wish I'd been able to ask someone about things like what citation management software is best or how to set up a desk for maximum efficiency or whatever, but I was a scaredy-cat about it and didn't. So yeah, ask away and I will totally answer.

[skiesdweller]

It's not about glamour it’s about guts.

1 | Solo | Form my childhood I was attracted to aeroplanes of all kinds, largely due to family. My Grandfather was US Navy Pilot shot down over Vietnam.

My father was an Aviator with USAF and has flown B-52 Stratofortress and presently a successful airlines company CEO and Chairman. Now it was my turn. They say Fighter Pilots are not born, they are built and this is place where they make them Naval Air Station Kingsville

The Advanced flight training starts with a 900 page manual of F/A 18 he first Fighter Jet I will qualify on. Here we have already done our Introductory flight screening (IFS)

and Primary flight training. It also includes Centrifuge tests which simulates the conditions of stress and gravity inside fighter aircraft. The tighter the turn, harder the gravity pushes on him,  which in technically called pulling Gs. And fighter jets do it more brutally than any machine on earth At 2G a 200 pound man can easily feel twice his weight. Take it upto 5g and the flight suit feels like 1000 pounds of lead. Once you start pulling Gs its like bench pressing your chest, everything is pulling down and its very hard to breathe. Under G load blood drains from the head and pools in the legs leading to tunnel vision or verse G lock i.e G induced loss of consciousness. Survival depends on mastering the Anti G Straining Manoeuvre, the trick is - tense the leg and stomach muscle so as to prevent the blood from hitting south.  And to breathe in short quick burst. Abs tight, but tight and lift yourself from the seat. The G suite that I was introduced too basically had bladders in thigh muscle and abdomen which inflate under G forces at varying pressure to squish your lower extremities to keep the blood in your head. But for centrifuge test, the suit will not inflate, I need to prove that I can sustain high G forces completely on my own. I had to complete a series of tests culminating in 8Gs for 15 long seconds. My turn I witnessed the heavy pressure and pull, it was difficult to breathe but I heard be “aggressive.. be aggressive” clearly and altered my pace likewise. When I finished it I was already a little white but I passed it. Good Stuff, the instructor commented. Two veteran pilots lost the test. One at 8 seconds and the most experience at 14 seconds. So being a pilot is no guarantee you will qualify. So Mike lost by just one second, its harsh but it would be fatal in F/A 18  rushing towards ground at hundreds of miles an hour. It took Mike 3 seconds to recover but that threes seconds is the time a fighter pilot does not have, especially if he supersonic. It could mean entering in enemy territory, getting shot by sam for failure to evade, or crashing. None of which is acceptable. Mike will have another shot at this test. I was in for my next challenge. The Seat from hell. The Fighter pilot’s ticket to survival. In a F/A 18  it is Martin-Baker Mk.14 NACES (Naval Aircrew Ejection Seat ). These seats are fitted in 200 fixed-wing and rotary types with the most recent being the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II programme.

A pilot is snared in belts and buckles, four straps for the leg another six for the torso, pin a pilot to the seat during violent manoeuvres. They also prevent him from being torn apart if he has to eject. The Ejection seat may be a pilot’s lifeline but it will be most violent and terrifying rescue imaginable. Pilot and seat literally explode out of airplane, when they are clear, another charge blows the seat belts and deploys the parachute. It all happens in just two seconds. One of my greatest fears was having to parachute in open waters and its is critical to know exactly what to do in first few seconds after hitting the war. So as test I had get free from the harness after been thrown into Olympic pool before I get to pulled to the pool. Then get out from under the canopy before it pulls me under. 

It was easy in the pool but imagine it in freezing Atlantic water. At this point everything I do is making life and death decisions automatic. After learning to survive and passing this phase and before spending time in a real cockpit of F/A 18 I will have to spend hours in simulator. Instructors throwing emergency after emergency, while I struggle to keep up, but eventually these procedures will be seared into my brain. While others went for Lunch one day I made a beeline for an open cockpit. I was going to save sitting in fighter aircraft for my first flight but there was too much to know. At the top of my list were critical emergencies that require a pilot to react instantly, the so called RED PAGES. In a machine as complex as F/A 18,  failures are inevitable. Red Pages emergencies are inherently fatal. Things like Engine Fire that will cripple the jet; A fuel leak, Landing gear failure or a cockpit that suddenly fills with smoke, blinding the Pilot. Better to know where the switch is, if a lot has to think before acting in these situations, he will be hole in ground before he remembers the answer because if you are in supersonic fighter the question is not if the trouble will find you but when. In a life of fighter pilot there are no secrets, even if there is, there is always a witness. Every time a fighter aircraft leaves the ground the mission is tapped. The Heads up Display or HUD shows the pilot things like Speed, Altitude and G Forces. Everything a pilot sees is recorded and everything he says. Also my ride I discovered I had a companion, a computer one, and soon discovered that fighter pilots call it bitching Betty. More common are the troubles that a pilot runs into when he pushes the jet too far. The same traits that make fighter jets agile and manoeuvrable also make them extremely twitchy   When they are driven to the limit. Once the plane looses control it will not be safe to control it until it reaches certain speed in situation where the plane does not reach that speed, all a pilot can do is take hands off the controls and wait, it’s ultimate faith and belief in a machine. The instructor talking about his experience when he recovered 2000 ft above ground and 3 seconds from oblivion. His HUD was a case study. This is the stuff we live for. Living life on the edge. Anyone can shoot bullets, but only few can call themfselves fighter pilots. The first test was pushing all of us Aviators to the limit. Last minute brushing up of details, sleep deprivation, stress. Unlike other exams in this exam the pass mark is 100%. For instructors demanding perfection is not unreasonable, it’s personal. After having cleared the test and surfing three weeks, it was time for some celebrations No G suites today, instead, I was siting up for our official welcoming party. Being a fighter pilot isn’t a job, It’s Life Walking through Air Worthiness check of F/A 18, every Pilot must know by heart. There are 155 checks before one even climbs into cockpit. When you sign on to fly jets it means a life time of sacrifice. Suiting up for F/A 18, is like gearing up for super bowl, it makes everything else you have flown seem like training wheels. And it was about to happen the first flight in Fighter Aircraft, but first I had to prove I have memorised the external safety checks, all 155 of them. Covering Everything from mechanical to animal. Then there are another 194 cockpit checks. As I climbed up the cockpit ladder, I was feeling a soft breeze behind my neck, a feeling of something important about to happen, a feeling one cannot imagine.After 194 checks, I had to 76 more checks before I even started the engine. And starting the engines involves 45 more, I felt I could get old waiting around for this. An Experienced Fighter pilot can knock off the whole work in under 5 minutes. Student Naval Aviators like me usually take three quarters of an hour. I took 38 minutes on my first and It was situation where I could not afford to make a mistake. My instructor in back seat is watching like a hawk. And Upfront the Heads Up Display (HUD) tape is recording every move I make and everything I say. “ All Set, 222 Taking Off my” first ever Fighter Callsign on a Fighter Aircraft. “Show me your Stuff man” The Air Controller replied to my information.”  Pressing the throttle forward, this was the moment I have been waiting all my life. As the afterburners lit the tarmac up. “Nozzles Good , 100 Knots and takeoff”

“Good Job” The instructor sitting behind me said as the wheels left the tarmac. “All’s Up regain 220” Right away I was expected to master the basics. “I will try a roll” And I did.. Yeehaa..I could not control my excitement. “I’m gonna do one more.” My instructor just laughed. Rolls, Climbs, Stall Even though I was getting the most thrilling experience of my life, instructors were looking for discipline and level headed guy which is required in combat and it was just business for us. But at this stage, flying is an easy part, for an inexperienced pilot bringing an F/A 18 back to earth is the most dangerous and difficult part of the flight. For  44 years F/A 18 has proven its ability in combat theatres around the world. And it is dual engine plane, only experienced pilots gets to touch them and qualified ones get to fly them. It is whole lot different than F-16, but in hands a SNA  ( Naval Aviator) on windy day it can also be treacherous. On the HUD on the left was the E bracket which tells the pilot, plane’s angle on landing, how high the nose is, E bracket helps insure a smooth landing.  I landed a little harder than my instructor would have liked but I got it done without drama, and completed it successfully. After very flight there is a debriefing. This course is marathon and we athletes/ pilots have just begun our race. There are never enough serviceable jets and never enough time. One of the exercise I did was practise engine restart, the drill is straightforward, shutdown one engine, accelerate to 350 knots and relight it, at that speed air is driving the compressor like a windmill, so when the engine is reignited the turbines are moving fast enough to blow the heated air out of exhaust. If You fly too slow in this exercise, the hot air blast will be trapped and engine will overheat. Two cadets made a mistake, Mike was flying too slow so he had to do emergency landing with only one engine. The engine was unhinged and taken to sick bay for inspection, luckily for Mark, it did not suffer any damage. For Tim his missioned was cancelled as he dropped his ball pen into cockpit. That 10 pence plastic could jeopardise the entire flight safety, so the plane was rotunded till the pen was found. That means somebody else does not get to fly, due to Tim’s mistake. So around here we have rule, one pilot’s mistake is everyone’s lesson. Time for Solo flight, for pilots, they count their flying hours, for me this was hour one, minute one for a solo flight. “Alright Nose and Wheel Sten is up. I’m good to go” “Cleared to Take Off” Came the reply. That was what we had all prepared for Solo Sortie “EGT, Fuel Flow Nozzle, oil is good, Going to burner, Here we go Lift off” And I was wheels up in the climb “Gear flags up, 220” “Eat your heart out..this is fucking awesome”..I commented up in air. It was my first solo flight, at 20000 Feet. If anything goes wrong help I long far away.The Mission went smoothly I did all the patterns I had to complete and pulled in a little extra and landed safely. Right before Thunderstorms filled the sky. Flight Tradition Dictates that the a Pilot goes solo, he earns himself a callsign - a nickname that symbolises his identity. Squadron tradition demands a well stocked bar and well used gun barrel from nose of a jet. Getting a call sign is like Christening there it was “Hammer” and I had no say in it, and it was decided by mob rule by Instructors. Only in movies you get cool callusing like “Maverick” and “Iceman” here In this batch I was lucky.  

[rainbowsandcoconut]

Just Saw you like getting questions, so here goes. A followup on the travel favorites. You mentioned it was difficult to narrow down. Would a top ten be easier? I always look for new inspiration LOTR being your first fandom but have you ever been into something no one else understood? 😊

HIIII! 💕 This totally made my night. I am honestly so surprised anyone would care enough to send me an ask, this is so sweet 🥰 Anyone wanting to talk or ask anything should absolutely feel free, I’d love it!

I’m gonna start with the last question since the travel one will definitely be longer 😊

I’ve been into a lot of things no one in real life understood haha. Like Supernatural back during seasons 1-3 ish when I was obsessed and my friends would get tired of me talking about it all the time (thank god for LiveJournal), or cycling (road and track) that I got super into watching one summer and ended up going all over the country to see races and do some photography for, for a few years.

Now traveling. Oh man, you’re really making me miss the days where travel was allowed and where I could afford it lol. Thanks for this question though, it’s really put me in a good mood to remember some of my trips, I hope these don’t disappoint. In case anyone hasn’t seen 3 of my fave travel memories, they’re over here. And now I’m going to spam you all with 10 more of my fave memories from trips. I had to try to go with ones I could find my pics from and I mostly managed, apart from Norway, so here we go:

1. Flying an airplane in Wanaka, New Zealand 🛩 

I got to actually fly a plane! It only fit 2 people (and a cat) and I feel like I was allowed to do waaay too much, likely because it was my instructor’s first time taking someone inexperienced up so he let me do most of take off and also fly most of the trip, and then he even offered to talk me through landing it but I’m not insane so he ended up doing that part on his own. It was super freaking cool, and the view was absolutely breathtaking.

2. Seeing the Northern Lights, Tromsø, Norway

My best friend did her master’s in Tromsø so I went to visit her for a week in November 2018. I was a bit worried it was too early in the season to see the Northern Lights but one night the whole sky was full of dancing green light! We went up the top of a mountain and stayed there until we couldn’t stand the cold any longer, and it was just an incredible night. I didn’t manage to get any good photos with my phone so I just stole this off Google but it’s pretty accurate

3. Meeting Rachel Bloom in NYC last year

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is one of my favourite shows, and it’s really meant a lot to me. Yes, it’s a comedy with musical numbers but it also portrays struggles with mental health more realistically than any other show I’ve seen and that’s something I’ve really both needed and appreciated. Rachel is a comedic genius, and her show has helped me through a few tough times, so being able to not only see CXG live at Radio City Music Hall but also get to talk to Rachel after the show made it an incredible night.

4. Watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The history of the Angkor temples is so fascinating, and I managed to get myself up early enough to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat several times. For anyone who may want to go, my advice would be to not elbow your way to the front of the lake, but stand a bit further back while the majority of the tourists scramble to get a good spot. About 90% of them will disappear into the temple once the sun has offically risen and it’s gotten light out, but you want to stay by the lake. The sun takes longer than you think to actually rise above the temple, and by the time it gets there, most people will have left and the area will be much quieter and more peaceful and will give you a chance to really take in the sunrise. Each time I kept thinking maybe the sun wasn’t super bright or the clouds would cover it some because it seemingly took so long, but staying is absolutely worth it.

5. Early morning Alms Giving in Luang Prabang, Laos

This almost felt like a moment I wasn’t supposed to see but the owner of the guest house I was staying at assured me I was fine to watch. I wasn’t staying in the center of the city, and I was the only tourist out to watch the long procession in this neighbourhood which made the experience feel extra special and authentic as opposed to how crowded I’ve heard it can sometimes be in the city center.

6. Going to Lawrence, Kansas in 2009

Seeing as I mentioned being very into SPN above, I’ll include my trip to Lawrence, Kansas on this list. I went solely because my friend and I thought it’d be funny to do so because of its connection to Supernatural. We got invited to lunch by the owner of a souvenir shop who was delighted to hear I was from Denmark because her husband had a friend whose dad had once been. We stayed in Kansas City, and I got lost on my way back from the post office one day. An older lady in a car stopped by the streetlight I was at and offered me a ride back to my hotel which I gratefully accepted, only I started to rethink that decision once I realized that the footwell of her car was so full of bibles, I had to step on them, and the passenger door could not be opened from the inside. Obviously I realized this after I was in the car but while I was somewhat freaked out, I still agreed with her that us going past the McDonalds Drive Thru before my hotel was a good idea so her and I could get to know each other a bit... I was way too trusting back then but hey, I didn’t die so yay?

7. Driving a moped for the first time on Phu Quoc, Vietnam

I don’t have a license for any kind of vehicle and I have never driven any either (apart from a car twice on completely deserted, straight roads) but the owners of the hostel I was staying at insisted it was the best way to get around the island. Once of them tried to show me how it worked on her own moped, then let me try for a couple of minutes and then declared that she’d rent me one for the next day even though she was too afraid to sit on the back while I was practising because my accelerating and breaking were super abrupt. So the next day off I went. I drove into a tree and a sign in the street, got a lot of concerned looks, and I probably broke any and all traffic laws but I had such a fun time and I got to see some incredibly beautiful beaches that I don’t know how I could’ve gotten to without the moped. Important note for anyone doing this: remember sun cream! I sadly don’t have any photos of the moped, but I did take this photo of one of the beaches I visited:

8. Going to Obama’s first inauguration in January 2009 in Washington DC

I’ve always been into American politics and that interest peaked around 2008, so just in time to watch Obama get elected, and I knew I had to try to go to DC when I started planning my first ever US trip for 2009. I didn’t manage to get onto The Mall as I only made my way downtown around 6 am but I got a spot on Pennsylvania Avenue for the parade. I have never been so cold in my entire life but I’ve also never experienced the kind of euphoria and excitement from a crowd that I did that day. There truly was a feeling of hope for a real change, and I talked to the absolutely friendliest, kindest people while we waited. Plus I got to see Barack and Michelle Obama wave at me (in my direction anyway) as they were walking down Penn Ave which I’ll forever remember.

9. Going to Kangaroo Island, Australia

I love kangaroos. So much. I will never get over how cool they are. And I got to bottle feed joeys (baby kangaroos) on this island, as well as pet a bunch of tame adult ones, and see sooo many wild ones. Plus I got to see lots of koalas and other wildlife, as well as the beauty of the island. My friend did technically hit a kangaroo (or wallaby) when we were driving after dark but she’s Australian and didn’t take it quite as hard as I did.

10. Seeing the Colosseum in Rome, Italy

I’ve just always loved this building. And seeing it in real life did not disappoint.

[antoine-roquentin]

Like the US president, Jair Bolsonaro has raged against the quarantine implemented by his own government and has just dismissed his level-headed health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta. A few days after the first shutdown measures were announced in São Paulo, the president blatantly defied them by encouraging his supporters to attend a mass rally on March 15, filling part of the megalopolis’s wide Avenida Paulista in support of Bolsonaro and against Congress. Covid-19 is just a gripezinha (sniffle), he insists, while heading a campaign on social media to reopen the economy under the slogan “Brazil cannot close.” On Sunday, he headed a second small rally in the capital of Brasília, where social distancing was replaced by manic jostling to get close to the president, along with chants demanding that the army intervene to get people back to work.

Bolsonaro has dismissed as “hysteria” the lockdown measures, implemented swiftly in Brazil despite the president’s rhetoric. “Let’s face the virus like men, not kids,” he urged, as he visited a Brasília street market last month. Perhaps the only head of state able to out-Trump Trump in sheer recklessness and social-networked delirium, Bolsonaro has mobilized his three loyal sons, two of them members of Congress, to help peddle conspiracy theories concerning China and snake-oil remedies such as chloroquine. Ironically, Bolsonaro, 66, was lucky to escape infection on March 7, when he attended a neoconservative get-together hosted by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, after which several members of the Brazilian delegation came down with severe symptoms.

The terrifying implications of such a cavalier approach to the pandemic in a country with a stretched health care system and vast slum cities where social isolation, and even the routine precaution of washing hands, is an impossible challenge, soon forced the Brazilian establishment into action. When Bolsonaro—following the Trumpian script—announced that he would reverse the lockdowns in São Paulo, Rio, and other cities, the Supreme Court reiterated that under Brazil’s federal system, it is state and city authorities who decide such matters. Leaders of both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies supported Mandetta, while governors like João Doria in São Paulo and Wilson Witzel in Rio—allies of Bolsonaro in the presidential elections of 2018—maintained the city lockdowns. Justice minister and super judge Sérgio Moro, who led the “car wash” anti-corruption probe and sentenced former president Lula da Silva to nine years in prison, dared to defy the president whom he had helped into power.

The other super minister in the Bolsonaro government, billionaire financier Paulo Guedes, whose global investment funds are now staring into the abyss, also seemed skeptical of Bolsonaro’s antics, despite his concern that the lockdowns and a pandemic-driven 5 percent drop in GDP this year (an IMF forecast) might scupper his plans to privatize the Brazilian economy. Pots and pans were banged from the balconies of locked-down apartment blocks in middle-class districts of Rio and São Paulo in protest against Bolsonaro, just as they had been five or six years before against the soon-to-be-impeached President Dilma Rousseff. Like Trump’s health adviser Anthony Fauci, also a doctor, Mandetta had emerged as a voice of reason, with better ratings in the polls than Bolsonaro’s, and appeared to have cleverly outmaneuvered the president. At least, until his dismissal last week.

Even the armed forces—well represented in the Bolsonaro cabinet—seemed prepared to intervene against the madness of President Jair, despite the Bolsonaristas’ calls for military action in favor of the president. A report in DefesaNet, an online media outlet used by the military to get its message out, said that effective control of the government’s strategy on Covid-19 had devolved to the chief of staff, Gen. Walter Souza Braga Netto. “The president will thus be able to behave democratically as if he did not belong to his own government,” explained DefesaNet, a contorted phrase that perfectly captures the Brazilian establishment and military’s paternal approach to Bolsonaro’s childish outbursts.

When Mandetta was confirmed in his post after Bolsonaro’s initial threats to oust him, many concluded that the lunatic had been removed from control of the asylum, or at least the intensive care ward. “The general feeling here is that Bolsonaro is a puppet,” remarked an employee early last week at the country’s state development bank, BNDES, whose role in successfully fending off the global economic crisis in 2009 will be sorely missed this time, after Guedes’s decision to downsize it. But the removal of Mandetta, and Bolsonaro’s paranoid appeal to his base Friday to help him fight off an alleged coup attempt orchestrated by Doria in São Paulo and Rodrigo Maia, the head of the Chamber of Deputies, suggest an alternate reading. Could the president glimpse opportunity in the chaos?

“There is method in the madness,” explained the anthropologist Luiz Eduardo Soares in an interview. Soares is co-author of Elite da Tropa, a gripping 2006 account of police brutality and extreme-right-wing death squads in Rio’s favelas that was turned into two blockbuster films, Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2. Soares, whose latest book, O Brasil e Seu Duplo (Brazil and Its Duplicate), explores the origins of Bolsonaro and Brazilian neofascism, says Covid-19 will either stop the Bolsonaro project in its tracks or accelerate its progress. “Bolsonaro has been advised to deny the threat of the pandemic,” said Soares. “He feels sure of himself, in part because he’s mimicking Trump. But his authority has diminished, and he’s in danger of becoming a lame-duck president only a year into his term.”

But the president has a plan. Behaving, as the generals suggested, “as if he did not belong to his own government,” Bolsonaro may be able to escape the blame for the devastating economic crisis now unfolding. A brutal recession triggered, as elsewhere, by the pandemic, comes after seven years of stagnation. Even before the pandemic, 60 million Brazilians had fallen back into poverty (defined as earning less than $5 a day) after the advances of the Lula years. “The plan is to transfer responsibility and accuse the others for allowing the tremendous crisis which we are going to encounter,” said Soares.  

The worsening social conditions will undoubtedly create fertile ground for Bolsonaro’s bid to capitalize on discontent. A survey cited by piauí magazine found that 72 percent of Brazilians have enough savings to cushion lost earnings for just one week before entering serious hardship, and 32 percent already report problems buying essential goods like food. “We are staying in, but food is scarce, and without work there is no money,” said a mother of two who lives in the enormous Rio favela of Rocinha, where at least 50,000 inhabitants are packed into the hillside above Ipanema and Leblon. “Practically everybody in the favela works in the informal economy, so the lockdown doesn’t really apply here; businesses are open but close earlier. People are wearing masks; there is little information,” said Macarrao, a rapper from Cinco Bocas, a favela in the North Zone of Rio, whose daughter has Covid-19. “She got treatment fairly quickly,” he added. This may not be the case now. Epidemiologists at five important institutes in Brazil forecast recently that the health system could reach the point of collapse by late April.

The Bolsonaro government has guaranteed a basic monthly income of 600 reales ($112) to those with no income, but the electronic application has failed, and long lines of people—practicing scant social distancing—have waited outside the public savings bank Caixa Econômica, only to discover that their transfer has not arrived. In any case, $4 a day is a pittance, and Guedes seems reluctant to take any other measures to soften the blow for Brazil’s poor, even though he has passed tax cuts for business. There is a logical link to Guedes’s neoliberal stance, as millions descend into poverty and hunger, and Bolsonaro’s populist plan to blame it all on Mandetta and the governors of the two big cities: Both governors are potential rivals for the next presidential elections, and Bolsonaro will use his media to pinpoint them as responsible for the hardship.

While registered cases of the coronavirus in Brazil are 40,000, the real figure is probably over 10 times that, as indicated by the current unnaturally high mortality rate. According to official data, by the end of last week some 2,600 people had died from the virus—low compared with Europe and the United States, but Brazil is late in the curve. And Brazil’s intensive care units are fast approaching capacity, just as they have in Europe. Manaus, the Amazon metropolis where the reports of contagion in the indigenous territories make harrowing reading, is already at 100 percent capacity and is transferring patients to other sites. A survey by the University of Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of the country, estimates that there are at least seven times more cases than the official figures suggest.

Bolsonaro will try to build a strategy from his base of support among evangelicals and people in the orbit of the police and military. Evangelicals have been another element of the Covid-19 denial, but they are fired by conviction rather than nonchalance. Edir Macedo, the billionaire pastor whose TV networks are used by Bolsonaro in preference to the establishment Rede Globo, said the WHO’s warnings on Covid-19 were the “work of Satan.” “Our position from the first moment has been to keep the churches open, because God will defeat the virus,” said Washington Reis, the evangelical mayor of the Rio working-class district of Duque de Caxias last week. Days later, God had spoken, and Reis was hospitalized with Covid-19. The tactic may be working. Bolsonaro appears to have maintained support in the pandemic, despite the pot banging and international horror at his stance. A poll by Datafolha last week showed that 36 percent of Brazilians believe his management of the health crisis is “good or great,” slightly more support than before the pandemic. And 52 percent say he’s capable of leading the country through the crisis.

There may even be a second phase to Bolsonaro’s strategy of leveraging Covid-19 to stay in power, said Soares. “Building on the contradictions of his own government and the coming crisis in the health system and the economy, Bolsonaro may be hoping for some kind of a social explosion in the streets,” he said. “That would create the conditions for a state of emergency and the end of democratic institutions that are still blocking the path of Bolsonaro’s basic project: a dictatorship and the perpetuation in power of his family.”

The call for a coup against Congress—pitched, at Sunday’s rally, at more extremist elements in the armed forces—may be a first step in this direction. By first denouncing an alleged coup plot against his own presidency, allegedly planned by Congress and the big-city governors, and then calling for military action in his defense, “Bolsonaro is following the example of many authoritarian presidents, starting with Hitler in 1933,” writes Nabil Bonduki, former São Paulo culture secretary, in an article in Folha de S.Paulo. “The allegation of an attempted coup is thus the pretext for a coup planned by the president himself.” The idea might sound fanciful, and as paranoid as Bolsonaro’s own rhetoric. But the former army captain was a reluctant recruit to democratic politics even before the devastating arrival of Covid-19.

Bolsonaro’s close links to right-wing militias made up of former military police and firemen, which run whole swaths of the West Zone of Rio, may help. “The militias have always been close to the Bolsonaro family, and now they are becoming more ideological, part of a Bolsonarist movement. They could help in a coup if he wants that,” said Soares. The militia Escritório do Crime (the Crime Office) is known to be implicated in the assassination of left-wing Rio city councilor Marielle Franco over two years ago. To square the circle of fascism and Covid-19, reports are just out that the militias in Itanhangá and Rio das Pedras, adjacent to the kitsch beach resort of Barra da Tijuca, where the Bolsonaro family has its base, are forcing businesses to stay open during the lockdown so they can continue to charge for protection.

as ian kershaw points out, the latin american cold war governments that were called fascism don’t really correspond with the italian and german examples because they lack the mass movements that brought hitler and mussolini to power. they, like salazar and franco, used symbols of fascism to exude power, but did not share the key characteristics of the movement. for instance, the nazi party numbered in the hundreds of thousands before it took power, while the falange only had 10,000 members at the outbreak of the spanish civil war. bolsonaro, in contrast, has a mass movement behind him, with the parties that back him having membership in the millions. his supporters are not older men, like most conservatives, but men in their 20s and 30s who are willing to go out and rally and brawl for him. like nazis, they have developed an intellectualized but conspiratorial and religiously-imbued notion of national salvation from international threats. they are often armed and control territory, with more favelas actually being under control of paramilitary groups than drug gangs.

on the other hand, many definitions of fascism, particularly on the left, require an economic component. a crude form of trotsky’s theory of fascism essentially labels these groups as pinkertons who took over a state, who come when the rate of profit is low and force labour to give up more of its share of national income. brazil is indeed experiencing a low rate of profit, but its labour movement is not well organized enough to seriously defend its prerogatives from a traditional state-backed approach. it can be pointed out that PT, which was attempting such an approach, was removed from power by those who viewed the party as defenders of labour. this grouping, based in the traditional military power centres of the brazilian regime, did not have any real support on their own among the brazilian populace, with temer’s government having a 5% approval rating. bolsonaro was seized upon by this grouping because it offered the chance for a government that largely agreed with its goals but could muster a far greater base of support among the populace. this partially mirrors the rise of hitler, who was also seen by supporters of the former military dictatorship as their ticket back into such a situation. the combination of hitler’s love of the military contrasted with the disdain of him by actual military figures (hindenburg called him “the little corporal”) can be seen in the current bolsonaro-generals dynamic. it took the nazi party leadership a year and a half to subsume the military to its own prerogatives, while bolsonaro has done far less in that time. however, bolsonaro’s base has been primed for a coup they view as a countercoup, with rumours of a military takeover having spread across the pro-bolsonaro blogosphere starting in march along with rhetoric of defending him from such an event.

[rigelmejo]

If you happen to learn like me (I guess try it out, see if it helps), then I cannot emphasize this enough: read.

Read early. Read immediately. Read when you know 10-50 words in the language, even that early. 

It will motivate you to learn more words - then read as you learn more words. And get you used to a few things immediately: you’ll see grammar immediately, often, and if you read a grammar guide then all those grammar points will be constantly reinforced as you read and see them again. And 2: you’ll be training the skill OF reading from the very beginning.

There’s multiple parts to reading. One part, is having the actual knowledge necessary to read something - do you even know the words in the text (or have the ability to look them up), do you even recognize the grammar enough to identify what it’s function is meant to be (or at least enough to look it up)? This is one part. 

The other part is how you parse through that information. How used you are to seeing the grammar - so that you can recognize what you’ve previously studied, so that you’re used to how it works and can read through it without pausing to think about it. So that you can recognize when words are being used as nouns or adjectives or verbs, recognize proper nouns, recognize what are key points versus details. Whether you need a dictionary for some words/a grammar reference, or you already ‘know’ enough to read without reference - the ability to process what you read will still be weak if you have not practiced it. But if you’ve been practicing it, then like everything else, it gradually gets better. 

When you do both parts at the same time - then when your knowledge of grammar/words is weak, you can rely on your ability to ‘process’ to help make the text easier to figure out. If your ability to process something is low (maybe its difficult), you can rely on your knowledge of grammar/words to help you figure out the text. If you work on both, then you can have them both supporting each other as you improve reading. 

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In theory, maybe you could ‘only’ practice the processing, and rely on word/grammar lookups constantly until it got easier - a difficult road though, probably. Likewise, many people wait until they know X amount of words before trying to read - and as a result they have zero practice ‘processing’ this language reading material, and sentences they know every word for still don’t make sense and feel difficult. Doing both is difficult at first - just like doing one alone would be. But if they’re done together, then they also improve together, and so the middle stages of reading skill feel much easier than they might otherwise. 

If you know 2000 words but have no idea how to process text, even graded readers are going to feel painful at first. If you’ve been making yourself practice processing text, even back when you only knew 500 words? Then by the time you get to 2000, processing is also at a relative intermediate stage. And the biggest difficulty is generally just lack of vocabulary - which is easy to lookup with a dictionary. Whereas, you can’t ‘look up’ anything to improve processing skill. You can lookup knowledge you lack. But the only way to improve processing skill, is TO read, and to keep practicing reading. 

I remember how difficult reading used to be. It’s still not ‘easy’ like french is easy yet, but its happily following the same trajectory reading french (or I imagine even english when I was young) did. I rememeber the first few months, grammar absolutely anihilated me. Even though I’d ‘studied’ it recently. I sort of knew all these grammar points in theory, I just had no idea how to process them in practice. I could look up words all I wanted, to fill in my gaps in knowledge. But I couldn’t improve my processing except by reading. And just over time... grammar got so much easier. It just clicked, a few points making sense at a time. Then those points getting easier for me to recognize faster, then those points getting intuitively understood. Etc, as it happened with more.

Likewise - I could learn words, but it was hard to process all the ways they were used, until I practiced processing them more. Even if I looked words up, even in sentences with grammar I could process, some words just did not make sense to me in their context. Then just over time, more and more made sense. I used to be very confused by ‘weile’ and ‘zhexie/zhege/zheshi’ as some basic examples. Or later words like ‘kanqilai’ and ‘qilai’ and ‘yihou’ ‘yiqian’ ‘dao’ etc. Eventually they made more sense, and then more did in more context, etc. All just from reading practice. I couldn’t read a definition to get these words to make more sense, I just had to read more.

I’m still noticing these areas of processing getting better over time. But I do remember, back when I tried reading 3 paragraphs of the MoDaoZuShi intro in like month 5? I looked up all the words, recognized the grammar, and understood nothing. Then in like month 8? I read the prologue with no dictionary and guessed at the unknown words, and knew enough to understand the gist and most of the details. Mostly, because those things I knew before just ‘processed’ better in month 8.

over time, subtitles got easier to ‘process’ so now I don’t have to pause them as often to figure out what they mean (parse through the sentence for meaning).

Now most novels don’t hit me with any sentence that I can’t at least figure out with a dictionary. I’m still stumbling over some things, but now since I can process overall a lot of things better - I have more surrounding understanding to help me figure out the more confusing parts. Like right now, I’m really struggling with PRECISELY how ‘yu’ and ‘you’ get used. As in ‘yu’ by/with/at/for, ‘you’ - by/done by etc. I roughly understand these words - I know their definitions, and I can roughly guess their meaning in sentences and follow the plot. But because they do mean slightly different things in various contexts, I clearly just need to see them more and more in examples before they’ll ‘click’ and be easier to process too. I have to say though... its way easier to focus on these words/grammar points, since I have so much surrounding understanding. If I had just waited for X words learned before starting reading? Then I’d be learning ALL the processing skills from point 0. That would be... discouraging.

In a way, I already waited to long to start reading as much as I sort of WISH I had. I read about once every 2 weeks, until month 8. It was only in month 8, that I started reading roughly a few times a week - and reading full chapters per sitting, instead of just several paragraphs. As a result, it WAS brutal at first. Because my processing skills were clearly lower than my vocab. I tried graded readers, and even though I knew all the words, they were a struggle to read. So, as my typical silly self, I picked a webnovel instead - with even MORE unknown words, even Harder. I read 15 chapters of it. Which was hard... but clearly helped. Then I went back to the graded readers, and they were a breeze - so I’d clearly built up some processing skills.

After that, I again brutally myself, decided to try reading a harder print novel I owned. That was... again, brutal. Then I went back to the webnovel? And the webnovel was notably easier! Again, those processing skills had built up some more, and I’d probably picked up some more vocabulary as well. 

And its basically been repeating since then - a much quicker rate of progress, where it seems a significant amount easier every 2 months or so. I feel like I’m at like - the reading level I had in 4th grade in english? I was in one of those accelerated reading programs, so we’d read some middle-school level books by looking up like 20 words before each chapter and then having to read X amount a week. A bit challenging, definitely compared to whatever the 4th grade reading level was supposed to be (I remember liking Catwings and Bunnicula a lot which I think was my 4th grade level, and I feel like chinese graded readers I’ve been picking up feel like Bunnicula in difficulty). But also, back when I was that young sometimes I’d pick up my dad’s big huge Mitchner novels like ALASKA or his Sherlock books, and I’d read a few pages - they’d be super difficult to understand, a little painful, so I’d only read a few pages. But I’d usually understand the gist. And I’d pick up some of my moms books on Aliens and supernatural stuff, and mostly read the captions on the pictures, maybe a paragraph or two. I feel like my chinese reading level is around this right now. I can pick up adult novels and it hurts, but I can follow whats going on without a dictionary roughly. And with a dictionary, decently. I can pick up ‘teen’ level books and follow them easier, but need a dictionary for total understanding of all details. And I can pick up graded readers and they’re basically extended reading, if they’re at a low enough level (like HSK 4 vocabulary wise, to maybe 2000 words - after 2k words, I run into more and more I need a dictionary for if I want to follow details). 

---

anyway yeah. I remember in french I started reading at 50 words, then 100, then 500, and just kept reading. And it just ‘magically’ got easier. And I sort of did that with chinese, and am so glad I did. I wish i’d done it even more. I’m doing it more now. 

It felt so good last night, to be able to just binge a few chapters of a fanfic in chinese, without feeling drained. It felt so good to be at the reading level where I can look up words I need to fast enough to not slow me down enough that I lose interest. 

don’t wait until you’ve ‘prepared’ enough. don’t wait years. i waited years in japanese to read, and it was the biggest thing holding me back. i didn’t wait in chinese, and in part reading MOTIVATED me to study what i needed FASTER. It certainly helped my processing skills. And when processing skills are higher, reading overall is just less painful. A dictionary can lessen the pain of not knowing enough vocabulary. But only reading practice can lessen the pain of processing skills being weak. And - if you start to read later, it’s fine. Its okay if it seems ridiculously difficult at first, that will pass. Its just you working on the processing skills, and as those develop reading will go up to feeling mostly only as difficult as the vocabulary.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #433

Top Ten Things I Want from Xbox Series X

June is Games Month here at David’s Top Tens! That’s right, all month long we’re exploring the majesty of what we all used to call “computer games” before we became too cool. That’s because it’s the time of year when huge multinationals tantalise us with pre-rendered cinematics showcasing gaming experiences utterly divorced from what we’ll get to play. Even in this Time of Crisis (as opposed to a Time Crisis), games companies are still Touting Their Wares, and as such, I am brimming with fanboy fervour, tantalised at the prospect of Gaming Yet to Come. This week alone has seen sexy new videos from the likes of EA, Pokémon, and Sony – whose PlayStation 5 reveal gave us the best glimpse yet at exactly what the next generation could look like. I was impressed; although there wasn’t too much in the way of radically new concepts or whatever, games looked good, with plenty of sexy, shiny new bells and whistles, and it looked like environments will be bigger, more fluid, and more reactive than ever before. Plus seeing the ray-tracing in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart gave me serious “Quake II running on a 3D accelerator card” vibes. Suddenly I was sixteen again, getting all sticky-knickered over texture filtering and coloured lightning.

It was great.

However, I’m pretty much an Xbox-first gamer; mostly, I suppose, due to inertia, having gotten used now to how an Xbox works, to the point where a PlayStation always feels a little alien (still wanna play The Last of Us Part II, though). I’m more of a fan of the Xbox game franchises – the main reason I bought an original Xbox in the first place (way back in 2001) was to play Halo: Combat Evolved, and because of the promise of Fable. This love of Xbox games has only grown with the acquisition of Rare (despite the slight misstep of Perfect Dark Zero) and the release of games like Crackdown, Gears, and Forza Horizon. So as much as I try to be open-minded – and certainly I try to avoid any kind of partisan mud-slinging – I guess I’m pretty much in the tank for Xbox. As such, I’m phenomenally excited for Xbox Series X. I got an Xbox One at launch, and despite all of the hullaballoo and criticism, I’ve always really liked it. I think it’s kind of struggled compared to its predecessors (cult favourite OG Xbox and revolutionary Xbox 360), and hasn’t quite had the era-defining games that both of those enjoyed. All that being said, though, I’ve had loads of fun with it, and so have my wife and kids. But I’ve stuck with the same machine all these years, never upgrading to the more streamlined Xbox One S or the super-duper-sexy Xbox One X. So when I do upgrade, I think the jump will be far more noticeable than someone who’s been enjoying Red Dead Redemption 2 or Gears 5 on a 4K display; it should really feel like a new generation. And that’s before we get to all of the traced rays and other lovely gubbins.  

Anyway, when it’s this time of year, I tend to do a semi-comical “E3 predictions” list, followed by a “Stuff I liked at E3” list. Obviously E3 isn’t really happening, but these other online game reveals are, and given my aforementioned excitement over Series X – and Microsoft’s upcoming and much-anticipated reveal of first-party titles – I thought I’d divert my thoughts to what I want to see on the new console. However, unlike the traditional E3 predictions of yore, I’m going to look at what I’d like from the console rather than what games I’d like to see. Partly that’s because these announcement videos are getting spread so far and wide that it’s hard to keep track of what’s been revealed or when we’re likely to see something; partly it’s because we already know quite a few Xbox games that are coming out; and partly because the list would just degenerate into older franchises I want to see come back round again. Plus, with Crackdown 3 having already happened, a new Fable more-or-less an open secret, and a new Perfect Dark being very heavily rumoured, my go-to “wants” are getting thin on the ground. Perhaps Tim Schafer can bring his old LucasArts classics to the Xbox next year…? Whatever, this time around, I’m looking at that big black box and thinking about what features and design elements I’d like to see. What could be improved from how the Xbox One works? How would I like Microsoft to leverage their assets – from the faster SSD to the power of Project xCloud? Basically, what do I want Xbox Series X to be like, outside from glittering reflections on Master Chief’s shiny armour?

Streamlined, faster dashboard: now they’ve already said that the Xbox Series X dash will be effectively identical to the Xbox One dash, which is a trifle disappointing, but I hope that doesn’t mean that both systems can’t get an improved dashboard before Christmas. At the moment things are a bit fiddly, and I’d like to use the improved SSD to mean seamless transitions from page to page. Make it super-easy to get to your game library. Allow more customisation of the landing page. How about allowing us to resize icons, like on Windows 10? Don’t have quite so many obscure categories clogging up the front page. Use the shoulder buttons to hop between sections. Make it more about the games I can play rather than connectivity, shopping, or chatting. Stuff like that.

Integrated streaming: with Project xCloud on the (official) horizon, hopefully we can integrate that service into how the Xbox works. How’s about letting us stream demos straight from the store? Or stream games while they install/download? Or the option to stream any game we own rather than play it from the console? Or cast games from console to phone, or tablet, or PC, so we can enjoy the benefits of Series X hardware in the palm of our hands?

Discless play: teased then withdrawn from the Xbox One launch as it require the internet to check, I hope this can make a belated return. I like physical media, but I also like not having to get off the couch to change discs. I’d be very willing to accept an always-on connection as the price for playing a game without the disc in. If they could find some way to implement this and keep everyone happy, I’d be delighted.

Improved Guide menu: the best thing about the Xbox 360 interface was the Guide menu, which – certainly by the end of the generation – basically offered you full console functionality from one simple pause-button menu. The One Guide has been refined but could go further. Offer instant access to all our games, and all the system settings. Let us seamlessly jump from one thing to another and back again. Let us view all our captures quickly and easily. And let us go through game-by-game and see all our achievements, cycling through their related imagery. Basically, make it more like the 360, please.

Standardised settings: another amazing thing the 360 did that was totally walked back for the One is the idea of having a standardised range of settings that were applied across your entire profile. So if you want to invert your Y-axis, you tick one box, then all games are inverted. This was fantastic, and Microsoft were daft for undoing it. Make it good again! You have the power!

Refined subscription services: I think Game Pass is the future of Xbox, and I think xCloud is the future of Game Pass. This seems fairly obvious to me. I don’t know how much money Microsoft makes from Game Pass, but the way they’re leveraging their entire gaming strategy around it suggests that it’s a much stronger money-spinner for them than the traditional console market. I just hope that eventually the myriad Xbox subscriptions can be refined. Perhaps “Gold” as we understand it could be retired, replaced with a simple three-tier monthly sub, similar to Netflix; Game Pass Bronze (limited multiplayer, limited ability to download games from the library); Silver (Gold and Game Pass as we understand it, plus limited streaming), and Gold (all the games plus full streaming of everything)? This would, hopefully, mean we could get some of the benefits at a reduced cost (say, a fiver a month), and the “free” games in Game Pass would offset the loss of Games With Gold, perhaps.

Switch app: simply put, this would be cool: the ability to stream Xbox games on a Switch. Nothing more to it than that, really; the Switch form factor and controls would lend themselves to the Xbox experience effortlessly, and it’d mean I could continue my Halo campaign whilst my wife hogs the Xbox with Stardew Valley again.

Tangible differences between generations: on the one hand, I really applaud Microsoft’s blended approach to console generations. Smart Delivery, Backwards Compatibility, and Play Anywhere combine to form a very consumer-friendly approach; if you a buy a game now, you’re more-or-less guaranteed the best possible version come the Series X launch in November (or whenever). The downside to this, however, is a slight nagging feeling that we’re not going to see the best that the console can do; it’s fair enough that the Xbox One and Series X versions of Halo Infinite are, to all intents and purposes, on the same disc, and your progress and achievements carry over; but does this not mean that, aside from improvements in graphics and loading times, the Series X version is functionally identical? Is it just like upgrading a graphics card? Ratchet and Clank boasted some nifty dimension-hopping technology that presumably is a core part of the gameplay and looked like something that maybe wasn’t possible this gen; will Xbox owners miss out on features like that? If Series X could, say, give us a new Fable that presented as one continuous open world with no “hubs” or separated areas or loading, with some kind of magical traversal that allowed us to rocket across the landscape on a broomstick or whatever, would that not be handicapped by having to carry save game data over from the inevitable Xbox One version? Basically, I’m fascinated by how it’s going to work, but I hope we’re not going to end up slightly short-changed from a featureset point of view.

New hardware: not just the Series X itself, obviously; and not even the strongly-rumoured “Series S” either. I mean other bits and bobs. As they’ve already shown us the controller, I can’t realistically wish for one that had a microphone in it, but a tiny mic attachment maybe? Alongside the obvious headset. I wanna talk to the machine, basically; it was the one genuine benefit of Kinect. Also: a new, improved, media remote. A wireless mouse and keyboard, or some kind of lap-based hybrid. A new camera, not as invasive or scary as Kinect, just so we can use the Xbox to Skype people. And y’know what? VR support. Doesn’t have to be unique, bespoke headsets; just let us use PC ones, and let developers support VR in Xbox games. I don’t have the money or space to upgrade my laptop to be VR-ready, but if I had a PlayStation you can be damn sure I’d have PSVR. Half-Life: Alyx might be a pipe dream, but can I play Star Wars Squadrons at least?

Don’t bankrupt me: yeah, this. I’m cautiously optimistic that Microsoft will at least attempt to make this manageable; the recent rumour that it’d sell for $399 was much appreciated even if I think it’s supremely unlikely, especially if Lockheart/Series S is a thing. With Sony giving out noises that the PS5 will be a “good value” proposition rather than cheap, I think MS will strongly attempt to undercut them, but also not feel the need to go stupidly low. So please, Microsoft: $450, top end. Please don’t give us a $499 box. I’m already gonna be forking out for a new TV so I’d appreciate if I could keep the whole cost. For what it’s worth, I think the prices of all the new consoles will be: PS5 $499; XSX $449; PS5 DE $399; XSS $299. There you go: I managed to slip in an E3 prediction right at the very end. Prove me wrong, guys!

Phew, that was another epic one. But it was fun. I guess it’s weird to try to talk about the feel of a console without having used it. There are things I’d like improving with the look and feel of Xbox, but it’s hard to quantify it; stuff that’s clunky on a daily basis. And I’m probably an edge case anyway: someone with a huge interest in games and gaming, but who’s not very interested in multiplayer, and who – because of time and money but mostly time – rarely plays new releases, and takes ages to complete a game. But anyway. I’m dead excited about the Xbox Series X, and I can’t wait to hear more.

[thesevenseraphs]

Bungie Weekly Update - 11/21/19

This week at Bungie, we’re investing in solar energy. We wrapped up Festival of the Lost this week, but cleaning up the decorations wasn’t the only thing that changed in the Tower. Ikora finished her construction project, closed out all the permits, and Guardians launched an attack on the Undying Mind.

The attack is ongoing and all Season Pass holders can join in on Vex Offensive and transmat the finished portal from the Tower to summon and defeat Undying Minds from different timelines. 

The impact of your victory has not been made clear just yet, but in time, you will learn more about how this will further evolve the world as we transition into the next Season. 

SOLAR SHIFTS

Next Season, we are shaking up the Solar subclasses. We are reworking several ability trees and the Destiny Dev Team has the details on what to expect when you praise the Sun next season.

Destiny Dev Team: Hey Guardians, it’s the Combat Systems team here, back again to talk about some updates we’re making to the abilities sandbox in the next Season. Previously we spent a Season focusing on subclasses of one specific element type such as Arc and Void. Up next, the Combat Systems team is tackling Solar subclasses as our focus for gameplay updates.

As we’ve mentioned in past TWABs, our goal with these subclass updates is to “revisit some older subclass paths and freshen them up a bit.” In execution, this means that older subclass paths will feel like viable choices in many of our activities and that players can find a home in any of them. When we started working on sandbox updates to follow Season of the Undying, our team looked at the whole catalog of Solar subclasses by cross referencing data, feedback, and conversation to figure out which subclasses needed help, which are performing fine, and which ones were a bit too potent. During our investigations, it was pretty clear that three specific subclasses were underperforming and needed to be taken back into the shop for a rework.

It’s worth noting here that a rework doesn’t mean it’s a completely new subclass. It means that we took the root of the gameplay fantasies for those subclasses and either expanded on what was already there or shifted some of the existing attributes closer to their fantasy. In some cases, entire perks were changed to help further the gameplay role and fantasy of those subclasses.

Those three Solar subclasses are:

GUNSLINGER: WAY OF THE SHARPSHOOTER (BOTTOM PATH)

Traditionally, Way of the Sharpshooter has mostly been used in specific PvE activities and almost exclusively paired with the Celestial Nighthawk helm. We wanted to move Way of the Sharpshooter to be something players want to choose more often and for a wider range of activities. To do that we needed to differentiate both Golden Gun paths and make Sharpshooter more versatile and interesting to use in PvE. In order to differentiate the 3-shot and 6-shot Golden Gun and better play into their fantasies, we've made the following changes:

For 3-shot we increased the auto-aim distance and reliability when aiming down sights, as it fulfills the role of long range accuracy. For 6-shot, we shortened the damage falloff range to emphasize the short range gunfighter role with a lot of kill potential. While it can still perform at longer ranges, it may take an extra shot to get the job done. We've made other changes to Way of the Outlaw to help keep its potency like adding a new Explosive Prox Knife that can stick to surfaces and detonate when enemies pass nearby. 

All up - we want Way of the Sharpshooter to feel more active and rewarding for players who can fulfill the role of the sharpshooter by taking down enemies with accuracy and precision.

NEW Weighted Knife: High-damage knife throw with a long wind up. Travels at high speeds, bounces once, and does extra damage to the head. Precision shot final blows recharge the melee completely. One-hit precision final blow in PvP.

Practice Makes Perfect: (QoL):  Lasts longer but gives a bit less energy per second. Precision hits grant two stacks.

NEW Knock 'em Down: Precision final blows increase weapon stability and ADS speed. Timer starts at 10 seconds but any additional final blow/assists can increase it up to 25 seconds. Casting your Super with this buff above 20 seconds consumes the buff and grants extra damage. (Does not stack with Celestial Nighthawk).

Line 'em Up: (QoL): Old perks from Crowd Pleaser are now part of this perk. (Golden Gun can cause precision damage and precision shots generate orbs of light).

SUNBREAKER: CODE OF THE DEVASTATOR (MIDDLE PATH)

Titans who adhere to the Code of the Devastator want nothing more than to crush their foes with smoldering hammers, and we want to see them live their dreams. When our data indicated that this subclass was underperforming in PvP, we decided to make a few changes that should enable it to be more competitive. The Roaring Flame perk has received a significant buff to its bonus damage, and the buff now lasts 25% longer, making it easier to build and retain stacks between encounters. The base damage of Throwing Hammer melee ability has increased—it's now very lethal in PvP while you have Roaring Flames active. In addition, once you've thrown the hammer and it’s lying on the ground, you don't have to get quite as close to it to pick it back up. Finally, we tuned the Super in a number of ways. 

For starters, Burning Maul now lasts longer, giving you more time to use it strategically instead of simply spamming the slam button. (Titans. All we want to do is smash, right?) We also increased the height of the heavy-slam explosion, so this Super should feel much more potent against airborne enemies. That's the gist of it, but here are more details:

Throwing Hammer: Increased impact damage from 100 to 120 and increased hammer pick-up radius from 2m to 3.5m. Adjusted hammer throw animations to fit a more damaging attack.

Roaring Flames: Increased damage bonus from 10% per stack to 25% per stack in PvP, and increased duration from 15 seconds to 20 seconds.

Burning Maul: Increased duration from 21.2 seconds to 28.5 seconds

Light Attack: Reduced light attack energy cost from 5% to 3%. Adjusted the animation so that it flows seamlessly into chained light attacks without stopping.

Heavy Attack: Ground Slam attack now detonates when it detects enemies above it. Detonation radius was increased to make landing attacks more consistent. Increased energy cost from 6% to 8%

DAWNBLADE: ATTUNEMENT OF SKY (TOP PATH)

With Attunement of Sky we wanted to push its air superiority gameplay further. When we initially released this path, its movement capabilities were tuned around the original Destiny 2 gameplay experience, which was much slower and more deliberate about positioning. However, over time, this movement needed to adapt to the new sandbox. We want to give you the gameplay experience that the fantasy begs for: A flying angel who can maneuver with grace and destroy its foes below. 

Now before we get started I wanted to touch on one thing: To accomplish our goals of reworking the air superiority role, we needed to differentiate the two Daybreak paths from one another. As such, we reduced the speed at which Burst Glide accelerates players in Daybreak. We know this is a controversial change but we wanted to reserve the air superiority gameplay with Attunement of Sky and the Burst Glide speed was blurring the lines between both Daybreak paths.

Icarus Dashes while in Daybreak have increased speed and thrust to recapture the burst glide gameplay for those running the air superiority path. We hope that, while this change is different, you still feel as fast as before—but with maybe a bit more expression behind that speed. The rest of the changes are below:

NEW Celestial Fire (Melee): Send a spiral of three explosive Solar projectiles. Heat Rises: (Rework) Consume your grenade to extend Glide time and dramatically reduce the in-air accuracy penalties for weapons.

Winged Sun (Rework): Fire weapons, use Celestial Fire, and throw grenade while gliding. Airborne final blows grant melee energy and extend the duration of Heat Rises.

Icarus Dash (Rework): Tap (Crouch) twice to dodge in midair. Dodging in Daybreak accelerates players farther and costs less Super energy while under the effects of Heat Rises.Added note: Due to the nature of these reworks, Wings of Sacred Dawn received a buff where it gains 15% damage resistance while Tome of Dawn is active.

There are a whole swath of changes we’re working on that extend beyond these three subclasses. Most Solar subclasses had some tuning and some non-Solar subclasses got a bit QoL love too. We hope that with these changes, you’ll feel energized playing any Solar subclass—regardless of activity. Thanks for having us!

FINAL HOWL

Next week, Lord Saladin will return to the Tower for the final time during Season of Undying. This will be your final shot at earning pinnacle rewards from Iron Banner until next Season. If you haven’t finished up your Season Pursuit, make sure to do it before the end of the event on December 3.

Iron Banner Control

Starts: 9:00 a.m. PT on November 26

Ends: 9:00 a.m. PT on December 3

We’ll be featuring a reprised armor set next season, so if you still want to get some pieces from this set, grab them quick! Saladin is also offering enhanced mods and other items in exchange for Iron Banner tokens you may have collected. You can turn them in now or bank them for when Iron Banner returns next Season.

GAMING AND GIVING

We’re completely blown away by the generosity you all showed throughout the Game2Give fundraising campaign in support of the Bungie Foundation’s iPads for Kids Program and of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

In just three weeks, you all raised $1,673,857.62! We reached this incredible amount of funding because of the 40,000+ donors and 5,500 streamers who supported the campaign across 104 countries. To say this was a true global Guardian initiative is an understatement!

For the Bungie Foundation, this will give us the capacity to expand into up to five new hospitals in 2020 and help over 250,000 more patients than we ever have before! We are so excited to continue our work of replacing fear with joy, boredom with entertainment, and uncertainty with a sense of normalcy for so many more kiddos.And check out how this funding will help the work that Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals does every day.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for showing us once again how truly special the Bungie Community is through caring about each other and those in need.

WANNA COOK?

For those looking to add more Destiny books to their collection, we are very happy to announce

Destiny: The Official Cookbook and Destiny Grimoire Anthology Vol. Three

are coming in 2020.

Destiny: The Official Cookbook In collaboration with Insight Editions and author Victoria Rosenthal, Destiny’s first official cookbook is filled with recipes inspired by the characters and locations seen throughout its expansive universe.

Destiny Grimoire Anthology Vol. Three

Destiny Grimoire Anthology Vol. Three is coming in late 2020 as the next edition of the popular Grimoire series.

These titles will be available at the Bungie Store and other booksellers. Stay tuned for more details. Be sure to visit the Bungie Store product pages linked above and click “Email When Available” to be among the first to know when the books are open for pre-order.

TIP OF THE SPEAR

Stay up to date on the latest from the Player Support team.  

This is their report.

DESTINY 2 ON STADIAThis week, Destiny 2: The Collection launched on Google Stadia. Players who are looking to get set up with Stadia for the very first time should make sure they visit our Stadia Guide.

Furthermore, existing Destiny 2 players who wish to bring their characters over from other platforms can do so right now through our Cross Save page. As a refresher; Cross Save allows players to access their preferred set of Guardians, gear, and Season Passes on all (Stadia details below) platforms. New players who are starting their Destiny 2 journey with Stadia can also enable Cross Save, so the Guardians they build and gear they earn travels with them to other platforms. However, players should know that Season Pass access granted on Stadia through Destiny 2: The Collection does not transfer to other platforms using Cross Save.

Destiny 2: The Collection on Stadia includes a Season Pass access at no additional charge. Players who have Cross Save enabled with their Stadia account who would like to access Seasonal content on other platforms (PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam) will need to purchase those Season Passes directly on one of those platforms.

As a final reminder, expansion licenses (Forsaken, Shadowkeep) do not transfer between platforms with Cross Save. Players who wish to access activities which rely on these expansion licenses will need to purchase them for every desired platform.

PC MIGRATION AND FORSAKEN LICENSES

Since Destiny 2 launched on Steam last month, we’ve monitored posts from players who have provided feedback and reported issues regarding the PC Migration experience.

After thorough investigation, we believe that we have resolved an issue which was preventing a subset of PC players from transferring their Forsaken licenses from their Battle.net accounts to Steam. Players who previously encountered this issue should re-initiate migration at our PC Move page.

Destiny 2 Known Issues

Listed below are emergent issues being investigated in Destiny 2.

The MIDA Multi-Tool catalyst will not drop for players who win a competitive Crucible match at the Legend rank if they are playing with clan mates and the "Catalyst Seeker" clan rank bonus is active. To mitigate this, we recommend that players seeking the catalyst play solo or team up with friends who are not in the same clan.

Black Armory Keys cannot be used or deleted if the Mysterious Box quest has already been completed.

Some players may experience an issue where blank items from Festival of the Lost are taking up slots at their Postmaster.

For the latest list of emergent issues, players should visit our Known Issues thread. Players who observe other issues should report them to the #Help forum.

[ghoshaljoy-blog]

Over 30 Hormone Solution Review

Over 30 Hormone Solution Review – Is It Possible To Shed Away Unwanted Fat Quickly?

Welcome to my Over 30 Hormone Solution review. This unbiased review are for those who are suffering from Jiggly Belly, another term used for apron belly or a flat flabby belly. Over 36% the women in north america above the age of 30 is struggling with jiggly bellies and obesity. Post-maternity, hormonal imbalances, lack of activeness, and several other reasons accumulate fat at all part of the body resulting in illness making their day to day life miserable

Over 30 Hormone Solution Review – Get Rid Of Fat Related Problems!

Limiting calories is the only solution to get rid of the excess fat cluttered around the stomach region. When it comes to an natural and straightforward way to reset your body hormones and to achieve a flat stomach at no time, I strongly advise you to making the use of ‘Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement’.

I have attempted to write this Over 30 Hormone Solution review as I come to understand that this is the best and the most convenient plan that you can choose to get rid of that belly fat and become a Super Woman or Super Mom in no time. This extraordinary program is far above all a variety of programs available online. Also, this Over 30 Hormone Solution review is a answer to those who have asked, “Does the Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills work?”

Features of Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills

Boosts Metabolism Naturally – In this supplement, you can discover the most natural way to switch on your body metabolic that will help quickly shed away unwanted fat and allow you to balance your body weight throughout the entire life. It is about a secret formula that can help women get rid of fat-related problems.

No More Side Effects – The pills uses a ancient herbal combination which you can use to burn belly fat without fear of side effects or other negative impacts. The herbs, when combined, act as a miracle composition that can make you feel active, energetic, and youthful.

Melt Fat at Bed – This hormone solution can be taken during bedtime and can do wonders for your body even while you are asleep. It can be your lifelong wish for years.

Ache Free Days – You can forgot about frequent joint pain or knee pain occurring as a result of being obese. The herbal solution is a effective in burning your fat naturally so that you needn’t have to worry about suffering that pains and aches occurred due to being obese.

It Has Scientifically Proven – Over 30 Hormone Solution review proves that this is 100% natural method carefully tested and proven and in use by thousands of people suffering from joint pains, obesity, hormonal imbalances, and excess belly fat.

Pros and Cons of Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement

When it comes to health, you has to take accurate and result-oriented methods so that you did not have to ponder about it in the long run. I shall let you know about the advantages and disadvantages of this program.

Pros

Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement was the best in class when say about its acceptable guidelines and ease of use.

The methods state to give you positive results and help you fix your metabolism easily and quickly.

No side effect it is a 100% herbal combination.

It helps you loss at least 4 pounds of fat in a week.

Cons

The results mentioned in the Over 30 Hormone Solution review is of members who has put a lot of dedication in following the instructions, as specified.

Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement Creators

Debbie Anderson is a unlucky woman in her mid-’50s who had to face the misfortune of seeing her husband lying in bed with her neighbor. She felt disheartened and felt to commit suicide when her husband told her that he was not attracted to her anymore. The reason is that she is obese.

As she entered her ’30s, Debbie started menopause, and her estrogen levels began to fluctuate

Her metabolism started to slow down and follow negative impacts. She physically appeared to be like a person who is 30 years older than her. Marissa is her daughter, who has just reached home a few days ago after visiting a small island in Asia as a part of her graduate research studies. She had researched why the inhabitants of that island live so long and look so young and healthy, especially females. She, along with her mother, decided to give this program a try.

As a result of secrets that the tribal leader revealed to Marissa, along with her mother, worked through this and developed a natural composition that helps women stabilize metabolism and melt away unwanted fat. This formula developing by using quite common spices. The herbal mixture is to be mixed and taken together with tea.

Debbie Jotted Down All That Marissa Narrated.

Debbie felt her heart rate shoot up, caused a surge in her energy levels. She felt as if someone was answering her prayers. She heard an inner voice saying, ‘Debbie, you will find success in what you are planning to do.’ Inspired by this mood exhilarating situation, Debbie planned to give the miracle a try. She tried one shot of a drink that night.

And gee, Debbie felt astounded when she had a look at the mirror the next day morning. Overwhelmed, Debbie went ahead and stood upright on her weighing machine. Amazingly she have lost 2 pounds of fat overnight, and her belly was almost half an inch down.

She was skeptical about this until she started continuing the process day by day. The results never let her down. A week later, she was able to shed away 4 pounds of fat in total. Inspired by this, Debbie continued the process for a few more days along with the quite easy hormone resetting exercises. And believe me what. The 53-year-old obese woman who wouldn’t even walk turned 132 pounds in 8 weeks without breaking a sweat and staying away from those joint pain boosting exercises.

Now Debbie is lean, full of vigor, and 20 years younger. Now it feels hard to believe that Debbie is Marissa’s mother. And the best part is that Mrs. & Mr. Anderson, along with their kids, are living happily together.

Why Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills is Useful?

Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills, prepared from 100% natural and easy to get as well as common spices is undoubtedly the best antidote to stabilize the hormonal imbalance, which results in obesity and all sorts of joint pain.his composition are to be used by women who are in their post-menopause stage and can gain control of their diminishing estrogen levels.

Is Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement a Scam?

Over 30 Hormone Solution pills are a digital product that gives you exactly knowing how to stabilize your hormonal imbalance with the use of common spices. It is said in the Over 30 Hormone Solution review, you get the information on how to prepare the composition and consumption.

Maybe numerous spam sites claim that this program was a scam. But thousands of satisfied users are benefitting from the program. So it’s up to you whether to use this program or not.

Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills Customer Reviews

The Over 30 Hormone Solution manual reviews show positive Over 30 Hormone Solution reviews only. Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement does its job and has helping a lot of women worldwide in attaining their lost youthfulness, vigor, and, last of all, good health. I can rate this 4.5 of 5 stars.

Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement Price & Bonus

When it comes to the price, I felt this program can be charged relatively much higher when compared to similar programs. You can purchase Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills for a whopping price of $37. To make you succeed by all means possible, Debbie is happy to give away the Accelerator systems for FREE.

Conclusion

I usually included the price somewhere in between my Over 30 Hormone Solution review, that too more than two times. When it is coming to Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement, I am revealing the price and other stuff in the concluding part.

Do you want to lose belly fat or be more appeal? Want to know about the secret formula using the commonly available spices which help you stabilize hormones? Get access to Over 30 Hormone Solution pills by paying just $37. You would also get the Accelerator systems for FREE.

Lose fat while you sleeping, or I wish you all success in your fitness journey. Don’t miss your chance at amazing results.

[kavinbravo]

Over 30 Hormone Solution Review

Over 30 Hormone Solution Review – Is It Possible To Shed Away Unwanted Fat Quickly?

Welcome to my Over 30 Hormone Solution review. This unbiased review are for those who are suffering from Jiggly Belly, another term used for apron belly or a flat flabby belly. Over 36% the women in north america above the age of 30 is struggling with jiggly bellies and obesity. Post-maternity, hormonal imbalances, lack of activeness, and several other reasons accumulate fat at all part of the body resulting in illness making their day to day life miserable

Over 30 Hormone Solution Review – Get Rid Of Fat Related Problems!

Limiting calories is the only solution to get rid of the excess fat cluttered around the stomach region. When it comes to an natural and straightforward way to reset your body hormones and to achieve a flat stomach at no time, I strongly advise you to making the use of ‘Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement’.

  I have attempted to write this Over 30 Hormone Solution review as I come to understand that this is the best and the most convenient plan that you can choose to get rid of that belly fat and become a Super Woman or Super Mom in no time. This extraordinary program is far above all a variety of programs available online. Also, this Over 30 Hormone Solution review is a answer to those who have asked, “Does the Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills work?”

Features of Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills

 Boosts metabolism naturally – In this supplement, you can discover the most natural way to switch on your body metabolic that will help quickly shed away unwanted fat and allow you to balance your body weight throughout the entire life. It is about a secret formula that can help women get rid of fat-related problems.

No more Side effects – The pills uses a ancient herbal combination which you can use to burn belly fat without fear of side effects or other negative impacts. The herbs, when combined, act as a miracle composition that can make you feel active, energetic, and youthful.

Melt fat at bed – This hormone solution can be taken during bedtime and can do wonders for your body even while you are asleep. It can be your lifelong wish for years.

Ache free days – You can forgot about frequent joint pain or knee pain occurring as a result of being obese. The herbal solution is a effective in burning your fat naturally so that you needn’t have to worry about suffering that pains and aches occurred due to being obese.

It has scientifically proven – Over 30 Hormone Solution review proves that this is 100% natural method carefully tested and proven and in use by thousands of people suffering from joint pains, obesity, hormonal imbalances, and excess belly fat.

Pros and Cons of Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement

When it comes to health, you has to take accurate and result-oriented methods so that you did not have to ponder about it in the long run. I shall let you know about the advantages and disadvantages of this program.

Pros 

Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement was the best in class when say about its acceptable guidelines and ease of use.

The methods state to give you positive results and help you fix your metabolism easily and quickly.

No side effect it is a 100% herbal combination.

It helps you loss at least 4 pounds of fat in a week.

Cons

The results mentioned in the Over 30 Hormone Solution review is of members who has put a lot of dedication in following the instructions, as specified.

Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement Creators

Debbie Anderson is a unlucky woman in her mid-’50s who had to face the misfortune of seeing her husband lying in bed with her neighbor. She felt disheartened and felt to commit suicide when her husband told her that he was not attracted to her anymore. The reason is that she is obese. As she entered her ’30s, Debbie started menopause, and her estrogen levels began to fluctuate

 Her metabolism started to slow down and follow negative impacts. She physically appeared to be like a person who is 30 years older than her. Marissa is her daughter, who has just reached home a few days ago after visiting a small island in Asia as a part of her graduate research studies. She had researched why the inhabitants of that island live so long and look so young and healthy, especially females. She, along with her mother, decided to give this program a try. As a result of secrets that the tribal leader revealed to Marissa, along with her mother, worked through this and developed a natural composition that helps women stabilize metabolism and melt away unwanted fat. This formula developing by using quite common spices. The herbal mixture is to be mixed and taken together with tea. Debbie jotted down all that Marissa narrated.

Debbie felt her heart rate shoot up, caused a surge in her energy levels. She felt as if someone was answering her prayers. She heard an inner voice saying, ‘Debbie, you will find success in what you are planning to do.’ Inspired by this mood exhilarating situation, Debbie planned to give the miracle a try. She tried one shot of a drink that night. And gee, Debbie felt astounded when she had a look at the mirror the next day morning. Overwhelmed, Debbie went ahead and stood upright on her weighing machine. Amazingly she have lost 2 pounds of fat overnight, and her belly was almost half an inch down.

She was skeptical about this until she started continuing the process day by day. The results never let her down. A week later, she was able to shed away 4 pounds of fat in total. Inspired by this, Debbie continued the process for a few more days along with the quite easy hormone resetting exercises. And believe me what. The 53-year-old obese woman who wouldn’t even walk turned 132 pounds in 8 weeks without breaking a sweat and staying away from those joint pain boosting exercises. Now Debbie is lean, full of vigor, and 20 years younger. Now it feels hard to believe that Debbie is Marissa’s mother. And the best part is that Mrs. & Mr. Anderson, along with their kids, are living happily together.

Why Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills is Useful?

Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills, prepared from 100% natural and easy to get as well as common spices is undoubtedly the best antidote to stabilize the hormonal imbalance, which results in obesity and all sorts of joint pain.his composition are to be used by women who are in their post-menopause stage and can gain control of their diminishing estrogen levels.

Is Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement a Scam?

Over 30 Hormone Solution pills are a digital product that gives you exactly knowing how to stabilize your hormonal imbalance with the use of common spices. It is said in the Over 30 Hormone Solution review, you get the information on how to prepare the composition and consumption. Maybe numerous spam sites claim that this program was a scam. But thousands of satisfied users are benefitting from the program. So it’s up to you whether to use this program or not.

Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills Customer Reviews

The Over 30 Hormone Solution manual reviews show positive Over 30 Hormone Solution reviews only. Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement does its job and has helping a lot of women worldwide in attaining their lost youthfulness, vigor, and, last of all, good health. I can rate this 4.5 of 5 stars.

Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement Price & Bonus

When it comes to the price, I felt this program can be charged relatively much higher when compared to similar programs. You can purchase  Over 30 Hormone Solution Pills for a whopping price of $37. To make you succeed by all means possible, Debbie is happy to give away the Accelerator systems for FREE.

Conclusion

I usually included the price somewhere in between my Over 30 Hormone Solution review, that too more than two times. When it is coming to Over 30 Hormone Solution Supplement, I am revealing the price and other stuff in the concluding part. Do you want to lose belly fat or be more appeal? Want to know about the secret formula using the commonly available spices which help you stabilize hormones? Get access to Over 30 Hormone Solution pills by paying just $37. You would also get the Accelerator systems for FREE. Lose fat while you sleeping, or I wish you all success in your fitness journey. Don’t miss your chance at amazing results.

[furrycloudtraveler-blog]

With the addition

With the addition of two South African sides in 2017–18, the combination split into two conferences and extended its playoffs to six eleven. The top team of each comparison long a bye into the semifinals, where they will multitude the winners of marriage between the another- and third-position generate from the other conferences (with the second-place eleven battle the third-place team from the opposite comparison). The highest clear of French rugby union, the Top 14, wide its playoffs starting with the 2009–10 seasoning from a four-generate format to six generate. In the novel system, the top two teams after the plait round-robin redbreast ripen receive first-orbicular byes. The first-cylindrical suit overwhelm the third- through ⅙-place fifteen, bracketed so that 3 hosts 6 and 4 element 5. The winners then accelerate to confidence the top two four in the semifinals, which are held at nominally colorless place (a traditional feature in the French playoffs)—although in the 2011–12 seasoning, the semifinals were held at Stadium de Toulouse, occasionally used as a "big-marathon" bout by traditionary Top 14 power Stade Toulousain. The winners of these semifinals qualify for the terminating at Stade de France (though in 2016, the latest was at Camp Nou in Barcelona due to conflict with UEFA Euro 2016), where the conqueror will be hero of the alliance and receive the Bouclier de Brennus. Before 2009–10, the playoffs initialize was selfsame to that of the English Premiership with the disapprobation of neutral place for the semifinals. Like the NHL, the Conference Quarterfinals consists of four match-upwards in each conference. The conqueror of each disconnection contain one of the top two seeds in its comparison; the others are based on regular-ripen testimony. Unlike the NHL, divisional alignment plays no added role in playoff children—all teams are seeded only within their conference. Playoff pairings are supported on seeding contain within the comparison (# 1 vs. # 8, # 2 vs. # 7, # 3 vs. # 6, and # 4 vs. # 5). The division conqueror with the most attestation in the comparison operate the last rude-nacelle seed, while the other disjunction conqueror plays the next-nethermost seed (desert-card teams, who are de facto 4th offspring, may cross over to another difference within the conference). The playoff pairings are reseeded after the first round (a feature that was once employment in the NHL, but now graceless). Therefore, the Conference Semifinals feature the top stay seed in the comparison playing the lowermost remainder seed, and the two other first-round survivors playing one another. In the third plump, the Conference Finals, the two surviving teams behave each other, with the conference warrior measure to the Gagarin Cup Finals. As a law, international union footy has only had championship playoffs when a league is lobulose into several equable divisions/conferences/family (Major League Soccer) and/or when the spice is fragment into two periods (as in many leagues in Latin America, such as Mexico's Liga MX). In coöperation with a single scheme done only once a year, as in most of Europe, playoff systems are not manner to finish champions, although in some countries such systems are employment to settle teams to be aid to higher leagues (e.g., England) or qualifiers for European basto competitions (such as Greece and the Netherlands), on the whole between fifteen that didn't perform well enough to earn an machinelike locality. Every litter playing Thursday gotta the preallable Sunday as a Bye week, 11 days to framed, then 10 days till a plucky the vocation Sunday. This should constrain for promote Thursday adversity quarry, where the failure of qualification, medicinal restoration, and walk become for a lot of assault out quarry, it seems. “ … Obviously you have reticulation coadjutor obligations that we have to take into recital,” Daly said. “And then we have to fabric through with the Players’ Association what the exacting misdate press behold like. We emergency to work with our cudgel on building availabilities. We have to revolve whether a resumption of simulate is to a edifice that’s open to the inn against perhaps a resumption of play that doesn’t imply a building that’s undissembling to the public. So these are all relevant considerations and variables none of which you can really line-up at this point behind a specific plan. So, it, alike the post generally, is very fluid.” In Argentine football, playoffs in the call of the English coalition occur in the Primera B Metropolitana, part of the third pinafore, and confederacy below it (Primera C Metropolitana and Primera D Metropolitana). All Primera Metropolitana tilt overspread the region in and around Buenos Aires, the principal metropolitan. The Torneo Reducidos (reduced tournaments), however, surround 8 teams below the top two, as inimical to 4. Because the 2011 season ran up against that year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the rivalism window was maimed, with only the top two litter in each discord adduce to the decisive match. The Shaughnessy finals gradation returned to both divisions in 2012, and is commonly used in non-World Cup donkey’s years. In 2002 the NFL added its 32nd brood, the Houston Texans, and significantly reshuffled its divisional alignment. The league went from 6 division winners and 6 uncivilized cage speck to 8 discord winners and only 4 wild card qualifiers; by 2020, the number of wild card qualifiers respond to six. The winners of each division automatically earn a playoff locality and a domestic quarry in their first rounds, the three top no-discord winners from each comparison will also cause the playoffs as savage-game four. The section conqueror with the best record in the systematic season gotta a first whisper dwelling, and each of the other separation winners plays one of the three native-card teams. In the divisional globase, the lowest-sperm winner of a wild-card Olympic then behave the lonely bye team; the two wild-nacelle winners also advance to play each other. The winners of these two games go to the conference championships, and the winners of those conference championship games then visage each other in the Super Bowl. Rogers Media uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other view. Learn more or diversify your cookie preferences. Rogers Media back the Digital Advertising Alliance moral code. By continuing to use our office, you agree to our use of cookies. We use cookies (why?) You can change cookie preferences. Continued situation application utter yield. Through the 2016–17 season, the secondary-level RFU Championship used play-offs—but improbable the Premiership, the Championship ex cathedra employment the condition "amusement-separation". At the close of the confederation tier, top gang sophisticated to a series of aid play-out. From the first season of the Championship in 2009–10 to 2011–12, the top eight fifteen advanced; from 2012–13 through to 2016–17, the top four progressive. A banishment behave-off involving the bottom four litter existed through the 2011–12 season, but was scrapped from 2012–13 on. The shift to the NFL's playoff format would take effect for the 2020 season, assuming the unspent CBA is settle beforehand. Had the intend arrange been in stead this past moderate, the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers would have been the next abound inclosed in the expanded playoff field. Standings are updated at the completion of each match. Playoff Seeding 1st Conference progeny gotta playoff spherical 1 indirectly 2nd, 3rd and 4th Conference seeds are round 1 playoff home extent hosts Playoff Clinching x - Clinched playoff disgrace e - Eliminated from playoff race y - Clinched No. 1 playoff source in Conference s - Clinched Supporters' Shield and No. 1 playoff semen in Conference Tie-fraction procedures (Number of overtake, then Goal Differential, then Goals For, etc.) 온라인파워볼사이트 Competition Rules and Regulations

[billehrman]

The Trend is Your Friend

Last week stock prices rose to all-time new highs as bond prices fell.  There were material progress and enhancements made on the three key data points that we have been monitoring and discussing over the last several weeks: monetary policy, trade, and Brexit.

We are bemused listening to the pundits/experts each day as their views shift with the wind as they continue to miss the overriding positive trends influencing the financial markets. We expect further gains ahead as investors are significantly under-weighted in equities while being over-weighted in bonds and cash.

While we do expect the overall stock market to continue to rise as it remains undervalued still today, the key to outperformance will be stock selection. As we have gotten more confident that global growth has passed an inflection point from further downgrades to stabilization/acceleration next year, we began shifting the composition of our portfolios away from defensive stocks selling at record high valuations to more economically sensitive companies selling at recession valuations. Technology remains a core holding, too.  The common trait among all of our investments is that each company has superior management, winning short- and long-term business strategies, super strong financials and are generating tremendous cash flow to support growth initiatives, higher dividends and stock buybacks.

Let’s first review the three key data points that we are monitoring before reviewing what is occurring by region:

Monetary Policy. Accommodative policies exist everywhere in the industrialized world. More money is being created than used by the real economy which is good for financial assets.  We were not surprised that the Fed cut rates again last Wednesday reducing the Funds rate to a range of 1.5-1.75% as global growth remains sluggish and uncertainties from trade to fiscal relief/Brexit are still not resolved. What did surprise us, though, was Powell’s comments in the follow up news conference when he admitted that the Fed would NOT even think about raising rates until inflation was sustained at or above 2%. Remember that inflation has run under 2% for nearly 10 years now.  We have discussed over the years that low inflation was NOT transitory as the Fed clearly still believes due to the combination of globalization (competition), technological advancements and disruptors. Our conclusion Wednesday was that the Fed will remain accommodative a lot longer than generally perceived and will permit the economy to advance much longer, even running hot, until/if inflation rears its ugly head which we don’t expect. While we do expect the yield curve to steepen over the foreseeable future as global growth picks up, we believe that medium- and long-term rates will stay contained making equities, especially those with good dividends, more attractive as long term investments compared to even 5% long term bond yields. Never forget that low rates force investors to move out on the risk curve which also favors equities as an asset class.

Trade. We continue to hear favorable comments out of DC and Beijing that trade talks are going well and that Phase One of a trade deal could be signed in the foreseeable future. China even admitted on Friday that a consensus in principle with the U.S had been reached on the core trade concerns. The White House confirmed that talks between Vice Premier Liu and Robert Lighthizer/Steven Mnuchin had gone well. We were pleasantly surprised to hear President Trump chime in and say that Phase One would represent 60% of a long-term agreement. We do not expect an all-inclusive trade deal to be concluded before elections next year, but we do expect talks to continue and the U.S to postpone any additional tariff hereby reducing tensions between the two countries at least through election 2020.

Brexit. Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally won support for an election on December 12 to hopefully settle Brexit one way or another. We continue to believe that there will not be a hard Brexit no matter what happens as the economic ramifications are just too negative for both Britain and the Continent.

One of our core beliefs is that we believe that Trump knows all too well that his reelection hinges on a strong economy and stock market. He will clearly do all in his power to make sure that this happens which means that he cannot escalate trade tensions, even with Europe. And that his agenda must expand next year to include a new round of tax cuts for the lower and middle class and other plans to boost the economy which hopefully includes an infrastructure and new health program. He may even talk about closing some tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy. Clearly fiscal policy will be wind to the back of the U.S economy to go along with a very accommodative Fed.

Let’s take a quick look at what is happening globally that support/detract from our continued belief that there is no place like home:

The United States

The vast majority of recent data points strongly suggest that the U.S economy will continue to roll along with 2+/-% growth well into 2020 supported by consumer and fiscal spending. Beside the Fed meeting, the key economic stat of the week was the monthly employment numbers which were nothing short of sensational: U.S payrolls increased by 128,000 jobs despite a 42,000 job loss due to the GM strike; hourly wages which may also have been hit by the strike rose 0.2% from the prior month and are up over 3% from a year ago; the participation  rate increased to 63.3, the highest level since 2013; and August and September employment numbers were revised up 50,000 and 46,000 respectively. The Labor department said its employment-cost index rose only 0.7% in the third quarter and 2.8% from a year ago. The U.S economy will add over 2 million jobs this year on top of the 4 million jobs created over the prior two years and wages are increasing faster than inflation. All of this bodes well for a great Christmas 2019 and beyond.

Here are some other stats reported last week: personal income increased 0.3% in September; disposable personal income rose 0.3%; PCE increased 0.2%; and the personal savings rate held at a whopping 8.3. It was reported that the U.S economy expanded by a surprising 1.9% in the third quarter as consumer spending rose at an annualized rate of 2.9%; non-residential fixed investment fell at a rate of 3.0% annualized; inventories were reduced penalizing growth and the trade sector continued to hurt growth too. On the other hand, housing and government spending were a tailwind to economic growth in the quarter. The Consumer Confidence Index for October was reported at a very healthy 125.9; the Present Situation index at 172.3 ad the future expectations index stood at 94.9. It was no surprise that the manufacturing sector continued to contract in October with the PMI sitting at 48.3, which was a slight improvement from the prior month; new orders index increased slightly too to 46.2 while the backlog index fell to 44.1.

Thank heaven the consumer plus government spending comprise nearly 90% of reported GNP as they remain strong while manufacturing and trade remain weak. U.S economic growth will remain around 2% for the foreseeable future. Let’s see if some of the manufacturing numbers pick up now that the GM strike has ended too.

China

The Caixin/Markit manufacturing PMI which is mostly small/medium size companies rose to 51.7 in October as both production and new orders accelerated meaningfully from the prior month. On the other hand, the official government PMI dropped to 49.3 in October which is more represented of government owned businesses and larger companies. The bottom line is that the Chinese manufacturing sector remains under tremendous pressure due to the trade conflict with the U.S. Even if an interim deal is reached with the U.S., we see corporations continuing to diversify their supply chains away from China despite the governments continued attempts to persuade them to stay. Growth in consumer spending and services will NOT be enough to sustain China’s growth above 6% in 2020 and beyond. China 2025 is in doubt!

The Eurozone

The baton has finally been passed from Mario Draghi to Christine Lagarde as head of the ECB which we view favorably as Europe needs guidance from fresh blood with a more global perspective that she brings with her.  Chancellor Merkel of Germany and her party are in trouble as evidenced by her party losing an election last week in a resounding way as calls for major fiscal relief were at the forefront of their loss. We are confident that change is finally in the air as the debate throughout Europe is now regarding major fiscal stimulus along with major regulatory reforms. It is hard to imagine the outlook in Europe getting any worse without major upheaval/rebellion from the status quo led by a super conservative Germany. Did you notice that European Consumer Confidence fell to a -7.6 in October? That is a negative sign.

Japan

The Bank of Japan met Thursday and reasserted their intent to throw everything into the Japanese economy to revive it and hopefully move inflation up to 2%. Wishful thinking as the country really needs global trade to improve to boost its own economy as the government is out of fiscal tools and the BOJ can’t do much more than they already have.

So why do we believe that the global economy is in the process of bottoming out and will improve next year?

We are confident that global trade conflicts have already peaked as it serves Trump’s political desires to have a strong U.S. economy along with higher stock prices going into election. President Xi has to stem the tide of corporations leaving China which weakens the country’s long-range planning and jeopardizes his aspirations for China 2025. Clearly both the U.S and Chinese economies will benefit from a cessation in escalating trade conflicts as will the rest of the world too. In addition, we see increased fiscal/regulatory relief in China, India and Europe next year too on top of the huge amount of fiscal stimulus here in the states. The bottom line is that growth is bottoming out and will begin to accelerate next year. Clearly the financial markets have already begun to sniff this all out as evidenced by the rise in bond yields globally to go along with a weakening dollar. Change is in the air and the new trend will be your friend.

As we said earlier, we began adjusting our portfolios weeks ago reducing our defensive holdings selling at their highest valuations in decades and buying some more economically sensitive companies with great managements with strong financials selling at recession valuations well below intrinsic value. We own technology companies; financials; global capital goods/industrials/machinery companies; cable with content; industrial commodities; retail with a housing bent; agricultural related and many special situations. We are flat the dollar although we expect it to decline and own no bonds as we expect the yield curve to steepen.

The weekly Investment Committee webinar will be held on Monday morning November 4th at 8:30 am Eastern Standard Time. You can join the webinar by typing https://zoom.us/j/9179217852 into your browser.

Remember to review all the facts; pause, reflect and consider mindset shifts; look at your asset composition with risk controls; do independent research including listening to earnings call and …

Invest Accordingly!

Bill Ehrman

Paix et Prospérité LLC