#Hock Principle

[younes-ben-amara]

مقاطعة المشاهير ومتابعة ذوي المؤهلات: ترند مُبارك يستحق التشجيع 👌

ما هذه المجموعة من المختارات تسألني؟ إنّها عددٌ من أعداد نشرة “صيد الشابكة” اِعرف أكثر عن النشرة هنا: ما هي نشرة “صيد الشابكة” ما مصادرها، وما غرضها؛ وما معنى الشابكة أصلًا؟! 🎣🌐 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #64 بسم الله ومرحبًا وأهلا بكم والسلام عليكم، 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #64🔟 القِيم الإنسانية الأساسية العشرة وكيف تُفسِّر بها تصرّفاتك التي تحيّرك أنت نفسك🧪🔬 نقتطف من العدد الأحدث لـ «نشرة العلوم» من…

[moorishflower]

Mexican Pozole

Pozole! Beautiful, ruby red, glistening with fat, pozole! There's a reason she's beloved in many parts of Mexico, because honestly, what can't she do? She's infinitely customizable, allowing you to stick with tradition or try something new as you please.

At the heart of pozole is the chile sauce you use to flavor the soup -- the most traditional peppers are guajillo, pasilla and ancho, but if you want more heat you can add some chile de arbol or pequin to the mix, and if you want less heat you can sub the guajillo for cascabel. Each of these peppers has a unique flavor beneath the heat and will subtly change the taste of your pozole!

And then, if the heart of the pozole is the chiles, then the body of it is the hominy. If you've never had hominy before, it's white corn that's been dried, then soaked and cooked in a diluted lime or lye solution. That makes it sound a lot more hardcore than it actually tastes: hominy is a mild little corn nugget that, in soups, kind of takes on the texture of very firm tofu. It's soft, but you can definitely tell you're sinking your teeth into it, and when eaten on its own it's still faintly corn-y, but in pozole is incredibly subtle compared to the peppery broth. There's no taste of lye or line, however, if you're texture-sensitive you might want to buy a can and try a few first before you go through the labor of making pozole.

Because pozole is HARD WORK. I made the broth from scratch with pork shoulder and pork neckbones, so I definitely could have taken some steps out there, but I wanted to do it right. And the result was so good. You can customize pozole with all sorts of fresh garnishes -- I used cheese, tortilla strips, lettuce, lime juice, chopped white onion and cilantro. You can add chopped radishes to it, or green onion, red onion, red cabbage, pepitas...and it would also probably taste really good with some beans!

I used this recipe from Mexico in my Kitchen. There are a lot of pozole recipes out there, but most of them follow the same steps.

Changes I made:

I wasn't able to get guajillo peppers because my local corner market was out of them, so I used cascabels, ancho, and a chipotle tossed in for kick.

I used pork neck bones in the broth as well as cubed pork shoulder; you'll want to add bones any time you make broth to really bring out richness. You could also use pork ribs or bone-in pork hock, OR you can make chicken pozole with the same principle! Theoretically there's nothing stopping you from using tempeh or tofu in place of meat and making this vegan, however you'll find that vegetable broth doesn't reach that full level of richness and silkiness. It'd still probably be good, though!

For those who would like to preview the soups I'm planning to try, you can follow along on my World Soup Map! Please note: the free version of this map only allows for 100 items at a time, so there are gonna be a bunch of missing spots. World Soup Map 2 is being worked on!

[qqueenofhades]

Do you have any idea why people are so fixated on Biden’s age but not Trumps? I know he’s 81, but Trump isn’t exactly far behind at 77: in fact he’s the second oldest. This keeps stumping me: it’s not a big gap in age

There are a few reasons for this, yes. As you might imagine, all of them are very stupid.

First and most critically is the way Trump's violent extremism has been completely neutered, mainlined, and normalized by the mainstream media. That's why we still have said media largely treating this as a normal presidential election, instead of that of a successful incumbent against literally the most deranged, unfit, treasonous, criminally and civilly liable, already-led-an-attempted-coup, deep-in-hock-to-Russia, adjudicated rapist, 91-felony-counts-indicted career cheater, grifter, and failed businessman who nonetheless appeals to the still-very-powerful isolationist, racist, white supremacist, and Christian nationalist elements in this country. Crucially, he also appeals to the billionaire class that owns the media and who will benefit from Trumpian tax, economic, and labor policies (especially now that Biden used the SOTU to once more call for a minimum 25% corporate/billionaire tax rate). The media also openly wants Trump back in office, as all the shitass insane things he did (and will do) are good for ratings, and allows them to act like the Principled Truth Tellers, instead of shilling so hard for a greasy orange fascist that we may well lose our 250+ year old democratic republic if he, God forbid, is elected again. Profit is more, well, profitable than truthful reporting, so the media has been completely disincentivized to cover this in any accurate way. We presume they will all wake up with shocked Pikachu faces when Trump packs them off to concentration camps with everyone else he hates, as he has openly promised to do.

Because we're also starting from an underlying premise that everything is the Democrats' fault, this means the party should be blamed for running said successful incumbent for reelection, even if he has low poll numbers which have in fact largely been produced by the media's relentlessly stupid and dishonest coverage. I was reading an article in the AP today about how 15 major student/youth groups have endorsed Biden and plan to work for his reelection; even so, the author could.not.stop going on and on about how Zomgz Old Biden was and how supposedly most Americans thought he was mentally unfit for the job (which is a straight-up lie produced by the endless "Zomgz Biden Old!!!!" handwringing have been subjected to without end. Weird how that works). That is also why we have all those idiotic "Biden should step down!!!" opinion pieces by Very Smart Pundits, notwithstanding the fact that a) it would be completely insane, b) it would be completely insane, and c) somehow nobody seems to think that hey, maybe the Republicans shouldn't nominate an openly seditionist generally god-awful fascist shitweasel who has already been the worst thing to happen to American politics in the twenty-first century (I'd say also the twentieth century, but unfortunately that was when we had Reagan).

In other words, Trump is just taken as a given, while the media spends all its time attacking Biden, calling on Biden to step down, amplifying "concerns" about Biden's age, producing idiotic narratives about Biden, distorting or ignoring the things Biden has done, and then writing concern-troll navel-gazing pieces earnestly wondering why people don't like Biden. (Apparently people's opinion of Biden drastically improves when they learn what he's actually accomplished, but the relentless parade of lies somehow makes it difficult for them to learn what those actually are. Again, weird.) Likewise the endless coverage we get of Biden's smallest slips or stumbles, while the media resolutely ignores Trump's full-on recent descent into absolute raving dementia. Hello, double standards!

This is also fueled by a heaping helping of racism and misogyny, because if God forbid Biden does die in office, what happens? The vice president takes over! We have a clear and constitutionally established precedent for this that has happened many times before! Except, oh no scary!!!, Biden's vice president is a brown woman, and that means SHE WOULD BE IN CHARGE!!!! TERRIFYING!!! So all the scaremongering around Biden's age, aside from being generally dishonest and stupid, has as its implicit message that sure, maybe you're fine voting for an old white man, but are you really comfortable doing that if it means a brown woman might also have the chance to be president?? I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD BE!!!!!

Anyway, yes. It's a complete straw man argument, it's fueled by bad faith and stupidity, and as with most things in the current American media environment, it's geared toward helping Trump win. Because you know. Something something BUT HER EEEEEEEEEEEEMAILS BUT BIDEN WAS OOOOOOOOOOOOLD.

[the-altered-sequence]

Ashton Character Profile

Ashton, originally labeled E12-19, is a last-wave genetically Altered supersoldier created by Caduceus Technologies before the Fall. He escaped during the revolt of soldiers against their creators and fled. Encouraged by a rogue employee that he is a person, not a thing as Caduceus asserted, Ashton was set loose alone in the wastelands of a freshly fallen society. Shortly after he found Dev and they banded together to survive a world that hated them.

Ashton stands his tallest at 7' 1". Usually, he slouches, at first out of fear of being more of a target, then as they began integrating into human settlements, he began consciously slouching, to appear less frightening. Like all Altered, he has enhanced strength, stamina, and senses, especially hearing. His experiment group also is the only Altered group to sport digitigrade legs and paws for added speed and agility.

When Ashton was a teenager, he cut off his right ear that bore the Caduceus serial number as protest and a literal severance from his past. Ashton is a forward thinker, influenced by the novels he consumes voraciously, and can be a little theatrical about things.

Despite the fears that come from being so different, Ashton works tirelessly to prove the Altered are, deep down, no different than any other human. He fights every day to combat the commonly held view that Altered soldiers are mindless killing machines, or at worst, less feeling than even their animal likenesses. He's built his whole life around learning how to be more human. He reads, he writes, he taught himself how to draw and sign ASL, he studies everything he can get his hands on. Later, after he and Dev and the other survivors in his settlement found some security, he started teaching, mostly doing outreach about the truth about Altered people with an intersectional approach. He is fussy about language: he'll correct anyone's mistake if they call the Altered 'soldiers' or make insensitive animal jokes. He was the one that brought structure to the original band of Altered (himself, Dev, Jules, and Cain). He insisted they all name themselves, like people, and adhere to rules like 'no teeth'... the Altered are people, so it's unbecoming (and alienating) to make a show of their sharp teeth.

Over the course of books 2 and 3, Ashton sustained a nearly completely crippling injury on his left foot. A brace was made for him, so he wears that for long trips or work days, but limps a little when he doesn't feel like wearing it. His feet bear the most scars from poor living conditions in his youth in the wastelands and are usually in a state of dirtiness and wear from never wearing shoes. (Some of his fellows have joked they’d scavenge some dog booties for him, which he adamantly refuses on moral principle but also, the Altered don’t usually need shoes, him especially.) He sometimes has to take power sanders to his left foot's toenails since they don't naturally wear down anymore. He also has signs of a past broken nose, a fake top left canine (custom!), and a few arrow/bullet hole scars here and there, mostly hidden by fur.

His fur is longer in the neck, cape, elbows, hocks, tail, and withers, like a real borzoi. The brown spots over his eyes and lower back are brindle. He has particular sensory icks due to his fur, so can be a little fussier about getting wet, seeds and burrs stuck in his fur, or getting sandy/muddy. He toughs it out when he has to (most of the time) but when given a chance, is often seen hand-combing debris from his wavy coat. In the summer, he trims the longer parts since it gets warmer in their new home. Usually, Ashton is a rather scruffy figure, not spending a lot of time on his appearance, but for special occasions will comb his fur.

Ashton wants to belong. He is highly motivated by acceptance and praise. He knows he's a human and wants to make the world safer for everyone, especially Altered people. Now, with life among the humans, Ashton works tirelessly to be a good example of a model Altered citizen. He is charismatic, outgoing, social, and always trying to do better. Ashton isn't terribly good at moderating his intensity, can let his temper get the best of him at times, and struggles with feelings of frustration. His partners Dev and Sybil admire his gumption but also know when he needs a reminder to take a break. Ashton wants to save everyone, knows he can't, but will try anyway.

Ashton has a wide vocabulary and some people are irritated at his tendency to directly quote from books or recite Shakespeare. He sees this behavior as very-human and thus a good thing for an Altered to do, but a lot of people just think he’s kind of a know-it-all. Sybil calls him a nerd, and she's right. However, the children of the settlement are all quite fond of him, mostly due to the best piggy-back rides ever, but also because he'll do the voices when reading a story. (Altered voices are modeled after a syrynx to allow for full range of speaking without a human mouth.)

[transmutationisms]

I can guess your gripes re: Adam Ragusea (ahistorical and positivist educational videos, hocks supplements and fitness science, annoying lib, gentrifier, insists on expensive ingredients and time-consuming methods while pretending to be accessible) but I’d like to know exactly how he’s pissed you off and if there is anybody making videos about food science and history who you do like? Or if there’s some lit you can recommend on the subject?

honestly i definitely thought some of his older videos were useful but on principle i simply am not going to take gustatory advice from somebody flogging ketogenic breakfast cereal lmao.

i don't watch many video essays but book-wise, there's a ton of literature on food and nutrition history for sure. i liked laura ann twagira's book about malian foodways and there was also a pretty interesting chapter on food and colonialism in the middle east in on barak's "powering empire". ec spary's stuff on french food history since ~1740 is always good. nadja durbach's recent book on british food biopolitics is also worth a look, and helen zoe veit's "modern food, moral food" on us dietetics in relation to its efforts to amass military dominance in the 20th century. corinna treitel has published a bunch on food, national identity, and conceptions of 'naturalness' in modern germany. i also heard george solt's cultural history of ramen is a really fun read, although i haven't picked it up myself yet lol. if you get into histories of specific food items like that there are some really fascinating pieces of work, like heidi tinsman's "buying into the regime" about chilean grape politics in the cold war. lots on colonial production and imperial foodways in relation to commodities like coffee, chocolate, and dairy products; more than a few things i've glanced over about potatoes specifically. also, on tumblr, i've been really enjoying the essays on palestinian food and food politics (and recipes!) on najia-cooks :)

[zenosanalytic]

Something I don't think we talk about enough is the absolute poison capitalism has been for morality and ethics.

Like: when "profit" becomes THE organizing principle for action, anything can be justified. If you take as your fundamental rule "anything which might create profit or capital is Good, and likely Necessary", then what limits are there to your behavior? Literally ANYTHING can be SAID to POTENTIALLY create profit, or increase the number of workers in-hock to your capital and thus fair-game to wage-theft, so ANYTHING can be done. A moral system which allows anything to be done is, by definition, no moral system at all: it's License; it's Self-indulgence; it's Amorality and the Death of Virtue. To become a capitalist is to throw away your soul.

for the mario movie???? the mario bros movie?? the actors can't know the plot of the mario movie??? they're scared of plot leaks for mario the movie?? the movie mario???? we're getting not just chris pratt but chris pratt acting BLIND????????

[skeleton5]

(...) her heart of the sensuality of my principles; she savoured them, and I saw her pretty cheeks colour with that libertine flame that never fails to appear whenever one breaks free of a restraint. “Well then,” she said to me, “what should we do?” “Have our fun with her,” I told her, “and make some money out of her. As for pleasure, you can be sure of that if [you] adopt my principles; as for money, you can be sure of that too as I can use both your old mother and your sister for two different deals that will be very lucrative for us.” Lucile accepts – I frig her, the better to rouse her appetite for crime, and we then get to work on the arrangements. Let us turn to the first of these schemes since it fits into the category of tastes I have to tell you about (even if I am moving it from its proper place in order to follow the order of events) and once you are acquainted with this first part of my plans, I shall enlighten you as to the second. (...)

(...) puder for the Ill people and pinkun’s pellets for all the Pale; gave his mundyfoot to Miserius, her pinch to Anna Livia, that superfine pigtail to Cerisia Cerosia and quid rides to Titius, Caius and Sempronius; made the man who had no notion of shopkeepers feel he’d rather play the duke than play the gentleman; shot two queans and shook three caskles when he won his game of dwarfs; fumes inwards like a strombolist till he smokes at both ends; manmote, befier of him, womankind, pietad!; shows one white drift of snow among the gorsegrowth of his crown and a chaperon of repentance on that which shed gore; pause and quies, triple bill; went by metro for the polis and then hoved by; to the finders, hail! woa, you that seek!; whom fillth had plenished, dearth devoured; hock is leading, cocoa comes next, emery tries for the flag; can dance the O’Bruin’s polerpasse at Noolahn to his own orchistruss accompaniment; took place before the internatural convention of catholic midwives and found stead before the congress for the study of endonational calamities; makes a delictuous entrée and finishes off the course between sweets and savouries; flouts for forecasts, flairs for finds and the fun of the fray on the fairground; cleared out three hundred sixty five idles to set up one all khalassal for henwives hoping to have males; the flawhoolagh, the grasping one, the kindler of paschal fire; forbids us our trespassers as we forgate him; the phoenix be his pyre, the cineres his sire!; piles big pelium on little ossas like the pilluls of hirculeads; has an eatupus complex and a drinkthedregs kink; wurstmeats for chumps and cowcarlows for scullions; when he plies for our favour is very trolly ours; two psychic espousals and three desertions; may be matter of fact now but was futter of magd then; Cattermole Hill, exmountain of flesh was reared up by stress and sank under strain; tank it up, dank it up, tells the tailor to his tout; entoutcas for a man, but bit a thimble for a maid; blimp, blump; a dud letter, a sing a song a sylble; a byword, a sentence with surcease; while stands his canyouseehim frails shall fall; was hatched at Cellbridge but ejoculated abrood; as it gan in the biguinnengs so wound up in a battle of Boss; Roderick, Roderick, Roderick, O, you’ve gone the way of the Danes; variously catalogued, regularly regrouped; a bushboys holoday, a quacker’s mating, a wenches’ sandbath; (...)

(...) “No? Wanda! For God’s sake! Don’t make fun of me so ruthlessly,” I cried. “Didn’t I personally carry the letter to the prince—?”

“Certainly. A déjeuner invitation.”

“Since our arrival in Florence, you’ve—”

“Remained completely faithful to you,” Wanda retorted. “I swear by all that’s holy to me. I’ve done everything purely to make your fantasy come true, purely for your sake.

“But I will take on an admirer. Otherwise it’s only a halfway measure, and you’ll end up reproaching me for not being cruel enough to you. My dear, beautiful slave! Today you’re to be Severin again, you’re to be only and entirely my lover. I didn’t give your clothes away, you’ll find them here in the chest. Dress the way you did in the small Carpathian resort, where we loved each other so ardently. Forget everything that’s happened since then. Oh, you’ll easily forget it in my arms—I’ll kiss all your cares away.” (...)

(...) And play is not necessarily fun. It is pleasurable, but the pleasures it creates are not always submissive to enjoyment, happiness, or positive traits. Play can be pleasurable when it hurts, offends, challenges us and teases us, and even when we are not playing. Let’s not talk about play as fun but as pleasurable, opening us to the immense variations of pleasure in (...)

(...) It was only too easy for those who met her for the first time, or had no feeling for her creative power, to consider her queer and to make fun at her expense. She was heavy of build and loud of voice, and it was often not easy for one to get the floor in competition with her. She preached mightily, and not as the scribes. She was a rough and simple soul, but her heart was in the right place. Her frankness was never offensive in the least degree. In everyday life she was most unassuming and utterly unselfish; she had a kind and friendly nature. Nevertheless she enjoyed the recognition paid her; she could answer with a bashful smile like a young girl to whom one had whispered a compliment. No one could contend that the Graces had stood by her cradle; but if we in Göttingen often chaffingly referred to her as “der Noether” (with the masculine article), it was also done with a respectful recognition of her power as a creative thinker who seemed to have broken through the barrier of sex. She possessed a rare humor and a sense of sociability; a tea in her apartments could be most pleasurable. But she was a one-sided being who was thrown out of balance by the overweight of her mathematical talent. Essential aspects of human life remained undeveloped in her, among them, I suppose, the erotic, which, if we are to believe the poets, is for many of us the strongest source of emotions, (...)

(...) These things are the frivolous part of study (which is why I also tell you that the men are jesting); and I call these things ‘frivolity’ because even if a man were to learn many or even all such things, he would be none the wiser as to how matters stand but would only be able to make fun of people, tripping them up and overturn-ing them by means of the distinctions in words, just like the people who pull the chair out from under a man who is going to sit down and then laugh gleefully when they see him sprawling on his back.6 The sophists are seen as mere travelling showmen who are occupied solely with the playful. But play has now to give way to the work of uncovering the truth.

Huizinga is probably to be credited with having taught us about the playful character of human action in archaic cultures. But he turns play into something absolute, and he therefore misses the decisive paradigm shift within knowledge transfer in the history of the Occident, namely the transition from myth to truth, which coincides with the transition from play to work. Along the path towards work, thinking gradually distances itself from its origin in play.

The mistrust of play intensif i es in the age of the Enlightenment. Kant subordinates play to work. His aesthetics, for instance, is characterized by the primacy (...)

(...) (I had the most incredible shower of chuckling all over me, in the form of math symbols and Greek letters. I'd guessed who it was: he had played the most—to him—fun game. Ir leg, the two Sanskrit words. Not the meaning ["angry legion"] but a pun. Always puns, a million pun clues. "Ear leg." In the old days my brother-in-law and I made up this Swift: "I feel earassabiele, Tom said," or how-ever. "I feel as if my ear hurts and I need to see a proctologist," Tom said irascibly. There it is. Now, "ir leg" is to ear leg as Irascibly is to that Swifty. And "irascible" is a quasi-phononym for Erasmus. Ear-ass-mus. See? These were the first words which came to me in March and wow, last night. A shower of laughter, since finally I'd guessed. He hadn't counted on chemical aids.)

"Who or what is/was Christ?" Tessa asked me.

"The style we are drawn in," I said. "There is a person seated for artists to draw him; they have a 1.50 minute time limit on their work. All draw him a little differently, all must finish fast and turn it in. Their work is crude, and each has a bit of the subject in it. Our world is that composite work of many artists, and we are those crude drawings with the minute and a half time limit. We do as well as we can, but it's like Disneyland where they do that, various portrait artists with one subject—or if they all had the same subject. It is like Disneyland—fast and not very expert, and still the subject sits and we approximate him. Someone else does the approximating; we are not the artists but the drawings. Hence Plato's concept of the cave and of the idea archetypes."

"Is there reincarnation?"

(I could remember a Saxon scene: an old man bending over me. But what I saw most, and always, as she talked to me, was the cross, in color: gold and red. Shining. And heavy and huge. You'd bounce back if you were a semi truck and hit it. I just kept watching it.)

Then I sat for a couple hours and felt odd, not bad but odd, because all that stuff about Greece and Dionysus was crazy, based on the fact—Tessa and I looked him up—that Erasmus was one of the first Greek (...)

(...) and ambiguous because it is not something.

Having fun is a shared experience, a negotiation of joys and pleasures that requires an effort and occasionally will be impossible to explain. A fun entanglement requires an agreement, a mode of respect of the others we’re having fun with. And fun is essential in playing software because it implies an escape from the regimented world of processes and duties and control. Fun is breaking away from what shall happen and enjoying the surprise and the pleasures of new arrangements. Fun is searching for desirable possibilities beyond what is given as fact, as the way things are, as the way things have been.

Fun can be a horrible thing too because it can be fun to make others miserable. As I argued in chapters 5 and 6, fun can be used to facilitate technologies of oppression. We have to live with the fact that fun is not always fun for all. And that’s why, again, Lugones’s ethos is critical to not only understand but also evaluate the role of playing software in the information age. Fun is the outcome of creating worlds that are open to others, that deny toxic agencies and foster new forms of togetherness. Fun happens in worlds where we can explore others and ourselves.

Playing software is an ethos, a practice that is always absolutely of moral nature. Play is not separate from the world or alien to ethics. Playing is creating worlds, and doing so with an ethos. The cultures that emerge from playing software are subject to ethical scrutiny because they are the result of world making, of the creation of subjectivities, of telling humans, animals, and software who they are, what to do, how to be.

We should be critical when playing software. We should always think about the artificial agencies we meet, how they entangle with us, which worlds are then created and for whom. But we should also have some fun. The information age wants desperately to be the age of command and control of humans and animals and the environment and itself. Playing software makes ambitions relative. It entangles us with these alien agencies; it lets us create worlds, experi (...)

(...) “Shall we take a look at the island?”“What’s the fun in that? There’s nothing to see.”“Don’t be a kill-joy. Come on, let’s go and look,” Honda urged. His voice sounded deep in his chest as he rowed with a lively vigor that suited his years.As Kiyoaki stared fixedly down into the pond, he heard the faint sound of the waterfall far away on the other side of the island; he could not see a great deal because of the cloudy water and the red of the maples reflected in it. There were carp swimming down there, he knew, and at the very bottom snapping turtles lurked in the shelter of the rocks. His childhood fears flared for a moment, then died.The hot sun struck the backs of their close-shaven necks. It was a peaceful, uneventful, glorious Sunday afternoon. Yet Kiyoaki remained convinced that at the bottom of this world, which was like a leather bag filled with water, there was a little hole, and it seemed to him that he could hear time leaking from it, drop by drop.They reached the island at a spot where a single maple stood among the pines, and climbed the stone steps to the grassy clearing at the top with the three iron cranes. The boys sat down at the feet of the pair that were stretching their necks upward in an eternal, (...)

(...) ‘Why … no.’

‘A pity.’

Yet again she laughed, then left.

I stayed on in the dining-room; I sat in the corner with my head bowed.

I would obey, I knew it in advance. I would even contrive to show my mother that she was wrong to make fun of me. When called upon I too would give proof of playfulness, of this I was only too sure. At that point it occurred to me that if I could put on a show of easy behaviour, then perhaps my mother might also have been feigning something she did not truly feel. This notion enabled me to preserve intact the whole edifice of ideas in which I wanted to remain entrenched. By doing so I could respond to the inducements of my fate, which invited me to sink incessantly lower, to go whither my mother was enticing me and to drink my cup with her, drink it the moment she wanted me to, to the dregs … Her playfulness dazzled me, but must I not all the same see that by rendering me carefree, it was the surest means to speed me towards my desired destination, the heart of danger, the vortex of joy? Did I not know that in the end my mother would take me to where she was going? Ever my seductress, the means she now meant to use were infernal debauches, infernal especially because of her seeming dignity. And just as my mother was perpetually fluctuating between brazen disgrace and splendour, amorousness and gravity, so confusion invaded my mind before the uncertain prospect which Rhea’s imaginable levity made upsetting. My mother wishes to have me meet her friend, I said to myself, but am I not mad to leap to the conclusion that she has asked this friend of hers to be my undoing? But, I immediately conjectured, what dancer who was a close friend of hers could help but be party to her wild carrying on?

It was in that fever of suspense I waited. I was drawn to Rhea beforehand. More than drawn to her, I was fascinated by her, this Rhea who could be my introduction into the world which terrified me but which, in my terror, was the subject of all my tho (...)

(...) ESTRAGON: Wouldn't it, Didi, be more fun?

VLADIMIR: I'd like well to hear him think.

ESTRAGON: Perhaps he could dance first and think afterwards, if it isn't too much to ask him.

VLADIMIR: (to Pozzo). Would that be possible?

POZZO: By all means, nothing simpler. It's the natural order.

He laughs briefly.

VLADIMIR: Then let him dance.

Silence.

POZZO: Do you hear, hog?

ESTRAGON: He never refuses?

POZZO: He refused once. (Silence.) Dance, misery!

Lucky puts down bag and basket, advances towards front, turns to Pozzo. Lucky dances. He stops.

ESTRAGON: Is that all?

POZZO: Encore! (...)

[saanchi324]

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For accounting professionals, the US Certified Management Accountant (US CMA) credential is highly sought after. This internationally renowned professional credential, which is granted by the US-based Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), attests to a person's proficiency in important areas of financial planning and management. Examine the top books for CMA USA in 2024 in this site.

To obtain this certification, US CMA candidates must pass two exam papers. This test is regarded as one of the hardest in accounting, with a pass rate of just 50%. To ace your exam preparation, it is important that you select the best CMA US books.

Four Best Books for US CMA

top US CMA books with their pros and cons.

1. Wiley US CMA Review System 

Pros:

Among the top CMA US books, this one is highly favoured among CMA applicants.

All types of pupils can benefit from the study materials in this book, which offer concise information on pertinent subjects.

Despite being much less expensive than any other CMA US book, the book has a lot of information to help you prepare for the test.

With its "You Pass or We Pay Guarantee," the Hock CMA course is one of the most sought-after review courses for students.

Interactive study guides, digital and print textbooks, and instructor assistance are all included in the Hock CMA study tools. 

Cons:

Mock test packages and questions might not be sufficient to pass the test.

Compared to some rival books, this one offers fewer test banks.

2. Hock US CMA Study Material

Pros:

Among the top CMA US books, this one is highly favoured among CMA applicants.

All types of pupils can benefit from the study materials in this book, which offer concise information on pertinent subjects.

Despite being much less expensive than any other CMA US book, the book has a lot of information to help you prepare for the test.

With its "You Pass or We Pay Guarantee," the Hock CMA course is one of the most sought-after review courses for students.

Interactive study guides, digital and print textbooks, and instructor assistance are all included in the Hock CMA study tools. 

Cons:

Mock test packages and questions might not be sufficient to pass the test.

Compared to some rival books, this one offers fewer test banks.

3. Surgent US CMA Review System 

Pros:

The book helps students get ready for the US CMA exams by using adaptive technology.

Its main objective is to analyse the pupils' areas of weakness based on how well they performed in each practice session.

This method is quite effective since it enables pupils to refine their ideas and grow from their errors.

An extra set of questions is included in the book, which is advantageous.

Cons:

It doesn't support trial classes.

There are no live class facilities offered.  

4. Gleim USA CMA Study Material 

Pros:

Gleim's review course is the most well-liked by students and was one of the first to offer comprehensive US CMA study materials.

One of the most reasonably priced study material/review courses is offered by Gleim.

A thorough exam bank with 4500 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is also included in the book.

Study guides, audio lectures, and lengthy practice tests are all included in the package.

For additional assistance, it also includes digital flashcards and movies.

Cons:

There are no live classes available for the Gleim review course.

Gleim's review/study guide is not a book for beginners. Assuming the reader is familiar with some basic finance principles, it is written in an advanced style.

Conclusion

One of the most renowned qualifications is the US Certified Management Accountant course, and passing the tests requires a strong study schedule. With the right advice and the top CMA USA books, you may expedite your studies even though the preparations might appear difficult at first. Your achievement is also greatly influenced by your perseverance and hard effort. Setting the pace for your preparation, a well-thought-out preparation strategy can help you increase your speed, correct your errors, and identify your weak areas. Do you intend to become a certified public accountant in the United States? Take a look at Zell Education's US CMA course. Zell sets you up for success with its US CMA-qualified instructors, 100% placement help, one-on-one mentorship support, and customised study plans.

[rubinsheikhh]

Best 4 Books for CMA USA in 2024

Which Books Should You Refer for US CMA ?

For accounting professionals, the US Certified Management Accountant (US CMA) credential is highly sought after. This internationally renowned professional credential, which is granted by the US-based Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), attests to a person's proficiency in important areas of financial planning and management. Examine the top books for CMA USA in 2024 in this site.

To obtain this certification, US CMA candidates must pass two exam papers. This test is regarded as one of the hardest in accounting, with a pass rate of just 50%. To ace your exam preparation, it is important that you select the best CMA US books.

Four Best Books for US CMA

top US CMA books with their pros and cons.

1. Wiley US CMA Review System 

Pros:

Among the top CMA US books, this one is highly favoured among CMA applicants.

All types of pupils can benefit from the study materials in this book, which offer concise information on pertinent subjects.

Despite being much less expensive than any other CMA US book, the book has a lot of information to help you prepare for the test.

With its "You Pass or We Pay Guarantee," the Hock CMA course is one of the most sought-after review courses for students.

Interactive study guides, digital and print textbooks, and instructor assistance are all included in the Hock CMA study tools. 

Cons:

Mock test packages and questions might not be sufficient to pass the test.

Compared to some rival books, this one offers fewer test banks.

2. Hock US CMA Study Material

Pros:

Among the top CMA US books, this one is highly favoured among CMA applicants.

All types of pupils can benefit from the study materials in this book, which offer concise information on pertinent subjects.

Despite being much less expensive than any other CMA US book, the book has a lot of information to help you prepare for the test.

With its "You Pass or We Pay Guarantee," the Hock CMA course is one of the most sought-after review courses for students.

Interactive study guides, digital and print textbooks, and instructor assistance are all included in the Hock CMA study tools. 

Cons:

Mock test packages and questions might not be sufficient to pass the test.

Compared to some rival books, this one offers fewer test banks.

3. Surgent US CMA Review System 

Pros:

The book helps students get ready for the US CMA exams by using adaptive technology.

Its main objective is to analyse the pupils' areas of weakness based on how well they performed in each practice session.

This method is quite effective since it enables pupils to refine their ideas and grow from their errors.

An extra set of questions is included in the book, which is advantageous.

Cons:

It doesn't support trial classes.

There are no live class facilities offered.  

4. Gleim USA CMA Study Material 

Pros:

Gleim's review course is the most well-liked by students and was one of the first to offer comprehensive US CMA study materials.

One of the most reasonably priced study material/review courses is offered by Gleim.

A thorough exam bank with 4500 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is also included in the book.

Study guides, audio lectures, and lengthy practice tests are all included in the package.

For additional assistance, it also includes digital flashcards and movies.

Cons:

There are no live classes available for the Gleim review course.

Gleim's review/study guide is not a book for beginners. Assuming the reader is familiar with some basic finance principles, it is written in an advanced style.

Conclusion

One of the most renowned qualifications is the US Certified Management Accountant course, and passing the tests requires a strong study schedule. With the right advice and the top CMA USA books, you may expedite your studies even though the preparations might appear difficult at first. Your achievement is also greatly influenced by your perseverance and hard effort. Setting the pace for your preparation, a well-thought-out preparation strategy can help you increase your speed, correct your errors, and identify your weak areas. Do you intend to become a certified public accountant in the United States? Take a look at Zell Education's US CMA course. Zell sets you up for success with its US CMA-qualified instructors, 100% placement help, one-on-one mentorship support, and customised study plans.

[h34vybottom]

I truly never want to go back to the well of talking about modern Persona ever again. I apologise now, but seeing as my blog entry on Persona 3 was about a fandom discussion from the yester-years, I never got the chance to reflect on a fairly obnoxious bit of ludonarrative dissonance in Persona 3. I know talking about how awful the writing is in modern Persona is overdone (For me, anyway), but it's kind of interesting, so apologies again. Firstly, ludonarrative dissonance, a term coined by Clint Hocking, exists to describe the friction between two systems, oft intertwined, and the dissonance this friction creates (These two systems are in the name; ludic, of play, and narrative, of storytelling). Secondly, the dissonance can only come from play and narrative, not narrative and narrative. Scenes like the opening, where Takeba is trying to use the Evoker outside of the Dark Hour for no reason (Including trying to use it as a regular gun), is disqualified from this discussion. Although, that scene is a great example of the writing problems Persona 3 and all of modern Persona have had from the jump. Finally, defining what play is and isn't when it comes to ADV, sound novels, visual novels, bishoujo, etc. is a slippery slope of needless definition and refusals; Play for the purposes of this post is exclusively in the dungeon crawler RPG segments, nothing more and nothing less.

At the end of Persona 3, before the final segment of Tartarus and the final boss, the player is tasked w/ deciding the fate of the world; Live or die. These are the two options presented by Death. At this point in the narrative, the main cast have all faced some form of death, largely parental death. Faced w/ the decision to live previously, these characters all chose to live according to their own principles and values. While this is another example of dissonance between writing, apologies, during the choice segment (An entire month!), the principle cast all doubt whether they should continue existing, including Aegis saying that the cast should choose to die instead of live, that death is inevitable, and that there's no proper way to escape the ever present presence of death (Not Death, who is a person, a demon, and the moon). This sequence is badly written, makes little sense, and comes directly into conflict w/ play and the theming of play.

The principle cast, including the dog, all have a simulacrum of a gun, called an Evoker, which when fired, summons a demon. Evokers are plot devices, seen mostly in combat when used, and not particularly worth noting. As for theming, Persona 3 is badly written and badly made. There's really not much theming, but there's one clear idea. One must kill themselves to resist death. Shooting oneself in the head is the method for every character, except the dog. Suicide is not necessarily literal, as much as it is the removal of one's outer personality. To kill yourself is to kill Ego.

Regularly, the principle cast will metaphorically kill themselves, while facing actual life ending danger. At every point in the narrative, every character is deeply familiar to, suffering from, and facing death. The protagonists all gain immense power from confronting the deaths in their lives and marching onward, not letting themselves fall into grief. This is odd, right? When given the choice of death by Death, the cast all start to wallow in grief. They take an entire month to tell Death that they've no interest in dying or seeing other people die, willing to go so far as to fight a literal god in order to stop their imminent destruction. Yet, play tells us that these characters have long since made that decision. In fact, Takeba already faced these decisions twice in the opening of the game. Trembling, cowering, and trying to shoot herself despite not being the Dark Hour (Again, really bad writing). Takeba then fails to fight off the Shadow on the roof, getting attacked while hesitating, forcing Death to kill the Shadow. Not long after these events, Takeba is perfectly fine using an Evoker and fighting in Tartarus. Takeba, at the beginning of the game, fails and then in play, rectifies that failure. Why then would she or anyone else be paralysed by fear in the face of Death's ultimatum at the end of the game?

I think it'd be remiss of me to not mention how this bit of ludonarrative dissonance came about. It's quite simple and very obvious, but trend chasing. In the 2000s, the trend of video games were focused almost solely on appealing to teenage male sensibilities; Edgy, horny, misogynistic, and violent. Franchises like Pokemon, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, God of War, and Gears of War, just to name a few, were all part of this trend. This trend did not necessarily start in the 2000s, w/ early examples being late 90s classic Final Fantasy VIII. VIII ditched the colourful menus, replacing them w/ a solid grey background. While not the first Final Fantasy to have war in it, VIII's featuring of child soldiers, war, violence, and bloodshed made it stand out as more "Mature" as compared to its ancestors. One of the first things seen in VIII is the unskippable opening scene, where Squall and Seifer stab each other, leaving blood splattered on the ground, which the camera focuses on quite heavily. Persona 3, a reboot, was being developed amid this trend cycle, and released in 2006, the same year as Gears of War. Persona 3 is edgy, horny, misogynistic, homophobic (the lesser acknowledged favourite of the 2000s), transphobic (The other lesser acknowledged favourite of the 2000s), and violent. We can see here how the game came to have children committing suicide in play. That sort of element was incredibly popular at the time; Persona has been, since inception, designed to appeal to the main stream. For game likers in 06, the edgier elements of Persona 3 were the expected and the draw. What's edgier must have more meaning, right? Wrong. Elements like the Evoker are pretentious; They don't have much or any value, what they say is meaningless, and their reason for existence is the market (This is true of the entire game, which is exclusively designed to chase trends). This is how products like Persona 3 end up w/ some form of dissonance, be it ludonarrative or otherwise. The inorganic does not allow for creativity nor does it inspire such.

[dream-meister-translations]

THE TALE OF FOOD

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN - STEADFAST IN ADVERSITY 

━

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : Since the two of you have such ambitions, then these properties will be given to you.

??? : Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! 

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : No need to thank me. I just hope you don't forget what you said and work hard to make a name for yourself in the future.

MASTER : Eh? What is this? Why are those two thanking him?

YUXIANG PORK : Heheh~ That guy probably thinks he's done some great deeds! The way I see it, though, what he's doing is meaningless~ 

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : What...Do you mean?

YUXIANG PORK : Oops, looks like he heard me~ Then I'll cut to the chase. I almost laughed out loud, seeing someone fall for such low-level deception. That beggar is limping on his right leg. When he was wandering around here last time, he was limping on his left~

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : !!!

Beggar's Chicken's face blanches, and his lips tremble--Although he was born a poor beggar, he was strong and broke out of that world. The two beggars' deceit drives him into a fury.

HARBIN FRIED PORK : Alas, Master. It looks like one of Yuxiang Pork's rare moments of sincerity has hurt an upright and fragile soul...

As soon as Harbin Fried Pork finishes speaking, Beggar's Chicken chases him out like a gust of wind. 

MASTER : I think he's really angry, so quit it with the sarcastic remarks!

-

BEGGAR A : Today's a lucky day. I ran into a stupid guy--I just made up some nonsense about how to be a good man, and he paid us these taels of silver!

BEGGAR B : That guy looked very smart. I didn't expect him to be so easy to fool. I guess looks can be deceiving! 

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : ...Stop right there.

BEGGAR A : B-Benefactor--!?

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : You put on quite a show.

BEGGAR A : ...

BEGGAR A : Oh? So, you knew all along. Then what did you run over here for? Do you want to get back what you were foolish enough to give away? What a joke!

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : My kindness--

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : Is for those who still have hope in their hearts even though they've been left in the dust. It should never be given to you bunch of lazy vermin who betray the trust of others.

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : In this world, people earn dignity by themselves, and you...Are not worthy! 

BEGGAR A : Hmph, you really are stupid. Now, you're going up against the two of us alone! I can't believe you have the guts to say...We're not worthy? Let's see how soft your mouth is when it meets our fists!

MASTER : He's not alone! 

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : Master? Why are you--

MASTER : Of course, it's for the love and peace of the world and for inextinguishable justice!!!

MASTER : Ugh, this is more Braised Pork Hock's kind of thing!

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : ...

MASTER : I was just so fired up by what you said just now, so I started talking nonsense--Anyway, let's go! Let's teach these jerks a lesson!

*FIGHT*

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : Master, it seems like you want to say something to me.

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : Even if you tease me, I'll own up to it. Even though I was excited just now, and I gave those guys a piece of my mind...I...I really can't stand those kinds of...Those kinds of depraved people...

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : But, this time, I know that I was too naive, and It's clear I don't adequately understand people...

MASTER : I'm not going to make fun of you. I wanted to tell you that you're honest and kind, and you have principles. As for everything else, just live and learn, and things will get better--

MASTER : Heheh, basically, you're a shining diamond and a good comrade that deserves praise!

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : ...A diamond...

BEGGAR'S CHICKEN : The person you're describing...Sounds more like yourself...

[elektramouthed]

[...] to experience the “reality of the real” characterizing intensive space, we must rethink space as perception and sensation rather than as measurement. Here, what Deleuze repeatedly states about depth in Difference and Repetition to reinforce the link between depth and intensive space—that is, the principle that “depth is simultaneously the imperceptible and that which can only be perceived”—is equally applicable to intensity, which “is simultaneously the imperceptible and that which can be sensed” (Deleuze 1997: 230–31). The imprecision of such means of apprehension is, in fact, compatible with the nature of depth that is partly always hidden, thus directly implicating this space with a degree of uncertainty. Based on the explication above, it can be concluded that the fold is a kind of intensive space capable of generating multiple intensities, and by extension, varying sensations and perceptions. In this regard, it is not merely how the pli is perceived or sensed that makes it intriguing, but also the kinds of perceptions and sensations it generates that consequently affect us.

Andrew Hock Soon Ng, from Women and Domestic Space in Contemporary Gothic Narratives: The House as Subject

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Treating Convicts Like Humans," Richmond Times Dispatch. June 7, 1942. Page 45. ==== 'In the name of the debts that we have paid arc paying and are about to pay we plead for the right to defend the nation of all nations - America,' cry inmates of the Penitentiary --- By Overton Jones BEHIND those high brick walls at 500 Spring Street a restlessness In the air these days more noticeable than usual. It Isn't because the gentle breezes of Springtime drift lazily across the penitentiary recreational field where brown-dad convicts are wont to spend their idle moments In the afternoon when the work is over.

Instead it's the war responsible for the accelerated desire to say goodbye to that institution which even in peacetimes exactly the place a person would choose in which to spend his vacation. It wouldn't be accurate to say that all of the 4200 or so prisoners confined in the Virginia penal system are chaffing at the bit in their desire to get out and do their part in this war. But it is true that hundreds of these so-called outcasts of society would nothing better than to be allowed to serve in Uncle Sam's fighting forces and to take a crack at Adolph Schickelgruber and that son of the Rising Sun. In fact the prisoners writing in the current issue of The Beacon, penitentiary inmate periodical suggest that if the sinless soldiers in the army want to be contaminated by contact with "cons" then let the government set up a "Legion Damned" in which will fight men released from the nation's prisons. "It's better than an even money bet that wen the war is over we'd be hocking more medals than twice our number among the pure and undefiled," write the two convicts.

This eagerness of outcasts to join the fight for the protection of that society may surprise some of the citizenry who enjoy the privilege of coming and going when and where they please and who know nothing of what goes on behind those towering walls on Spring Street. But Rice Youell is not surprised. After all a man who's just rounded out his twentieth year as penitentiary superintendent ought to know pretty well what to expect from the men who live behind those walls. "The patriotism of the people in prison is as good as that of the people outside" he commented. Despite their confinement they too respect the principles for which America is fighting and would like to be In there doing their bit, he explained.

Not that the major would advocate throwing open the prison doors of America and letting the entire male prison population don the military uniform. That would be foolhardy. But he believes a good many prisoners should be allowed to become soldiers, their selection, of course, being handled extremely carefully. 'Give Them a Clean Sheet' And what about these men when the war is over? Should they be slapped back into the pen? "Give them a clean sheet and let them start all," Virginia's prison head suggested. If you are inclined to question the judgment on this matter it might be to recall that for 20 years his job has been to direct the handling of Virginia's prison population and in 20 years a man ought to get to know pretty well the people he's dealing- with.

Evidently Governor Darden thinks the major has done a good job for it is reported the penitentiary superintendent soon will leave that post to take over the task of guiding the Department of Corrections set up by the recent General Assembly. When he steps into his new task Major Youell can look back on 20 years of labor on behalf of the prisoners of Virginia and for the State itself His work (and he declares emphatically that the State Prison Board deserves the major credit) has drawn nation-wide attention and prison system has in many ways become a model for other States to copy.

But leaving the more technical side of prison administration for experts to deal with, it's interesting to take a glimpse back over the years at some of the human interest which have marked the V.M.I. football career as a penologist. It's hard to get him to talk about this side of his Job because the Virginia Penitentiary superintendent the dramatic type warden you read about in the novels and see on the screen. His aim has been to do a good job of prison administration without drama publicity and frills.

Last week, though, Major Youell did take a couple of hours off to reminisce a little and to recall among other things that the famed Mais and Legenza case of 1935 probably received more publicity than any other single case in the past 20 years

If you were living in Richmond on March 9, 1934, you remember how the city was rocked by news of the highway robbery of a Federal Reserve truck at the Broad Street Station overpass and the murder of E. M. Huband, the driver. Mais, Legenza and three other members of the notorious Tri-State gang pulled the job, giving Richmond an unwelcome taste of big-time criminal activities. Moving on to Baltimore, Mais and Legenza continued their career of crime but they finally were captured in that city and by August were brought back to Richmond for trial and both were condemned to die in the electric chair at the State Penitentiary.

But if Major Youell prepared a couple of death-house cells for his two newcomers due to arrive in October he was doomed to disappointment. On September 29, a date that will live in crime history, the two murderers staged the most daring jailbreak the city has ever known. Behind them, they left a trail of blood with one policeman mortally wounded and another felled by bullets from pistols smuggled into their cells. They commandeered an automobile on East Broad Street and made their escape as police from throughout this section of the country began a gigantic manhunt In Richmond the death of the patrolman fatally wounded when the gangsters made their bold dash for freedom, the suicide of the City Jail deputy who had stood guard at their cell doors and a grand jury investigation which recommended sweeping changes in the administration marked the aftermath of the sensational break.

Call Led to Arrest Cornered, finally, on the station platform at Wayne Junction, Pa., Mais and Legenza shot it out with police but Legenza broke his leg in a 30-foot jump from an embankment to a concrete street. They escaped again but the wound forced Legenza to seek hospital treatment in New York. A telephone call from Mais to a friend in Philadelphia was intercepted by police and the two finally were captured.

It was a small army of Federal men and local police which brought the two murderers to the door of the State Penitentiary on January 22 That same day they were taken separately to Hustings Court and new dates set for their execution.

For days the hardened criminals showed no evidence of fear that the end was approaching. But as the execution date drew close they began reading their Bibles praying and singing joining the chaplain in words of familiar hymns. He would tell them the story of the condemned thief on the cross and the Master's words of promise.

"When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more ..." were the words which rang through death row.

Strange, when criminals whose deeds have been blazoned across the headlines are doomed to death, reactions of the public take a peculiar twist. Major Youell received one threatening letter, warning him of dire consequences if the executions were carried out. Evangelical pamphlets flooded the mail from religious folk who hoped to be the means of saving the souls of the two condemned men.

An avalanche of requests for the privilege of witnessing the executions poured into the office Twelve witnesses saw the first of the two men die another 12 watched the second death. "You are requested to be at the penitentiary Saturday February 2 at 7:30 A.M. to witness the execution of William Davis (Legenza) Please present this card at the the door." That's the way the invitations read When Criminals Fell Out MAJOR YOUELL'S 20 years' experience virtually lacks any mass prison escape episodes. There've been numerous breaks of one or two prisoners of course but nothing on a really big scale.

It was back in '35 that the major pulled what he described at that time as "a mean piece of psychology" to foil a projected prison break. It seems that he was tipped off that five of his guests in the big house were planning to vamoose without lingering to say goodbye. But he didn't throw the five into solitary confinement or take other drastic measures. Instead, he summoned each one of the plotters individually to a prison office and seated him before an open door, where fellow conspirators could see him when they went by to the mess hall. As the major had anticipated, each plotter thought the others had squealed and a quarrel resulted. The escape plans collapsed.

Directing administration of a prison is a grim business but not without its humorous side .Take the case of the phoney French millionaire. One day back in May' 1936 Major Youell received a letter addressed to "Monsieur le Directeur du Penitencier de I-Etat de Virginia Etats Unis d'Amerique du Nord." The major opened the letter and saw it was in French and being no expert at reading that language he sent it to Arthur James, then State Welfare Commissioner, who made a translatio,n but figured better get somebody else to translate it, too, so he forwarded it to Principal James Harwood of John Marshall High School. A teacher of French at the school finally translated it and sent it back to Major Youell. First, there was a newspaper clipping from a French paper which said that "it is the penitentiary of Virginia which harbors this unusual prisoner" a nobleman who killed a woman who refused his advances being sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime. "In his cell (said the French newspaper) Juan set up an extraordinary washing machine so extraordinary that he found a' partner who allowed him 50 per cent on the profits. A year later the lawyer for the prisoner already had several thousand dollars to the account of his clien.t This did not fill Juan with Joy. He despaired at finding himself rich and in prison He attempted suicide twice. Having been saved from suicide the prisoner has become a philanthropist and from his prison he carries on works of charity he comes to the aid of poor people and of Don Juan has become a patron of the arts."

Then there was a letter to Mr. Directeur asking him to pass on to Juan another letter which explained the purpose of the communication In the letter to Juan the writer told a sad story of being broke and pleaded with the nobleman "to make a Frenchman happy by sending him same of those dollars which you dispose of."

Major Youell didn't have any prisoner answering the description of the nobleman but he did repent having at that time a French prisoner a master of invention and a little queer mentally. This fellow he said may have smuggled out a letter which resulted in the French newspaper article.

One of the less imposing but important achievements at the penitentiary in recent years has been the building up of a prison library under the direction of the Rev. Henry Lee Robison, Jr. director of religious work in State institutions.

Travel books are the most popular nonfiction volumes in the library, Mr. Robison reported. One day just before delivering a sermon to the inmates, Mr. Robison held up before them some travel books which had just been purchased for the library.

"All of us ought to be interested in traveling," he declared. There was silence for a few moments and then a roar of laughter swept through the assembly room, much to the embarrassment of the clergyman. That however was not as inappropriate as the remark made by a speaker, who told the prisoners as he left them after making an address on one occasion that he would be back the following year and "I hope to see you all again."

But more popular than any of the nonfiction books even travel are the Zane Grey Western stories. Murders too are eagerly sought after In for Readers" in The Beacon comments run like this: 'Murder Up My Sleeve," by Earl Stanley Gardner is typical of Mr. Gardner's stories. A millionaire with a reputation was murdered. Terry Clane, a new and exciting character created by Mr. Gardner, found himself involved. Using extraordinary methods to solve an extraordinary murder he beats them to the punch in a mystery that is filled with surprise cunning and excitement." And in another comment the prisoners are told that in one book the villain killed people "with mirthful and original inventiveness."

Interest in the library has been stimulated through the school at the penitentiary attendance at which is compulsory for all men who completed the fifth grade of schooling. Superintendent Youell is a firm believer in education of men within prisons, bemoaning that some people feel it's a waste of money to provide educational facilities for prisoners. "It is such a pity that so many people have the age-old feeling that the closing of prison doors behind a prisoner ends his case," he said. "We all know that the vast majority of prisoners go back to society so it is only a common sense problem that we should do everything in our power to salvage just as many of these unfortunates as possible," The penitentiary school's first annual commencement exercises were held in June 1937, in the prison chapel, while outside a terrific rainstorm beat at the windows. The stormy weather was not an omen of the future history, as it has grown in popularity and usefulness, although those directly responsible would like considerably more money to provide better equipment with which to work.

One old Negro convict who even read a few years ago now values above all his possessions a Bible and an oversized dictionary. He gave a Negro boy five bags of marbles for the dictionary. Asked how much he would sell his two books for he replied:

"Boss them books are going to be with me when I die." There was another man who was condemned to die in the chair but shortly after the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment he turned up at the school and in due course was graduated after having completed the fifth grade. Not satisfied with graduating once, he was on hand again the following September and went through the course and was given another diploma. They finally had to make him an instructor to get him out of school. Three Causes of Discontent SPEAKING with the authority of a man with 20 experience in penology Major Youell last week listed three things which can cause trouble among prisoners at a penitentiary: overcrowding, poor food, and idleness. Today, the food at the penitentiary is good - not fancy, of course, but adequate and nourishing. The writer of this article and Major Youell were walking through the penitentiary last week when the superintendent stopped to chat a moment with an old Negro prisoner. The Negro who said he had been at the pen since 1904, was asked about the food and according to his account what's put on the table in the prison mess hall today is like a banquet compared to those days when he first entered the institution.

As to idleness today, there is no such problem at the prison here. Ten excellent prison industries are operating teaching the men fine workmanship in the wool and cotton textile trades, printing, metal trades, and machine shops. Not only do the men learn useful trades, which they can find of value when they leave prison, but they also are kept occupied producing goods which State institutions use. In the field of prison industry Virgina's penitentiary stands as a model for other States. As to the first of the trouble-makers listed by the superintendent - that of overcrowding Virginia - certainly has been guilty of allowing this situation to exist at the big house on Spring Street. In small cells which only one man should sleep three men have been living. One of the three has had to sleep on the floor.

Fortunately, though, even as this is being written officials are making arrangements to move many of the prisoners to the new cell house just completed on the penitentiary grounds and when the new unit is occupied there will be only one man to a cell. Each cell has a cot, table, chair, sanitary facilities, an enclosed lighting fixture, operated from a main switch, and plugs for radio headsets. Each prisoner will have earphones on which he can listen to the radio according to Major Youell.

And so life in the penitentiary moves on a life not pleasant perhaps but far less abhorrent under modern penal theories than that of even a few decades ago when all emphasis was on punishment and not on rehabilitation. Today in Virginia's penitentiary convicts can express their views through their own prison publication, just as they are doing in the timely discussion on the proposal that men in prison be released to serve in the armed forces.

"The heart that beats under a prison shirt is Just as truly American as the heart of the man in the street," says The Beacon. "Contrary to popular belief most men in our prisons today have an honest regret for the mistakes of the past and a burning desire to make amends. Most of us ask for plead for the privilege of defending a flag that is as dear to us as to John Q. Public. Most of us would feel extremely honored to die behind a smoking gun aimed toward society to know that we too know how to die for so worthy a cause. "When America has completely smashed her rodent foes and if there should be any of the 'Legion left alive reward us with supervised parole until proven our right to permanent freedom.

"In the name of the debt that we have paid are paying and are about to pay to society we plead for the right to defend the nation of all nations, America." Photo captions:

Top left: Rice Youell (left) who has rounded out 20 years as penitentiary superintendent confers with Frank Smyth who is in charge of prison industries such as the metal shop at right. Middle: Dapper Gangster Robert Hals and his henchman Walter Legenza created more notoriety for their murderous robbery here and subsequent prison break in 1934 than was attached to any other Penitentiary case in the last generation.

Top right: Trouble caused at the Big House by crowding three into a one-man cell about to be done away with.

[Top notch carceral propaganda - the large scale Virginia road camp system, where the majority of African American prisoners were incarcerated, is not mentioned once.]

[taito-division]

🌙 - Eldrid

🌊 - Fleuret

🐟- Azusa

"My list of favorites?" Eldrid blinks and then smirks. "Well, I don't wanna give away too much info, but I can tell you some things. For food, I absolutely love Schweinshaxe! For those of you who don't know, its essentially just roasted ham hock, which is the end of a pig's leg. I could probably go an entire month eating nothing but that until I get sick of it!"

"For my favorite season, I'd have to definitely say Winter. Yeah, its cold as fuck outside, but that just makes it good weather to get out and exercise. And besides that, have you ever sat down in a lake in the middle of winter? Its so freakin' invigorating!" She says, laughing heartedly.

"Let's see... my favorite color... probably red, and I mean like a dark shade of red. Don't ask me why. It's just something about red that gets me invigorated. No surprise, really. Red is a dynamic color, meant to get you excited." She says, smirking.

"Let's do one more before we wrap this up. Let's see... my favorite drink! Of course, its alcohol! But as for what kind, without a doubt, Jägermeister! I can drink that for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even desert! Its not ideal for getting you drunk, but you can get a pretty good buzz off it... at least, I can!" Eldrid laughs out loud at her joke.

"On my days off, if he's not busy with his... coéquipières, I'll often head over to Yokohama and spend time with l'homme que j'aime, Rio. He and I often talk about what is going on each other's lives. He'll often regale me with some of his old war stories, fighting alongside my father. It's always intéressante listening to him." She said, smiling.

"If Rio is busy, then I'll often hang with Azusa and Eldrid, if either of them have time. If they are busy, I'll usually head home and either watch mes jeunes frères et sœurs for my parents, or read some novels. Either some my father's collection, or my own. I'm actually in the middle of a novel written by Gentaro of Shibuya. It's very entertaining!"

"I don't really remember much of time as toddler, I'm afraid. From what my father tells me, I was pretty much like I am now: very quiet and strange." Azusa shakes her head, laughing softly. "As a child, I would always watch my father train his students in our dojo. He wouldn't let me join, saying I was 'too young' or 'too little'. At the age of 10, after months of begging, he finally relented and let me hold a kendo stick." Azusa looks down at her hands, reminiscing.

"I remember the moment of having it in my hands. It was so heavy, I couldn't even lift it up above my head." She laughs. "Eventually as I got older, I got stronger and more disciplined. My father once told me that I was the living carnation of Tomoe Gozen." Azusa laughs again, before stopping, sighing sorrowfully.

"As a teenager, I was pretty much the same. Unfortunately, my teenage years are when things started going downhill for our dojo. And that's also when my mother disappeared and my dad got sick. It was after that he handed over ownership of the dojo to me. Me, a 19-year-old just out of high school." Azusa smiles, though its sad.

"I did my best to stick to my father's way of teaching and his principles. Unfortunately, it was during that the the "H. Era" started, and people started ditching their swords for microphones." Azusa shakes her head. "As for what I'll be doing in the future, who knows? If there's two things I've learned in my 24 years of living, its that tomorrow is never promised, and that anything is possible."

[pertinax--loculos]

(Belated) Weekly Update 14/11

Last week's goal: Assess what changes can/need to be made to the first half; rewrite Sc1 Completed the reverse outline and did a bit of the assessment; didn't do the rewrite (see below) Goal for this week: Write 10k words

Summary ATN So, I think I am going to let this draft rest for a little while. It's less because I actually want to and more because I've been utterly consumed by other WIP ideas, but I'm leaving off it for the time being. Possibly at the start of December I'll get back into hardcore rearranging and whatnot, but right now it all seems a little too intimidating and I'm at a point where it does make sense to step away from it for a little while, so I'm gonna take advantage of that. ^_^ Hoping to come back to it refreshed and raring to go!

Those Aforementioned Other WIPs Aka the bane of my existence right now. >.<

So obviously I have D&D. It's been simmering in the back of my mind since I was about halfway through drafting ATN, and I've been slowly developing it and doing bits of outlining and teeny little excerpts as they came to me, and everything was going great. And then. And then.

Fucking PS comes along and basically sledgehammers its way into my life.

Look: I made a list of pros and cons for each:

D&D:

single POV

fairly straightforward story

climax came to me early

somewhat marketable?

familiar with characters (basically a mash-up of other story ideas)

lots of worldbuilding but again, mostly familiar

requires a decent whack of research, though I know I won't have to search too hard for the info I need

heavy themes that I still feel although I can do justice

requires me to write car races from the POV of the driver, which I've only done a couple times before

outline is being a little tricky -- could potentially get a little long, and there's certain Reveals I wanna make at certain times but I'm not sure they work

PS

multi-POV, dual timeline

I think it needs three POVs to work, but I can't decide on who should be the third POV

outline seems to be working; changed midpoint to climax

couple of plot things annoying me -- not really making sense/could be solved easily

lots of worldbuilding that I've already spent a ton of time researching and will need to do more

couple of thematic elements that may result in it sorta 'saying' the opposite to what I want it to say

requires a lot of research into something that is very unscientific (cons: wildly contradictory information available; pros: I can just make it up if I want)

requires me to pull off a very specific form of unreliable narrator, something I've never attempted

not at all marketable

IMO the inspiration for this is very obvious

characters mostly unfamiliar (still cribbed from other WIPs mostly but much less developed)

Now, to me these lists made it pretty clear that D&D would be the easier, more sensible choice overall... so I've started drafting PS. 😅

I'm still a little fuzzy on a few plot things for PS, so I've been drafting out of order (assisted by the fact it's got dual timelines, so I can draft it out of order out of order, if you know what I mean. :P) And essentially my new plan is thus:

I'm going to spend this week working on the outline for PS, and drafting what scenes come to me -- hoping to get a fair few of them done (even if they never actually make it into the WIP), hence the 10k wordcount goal for this week. If, throughout the course of this week, I figure out the Plot Annoyances and/or find a really good voice for the two main POV characters, then I'll continue on with it! If not, then next week I'll do the same thing for D&D, and then look at both of them again and make a decision then.

I just think it's pointless to turn away from PS right now seeing as it's literally consuming my life. Guys, it has a pinterest board and a playlist, neither of which I usually make for WIPs. I fucking started using milanote (which I hate on principle, simply cuz so many authortubers hock it, and I am genuinely devastated to report that it works really well for what I'm using it for goddammit) in order to figure out some things. So while I've got this intense focus and ideas flowing, I figure I may as well take advantage of it.

So that's where we're at! If anybody's made it this far -- thanks, you flatter me. 😂 Also, feel free to ask questions about either of these projects; honestly the more I'm forced to think about both of them the better, and oftentimes other people think of things that would, just, never cross my mind in a million years. :D

Hope everybody else's November is going grand! I know I've been a bit MIA (which I will likely address in a separate post, seeing as this one is already hellaciously long), but I'm hoping to catch up on drafts and tag games etc in some form or another sometime over the next few days. ^_^

[myimaginarywonderland]

Okay, the team principles but make it very specific:

Toto- He's that hot business teacher you had who was really dedicated and actually helpful but serious. However, your thoughts were sometime just consumed by how "hot" or attractive he is eventhough he was as old as your dad probably.

Mattia- Once he worked as someone who was dressed as the clown for McDonalds. Now, he is on some crappy reality show where he is given advice on how to get his life together.

Christian- He is that asshole boss of a big company who treats most of his employees like shit but is polite. He also claims to be happily married but you find him on Grindr and soo many other apps where his bio says "looking for a casual hock up" or something like that.

Cyril- He has small business and is just happy with his life. Lives in an apartment in the city and often drinks coffee at that local cofe shop where he probably meet the shitty boss and was one of the not so casual hock ups.

Andreas- This man is just so at peace with life. He probably owns a lot of dogs, is happy with his family and lives up in a small village at the bottom of the mountains. He goes skiing and is a worker in a company where he is highly rated because of his communication and leadership skill. A lot of volunteer work maybe in like a local fire department.

Franz- This man is a an emphatic coach who teacher junior that want to get into a professional sport. He is a also a PE teacher and leader of so many sport clubs. He has a lot of stories to tell which make you feel better about life.

Otmar- You don't know who he is. Dude from the office next to you, you have worked with him for years but you could not for the life of you recall any personal information about him. Always is nice though and gives great Christmas gifts.

Günther- This man is impossible not to notice. He swears through the whole school and has a really bad reputation for forever but he still manages to teach a class every year. There's been so many complaints regarding him and he is not even an actual teacher. You either hate him or love him. Probably the best friend of the hot business teacher.

Frédéric Vasseur- He has a small restaurant in the town you grew up in. You always used to go there as a kid with your parents and everytime you visit, you will go there again. He tells you of how he used to be involved in motorsport and he still manages some of the local cart teams or rather helps young kids get into the sport. Is such a kind person with so many stories to tell.

Simon Roberts- He works in the bank where he did his apprenticeship for his entire life and is that guy who invites everyone to dinner parties but you turn up once in like a year or something and otherwise always decline because no thank you.