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irenadel · 2 years ago

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When Homelander comes home and finds you asleep on his sofa under one of his capes cos you missed him whilst he was away

By hour 40, you've called everyone. The phone number they gave you. Ashley. Your mother. Friends. Some of the other members of the Seven. When serious men in serious suits knocked on your door and told you there had been an accident, you had sat down, a strange, distorted ringing in your ears. Something about nuclear. Something about this being normal. Sometimes it was just communication that was cut off. No reason to worry, Vought had a policy of informing the emergency contact of any supe after 24 hours without contact during a mission... It had just never been implemented for Homelander. You didn't ask whether it was because he had never gone missing for 24 hours or if he had never had an emergency contact. There's an outraged, hysterical part of you that is just waiting to know so she can start screaming at anyone even vaguely responsible for this. For the callous disregard with which Vought treats the man you love.

But you didn't scream. You sat in your chair trying to breathe and started making calls. The first ones to friends and family because you DID need to calm the fuck down. Because you knew you'd be spending a sleepless night and would need someone to talk you through it. The next ones were to Vought officials, because by hour 35 you've gone beyond keeping calm to cold certainty that this isn't really the routinary scenario they've tried to feed you. You kept your cool. Years of customer service have taught you people respond better to weary, continuous insistence than to angry outbursts

It makes no difference.

So, by hour 40 you've dragged yourself to John's condo in Vought Tower. You've been talking for four hours straight and you've been awake for the better part of two days. You broke down in front of Ashley and she, half-terrified, half-pityingly suggested you come up here. She'd personally keep you informed, she assured you.

You stare at the cold, empty rooms. HIS cold empty, rooms. Not a single ounce of his personality in them. Not a single personal object to remember him by if... if this is it...

You storm into his bedroom, furiously rifling through his toiletries, his clothes, thinking of the many conversations you've had with him about privacy, not giving a damn about your own hypocrisy here. All his personal things, the books you've given him, civilian clothes he's bought at your request, the brush he uses when he's not being professionally styled... they're all at your place.

There's a couple of dirty super suits in his laundry hamper and you get it now. You get his Proustian obsession with scent, you get how one stoops to this, desperate measures and everything. You don't dare think you'll be able to tell him when you see him again. You give his bed a wide berth, because that you've shared, not a week ago. If you have to lay down on the bed you fucked in you'll start screaming and never stop.

Homelander suspects they've let him go because he looks PISSED. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even have let them near him. He was long past the days when he would tolerate nervous people in lab coats prodding at him anxiously. He especially did not wish to tolerate them now, jittery and ready as he was to just go, get out of here, get to you and make sure you were alright. He was fine of course, of course. Nothing to worry about. These little medical cocksuckers should have taken the fucking hint on the first round of tests, but they had said contamination risk and he had, gritting his teeth, allowed them to do whatever needed to be done to keep you safe.

By the time he's done with the shower and tests and a fresh change of suit he's already worked himself up into fury. He is deeply considering who among the medical team is disposable and would have gone through with it for sheer stress relief if Ashley had not chosen that instant to break into the medical bay. Now THIS he couldn't be expected to put up with.

"No, no, no," he cuts her off, pointing at her warningly. "Whatever it is, it can wait. I've got, whatsit called, paid leave after an incident. It's company policy. Stop. No. I don't fucking care. Deal with it without me."

He takes off before he can hear Ashley's protests, already heading to your apartment. He knows he'll get some peace and quiet there at least. And he's positively itching to see you after your time apart. Who could have told him he'd become such a sentimental fool over you? He chuckles to himself and stays the course. All he needs is a hot meal, a good fuck and two or ten hours in your arms and he'd be good as new. You'd even be proud of him. First paid leave he'd ever demanded.

But you aren't home when he gets there. The place in disarray, the phone ringing, a cold cup of coffee and the faint stench of your fear around it. He's unprepared by how much this wounds him, like the bottom's dropped out from under him and he's been set adrift. He'd felt like that the first time he had flown, with how little control he'd had over it.

He stops himself dead, refusing to be this pathetic, and reaches for the old familiar anger. Ever ready for him to pick up and hammer you with it as soon as you deign to show yourself. He tells himself it is this, and a liberal dose of SPITE, that makes him leave (flee) this place before you make it back (not the hurt at your absence, the fear). A place, that for all its lack of luxuries, feels more like home than his fucking tomb of a condo ever did.

He's not crying when he makes it to Vought Tower. His eyes are defiantly dry. His hands hurt from being clenched so tightly (Homelander is routinely the only thing that can hurt Homelander). Oh you will hear him as soon as you show your face, oh little lady you've earned yourself a fucking problem, he thinks to himself furiously. (He refuses to glance at the mirror on his way in, refuses to even consider whatever he would propose he do about you.) He's more than enough to put you in your place, more than enough to make sure you never forget what you OWE him.

Your heartbeat hits him first.

Then the salty aftertaste of your tears.

He turns around, bewildered for a second, and is met with the sight of you, his dirty cape wrapped around yourself like it could protect you from the world (John knows, oh he KNOWS what that looks like). He freezes for a moment, mouth dry, the pit of his stomach clenching in some unknown but powerful emotion. He drinks in all the details (drinks them up like a man dying of thirst, consumes them before he can even react). Your little, white-knuckled hands clenched around the fabric. Your eyes, screwed shut as if sleep is a monumental task requiring all your effort. God knows how long you've been here, asleep, FINALLY asleep. He knows because of the coffee and the dark circles under your eyes, peaking from behind his cape, he knows from the sharp smell of your cortisol, pumping steadily through your sweet veins to signal stress, sleep deprivation, worry...

For him.

He feels himself smiling, the edges of his mouth tugging against the exhaustion (and fear, fear he will never admit to) of the last couple of days. He wants to watch you like this forever, wants to savor your anguish, your LOVE for him, so clearly delineated by the bittersweet taste of your despair.

But he also just wants you.

He gives you no warning, just gathers you up in his arms, and chuckles cruelly at the scream of fright you give out. He's kissing you with no time for explanations, licking the tears off your face, as you protest, as you cry again, relief coursing through you like a drug. You try to hold unto the cape slipping from your shoulders as he carries you with one hand under your ass while using the other to stop you.

"That's enough, little lady," he says through that too-wide smile full of sharp teeth you love so much. "You don't need that anymore, you've got the real deal. And the real deal is going to teach you not to worry your silly little head over me. Nothing can hurt me, remember?"

Nothing.

Nothing but himself... and now you...

#homelander #homelander x reader #homelander fanfiction #IreAsks #I made it sad because I can #Once more this is vaguely Pygmalion versey #No-emotional-regulation-lander

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paulbenedictblog · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

News Katherine Johnson, ‘hidden figure’ at NASA during 1960s space race, dies at 101 - The Washington Post

News

Her title, poached by the expertise that would possibly well per chance soon manufacture the providers of a great deal of her colleagues former, became once “computer.”

Mrs. Johnson, who died Feb. 24 at 101, went on to assemble equations that helped the NACA and its successor, NASA, send astronauts into orbit and, later, to the moon. In 26 signed reports for the effect company, and in many extra papers that bore others’ signatures on her work, she codified mathematical suggestions that dwell on the core of human effect jog.

She became once now not the first unlit woman to work as a NASA mathematician, nor the first to write down a analysis myth for the company, however Mrs. Johnson became once within the end acknowledged as a pathbreaker for ladies and African People within the newly created field of spaceflight.

Treasure most on the help of the scenes participants of the effect program, Mrs. Johnson became once overshadowed within the celebrated imagination by the lifestyles-risking astronauts whose flights she calculated, and to a lesser extent by the division heads beneath whom she served.

She failed to allege mainstream attention until President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the country’s most sensible probably civilian honor — in 2015. The next year, her analysis became once notorious in doubtlessly one of the most sensible-promoting e book “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly and the Oscar-nominated film adaptation starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe.

Mrs. Johnson became once “vital to the success of the early U.S. effect functions,” Bill Barry, NASA’s chief historian, mentioned in a 2017 interview for this obituary. “She had a unique mind, curiosity and skill position in mathematics that allowed her to fabricate many contributions, every of that would possibly well per chance very neatly be thought to be well-known of a single lifetime.”

A math prodigy from West Virginia who mentioned she “counted every thing” as a child — “the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the will of dishes and silverware I washed” — Mrs. Johnson worked as a schoolteacher sooner than being employed as a computer on the NACA’s flight analysis division, essentially based at Langley Study Middle in Hampton, Va.

The company became once established in 1915 and started enlisting white ladies to work as computers 20 years later. Sunless computers, assigned mainly to segregated providers, like been first employed all over the labor scarcity of World Battle II. Mrs. Johnson became once one of about 100 computers, roughly one-third of whom like been unlit, when she joined the NACA.

The movie “Hidden Figures” took occasional liberties with truth to stress the indignities of segregation. Mrs. Johnson, performed by Henson, is forced to bustle half of a mile to attain the “colored” lavatory. Essentially, Mrs. Johnson mentioned, she used the loo closest to her desk.

“I failed to essentially feel worthy discrimination, however then that’s me,” she recalled in a 1992 NASA oral ancient past. When she detected hints of racism, equivalent to when a white colleague stood up to leave as soon as she sat down, she mentioned, she tried to now not answer. “I don’t keep on my emotions on my shoulder. So I bought along magnificent.”

Mrs. Johnson had a bachelor’s level in mathematics and spent her early occupation studying knowledge from plane crashes, serving to devise air security standards at a time when the company’s central tell became once aviation. Then, in October 1957, the launch of the Soviet satellite tv for computer Sputnik thrust the effect bustle into corpulent tilt.

Mrs. Johnson and dozens of work-mates wrote a 600-page technical myth titled “Notes on Condo Expertise” outlining the mathematical underpinnings of spaceflight, from rocket propulsion to orbital mechanics and warmth security.

Regarded as one of rocket science’s most vexing challenges, they soon realized, became once calculating flight trajectories to make certain that astronauts returned safely to Earth, splashing down within the ocean reasonably stop to a Navy vessel waiting to pluck them from the water.

For astronauts equivalent to Alan B. Shepard Jr., who grew to turn into the first American in effect when Freedom 7 launched on Would possibly per chance well furthermore 5, 1961, the math became once moderately straight forward. Shepard’s craft rose and fell, love a champagne cork, without entering orbit.

Calculating the trajectory for an orbital flight, equivalent to the one to be undertaken by Marine pilot John Glenn in 1962, became once “orders of magnitude extra complex,” mentioned Shetterly, the “Hidden Figures” author.

“I mentioned, ‘Let me assemble it,’ ” Mrs. Johnson recalled in a 2008 NASA interview. “You expose me whenever you happen to want it and where you would like it to land, and I’ll assemble it backwards and expose you when to use off.”

Mrs. Johnson’s findings, outlined in a 1960 paper she wrote with engineer Ted Skopinski, enabled engineers to resolve exactly when to launch a spacecraft and when to originate its reentry. The paper, “Option of Azimuth Perspective at Burnout for Inserting a Satellite tv for computer Over a Selected Earth Set,” marked the first time a lady wrote a technical myth in NASA’s elite flight analysis division.

“That it's probably you'll work your teeth out, however you didn’t gather your name on the parable,” she mentioned within the 1992 oral ancient past, crediting her step forward to what she described as an assertive personality. When a superior mentioned that she would possibly well per chance now not accompany male colleagues to a briefing related to her work, Mrs. Johnson requested, “Is there a regulations that says I'm able to’t wander?” Her boss relented.

Mrs. Johnson’s handwritten calculations like been mentioned to love been extra depended on than these performed by mainframe computers. A short time sooner than Glenn launched into effect, he requested engineers to “gather the girl to test the numbers.”

“Your whole ladies like been called ‘the ladies,’ ” mentioned Barry, “and everyone knew exactly which woman he became once talking about.” Mrs. Johnson, who became once then 43, spent a day and a half of checking the trajectory calculations made by the IBM computer sooner than giving the wander-forward to Glenn, who grew to turn into the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth.

In a subsequent myth, Mrs. Johnson took her calculations one step extra, working with a whole lot of colleagues to resolve how a spacecraft would possibly well per chance circulation inner and out of a planetary body’s orbit. Her formulas like been well-known to the success of the Apollo lunar program and are silent in expend on the brand new time, Barry mentioned. “If we return to the moon, or to Mars, we’ll be the expend of her math.”

Modest beginnings

Katherine Coleman became once born in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., then a town of about 800, on Aug. 26, 1918. Her mother became once a aged instructor. She credited her proclivity for mathematics to her father, a farmer who had worked within the fade enterprise and would possibly well per chance like a flash calculate the will of boards a tree would possibly well per chance gather.

By 10, Katherine had executed your whole coursework supplied at her town’s two-room schoolhouse. Joined by her mother and her three older siblings, she moved to Institute, a suburb of the instruct capital, to help the laboratory college of West Virginia Inform School whereas her father remained at home to make stronger the household.

Mrs. Johnson went on to search at West Virginia Inform, a historically unlit college, with plans to valuable in French and English and turn into a instructor. A mathematics professor — W.W. Schiefflin Claytor, broadly reported to be the third African American to receive a doctorate in math — persuaded her to interchange fields.

Mrs. Johnson later recalled his announcing: “You’d manufacture a merely analysis mathematician, and I’m going to stare that you just’re ready.” She had never heard of the win 22 situation sooner than. “I mentioned, ‘The effect will I gather a job?’ And he mentioned, ‘That will probably be your tell.’ ”

After graduating in 1937, at 18, she taught at a segregated main college in Marion, Va., a town come the North Carolina border.

Three years later, she became once one of three unlit college students selected to integrate West Virginia University’s graduate functions. She dropped out of her master’s in mathematics program after one semester to originate a household along with her husband, James Goble, a chemistry instructor. She later returned to instructing, in West Virginia, sooner than a brother-in-regulations instructed she observe for a computer win 22 situation at Langley.

Goble died of cancer in 1956, and three years later Mrs. Johnson married James Johnson, an Navy artillery officer. He died in 2019.

Mrs. Johnson’s demise became once confirmed by lawyer and household handbook Donyale Y.H. Reavis, who mentioned she died at home in Newport News, Va., however failed to quote a particular reason.

Survivors include two daughters from her first marriage, Joylette Hylick of Mount Laurel, N.J., and Katherine Moore of Greensboro, N.C.; six grandchildren; and 11 sizable-grandchildren. Her daughter Constance Garcia died in 2010.

Mrs. Johnson became once invited to circulation to Houston within the mid-1960s to wait on set what's now the Lyndon B. Johnson Condo Middle, however she declined the supply to help her household’s ties to the Hampton neighborhood, Shetterly mentioned.

At Langley, where she retired in 1986, she performed calculations that sure the enlighten 2nd at which the Apollo lunar lander would possibly well per chance leave the moon’s ground to attain to the allege module, which remained in orbit high above. She also contributed to NASA’s effect shuttle and Earth satellite tv for computer functions.

After the launch of “Hidden Figures,” Mrs. Johnson performed down the significance of her impartial within the early years of the effect program. “There’s nothing to it — I became once merely doing my job,” she instructed The Washington Post in 2017.

“They wished knowledge, and I had it, and it didn’t topic that I came across it,” she added. “At the time, it became once merely a inquire of and an answer.”

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benchinthepark · 7 years ago

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The truth about Catalonia - October 4th 2017

Like many Spanish and Catalans, I was deeply shocked and saddened by the events of last Sunday across all Catalonia , with clashes between police and citizens trying to exercise their voting rights , and with the scenes of violence, although, as an informed observer, it was hardly a surprise.

Of course the events had ample Press coverage across the world and the media had a meal with them. Since then I have heard many arguments and opinions, mostly well intentioned , but equally lacking a real and deep understanding of the issue. We all like simplification and we love a black and white story of oppressors and victims, but unfortunately the issue is much more complex, with many shades of grey and to fully comprehend it needs to be analyzed from different angles : historical, political, economical, legal and even emotional.

Whatever your stance on the issue , I believe you will gain a better view if you understand each of them. They are as follows :

History

Unlike other territories with independence’s claims ( aka Scotland ), Catalonia has never been an independent kingdom.

In the Middle- Ages , and as part of the “ Reconquista “ ,( our local crusade , after the Arab invasion and conquest of Spain in 711 ) we saw in Spain the built up of several Christian kingdoms : Navarra, Asturias, Leon, later on Castilla and Aragon. Over the centuries some of these kingdoms were absorbed by others and finally the two remaining ones united through the marriage of Isabel, queen of Castilla and Fernando , king of Aragon. Under their rule the last remaining Arab kingdom, Granada, was conquered and on the same year, 1492 , under Spanish crown mandate and under Spanish flag , Cristobal Colon discovered America. The Spanish nation was born.

Catalonia was a region of the Aragon kingdom that also comprised the actual Aragon, all Levante ( including Valencia ) and the Baleares islands.

It was therefore never an independent kingdom, although since the Renaissance become a very wealthy region, mostly due to maritime trade in the Mediterranean and developed their own language, Catalan, that co-existed with the Spanish and, as many other parts of the country , their own culture and traditions.

Today and since the advent of Democracy and the passing of the Constitutional law , voted in referendum by all Spanish citizens in 1978 ( affirmative votes 88% across Spain and 90% in Catalonia ) is an autonomous nationality (term used to recognize their specificity ), with ample levels of self-government.

Politics

The Constitution granted Catalonia their own government (“ Generalitat “ ), and their own parliament with the subsequent elections.

The same Catalan party has been in power in Catalonia since , with the sole exception of three years, and whilst initially positioned itself as ferociously autonomous, constantly negotiating with the central government ever increasing areas of power, but with apparent loyalty to the Constitution and to the rest of Spain, it has veered recently, since the crisis ( money always talks ) , into a radical pro independence agenda.

La Generalitat has full control over local police, public media ( all public television and radio channels ),public servcies ( excluding airports & Defense ), Health, Language policies, Education and many other aspects. It has power to levy taxes and it manages a portion of the national taxes ( ex, Income tax ) collected in the territory. This level of self-Government is substantially higher than any Estate in USA, any lander in Germany or any original kingdom in UK.

The Spanish Constitutional law has articles regulating it´s own change , that requires a qualified majority , as well as the scenario where a part of the country seeks independence , that requires a qualified majority and a vote in referendum by all Spanish citizens as “ the Spanish sovereignty belongs and seats with the whole Spanish people “. These articles are similar and where inspired by those existing in almost all Constitutional laws across Europe ( not the case in UK ).

The Spanish government has repeteadly invited the Catalan party to present their independency plans in the National Parliament for discussion . The Catalan party has refused as they do not have the needed votes to see it through.

Overall the Constitutional law has been a very positive factor on the last 40 years on securing and deepen Spain Democracy, estability and progress, and even if there are already talks about the need of adapting it to the new times ( I am in fact on this camp ) it has a very positive perception for a large majority of the population. However , in hindsight, it incurred in two fatal mistakes that have contributed greatly to the development of events in Catalonia.

First it sanctions an Electoral law that is not fully proportionally and that discriminate positively high concentration of votes on densely populated areas, what favors regional parties, and very specially the Catalan one. Whilst in general ( full country ) elections they collect around 2-3 % of votes, they get awarded with more than double this number in parliamentary seats. Those seats become a major negotiation lever in the often case where any of the major parties fail to achieve a full majority, and has been the origin of the endless negotiations and the constant concessions of the central government, allowed by the myopic stance of politicians only worried to keep or maintain their power and on the survival of today, without much consideration to the effects of this policy on the future.

Second big mistake was to grant full control on Education policies, as this has been used over 40 years by the Catalan party to fuel their independency agenda, rewrite history , and promote by all means at a minimum exclusion and in many cases hatred for anything Spanish. You might think I exaggerate,so let me give just two of thousands of examples. The civil war , a very sad episode of half of the country , backed by a legal government of extreme left , fighting the other half , backed by an army on rebellion, is taught in Catalonia’s public schools as basically a war between Catalonia and Spain. Second example: in Catalonia there are two official languages , Catalan and Spanish , that should co-exist on an spirit of equality. However in Catalan’s public schools out of the 30+ hours of lessons per week, only two are done in Spanish, and that is because the subject is Spanish language ( hard to teach this one in Catalan ). Some very courageous families ( you have to have a lot of courage to do that in Catalonia ) started legal proceedings against this policy and finally, after years of debate , the Constitutional Court ruled that Spanish should be taught in at least three hours per week. You heard well. Three out of +30 !. Hardly an oppressive rule, right. Well, la Generalitat , decided not to obey the rule , with so far no consequences at all.

Another language case, even if not related to Eduaction. In Catalonia you can have a business called “ Burger King “ ( English ) or “ Pizzeria Bella Roma “ ( Italian ) but do not dare to do the same with a Spanish name. If you do it and you do not replicate this name also in Catalan, with same measurements , you will be fine with a hefty fee. Of course the reverse is no problem at all. Only country in the world where you get a penalty for using an official language. Pure Democracy !.

As you can now start to understand the problem on Catalonia is not that of a Central oppressive power , but ,on the contrary , is that of a Estate so weak and in such a regression ,that is almost no visible in many parts.

In such and scenario is in fact a miracle that not all population is for independence. In last elections , pro-independence parties gain a narrow majority in the Catalan Parliament ( 72 seats out 135 ) due to the electoral law design, even though they only have the support of 45% of the population. Based on latest polls conducted by the Generalitat the independency has lost momentum in the months prior and it’s support was now at 41%. The rest of the population, almost 60% do not support or care much for independence.

Economy

At the heart of the issue is the desire of la Generalitat to have full control of all taxes in the territory, halting any type of solidarity with other less developed regions of Spain.

To promote this they actively launch a propaganda myth, amply broadcasted through their controlled media : “ Spain steals from us “.

The Central government ,under the argument that solidarity was not about territories but about people , decided initially not to publish the Fiscal Balances ( what each autonomous community contributes or takes from the total , after deducting taxes and investments on the territory ), what obviously fueled the controversy , but finally under the pressure they cave in and did publish them.

The outcome is that Catalonia, as a wealthy area, is a Net Contributor of around 9.000 million €, but Madrid ( with almost equal GDP ) contributes more than double with 19.000 million €. Not extremely fair, but a consequence of the constant negotiations to help and appease the Catalan party. So, if “ Spain steals from Catalonia “, it steals double from Madrid !. As you can see , this is not exactly an idealistic quest for Independence ( very romantic ), but on the contrary an approach full of unsolidairty and xenofobia.

The other economical myth is that, after Independence , Catalonia will be an economic paradise, in their own words “ The Denmark of the South “.

The truth is that an independent Catalonia will be hardly viable for the following reasons :1- Will be out of the EU and the €. Customs & duties everywhere. Repeteadly high EU authorities and head of states have made this very clear but independentists refuse to acknowledge this fact and believe that they will find an unknown door for a quick re-admission. 2-Around 60%+ of Catalan industrial production is sold intra Spain. Aside from the customs and duties mentioned above , how many Spanish will keep buying cava and other Catalan products ?. Take a guess. Serious studies project a decrease of Catalan GDP of 30-to 50% in the next10 years after Independence. Of course those studies have not made it into Catalan controlled media.3- On their quest to fuel independency agenda and to gain power in all areas , the Catalan party has over the years built a massive administration ( also riddle in corruption , but unfortunately this is also true on the local & regional admin in other parts of the country ) and seats now in a substantial public deficit. The Catalan bond has been rated as junk by all rating agencies and , therefore, la Generalitat do not have access to financial markets . This means that the central Spanish government is issuing bonds and devoting taxes ( my taxes ! ) to finance an administration that is in many cases working with the objective to dismantle this estate.Quite a paradox!.In fact if the Spanish government would decide to close the tap, la Generalitat will not be able to pay salaries of all civil servants, school teachers, nurses, doctors, even for the next month.

Legal

After the Spanish Constitution , the highest law in the country, the next most important one for Catalans is their own Estatuto, voted also in referendum in recent years.

The Estatuto also establishes a legal path for it’s change, that require as well a qualified majority.In clear opposition of the requirements set in both laws , the Catalan pro-Independence parties , using their narrow parliamentary majority, passed two weeks ago a law to call for Sunday’s independence referendum.

Even the proper legal services of the Catalan Parliament, adviced them that the law was illegal as it was in contradiction of both superior laws, but that did not deter them. Furthermore, they passed the law using an express procedure ( just approved with same votes one month prior, and also ruled illegal by the TC ) , that in fact meant that opposition parties could not even propose amendments to the law. All opposition MP leaved the Parliament at this stage, as a protest of the violation of their parlamentary rights.

This ilegal law states that ,to declare unilaterally the independence, the referendum did not require any participation quota ( say ,votes of 10% of the population or 5% or 15 % would suffice ) and also no qualified majority either . A 50.01 % of the votes, literally one vote more for Yes than No , would be sufficient to declare independence and break more than 500 years of common history.

As the law was declared ilegal ,by both the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia, and after the Catalan party refused again to accept the ruling of those courts, they ( the courts of Justice, not the Spanish government ) mandate the police to halt the referendum by all legal means and to vacate the self appointed electoral colleges.

As a consequence of these ruling at the courts the police started to dissemble all the infrastructure prepared for the referendum, including the informatics systems.

As a reaction to these actions, the Generalitat, against their own referendum law, changed the rules of the game just one hour ( 7.00 am on Sunday ) before the electoral colleges opened, allowing an “ Universal census “, that meant that in fact any voter could vote in any college, not only one the one they were enrolled to, by just presenting their identity papers.In fact same person could vote 10 times in 10 different colleges. Also,and not coincidentally , the ballot boxes chosen were opaque and arrive in the last minute to the colleges in the hands of independency agents. There have been recorded cases of the boxes arriving half pregnant , with plenty of votes inside.

Of course , no supervision or control of opposition at the electoral tables, as they refused to participate in the masquerade. This is the example of democracy, that , apparently, all Spanish people should accept and abide to.

With this level of guarantees and controls, the so called referendum carried on. The Generalitat declared on Sunday night that 2.2 Million people had voted and of those 90% were Yes votes to independence. Do you believe their numbers ?. Even if you do ( I commend you on this case for your faith on humanity ) this would represent 38%. of Yes versus total population with right to vote. With this 38% the Generalitat declared Sunday night that on following days they will proceed to declare independence unilaterally.

Emotional Aspects

Trough the works of the Catalan party and the blindness of successive Spanish governments , the Catalan society is now a divided one. A big part of it ( around 40% ) seeks independence, believes that “ Spain steals from them “ and thinks that an independent Catalonia will be an economical paradise and will solve all their problems . They are backed by a local government , lead by fanatics with ample tools at their disposal, including an almost monopoly of all media , and all the local administrative system. This is the Catalonia you saw in the streets last Sunday and the days after.There is one version of the truth and only one ( if you think of populism and Trump and Brexit comes to mind, think of this one as well ).

On the other side is a silent majority ,that has been kind of abandoned by a coward national government and only has one tool at their disposal: their secret vote. If they dare to express their feelings they will be labeled as traitors and treated as outcasts.

Not exactly an example of a healthy and democratic comunity . I personally have profound dislike and contempt for societies where only one truth is available. It brings me back memories of Germany on the early thirties.

On the rest of Spain, the feelings are of alarm,disbelief and indignation. Alarm for the escalation of events, disbelief because is hard to understand the parallel universe the pro-independence parties habe created and indignation both towards a weak and not responsive central government and a dilsloyal and greedy Catalan party.

Is because of that , that some ( many ) people in Spain approved on police intervention last Sunday.

I am not one of them. I believe the Spanish government , once again , fall into the pro-Independence game , that did not really believe on a fake referendum but were in fact trying to take the battle to the streets , hoping for scenes of violence , that will bring International support and increase local sympathies.

Unfortunately, they totally succeed on their tactics. As is often the case, when the weak decides to act, it does it with a heavy handed approach , that tends to back fire.

I do not condone the scenes of violence . I believe the ilegal referendum had to be stopped , but it could had happened by more intelligent means and not feeding the independents PR machine.

Having made that clear , let’s also get factual. If you ( still ) believe the figures of the Generalitat , more than 2 Million people voted and they were mobs and incidents all around Catalonia. However the number of seriously injured people, people that require hospital enrollment were two. Yes, you heard well, two people.

I believe that police in full anti- mob gear dispersing opposite crowds ( think of protests in summits like G- 5 or G-20 ) in any Western countries have produced a significant higher number of people injured.

Make no mistake. This is a Public Relation battle , totally on the agenda of pro-independence parties. The pacific citizens trying to vote were in many cases pro-independence activists that had only one objective that day: provoke the police to act violent for the whole world to see it. There have been plenty of cases recorded of fathers bringing their young kids to insult face to face the police to try to provoke them to hit the kids ( any sacrifice is worth it to build the Catalan nation ).

Also, manipulation is at large.I myself saw in one of major UK papers an horrific photo of a young kid bleeding through his head as part of the Sunday’s events. The only problem is that the photo is in fact a four year old one, belonging to an anti-crisis parade in Barcelona, dismantled by Catalan police. Similar photos of a miners parade in Madrid or even another one that really happened… in Turkey , have been broadly broadcasted. We tend to believe what we see, especially if is published in a major media .Regrettably in today’s world , nothing is for sure.

What next ?

This is the major political crisis Spain has had to face since the advent of democracy. Illegalities can not be condoned , but a pure and only legal approach will not solve the issue. A political solution involving dialogue and compromises is needed. This is easy to say,but… dialogue with whom ? and dialogue about what ?.

Dialogue with whom? To start now a dialogue with the actors that have brought us here is simply not possible for several reasons : 1- they have repeteadly demonstrated that they are not interested . They want to push their radical agenda , as they believe they can win. 2- to accept a dialogue will mean rewarding illegality and disloyalty 3- it will establish a precedent , that will be followed suit by other actors in other areas ( basques ).Spain, as we know it, will cease to exist.

For the dialogue to take place a change of the actors in scene is a must. This can be done if , after the declaración of independence has taken place, the Spanish government takes over the functions of the Generalitat for a limited period of time, around six months, with the upfront commitment to do it to prepare the ground for two events : new elections first in Catalonia and thereafter in total Spain.

Everyone , including pro-independence people will be able to vote and be represented. Everyone will know exactly what support they have. New actors will emerge, hopefully with a better disposition for dialogue, after the lessons learned.

This scenario is in fact also contemplated in the Constitution and therefore totally legal, requiring once again, a qualified majority on Parliament. Obviously, existing actors will have to bear all consequences, including legal , of their previous acts.

Dialogue about what ?. The issue here is what can you offer on the negotiation table when you have conceded already so much. The Catalan independent parties will seek full control of all taxes in their territory. This will not be possible as : 1- will break solidarity among Spanish, creating de facto citizens of 1st and 2nd rank 2- will be followed immediately by other contributing areas. Why not Madrid ?.3- will be immediately rejected by the poorer areas. Spain, as we know it will cease to exist.

In this hellish scenario the only possible solution, in my opinion, is for the new elected govern of Catalonia and the new elected govern of Spain to agree , this time with all guarantees and controls , for a new and legal referendum about the independence of Catalonia. Obviously this referendum will be voted by all Spanish, but equally so, the Catalan’s will be the critical votes. The Spanish government will have to actively engage in all previous arguments and in the battle of ideas to win the day.

This concludes my arguments in the topic. I apologise for the length , but as you can see is a complex issue with many facts unknown by non Spanish audiences. I hope I have helped to give you a better understanding. As you can see ,not quite a simple tale of victims and oppressors, and one where indeed some times the roles get reversed.

Best Regards

An indignant Spanish

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hti21bt-blog · 7 years ago

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Smart Love: The Compassionate Alternative to Discipline That Will Make You a Better Parent and Your Child a Better Person Free Books Online For Android

Get now >> Smart Love: The Compassionate Alternative to Discipline That Will Make You a Better Parent and Your Child a Better Person Free Books Online For Android

Smart Love: The Compassionate Alternative to Discipline That Will Make You a Better Parent and Your Child a Better Person Free Books Online For Android

No wonder Smart Love has gotten media attention galore and was even recommended by Ann Landers. The smart love approach offers a new and better way to steer through the extremes of “tough love” and unbridled permissiveness. Parents and children alike will benefit from these innovative principles for raising happy and responsible adults. The good news is that no matter how unhappy or difficult children may be, it is not too late to create positive, loving relationships. Smart Love provides practical guidelines for using loving regulation to respond to a child’s daily needs at each developmental stage. From infancy to adolescence, the authors show you how to appeal to children’s strongest desire. The Piepers draw from decades of experience as parents and therapists. Their approach is based on extensive research into the nature of the child and the ingredients needed for healthy emotional development. With clarity and conviction, acclaimed narrators Suzanne Toren and George Guidall present the respected husband-wife therapist team’s inspiring message. Smart Love: The Compassionate Alternative to Discipline That Will Make You a Better Parent and Your Child a Better Person Free Books Online For Android

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years ago

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Here’s What Winery Visits Look Like in the New Normal

When visitors arrive at Sonoma County’s newest winery, Bricoleur Vineyards in Windsor, Calif., the first thing they see is a chalkboard sign that reads, “Please wear your mask, unless you are seated,” with a masked smiley face emoji. Guests then proceed to the outdoor check-in desk, which is stocked with masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer, and are led to either a great big lawn or pavilion for a tasting experience that’s more than safely distanced from others.

Bricoleur had its grand opening slated for the first weekend in May, so when Sonoma County announced a loosening of restrictions just ahead of Memorial Day weekend that allowed wineries to reopen if they served food outside, they were ready, and quickly sold out on their limited reservations. “Everyone seems so overjoyed to leave the house,” says Mark Hanson, Bricoleur Vineyards founder and CEO.

But while wine lovers may be itching to get back to sipping among the vines, wineries have to operate in an entirely new way to ensure they are protecting the health and safety of both guests and employees. VinePair talked to several wineries that recently reopened their doors to visitors to find out how they’re navigating this new normal.

Utilizing Outdoor Space

Wineries like Bricoleur that have significant outdoor space are at a clear advantage when it comes to reopening. Not only is there a lower risk of transmission of Covid-19 outdoors, but this makes it easier to socially distance guests and enables wineries to increase their capacities, which can be significantly cut in a tasting room. “Everyone feels well beyond six feet apart. They’re totally spread out,” says Hanson.

Seated tastings are being replaced with activities that get visitors up and moving. The first winery to welcome back visitors in Sonoma County, Jordan Winery in Healdsburg, cleverly launched four-mile hikes on its sprawling, 1,200-acre estate. Visitors to La Crema Winery’s Windsor, Calif., location can embark on a self-guided walking tour of the Russian River Valley property while Donum Estate in Sonoma is offering tours of its massive outdoor sculpture collection.

Credit: Jess Lander

Picnic offerings make these outdoor experiences as contactless as possible. Bricoleur curated a picnic for two with a bottle of wine for guests who are uncomfortable being around employees; the only contact is on initial pickup. In Utica, Ill., August Hill Winery decided to make use of a massive grassy hill at its winery, a separate location from its tasting room that’s typically closed to the public. Guests at the Wine on the Hill events climb up the hill with blankets and supplies to casually picnic with pre-ordered bottles of wine and optional food from a local restaurant.

Booker Vineyard in Paso Robles, Calif., developed a new private picnic experience at its vineyard, which Chelsea O’Grady, the winery’s DTC director, says is run like “VIP bottle service” that you might get at a club. “There’s absolutely no interaction, no people by you,” she says. “After working in the wine industry for nearly 10 years, I was thinking, what would I want to do after this pandemic? I wouldn’t want to be hassled by new procedures and worry if I was touching something I wasn’t supposed to, or if I needed to be wearing a mask. With the vineyard experience, there is no worry. Guests can arrive and relax and enjoy themselves without any other guests nearby.”

It is, however, a roll of the dice when it comes to the weather, and wineries need to have a backup plan that enables them to still adhere to new protocols. O’Grady says they encountered high winds and rain the first two weekends after reopening.

Providing a Safer Guest Experience

Staggering tasting appointments so that parties don’t arrive at the same time, using disposable or laminated tasting menus, and providing bottled water are just a few of the new ways wineries are protecting their guests. Bremer Family Winery in St. Helena, Calif., sets a glass wrapped in plastic at each place setting and Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles has even added a bathroom attendant to help manage safe traffic flow through restrooms.

Some are doing away with tasting flights in favor of by-the-glass or bottle experiences, or pre-pouring flights before guest arrival. “Pouring the entire flight at one time versus repeatedly coming out to the table and reaching right in front of a guest allows the server to stand back and walk them through the different wines without needing to be right up in that six-foot bubble,” says Tracy Simmons, vice president of consumer sales at Stoller Family Estate in Dayton, Ore. Eliminating the need for the host to stand by the table and talk altogether, Gramercy Cellars in Walla Walla, Wash., has printed QR codes on the tasting menu, which pull up short videos about each wine on guests’ phones.

Credit: Mindy Gimarelli

O’Grady says her team installed glass tabletops on all the wooden furniture at Booker so that they “are easy to clean and guests can tell they are pristine when seated.” They also added barrels near each table to further reduce employee and guest contact. “If a group wishes, they can leave their glasses on the barrel and we can pour for them from a distance of six feet without directly approaching their table,” she says.

Adjusting to New Employee Protocols

Like servers at restaurants, winery employees now need to wear masks at all times and, in some cases, gloves. Many employers are also requiring temperature and symptom checks upon arrival. “Our workers hate wearing gloves, but that’s the rules,” says Hanson, citing Sonoma County regulations. “They make it challenging to use our point-of-sale system on the iPad. You have to make the grooves really tight, so making the gloves work with our technology has been a challenge.”

Simmons says it took her staff quite some time to adjust to wearing masks. “Talking to guests while wearing a mask, knowing they can’t see your facial expressions, that was definitely a hurdle for the team to get used to,” she says. “This was a discussion we had a lot between the team. It’s kind of like speaking to a baby with much more exaggerated facial expressions. You have to really smile with your eyes to help with that emotional connection.”

The article Here’s What Winery Visits Look Like in the New Normal appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/winery-visits-new-normal/

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johnboothus · 4 years ago

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Heres What Winery Visits Look Like in the New Normal

Utilizing Outdoor Space

Credit: Jess Lander

Providing a Safer Guest Experience

Credit: Mindy Gimarelli

Adjusting to New Employee Protocols

The article Here’s What Winery Visits Look Like in the New Normal appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/winery-visits-new-normal/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/heres-what-winery-visits-look-like-in-the-new-normal

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isaiahrippinus · 4 years ago

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Here’s What Winery Visits Look Like in the New Normal

Utilizing Outdoor Space

Credit: Jess Lander

Providing a Safer Guest Experience

Credit: Mindy Gimarelli

Adjusting to New Employee Protocols

The article Here’s What Winery Visits Look Like in the New Normal appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/winery-visits-new-normal/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/621997296272424960

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perfectzablog · 6 years ago

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Themes This Year: School Culture, Student Behavior And Inspirational Teaching

Looking back at the most popular articles published on MindShift offers an interesting glimpse into the concerns, aspirations and focus areas for educators. Every year is different; sometimes readers favor outlier ideas or something inspiring that caught the collective fancy. Other years, the most popular articles cluster around themes. This is one of those years: trauma in the classroom, building school culture, strategies to handle difficult student behaviors, teacher self-care and ideas to reach every learner all resonated with MindShift readers.

SCHOOL CULTURE

Building a strong school culture is at the foundation of many innovative teaching and leadership strategies, so it’s no surprise that educators want to know how school leaders do it. A strong school culture helps students and teachers feel that they belong to a positive community with an identity. It helps retain good teachers and makes students feel safe enough to be vulnerable with teachers and take risks in the classroom in front of peers. Schools with a strong culture enable students to feel known, heard and cared for by the community and by their teachers.

Creating that kind of positive school culture at a school that hasn’t traditionally had it is hard work. It often requires a visionary leader who is willing to set aside the supposed “truths” of education and think differently about the situation. And sometimes the most surprising tactics work. That’s probably why readers were so drawn to an excerpt from Sir Ken Robinson’s new book, “You, Your Child, and School: Navigating Your Way to the Best Education.”

Robinson highlights a principal at a high-poverty school in a rough neighborhood who came up with a surprising strategy to turn his school around. Instead of spending $250,000 a year on security guards for his elementary school, this principal spent those funds on arts programs. That was the first step in a multi-year effort that focused on arts-integration, data-informed school improvement efforts and individual supports for students. Now the school is doing much better. Robinson uses this to make the case that visionary creative thinking can change education. He writes:

“The problem is not usually the students; it is the system. Change the system in the right ways and many of the problems of poor behavior, low motivation, and disengagement tend to disappear. It can be the system itself that creates the problems.”

Some schools are turning to a “house-system,” a bit like Hogwarts, to create smaller communities within schools. Members of a house support one another to create an instant family at school. Houses are multi-age and provide opportunities for older students to mentor younger ones. They often also allow teachers to get to know a smaller group of students, making it easier to collaborate on interventions and supports as a team.

“The houses are not just a thing that you do,” said Jennifer Kloczko, principal of Stoneridge Elementary School in Roseville, California. “It’s really your whole school culture.”

Nina, a boxer/beagle comfort dog, spends most days socializing, sitting with students during counseling sessions and lightening the mood at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. (Courtesy of David Robinson)

Other schools are experimenting with using comfort dogs to make students feel more at home with challenging academic and emotional tasks. Some counselors have found students more willing to open up about their lives when a dog is present. And teachers are seeing students who hate reading happily sounding out words to a doe-eyed dog who isn’t judgmental and doesn’t get frustrated at their pace.

“They don’t care if you’re good at basketball, or a great reader, or popular,” said Jeff Sindler, head of school at Burgundy Farm Country Day School. “They just want to be loved—equal opportunity.”

Of course, bringing dogs to school raises questions about allergies and ensuring those who have a fear of dogs also feel comfortable. Educators are dealing with that by choosing hypoallergenic breeds, restricting dogs to certain predetermined spaces, and making sure pups are always on a short leash and accompanied by an owner.

STUDENT BEHAVIOR

Although there are many factors that influence how students behave in the classroom, often behavior is tied to school culture. Each student is an individual with a personal history and story unique from his or her peers, making the challenge of responding to disruptive student behavior one of the hardest parts of teaching. And as educators begin to realize how many of their students have experienced significant trauma, they’re quickly realizing the job can no longer be solely about imparting content.

The medical community has begun to document significant and often chronic negative effects of trauma on a person’s health. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a San Francisco pediatrician, has been a leader in this area — using her clinical experiences to connect the health and educational challenges she sees in patients to the adversity they have faced in their young lives.

Her book, The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity, Burke Harris chronicles the history of trauma studies, highlighting that the initial study correlating trauma with negative health outcomes took place in a mostly white, mostly middle-class community. She has helped educators realize that a trauma-informed approaches to teaching are needed everywhere, not only in schools serving high-poverty populations. To reach all children, this is where teaching needs to go.

Principal Michael Essien helps ensure a smooth passing period at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Middle School, which included temporarily confiscating a ball from a student. (Samantha Shanahan/KQED)

At Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in San Francisco, Principal Michael Essien has taken a hard look at how trauma has touched the lives of his students. He and his staff have reimagined their support services in recognition that teachers needed more help in the classroom to deal with disruptive behaviors that made it hard to teach. Rather than sending disruptive students out of class, counselors “push-in” to the classroom, either helping to run class while the teacher talks with the student, or working to deescalate the situation and get the student back on task.

“We were asking teachers to do too many things,” Essien said. “They need to be rigorous in their instruction; they need to be big brother/big sister; they need to be counselors; they need to be therapists. And how are teachers supposed to do all of that and still deliver a quality lesson? There was just too much.”

The push-in system has helped teachers feel supported and less burned out, but has also brought counselors and teachers closer; they’re learning from one another. Students have learned that acting out in class won’t get them out of a tough lesson anymore and behavior issues have gone down. Even better, it has helped make the whole school staff feel like they are on the same team when it comes to helping students handle their emotions and keeping them in class learning.

While educators are eager for strategies like the one used at MLK Middle School because it could be replicated elsewhere, they also recognize the crucial role parents play when it comes to student behavior. Adults often complain that children’s behavior has changed over the years, pointing to changes in society and parenting as potential culprits.

Katherine Reynolds Lewis wrote a book about what she calls a “crisis of self-regulation” that she’s seeing in her own children and in schools around the country. She blames a decrease in play, an explosion of technology and social media use, and says children need to feel like contributing members of a larger community.

“They’re not asked to do anything to contribute to a neighborhood or family or community,” Lewis said. “And that really erodes their sense of self-worth — just as it would with an adult being unemployed.”

Lewis contends there are simple things parents can do to help children build self-regulation and have more of a sense of control over their own lives. Giving them time to play with friends in an unprogrammed way, making sure they have chores that contribute to the work of the family, giving them a little more power over their lives, and resisting the lure of rewards for behaving well are just a few strategies she recommends.

SELF CARE

Creating community at the school and classroom level, teaching content in effective and engaging ways, and recognizing student behaviors as symptoms of other issues are all emotionally draining tasks. And, for some teachers, these types of caregiving aren’t what they thought teaching would be about, so taking on those roles requires an identity shift. It all takes a toll on teachers, who care deeply about their students.

Many teachers are experiencing the kind of secondary post-traumatic stress disorder documented in other caregiving professions like nursing, firefighting and social work. Symptoms include withdrawing from friends and family; feeling unexplainably irritable or angry or numb; inability to focus; blaming others; feeling hopeless or isolated or guilty about not doing enough; struggling to concentrate; being unable to sleep; overeating or not eating enough; and continually and persistently worrying about students, when they’re at home and even in their sleep.

When educators read that list in Jessica Lander’s article about secondary post-traumatic stress in schools there was a collective “ah-ha” on social media. Many people wrote they finally had a name for what they’d been feeling and expressed a sense of relief that these are common reactions to working with children who have experienced trauma over a long period of time.

Recognizing the problem is the first step, followed by strategies to create supportive communities and mitigate the effects. Educators must take care of themselves in order to continue being a positive force in the lives of students.

INNOVATIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES

MindShift readers are always looking for new ideas to push their practice and up their game. That showed in many of the most popular posts from this year highlighting specific strategies to make students feel welcome in the classroom and to take on new challenges — starting with learning the correct way to pronounce their names.

Teachers have to learn names quickly at the start of the year, and some have over a hundred students. Taking the extra time to correctly pronounce all student names can go a long way to validate their cultures and identities. In school, many children will not see their culture reflected in the history and reading materials; they won’t see teachers and administrators who look like them; and they may not hear their first language spoken. All of these are not-so-subtle signs to kids that the space doesn’t belong to them. When teachers can’t be bothered to learn how to pronounce their names correctly, that can exacerbate that feeling of isolation.

“How would you like me to say your child’s name?” is the specific wording Dr. Rita Kohli recommends for parents, and the following for students:

“I don’t know how to say your name yet, can you explain it to me? I’m working on learning it, and it’s important to me to say it the way it’s meant to be said, the way your parents say it.”

Then try the name. Ask if you’re right. Try again, “no matter how long it takes.” Once you’ve got the proper pronunciation, repeat it aloud. Eighth-grade science teacher Carry Hansen, who also coaches cross-country and track as well as coordinating the advisory program for Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, Texas, recommends using kids’ names as much as possible, almost as obnoxiously as a telemarketer would, until they sink in.

But student identities aren’t only defined by their culture. Personalities also differ, with the introvert-extrovert divide topping the list of ways that students interact differently in the classroom. School is a social place, heaven to an extrovert, but full of potential minefields for an introvert. There are many strategies teachers can use to ensure introverted students feel safe, comfortable and able to participate in the life of the classroom.

But even as educators seek to make students feel that the classroom belongs to them, that they are welcome and that they belong, it’s also important for teachers to push students to try new things. In many schools, educators are recognizing that their students have lacked the opportunity to direct their own learning and have become accustomed to following directions. That makes for a quiet and orderly classroom, but it isn’t necessarily the best way to prepare students for a world in which the problems are complex and the jobs require self-starters to identify problems and work collaboratively to develop solutions.

Many teachers are building in opportunities for students to ask questions they’re interested in, investigate the answers, and create demonstrations of what they’ve learned that excites them. But the move from a teacher-led classroom to a more student-directed one isn’t always easy. That’s why Trevor MacKenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt recommend a gradual release of responsibility so students gain the skills they need to “dive into inquiry” without getting so frustrated along the way that they give up.

If this year has taught us nothing else, it has reaffirmed the complexity and difficulty of great teaching. The array of issues educators must think about to meet the needs of students is staggering, and the fact so many show up in the classroom every day with grace, humor, and compassion is an inspiration to all of us at MindShift.

Themes This Year: School Culture, Student Behavior And Inspirational Teaching published first on https://greatpricecourse.tumblr.com/

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bisoroblog · 6 years ago

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Themes This Year: School Culture, Student Behavior And Inspirational Teaching

SCHOOL CULTURE

“The houses are not just a thing that you do,” said Jennifer Kloczko, principal of Stoneridge Elementary School in Roseville, California. “It’s really your whole school culture.”

STUDENT BEHAVIOR

Principal Michael Essien helps ensure a smooth passing period at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Middle School, which included temporarily confiscating a ball from a student. (Samantha Shanahan/KQED)

SELF CARE

INNOVATIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES

“How would you like me to say your child’s name?” is the specific wording Dr. Rita Kohli recommends for parents, and the following for students:

Themes This Year: School Culture, Student Behavior And Inspirational Teaching published first on https://dlbusinessnow.tumblr.com/

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jimwilliamsonblr · 6 years ago

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Culture | Definition & Analysis

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Culture as:

‘The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively’.

I have been researching culture through books and articles in the context of differing cultures in other countries and how this can impact on human interaction and interpretation of behaviours and images. As my initial interest is to compare the United States of America and Asia. I have been sourcing literature to inform these choices. This literature will be useful in my Dissertation as an evidence base for cultural differences between countries and it also demonstrates the use and links of Semiotics in academic research related to Culture.

This image is taken from an article by George Raine about a famous California Milk Campaign which was initiated in America with huge success. The slogan “Got Milk?’ resonated with millions of Americans. The campaign was then moved to Spain where the translation ‘Tienes Leche?’ did not quite have the same impact, as the literal meaning of the campaign slogan in Spain was ‘Are you lactating?”. Not quite the desired impact.

Image taken from an article in the Korean Herald

Bill Gates had his hand in his pocket when he shook hands with the President of Korea, it was a very offensive act within Korean Culture, although ‘Many said that Gates had done nothing wrong, as he is an American whose culture is very different from that of Korea.’

This example clearly demonstrates the differences in culture between the USA and Asia.

In his book Culture Crossing, about making connections in the New Global Era. Landers says that ‘Culture has blazed neural pathways in our brains that trigger automatic responses over which we exert little control.’ He talks about ‘Culture Clashes”, ‘a phenomenon that occurs when someone from one culture unintentionally confuses, frustrates, or offends a person from another culture’. He has lived in Japan and explored the differing cultures. One example is that his father would teach him to look people straight in the eye and yet his Japanese friend was taught by his father to look away when meeting people who were more senior. He has a metaphor for cultural programming ‘Another useful way to wrap your brain around your own programming is to think of it as baggage—cultural baggage. Much like emotional baggage, cultural baggage is something we unwittingly tote around with us at all times, never knowing when or how it may influence our behaviors.’

An essay written by Cambridge explores Barthes’ Semiotic Analysis, Empire of Signs Japan. He gives historical context: ‘In 1603 Japan closed its doors to the outside world as the shogun (military general) united warring factions and instigated a policy of sakoku (national isolation) so rigorously enforced that shipwrecked sailors who washed up on country’s shores were thrown back into the sea’. The issue here is that complete isolation led to the retention of a very pure form of Japanese culture, however in more recent decades there has been external cultural influences. It will be interesting to see if semiotic analysis of film posters demonstrates how far external influences have impacted on Asian culture.

Pavis and Anderson ask if the application of Semiotics are still relevant and if they can be applied to Korea. They make interesting references to the culture in Korea, which might be relevant to my study.

‘Fifty years later, in Japan as in Korea, things have changed a great deal. And yet, Barthes' comment remains relevant, if one continues to compare Japan or Korea with the USA or with the Americanised world. The media and the increasingly insidious forms of advertising and neoliberal ideology have certainly invaded Japanese or Korean culture, but the distinction between sex and sexuality and their usage in different contexts remains relevant and helps us reflect on the other - non-American or non-European - culture.’

‘The limits of the representation of sex seem to be rather clearly defined. The representation of sexual scenes is not controlled by any religion or ideology, but is implicitly regulated through a strict educational grounding that remains Confucian. In the mass media (advertising in public spaces and on television), in songs, K-pop, or musicals, sex is only suggested, and specially prepared for the gaze of middle-aged men. The woman in these arenas is very young - almost a Lolita - and there are few middle aged women to be seen. The media ideal, but also that of companies and large industries is a young woman who is beautiful but voiceless, childless, and with no future on the job market after the age of forty, 'disposable' once used, quickly 'ejected' from the company. A seductive appearance has become a categorical imperative, an obsession justifying all manner of plastic surgery, making Korea a haven for’, "surgery-tourism". (Quote from Lili Barbery-Coulon, Le Magazine du Monde)

Bibliography

Quoting from: George Raine, and Chronicle Staff Writer, “Lost in the Translation / Milk Board Does Without Its Famous Slogan When It Woos a Latino Audience,” August 25, 2001 https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Lost-in-the-translation-Milk-board-does-without-2884230.php (Accessed 17/10/2018)

Korea Herald, 23 April 2013. Netizens abuzz over Gate’s handshake with president http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130423000714&ACE_SEARCH=1 (Accessed 17/10/2018)

Landers, M. (2016). Culture Crossing : Discover the Key to Making Successful Connections in the New Global Era. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Lili Barbery-Coulon, "La beauté fait son marché en Corée", Le Magazine du Monde, 9 Novembre 2013, pp. 47-53

CAMBRIDGE, N. A. (2016) ‘High Teas, High Collars and High Rise Buildings in a “High-Context” Culture: The Semiotics of Japan’s Project of Modernity’, Romanian Journal of Communication & Public Relations, 18(3), pp. 11–22. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=sih&AN=120832096&site=ehost-live&custid=s3824264 (Accessed: 17 October 2018).

PAVIS, P. and ANDERSON, J., 2012. Empire of Signs: From Japan towards Korea? Forum Modernes Theater, 27(1-2), pp. 7-15,128.

The Oxford English Dictionary

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