#Me picking dates on purpose to address one of the most interesting and under-addressed periods

[c-is-for-circinate]

Okay, by popular demand...

(This is not a fic.  This is simply a set of highlights around the prologue/introduction of what would be a fic, if my brain worked and I could write and I actually wanted to bear the shame of having my first an only proper CritRole fic be a crossover with the Dragonriders of Pern.)

There are many, many ways Vox Machina could exist in the 2000+ years of Pern’s known history.  This is what happens when Keyleth of High Reaches Weyr is born, the only daughter of Weyrwoman Vilya, rider of gold Aramenth, and Weyrleader K’rrin, rider of bronze Zephrath, in late fall of the year (or, as they say on Pern, fall of the turn) 998, precisely ten turns before the fifth Pass of the Red Star is expected to send Thread down across the planet for five decades to come.

In 1004, there are four turns to go until Thread is due to fall again, and it feels like forever. 

In the deep tropical heat of Ista Island, Vex and Vax sneak through the deep undergrowth that’s been allowed to spring up in the past two centuries, hide in the tiny narrow places where only a pair of skinny agile little eleven-turn-olds could could go.  They giggle together, and Vex finds the wild redfruit trees and overgrown berry patches, and they sneak back to their mother grinning and covered in dirt and sticky fruit juice at the end of every day. That’s how the look on the day they steal out of the jungle to find an enormous bronze dragon sprawled on the hard-packed dirt around the cothold, and a tall, imposing man they barely recognize talking to their mother in the doorway.  His frown gets even deeper when his eyes settle on them. “I’ll speak to the Lord Holder about seeing that greenery is cleared soon,” the man, who’s bronzerider S’dor, who’s their father, says.  “It’s a hazard that close to a hold, during a Fall.” “It’s not dangerous!” Vax protests, and Vex looks longingly and desperately at their little patch of beloved jungle, and their mother says, “now, children,” and the man who they’ve seen every handful of turns for all their life so far who is their father says, “Elaina, you can’t pretend this isn’t their best chance to become something that matters.” “How do you know they’ll be any good for your dragons at all, if you disapprove so much?” their mother asks quietly, and their father smiles smugly, proudly, and says, “They’re my children.  The dragons will take to them.”

In the high, windy northern peaks of High Reaches Weyr, in the middle of nowhere at the top of the world, Keyleth stands on top of the ridge surrounding the great Weyr bowl, on top of the Eye Rock with her arms raised up to the sky, and closes her eyes, and imagines she can fly. She is not quite six yet, and strong arms catch her easily as she leaps down from the Star Stones, before she can crash and fall.  Her mother chuckles in her ear, and her mother’s dragon chuckles in her head, just as it’s been for her entire life, just as it must always, always be.

In 1005, there are three turns to go, and it feels like the shadows are lurking right around every door, nipping at every heel, hurry-up, hurry-up-get-ready, hurry-up-hurry-up-before-it-goes.

In the tiny little Healercraft cothold outpost a day’s walk out from Telgar Hold, on the edge of the great grassy plains that blanket the middle of the continent, Pike waits for her grandfather to get home with her lip bitten between her teeth and her heart in her throat.  There have been bandits on these plains as long as she can remember--as long as Wilhand can remember, as long as anyone can remember.  What are they going to do when the empty sky opens up and they aren’t safe any more? Pike is fifteen and alone, and she re-labels every pot of numbweed and vial of felis in their stores, and cooks much too much for dinner for even the two of them, and eats almost none of it, and lingers too long packing up the rest to store, and waits, and waits, and-- “Hey, this the one?” asks a deep, rumbling voice she’s never heard before, and there’s a scuffle by the door.  Pike goes to answer it with a bread knife in hand almost as long as her forearm and finds the tallest, broadest boy she’s ever seen, carrying her bloodied grandfather in one arm. “What did you do to him?” Pike demands.  She barely comes up to this boy’s chest, but that just means she’s at good stabbing height for the softer things farther down, and she’s spent half her life learning every detail from her grandfather to tell her what those soft things are. “Nothing!” the boy protests.  “Nothing, I swear it.”  He’s lying, Pike thinks, but there are bruises across his face and he’s slurring his words, and Wilhand is waving weakly at her to put the knife down, and the night is closing in cold and fast. “Well you can’t stay out there,” she says, and sweeps them both inside as if Thread’s due in a few hours instead of a few turns.

In the warm, safe halls of High Reaches Hold, surrounded by fur and velvet and wood and thick, safe stone walls, Percy lays on his stomach under a table in the Lord Holder’s private library, surrounded by scrolls and hides and actual bound-paper books, and reads, and listens, and learns. He is nine, and that is more than old enough to eavesdrop on “Well, if it’s too dangerous even to travel, we’ll never get the younger ones fostered out when they’re old enough,” and lay out his maps of Pern, and plan.  The Smithcraft Hall will be too far to travel overland when Thread starts, if they wait for him to be old enough to apprentice ordinarily.  This safety isn’t forever.  They’ll need to take advantage of what they have while they can.

In 1006, there are two turns to go, and nothing will stay still, not people or dragons or time, not anything.

“Scanlan...” says the Masterharper, exhausted and despairing and not moved one whit by Scanlan’s broad grin.  “Fine.  You’re too good a Harper not to promote you and too terrible an apprentice to let you stay around here and corrupt the younger ones.  You’re a journeyman now.  Go...go journey.  Somewhere.  Anywhere.” “Anywhere?” Scanlan asks, glint of mischief and joy in his eyes.  The Masterharper sighs. “I will make two requests of you, Scanlan, just two,” he says.  “The records all say we have less than two turns of freedom before the Falls start up again, and while the Lord Holders and the Weyrs have been hard at work for a decade making sure the larger holds and crafthalls are ready, the First Dragon only knows what it’s like in the smaller cotholds they’re sure to have lost track of.  When you inevitably slide your way into those little holds, can you please make sure they’re keeping to the Teaching Ballads and understand their duty?” “Secondly, can you check in, just, half a dozen times a Turn, at least, please?” he asks.  “Whenever you come to a Hold or Crafthall large enough to host an actual, stationary Harper, can you send word that you haven’t died terribly in a ditch somewhere?”  He pauses, and then adds, “Or if you have died terribly in a ditch somewhere, so we can at least warn others away from the ditch?” “Your wish is my command, oh Masterharper-of-mine,” Scanlan agrees grandly.  “After all, it’s only my duty as a Harper.” He doesn’t bother to wait for further instruction; the Masterharper knows better than to waste his time giving it.  Scanlan already knows where he’s headed.  There’s a tiny band of traders heading out of Fort this afternoon, too small for anyone as grand and self-important as a Craftsmaster to pay attention to.  Dranzel will be happy to have a Harper along to do a bit of tuning on the road.

“No,” Vax says, and only that, only no, and Vex grabs his wrist and his hand and tries not to cry.  Their mother’s cothold and half the jungle around is scorched bare, a clear line of sight cut down straight to the coast and the little cove where the pirates left trash and bodies when they took lives and everything else worth taking.  It must have been so much easier to notice the little settlement from the water, with all the greenery so obediently slashed back. “We’re done,” Vax says, “I’m done, we’re done with dragonmen, they let this--” “No,” Vex says, now, pulling all her grief and horror and despair and fear and fury into a tight, tiny little ball right in the center of her chest, small enough to carry.  He’s right, but it’s the middle of winter, a month before Turn’s End, and they might have the skills to get by on Ista Island for the three days it took a dragon to find them again, but not up north, not right now.  He’s right but they’re thirteen, and Vex only knows so much about surviving away from people, and Vax doesn’t know anything at all besides theft and stealth and secrecy. He’s right, but Thread is due in two turns, maybe one, a turn and a half, who knows?  It will scorch them down to the bone, as dead as Mother, if they’re caught out in it.  It will scorch holds and fields just like this one if there aren’t dragonriders to fly it. “One more clutch,” Vex says.  Weyrwoman Tirelda’s gold is due to fly any day now.  It’ll be spring, by the time the eggs hatch and she and Vax are rejected again.  It’ll be warm enough to go north.  They’ll be fourteen by then.  “Just one more.”

[blastoisemonster]

Pokèmon World Magazine: Porygon Net (Various Issues)

We’ve had a very long streak of Photoset posts lately, didn’t we? Let’s have a little break from anime and tie-in games and let’s go back to oldschool Pokèmon and my favourite childhood magazine, Pokèmon World!

This summer I'm working on my own portfolio site: it's getting built from scratch and, due to the kind of art it's going to showcase, I'm designing its layout to look like one of those old personal pages a lot of Internet users used to have back in the first 2000s. This choice was also influenced by one of my childhood dreams, which was, infact, owning a corner of the Net all for myself; without the right equipment or spare money to purchase a domain, though, the idea of having my page online was only hypotetical, so all I could do was designing some cute layouts on Microsoft Frontpage and admiring what others were doing. Of course, as Pokèmon was my main interest at the time, I found the Porygon Net section of Pokèmon World mag to be extra inspirational.

Porygon Net was a very small section with just a double page: every month, the magazine's staff would choose and review an italian site dedicated to everyone's favourite monsters. These online corners were, most of the times, built by fellow readers and fans who sometimes even wrote back either by mailing the staff or boasting about it on their site's news section, thanking for the feature and the subsequent wave of new visitors. As these places were built by teens or even kids (I may have seen some online pages managed by 10 year olds at the time o.o), their quality varied greatly depending on their web-making skills: some were very simplistic, other more orderly and neat, and some... showed potential, but needed more work. Pokèmon World's staff, though, never mocked these attempts, and instead also published suggestions to make certain parts of the site more functional and pleasing to the eye. I found this very encouraging, and I wonder if many of these people have continued with a career in the online world.

I went and browsed among my mag issues to find some sites to showcase: I mostly picked the ones that stuck in my mind since reading about them, or that I actually used to visit back in the day. Wayback Machine may have not been kind to the italian community, and I fear the majority of these sites are now lost; however, I'll post links if, surprisingly, I find them still alive!

Issue 4: Pokemon Mania

The pictures have been displayed in chronological order, but I still would've chosen to display this site first as I used to actually visit it before it was featured on Pokèmon World. Due to its easy and straightforward name, Pokèmon Mania was one of the first fansites to show up on the search engine if you ever looked for more Pokèmon content. It was managed by a guy with the alias of Professor Kao, and the whole feeling of the site was that of a Pokemon lab at the start of your monster journey. Though it wasn't exactly a marvel in terms of layout esthetic, the site aimed to amaze with content: it had simple browser fangames, a section dedicated to drawing tutorials (with pictures taken from japanese sources- which at the time were very scarce and hard to get!), many sections dedicated to the Cardgame (apparently, the main focus of Kao's Pokèmon interests) and its live tournaments, and one centered on the monsters' trivia. One very interactive section even proposed quizzes given by the webmaster himself that visitors could answer via mail: Kao would then contact winners and even send out special official merch like Pokèmon Center plushies or other branded toys. Generous! This site has been preserved in the Wayback Machine with a lot of snapshots, though unfortunately without many graphics. We can still navigate and read most of the sections!

Issue 20: Pokemon Museum

My second site of choice striked me with its very homely layout: even looking at the snapshot in its article feels like I'm viewing a cozy corner of the Net, in which the webmaster poured its personal thoughts and passions more than providing a service like PokèmonMania did. The issue is number 20 and quite some months have passed: online trends regarding these kind of pages had changed a bit and now people preferred to offer their own content instead of copy-pasting what Nintendo produced. Pokèmon Museum's graphics have all been drawn by the owner, Kabutops: the background texture, banner, and a lot of the graphics all around the sections! Kudos for being to prolific and precise during a period in which digital art still hadn't reached its peak popularity, and drawing tablets were only restricted to professionals. Going past the many sections dedicated to the anime, games and lore, one interesting aspect was the beginning of affiliates: fellow webmasters were starting communicating with eachother and sharing their visits by dedicating a little button to other sites. I loved the affiliates section because, once finished looking through a site, I could click on the cute little rectangle banners and find myself in another home without passing from Google searches! But webmasters wouldn't affiliate with everyone, and for the purpose of only interacting with other best Pokèsites, awards had become popular as well: graphics that people would exchange after rating a site and feeling impressed with their content, presentation, or popularity. Pokèmon Museum's magazine review focused on its affiliates and the awards, inviting fellow readers to have their site reviewed by Kabutops. Unfortunately, the site is not present on Wayback Machine. I'll never know if Kabutops came back updating its museum after summer vacations :(

Issue 35: TBPS

Let's have another jump of several months; issue 35 featured a page under the bigger domain Pokevalley and named itself The Best Pokèmon Page, rather narcissistic! This was one of those rare times Pokèmon World featured an english-speaking site. The layout doesn't impress me too much, yet the fact that the header reads "Crystal Water Version" conveys that the webmaster(s) used to periodically change aspect and palette of their site, an activity that proved to be very prolific for many page owners at the time: sites were often in construction, and people were experimenting with different colours or HTML code tricks to impress viewers and reviewers, have as many affiliates as possible and collect positive awards from other sites. Such was popularity, back in the day! The site has a long menu with many sections dedicated to the main games and movies; although, none of those pages were catching anyone’s attention anymore as everyone had the same copypasted guides and info; instead, what’s interesting is the hefty section dedicated to browser games, the big menu with pages concerning the site and staff themselves, and the oekaki board! Oekakis were very popular in that period, as it allowed fellow aspiring artists to meet eachother and show off their own skills by drawing live! If a site hosted one, they could quickly become a melting pot of creativity. Wayback Machine, sadly, doesn’t have anything concerning this site as well.

Issue 36: Arcywof

We’re back on italian sites with a page that definitely impressed even Pokèmon World’s staff for its pleasing graphics. When I first saw this among the magazine’s pages... my eyes lit up! I can’t hide that after seeing its beautiful palette, checkered background and condensed menu, teen me adopted Arcy & The Fire Pkmn as design guru: many of my subsequent mockup pages had exactly this layout, or variations of it. It’s too bad, though, that aside from the beautiful presentation, the site’s contents aren’t exactly interesting: the Pokèmon images are ripped straight from Nintendo’s official archives, and most sections are concerning the anime’s characters, episode plots, and broadcasting dates. However, Arcywof also offers a forum and a live chat, which definitely helped the staff build an interactive and affectionate community around it. Among all reviewed here, I’m most bitter that Wayback Machine hasn’t archived this site, because seriously, it’s a little jewel ;w; its pastel colours and checkered texture remind me of candy shops!

Issue 38: Pokemon Super Site

I wanted to finish this little jump in the past with a positive note and show at least one more saved address from Wayback Machine. Although not in its updated version originally featured in Pokèmon World Issue 38, Pokèmon Super Site has been archived and it’s more or less complete to explore. It’s too bad a lot of the graphics haven’t survived but hey it’s something! It’s 2003, and the trend has changed once again: forums are as popular as ever and considered one of the most successful ways to build a solid audience for one’s own page, which are now treated more like portals or an extension to the forum itself. Super Site’s sections are centered on game guides, nothing too special, but I do love the grey and white grid background on menus and header, as if we’re viewing a notebook page; reminds me of school days. I also really like the gifs section as featured in the review, all those old graphics bring back so much memories of scouting the net to save them all on hard drive!

If you stumble upon one of these sites in Wayback Machine, chances are the ever present affiliates buttons will still be working, allowing you to visit even more fansites. It’s a true trip to the past, and a never ending source of inspiration for me!

[downwiththeficness]

A Need So Great-Chapter 17

Summary: Eva Moore is assigned to work the last year of her contract with the DEA in Colombia. She just wants to get to the end of her tenure, but she keeps getting drawn further into a string of murders in the city. It isn’t long before she’s forced to face the ghosts of her past.

Word Count: ~3,700

Warnings: None

A/N: For the purposes of this story, Carrillo isn’t married--or, if you like, divorced. A/B/O dynamics are prevalent, and they come with their own warning. The overall rating for this story is Explicit, although not every chapter will contain adult themes.

Taglist: @dirtynerdy98 @1zashreena1 @heresathreebee @deliciouslyclassytrash @maybege @kid-from-new-zealand @clydesducktape @revolution-starter @autumnleaves1991-blog @jedi-mando @buckysalefty @anaeve

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21

They punished him when he got back. He’d been gone for almost two weeks—twelve days—and they took it out on him the second he returned. His work hours lengthened until he was leaving before the sun came up and coming home after midnight. Sometimes he’d key into her apartment, falling into bed next to her with his uniform still on, boots kicked off next to the door.

Eva kept food wrapped in plastic in the fridge for him, pulled his belt free from the loops and at least got his button up off when he was too tired to do it for himself. When she did see him, on the occasions he set foot in the embassy, there were dark circles under his eyes.

Still, he didn’t complain. Not one word. Eva’s own workload had grown, having to pick up all the things that had been sitting on her desk. But, Javier and Steve had taken it upon themselves to do a little when they could. Connie would sometimes bring her lunch and they would chat, Eva having to forgo their usual work out nights until she got caught up.

And still, he seemed to just...take it from them. This went on for almost a month before she said anything. The conversation had been short, brusque in a way that he normally wasn’t, the stress peeking out from behind strained eyes. She didn’t say anything after that.

Eva gave him comfort where she could. She set the coffee maker to an earlier time and made sure that he had a travel mug sitting beside it every morning. She washed the uniforms he sometimes left behind, even going so far as to iron his undershirt and fold it neatly atop the pile on the dresser. This was about the extent of her ability to help and it ate at her.

After the first month, he got a day off and spent most of it asleep, or close to it. He’d crawled in next to her after showering, pulling her into his chest before dropping off into unconsciousness. When she’d woken the next day, he was still asleep.  When she checked in with him mid-morning, he was snoring softly, one arm reaching across the bed to the place where she’d been.

Finally, when lunchtime slipped by, Eva roused him and forced him to come out and eat a little. He did so mechanically, his eyes unfocused. She maneuvered him to lay on the couch after that, pulling all the curtains in her living room closed, the TV at a low volume.

They spent most of the day like this, vegetating on the couch. And then, when the evening came, Eva put more food in him and sent him to bed early while she worked on a few files she’d brought home from the office. The next morning, he’d gone in early, as he had to the month previous, and she didn’t see him for three days.

This went on for another month before the higher ups started to let off. By that time, he’d been worked nearly to the ground and she could see the beginning of burn out start to set in. Eva encouraged him to rest on the days he had off, doing what she could to bring back the determined set of his jaw when he went about his work.

And, when he seemed to come back to his normal self, she set up a dinner at a nice restaurant with Connie and Steve. They worked in tandem to keep the conversation from flowing back into office talk, but weren’t entirely successful.

“I got those photos developed,” Steve said a little too casually. “I have ‘em if you want to take a look.”

Connie took a disdainful sip of her wine, “I told him not to bring them, but he insisted.”

Eva looked at Horacio, who was carefully gauging her reaction. With a shrug, she reached over the table and flicked her fingers at him, indicating that he should hand them over. He leaned down and pulled a manila folder from where he’d stashed it under his chair. Eva took it from him, opening it and pulling out the photos.

She felt her jaw lock with the effort it took to control her face. The first photo was of her, standing in the airport, looking lost. She flipped to the next: moving in. Then, her walking from the parking lot into the embassy, her sitting at a park after her first day staring into the middle distance, and her talking with Javier as they walked on a sidewalk—a conversation she’d forgotten about. That’s when things started to get interesting.

The next photo pictured her standing next to her car down the street from that little hotel, Horacio leaning over her. His expression looked frustrated. She was smiling. Next, the two of them in a similar position after the bar fight, mid motion as he’d pushed her against her car. Then, her and Connie laughing outside of the gym, sweaty and glowing in the streetlights.

After that came the moment outside of the bombed restaurant, smoke everywhere, Horacio hovering over her. Out of context, it was a stunningly captured image. They looked utterly alone, his concern for her written all over his face. She was holding him by his forearm, chin tilted up a bit, her hair falling in haphazard curls, haloed around her.

Eva stared at it a moment longer before she flipped to the next one. More of her and Connie, sitting on a low wall, eating. Her arguing with Javier on the steps of the church. Her and Horacio sitting on that bench across the street, his hand trailing down her arm, eyes wandering to the hem of her skirt. Another of him kissing her at her door after dropping her off from one of their early dates.

And then she was standing in the street, staring her ex mother in law down. A little out of focus behind her, Horacio was standing by the table with his arms crossed. Eva stared at the picture for a moment longer than the rest, feeling her lip curl. That woman was still living, and possibly already figured out that Zero had been unsuccessful—possibly was already contacting another contractor to finish the job. That would need to be dealt with eventually.

The final photo was taken a few days before she’d been called to examine Zero’s final warning. She was walking hand in hand with Horacio, they were in a busy farmer’s market, picking out a few things to cook up for dinner. Eva was looking up at him as he talked with a vendor, her eyes so full of emotion that she felt herself blush even looking at it. She looked like a woman in love, a thing that Eva had never thought would be something she would have.

Very carefully, Eva slipped the photos back into the folder and set it aside, “Thank you for doing that.”

Steve nodded, his eyes dropping to the glass in his hand, “At least its over now.”

She sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The ride back to Horacio’s house was quiet. Eva glanced at him periodically, could tell that he was deep in thought. She clutched the folder of photos in her lap, unsettled. It wasn’t until she was taking her make up off in the mirror of the bathroom that he finally broached the subject he’d been contemplating all night.

Standing in the doorway, leaning against the jamb, he watched her wash her face, “We do need to address it.”

Eva looked at him in the mirror as she turned off the water, “Address what?”

“The fact that there is likely another hitman already contracted to kill you,” he said matter of factly.

Eva drew in a breath, glad that he hadn’t taken too awful long to decide to have this conversation. She didn’t know how fast Myra would move, but the woman was not known for her patience, or her mercy. It was extremely likely that they had contacted a new guy to finish the job.

She wiped her face off with a towel, “I know. I’ll think of something sooner or later.”

His mouth thinned, eyes narrow, “How can you be so calm?”

Setting the towel on the counter, Eva stepped up to him, placing her hands on his chest, “I have spent almost my entire life with people doing things to me that are completely out of my control. Maybe I’m used to it.”

Walking him back, she sat him down on the bed and kissed his brow. Turning, she reached behind her and tugged down the zipper of her dress, pulling it off while she searched for a sleep shirt to wear.

“This is serious, Eva. Your life is in danger.”

She laughed as she unclasped her bra and threw on the shirt. He very likely did not know how much of a hypocrite he was being in that moment.

“What?” he asked, his tone sharp.

Eva fixed him with a sardonic look, “I’m not the only person in this room with a bounty on their head, Horacio.”

His eyes looked away, “That’s different.”

“How?” she exclaimed, incredulous.

“I’m a police officer working to dissemble a cartel.”

He stood, hands on his hips, mouth curling. Eva felt her inside harden up, unbowed by his fierce look.

“And I’m a felon and former drug trafficker. I can’t escape this, I cannot walk away from it. You have a choice.”

He was already shaking his head, “I don’t.”

Eva stepped up to him, taking his hands, “You do. You can walk away. Retire. Spend some time at the cabin by the ocean. Fucking relax in public places. All of these things you can do. You just have to make the choice to do them.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Horacio looked unsteady. He was looking her with so many conflicting emotions that Eva couldn’t quite parse them out. Sensing that this might be the time to have the other conversation that she’d been keeping to herself for the last few weeks, she soldiered on.

“This job is going to kill you,” she whispered, voice low and rough, “I can’t stand to watch that happen.”

His mouth parted, “We have guards, protocols-,”

She cut him off, “That’s not what I’m talking about. Have you seen yourself these last few months? Did you see what I saw? They’re going to drive you into the ground.”

Horacio blinked, “Its difficult for everyone.”

“No,” she bit out, her hands tightening on his, “You’ve had maybe three days off since we got back. You’ve hardly slept, you’re not eating regularly, you’re so stressed I can literally smell it coming off you.”

Gently, she thumbed the skin beneath his scent gland. His eyes drooped a little, jaw loosening from where he’d been holding it so tightly. Settling into his body, Eva held him to her, trying to convey her worry, her concern for him.

“You want me to walk away from my career? Everything I’ve worked to build?” His voice was on the edge of anger, and Eva fought the urge to back up, to relent to him.

“I want the same thing that I think you want for me,” she murmured, “I want you to live. Really live. You can’t do that if you don’t make some changes. Take that one foot out of the darkness.”

He sighed deeply, dropping his head into the crook of her neck and embracing her, “Its late. We’re both tired. Let’s table this for now.”

Afraid that she’d push him too far if she pressed on, Eva nodded and stepped away to crawl onto the bed. She watched him undress and climb in next to her. After turning off the lamp on the nightstand, he settled into the pillows, taking her hand and kissing it. She drifted off with that solid connection between them.

The next few days were dusted with sporadic conversations about an intangible future. The end of Eva’s contract loomed, now four weeks away. She went to work every day, knowing that it was one less day she would be required to be there. And then something weird happened.

She’d been pulled into a meeting. She’d been censured for continuing to perform field work, outside of the scope of her contract. And then they’d told her that they were cutting it short and to clean out her desk. She’d have two weeks to get her personal items out of the apartment rented for her by the department. Eva couldn’t help the little sneer on her face as she watched Vanessa happily deliver the news.

She couldn’t keep her desk past the end of the day, had been given a box to put her belongings in. Eva had done so mechanically, putting the box of little personal items into her car and returning for her purse, still sitting on that shitty desk Steve had pointed out to her all those months ago. On the way out, she stood under an awning, looking out to the parking lot, confused and feeling just a tiny bit...sad.

A boot scuffed behind her and Eva looked over her shoulder to see Javier standing not far away, his fingers drumming on his leg.

“I guess you heard,” she said, a small smile on her lips.

Javier nodded, reaching up to pluck the cigarette from behind his ear, his other hand already holding a lighter.

“Its strange,” Eva continued on, “I think I’m actually going to miss it.”

He nodded again, not speaking. Eva frowned, gesturing at him as if to say ‘what’s the deal?’

Javier took a drag off the stick in his hand, “Let’s go to lunch.”

Without further explanation, he grabbed her by the elbow and started walking with her. His stride was quick, firm, determined.  His expression was closed. Eva felt her stomach drop with anxiety as she followed along.

“Okay,” Eva drawled in a false attempt at bravado, hustling to keep up with him in her heels, “What is this about?”

“Not here,” he murmured, steering her to his car.

It wasn’t until they were both ensconced in their seats and the engine had turned over that he said anything.

“We’re gonna meet Carrillo at a little out of the way dive just outside the city. I’ve been digging into your contract for a couple weeks and wanted to tell you both.”

Interesting.

Eva’s brows lifted, “What did you find?”

“Let’s wait until we get to the place, I’ll tell you everything then.”

They did, indeed, drive just outside of the city to a little hole in the wall place with what looked like only one waiter. At Javier’s direction, he led them to the back of the main room, through the kitchen, down a hall, and into a basement. Eva stood at the top of the steps, feeling just a little bit like she was walking into a trap.  She looked at Javier’s back as he descended, looked at the waiter, then sighed and stepped down.

It smelled a little bit musty, and there was only a single light hanging from the ceiling. But, a table had been set up with a few chairs. It even had a tablecloth.

“Well,” she commented, because she needed to talk or she was going to start freaking out, “This is certainly the strangest going away lunch I’ve ever had.”

Javier rolled his eyes and sat heavily in one of the chairs, “Have a seat. They’ll bring us some coffee.”

Eva sat, looping her purse strap over the top of the chair, “Is Horacio on his way?”

He nodded, “Should be here any minute.”

She stared him down, looking for clues as to what this was all about. He hadn’t brought a file, he didn’t even have that little notebook he sometimes carried with him. All he had was his wallet (currently wearing through the fabric of his jeans), his gun (tucked in the back of his waistband), his cigarettes (slipped into the breast pocket of his short-sleeved button up), and his lighter (twirling between the forefinger and thumb of his right hand).

The door at the stairs opened and Carrillo’s heavy steps sounded, a slow, measured thump. Eva folded her hands in her lap and waited until he ducked down to scan the room. He was wearing his uniform, gun at his hip, the first few buttons of his shirt undone so that a little of his undershirt peeked out.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said as he approached and sat down, “Had to make a few calls.”

“Not a problem,” Javier responded, “I almost didn’t catch Eva before she headed out.”

Eva scratched at the skin above her brow, “Does anyone want to tell me what this is about?”

Javier leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, “I did a little research on you.”

“This again?” Eva bit out, feeling a hot anger bubbled up from where is had laid simmering since she’d walked out of that meeting.

Hand up, he indicated for her to wait, “More than just your work history. More than your prison stint. I know a guy who knows a guy, who pulled your file—your actual file. I got a copy of your contract, and I managed to dig up some interoffice mail between Vanessa and some shady people.”

“Okay?”

He leaned forward on his forearms, “There’s a few expense forms that were incomplete, but paid out anyways. Expense forms for plane tickets for, Vladimir Prost—a known alias of Alexei Volkov, according to an FBI friend of mine—w ith a hotel voucher for the same name.”

Eva’s eyes narrowed, her brain circling around the information and coming out on the other side feeling her anxiety spike.

To her left, Carrillo added, “I went to the hotel, pulled a few of their records.  He stayed there for months, Eva.”

She crossed her legs, trying to keep her body more still, “I told you that he had, the pictures proved that he had. The question is why Vanessa, why the DEA, was footing the bill.”

Javier shook his head, “That’s the thing, they weren’t. The forms weren’t standard DEA—very close, but not quite the same.”

She blinked, “You’re saying they were doctored.”

“I’m saying they were doctored,” Javier confirmed with a sharp nod.

Carrillo looked at her solemnly, “I paid off a few administrators where she banks, tracked her bank statements and accounts for the last two years and cross referenced them with the forms Javier found. There are several large deposits close to the dates on the forms from a company our of Louisiana, Ardent Pharmaceuticals. That name familiar to you?”

Eva could feel the blood drain from her face, “That’s the company name for the Moore family’s business front.”

“Well,” Javier commented with a little shrug, “They’ve gone straight with a lot of their stuff. They’re a leader in the field of suppressant therapy.”

“I’m sure they are,” Eva sneered, eyes cutting to the side as she thought about those three syringes gleaming on that table.

“Eva,” Carrillo prompted lowly, “Do you understand what we’re telling you?”

She looked at him, “That my early release, my contract, all the work I’ve done, the shitty boss I’ve had, and my entire professional career is a big set up to keep me contained and under the thumb of my former mother in law so that she can eventually corral me into a corner and murder me? That sound close enough?”

“I know you’re mad,” Javier said, catching her eye, “But we’ve got to think smart about this.”

“Smart?” Eva hissed, her voice high, “You’re telling me to be smart? Everything I’ve done under this contract is a lie and you’re telling me to be smart?”

He made a soft sound of comfort, “You can be mad about that—hell, I’m mad about it—but, you can’t react from that anger.”

“How am I supposed to react?”

“With cunning,” Carrillo answered, and she could tell that he’d already made a plan. “I looked at the contract, the end date is set in stone. Did you get a formal letter of release?”

Eva nodded, reaching into her purse and handing it to him. He read it over quickly before handing it to Javier.

“Good,” he said, “That saves you from the DEA asserting that you broke the contract. Now, I’ve still got a hand in Vanessa’s accounts.  For the near future, that’s going to be our best bet for tracking when the next hit will come.”

Javier handed the release letter back to Eva, “I also made a call to one of my contacts at the IRS. He’s going to call for an audit of the Ardent books, which should tie up some of their funding for the next few months, at least.”

Eva shook her head, “If they’re still using my system, then they won’t find anything.  All their off the books transactions are buried under layer after layer of red tape and false company names.”

Javier leaned forward, “Can you lay out that system for me? So I can send it to them?”

She nodded, “I can do that.”

“Okay, that’ll work. I’ll fax that over to him and that might help speed things along. Eva?”

“Yeah,” she croaked.

“We need you to go about your life as usual. Go pack up your apartment, buy a ticket back to the states, do whatever you think will need to be done so that no one knows you’re onto them.”

Her brows drew together, “You want me to go back to the states?”

Carrillo put a hand on her arm, “We want it to look like you’re going back. We need to buy some time, until we hear back from our contacts.”

Staring into the middle distance, Eva processed the conversation, running over the information a second time and coming out just as angry, if not more so. She was quiet so long that the two men at the table began to fidget.

“Eva?” Javier edged.

She swallowed, then sighed, “Are we actually going to eat at this ‘lunch’? I’ve only had coffee today and I’m starving.”

[retorioworld]

The One-Stop, Interview Prep-Shop for Video Interview

If you’ve ever wanted a one-stop, interview prep-shop, this is IT. 

From an in-person meeting or a video interview, we're here to help.Interviews can be the most intimidating thing in the entire world. A close second could be asking someone on a date—in real life. You know, not through an app. Swipes aside, we’re aiming to lay out the prep work for a fantastic interview.

 The kind that feels like you’re floating on air afterwards or the kind where you hear the cash register’s KA-CHING after an eloquent and to-the-point response.

We’ve outlined:

Interview homework: what to do to prepare for the (video) interview

During the interview: what to expect, what to avoid, and what to deliver

The interviewer's 3 essential questions 

Interview Homework

Like a quote on Pinterest once said, “Proper preparation prevents poor performance”. Abraham Lincoln may not have said it, but if he had a fondness for alliteration, he probably would have. After all, he is the figure that said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”. Preparation is where you win the interview. The interview is where you show the interviewer you won.

Research the Company

The first line of defense is a good offense, a well-known military strategy. The same goes with an interview. Researching the company is essential to create a positive impression. It shows you’ve prepared well, take the opportunity seriously, and may possess a few ideas on how to contribute. Not all research is created equal. It’s important to land on a few key areas. These areas will prepare you to freestyle if any unexpected questions arise; they also showcase how thoughtfully you’ve considered the company, its industry, and its potential roadmap.

When researching, find the answer to these questions:

How do they view themselves?

What sets them apart in their particular niche or field?

What are keywords that showcase their uniqueness?

What are some ways that their intention may fall short of the reality?

If possible, learn about these areas:

Recent news and/or highlights.

You can find this out in the PR/News section of their website—companies love to brag about themselves understandably. Check out their social media channels, including their Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for news. For negative things (or less-glamorous news), ask ye olde search engine, Google. Type in the company’s name and hit “News” and a slew of information will be listed.

Most famous client and/or project.

Check out who their customers are and check out whether these organisations are small, mid-sized, or giant corporations. You’ll be able to get a grasp onto who their audience is, giving you information on what their potential business goals may be. Additionally, it sheds light on a specific company’s niche: they may be selling accounting software to airlines or FitBits to dog food companies. If they’ve historically been selling FitBits to dog food manufacturers but also landed a big project with an agricultural firm, this could give you ideas about you’re a great fit as they expand.

Know the Job Position

This may be the most “Dad-like” advice—ahem, obvious—but it’s an important point to thoroughly investigate. Look over the job description, and take some notes. A little exercise might be helpful:

Print out the job description

Pick a colored marker or pen and circle skills or areas you have direct experience in, that was your main “job”.

Pick another colored marker and circle skills or areas you do not have direct experience in, but have been related. ie. you ran a company’s social media, but learned to create infographics.

Write down how you’ve developed and/or learned these skills, like attending a webinar or an online course.

Your “direct skills” education

Your “related skills” education

Write down why this job position stood out to you personally—do you have a particular passion about the product, the industry, etc? Why are YOU drawn to it?

Know Why You’re a Fit

Use the earlier job description analysis to help you build a story in your mind about why you’re a fit. This is the time to reflect on possible questions or concerns the interviewer might have, “You worked as cosmetics store manager and now you want to work as a Data Scientist at our company?” Highlight how you taught yourself, took online courses, and always had interest in computers (your thesis was on how cybersecurity after multi-stakeholder organizations). Don’t be ashamed of your past; this is your story: own it and then construct the narrative.

Practice Talking About Yourself

Now that you know you’re a fit and you’re taking control of your narrative, it’s practice time. Another quote coming your way: “Practice makes perfect”. Interviews are often a nerve-racking affair. However practice is the proverbial shot of Vodka to interview anxiety. It makes things a bit better. You’ll know what to expect and how to answer. Use the list of common interview questions below to make flashcards or have a friend interview you. Research by Rice University and Michigan State University shows that "deliberate practice” or “engagement in structured activities created specifically to improve performance” as the biggest predictor for success and performance improvement.

What is deliberate practice?

Deliberate practice is purposeful and systematic; it requires focused attention over a period of time. A famed golfer, Ben Hogan, broke down each section of the golf game and studied how to master each section.

Similarly, deliberately break down each step of the interview process:

the introduction/overview,

insight into skills and experiences

the “challenges” faced

odd-ball questions (questions about industry, position, random trivia)

availability

closing questions.

DURING THE INTERVIEW

Show up on time.

If you’re a person that has a habit of arriving late. Make it your goal to get there 30 minutes beforehand. Being late to an interview puts you on the weaker foot; remember YOU’RE the prize—finding dedicated and skilled talent these days is getting tough. When you’re running behind schedule, you forfeit that hand. Now you just look like the genius who is a jerk. Avoid being late at all costs. If you're lucky enough to be having a video interview (video interviews means worrying less about road traffic), still make eye contact and be on time.

Always Call Casual Cannibals Into Pink Washpots

Don’t worry, you won’t have to call a cannibal anywhere—it’s a pneumonic device to help you remember 8 essential characteristics to exude in an interview: be authentic, concise, confident, interested, passionate, and warm. The (video) interview should be a pleasure to hold, both for you and your interviewer(s). These traits are guideposts in what important feelings to project, from the moment you shake their hand till you send a follow-up email. With a video job interview, you may want to emphasize body language, eye contact, or vocal pauses or a bit more. In video interviews, sometimes the camera may disengage, so be sure to make the potential employer can see you emotionally connect with questions.

Authentic

No need to be anyone else but you, boo. Really. You got this interview, so be the best version of yourself. The real “you” may be a person who prefers to observe and stay silent or be a slob at home. At an interview, you’re showcasing how you’ll be at the workplace, what kind of colleague you’ll be. Remember, job interviews are meant to assess fit between the organization and employee. This experience, an in-person interview or video, should be unique and mutually beneficial. Being authentic is one way to assure a match.

Concise

You’ve practiced your responses. Great. Be sure to keep responses under 90 seconds. That doesn’t necessarily mean taking the whole 90 seconds, but in general keep your answers to the point. Add emotion to them, if appropriate. In video interviews, be sure the camera is capturing your expressions.

Confidence

Keep things upbeat and positive. Remain confident in outlining how your skills align perfectly with the job requirements. Don’t feel ashamed or anxious about gaps in your resume; be confident in how you present them and how hard you worked to make up for any deficiencies. Employers want to see people who know their skillset is solid, but also confident to highlight their weak points and how they’re addressing them. In interview videos, be sure to come across sincere with marked pauses, emphatic head nods, and at least one ear-to-ear smile.

Passionate

Employers receive several applications for a position. If you’re interviewing for big corporations like Google, they receive thousands of applications. Share what excites you. Tell why this job aligns with your personal values and goals. Passion is one of those traits that’s difficult to hide or fake..

Warmth

Your hands may be a little clammy from nerves, but keep the conversation warm and easy-going. How to show warmth? When you’re doing prep work, jot down some potential warmth-inducing stories. Even if it's not in-person interview, a candidate story creates a special memory for the interviewer.

“Tell Me About Yourself”

This may be the most dreaded question in an interview. “Um…I studied Chemistry and like bread?” It’s a tough one as its encompassing and open-ended. This is simply an introductory question; as the interview progresses, they’ll be able to learn more about you from your later responses. To assist you in answering this, examine yourself:

What am I good at?

What do I enjoy?

What is the unique way I approach a problem?

Give an example of how that happened in the workplace

  The Interviewer’s Secret 3 Questions

At the core, a potential employer has 3 essential questions. The questions that interviewers wish they could ask, but try to answer for themselves:

“What’s it like working with you?”

They’re trying to answer whether you’ll be a cool person to work with. Again they know they’ll be spending considerable time alongside you; they don’t want to hire a jerk or someone that doesn’t contribute to a team project. The more you share, the better picture they’ll gain about working with you.

“Are you a willing learner?”

Are you a person that is teachable? Do you have a good attitude about trying to learn new things? Or are you a person that doesn’t really value trying to learn new skills as needed? Most employers understand if you don’t have the tools necessary for the job; they’re looking for someone who is an eager student.

“Do you take the initiative?”

No one wants a team member that waits for instruction. Are you an individual that has taken on new challenges and projects because that’s what your past employer needed—even before the employer realized it? Highlight your initiate with an example or two. Show the interviewer you can “pull your weight”, while still always trying to contribute to the larger team’s success. Self-starters are a great addition to any team.

Any other special tips if it's a video interview?

Interviewing videos and in-person interviews differ by only one variable: creating the best setting for a video interview. Luckily that's one variable within your control. Video interviewing is very much a candidate-centric approach to interviews. It gives a candidate and those scheduling job interviews a range of conveniences. For a video interview, you may want to keep these key choices in mind:

Use a well-lit space

Interviewers want to see your face; video interviews with good lighting goes a long way. It’s a little odd when people’s faces are in the dark. That may be the primates in us speaking, but we don’t really tend to trust those in dark lighting. Find a room or corner that has natural light that hits your face. Be sure that the light is not behind you, otherwise your face will be in a shadow.

Eliminate a distracting background

A video interview may be an excuse to clean up your living space. Clear out any distracting pieces of artwork, clothes, or anything else that may make an interviewer go, “Wow, that’s a little messy” or “That’s a bit inappropriate”. If you have any questions, stray on the more conservative side. If your prize, mounted stuffed pig head seems a bit too much, just take down for the video interview.

Check your tools (camera, phone, connection, etc.)

Double check that your Internet connection is fast and reliable. You may want to check out Speedtest.net the day before an interview. As a broadband speed testing tool, it assists in measuring how quickly your connection is. If you do it the day before, chances that connection will crash minimizes. Be sure your camera is up and running. You may want to do a test call with a sibling or friend. If your video interview is on-the-go, make sure your phone is charged, or have a charging cord nearby.

Dress simply

In a video interview, an employer typically sees only above your shoulders via the camera. Which is great if you're just wearing pajama pants. Focus on wearing non-distracting clothing. Sometimes even the most fabulous outfits don't translate that well on video. Wear a simple blouse or collared shirt for video interviews that will allow them to concentrate on you.

Interviews, video or not, don’t have to be intimidating. It’s a conversation where you get to showcase your professional narrative and interject what makes you so special.

Retorio is a video-based behavioral assessment powered by AI. It uses facial expression, language, gesture, and voice to create a Big 5 Personality profile. Companies like BMW and Lufthansa, leverage Retorio's AI to support their own talent management teams. 

LEARN WHAT MAKES ELON MUSK, ELON MUSK?

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[ejbarnes]

Book review: _The Forge and the Crucible: The Origins and Structures of Alchemy_ by Mircea Eliade, translated from the French by Stephen Corrin, Harper Torchbooks 1971

Prolific Romanian-born writer Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) wrote Forgerons et Alchimistes (Smiths and Alchemists) in the 1950s, and Flammarion published it in 1956. It’s a good thing that, by the time I read the 1962 translation by Stephen Corrin, I’d done a great deal of reading on the theory and history of Western alchemy and the occult, not to mention both popular and scholarly history in general – or I’d have been much more easily impressed by Eliade’s ostentatious displays of erudition.

These displays consist of piling on examples meant to demonstrate his theses, all too rarely bothering to step through the logic (even the emotional logic). This pattern is especially marked in the early chapters, where he illustrates various cultural concepts associated with metallurgy by listing various peoples who hold them; but it crops up in other chapters as well, most stultifyingly in the chapter on Chinese alchemy, in which he quotes a range of Chinese sources vouching for the exact same idea or practice. This is a very old-fashioned – as in pre-Enlightenment – way of framing an argument (as noted by Wayne Shumaker in his book The Occult Sciences in the Renaissance). Many peoples are mentioned without mentioning where they are, what their general technological state is (other than the implication that they are “primitive”), or how much contact they have with neighboring cultures; many ancient, mediaeval, and early-modern writers on alchemy are cited without noting the threads of influence between them. In an ostensibly historical cultural study such as this, it is not enough to note that a person or culture embraces an idea; the why is a critical part.

In a few places, Eliade complains that he doesn’t have the space to go into depth on certain matters that would help him construct his argument more clearly and logically. This beggars belief, coming from someone who had previously written a 500-page book on shamanism – and cites himself in the current work (Le Chamanisme et les techniques archaïques de l’extase, 1951). Who set the terms under which the new book was to be written?

Where metallurgy fits into the history of material culture in general is only waved at; Eliade declares at the outset that there is less known about the spiritual significance of other crafts. Considering that material culture, as a subject of historical study, was in its infancy at the time he was writing, it’s hard to tell whether the blind spot here was his, or that of the entire field. Eventually, Eliade admits there’s not much known about the cultural history of metallurgy, either.

As he was writing in the 1950s, Eliade can be somewhat forgiven for using the word “primitive” (only sometimes in quotes) to describe cultures and communities that have not (yet) been overtaken by industrial methods of production. However, after chapter upon chapter of describing the metallurgy-related cultural practices of pre-industrial peoples – within historical times – belatedly, he admits that looking at modern “primitives” is not necessarily a reliable way to determine the by-definition-unwritten prehistory of cultural practices surrounding ancient technologies. Unfortunately, even if this is the best we can do, it really isn’t good enough for the purposes he wishes to serve.

It is easier to forgive Eliade for using ethnic terminology that has fallen out of fashion since the book was written, such as applying the term “Hamitic” to the Ma[a]sai. Alas, the translator, Stephen Corrin, stumbles in rendering the French versions of various ethnonyms into English, such as not realizing that the Achanti are the Ashanti, or that “Tziganes” are the French exonym for what English speakers would have called Gypsies (who call themselves, as Eliade points out, “Rom” or variations of the same).

Eliade makes interesting points about mythological significance of smelting and smithing, including the smith as both a heroic and a threatening figure. However, he implies that these themes are universal, when almost all of his examples are positive rather than negative; no effort seems to be made to explain why some metal-using cultures might not share in these themes. Critics over the years have accused Eliade of cherry-picking his data when writing cultural history, and Forgerons et Alchimistes may have been one example. In addition, almost all of the cultures he cites are Old World. “Metallurgy as such,” he writes, “in Central and South America, is probably Asiatic in origin.” The evidence he gives for this is grossly anachronistic, at least by modern research – although the source he cites, a German article from 1954, is the likely source of the problem. Other than this, he has little to say about indigenous/traditional New World cultures except in reference to their shamanic, rather than metallurgic, practices.

More importantly, the only universal that could apply to his argument about the history of metallurgy is the pre-industrial enchantment of the world, and with it both nature and all of material culture. The best parts, early in the book, address how ideas of organic growth, as well as sex and sexual reproduction, are applied to what we moderns would consider non-living matter, either natural or human-made. The disenchantment of the modern world encourages drawing a sharp line between living and non-living matter, whereas in the pre-modern view that line is often either nonexistent or highly permeable.

Smiths (and alchemists) are “Masters of Fire”, as one chapter puts it; but there are other members of any human culture who are. At the very least, they stand at the hearth instead of the forge – but who cared, in the 1950s, about how women use fire in traditional cultures?

The significance of gold in early Chinese culture, where it was too rare to use for coinage, is fluffed off in one of the appendices. (Interestingly, China is ranked, as of 2016, as the world’s top producer of gold.) Eliade never mentions that the Chinese knew, even in ancient times, that cinnabar was toxic, so the significance of tales of adepts ingesting it for “immortality” is not put in proper socio-mythic context. Is this a result of his stated decision to completely avoid discussing practical aspects of chemistry/alchemy because his focus is on the mystical aspects? The physical properties of materials drive their spiritual significance, not the other way around. For example, gold would not be “noble” if it corroded as easily as iron.

Illustrations from Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (reprinted under the title Scrutinium chymicum, the version Eliade references) are strewn through the book, but the only reference to Maier in the text quotes an entirely different work, Symbola aureae mensae duodecim nationem. In addition, none of the illustrations (including from another work, Rosarium philosophorum) have captions giving anything more than author, title of work, date and place of publication, and a brief translation of the text from the source. Thus, while many of the illustrations definitely reference ideas described in the book, there is no direct connection, and thus the reader is left to wonder why this illustration was selected until the text mentions the  idea -- without referencing the illustration – a circle that badly needed to be completed.

I do not know enough about the history of history of science to say whether it was known, at the time Eliade wrote, that all attributions of alchemical texts to Arnaud de Villeneuve and Ramon Llull were spurious. Certainly the “Geber problem” was well known by then, but he manages to skirt around it by only specifically referencing works definitely known to be by Geber (Jābir ibn Hayyān).

Once he gets to Western alchemy, Eliade in several places cites Baron Julius Evola, who wrote the influential but historically questionable The Hermetic Tradition. I’ve read too little anthropology from the 1950s to know if Evola was generally radioactive in European scholarship during this period, but his political leanings would not have been much of a secret. Unlike Eliade, Evola never distanced himself from his fascist past; he criticized the Fascist party from the right, and, after the war, continued to produce polemics for the Italian radical right, including calls for political violence. Evola’s scholarly interest in Hindusim was to no small degree colored by its karmic justification of caste society, a stratification he hoped would be re-embraced by the decadent, democratic West; there’s no reason for me to believe that Evola’s study of hermeticism was untainted by his personal politics, prescriptive for all civilization as they were. Can we trust what a misogynist such as Evola, who openly advocated the forcible subjection of women, would have made of the alchemical Hermaphrodite, or the female alchemical assistant depicted in Mutus Liber?

Ultimately, I came away from The Forge and the Crucible feeling snookered by false advertising. The book groups together smiths and alchemists as major topics in one ~200-page volume – and the English subtitle implies that the origins of alchemy are the main topic of the book. I was thus led to believe that a case would be made that the cultural practices surrounding early metallurgy evolved directly into alchemy as both a technical and mystical practice. Yet, when the time came, the process of tracing from one to the other was fudged with “probablys” and “must-have-beens.” This is the book’s single greatest weakness.

Toward the end of the book, Eliade can’t resist lamenting the sorry state of modernity and what was lost with the disenchantment of the world. Treating this topic with anything more rigorous than sentimentality would require acknowledging that our experience of the numinous is necessarily filtered through our subjective mindset, whether our cultural background or our personal psychology. Such a treatment would require a book of its own, one which would be incomplete without positing a non-sectarian methodology by which the external reality of our spiritual experiences could be judged. As I’m not a professional theologian, I am unaware of whether any such methodology is possible, let alone whether anyone has proposed one.

The standard format of historical or anthropological bibliographies may have changed since this book was published, or it may be (or have been) different in the Francophone circles for which it was originally written. As it stands, the bibliographical information is concentrated in several appendices rather than a single bibliography arranged in a format familiar to me – i.e. a list or group of topic-based lists alphabetized by surname of author or editor. In these appendices, works on related topics are clustered in paragraphs, making scanning for authors or titles a huge pain. The best appendix of the lot is the last, his essay on Jung.

An online blurb for the 1978 edition claims an updated appendix including more recent works on Chinese alchemy, as well as “the importance of alchemy in Newton’s scientific revolution.” I should probably have a look at this, as Newton’s alchemical work was little acknowledged until the 1970s.

The index is sparse, to the point of being nearly useless. Despite Eliade’s name-dropping numerous ethnic groups, only some ethnonyms make it into the index. Geber/Jābir (written by Eliade as Jâbîr) appears at least twice (at least once in the main text as well as in one of the appendices), yet, despite being a major figure in the history of alchemy, he does not appear in the index at all under either G or J. Other alchemists, such as Zosimos and Michael Maier, though mentioned in the text, are similarly omitted from the index. Whether the shameful carelessness of composing the index is a function of the original Francophone publisher or the Anglophone publisher is not something I am in a position to pinpoint.

Overall, I would not recommend this ~60-year-old book for anyone who is just starting out in the study of alchemy, as understanding it correctly requires a background in history of science, and perhaps more background than I have in the history of material culture. I would prefer to direct such readers to Lawrence M. Principe’s 2013 book The Secrets of Alchemy, in which he demonstrates that first and foremost, alchemy was (and, according to its modern adherents, apparently still is) a physical discipline which was capable of yielding observable results, regardless of whether the “gold” produced was real.

[s7uttyangel]

Best Traveling Experience at Affordable Cost

We like to freshen after long days of work, occasionally we fed up with our everyday life. Busy and hectic life isn't always good, our soul and mind requires some refreshments. Sometime, we will need to break loose and go for a few refreshing travel.

Traveling into the new areas and within distinct people and civilization gets your body and mind boggling. There are numerous time for travel it's possible to opt for weekend travel, per week traveling or a months long travel. Some may like adventure traveling and a few prefer to explore new culture, food and customs. An individual can choose nature of the travel according to time period and interest.

As an example, we can categorize traveling into two unique sections, one is inbound travel and other is outbound travel. In bound travel refers to travel inside one's nation, where outbound travel is traveling to another country. People do not just travel for pleasure, they travel sometime for business purpose also. As an example, meeting new company parties or to explore new business ventures, for this one requires everything that business class service offers. You're suggested to select a dependable travel provider or travel tour operators, who have a long experience of organizing, otherwise your time and money can go waste. You can also get advice from relatives or friends who have an experience of travel that place where you're going to.

Before deciding, you will need to keep in mind several things like booking a flight, train ticket to visit some other country or town, booking a resort or package where you are It's a smart choice to reserve these from a certified travel provider or tour operators, they'll manage all of your traveling needs based on your requirements including hotel booking, flight, train ticket booking, excursion or tour packages. You must plan or book your journey in advance otherwise it can be problematic to have tickets and everything becomes expensive in the past minutes, as you know.

Before opting for a holiday to another country there are just a few things you need to ensure to check firsthand, about passport and visas, travel insurance, custom regulations and rules of visiting state as well as the weather conditions. You have to bring suitable clothing according to the weather state of the new location, if you collect information regarding customs, religions and culture of visiting new location or country it'll be quite easy to travel as you're well aware of the scenarios.

Picking a responsible and knowledgeable travel company which offers the cheapest ticket pricing and cheapest travel package cost makes your journey pleasant and memorable.

How to Become a Group Leader and Travel Free

Group Leader, may be your best alternative.

The majority of the main cruise companies will offer a free cruise for a Group Leader who sells 8 cabins or 15 full paying passengers. Some cruise businesses need the group leader to cover taxes, fees and updates. Smart group leaders, usually will book themselves into an Interior cruise cottage. That way nobody in the group has a less costly cabin.

The Group Leader can sell his/her cruise or, cruise at no cost. This alternative is what makes the group leader's chance so common.

Experienced Tour Conductors, usually generate numerous procedures to advertise their cruises or group travel events. The most common method is to find established groups, who wish to save money by traveling together. Other successful groups consist of special interest travel.

Because the vast majority of Group Leaders aren't, travel agents, they might have regular jobs, and belong to social organizations and church groups which places them in touch with hundreds of possible travelers.

There are a lot of strategies to begin as a Travel, Group Leader. If you're a junkie traveler, you may use your experiences to build your confidence and your earnings.

In case you've got a limited travel history, yet travel is a fire, it is possible to take a home study course, or enroll in a few classes at your community junior college. Additionally, there are courses online, which can be incredibly affordable. Traveling is a billion dollar industry and there are lots of possibilities for studying different stages of the travel market.

My teacher was one of the most prosperous group travel professionals in the nation, at that moment. My next step was to volunteer as a group leader for a social club that had been attending an annual ski summit in Vale.

It's not necessary to spend plenty of money on schooling become an effective Group Leader. However, it's mandatory that you learn all you can about your destination and the travel involved.

As soon as you have secured a fundamental knowledge of the kind of group travel that you need to offer, you may then search out a host agency. A Host Agency is a licensed, bonded travel agency that enables travel agents or external travel agents to book travel using their company name. There's a split in the commission, as the host agency is the legal business which lets you book travel for your customers. Charges for joining a Hosting Agency can vary from zero dollarsup to $500.

An alternative is to contact your local travel agency and tell them you would like to function as an external agent. Be ready to explain what sorts of travel you wish to provide and to what sort of groups that you would like to specialize in. The agency owner, or manager, will give you the commission structure, if any, policies and processes. Some travel agencies only provide free travel to group leaders, but others provide, free travel, and commissions.

When first starting out, it's nearly always better to join a group in procedure, or, make a fun, two day trip, for experience. My experience included learning the process for a specific cruise ship. Cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea. My attempts landed me at the Captain's Circle and qualified me as a Platinum Cruise Member.

It's easy to locate clients. Below is a list of approaches to advertise your travel events.

1. Informing your loved ones, friends, neighbors, co-workers, church members, team members, associations, friends of friends, twitter pals, and your own personal email friends, is a terrific way to find new customers.

2. The next best way is to invite friends, neighbors over for a traveling party or a cruise celebration. Request the cruise line or the hotel, for a video cassette and free promotional material to share with the guest. Supply guest with snacks and (cheap) wine. Keep the wine coming! You don't have to be aggressive. Traveling sells itself, particularly, if the destination and cost is of interest. 

Remember to ask for a deposit. Stay focused, your task is to offer information and collect checks. Ask friends to host a traveling party. The more parties that you have, the more people you register. It's that easy!

3. Make announcements at your church and your own organization. Include the information in the church bulletin or your company's newsletter, as many times as you can.

4. Have flyers composed, but before you have business cards printed, along with your name, contact numbers, email address, title of traveling event, dates and starting price.

5. Distribute flyers, at public places or public events.

6. Use classified ads, online and offline to publicize your travel event.

7. Pass your cards out, everywhere you go. Doctor's office, cleaners, grocery store, beauty store, shops where you shop, your children's school, your favorite neighborhood pub, and eating habits.

Paper work is vitally important and without it, nothing happens. Paper work must be performed properly and forwarded to the host agency or travel agency in a timely fashion. Failure to do this could result in an ugly situation, which could escalate into a legal conflict.

Checks should be made out to the host agency or the travel agency. Even if the travel agency says its OK for your customers to make the check out to you, do not do it. Get you commissions from the host agency, unless you've got a Seller of Travel license. One which you turn on your deposits and payments, the host agency or travel agency, will supply you with your own commissions, according to your arrangement.

[emeonly]

10 June 2019

Who knows I decided to take up the courage to look for you with the postal code that was provided. It wasn’t that hard to find her address since she has been regularly asking guys to come over her house. For the first time, my heart has never beated so fast. I rushed down to take a cab the very moment when I received her postal code. Feeling intimidated, I called a friend down to accompany me, as I was afraid that I might witness something that I shouldn’t be.

Initially I was told that she is staying in 8th floor, so I went every level to look for you and I was quite happy that I didn’t see your slippers outside. Curiosity kills the cat. I felt that I should probably try looking for it every level since my friend couldn’t assure me that she is staying in 8th floor. I randomly picked the middle lift to begin searching from. 13th floor... 12th... 11th... 10th everything was fine. I continue to walk down to 9th floor... 8th... 7th... 6th...5th... Jackpot! I could instantly recognize that the tiles were exactly the same as what I saw on her profile. Even if I am wrong, it was the closest I could find after analyzing most of the house, there were no other units that have the slightest similarities as compared to this. What caught my attention wasn’t your sandals, but a familiar voice while the dog was barking. Hoping to affirm myself that the voice was you, I looked down and to my atonishment I could identify that that was your sandals.

While I trembled and remain stunned, I was lost for a moment. Deep down, I secretly hope that everything I saw was a mistake, but no matter what I couldn’t lie to myself for what I have seen and heard.

Suddenly, someone opened the door and I guess you guys heard a small commotion at the corridor and a silhouette of me. I was still in shocked and I wasn’t ready to reveal myself therefore I decided to run towards the staircase. For God knows why did I chose to do that when my main purpose was to see both of you together. Then I realized I just couldn’t bear to see anything worse and disappoint myself anymore, all these are enough to break my heart. Knowing that you didn’t come home because you have been staying at her house was more than enough to break me down. Now that shit is getting real, it really hit me hard that you have already decided to move on with her.

I went down to first floor, feeling confused whether I should knock on the door or pretended nothing has happen and walk away. I know that if I ever made the first choice we will never be able to be together again, and that’s when I need to start moving on from you. After 3 hours of considerations, I chose the first choice, unreluctantly in condition that I get to stay alittle longer to catch a glimpse of both of you.

Who knows whether you caught me under your block and you decided to come down cluelessly wondering how did I get here. I told you bluntly that it’s really not hard to find her since we had so many mutual friends. I could ask 3 of my friends and everyone told me the same remarks - slut, one night stand or her nudes. There wasn’t a single pleasant remark coming from my friends. I guess you made it so clear that came down for a last closure.

By asking you if you both had sex was just a plus point to continue lying to myself when I already know the truth. Still, I carried the hope that you will answer me no. It turned out that you didn’t even hesitate and admitted confidently. I started crying, because I know that was going to be the last straw.

You said that you are going to show me that you can be faithful with someone else, unlike me. You admitted that both of you met through Instagram and have been talking for the past 17 days. Which probably why you started to treat me colder. It seems like you were okay with her being a air stewardess, but not me. You told me that you hated air stewardess but she was different. Despite knowing what’s her background like, you didnt bother and told me that you’re interested with her while you still love me.

You said frankly that you do felt guilty for having sex and going out with her but because of what I have done you are willing to do it out of revenge. You said that she can give you the happiness that I can’t and you want to explore the world and be happy again. She was willing to fork out for your meal because you said you wasn’t working, I did that too. You have already went out with her parents and brought her up your house. While the pet’s clothes that was in your bag was actually a gift from her for your rabbit.

You insisted that you don’t want me to interfere with your life and we can never be together again. You was so persistent on wanting me to pack my things and leave your house by tonight. You backed out with the agreement that we had to meet up and catch up once in awhile because you don’t wish to cheat on her. You even had to ask for a permission to give me a last hug. Honestly, what have I become?

Knowing that she is definitely not the girl for you and now that you already had sex with her, your souls are tied to so many people who had sex with her. She is definitely going to cheat on you when she starts flying, but why do you want to sit and wait for it to happen and leave? Why are you degrading yourself for such a worthless girl? Why do you even want to date a girl who has been judged by everyone as a slut. Knowing that she just broke up with her boyfriend 2 weeks ago and she was obviously trying to take you as rebound but you couldn’t see. Both of you are just bound to play with each other feelings. How can you change so much in such a short period? If you’re doing out of revenge, please find someone better.

After all, you didnt give me an answer if we will still have a chance to be together again. I know that it’s too hard for you to give me an answer now, but I will continue to wait for you when you’re ready. Once you’ve had enough fun, I’m willing to let go of everything and start afresh with you. No matter how many girls you’re going to have sex with, I will still wait for you.

[jerome-blog1]

All Assignments Help

Get help for All Assignments Help | Just Question Answer. We provide assignment, homework, discussions and case studies help for all subjects of All Universities for Session 2017-2018. ACC 206 | Assignment Help | Just Question Answer

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Recent Question 20

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An incomes policy is designed to

1. Suppose person A forms his inflation expectations as the average of this period’s inflation and last period’s inflation, whereas person B forms her expectations rationally (i.e., by using all information plus knowledge of how the macroeconomy operates). Suppose the economy is in equilibrium at its NRU and the Fed surreptitiously increases the money growth rate from 6 percent to 9 percent increasing inflation during the year from 4 percent to 6 percent and lowering unemployment slightly. At the end of this year it becomes clear what the Fed has done; at this point A’s and B’s expected inflations are a) 5% and 6% b) 5% and 7% c) 6% and 6% d) 6% and 7% Suppose the economy is at its natural rate of unemployment of 6% with a real output of $900 billion, but policymakers plan to reduce inflation from 8 percent to 4 percent gradually over a period of six years by creating a recession.

2. If the sacrifice ratio is 3, relative to maintaining full employment, what is the cumulative loss in output this recession will entail? 91 a) $30b or less b) more than $30b but less than $60b c) more than $60b but less than $90b d) more than $90b

3. If Okun’s law says that an extra percentage point of unemployment above the natural rate corresponds to a drop in output of 2 percentage points, what unemployment rate will the economy be required to experience over these six years? a) 6% or less b) more than 6% but not more than 7% c) more than 7% but not more than 8% d) more than 8%

4. Wage/price controls allow us to a) control what is produced in the economy b) move more quickly down the long-run Phillips curve c) stop inflation without decreasing the rate at which money is growing d) deal with inflation without losing the efficiencies of the price system

5. An incomes policy is designed to a) increase everyone’s real income b) redistribute income from the rich to the poor c) increase the actual income of the unemployed d) curb inflation without reducing aggregate demand

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BUSN 412 WEEK 2 In the News…

This project is intended to provide current material for class discussion and review. This material must relate to your Course Project subject. To receive full credit for this requirement, submit the In the News during Week 2. The project may draw on items from the online environment—newspapers, magazines, and websites—to provide current (i.e., within the last year) examples of course-related topics (i.e., Business Strategy from this week’s reading assignment). Relevance and probable interest to the class are especially welcome. These items should be accompanied by a one- to two-page report (using bullet points).

Be sure to use specific course concepts from this week’s readings in Chapters 2, 3, and 4. Examples are: Competitive Intelligence (pg. 42-44), Demographics (pg. 47–50), Porter’s 5 Forces (pg. 55–68), Value Chain Analysis (pg. 81–93), Resource Based View (pg. 93–102), Balanced Scorecard (pg. 107–110), Human Capital (pg. 127–136), and Social Capital (pg. 137–144).

Be sure you include the news article or a summary, as well as the 1- to 2-page report using bullet points that fully addresses the following points in this order.

The organization you have chosen for your Course Project by name,

why and how the news material is important and relevant to the course content using specific course concepts from this week’s assigned reading by citing the name of the concept and the page it is located on in the textbook, and

what practical managerial implications the material has.

Submit your assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.

See the Syllabus section "Due Dates for Assignments & Exams" for due date information.

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BUSN 412 WEEK 3 DISCUSSION 1 Mission Statement

Mission Statement

Post your Course Project organization’s mission statement here, if you can locate it. If not, post what you think it might be. How do you think its mission statement has focused the organization? How hard was it to find the mission statement? What value do you see the mission statement providing to the organization and how might it be made better, if at all?

What do you like to do? Do you brush your teeth because you are supposed to or do you do it for yourself. Or, do you do it for a dozen little reasons. Often we don’t even pay attention to why we do what we do. We are in autopilot mode for many decisions we make on a daily basis. Companies can operate the same way. A mission statement serves many purposes. What are some of them? What are some of the pro’s and con’s of a mission statement? Can you pick one for a company you know or work for and share it with us here. What does this statement say about the company?

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POL 300 Week 10 Quiz 5 Question 1 4 out of 4 points Greece and Turkey turned to international law because

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Question 2 4 out of 4 points

"Diplomatic immunity" means that diplomats

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Question 3 4 out of 4 points

The _________ war crimes trials set the precedent for human-rights and later war-crimes laws and trials.

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Question 4 4 out of 4 points

Israel used a(n) _____________ in trying Adolph Eichmann.

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Question 5 4 out of 4 points

International law developed as

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Question 6 4 out of 4 points

The domestic U.S. case Missouri v. Holland illustrates that

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Question 7 4 out of 4 points

Countries can now claim an exclusive economic zone ______ miles beyond their territorial waters.

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Question 8 4 out of 4 points

Unlike domestic law, international law requires states to

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Question 9 4 out of 4 points

Nixon’s 1972 visit to China was a form of _________ recognition.

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Question 10 4 out of 4 points

International law has _________ in common with domestic law.

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COM 403 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment Cultural Norms In Communication (USA and Mexico)

COM 403 Week 5 Learning Team Assignment Cultural Norms In Communication (USA and Mexico)

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ETH 125 Week 9 Final Project, Part II

Write a 500- to 750-word additional response that adds to your completed Final Project Part I, completed in Week 8 that answers the following questions: • Describe possible ways the government and or media may foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the United States? • Summarize three ways individuals in the United States can work together to reduce prejudice and increase appreciation for diversity? Format the paper consistent with APA guidelines. Submit the assignment to the Assignment Files tab.

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JUS 521 WEEK 3 DISCUSSION 2

Discuss the mobility doctrine. Is this a direct infringement on individual liberties? Should the doctrine be updated to fit the modern world? Explain your reasoning.

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E-commerce

E-commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, propelling business further into the information age with each passing day. People just like you and me clicked our mouse and purchased approximately $10 billion in merchandise during 1999. The U. S. Department of Commerce forecasts Internet retailing will exceed $50 billion within the next two years, and business-to-business e-commerce will top $1 trillion. With millions of transaction taking place, it is inevitable that contract disputes will arise, and common rules to authenticate and confirm the integrity of electronic documents and their signers are of paramount importance.

On September 16, 1999, Governor Gray Davis signed Senate Bill 820 making California the first state to adopt an electronic contracting law. The law went into effect January 1, 2000. Its primary purpose is to "ensure that electronic contracts (records and signatures) have the same legal effect as their hardcopy counterparts." In addition, the law legalizes electronic signatures and even extending the electronic signature, under certain circumstances, to satisfy requirements that a signature be notarized. The law, however, only applies to transactions where the contracting parties have agreed in advance to be bound by an electronic transaction.

Maybe the law’s most extreme fault is that it fails to cover all transactions. The following contracts are excluded:

• Wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts. • Certain transactions governed by various consumer protection laws (for example, notice of mortgage late fees, non-judicial foreclosure notices, and statements of finance charges). • Any transaction under the Automobile Sales Finance Act or the Vehicle Licensing Act. • Some retail installment sales contracts.

Even with these shortcomings, the law undoubtedly will have a significant effect on the future of contract law in California and the nation. Exactly what that effect will be, however, remains to be decided in the courtroom. In the following section, we will examine some of the issues. 1. What will be the long-term impact of electronic contracting on the nation’s business? 2. What are the potential pitfalls you see with electronic contracting? In your own words, please post a response to the Discussion Board and comment on other postings. You will be graded on the quality of your postings.

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CJS/220 CJS220 CJS 220 WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT 1

Structure of the Courts Review Ch. 4 of The Courts in Our Criminal Justice System. Write a 200- to 300-word response comparing the court system of the state in which you live and the federal court system. If you are not a resident of the United States, choose any state- court system to compare with the federal court system. Compare these two systems by structure, source of laws, and the types of cases that are heard. Format your response consistent with APA guidelines. Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

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HIS 356 Week 4 Individual Assignment African Independence Worksheet

African Independence Worksheet

Use the worksheet provided and choose two African countries to compare independence movements. You must use at least five sources, of which two must be primary sources. You may use MyHistoryLab, the University Library, or credible websites to locate primary sources. Primary sources include documents, images, maps, or news reports. If you choose to include images or maps, please include those with your answers to the appropriate question. Each answer should be 150 to 200 words.

How did the Pan African Movement start to alter the world- opinion about African independence?

How did the Africans use World War I and World War II to move their countries toward independence?

How did the Christian churches introduced to the Africans help them in their struggle for independence?

Which groups had the most to gain by gaining independence for their country?

Select one country that had to fight for their independence and give a short synopsis of the struggle.

Why did most of the African countries remain intact despite regional or tribal conflicts? The desire of all Africans for the Europeans to leave African lands and for each

Why were the newly established governments generally unable to fulfill the expectations of the citizens?

Explain the drift toward centralization of government power in the new countries.

What were the major theoretical divisions within the concept of African Socialism?

Explain what you consider to be the three main obstacles that the newly created countries had to deal with in order to become safe and sustainable countries.

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OPS 571 Week 5 Quiz

1.) Which is the international standard for quality management for automotive industry suppliers of production parts, materials, and services?

2.) ISO 9000 is primarily concerned with what type of quality management standards?

3.) What is a reason that a company may pursue ISO-9000 certification?

4.) What form of ISO 9000-certification is the final requirement before a company may be registered and recorded as having achieved ISO 9000 status?

5.) Who is responsible for performing the first-party certification audit for a supplier firm?

6.) What is one analytical tool common to all quality improvement programs?

7.) An opportunity flow diagram would best fit in which DMAIC category?

8.) What is the certification when a qualified national or international standards body or similar certifying agency audits and certifies that a company is ISO 9000-compliant?

9.) A fishbone diagram might be found in which DMAIC category?

10.) What is the international quality management standard for quality management and assurance that is primarily concerned with quality of air, water, and soil?

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[hiddenlevers-blog]

HiddenLevers Perspective: Best Practices in Client Retention

With the advent of robo-advisors and discount financial advice, advisors are under more pressure than ever to illustrate their value to retain clients. HiddenLevers has always viewed itself as an advocate for financial advisors. Despite the headlines, we understand that technology cannot replace human interaction. So, we pooled together our thoughts from countless hours of conversation with leading RIAs regarding their best practices for client retention.

Don’t Become Robo 3.0

What separates a financial advisor from a computer? A strong personal relationship that goes beyond a simple digital dashboard. Good advisors avoid tip-toeing around the issues plastered on the headlines and ask thought provoking questions that get their clients to open up. Great advisors go one step further and foster strong interpersonal relationships with their clients to strengthen their purpose. 

Technology is another great way to take your client relationships to the next level, but advisors should use technology strategically. In fact, some of the automation put in place by advisors is having a negative impact on their retention and they might not even know it. Let’s think about it, post cards sent out by a machine are more of an insult if they aren’t backed up with a very personal touch that makes the client feel valued. Taking the time to pick up the phone and call that client, letting them know that their relationship means something to you, will always yield a better result. A 2014 study by Millionaire Corner found that households with a net worth of $1 million plus are most likely to fire their advisor if their phone calls and emails are not promptly returned, so make sure you leverage your best asset (yourself) and use technology to further augment your services.

Unfortunately, some advisors have adopted the robo 3.0 mentality, adopting so much automated technology their role in their client’s lives is almost non-existent. If your clients can find your same services for less money, they will not be your clients for long.

Why Do Clients Leave?

We’ve sat through thousands of meetings with advisors and one of the most compelling items we’ve taken away is that many advisors struggle with communicating the tradeoff between risk and return. We hear things to the effect of “well that’s what my clients pay me to worry about” or “that’s just too complex for my clients.” Yet, at the same time, we see in the stats that advisors are losing AUM, and the largest complaints from clients is they expected better performance.  Is this the clients or the advisor’s problem?  It doesn’t matter, ultimately both will suffer!  

In 2014 The Vanguard Group, Inc. worked with the U.S.-based independent research firm Spectrem Group on a study that found that affluent and high-net-worth investors gave more weight to communication, trustworthiness and transparency than to fees and performance when deciding whether to hire or fire an advisor.

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Should a client not expect better performance? Should the advisor build this relationship on performance?  Absolutely not.  It is our responsibility to spend the time necessary to set clear expectations, both for a foundation of our relationship and the risk + reward of all the advice we prepare for our clients.

 Keep Being an Expert

As Manish Khatta, President / Portfolio Manager of Potomac Funds, notes:

"Most financial advisors and clients spend a lot of time focused on investment returns. For example, many online retirement calculators ask investors to input their expected return along with their current income, savings, age and planned retirement date. Most mutual fund web sites and fact sheets present annualized returns for their portfolios over a specific period, in addition to yearly returns.

With this laser-focus on investment return, risk is often overlooked. Both investors and asset management firms place heavy emphasis on the total returns achieved, without considering the amount of risk that was assumed to generate those returns."

It is important to remember what gave birth to the financial advice industry -  an asymmetry of knowledge between advisors and their clients. Financial advisors acted as experts, and their clients paid them for their advice. Advisors should utilize tools that are easy to understand but provide a sufficient degree of depth. If your clients have questions about how much they need to save for retirement, how to best allocate their 401k, or how their fee’s will change after a rollover, they always expect honest and transparent answers. The same thing goes for more complex questions, whether it’s the effect of changing interest rates or the Trump presidency it is an advisor’s job to help address these questions in an easy to understand manner that still considers the intricacies of these issues.

HiddenLevers helps you answer these sorts of questions through visualizations and easy to understand results that focus on Risk + Reward and where the client is vulnerable.  Platforms like eMoney Advisor and MoneyGuidePro can help your clients understand the best pathway to meeting their financial goals and how planning around uncertainty can impact their overall financial plan.

Investors gravitate towards expecting higher returns and taking less risk from their investments. Advisors can utilize HiddenLevers to illustrate the risk + reward tradeoff inherent with investing.  Shining light into the dark corners of tail risk and speaking directly to the concerns your clients have related to what they read or saw on the news.  Having this discussion does not mean we need to change their strategy, it means we have an opportunity to fine tune their expectations and speak to their concerns promptly, honestly and transparently. 

Advisors should revisit these conversations to keep their clients on track and deepen their relationships. Get this conversation right and you can reduce your client churn by over a third.

Make Your Clients Indispensable

Many advisors know that not all clients are created equal, and when you gain someone’s trust,  the goal is to retain that client for the long-term.   Long-term relationships and low churn will help build a reputation in your communities and usually result in life-long friendships. By utilizing technology to further humanize your practice, you help your clients have realistic expectations about their investments, improve your bottom line, and create relationships that last a lifetime.

Ready to start measuring risk + reward? Stress test portfolios with HiddenLevers and increase your client retention with our FREE 7-day trial.

Click here.

[rightwingbully-blog]

Returning to Conservatism at the Height of Controversy

As many reading this already know, all throughout the latter half of 2016 I was a vehement supporter of Hillary Clinton. Today I can say with the utmost confidence, I was wrong and I’m sure some of my friends and family will never let me live that down. First and foremost, I need to clarify: I strongly believe that Donald Trump is the most unqualified, embarrassing, and repulsive individual to work in the oval office to date. I will likely never support him, nor see him as a legitimate leader. HOWEVER, I feel that under a Republican ran congress, with actual politicians working along side him, America actually may have a shot. There are a few things I want to accomplish with this initial blog. First and foremost, I want to clear the air as to why I ever fell into the trap of socialism. Second, I want to make a case for my fellow men and women on the right who may need some statistics to back up their claims in their next heated Thanksgiving arguments. Lastly, I want to express clearly what it is that the Republican and Libertarian parties represent to me. So without further ado, topic number one.... It all really comes down to one key element- marketing. With a solid marketing plan you can make even the most ludicrous items seem enticing. The Democratic Party have managed to grasp on to a majority of today's millennials and young adults by painting a vivid picture of a socialist utopia with no person left hungry, sick or wanting. They make progressive Europe out to be the epitome of civilization and cultural acceptance, laying out bullet point after bullet point of good things that might happen if you are willing to release “this” freedom or “that” one in a blind trust- or at the very least, you'd be willing to compromise on them, right? By captivating such a large majority of today's youth, they have gained a plethora of individuals that are undergoing or have completed a higher level of education. These individuals are formidable. Buying into the promises of big brother, they contort statistics and budgets to fit their agenda. They tell you that free or affordable college or healthcare will not affect your taxes to any degree, or that it will be such a small amount you won't notice it. The young and struggling, like myself in the very recent past, further buy in to this fantasy in hopes that it may set us free of financial mistakes we may have made previously. I will counter this using simple statistics, and at the same time address the issue of illegal immigration. My example of socialism will the ever-praised Canada, and obviously my example of capitalism will be the best god damn country on the face of the fuckin' earth (USA!) So, it's all pretty simple math once you find the numbers to plug in. This is what it looks like:

CANADA 35.16mil people 17mil of which are tax payers cost of healthcare $141 billion

This averages out to $8,294 per tax payer annually. Information provided by Fraser Institute, note the figures they give show the price per Canadian, not per tax payer. Since not every Canadian is a tax payer that leads to one of the misleading statistics that I addressed previously. (The number they provide is $4k)

USA USA USA 319mil plus approximately 11mil illegal immigrants totaling to 330mil. 122mil tax payers Due to the population of the US being roughly 9x that of Canada, we simply multiply the cost of Canadian care by nine to end up with a total of 1.2 trillion. This averages out to about $9800 per tax payer annually.

If that doesn't sound bad enough, take into consideration that the entire federal budget of 2015 was only 3.8 trillion. There is simply not a way to “smarter spend” our way without raising taxes drastically. (source for 2015 budget:nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending ) Socialism is not a sustainable idea for a nation this populated with a budget that size. Even if it were, such an idea can not become a reality without a strong border. This isn't a new, bigoted concept that evil Orange Hitler came up with. For decades presidents have been calling to strengthen our border security- ol' Tiny Hands just so happens to think a wall will work (spoiler: it wont, that's not how we should go about it.)  And if you think Obama didn't believe that, do a quick google search right now saying “Which US President had the most deportations?” To tackle the idea of illegal immigration, I'll bring up one method that these men and women are and have been using for quite some time. It was brought up during the Swift Raids of 2006 but I haven't heard much of it since. A large number of those arrested by ICE during those raids were charged with identity theft. There isn't a specific number anywhere that I've found, but all articles claim hundreds. The most common method of identity theft for work purposes is using their own name, but stealing a SSN. That is 98% of such cases ( cis.org/IdentityTheft ) We do have a system in place that detect this fraud but it is not nationally enforced. Using this method, they do help our federal government by paying their income taxes, however, in addition to the felony crime they're committing, we also lose economic stimulation. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, illegal immigrants send about $50 billion in remittances to their native countries annually. That averages out to about $4500 a person. WOW- that's a lot of info and a whole lot of numbers to remember. But I will end the boring stuff there, thus concluding my second objective. So now we arrive at the heavily opinionated part of today's lecture, children. Feel free to check out now, I don't care. Revisiting the marketing aspect, for years the left had all kinds of empty rhetoric logged into my mind as to what was offensive and what wasn't. They've played out the words “Hitler” and “Nazi” so much that they can now call a gay Jew with a black boyfriend a Nazi with a straight face, and absolutely mean it. They convinced my that a wage gap was real, that people were really missing out on opportunities due to something like race or sexual orientation... With enough of the echo chamber, you begin to feel guilty just for existing as a straight, white, middle class male. In these echo chambers- these facebook pages, forums, YouTube comment threads, etc- you will be silenced and told you don't understand the struggles these groups face. You're conditioned to believe that you're not allowed to feel oppressed or overworked and under paid. Well I'm gonna tell you right now- that's a load of fucking horse shit. I'm embarrassed it took me so long to realize. They call America the land of opportunity. There are no conditions to that title. It's just that. All US Citizens are now guaranteed the same rights- and the reason people immigrate here, legally or not, is because of THOSE values! Cherry picking instances like Alton Sterling or Castille to try to paint a picture of a nation of racist pigs but condemning me for believing ISIS is the true face of Islam is not only hypocritical but it is marvelously stupid. [Short rabbit trail- I don't like cops either but tens of thousands of them go to work every day without committing a racist act. Meanwhile you can find more than one verse that condones the beheading of non-believers in the Quran. I find this to be an interesting comparison because the left argue you can't attribute the actions of a few to the whole crowd- apparently unless it's the judicial system.] All that said, I'm still fairly progressive on some things. Climate change is real and we need to do something about it. I'm pro-choice but to me it makes sense to ask for the father's consent as well. And of course, I want gays and lesbians to be able to have the same opportunity to be miserable like everyone else. I wouldn't mind being able to smoke a joint once in a while either, but whatever. To close: I hope Trump does well through his presidency. I hope our congress can get things moving in the right direction. And above all else I hope to someday see us govern based entirely off the constitution. If you liked this please let me know. I'm going to periodically post opinion-based blogs from now until whenever I feel like not doing it anymore. I may do some where I dissect amendments of the Constitution, interpret them and really dig in. Not sure yet. The ol' hamster is just now starting to run, but mostly I'm hoping that doing something like this will help me keep my personal facebook a little less political. That's all for now!