#I sort of go into **** rage when I see people post about wanting unemployment.

[moleshow]

Real ones know I don't play about full employment. I was born a Keynesian.

(i have typos in these tags)

[scotianostra]

On December 16th 2001 singer/songwriter Stuart Adamson took his own life.......

Stuart's parents, expats, lived in Manchester when their boy was born and moved home to Fife when he was just four, don't anyone fuckin dare tell me he wasn't Scottish!  The family settled in Crossgate on the outskirts of Dunfermline.

Adamson's father was in the fishing industry and travelled the world. He encouraged Stuart to read literature, and both parents shared an interest in folk music, Fife born author Ian Rankin attended Beath High School, two years beneath Adamson, and would later become a big fan.

Stuart founded his first band, Tattoo, in 1976 after seeing The Damned in Edinburgh, a year later he formed Skids and recruited Crosshill lad Ian Jobson, The legendary John Peel plugged them on his Radio 1 show which led them to playing support to the likes of the Clash and The Stranglers and a record deal with Virgin. Stuart walked out on the group just as they were about to make it big, for a time he rejoined the band for a tour to promote their album Scared to Dance.

Hooking up with guitarist and long-time friend Bruce Watson, Adamson formed Big Country, the line-up also featured, on keyboards, Peter Wishart, later of Gaelic rockers Runrig, and now a polititian. Originally they experimented with the synthiser sounds that were all the rage then, The Human League were riding high in the charts, but Adamson wanted something more traditional and the synth sounds made way for the guitar sound that was a unique sound for the band and that became their trademark sound. Adamson said later....“Music used to be a thing where working people got together on a Saturday night and played some songs. Someone’d play the guitar or the fiddle or an accordion. No bastard’d played the synthesiser.”

They roped in Jam drummer Rick Buckler on some demos which were hawked around a number of recording labels unsuccessfully, a support slot with Alice Cooper went disastrously too, the band’s half-baked sound grating on an audience looking for glam-metal thrills. By the second night of the tour they were sacked.

Their manager Grant Scott called in Adamson and convinced him the band needed a shake up, out went Wishart, in came in came bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezinski, who had just finished an album with Pete Townsend of The Who. Butler, a much respected bass player had also played with Townsend, Roger Daltry and The Pretenders. The final link in the chain that brought them success was when they were signed by Phonogram records, who appointed Steve Lillywhite to produce them, Lillyywhite had just finished work on U2's breakthrough album War and had previously worked with Siouxsie And The Banshees, the Psychedelic Furs and XTC. 

Initially contracted to just do a single, the sessions for Fields Of Fire produced not only that classic song, but gave birth to the Big Country sound and inspired a new bout of songwriting from Adamson, the band had it all in front of them. At the heart of it all was Adamson, the punk rocker with the virtuoso talent. He used to say, ‘Don’t call me a musician. I’m a songwriter, guitarist, singer, but muso – I don’t like that tag’,” but musician he was. 

The music of their album The Crossing was epic and inspirational, as big as the glens and as loud as a cavalry charge, this was rock music yes, but not the type played by the likes of Led Zeppelin or AC/DC, this had a Scottish spin. The crowd-friendly skirling guitars, big beats and uplifting calls to arms were all great, but The Crossing also tone the sound down with the, in my own humble opinion, brilliant Chance, which Lillywhite describes as a “a beautiful, depressive song,” Released in July 1983, The Crossing went on to sell over two million copies worldwide.

Their follow up album Steeltown hit number one in the UK and hit gold status in sales, another two top ten albums followed, but all the time Stuart Adamson was fighting his demons.Although sales were good the music press started to turn on them, Steeltown was collection of songs born out of the political landscape of the 80's - the Falklands war, unemployment, tales of people trapped by circumstance and crushed by forces outside their control, it wasn’t what the press wanted to hear, the dour Scotsman. In the eyes of the music press, the band were pompous and dreary and so not cool, the dour Scotsman, in the eyes of the music press, were a pompous band and dreary and so not cool.

1985 took the pressure of Stuart a little, they were signed to score the film, The Scottish classic, Restless Natives,  the instrumental score freeing him from that "dour Scotsman" tag. The bands manager Grant tells of Stuart leaving the band, but not, relentlessly on the road, doing press, radio, TV and in the studio and not at home as much as he would have liked.He was also hitting the booze big time.Unable, at the time to get a definitive answer from Stuart on the bands future they missed out on a spot at Live Aid, having previously featured on the single Do they know it's Christmas.

Come 1988 they recorded Peace In Our Time, a more mellow Middle of the Road album, which was an attempt at cracking the US market, it bombed there and the band looked east, playing  Russia’s first international rock festival in August ’88 (Grant: “My pitch to him was: Bono – Amnesty International. It only added to the music press attitude that they had lost their way and were "self-important, pompous do-gooders."

After Russia, Stuart Adamson decided to split the band.They reformed in 91, recording No Place Like Home, it was the first of their albums that failed to reach the UK top 20. The music of the 90's didn't have a place for Big Country, the ensuing albums didn't dent the top 40, it felt like they were just going through the motions.

There was a small glimmer of hope when their single Fragile Thing looked like hitting the top 40, but some bizarre wrangle with the chart compilers about the CD singles cover having "too many folds in it"  meant it was disqualified and languished at 69, it  would have given them a springboard to punt their new album....... Stuart had by then moved to Nashville and the songs he was crafting reflected the country music scene that immerse the place. He had kicked the drink for a while  but reckoned he was happy in Nashville and could start boozing again. In October 2000 Big Country played their last gig in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. Adamson almost missed it when, drunk, he got on the wrong plane.The gig was a disaster. Butler later said “We were a karaoke version of what we were,” Butler told the band they should take a break for a couple of years, he didn't think it was helping Adamson's drink problem carrying on. Various people spoke  about the next two years, phone calls from concerned friends, Adamson said in one call from Steve Lillywhite that..."I’ve worked it out, I really can’t drink, I mustn’t drink, I’m happy now not drinking…’” There was talk of a collaboration, with amongst other the subject of Saturday's post, Mike Scott and other singers a sort of British Crosby Stills and Nash. On November 15, 2001, Adamson left a bar in Atlanta, Georgia. His marriage to his second wife falling apart, he was also facing a drink-driving charge that could have led to jail time. He fell off the wagon, hard. He flew back to Nashville where, instead of going home, he stayed in various hotels. Grant hired a private detective to find him – to no avail. “He drunk solidly for eight weeks in hotels,” says the manager, “and every time we found out where he was he’d just checked out for another one.” On December 4, he flew to Hawaii and checked into a hotel near Honolulu Airport where he requested the delivery of three bottles of wine to his room each day. He never left the room. On December 16, he was found by security hanging from a clothes rail. No suicide note was ever found. He was 43. Putting this post together has been difficult for me, I fight my own demons every day, and could easily fall into a life of constant boozing, I do however manage just to hold things together. Adamson's music was a big part of my formative years and I still listen to his songs regularly, some with tears in my eyes, like this one, the aforementioned Fragile Thing, the lyric tells a story much like my own and I can empathise with him through this tune......... Thank you ma'am for asking Yes I'm on my own I guess it's kind of obvious I'm eating here aloneI'm grateful for the company Tired of talking to myself Don't you look into my eyes You might see someone else

If you decide to watch/listen to the track, you might recognise a certain Scottish female singer adding her vocals to the song......

If I have made any mistakes of mispelled anything here please don't tell me know, leave it be, like Stuart Adamson and myself, it is flawed.

[inanawesomewave]

How To Date Your Sociopath

Today I’m joined by Mrs. W from the excellent Mirroring The Chameleon which is quite a heartening but also very informative, ruminative and insightful blog run by a sociopath wife and her narcissist husband. Me and Mrs. W got to talking very recently about how useful it might be to publish a cross-post that gives other people tips on how to date a sociopath with any level of success, and so we asked our respective partners to come up with five questions apiece that readers might want answering, and then we answered them. I’m not saying you should use this as a guide to ensnare your own sociopath (you haven’t thought this through, clearly), but should you find yourself smitten in the arms of an antisocial paramour, this might help you. For parity, my answers are as AW for Awesome Wave, and Mrs. W will be CM, for Chameleon Mirror.  NB - If you’ve found this blog whilst searching resources for dealing with domestic abuse and/or violence, please instead consider talking to a friend, calling the police, alerting relevant authorities. This post is intended as a guide to maintaining good mental health on both sides in a relationship with a person with ASPD, but does not advocate or insist upon any form of abuse whatsoever. If you are a victim of abuse in your relationship, this is never acceptable, and no mental illness or personality disorder is a good enough excuse for you to be abused. 

1. How do you feel about displays of affection? 
AW: I happen to be a fan of displays of affection, and I respond well to them if I feel they are sincere, but — as you might have predicted — they need to be on my terms, largely. I’m concerned quite a bit with how to behave socially, so what canoodling might be good in one social setting might infuriate and embarrass me in another, and sometimes it won’t always be easy for you to keep up with that, but my body language will normally signal to you how I’m feeling. Emotional and abstract displays of affection are how I feel like I’m seen and how I feel I can communicate to you in ways I may sometimes struggle to really express. Physical displays of affection are how I feel the most human and are vital to me. Partners have told me I place a lot of importance on sex and I do, and I’m fine with that. Without it, I start breaking down the relationship into structured compartments of intimacy. I may start to believe we are only friends, and from there, I may start to rationalise that I wouldn’t marry any of my friends. I need to be reminded that what this is transcends the rest and that you are the person I am devoting myself to, and displays of affection are the way to go. Oh, with this one caveat: don’t be insincere. I can sense insincerity with fantastic accuracy having built a life on it, and if I detect your words and actions are insincerely affectionate, then you’re not just embarrassing me, you're embarrassing yourself, and I’ll not only tell you that but make a mental note of it. 
 CM: I don’t mind displays of affection, as a rule, I find them enjoyable, when they are correctly timed… and not overwhelming. There is a difference between a “real display of affection” and a “disguised demand for affection” though. The two shouldn’t be confused. If you’re asking for affection this way, I might not be in the right frame of mind to give it to you, when I WOULD have been in the right frame of mind to receive affection. I think this is a subtle but important distinction. I said “when they are not overwhelming” before, and that might indicate that I have, very probably, a slightly lower threshold for this feeling of being smothered. It doesn’t mean that I never want to be touched, though!
 AW: Exactly, it's about finding and being respectful of that line. Which is a handy tip for all relationships, really, it's just about adjusting the dials a bit. 
CM: I agree with you that they are very much needed though, I need a hug combined with prolonged eye contact from time to time, to remind myself of what we’re really doing here. Being self-aware and open about my personality disorder has at times had the effect of eradicating romance completely from the relationship, and I do need it to remain connected. 

 2. How should we handle your momentary shows of irritation or annoyance? 
AW: On the one hand, I’d love to say: “well, just as you would with anyone else!” but let’s be real, that’s not what we’re here for. It is, however, very simple. When I’m angry, raging, annoyed, or anywhere on that spectrum of pissed off, there’s no special, secret code to crack that gets me to calm down and listen to reason. It’s not difficult. All you have to do is be as real and as rational with me as is humanly possible. Don’t let me guess anything, because you can bet I’ll guess the outcome that is least likely to happen, and most confirms my day-to-day cynicism and underlying contempt of what’s around me, the world that a relationship with you allows me to escape from, and what keeps me showing you all the time that I value you for that. If I’m in that place, and I’m outward with it, you need to show me that you hear me and you see me and you need to calmly explain to me as logically as you can why things aren’t as bad as they seem. When you have ASPD, it’s not that things are always worse in terms of having your feelings hurt, it’s things are always worse because you genuinely think you hold the secret of the world and how it functions, and it fucking disgusts you. When I’m irritated or annoyed, that’s what it comes back to. You don’t need to convince me the world’s actually a pretty nice place and people are good, but you need to convince me that here in this room, you and I have escaped that and will continue to do so. We’re a team, and I mean that. Though I might have momentarily forgotten because my loss of control in the situation has caused a blip in me. Remind me. 
 CM: The best thing to do, when you’ve noticed a slight irritation on my part, is to either ignore it or stop doing what you’re doing and hand the reins over to me. In general, it’s really nothing, it will dissipate in no time. I can be pretty reactive, but I don’t have emotional memory, I won’t stay annoyed at you for days because you haven’t been taught how to fold sheets properly. I just won’t. And I know I’m being unfair exactly 0.5 seconds into my annoyed reaction, so the best thing to do is to pretend it never happened, unless you feel I’m being too sharp too often, in which case I’ll think about it and do my best to change my ways. The worst thing to do? Question me for two hours on “what exactly annoyed me”…
 AW: God yes. Start talking to me like an idiot child, start lecturing me, or make me delve into something I don’t want to delve into and I can promise you now you will not get the reaction whatever smug professor that lives inside you wanted. You will get the opposite, I can guarantee.  

3. How should we respond if you are ever in a situation of weakness and obliged to rely on us for something? 
 AW: Just be really fucking low-key about it. Also, don’t use the word “weakness” any more. I hate that word and if you apply it to me, there and then I will go into survival mode because my antisocial brain will recode you seeing me as weak, as you sizing me up as prey. No matter how much I love you, what we’ve built together, how outwardly I adore you — if I think you’ve become my predator, I’ll want to redress the balance as quickly as I can. I’m currently 8 months pregnant and so I’ve had to rely a whole heap on my fiancée for physical and mental things I am increasingly incapable of. When there's been tension, it’s because they’ve not done things how I might have done them, which I know is unreasonable of me. If you have to carry me, if I’m in any way indisposed and need your help, don’t make a big deal out of it, and remember to always, always, always check in with me. Just because I need your help, doesn't mean I need all control taken away from me. By now, you should know that my whole deal has a lot to do with control. Mainly, I'm trying to control myself and my immediate environment. You can help with that. And remember what I said about insincerity? I can tell if you're helping me begrudgingly and I don’t like it. That makes me even weaker. 
 CM: A situation of weakness would be injury, illness, pregnancy, I suppose. Or unemployment. I think the best way of approaching it is to make sure we know for a fact that you are on our side and that you don’t resent our relying on us in any way at all. Any negative feeling tied to the situation would make me suspicious, and my mind goes overboard when it gets suspicious… Your best option, I suppose, if you want me to be comfortable with letting you help, is to spin things in such a way that I am convinced that you see yourself as some sort of heroic prince in general, and that your behaviour with me is not at all unusual for you. I might get a slight ASPD reaction to it, but it will be positive for the relationship. 
AW: I love that, about letting us see you as the person who came to save the day. I’d so much rather that than the hang-dog, weary servant routine. Nobody's making you do anything, but don't volunteer yourself and expect to gain any victimhood out of it, I can't respect that. 



4. How ought we respond to your dominance and avoid being excessively submissive? 
 AW: Don’t make assumptions. I secretly (and also not-so-secretly) despise being reminded of my natural strength and dominance by romantic partners. First of all, you’re not saying anything special when you say that, I've heard it my whole life, everyone with ASPD has. We’re sick of it. Second of all, a lot of the time, when a partner points out your strength and dominance, it feels like a back-handed, self-absolving display of never having to give a shit. I’m naturally dominant, and I won't ever get into a relationship with someone who isn’t naturally submissive, I don't believe in forcing people into roles they don't like. But just because I probably know what you want to order from the menu, just because I buy a lot of your clothes, it’s because I have your best interests at heart, and have identified that you need this in your life, and you've confirmed it to me. Do not offend me by meeting this dominance with surrender to difficult situations. I have let you on my team. Be my teammate. Fight with me. You’ll find I can and will still do 99.9% the fighting myself, but if I think you’ve lapsed into laziness with your submission, you’ll then find I’m likely to leave you out in the cold to fight off the problem on your own. Sometimes I need the dominant you, when I feel defeated, even if your dominance comes through within the strength of your submission. 
CM: “Excessively submissive” isn’t even a thing. I don’t value people who stand up to me, I don’t want any type of power play, the only power play that there is is that I am the boss. Yes, this sounds pretty bad said like that… The problem with what you call “excessively submissive”, that most people would call “subservient” and that I call “manipulative”, is the anticipation of my desires. I want my mind to be my own space. I don’t want you to guess that I will want this glass of wine, or to plan anything for me, or to interfere in any way with my thought processes or even physical freedom. If I get up, I don’t want anyone asking me what it is that I want. I am able-bodied, and I am allowed to walk around and get my own tea if I want to. If I feel lazy and want you to get my tea for me, don’t worry, you’ll know. I will never resent you for not reading my mind, I would never want that to be the case. You shouldn’t be stressing and worrying about what I want, or obsessing about me. Be yourself, live your own life, be free, all I require is someone who won’t tell me to move my own damned bum to the kitchen if I’m hungry or suddenly demand that I stop working or start voting.
 AW: I don't know if "don't crowd me" is what you're communicating here or if it's just what I'm picking up, but yeah. Don't crowd me. 
 
5. What do you want from us? What, if anything, do you need from us? 
AW: Recognition. For God’s sake, just know me. That’s all I want. I'm not impossible to know, and I live quite like an open book. When you're antisocial, you've spent your entire life observing people, and when you feel you're a natural pretender at things that come so easily to other people, you meticulously learn. Just as if you speak a language fluently that isn’t your mother tongue, you don't get to be colloquial, so you'll always stick by the laws of that country’s grammar. When we get together, there's a lot of me that already knows a lot of you, because I like you and I know your grammar, so I've learned you and our relationship will be an ongoing journey of me learning as much of you as I can, and that's something I'm not likely to get bored of. What I need is for you to learn me too, and remember that I don't understand the colloquialisms too well, I've not had the privilege to fall into them. I think a narrative that often gets applied to the sociopath, consciously or subconsciously, is that we are something of a lone wolf, a misunderstood loner, keeping our cards close to our chests, frightened of human connection. That’s bullshit, to be frank. Okay, maybe we're not pack animals, but we're still humans. We cry, we hurt, things feel painful to us, we get intimidated. Show me that you know me by respecting me and loving me in the ways you have learned that I need in order to thrive in this relationship. I should not have to constantly tell you who I am and what I need. I will get bored of that, and the lone wolf you see in me will prowl off and forget your name like you were nothing. Make the choice. You could be everything if you wanted. 
 CM: I want the same thing anyone wants from a relationship, with a few added bonuses -- Regular things like having a friend to laugh with and share silly TV shows, conversations and companionship. And sex, of course, I quite enjoy sex. Less regular things perhaps: a minimum of acceptance of the fact that whatever happens, I was right. Except for that time where I was perhaps, ok, wrong, but as a rule, I’m right, so don’t question me just for the heck of it. I personally need understanding. I need to know that you won’t freak out every time I sigh or raise an eyebrow, because you know that I am a Good Person™. I need you to know not to keep pushing me when I suddenly seem too calm for what this fight would suggest, because you remember than I can be a Monster™… and I’m trying not to be like that with you because I am a Good Person™…. I want you to remember who I am and love me. 
AW: This is so important. We’re really trying, don’t test that. That's not fair. Don’t make us into the masturbatory, semi-evil fantasy you've created out of us, we're just trying to get on with shit and largely go as undetected as possible. If you deliberately want the sociopath in us to come screaming out of our ribcages, go pay someone to live out that role-play, we’re not here to perform for you. 

6. What’s the best reassurance that we aren’t trying to pull away from you, in times when we seem at cross-purposes? 
AW: This is one of the rare times I will allow myself and my disorder to be infantilised. Sometimes, you have to remember, you’re dealing with someone with the innate emotional literacy of a child, and therefore reassurance needs to be extremely plain, neutral, and unmistakable for anything else. What sets in when I believe you might be pulling away from me is genuine fear — not of abandonment, but of mistrust, and that I could not trust the optimism and joy you initially imbued me with. I am always waiting to have it confirmed to me that people are trash, and you are probably the biggest thing that stops me from thinking that. All you need to do is remind me as often as you can that we are a team, a united front, a partnership, and we are equals. You’re no better than me and I am no better than you. Remind me always of our togetherness and, if needs be, remind me why I decided to enter into this deal in the first place, and though it’s unfortunate wording, it is a deal: this is all a transaction, an ongoing one until either we die or this ends. It’s highly likely I just need my memory jolting, and I know it’s hard to, but please don’t take that too personally. It’s not you, it’s literally everyone. And, once again, don’t pretend to pull away to elicit my reaction. I’ll know. I’ll hate it. And then I'll do something you hate. Transaction complete. 
 CM: I think I can honestly say that I have never had the feeling that someone was pulling away from me. I have heard “ok then I am leaving, this relationship is over” and still not felt that anybody was pulling away from me. If anything, I take it as a sort of manipulative cry for attention, which I then proceed to ignore, because I can be a bit proud and tend to get emotionally cold when I am annoyed with someone. Reassurance is itself a term that I probably process differently than a normal person would. Needing to be reassured is a very rare thing for me, but even when I might need it, I don’t know if there is a way of doing it without triggering my “Do you think I need you?” response. Reassuring me that you are not turning against me, that you’re on my side and not just by my side, that what I want is what you want, and that whatever happened was not intentional could work, but it would probably have to be shown through actions and, failing that, by giving me a clear sense of when and how you will start taking action to the end of showing me that you also want us to be a team. 
AW: Actions really do speak louder than words. Don't be the partner who will just say anything. We remember what you said and, as sociopaths, we prefer action to anything else. Also, as sociopaths, we remember everything, including that time you said you'd do that thing even though we never asked you to, but now you mention it, why haven't you done it? It’s only you who is martyring yourself here, and that's likely how we'll see it. 
CM: I might have failed to understand the exact meaning of the question asked, because my current relationship really doesn’t involve such dynamics. There are way too many times at which I wonder if my partner has turned against me for me to be able to fully recline and trust this way. We’re working on changing this, and he is making tremendous efforts, even though it is a slow process.


7. What would be most helpful for you, in trying to help you see the other side of a situation, without giving you the impression of disagreement? 
 AW: Neutral tones. Don't shout, don't be meek, be neutral. Leave emotions at the door, if you can, really try your best. And the rest is easy, and won't need a long paragraph from me: break down the mechanics of empathy to me, because it’s safe to assume that I haven't considered to involve empathy into this situation. You might need to go the long way around, so instead of saying: “how do you think that person feels?”, or even: “how do you think I feel?”, try instead: “how would you feel if you were in [situation that directly applies to me and is similar to the one you need me to understand]”. We are not completely incapable of empathy, it's just that we need to actively flick that switch, and the process is longer. But it’s there, and if you appeal to it in the right way, we can access it and use it just like anybody else. 
 CM: I see where this question is coming from. There are different ways of approaching this depending on how critical the situation in question is. If we are talking about a simple situation that I have seemingly too critical or black and white a view of, I think it is possible for you to simply give me your take on it, we can absolutely, as far as I am concerned, disagree about things, we are different people, we can debate. The key word would then be debate: if you insert a moral judgement into the mix, I might stop taking your view seriously. The problem doesn’t stem from the fact of disagreeing, it stems from having either solid of faulty arguments. Too many faulty arguments will after a while lead me to thinking that you are just being dishonest. Raising your voice, saying intensely emotionally-charged things as if they were supposed to prove your point, those simply don’t work. If you remain factual, you can convince me that I had missed something and I’ll smile about it. It is the underlying smell of manipulation emanating from dishonest arguments that provoke explosions. In a critical situation when I am in complete calculation overdrive, it’s best not to interfere. If you have facts that could prove to me that I am not in the right or that the situation is not as critical as I think it is, then by all means give them to me, don’t be afraid of my snappiness if you are absolutely certain that you are right. If you are not, leave me be, I might either cool off or take action, but I just need the calculation to make sure I know what I am doing.
 AW: Nobody likes a point-prover, and we don’t like to have our patience tested. Come on, we’re all adults, here. Also, “calculation overdrive” couldn’t be more perfectly worded. That happens, at some point, that’s going to happen. 

8. What are some signs and symptoms that you need us to pull you out of a behaviour pattern you may later regret? 
 AW: I’m glad you said this, because it recognises how capable of regret we are. Remorse, less so — but regret — absolutely. And that regret can be me regretting that time I said that horrible thing to you that was a bit too personal and kind of disgustingly exploitative of me, or it can be me regretting that time I was at that dinner party ten years ago and I said “change my tact” instead of “change my tack” and have never stopped feeling embarrassed about. I’m not wholly aware of what in me changes when I’m in something of a deeply antisocial mode, but introspection and quietness I guess are predictors. I’ll either start slowly plotting revenge or I’ll want revenge in a quick flash of rage, something might remind me of the person who crossed me and I'll need to settle the score there and then. So give me a minute to cool off. Sociopaths aren't long-term goal orientated for the most part. I’ll move onto something else. And if I don’t, then I really meant it, and I’ll have considered it very carefully and covered all bases, and in that case, don’t worry. Maybe even involve yourself if you want, hey, why not. However, If I've stopped communicating with you, that's a sign. Not even a sign that I'm mad at you, but something big is on my mind. Mainly, you’ll see I'm running away both with and from myself. Like a balloon, I’ll want you to grab hold of my string before I drift off into the stratosphere. Bring me down to earth, remind me that you're here and it's good. 
 CM: For me, those include mainly vengeance and lack of attention to my own health. About the former, there isn’t a thing you could do, I might drop it all by myself though. The signs are generally a cold rage followed by unexpected glee and once this is in motion, I am not sure how anyone could do anything, only I could, and I often do. The latter is actually something I am open about needing help for. I am the type of person who will let a UTI develop into full blown pyelonephritis without uttering a sound about it. This is an attitude I have also observed in autistic people, and I think the key there is to treat us like very susceptible and snappy autistic people. You should ask what’s wrong if I seem a little too silent and motionless. If I can’t answer you, and just mumble rudely, call a doctor. If I snap and say “fuck off, I don’t know”, call a doctor. We might just have no idea how to express pain appropriately, but call a doctor. Ignore all rudeness, just help. Of course, there’s boredom. How could someone stir me away from whatever I am doing to stave off boredom without me feeling like they’re pissing in my cereal? I’m not sure. Suggest less dangerous activities perhaps? Take me bungee-jumping, redirect! That could work. Telling me that I “must be bored” to be acting this way and that “this is annoying for YOU” clearly doesn’t….
 AW: Oh that’s really good, yes, we are quite perilously prone to boredom. Give us something else to do that might reward us, we’re not only motivated by greed and power. We also like snacks and jokes. 
 CM: Yes, one cannot say this enough: snacks and jokes. 

9. How does one contribute positivity in times when it is hard for you to see it? 
 AW: Here comes some romance. You are the positivity in my life. I'm with you for a good reason, and that reason is that you light everything up, and make me happy. I don't just date anyone, and the reason I’m spending all this time with you is because I’m in love with you and the happiness and contentment you have brought into my life. Be that happiness and contentment, and be the beacon in the fog. Everyone else falls into mist, but you’re what I'm coming home to. Remind me of what we've built, and remind me too why you fell in love with me. I will come back to you, and your love will bring me back to myself, when I’m re-convinced of it in moments where I don’t feel I’m capable of it, because I'm in a world that can't produce or sustain it. 
CM: I generally respond well to jokes. Of course, not everybody’s like me. If you want me to be light-hearted, just be light-hearted, I’ll follow suit. I rarely have times when I can’t see the positive aspect of life, I am generally more positive than the people around me, but in times when it is not the case, remind me of it. We’re just a speck of dirt on a little rock, why should we worry about anything? 
AW: The sociopathic sense of humour I find is very dry and sarcastic, like a drag queen who isn’t trying to draw attention to herself. I would so much rather laugh with you than simmer at you. 
 CM: I’ve once cracked up in the middle of an argument when my partner suddenly came to his senses and made me laugh… it’s entirely possible, if you just take a step back.
 AW: I’ve told partners too that this is possible, I have indeed laughed mid-row and it’s melted the tension away. But understandably, this is a very high-risk move for the faint of heart. 10. How do your feelings of love differ, in your view, from the culturally-received norm? How are they the same? 
AW: What’s the same? I want a partner, a companion, a lover, all the basic tenets of relationships and their values remain the same, I feel. What’s different? What’s different is I can do better, I want better for you, we can do better. Sociopaths don’t half-arse love when we mean it, we dive headlong into it and often, the loyalty and adoration you will feel from a sociopath is the most consistent, honest and life-affirming you will feel, and none of it is a front. If we’re in it, we’re really fucking in it. I don’t know if this is ASPD but it seems to be a pervading pattern I’ve had with all my relationships, and that is, put simply: I believe we’re better than everyone else. There’s always going to be a small overspill of narcissism inside the sociopath, and here I believe it is healthy. I don’t want to be like all the other couples you know who seem to kind of really fucking hate each-other. I don’t want either of us to settle. That’s not to say I expect anything grandiose or even public about how we love each-other, but I’m in it for the long-haul and I’ve brought snacks for the journey. From a partner, I expect mutual loyalty, respect, and utmost honesty and transparency. My feelings of love are that maybe I’ve not had enough of it, or maybe it’s been misdirected into something sinister, and now’s the time I get to control how I am loved. That doesn’t mean I want to control you, it means that if you don’t feel the same, I’d rather walk away. I won’t feel I’ve lost anything. If losing you feels to me like it would be a profound loss, we’re going to be fine. 
CM: There are different types of love already among NTs. They love their pets, their friends, their lovers and their children all differently. I think I love my partner mainly as a friend with whom I “click” on an intellectual basis, and I expect the same friendship in return. I don’t really get the “closeness” that people speak of, because it doesn’t seem to involve a better quality of friendship, if anything, it’s less respectful. I integrate this as “special-unit-friendship-with-sex”, and to me it does include the same level of respect as you see in friendship. The respect for my freedom (I will respect other people’s boundaries regarding exclusivity though, but only willingly) is essential. Freedom of movement and thought. From that basis, I think I can start to value you a lot more than I value anyone else, and trust you (and, if you’re trustworthy, be trustworthy). Does this compare at all to NT love? I am not sure. I think there is a difference in the notion of romantic self-sacrifice, which to me is now very frightening. I am not saying I am unable to feel this way, I have made myself feel this way in the past, but I don’t think I am built to withstand that type of emotion for very long before self-destructing.
 AW: It’s important to distinguish any neurodivergence from the neurotypical experience, I think, because our worlds are profoundly different. But what it all comes down to, in terms of us and “everyone else”, is we’ve had to keep an eye on our actions, words, thoughts, all of our lives, as outsiders. When we notice other people haven’t had to do that, it can be deeply offensive to us. If you expect us to have a strict moral code and to amend how we act and react, why the hell shouldn't you? 
CM: What you said about a relationship being the one space in which the world isn’t as shitty as it is outside of it (my rephrasing skills are terrible) rings true to me. There is something to be said about being honourable, devoted, trustworthy and generally loving in a relationship with us. It is the one space where we can enjoy that freely. Of course, as you said, once our partner has shown themselves to be unworthy, it’s over, whether we remain or leave. That might be why so many NTs are so taken aback by our leaving. If I’m leaving you, it’s probably because I’d left you in my head a while back, and you never knew.

So, there you have it. Handy tips on how to date your high-functioning sociopath. Again, I must clarify that abuse of any kind within a relationship is unacceptable. This post is all about mutual respect and understanding. On the same note, please do not enter into a relationship with anyone with any kind of goal that you will push this person to their limits. In fact, do not enter into any kind of relationship that insists you behave outside of your own moral constraints, or asks the same of the other party/parties.  Thanks. 

[newstfionline]

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Today’s kids will live through three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents, study says (Washington Post) Adriana Bottino-Poage is 6 years old, with cherub cheeks and curls that bounce when she laughs. She likes soccer, art and visiting the library. She dreams of being a scientist and she wants to become the kind of grown-up who can help the world. But if the planet continues to warm on its current trajectory, the average 6-year-old will live through roughly three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents, the study finds. They will see twice as many wildfires, 1.7 times as many tropical cyclones, 3.4 times more river floods, 2.5 times more crop failures and 2.3 times as many droughts as someone born in 1960. These findings, published this week in the journal Science, are the result of a massive effort to quantify what lead author Wim Thiery calls the “intergenerational inequality” of climate change. The changes are especially dramatic in developing nations; infants in sub-Saharan Africa are projected to live through 50 to 54 times as many heat waves as someone born in the preindustrial era.

YouTube is banning prominent anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content (Washington Post) YouTube is taking down several video channels associated with high-profile anti-vaccine activists including Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who experts say are partially responsible for helping seed the skepticism that’s contributed to slowing vaccination rates across the country. As part of a new set of policies aimed at cutting down on anti-vaccine content on the Google-owned site, YouTube will ban any videos that claim that commonly used vaccines approved by health authorities are ineffective or dangerous. The company previously blocked videos that made those claims about coronavirus vaccines, but not ones for other vaccines like those for measles or chickenpox. Mercola, an alternative medicine entrepreneur, and Kennedy, a lawyer and the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy who has been a face of the anti-vaccine movement for years, have both said in the past that they are not automatically against all vaccines, but believe information about the risks of vaccines is being suppressed. In an email, Mercola said he was being censored. Kennedy also said he was being censored. “There is no instance in history when censorship and secrecy has advanced either democracy or public health,” he said in an email.

Vaccine Mandates Kick In (1440) Tens of thousands of healthcare workers in New York risk being fired if they remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, as a state mandate went into effect Monday. Roughly 16% of the state’s healthcare workers, or about 83,000, aren’t fully vaccinated, and an estimated 8% haven’t received their first shot. An executive order from Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed Monday allows medically trained National Guard members to fill staff shortages if necessary. Workers fired for being unvaccinated will not be eligible for unemployment. Separately, a New York City vaccine mandate for educators in the nation’s largest school district becomes effective after school Friday—the teachers’ union says about 3% of its staff remain unvaccinated. In North Carolina, more than 175 healthcare workers at Novant Health have been dismissed after not complying with the company’s vaccine mandate. The various mandates have sparked ongoing protests, both in New York and elsewhere.

Ahead of winter hibernation, Alaska celebrates Fat Bear Week (Reuters) In Alaska, leaves are falling, daylight is dwindling and salmon-devouring brown bears are racing the clock to pack on the pounds they need to survive their winter hibernation. Unbeknownst to the enormous bruins, some of them are also competing in Katmai National Park and Preserve’s Fat Bear Week, Alaska’s annual celebration of gluttony and nature’s abundance. For seven days starting on Wednesday, wildlife fans will submit online votes in a playoff-style competition among 12 of the park’s fattest brown bears photographed at the salmon-rich Brooks River. Katmai’s bears are among the biggest in the world, thanks to the abundant runs of salmon that swim into the river system from southwestern Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Katmai’s bears, which number about 2,200, can grow to well over 1,000 pounds (453 kg) from summer feasting. They can also lose a third of their body weight during hibernation. Fat Bear Week becomes more popular each year, with online voting growing to nearly 650,000 votes cast in 2020 from 55,000 votes cast in 2018, said Naomi Boak, a Katmai media ranger. The popularity is easy to understand, Boak said. Fat bears bring joy to people, she said. “They get to do something and be healthy that we don’t get to do, and that is be fat,” she said.

America’s car crash epidemic (Vox) Driving is the most dangerous thing most Americans do every day. Virtually every American knows someone who’s been injured in a car crash, and each year cars kill about as many people as guns and severely injure millions. It’s a public health crisis in any year, and somehow, the pandemic has only made it more acute. Even as Americans have been driving less in the past year or so, car crash deaths (including both occupants of vehicles and pedestrians) have surged. Cars killed 42,060 people in 2020, up from 39,107 in 2019, according to a preliminary estimate from the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit that focuses on eliminating preventable deaths. According to several traffic experts I spoke with, the explanation for the 2020 fatality spike is relatively straightforward: With fewer cars on the road during quarantine, traffic congestion was all but eliminated, which emboldened people to drive at lethal speeds. Compared to 2019, many more drivers involved in fatal crashes also didn’t wear seat belts or drove drunk.

Havana syndrome (WSJ) The CIA evacuated an intelligence officer serving in Serbia in recent weeks who suffered serious injuries consistent with the neurological attacks known as Havana Syndrome, according to current and former U.S. officials. The incident in the Balkans, which hasn’t been previously reported, is the latest in what the officials describe as a steady expansion of attacks on American spies and diplomats posted overseas by unknown assailants using what government officials and scientists suspect is some sort of directed-energy source. Still more suspected attacks have occurred overseas and in the U.S., the current and former officials said, along with recently reported ones in India and Vietnam.

Greece boosts its military, with French help (Guardian) Less than two weeks after France lost its submarine deal to the so-called Aukus Defense Pact between Australia, the U.S., and the U.K., a new buyer has stepped up. Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French president Emmanuel Macron just signed a multi-billion euro military agreement that calls for France to deliver three state-of-the-art Belharra frigates to Greece by 2025. The option of a fourth warship is also included. Macron described his pact as part of a deeper “strategic partnership” between France and Greece to defend shared interests in the Mediterranean. Despite being among the continent’s smaller countries, Greek military spending far exceeds that of fellow states. Last year’s heightened tensions between Greece and Turkey over rival claims to offshore gas reserves in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean led to Mitsotakis’ center-right government announcing a major weapons program aimed at modernizing Greece’s armed forces with the acquisition of fighter planes, frigates, helicopters and missile systems.

Business as usual for Afghan opium trade as Taliban ban goes up in smoke (Telegraph) The sacks full of thick, brown opium paste give off a distinctive smell as turbaned traders and farmers haggle over prices. The opium being freely bought and sold in the drug bazaars of southern Afghanistan will soon make its way as heroin into the country’s neighbours and then into the world beyond. It is a trade which, a month ago, the Taliban said they would stamp out in a repeat of a ban imposed under their 1990s regime. Opium growers in Helmand told The Telegraph they were again preparing to plant fields full of poppies, with the Islamist group having so far stalled on implementing a ban—one of a number of promises that appeared designed to please the West and have since been broken. It has raised fears that Britain could see a further influx of heroin as the Taliban choose to profit from taxing the trade instead of stamping it out. Afghanistan is by far the world’s largest opium supplier and is estimated to produce four-fifths of global supply. The drug accounts for 11 per cent of the Afghan economy, the United Nations estimated in 2018.

Young Iranians Increasingly Want Out (NYT) Amir, an engineering master’s student standing outside Tehran University, had thought about going into digital marketing, but worried that Iran’s government would restrict Instagram, as it had other apps. He had considered founding a start-up, but foresaw American sanctions and raging inflation blocking his way. Every time he tried to plan, it seemed useless, said Amir, who at first would not give his real name. He was afraid of his country, he said, and he wanted to leave after graduation. “I’m a person who’s 24 years old, and I can’t imagine my life when I’m 45,” he said. “I can’t imagine a good future for myself or for my country. Every day, I’m thinking about leaving. And every day, I’m thinking about, if I leave my country, what will happen to my family?” This is life now for many educated urbanites in Tehran, the capital, who once pushed for loosening social restrictions and opening Iran to the world, and who saw the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States as a reason for hope. Since 2018, many prices have more than doubled, living standards have skidded and poverty has spread, especially among rural Iranians. All but the wealthiest have been brought low. Divorce is up, fertility rates are down and many from Iran’s younger generation are postponing weddings and searching for ways to leave the country in the face of economic and political stagnation.

Bangkok on alert as 70,000 homes flood in Thailand (AFP) Thai authorities have rushed to protect parts of Bangkok from flood waters that have already inundated 70,000 homes and killed six people in the country’s northern and central provinces. Tropical Storm Dianmu has caused flooding in 30 provinces, with the kingdom’s central region the worst hit, the Thai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said. The level of the Chao Phraya River—which snakes through Bangkok after winding almost 250 miles (400km) from the north—is steadily rising as authorities release water from dams further upstream. Soldiers on Tuesday set up barriers and sandbags to protect archaeological ruins and landmarks as well as neighbourhoods in the old royal capital Ayutthaya, about 40 miles north of Bangkok. There are hopes Bangkok can avoid a repeat of the catastrophic 2011 monsoon season, when it experienced its worst flooding in decades—a fifth of the city was under water and more than 500 people died.

Kishida To Become Japan’s Next Prime Minister (Foreign Policy) Japan’s ruling Liberal Democrat Party has backed Fumio Kishida as its new leader, effectively making him prime minister-in-waiting for the world’s third largest economy. Kishida, a former foreign minister, won out in a highly contested election, beating Taro Kono in a runoff vote on Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo after the two had virtually tied in the first round of voting. His inauguration as prime minister is now assured, as the LDP holds a comfortable majority in Japan’s House of Representatives. Although today’s vote represents the end of Kono’s leadership bid for now, the short shelf life of Japan’s prime ministers (Kishida will be the tenth in the past 20 years) means it’s unlikely he’ll fade into the background.

Ethiopia crisis ‘stain on our conscience’ (AP) The crisis in Ethiopia is a “stain on our conscience,” the United Nations humanitarian chief said, as children and others starve to death in the Tigray region under what the U.N. has called a de facto government blockade of food, medical supplies and fuel. In an interview with The Associated Press Tuesday, Martin Griffiths issued one of the most sharply worded criticisms yet of the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade after nearly a year of war. He described a landscape of deprivation inside Tigray, where the malnutrition rate is now over 22%—“roughly the same as we saw in Somalia in 2011 at the start of the Somali famine,” which killed more than a quarter-million people. Meanwhile just 10% of needed humanitarian supplies have been reaching Tigray in recent weeks, Griffiths said. “So people have been eating roots and flowers and plants instead of a normal steady meal,” he said. But the problem is not hunger alone. The U.N. humanitarian chief, who recently visited Tigray, cited the lack of medical supplies and noted that vulnerable children and pregnant or lactating mothers are often the first to die of disease.

Modern art or theft? (Foreign Policy) A Danish art museum has been left significantly out of pocket (or helped finance a brand new work of art, depending on one’s perspective) after $84,000 in cash the museum had given an artist to recreate two of his works became the inspiration for a new piece: two blank canvases titled “Take The Money and Run.” Artist Jens Haaning had been commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg to reproduce “An Average Danish Annual Income” and “An Average Austrian Annual Income,” two pieces which represented the total amounts using framed U.S. dollars. Museum authorities believe Haaning’s interpretation went beyond the usual artistic license and have given him until January to return the money.

[darthwindows]

It happened.

This is going to be a REALLY long, mushy, gushy, positive post. So, if your into that sort of thing read on.On June 14th 2016, two days after signing the lease on the townhome I live in right now, I was fired from a job that I actually liked. This happened because I was stupid and angry and did not appreciate what I had. I had to take a job at a company that I knew from the start was a bad, bad idea. And I was right. From June 15th 2016 to March 2nd 2018 I suffered. I lost who I was as a person for a while. I did my very best to keep it together the best I could. But it was hard as fuck. My boss sexually harassed me constantly. The people I worked with were insane. The job was impossible and I was never trained well. I learned that being paid salary is bullshit. I learned that when you have no HR department shit can go south and you have no one to turn to. I learned that working for a small company blew ass, especially when run by a narcissistic man child. But let me tell you what good came out of it. I met Molly. My current therapist. I would never have gone to see her if I never would have gotten fired from that job. I would have kept on being angry. I would have kept seeing the same therapist every month and not getting better. But when I got fired I couldn't see that therapist anymore and I started see Molly. Weekly. I almost committed suicide before I went to see her it got so bad. But because of her I got better. I learned from getting fired how to control my temper and put of a face for work. To let go of things. I learned that I need to put myself first because I NEVER do that. I still have trouble, but I'm getting there. I was strong enough to cut ties from my mother, who was an abusive asshole. Nothing makes you learn like fear, and being fired from a job and terrified to lose the next one is quite the crash course. But I learned to change that fear into fire. I used that fire in 2017 to find myself and work as hard as I could to do what I loved when I wasn't at work. I knew I would be gone to the abyss without this preemptive strike. So in 2017 I made a herculean effort to not give up. To rage against the darkness. I started job hunting, writing three different writing projects, a podcast, and I started playing music again. Sexual Harassment Panda was not going to defeat this girl. It was so hard, I never let myself rest, I went to battle every single day. The first week of February of 2018 I got the best news. They were laying me off. My job hunt had not been going well, filled with fear of being found out I was job hunting hurt me so much. But being laid off meant I could look for work full-time, work on my projects full-time and get paid to do so. But most importantly. I could take a fucking breath. I could breathe again. 12 weeks into my unemployment and working for that company seems like it happened in another life. Like it almost never happened at all. I intend to heal but never to forget what that job taught me. To never ever give up. And yesterday afternoon I got the best news I could have ever gotten. I was offered a job at Washington University in their Optical Radiology Department. I have dreamed of working for a University since I left college. I honestly never thought it could happen. Never. I never believed I was good enough. Just like I believe my writing will never be published. Pie in the sky nonsense. And yet, I never stopped applying. Because that's me. I accept I am not good enough, but that never stopped me from trying, because to me there is no other option. Since June of 2016 I have applied to 524 jobs. I have had 17 interviews. 4 of them at Wash U. I have applied to 176 Wash U jobs. I signed a job offer with them this morning and I start working there on June 11th. I will never claim to be the smartest, most well-read, most witty, most in touch, the most thoughtful, the kindest, or the best at anything really. But my best attribute is that I never give up. No matter what. Even when it's not in my best interest. I never give up. To me, it's simply not an option. I will rage against the darkness until it swallows me for good. And I don't see that happening anytime soon. I tell you this because I have a lot of friends out there working really fucking hard to get things they want. And the road is long and hard and stupid. But take it from someone who is always griping about how it never gets better. You can do it. You can. It's gonna suck. You're gonna wanna give up. But like...don't. We need you out here. Today is my day, tomorrow just might be yours. :)

[amplesalty]

Christmas 2020: Day 2 - A Christmas Carol (2019) - Episode 1

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

two bells of awakening!

2020 on this blog is to end as it began; with a BBC mini series. As mentioned back in January as I covered the first two episodes of their adaptation of Dracula, that came fresh off the heels of a 3 part adaptation of a Christmas Carol during Christmastime 2019. It is only appropriate after all given that I said I would look at it and it does fit the rest of the year which saw more TV content slip in. I’ll try to make sure I actually finish this one this time.

For all the negativity that goes on throughout the story of A Christmas Carol, I never really think of it as particularly grim or bleak. Probably because on the whole it is a story about change for the better and does end on that uplifting note of Scrooge become a more noble man, more open with the local community and a second father to young Tiny Tim.

This version more, at least so far in this first episode, seems to dwell more in that dark side, not just with the gloomy Victorian era streets lined with beggars and rag and bone men. The aesthetics themselves lend it a very cold atmosphere, all dark and drab. It does provide a stark contrast later on though through some more fiery scenes.

I think the fact that pretty much the first thing you see at the start of the episode is someone pissing on the grave of Jacob Marley whilst cursing ‘You skinflint old bastard!’ goes some way to setting the tone that this version is going for. There’s some intrigue as well with this young man, scarred across his cheek like some form of wicked Chelsea smile which makes you wonder exactly what his gripe is with Marley to drive him to desecrate the grave of the deceased in such a way.

Just how skinflint Marley is is perhaps underlined by how the boy’s piss seems to seep through the floor and into the face of Marley who awakens with a scream and asks why no one respects the message on his grave of ‘rest in peace’. Surely any coffin worth its salt would keep out such liquids so did Marley forego the whole expense of a traditional coffin in order to save a bob or two? I’m not sure if those eco-friendly cardboard coffins were exactly all the rage back during the time of Charles Dickens. At least he stayed buried with the two pennies on his eyes this time so Scrooge didn’t go to the lengths that Jim Carrey Scrooge did by taking them back.

During that 2009 entry I imagined a hypothetical version of A Christmas Carol mixed with Dark Souls and oddly I get a little bit of a vibe of that here. I feel like I’m projecting a lot of that game into these posts sometimes but there’s a lot of trigger words that come up as we rather uniquely follow Marley on his path into the world of the spirits. Usually he just pops up to tell Scrooge of the impending three visiting spirits but he’s getting a fair bit of screen time here. 

Whilst lamenting his time in the limbo between life and death, he begs to the unknown for some chance for redemption so that his soul might finally rest, a call which is answered as he’s transported to some sort of workshop where a blacksmith hands over the chain that Marley must now carry in death, forged link by link from the lives of every man, woman and child that lost their lives in the hellish workhouses run by the penny pinching team of Marley & Scrooge. By offering penance, Marley is said to have ‘rung the bell’ and enabled himself this chance but that is solely dependent on saving the soul of his former partner.

So sayeth the Ghost of Christmas past who seems to be serving as some sort of Firekeeper over a bonfire. But Marley scoffs slightly at such a ludicrous idea that someone like Scrooge might show one iota of remorse and suggests the spirit bring him a pillow and blanket because it looks like Marley is going to be here forever. There’s all this talk of souls and humanity which, obviously not used in the same context as the game but putting all these little things together certainly does evoke thoughts of it.

There is something decidedly more eerie about the slow build to Marley’s visit with Scrooge. Things usually turn pretty spooky when Scrooge heads home for the night and starts seeing visions of Marley in his door knocker but there’s a lot more visions before hand here, like how Scrooge finds what seem to be the very same two coins he left on Marley’s eyes at his burial. Or when he sees his note book has had ‘PREPARE YE’ scrawled across it.

At the best of times it would be a daunting task for Marley to convince Scrooge of seeing the error of his ways, but it’s perhaps even moreso in this universe. In the offices of Scrooge and the former Marley, Bob Cratchit is a little more spirited than usual. Richard E. Grant’s portrayal always springs to mind where he comes off very meek but there is a little bit of backbone to this Cratchit, he and Scrooge seem to have this running battle throughout the day, taking little verbal jabs at each other and engaging in these very sarcastic conversations. There’s one where Scrooge questions this sudden turn in people’s behaviour around Christmas time, why all of a sudden people act in the interest of their fellow man and suggests it’s all a facade. Why, if people truly had these good intentions, would they not act this way all throughout the year? Why save it for just one day a year? Surely the ratio should be inverted, for 364 days a year people should be decent and kind and then for that sole day they could truly reveal what they think of each other without sugar coating it. To which Cratchit suggests that day could be named Scrooge day, before backtracking a little and perhaps saving himself by suggesting it would be named in honour of it’s founder.

For, if nothing else, Cratchit still knows his place, outright telling Scrooge that he knows the narrowness of his own situation, still gainfully employed in a time of mass unemployment but struggiling to make ends meet supporting a wife and very sick children. That’s where this Scrooge seems somehow worse, Patrick Stewart’s Scrooge took take solace in his separation from everyone else around him. Ignorance was bliss. “I didn’t know Cratchit had a crippled son.” “Why didn’t you ask?” Here, Scrooge explicitly knows the plight Bob is in but doesn’t bat an eye.

There is the small matter of the re-imagining of a burning workhouse to factor in too, Scrooge ducks out of his house rather than deal with Marley but finds only the images of one of his darkest days before him, sooten faced children wandering bewildered amongst charred corpses as Marley reminds Scrooge of how they condemned an idle and drunken workforce and bribed the judge in order to weasel their way out of any condemnation for the tragedy. Christ, it’s no wonder many don’t want to go to these work houses. This truly is a more dark and twisted Christmas Carol we find ourselves in, if the worst that can be said of most Scrooge’s is their wicked statement about decreasing the surplus population then that’s pretty tame in comparison to the bloodied hands of Guy Pearce’s version here.

But perhaps all is not lost, I mean, he did put some furs over a couple of cold horses. There must be some good in there somewhere.

[omegastation]

Nothing to do with ME but I kinda needed to vent because I'm in a weird situation right now. I also mention my sleeve surgery.

Things at work have always been terrible but lately it has gotten worse. My first colleague left after a year (burnout), the second left after a month after seeing how the bosses were and the third, who was crying every day while she was there, is about to leave and filed an official complaint against my bosses. And then there's me. I always stay and in the end I get all the aggression, manipulation, lies, harassment and stress. 

The thing that is really disgusting to me, is that my boss has been awful to me knowing I just had a gastric sleeve surgery. It's not a small surgery. I don't talk about it often because I believe it can be triggering or upsetting for people, but there are severe consequences. I won't make a list of everything that happens but it's genuinely scary at times. Almost all the food that I try to eat makes me sick. I have to avoid stress as much as possible because it makes me even more sick. And she knows this. And she still treated me like shit and made me believe my job was on the line when it wasn't. She lied to me because my colleague filed an official complaint, so she needs me to testify on their behalf. Making your employee believe she'll lose her job when you know it's not going to happen is fucking cruel.

That and her favorite hobby is making passive aggressive Facebook posts that makes everyone feels like they're targeted, and then she says "but why does everyone think I'm talking about them?" Gee, I don't know. Lately, she linked an article about gastric surgery and said that young people who think a gastric surgery is their last chance to lose weight lack education. As if they’re idiots. "What has this world come to?" she wrote. She has an employee who is young (well, you know, less than thirty) and who just had a sleeve surgery. Couldn't she just think for a second about what she's saying? Couldn't she think for a second about why someone like me would do such a surgery? Does she know what it's like to make such a drastic choice and then stick with it? No. She has no idea what it's like. She doesn't get it. And she doesn’t care who she hurts.

Yesterday, it was the last straw. She sent me an email that was cryptic as hell. It looked like she was unhappy with me. I couldn't tell. I tried to call her to discuss it with her, no answer. So I wrote a reply explaining the issues about a project we have (issues that were hers to fix and she didn't, I warned her years ago). She came into the office, started to get aggressive as hell and then got mad that I wrote an email instead of waiting to talk to her. I told her I called her and she said I didn't. Like it was a fact. I told her I wasn't a liar. I expected her to say something like "of course, Deb, I know you, you wouldn't lie. IDK what is going on with my phone." (it's not the first time it happens, she always says she can't see calls!) Instead she screamed "My phone doesn't lie! Between my phone and you, it's you the liar!" 

At that point I felt a sort of rage that made me realize: “Deb, everyone left for a reason. Why are you staying? It’s been almost three years of this. You need the money, okay. But the more you stay, the more you feel exhausted and the less you find the energy to look for another job. Just do something for once. Get out of this situation.” So I left, and I decided I wouldn't come back. I might be forced to do it in a month or so but for now, I'm just... Genuinely and completely done with being treated like this. It's not alright. I tried to hold on as much as I could but I have my limits. I have to believe there are people somewhere else who are less toxic.

The way the law works here, I don't have a lot of options if I want to keep my unemployment benefits. I can't just quit. I'll have to find somewhere else very quickly while I stay at home sick or start a procedure to say I’m unable to work there anymore. Either way, it could last more than two months with no work and 66% of my salary after a month. And we’re in the middle of the summer, so it’s harder to find work now.  So yeah. What a mess :/

[xmutantsrpg-blog]

Name: Rowan Hawthorne

Alias: n/a

Age: 32

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Powers: Cell Manipulation - Rowan is able to manipulate the cells in his body or anyone else’s, provided he is able to make skin on skin contact with them.He is able to shape and manipulate the cells of any sort of organism, including plants. This allows him to grow new cells or drain them of their energy, causing the host body to fail and shrivel.

Key Traits:  + Quick Thinking                     + Attentive                     + Loyal                     - Brutal                     - Choleric                     - Reticent

Affiliation: Hellfire’s School for Mutants - but will help out any mutant, regardless of affiliation

Date of Employment: July 14, 1985

Room number: 25A

Job/Role: Works in the med centre, healing wounds and handing out bandaids

Known Family: Kimberly Hawthorne né Jones (ex-wife) and Lucille Marie Hawthorne (daughter - deceased)

Personality Type: Chaotic Neutral

Anything Else: Trigger warnings for his origin story: Abuse, Child Death, General Violence and an unedited, very long origin story. If any of these are triggers for you, I will send you a less detailed history. Please don’t hesitate to ask!!

Origin Story:

Growing up in a small town, Rowan Hawthorne had a very normal childhood. His parents were both working class people who, despite not being very wealthy, were able to give him and his siblings a roof over their heads and three meals a day. When Rowan’s mutation activated, there was a period of shock, of mourning the loss of their child’s innocence. He wasn’t sure how they would all react and to this day, showing his parents his mutation is one of the most terrifying moments of his life. 

After a few months the family fell back into a normal rhythm and life went on. Rowan slowly learned to control his powers, practicing first on his own body, and then trying out new techniques on the local strays. He cried every time one of them died and buried them in the field behind his house, each one inscribed with a small stone marker. When Rowan finally moved out, there were over fifty stones of varying shapes and sizes hidden beneath the tall grass.

He was fifteen when he met Kimberly. A recent transfer student, she quickly established herself as someone who shouldn’t be antagonized. By the end of her first month she’d been sent to the principal’s office at least ten times and each time she fell into her seat next to him, Rowan fell more and more in love.

Their first year together was rocky; she wasn’t used to trusting people and no matter how many times Rowan promised her he would never leave, he knew that the soft smile she gave him was purely superficial. It seemed that his words alone could never carry an impact strong enough to make a difference.

Kimberly rarely talked about her father - he was gone and that was all Rowan needed to know. Gone and never coming back. He didn’t ask her about the scars on her skin, didn’t ask why she flinched every time he came up behind her without warning. He didn’t have to - the signs were staring him right in the face. Instead he adjusted his behaviour - made sure to knock or call out when he entered a room. Entwined beneath the bed sheets, he would kiss every scar, would whisper kind words into them, as if by pure force he could take away their negative past.

They were curled up on her couch, finally watching the new action movie they’d both been dying to see, when the yelling started upstairs. Kimberly’s face went white and she pushed him into her room, making him promise to stay put until she came back down. Rowan waited until her steps faded before quietly sneaking up the stairs and peering out through a crack in the wall.

He watched in horror as an older man (he assumed her father) brandished his fists around, smacking first her mother and then Kimberly. Rage boiled up inside of him until he was slamming the door open. Stalking towards the unkept man, Rowan stood and placed himself right in the line of fire. He ignored Kimberly’s cries to move, to run, to hide and faced down her father, daring him to throw another punch.

Of course, to Kimberly’s dad Rowan is hardly a threat. Barely sixteen, a mess of gangly limbs and acne - absolutely nothing about him screamed intensity. Except for his eyes. Those eyes that promised pain and revenge should he even flinch towards him.

Kimberly’s dad couldn’t see those eyes or perhaps didn’t want to or just didn’t understand what they meant. He scoffed and before anyone could react, punched Rowan square in the face and sent him flying, a loud crack ringing out as he collided with the wall. Stumbling towards his prone body, Kimberly’s father laughed as Rowan slowly stood back up, blood pouring from his nose. He went to swing again except this time, Rowan caught it and watched the blood drain from her dad’s face as his hand began to weaken, the healthy colour disappearing as it was replaced with a dark purple. When Rowan was certain that the fist was beyond any human repair, he let go and with all the might his scrawny body could muster, shoved him towards the door. That was the last time they saw him.

Later that night, once Rowan had been patched up, Kimberly told him everything. More than once that night tears fell and as the sun came up the next morning, it saw the two of them curled up on the couch, arms clutching as tightly as possible to each other.

The years pass quickly and it’s not too long before they’re kissing each other under a canopy, in front of their closest friends and family. Married life isn’t much different from their previous lives - they both still work and see friends and know that when they come home, they’re coming home to someone who has seen their darkest parts and has still stayed.

When Kimberly shows him the test, hope and fear shining in her eyes, he’s speechless and before she can shut down, misinterpret his silence, he’s picking her up and swinging her around the room. They’re going to have a baby. A baby.

Her pregnancy seems to last forever, their baby girl determined to stay put for as long as possible. Once she finally arrives into the world, she screams and cries - settling down only in her mother’s arms.

Lucille Marie Hawthorne - Lucy for short.

Life goes back to normal - or as normal as one can be when they’ve got a six-month-old-baby. They’re all so happy and things finally seem to be heading in the right direction. Nothing can break their stride.

And then it does. Unemployment is up and the construction company Rowan is working for goes under. Kimberly picks up more hours at the law firm but it was his salary that was paying the bulk of their bills. They begin to rely on food stamps - their days spent outside in order to soak up as much sun as possible before heading back inside to their dark house.

One day, while they’re waiting in line, Kimberly spots a flyer taped to a light post. Ripping it from it’s spot, she reads it aloud to Rowan. Wanted: Strong people with special talents - must be shown during the interview. They both know what that means - the powers that Rowan worked so hard to gain mastery over were in demand.

His interview was brutal and that night he said nothing, just curled up on their bed and let Kimberly hold him. The job started right away and she could only watch as each day he came home, his eyes seemed just that much colder. The money had returned but as she lay with her back to her husband, Kimberly’s eyes filled with tears as she wondered at what cost?

It’s a human gang that’s running the organization he works for and his job is simple. Make the people who are thrown into his room talk. Often times they’re disheveled business men, men who had lost bets or have taken out loans and are late on making their payments. So when a boy who can’t be more than seventeen is tossed inside, Rowan can feel his mouth go dry. This is not what he signed up for. He would not kill and torture children. For the first time since joining this life sucking venture, Rowan says no and lets the boy out, tells him never to come back.

That night he frantically packs his family’s bags, bringing only the necessities and the large stack of cash they kept under their bed for emergencies. Kimberly’s just grabbed their daughter when the front door is sent flying off it’s hinges and in steps the two mutants who are normally sent to retrieve people.

The fight is over before it can even begin - as Rowan launches himself towards them, the smaller mutant dodges and brings his energy covered hand to Kimberly’s throat. Her knife drops from her hand as she cradles their baby and Rowan knows he’s been beat.

Head hung low, he makes his way out the door, stopping when Kimberly starts screaming. He had expected the other mutant to follow behind and as he looked back in horror, the world seemed to slow. Kimberly is being held back by one hand as the mutant slowly brings his other towards Lucy, a green glowing energy surrounding it.

Rowan howls as Lucy’s body slumps to the floor and his vision goes red. Turning on the mutant next to him, Rowan grabs him by the neck and slams him back against the outside wall. His fingers grip tighter and tighter and he can feel the cells dying underneath his hands, can feel the blood start to slow until the skin beneath his fingers is purple. With a loud yell, Rowan rips the mutant in two before stalking his house.

Kimberly brandishes her knife at the mutant that killed her child, tears streaming down her face. Her mouth is open, she’s screaming - Rowan muses. Everything has gone quiet and all he’s focused on is the mutant currently crouched on the floor, a smug look on his face.

Rowan dives for him, can feel the energy push against his chest but he doesn’t care, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that his Lucy is laying on the floor lifeless and his life is over. His fingers scrabble for purchase - he only needs to connect with one part of the mutant’s body to activate his powers. Skin brushes against skin and Rowan pushes all the anger and death and sadness through that one point of contact, a hoarse cry leaving his lips.

When he finally comes back to himself, he’s laying next to a shell of the former mutant - the cells had degraded so much that bits and pieces of his body were just flaking away.

Kimberly is sobbing, the limp body of their four-year-old pressed tightly to her chest. This wasn’t what he wanted. He was supposed to protect them. They were his family. As their eyes met over the dead bodies between them, Rowan knew - this was something they could never come back from.

The funeral was a quiet affair. They hadn’t put her into classes yet, had wanted to keep her all to themselves for as long as they could, so it was only family and a few neighbours who watch the undertaker lower the small coffin into the grave.

Kimberly packed her things that night, moved back in with her mom. At least that’s what the note had said. He had held it so long that the words were nigh unreadable and no matter how much he smoothed it, some of the words were gone forever.

What did it matter now? What did anything matter? His family was gone, dead and so was he.

Over the next four years, Rowan fell in once again with the gang. His job seemed so much easier now, life seemed so much easier once he could no longer feel. People screamed and begged and he just stared at them, watched passively as they slowly realised they would never be able to get through to him.

Until the day she comes through. A tiny woman, she carried the wrath of the sun within her and Rowan was struck by how much she resembled Kimberly. She hit him and called him names, never once allowing the fear to set in, her eyes blazing with fire. For the first time in four years, Rowan can feel his old self calling out to him, reminding him that he once believed in doing the right thing and creating life instead of taking it away.

They leave that night. He sneaks her away under the cover of the moon, gives her money and food and tells her to run. Pleading, she begs him to come with her, to come away from this life of torture and pain and to find himself again. It’s an offer he can’t even consider. He doesn’t deserve a happy life, doesn’t deserve forgiveness. The most he can do is help others. She leaves him standing at the train station with a name. Hellfire. A school where other people, other mutants, like him are gathered in order to train and hone their skills.

And for the first time in a very long time, Rowan can feel hope fluttering beneath his breastbone.

Growing up in a small town, Rowan Hawthorne had a very normal childhood. His parents were both working class people who, despite not being very wealthy, were able to give him and his siblings a roof over their heads and three meals a day. When Rowan’s mutation activated, there was a period of shock, of mourning the loss of their child’s innocence. He wasn’t sure how they would all react and to this day, showing his parents his mutation is one of the most terrifying moments of his life.

After a few months the family fell back into a normal rhythm and life went on. Rowan slowly learned to control his powers, practicing first on his own body, and then trying out new techniques on the local strays. He cried every time one of them died and buried them in the field behind his house, each one inscribed with a small stone marker. When Rowan finally moved out, there were over fifty stones of varying shapes and sizes hidden beneath the tall grass.

He was fifteen when he met Kimberly. A recent transfer student, she quickly established herself as someone who shouldn’t be antagonized. By the end of her first month she’d been sent to the principal’s office at least ten times and each time she fell into her seat next to him, Rowan fell more and more in love.

Their first year together was rocky; she wasn’t used to trusting people and no matter how many times Rowan promised her he would never leave, he knew that the soft smile she gave him was purely superficial. It seemed that his words alone could never carry an impact strong enough to make a difference.

Kimberly rarely talked about her father - he was gone and that was all Rowan needed to know. Gone and never coming back. He didn’t ask her about the scars on her skin, didn’t ask why she flinched every time he came up behind her without warning. He didn’t have to - the signs were staring him right in the face. Instead he adjusted his behaviour - made sure to knock or call out when he entered a room. Entwined beneath the bed sheets, he would kiss every scar, would whisper kind words into them, as if by pure force he could take away their negative past.

They were curled up on her couch, finally watching the new action movie they’d both been dying to see, when the yelling started upstairs. Kimberly’s face went white and she pushed him into her room, making him promise to stay put until she came back down. Rowan waited until her steps faded before quietly sneaking up the stairs and peering out through a crack in the wall.

He watched in horror as an older man (he assumed her father) brandished his fists around, smacking first her mother and then Kimberly. Rage boiled up inside of him until he was slamming the door open. Stalking towards the unkept man, Rowan stood and placed himself right in the line of fire. He ignored Kimberly’s cries to move, to run, to hide and faced down her father, daring him to throw another punch.

Of course, to Kimberly’s dad Rowan is hardly a threat. Barely sixteen, a mess of gangly limbs and acne - absolutely nothing about him screamed intensity. Except for his eyes. Those eyes that promised pain and revenge should he even flinch towards him.

Kimberly’s dad couldn’t see those eyes or perhaps didn’t want to or just didn’t understand what they meant. He scoffed and before anyone could react, punched Rowan square in the face and sent him flying, a loud crack ringing out as he collided with the wall. Stumbling towards his prone body, Kimberly’s father laughed as Rowan slowly stood back up, blood pouring from his nose. He went to swing again except this time, Rowan caught it and watched the blood drain from her dad’s face as his hand began to weaken, the healthy colour disappearing as it was replaced with a dark purple. When Rowan was certain that the fist was beyond any human repair, he let go and with all the might his scrawny body could muster, shoved him towards the door. That was the last time they saw him.

Later that night, once Rowan had been patched up, Kimberly told him everything. More than once that night tears fell and as the sun came up the next morning, it saw the two of them curled up on the couch, arms clutching as tightly as possible to each other.

The years pass quickly and it’s not too long before they’re kissing each other under a canopy, in front of their closest friends and family. Married life isn’t much different from their previous lives - they both still work and see friends and know that when they come home, they’re coming home to someone who has seen their darkest parts and has still stayed.

When Kimberly shows him the test, hope and fear shining in her eyes, he’s speechless and before she can shut down, misinterpret his silence, he’s picking her up and swinging her around the room. They’re going to have a baby. A baby.

Her pregnancy seems to last forever, their baby girl determined to stay put for as long as possible. Once she finally arrives into the world, she screams and cries - settling down only in her mother’s arms.

Lucille Marie Hawthorne - Lucy for short.

Life goes back to normal - or as normal as one can be when they’ve got a six-month-old-baby. They’re all so happy and things finally seem to be heading in the right direction. Nothing can break their stride.

And then it does. Unemployment is up and the construction company Rowan is working for goes under. Kimberly picks up more hours at the law firm but it was his salary that was paying the bulk of their bills. They begin to rely on food stamps - their days spent outside in order to soak up as much sun as possible before heading back inside to their dark house.

One day, while they’re waiting in line, Kimberly spots a flyer taped to a light post. Ripping it from it’s spot, she reads it aloud to Rowan. Wanted: Strong people with special talents - must be shown during the interview. They both know what that means - the powers that Rowan worked so hard to gain mastery over were in demand.

His interview was brutal and that night he said nothing, just curled up on their bed and let Kimberly hold him. The job started right away and she could only watch as each day he came home, his eyes seemed just that much colder. The money had returned but as she lay with her back to her husband, Kimberly’s eyes filled with tears as she wondered at what cost?

It’s a human gang that’s running the organization he works for and his job is simple. Make the people who are thrown into his room talk. Often times they’re disheveled business men, men who had lost bets or have taken out loans and are late on making their payments. So when a boy who can’t be more than seventeen is tossed inside, Rowan can feel his mouth go dry. This is not what he signed up for. He would not kill and torture children. For the first time since joining this life sucking venture, Rowan says no and lets the boy out, tells him never to come back.

That night he frantically packs his family’s bags, bringing only the necessities and the large stack of cash they kept under their bed for emergencies. Kimberly’s just grabbed their daughter when the front door is sent flying off it’s hinges and in steps the two mutants who are normally sent to retrieve people.

The fight is over before it can even begin - as Rowan launches himself towards them, the smaller mutant dodges and brings his energy covered hand to Kimberly’s throat. Her knife drops from her hand as she cradles their baby and Rowan knows he’s been beat.

Head hung low, he makes his way out the door, stopping when Kimberly starts screaming. He had expected the other mutant to follow behind and as he looked back in horror, the world seemed to slow. Kimberly is being held back by one hand as the mutant slowly brings his other towards Lucy, a green glowing energy surrounding it.

Rowan howls as Lucy’s body slumps to the floor and his vision goes red. Turning on the mutant next to him, Rowan grabs him by the neck and slams him back against the outside wall. His fingers grip tighter and tighter and he can feel the cells dying underneath his hands, can feel the blood start to slow until the skin beneath his fingers is purple. With a loud yell, Rowan rips the mutant in two before stalking his house.

Kimberly brandishes her knife at the mutant that killed her child, tears streaming down her face. Her mouth is open, she’s screaming - Rowan muses. Everything has gone quiet and all he’s focused on is the mutant currently crouched on the floor, a smug look on his face.

Rowan dives for him, can feel the energy push against his chest but he doesn’t care, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that his Lucy is laying on the floor lifeless and his life is over. His fingers scrabble for purchase - he only needs to connect with one part of the mutant’s body to activate his powers. Skin brushes against skin and Rowan pushes all the anger and death and sadness through that one point of contact, a hoarse cry leaving his lips.

When he finally comes back to himself, he’s laying next to a shell of the former mutant - the cells had degraded so much that bits and pieces of his body were just flaking away.

Kimberly is sobbing, the limp body of their four-year-old pressed tightly to her chest. This wasn’t what he wanted. He was supposed to protect them. They were his family. As their eyes met over the dead bodies between them, Rowan knew - this was something they could never come back from.

The funeral was a quiet affair. They hadn’t put her into classes yet, had wanted to keep her all to themselves for as long as they could, so it was only family and a few neighbours who watch the undertaker lower the small coffin into the grave.

Kimberly packed her things that night, moved back in with her mom. At least that’s what the note had said. He had held it so long that the words were nigh unreadable and no matter how much he smoothed it, some of the words were gone forever.

What did it matter now? What did anything matter? His family was gone, dead and so was he.

Over the next four years, Rowan fell in once again with the gang. His job seemed so much easier now, life seemed so much easier once he could no longer feel. People screamed and begged and he just stared at them, watched passively as they slowly realised they would never be able to get through to him.

Until the day she comes through. A tiny woman, she carried the wrath of the sun within her and Rowan was struck by how much she resembled Kimberly. She hit him and called him names, never once allowing the fear to set in, her eyes blazing with fire. For the first time in four years, Rowan can feel his old self calling out to him, reminding him that he once believed in doing the right thing and creating life instead of taking it away.

They leave that night. He sneaks her away under the cover of the moon, gives her money and food and tells her to run. Pleading, she begs him to come with her, to come away from this life of torture and pain and to find himself again. It’s an offer he can’t even consider. He doesn’t deserve a happy life, doesn’t deserve forgiveness. The most he can do is help others. She leaves him standing at the train station with a name. Hellfire. A school where other people, other mutants, like him are gathered in order to train and hone their skills.

And for the first time in a very long time, Rowan can feel hope fluttering beneath his breastbone.

[rposervices]

3 Tools to Automate Your High Volume Recruiting

AI and Automation are all the rage right now and if you are working in a high volume recruiting environment look for automation to be a coming attraction at a process near you.  There are several tasks in high volume recruiting that are prime targets of those involved in process automation. I am going to give a high level overview of some of the tools available and how you might use them to reduce time to fill, cost per hire while improving the overall candidate experience. Programmatic Job Advertising Platform The first tool to consider for high volume recruitment is a programmatic job advertising platform.  It may not be the first suggestion you would expect but I believe it is one of the simplest and most cost-effective places to start.  A programmatic job advertising platform is an AI-powered tool that is designed to monitor and adjust your advertising placement and spend.   While it may seem trivial the correct application of this technique has made Amazon billions of dollars in sales and should not be underestimated. A programmatic job advertising platform can adjust your spend so that the jobs that are not seeing enough traction get more funding and are seen by more relevant prospect while reducing funding of roles that are performing well organically.  Some are also even able to remove job postings after a certain number of prospects have applied. This is a double efficiency gain as it helps you stop spending money on advertisements that are working organically while focusing the advertising dollars in the places where the most focus is required. Getting a better ROI on your job advertising dollars should be enough to justify the expense of a platform but it isn’t the only benefit to this approach.  In the US alone there are over 7.5 million jobs posted online.  Unemployment is also near record low levels.  The tactics that worked when there were 4 million jobs online will not produce the same results when there are 7.5 million jobs posted online.   As an industry, it is time for us to change our tactics and adapt to our new environment. To my mind, this is one of the simplest, inexpensive ways to being the path toward process automation. Chabot Another type of tool that would be worth investigating is a Chabot.  NLP (Natural Language Processing) is a rapidly improving technology in the world of AI.   Last year Google demonstrated their new Chabot that could actually make phone calls and schedule reservations with a live person.  NLP is a term used to describe the technology that allows a computer to understand and converse with humans.  A Chabot can be programmed to get take a basic application, create a profile, apply for jobs, request updates and take assessments.  The nice thing about chatbots is that they are available 24/7 and can talk to more than one person at a time. In addition to using the latest in NLP, chatbots can also take advantage of machine learning.  This means that generally speaking over time, they not only get better at understanding and responding but they are also able to begin to predict who will and who will not be a match for the organization based on previous hiring decisions.  This can be a double-edged sword and it is imperative that the reporting produced by a Chabot be monitored closely. Amazon learned that their matching technology, that included chatbots, was automating an unconscious bias in their recruiting process.   However, closely monitored a Chabot can greatly increase recruiter production by allowing them to focus on the prospect most likely to be hired. It also improves the candidate experience.  One of the great frustrations of candidates today is that they feel like their resume falls into a black hole never to be heard from again.  A Chabot is a practical way to minimize this experience and interestingly I’m told by the vendors and end-users alike that nearly 75% of all people who engage with a Chabot say, “thank you.”  I would guess this is higher than the number of people that thank an ATS for taking their application. Chatbots can help you not only sort out the no but also help you get to yes in less time. Video Interview Platforms The final tool I would recommend considering is video interview platforms.  Video interviews have a number of advantages in a high volume environment. The first advantage is of course scheduling.  Candidates can take the interview whenever they have the time. The data indicates that as many as 40% of all the interviews conducted on video interview platforms are recorded after business hours or on the weekend. Additionally, it can help standardize the recruiting process and help to make it fair.  Everyone gets the same questions in the same order in the same way. It gives candidates a chance to show, not tell, their skills and abilities.  To my mind, it is a part of a solution to the candidate black hole problem. Finally, it allows your hiring managers to compare candidates side by side.  They are able to move from candidate to candidate with ease and this not only helps them save time but gives them a true candidate pipeline to review. An on-demand candidate pipeline has been a dream of many of the world’s hiring managers. Automation can be a powerful way to not only sort out the no’s but also to get to yes faster.   The high volume recruiting programs are the ones that will see the largest ROI from programmatic advertising, chatbots and video interviews.  So if you are in a high volume recruiting team then I would start looking seriously at these tools, schedule demos and bring them to the attention of leadership.   If we want to be seen as true business partners one of the things we must do is bring ideas to the table that help our organizations run better, faster and cheaper. Read the full article

[stopkingobama]

VIDEO: Cruz slams Venezuela's socialist dictator, predicts freedom will prevail

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Wednesday delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding the growing unrest in Venezuela, and the arrest of prominent dissidents, including Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma by the Maduro regime’s security forces.

The full text of his remarks is below:

“Mr. President, I stand here today to speak about the devastation befalling Venezuela, the people raging in the streets against unfair elections, the dissidents being seized from their homes and detained by security forces, and those starving without food and water.

“Venezuela — once one of the most richly resourced countries in Latin America — is being dismantled by Nicolas Maduro and his flailing Chavista regime. It is a human tragedy, impacting more than 30 million people who are literally witnessing society collapse around them.

“The numbers sadly speak for themselves — according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund, Venezuela’s GDP contracted by almost 20% last year, with inflation reaching some 550% and unemployment spiking to more than 21%. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates that the country suffers from an 85% shortage of medicine and a 90% deficit of medical supplies, including those needed to treat various types of cancer.

“Men and women, young and old, are going hungry. Thanks to Maduro’s destruction of the Venezuelan currency, flour, cooking oil, and other basic commodities have disappeared from store shelves. Students and teachers leave their classrooms for hours on end to stand in line hoping to receive a loaf of bread as a week’s meal. The most vulnerable are going on what are called “Maduro diets” — skipping meals and reducing their food consumption. And Maduro’s response? The would-be dictator has threatened to seize businesses that don’t produce enough and has told Venezuelans that doing without makes them tougher.

“Thousands of Venezuelans have crossed borders in search of food and medicine, while Maduro and his cronies spin conspiracies and rail against phantom enemies on state media. The situation is so dire that the regime has begun “rewarding” some of its most loyal supporters with toilet paper.

“Alongside the disintegration of Venezuela’s economy is the specter of Maduro’s growing dictatorship. We have just witnessed the sham election of a so-called Constituent Assembly, which Maduro intends to use to try to rewrite Venezuela’s Constitution, to crush what is left of its free political institutions, and to consolidate his grip on power. His electoral commission lied about the turnout and downplayed the number of government workers whom the regime pressured to participate. While Maduro preached dialogue on television, his security forces were busy rounding up political opponents and murdering peaceful demonstrators.

“This was not Maduro’s first power grab. Earlier this year, his handpicked Supreme Court temporarily dissolved Venezuela’s duly elected National Assembly and stripped its members of immunity in what the head of the Organization of American States called a “self-coup.” The regime backtracked only after ferocious pressure and condemnation.

“But this week’s actions make plain Maduro’s intent to complete the process begun under his mentor, Hugo Chavez, to transform Venezuela into a full socialist dictatorship.

“We’ve seen that socialism doesn’t work. We’ve seen the ravages of government control of the economy the Venezuelan people are suffering, and when combined with dictatorship, it is a toxic mix.

“Maduro’s actions must not continue unchallenged. I support the Treasury Department’s sanctions against senior Venezuelan officials, including Maduro, placing him in the ignominious company of Kim Jong-un and Robert Mugabe. We must keep the pressure on, and continue to isolate and delegitimize Maduro’s regime. For behind Maduro can be found China, with its billions in infrastructure investment, and Russia, with its growing control over Venezuela’s energy sector, and Iran, whose Hezbollah proxy launders money with Maduro’s acquiescence.

“Yet Maduro is not without opposition. Brave men and women in the tens of thousands have taken to the streets to demand a better future for themselves and their families. Many dozens have been killed by the regime’s security forces and hundreds have been detained. These freedom-loving people represent the best of Venezuela and fearlessly follow in the footsteps of generations of dissidents against socialist repression.

“Just yesterday, Maduro’s security forces seized two prominent opposition leaders – Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma – for daring to criticize his regime on social media. These two men were carted away in the middle of the night, leaving their loved ones traumatized and frantic without information. To Lilian and Mitzy, the wives of these two extraordinary men, I want to say that you two are some of the strongest people that I have ever been blessed to meet with. You inspire me. Your husbands fight inspires me, and millions of Americans and people across the globe. And I urge you to continue to stand and fight on behalf of your husbands and the many others that are held captive by the Chavista government. I look forward to welcoming Leopoldo and Antonio back in freedom and I hope playing leading roles, leading a free Venezuela, a post-Maduro Venezuela.

“Members of my own family have lived through this sort of oppression in Cuba, where a lawless government can raid your home without warning, arbitrarily detain your relatives and neighbors, and ensure that you hardly, if ever, see them again. And to Lilian and Mitzy, I tell you I will continue to raise my voice and to call for action, real action to help Leopoldo, Antonio, and every other Venezuelan willing to stand and risk everything to live in a free, prosperous, and democratic country.

“It is well past time to consign Chavismo to the dustbin of history.

“To the millions of Venezuelans waiting in lines for food, and clothes, and medicine, struggling with galloping inflation, fearful of Maduro’s henchmen detaining their friends and families or gunning them down in the streets, and thinking themselves helpless in the face of their country’s decay. You are not alone and should not be afraid. America and our allies will help see you through this crisis and help you recover. Each new outrage from the Maduro regime only makes our solidarity with you grow. You are strong and Maduro is weak. You are Venezuela’s future and Maduro is its past. You will win and Maduro will lose. Venezuela is not the private preserve of a bus driver-turned-authoritarian-thug in a tracksuit, but instead Venezuela is a proud and free nation with a glorious past and an even greater future.

“Through its words and deeds, the Maduro regime has abandoned what little legitimacy it might have had. When this regime expires, Venezuela will restore its place at the forefront of Latin America and become a good friend and partner to America once again. We stand with the Venezuelan people as your friend, against this socialist oppression and we tell you there are brighter days ahead, brighter days of economic cooperation, of energy growth, of abundance of prosperity, of throwing off the shackles of totalitarianism.

“Estamos contigo Venezuela, tus mejores días están por venir!”

[americanlibertypac]

VIDEO: Cruz slams Venezuela's socialist dictator, predicts freedom will prevail

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Wednesday delivered remarks on the Senate floor regarding the growing unrest in Venezuela, and the arrest of prominent dissidents, including Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma by the Maduro regime’s security forces.

The full text of his remarks is below:

“Mr. President, I stand here today to speak about the devastation befalling Venezuela, the people raging in the streets against unfair elections, the dissidents being seized from their homes and detained by security forces, and those starving without food and water.

“Venezuela — once one of the most richly resourced countries in Latin America — is being dismantled by Nicolas Maduro and his flailing Chavista regime. It is a human tragedy, impacting more than 30 million people who are literally witnessing society collapse around them.

“The numbers sadly speak for themselves — according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund, Venezuela’s GDP contracted by almost 20% last year, with inflation reaching some 550% and unemployment spiking to more than 21%. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates that the country suffers from an 85% shortage of medicine and a 90% deficit of medical supplies, including those needed to treat various types of cancer.

“Men and women, young and old, are going hungry. Thanks to Maduro’s destruction of the Venezuelan currency, flour, cooking oil, and other basic commodities have disappeared from store shelves. Students and teachers leave their classrooms for hours on end to stand in line hoping to receive a loaf of bread as a week’s meal. The most vulnerable are going on what are called “Maduro diets” — skipping meals and reducing their food consumption. And Maduro’s response? The would-be dictator has threatened to seize businesses that don’t produce enough and has told Venezuelans that doing without makes them tougher.

“Thousands of Venezuelans have crossed borders in search of food and medicine, while Maduro and his cronies spin conspiracies and rail against phantom enemies on state media. The situation is so dire that the regime has begun “rewarding” some of its most loyal supporters with toilet paper.

“Alongside the disintegration of Venezuela’s economy is the specter of Maduro’s growing dictatorship. We have just witnessed the sham election of a so-called Constituent Assembly, which Maduro intends to use to try to rewrite Venezuela’s Constitution, to crush what is left of its free political institutions, and to consolidate his grip on power. His electoral commission lied about the turnout and downplayed the number of government workers whom the regime pressured to participate. While Maduro preached dialogue on television, his security forces were busy rounding up political opponents and murdering peaceful demonstrators.

“This was not Maduro’s first power grab. Earlier this year, his handpicked Supreme Court temporarily dissolved Venezuela’s duly elected National Assembly and stripped its members of immunity in what the head of the Organization of American States called a “self-coup.” The regime backtracked only after ferocious pressure and condemnation.

“But this week’s actions make plain Maduro’s intent to complete the process begun under his mentor, Hugo Chavez, to transform Venezuela into a full socialist dictatorship.

“We’ve seen that socialism doesn’t work. We’ve seen the ravages of government control of the economy the Venezuelan people are suffering, and when combined with dictatorship, it is a toxic mix.

“Maduro’s actions must not continue unchallenged. I support the Treasury Department’s sanctions against senior Venezuelan officials, including Maduro, placing him in the ignominious company of Kim Jong-un and Robert Mugabe. We must keep the pressure on, and continue to isolate and delegitimize Maduro’s regime. For behind Maduro can be found China, with its billions in infrastructure investment, and Russia, with its growing control over Venezuela’s energy sector, and Iran, whose Hezbollah proxy launders money with Maduro’s acquiescence.

“Yet Maduro is not without opposition. Brave men and women in the tens of thousands have taken to the streets to demand a better future for themselves and their families. Many dozens have been killed by the regime’s security forces and hundreds have been detained. These freedom-loving people represent the best of Venezuela and fearlessly follow in the footsteps of generations of dissidents against socialist repression.

“Just yesterday, Maduro’s security forces seized two prominent opposition leaders – Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma – for daring to criticize his regime on social media. These two men were carted away in the middle of the night, leaving their loved ones traumatized and frantic without information. To Lilian and Mitzy, the wives of these two extraordinary men, I want to say that you two are some of the strongest people that I have ever been blessed to meet with. You inspire me. Your husbands fight inspires me, and millions of Americans and people across the globe. And I urge you to continue to stand and fight on behalf of your husbands and the many others that are held captive by the Chavista government. I look forward to welcoming Leopoldo and Antonio back in freedom and I hope playing leading roles, leading a free Venezuela, a post-Maduro Venezuela.

“Members of my own family have lived through this sort of oppression in Cuba, where a lawless government can raid your home without warning, arbitrarily detain your relatives and neighbors, and ensure that you hardly, if ever, see them again. And to Lilian and Mitzy, I tell you I will continue to raise my voice and to call for action, real action to help Leopoldo, Antonio, and every other Venezuelan willing to stand and risk everything to live in a free, prosperous, and democratic country.

“It is well past time to consign Chavismo to the dustbin of history.

“To the millions of Venezuelans waiting in lines for food, and clothes, and medicine, struggling with galloping inflation, fearful of Maduro’s henchmen detaining their friends and families or gunning them down in the streets, and thinking themselves helpless in the face of their country’s decay. You are not alone and should not be afraid. America and our allies will help see you through this crisis and help you recover. Each new outrage from the Maduro regime only makes our solidarity with you grow. You are strong and Maduro is weak. You are Venezuela’s future and Maduro is its past. You will win and Maduro will lose. Venezuela is not the private preserve of a bus driver-turned-authoritarian-thug in a tracksuit, but instead Venezuela is a proud and free nation with a glorious past and an even greater future.

“Through its words and deeds, the Maduro regime has abandoned what little legitimacy it might have had. When this regime expires, Venezuela will restore its place at the forefront of Latin America and become a good friend and partner to America once again. We stand with the Venezuelan people as your friend, against this socialist oppression and we tell you there are brighter days ahead, brighter days of economic cooperation, of energy growth, of abundance of prosperity, of throwing off the shackles of totalitarianism.

“Estamos contigo Venezuela, tus mejores días están por venir!”

[dmmowers]

No Condemnation

No Condemnation A sermon for Trinity Episcopal Church, Baraboo, Wis. Sixth Sunday After Pentecost | Year A, Track 2 | July 16, 2017 Isaiah 55:10-13 | Psalm 65 | Romans 8:1-11 | Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

My father died six years ago next month. He had a brain aneurysm at age 57 and lived three weeks after that, but never made it out of ICU. That episode, in the middle of 2011, is a significant milestone along the path to finding myself here as your Rector. That's another story. The reason I bring this up this morning is that in the aftermath of his death, I carried his work cell phone around for a couple of days. It was the old kind of flip phone. Raise the antenna, flip it open, tiny screen. I remember my surprise the first time I opened his phone and turned it on. There was space on the top of the screen for a short line of text that my dad had customized, and it said "Romans 8:1". I didn't know what Romans 8:1 was. I had loved the Bible for a number of years, and at times had posted Bible verses around in prominent places where I could see them. Romans 8:1, though, was not one of those verses. So I went and looked it up: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

My father was a good man, but a sinner like the rest of us. He took his failings hard, maybe harder than most people - a trait that I am certain I have inherited from him. More than once growing up my dad would lose his temper, or be short or curt with someone in our family, and then he would go away and come back later and apologize, and I could tell -- even as a teenager who was maybe not so inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt -- that he felt badly about whatever it was he was apologizing for. As a pastor, now, with a lot of experience with this sort of thing, I can look back and guess that the time between when he would walk away and when he would come back and apologize was filled with a lot of voices in his head, berating him for not being good enough as a parent, as a spouse, as a Christian.

And so, when we began to attend the Pentecostal Church where I was formed in high school, the place where I and my dad both learned to love Scripture, I can only imagine the joy that overtook him when he first ran across our passage from Paul's Letter to the Romans this morning. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." I. This is the good news that we have from God: even though we on our own were unable to cope with the power of Sin and death, God has been faithful to set us free from slavery to sin. We've heard a lot over the last five weeks about the Power of Sin - how it was at work in the world to destroy us, to condemn us, how it came into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As a response, God chose Abraham to be the father of a chosen people, Israel, who would receive the Law and live according to it so that they would be a blessing to all nations. But Israel failed over and over to live according to the Law, because the Law was used by the Power of Sin to exploit the weakness of human beings. When you tell a toddler not to touch a stove, the first thing they think is that they should see about touching the stove. That is the same weakness that prevented the Law from achieving its purpose and setting people free from the Power of Sin.  

All of this provokes theological questions for some people. If choosing Abraham and his descendants as his people was God's response to sin, doesn't Israel's disobedience mean that God's plan has failed? In other words, if God's solution for the sin that entered the world through humanity was to call Israel and give them the Law, didn't that solution fail? And do we really want to follow a God whose solutions fail?

Other people wonder about Jesus' death. Questions like, "Why did Jesus have to die, anyway? Couldn't God have just gotten out his magic wand and made sin go away some other way? Why did Jesus have to offer himself on the cross in order to condemn sin? If Jesus' death really did conquer sin, then why is the world such a cruel place? Wouldn't it have made more of a difference if Jesus had actually dealt with sin in the flesh?

II. 

And finally, if Jesus' death really means that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, why do we still experience so much condemnation? We have a political culture that no longer debates ideas but rather throws around personal insults as if that is the best way to ensure that the government continues to function. Baraboo and Sauk County are not immune from this political culture: go read the comments in the News Republic about the county board chairman, or about investigations into the highway department, or the roundabout in front of St. Vinny's, or a dozen other things, and you will see that we are so often a people who do not debate ideas, but rather who call people names and condemn each other. 

I'm sorry to say that in my experience Christians fare little better on condemning other people than the general population. This week, Religion News Service ran an interview with the famous pastor and writer Eugene Peterson. Peterson is best known for The Message paraphrase of the Bible, but he was a pastor to a church in Bel Air, Maryland for 50 years prior to his retirement a few years ago. He has recently published When Kingfishers Catch Fire, which he has said will be his final book. I have a number of his books on my shelves and have found him to be a wise pastor to me, as well as a faithful, interesting reader of Scripture. Now, at age 84, he is retiring from public life and will no longer write or speak, and so agreed to be interviewed by RNS. At the end of the interview, Peterson was asked if he was still pastoring today, and a couple of the same sex came to him to ask him to marry them, whether he would do it. He answered, Yes. The next day, the internet exploded. Headlines blared about this famous pastor's change of heart. People who support the Church's recognition of same sex marriage fell all over themselves to praise Peterson. On the other side, blogs pulsed with rage over Peterson's thin reasoning and abandonment of biblical principles. The following day, Peterson published a retraction, stating that he had been taken off guard by the question and that he had been confused. He now said that he supported the church only recognizing marriage between men and women, but that he loved the gay people he pastored and that they had been and would always be welcome at his table. The internet exploded again. Headlines blared that Peterson had been pressured into retracting his change of mind. Blogs raged over how Peterson couldn't give a clear answer and so could no longer be trusted. The people who had rushed to praise him yesterday now condemned him.

This is what happens when we treat people as collections of positions, as a set of viewpoints. When we fail to attribute the best motives towards those whom we disagree with, when we fail to give our opponents on hard issues the benefit of the doubt, we are often doing so because we need to be right more than we need to care about the person with whom we're talking. We want to win arguments, to be heard without having to listen, to convince others without having to do the hard work of understanding what they are saying. We fail to give grace to others, and that leads us to fail to give grace to ourselves. If you're anything like me, the loudest voices of condemnation you hear come from inside your own head. Maybe you think about what others think of you. Maybe you think about your unemployment, or how small your paycheck is, or that you got too sick to work and had to retire, and the voice in your head is there to tell you, "You're worthless. Your life is over. Give up." 

Condemnation is rampant in our world, and in our own community. How can we, Trinity Church, make a difference for people in our community who only hear voices of condemnation? As I have lived among you as your Rector for these last four months, I know many of us care deeply about these people. My hope for this community is that we would become known as a place that does not let people sit in the darkness of condemnation, a people that goes out to the hurting so that they might be comforted. God would have us be a presence in this community that would tell the brokenhearted that in Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation, that the Power of Sin no longer has the final word, that they can be set free by the Spirit of Life. 

III.

But that doesn't stop us from wrestling with hard theological questions. In fact, the amount of condemnation in our world propels us to ask hard questions. If Jesus' death conquered the realm of the flesh and the power of sin, why is there so much condemnation in the world and inside our own heads? Why did Jesus have to die? Did God fail when he gave the Law to Israel? Why couldn't God have done something about sin without the crucifixion?

God's plan didn't fail. From the creation of the world, he knew that the command to Adam and Eve would be broken, that the Law would be misused by the power of sin. He knew that people would be bound up by the power of Sin, that the people of Israel would never keep the Law, and what's more, especially when they DID manage to keep the Law, it was not enough to deal with the power of Sin. God was at war, engaged in a cosmic struggle against the Power of Sin and Death, against Satan. Something decisive would need to be done to break them of their power. Sin had latched onto the creation God loved, onto the people God loved like an infectious disease sickening everything and everyone it touched. Such a strong illness required strong medicine.

So God came to Earth as a human being, Jesus Christ, to do something about sin. He was the person from outside, apart from the universal force of sin, who could do something about sin in the flesh. In coming to Earth as a human being, submitting to the most degrading death imaginable, Jesus conquered the Power of Sin. He became the Lord over sin. In conquering death, Jesus has submitted himself to the judgment that the Power of Sin rightfully deserved. He has heard the Father pronounce the death sentence over the Power of Sin and he offered himself as Jewish Messiah and Suffering Servant to take that sentence in his own body, and then the Spirit of life raised him from the dead, opening for us a new way of living and the hope that at the end of time, we will be raised from the dead just as he was. Because Jesus Christ invaded Earth, there is now a new possibility is open to us, a possibility that is without condemnation: living life in the power of the Spirit.

Everything depends on the pardon that God has extended to us through Jesus Christ. Everything depends on whether that word of no condemnation is spoken to each of us and that we also hear it. If that word of no condemnation is addressed to us and we hear it, we know that there is no longer a judgment to be feared - not from God, not from anyone else - because Jesus has taken the judgment onto himself. (Barth, CD II/1, 403)

The Father sent the Son as Messiah to offer himself to conquer sin, so that his death could defeat death and offer to us eternal life. IV.

That eternal life begins right now. For those of us who struggle with the voices in our own heads, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You lose a job and don't find another one immediately and tell yourself that you are a failure? There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Your house is messy and your lawn isn't mowed, and you just know that your mother would be flipping in her grave if she could see your house now? There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You missed a payment on a bill and it feels like your life is just a pile of second notices? There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You don't make it to church very much and you feel guilty every time you do for all the times that you're not here? There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The life that Jesus offers us is a life where we are free to be ourselves without fear of being condemned by others, a life where we admit to God and to each other that we are broken, that we need help, that we need the Spirit of Life to transform us, to make us new, to undo the effects of the Power of Sin in our lives. 

I yearn for us here at Trinity to be sharing our lives together deeply so that we can experience the faithfulness of Jesus through each other. I yearn for us to be able to share our faults, our struggles, our real-life problems with each other, and for our community to be a place where we can do that without fear of condemnation. I yearn for us to study the Scriptures together, to pray together, to eat together so that our life as a community following Jesus will be deeply compelling to those who observe it. May Baraboo know that we are Christians, not because of our rush to condemn people who disagree with us, but because of the ways in which we love each other. And remember, as I like to say from time to time: love is an action verb, not a feeling. Jesus' death has made this kind of community life possible because we are not in the flesh, we are not bound to the law of sin and death any longer. If Christ is in us, we have life because of his righteousness. 

Thanks be to God. Amen.

[caredogstips]

How To Finally Attract The People And Experiences You’re Missing Out On

I’ve been on close to 250 Tinder dates since initially downloading the app back in January 2013. I consider myself to be a pioneer, of sorts.

This fact is often followed up with grunts of thwarting or questions put by peers about how atrocious the dates were. Quite frankly, I’ve only been on one bad Tinder date, and I 100 percentage expected the appointment to leave precisely as poorly as it did.

You get what you put out in this world, and the same exits for online dating. In order to attract the person or persons, knows and relationships you require on Tinder, focus on how you’re represent yourself online.

Over the last few years of subduing Tinder, here are a few key takeaways on how to captivate the people and knowledge you’re proposing for TAGEND

Profile photos

I can tell by a guy’s chart word-painting if we’re going to have chemistry, whether the government has will be platonic, solely sex FWB statusor future bae status. I know what you’re thoughts, but hear me out.

Your profile photo is everything. It should always be current and represent your identity and evaluates. I define a current photo as any photo taken of me within the last month.

I can’t conceive I even have to say this, but include your is now facing your profile photo and experience free to envelop your friend’s faces with emojis to respect their privacy and avoid confusion.

When I first moved to LA, I decided to cut my fuzz into a cute pixie cut an hour before gratifying up with a time for the first time. Bold, right? I was super self-conscious that he would look at me as some sort of catfish, as my chart contained six photographs of me traveling that month with long hair. I obligated sure to communicate this dramatic change via verse and headed to our date.

Being in the region of the superficial, and unsure of how I even seemed about my first-time pixie, I was satisfied when my year lighted up when he saw my “hairs-breadth”. Our date rocked, and it quickly led to my best and most influential relationship to date.

You only get six profile photos, so pick them wisely. I tend to use photographs of me by myself experiencing thoughts I would like to share with a partner. Whether you enjoy traveling, dive bars, mustaches or say, someone else out there wants to enjoy these heats with you. You only have to give them a hint.

Current Work

During months of unemployment, I still obstructed my position as a freelance scribe. Why? Because that’s what I am. I have supported myself fully for months at a time off of my writing.

At the same time, being jobless is nothing to be ashamed of. These dates, an increasing number of jobs aren’t posted online and are filled through referrals. Talking about your unemployment status may actually lead to an introduction to a linkage, or even a undertaking opportunity.

Additionally, in the land of the gig economy, someone calling themselves an entrepreneur does not totally discounted them. In LA, I convene beings of all sorts of life who the hell is gainfully self-employed entrepreneurs. Whether you’re improving an app, stepping hounds or dancing at a table for fund, to each their own. And quite honestly, the most important part of my the reports and who I encounter isn’t defined by how they make a living.

But at the same era, there is a fine way. Announcing yourself the co-founder of a startup when you don’t even have an LLC, let alone land sheet is somewhat offensive and for certain intersecting the line.

Name

Always put your law epithet or the epithet your peers know you by. If you make a separate Facebook account with a different name and use it on Tinder, things can get creepy. Imagine picturing your friend the cutie you matched with online, only to find out you have friends in common and they’re lying about their epithet. Awkward much?

Also, if you’re making a second Facebook account exclusively for Tinder to avoid running into matches on Facebook, your thought process is flawed. That’s a Facebook algorithm that connecting your contacts with Facebook, and then plucks them into your “People You May Know” section.

Simple fix: Don’t generate someone your telephone number until theypass the first appointment test. There’s nothing wrong with saving your interactions within the app. If a year proceeds poorly, it’s pretty simple to meaning the person, thank them for their season, explain how you find and un-match them.

Age

Don’t “re fucking lying to” your age. Tinder isn’t broken. We “understand what youre saying” many of you lie about your age. You do it to make sure you’re not being filtered out because of your age. I see this a lot with guys in their 30 s.

If you’re going to lie about your age, you’re already starting off on a bad hoof. Stop chasing was approved by the incorrect beings. By lying about your age you’re already starting off on the incorrect foot by attempting to captivate the wrong girls. The actuality is you can’t push someone to like you, and if someone is willing to write you off as a loss because of your age, exactly save swiping.

Plus, lying isn’t cool and will contribute your collaborator to wonder what else you’re capable of lying about. I formerly caught a sidekick of quarry in the purposes of the act. He had two Tinder chronicles with two epithets and two different ages on his profile. Neither of them were accurate.

Profile

You get 500 personas, which is a ton to work with, but keep in mind that merely about 230 attributes will show above the swipe, ” or “above the bend, ” as they call it in journalism. It’s the amount of textbook a person will see without moving down on your chart, which shapes the first six months of your chart the most important.

It’s not about what you’re supposed to do now, it’s about how you got there. Share a line or two about how you ended up where you are now. Mine responds, I’m one of those Millennials who discontinue their job, traveled for three months and endeavoured to LA on a whim. #DigitalNomad. ” I’m looking for thrill seekers and people with a rage for remote work.

Be direct. I personally enjoy when I know what someone’s go looking for before I swipe. Ogling for people to explore dive barrooms and speakeasies with, ” is a perfect example. Knowing what someone else is into for enjoyable is important, and will lure parties that are either interested sharing these experiences with you.

If you’re merely in township for the weekend, make that sh* t clear. I personally think it’s the worst when I match with someone, start a great communication, and unexpectedly have to ask why they’re currently 2,000 miles back simply to find out they were in township for one weekend. Some beings are looking for love or friends in their local place. Respect that.

If you’re applying Tinder for threesomes, made quite clear. You can’t coerce someone to be your third wheel, but rely me when I say there are tons of people who are interested in connecting you and your spouse if you make it clear to them.

Write in your expres. Stop letting your friends write your profile for you. Mention thoughts you’re passionate about. I personally love politics, so I don’t shy away from a good old fashioned political parody.

And one more thing, ditch the new to this and Tinder sucks rows. If you think Tinder suctions so much, I have a solution. Delete Tinder, and tell the people who are interested in enjoying themselves have fun and carry on.

Keep calm, carry on and happy swiping, y’all.

Read more:

The post How To Finally Attract The People And Experiences You’re Missing Out On appeared first on caredogstips.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2sJn504 via IFTTT

[topinforma]

New Post has been published on Mortgage News

New Post has been published on http://bit.ly/2nftt8L

mortgage-rates-today-march-28-2017-plus-lock-recommendations

What’s Driving Mortgage Rates Today?

Mortgage rates today got a major boost (not in a good way) from unexpectedly high Consumer Confidence numbers from the Conference Board. The highest since December 2000, in fact.

Instead of the widely-expected reading of 113.5, we got 125.6! Investors’ minds blown.

Why should this matter? Because consumer spending drives over two-thirds of the US economy. When Americans feel good about their finances and employment, we love to spend money! And demand for stuff to buy creates jobs, increases wages, and, yes, fuels inflation.

Just the sort of thing to push bond prices down and interest rates up.

Today’s Mortgage Rates

** FHA APRs include government-mandated mortgage insurance premiums (MIP).

These rates are averages, and your rate could be lower.

Housing Prices Up

Also released today was the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, and it contained good news for homeowners. The reports includes all nine U.S. census divisions.

It came up with a 5.9 percent annual increase in January prices, up from 5.7 percent last month. More impressively, this represents a 31-month high!

If you’re still on the fence about buying, however, this might be your wakeup call.

This would be considered good news for the overall economy, which would make it less-good for those who have not yet locked in their mortgage rates yet.

Click to see today’s rates (Mar 28th, 2017)

This Morning

So far, however, other economic barometers are flat and mixed, probably overshadowed by continued White house drama and speculation. CNNMoney’s Fear & Greed Index, while floating in the “Fear” rage at 37, has improved from yesterday’s “Extreme Fear” position. This means investors are a little less spooked and more likely to pull out of bonds and back into stocks. Too bad for mortgage rates.

All three major stock indexes are up a little, and so is oil. Ten-year Treasury yields are also up slightly to 2.37 percent, but still below the 240 fence.

All in all, not bad for anyone floating, but not much upside either.

Tomorrow

Wednesday brings just one piece of data, and not a super-important one at that. Pending home sales as reported by the National Associated of Realtors are expected to drop 2.8 percent due to lack of supply in many markets. This can be seen as slightly inflationary in a way because inventory is not likely to come up unless prices do.

Thursday: Weekly jobless claims, predicted to be 243,000

Friday: (highly important) February’s Personal income (expected to increase .4 percent), personal spending (expected to rise by .2 percent), and the core inflation rate (expected to be .2 percent).

Friday: The Consumer Sentiment Index is predicted to rise to 97.6 from 96.3 for March.

When the actual figures vary significantly from those expected by analysts, there is potential for movement in interest rates.

In general, anything pointing to an improving economy or increased inflation leads to rate increases, while reports that indicate financial faltering push rates down.

Request a personalized quote from a licensed, reputable lender here.

Rate Lock Recommendation

This is a good time to take advantage of the drop in pricing. I recommend locking for anyone closing in the next 30 days, and even longer if your lender will do it for no extra charge.

Note that this is what I would do if I had a mortgage in process today. Your own goals and tolerance for risk may differ.

>>Ready to lock? Click here.<<

What Causes Rates To Rise And Fall?

Mortgage interest rates depend on a great deal on the expectations of investors. Good economic news tends to be bad for interest rates, because an active economy raises concerns about inflation. Inflation causes fixed-income investments like bonds to lose value, and that causes their yields (another way of saying interest rates) to increase.

For example, suppose that two years ago, you bought a $1,000 bond paying five percent interest ($50) each year. (This is called its “coupon rate.”) That’s a pretty good rate today, so lots of investors want to buy it from you. You sell your $1,000 bond for $1,200.

When Rates Fall

The buyer gets the same $50 a year in interest that you were getting. However, because he paid more for the bond, his interest rate is not five percent.

Your interest rate: $50 annual interest / $1,000 = 5.0%

Your buyer’s interest rate: $50 annual interest / $1,200 = 4.2%

Your buyer gets an interest rate, or yield, of only 4.2 percent. And that’s why, when demand for bonds increases and bond prices go up, interest rates go down.

When Rates Rise

However, when the economy heats up, the potential for inflation makes bonds less appealing. With fewer people wanting to buy bonds, their prices decrease, and then interest rates go up.

Imagine that you have your $1,000 bond, but you can’t sell it for $1,000, because unemployment has dropped and stock prices are soaring. You end up getting $700. The buyer gets the same $50 a year in interest, but the yield looks like this:

$50 annual interest / $700 = 7.1% The buyer’s interest rate is now slightly more than seven percent.

Click to see today’s rates (Mar 28th, 2017)

The information contained on The Mortgage Reports website is for informational purposes only and is not an advertisement for products offered by Full Beaker. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the policy or position of Full Beaker, its officers, parent, or affiliates.

Try the Mortgage Calculator