#THE GROUP TASKED WITH DOING THE THING... ARE COMPLETELY RESTRUCTURING. TODAY.

[fmdhyeju]

restructuring task #1: changes (+5 tracker points)

assuming your muse has changed in some way, be it internally or as a result of a change of the external factors around them, how is your muse different? these can be as small as an opinion on a song they hadn’t released previously or as big as a major change in their background. // tw: suicide, wc: 330

the biggest change that hyeju has gone through is the reconstruction of her family background. nothing dramatic has happened to them as the skeleton of her family remains the same (she has both parents, an older brother and a younger brother) but their position in society has become significantly less important. before the revamp, hyeju’s parents were written as wealthy entrepreneurs who had a lot of influence in the business world because of how big their corporation was. having her parents be that big and yet have nobody know that lipstick’s hyeju was their daughter seemed unrealistic as time went on so i decided that a change in their position would be the right choice. now, they’re still business owners and were still very much controlling which led to the eventual suicide of her older brother (also something that hasn’t changed), but they’re not as influential so today, who her family is would be public knowledge. 

another thing that has changed is that hyeju never runs away from home now. after the death of her brother, she still remains in the min household, but she does disconnect even further with her family sans her younger brother who has also been shifted into being someone that hyeju is a lot closer with in this verse. he’s become attached to her after hyesung’s death, and so it’s likely that she’ll mention him more often than before.

other than that, very little has changed about hyeju. her personality is probably the most unchanged. the opinion on the kind of music she releases is also not very different. she still vibes more with the mature sounding releases rather than their early graceful ones though she had no problem performing them when she was younger aka when they did initially get released. still has problems with bc entertainment as a company itself, but she loves her members and has an overflowing amount of pride for her group which was true before the revamp as well.

what does your muse think of their company and their group? // wc: 291

because of the fact that she comes from a family that runs its own business, hyeju can’t help but view bc entertainment in a negative light. while it’s true that lily and herself would be nowhere without the help of the company and the influence they have in the industry, she still dislikes the overbearing nature of bc as a whole. she’s not someone to rebel simply because that involves too much energy and time, but she isn’t shy about shit talking the company behind closed doors and sometimes even in front of the cameras (which is why bc wasn’t the biggest fan of sending her out onto variety shows early on in lily’s career). now that she’s established herself as a veteran idol, the reigns on her have loosened a bit especially since the company’s more focused on their junior groups, but that doesn’t change what she thinks of bc. 

lily, on the other hand, is a group that she’d guard with her whole life. for a group that had their breakthrough quite early on in their career, hyeju thinks there’s no denying that they’re still a very influential and successful group within the industry. though the general public might not be interested in every single new release of their’s, the general love and attention that the group receives is still there, and she’s proud of the legacy that her and her members have been able to build up. some of their earlier releases aren’t songs that she’d love to perform today—she believes they’ve aged out of a few of them—but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t adore the group as a whole. she’s also very attached to her members and everything they’ve been through together for close to a decade. 

is your muse on their first contract or their second? if they’ve renewed, what were their feelings around that at the time and what were their hopes for their second contract? if they haven’t renewed, what are their current thoughts on the end of their eventual first contract? // wc: 276

lily renewed their contract back in 2019 so hyeju is now on her second contract with bc entertainment. all she needed for a renewal was the confirmation that all her members would renew with her. she doesn’t care about the company as much as she cares for the group, and she would have gone wherever her members wanted to go as long as the four of them were on the same page. if that meant leaving altogether and starting somewhere new, she would have been up with that. if it eventually meant having to disband because some of the members weren’t up to being an idol anymore, she would have followed through with that as well. anything she could do to keep the lily name either alive or untarnished would have been what influenced her decision. 

there’s not a whole lot that she expects or even desires from the company. as long as they continue to give lily frequent comebacks that don’t end up looking cheap and rushed, she’s fine with whatever comes her way. her individual activities have always been up her alley of things she enjoys doing and so if things remain the same, that isn’t something she’d complain about either. hyeju’s not very selfish when it comes to individual activities either, and she usually accepts what is given to her. she really does think that as long as lily isn’t pushed to the back burner and completely ignored for two years straight, that’d be alright with her. the push into a more mature sound is something that she enjoys because she believes that’s only natural as they continue to grow as a group.

what are your muse’s goals and motivations? // wc: 295

there’s no specific goals or motivations currently on hyeju’s mind. odd thing to say seeing that everybody around her seems to be so ambitious and ready to venture out into new things. however, she’s content by simply living with the flow. ever since she got accepted as a trainee, it seems that her life has been taking her down this path that she’s never planned, and she doesn’t mind it. sure, it might not hurt to be a little more motivated and have things that she wants to accomplish, but she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing to not have any of those. 

with lily, she would like if they have another mega hit. she’s not sure how possible that may be with how far along down their career they are since it’s completely normal for groups to sort of die out and rely more on their fanbase than anything, but having another national hit like gee would only solidify their place in the industry, and she thinks that would be nice. even if it doesn’t happen though, she wouldn’t be upset. some of their songs are repeatedly covered by their juniors, and she thinks that’s already a legacy that’s going to be hard to beat.

if she’s thinking non-career wise, hyeju thinks it would be nice to be able to perform with lily for as long as she can and then eventually retire into a more quiet place. somewhere like jeju island perhaps where she can out of the limelight and then return to perform only when she feels like it. a life sort of like lee hyori’s. despite not appearing like it, she does eventually want to settle down and get married, but it’s not an immediate need in her life right now.

what is one conflict, internal or external, that your muse is currently dealing with, has recently dealt with, or will need to deal with in the future? // wc: 268

at the moment, there’s no big conflict going on in her life. the biggest thing is probably her family, but they won’t be an immediate problem to her. again, they’re not some big shots in korea anymore and instead just run their own family business so it’s not like hyeju’s name is constantly being associated with them and vice versa. however, there are plans for her to try to settle things out with her family in the future especially in the case of her brother’s death. that’s still very much unspoken about in the min household unless it’s brought up by hyeju, but she rarely does that either since she’s not home nor does she contact her parents frequently. 

the biggest conflict that will eventually come to hyeju is probably the stagnant nature of her life and how that may drive her to feel sort of lethargic for a while? i think that’s only natural when it comes to someone like hyeju who lives by the flow of where life takes her instead of planning out each step. she’s living such a good life right now though since she’s young, rich and successful so if anything were to happen to lily’s career or her relationship with her members, that’d probably become a big obstacle in her life. for someone who’s so unconcerned by what goes on, she does really enjoy having stability in her life so it’d be interesting to see what she would have to go through if something so stable in her life, like lily, were to take a turn. of course, if that ever happens. 

if your muse has established career claims, what are their thoughts on their career so far? if they do not, how do they feel about not having individual activities yet? what would they like to do in the future, if anything? if they don’t have ambitions for individual activities, explain why. // wc: 372

hyeju currently has established career claims in modeling, music and creative claims in lily’s discography. modeling is something that she’s been pushed into since the beginning because fans have dubbed her to be quite stylish. personally, she doesn’t think she’s doing anything out of the blue but sometimes it seems that the most ordinary of outfits can be seen as fashionable. magazine shoots and brand deals are fun in her opinion, and she wouldn’t mind getting more of those. they’re quite minimal when it comes to actual participation as she acts as the face of a brand for a couple of months and does maybe one or two shoots and appearances in total. but they do get her name out there in some kind of way.

being lily’s lead vocalist means she’s also had a few ost’s here and there. nothing huge as she’s not some power vocalist like minah—her strength comes mostly in stability—but there have been times where she’s been sought out for the sweet tone of her voice. or so she’s been told. 

she’s participated in three of lily’s songs so far: baby maybe, boom pow love and goodbye. baby maybe was very minimal participation, but she was around when the producers were writing lyrics and she threw out a couple of ideas here and there that they helped polish up and bam, she was listed as one of the lyricists for the song. boom pow love and goodbye came along in similar ways. she didn’t really sit down and think long and hard about writing a song or whatever, but it usually came in sudden inspiration or thoughts that the producers liked and helped her out with. which is why all her participation is partial at most. she’s not the next paul mccartney or whatever. 

there’s not a lot she desires for her solo activites, and she’s pretty content with what she gets now. bc hasn’t been shy about venturing her out as a soloist either, and she’s enjoyed the songs given to her as a whole and would like to continue to release more music as a soloist because they allow her to perform differently on stage as the songs and concepts aren’t up lily’s usual lane.

[languagelearningjoy]

10 REASONS THAT SLOW YOU DOWN IN LEARNING ENGLISH

The first reason I would like to mention is MOTIVATION. We are used to thinking about our motivation to learn a certain language as about something stable and simple. Nothing could be further from the truth. We may be highly motivated today and be completely unmotivated a month later. Our motivation is tightly bound to our other needs, wishes, hopes, attitudes, to a broader social life and opportunities it offers us. Besides, motivation also depends on actions we undertake and on the outcomes of our actions. When these factors change, our motivation changes as well. When you come home after a hard working day, all you want is to relax, to do something you like, you are just not able to do grammar exercises or write an essay, your brain refuses to think and you watch your favourite TV series or check your Facebook page, in your native language of course. There are many ways to be successful in language learning without compromising your needs. I am going to make a special video to help you understand and support your motivation better at different stages of your language learning. Just one more thing I would like to say about motivation: it has often been undermined by the

DISCREPANCY BETWEEN YOUR GOALS AND YOUR ACTIONS

            What do you usually do when learning a foreign language? You study grammar, memorise vocabulary, write essays, but it is not your goal! Your goal is to be able to use the language to communicate with other people! It must seriously confuse your brain when you put a big effort into something which is not your goal. Does it mean that you can start communicating in a foreign language without learning its grammar and vocabulary? I don’t think so. What can you do to reduce this discrepancy? You can change your way of thinking. Don’t think “I should learn the past tense” if you are not interested in grammar. You can think: “I want to learn how to talk about interesting things I did last week, last year or five years ago”.

Very often the discrepancy between goals and actions is caused by the fact that the course program does not correspond with your goal, or topics and tasks are not interesting for you or the teaching methods are not efficient. Sometimes people try to learn a foreign language by themselves choosing very tiring, boring, time-consuming and inefficient techniques like memorising words one by one from a dictionary or reading English classics when they are on a pre-intermediate level. Some ideas are not as bad, but often they can’t guide them through all the steps that are necessary to be a highly proficient language user, because 

INPUT is NOT ENOUGH  

Frankly speaking, some theorists think it is enough but I strongly believe it is not and many studies have proved that language learning is a complex process, it has many stages of processing, coding, and restructuring information, not to mention that output is a crucial stage of language learning. I am going to do a special video with a more detailed description of the second language processing and acquisition and show how it is slowed down when some stages are omitted and some important factors are neglected. Now I just want to mention the main reason for the fact why learning a lot you may not necessarily bring a great result.

YOUR KNOWLEDGE IS NOT THE SAME AS YOUR SKILLS (describing it in scholar terms, your declarative knowledge does not transform automatically into your procedural knowledge). If you do not have extraordinary language skills you might have noticed that despite doing many grammar exercises you still make the same mistakes again and again; after listening to the pronunciation workshop on youtube, your pronunciation in spontaneous speech is still far from perfection. To transform your knowledge into skills you need to practice it in communication, still better in a real-life situation. So, the next reason why language learning  often fails    

LACK OF COMMUNICATION

Plenty of experiments and papers showed how communication enhances language learning. Social interaction is called a “gate” to language acquisition and it is not an exaggeration. We are social creatures, it is coded in our biology: brain research showed that interaction arouses out attention and activates the brain mechanisms linking perception and action. That is exactly what we need to transform our declarative knowledge into our speaking skills. So, what should you do if you don’t know people with whom you can practice the language you learn? Some youtube videos suggest talking to a mirror, recording yourself, using virtual assistants like Siri, or speech recognition programs. Surely, you can do it and it helps but I strongly believe that real people are much better than the mirror or Siri. Again, I am going to make a special video with some tips as to how to build your own network but you can easily do it now by yourself: there are social networks, there are a lot of virtual communities on the Internet, possibly some of them have real-life meetings in your city, there are tandem group meetings (real and virtual), discussion clubs and many other options. Apart from many other benefits, talking to people gives you feedback and here we are at the 6th reason why language learning might be not satisfactory

LACK OF FEEDBACK AND REWARD

When we put in a great deal of effort into our actions, we want to see the result we have achieved. In the case of language learning this result is ability to communicate with other speakers. But what result do we usually get? The score of our last test. Is it exciting? Not really. You may get a reward a year, two or three years later when you pass your IELTS test or get a good job but it is a very long time to wait, people want results and rewards more quickly. Talking to foreigners gives you this feeling of success and satisfaction. You can also arrange small rewards for yourself, e.g. you can write in your language journal to record your progress, success and your feelings. Do we take our feelings into account when we learn a foreign language? Usually not and it is a serious mistake, and that’s the reason number 7 why your language learning is not efficient:

YOUR FEELINGS ARE NOT ENGAGED 

Your feelings are important, they are related to all the key factors of language learning. If your learning is pleasurable, you are highly motivated to continue it. You memorize much better something that moves you, makes you smile, makes you feel delighted. Many invisible barriers on the way to language proficiency are created by boredom or negative feelings.   

Many learners and even teachers make a big mistake when they think about language learning as  something ordered, something like a formula: do this and this and you get a result. If it does work for you, it is perfect, stick to this way of thinking, but for many people, it doesn’t work. If it doesn’t work for you, stop seeing a language as a set of grammar rules and long vocabulary lists. Language is about words and tenses and endings but first of all language is about you and the world around you, language is about everything. The good news is that you can learn when doing anything, including things you are passionate about: you may learn something very important for you, talk to very interesting people, you can express yourself through a new language. You might think that it will be possible only when you become a proficient language user, but in fact, you can do it right now. The first idea that comes to my mind, you can make a photo album with notes in the language you learn. Share it with your friends. Even if they can’t read your notes, they will be happy to see the photos. Many people don’t perceive language learning in terms of creativity and self-expression and that is the reason number 8 why they struggle:

they CANNOT ENGAGE their PERSONALITY IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

In fact, it is easier to say than do. A foreign language is something unfamiliar to us, it pushes us out of our comfort zone. Our brain doesn’t like unfamiliar things. A commonly held psychological belief says that it happens because for all biological creatures familiar things mean safety, unfamiliar things are associated with some potential danger. Even if you like the language you learn, try to shift settings on your computer into this language or join a group native speakers when you are the only foreigner and it is highly unlikely you will feel comfortable. It is more difficult to express yourself through a foreign language. For a long time after my English became fluent I felt I sounded ridiculous speaking English, especially in public, I was ashamed of my accent and afraid to make mistakes.

So if it is difficult to make a foreign language yours what can we do? We can appropriate a new language gradually switching it to our sphere of interests and to our identity. If you like cooking, start searching for new recipes in this language, if you like sports, start watching sports events in this language, if you like traveling, start sharing your experience in a blog. Don’t overwhelm yourself, do one step at a time and you will realise that gradually you start feeling more and more comfortable and the most important thing: you will use your new language in a real-life situation and that is exactly the 9th reason why people do not succeed in their language learning: they 

DO NOT USE THE LANGUAGE IN REAL LIFE SITUATIONS

Psychology says that the knowledge acquired in a certain situation, in certain circumstances is not always to automatically transferred into other situations and circumstances. That is exactly what many people experience when after years of learning a foreign language in classroom setting, they meet a native speaker and can’t say a word. I would say that language usage limited to a classroom is possibly the main reason why people feel frustrated about their language learning. So, what can you do? Try to expand you language learning out of the classroom. As I said, language is about you and the world around you. Take this responsibility on yourself and you will avoid the 10th reason why language learning is not efficient 

People DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR their LANGUAGE LEARNING.

Do not put all responsibility on your teacher. Language learning for a long time has been organised in the way that learners were just passive doers of the tasks they were given by their teachers. I think this approach will be changing in the future but what could you do now? Just plan your learning strategically, engage your emotions and creativity, organise a group of speakers with whom you can practice this language.

So, thank you for your attention, and good luck in your language learning. If you need any help with English, Russian, Polish, you can book a lesson with me via email: olga.nestel@gmail.com ($ USA 20/hour or 15 euro/hour).      

[miaswetnambcu]

Critical Lecture 1 - How has lifestyle, industrial and social changes impacted fashion and textiles

This lecture was set to explore historical aspects that have driven changes in the fashion industry and to start to interpret the significance that influential factors will play in the future of the fashion industry. 

The first thing we looked at was a YouTube video that highlighted how fashion has evolved over the last 100 years. The video started from 1915 and went up in units of 10 to illustrate the different fashion trends all the way through until 2015. The video displayed how fashion changed drastically between the span of 10 years, let alone 100 years. This raises the question as to what exactly drives these drastic changes in the fashion industry.

Some factors that can change the fashion industry would be Industry and technology, world events and social change. Social change is when social structure is altered through “changes in cultural symbols, rules of behaviour, social organisations or value systems”, (Wilterdink, N., 2020). World events can lead to a significant social change. 

One example given in the lecture was the growth of the fashion industry, which was caused by the Industrial Revolution (1870-1900′s). The enabled the Suffragettes to use fashion as a form of branding to promote their cause. The Suffragettes used fashion and the meaning of colour to communicate with early photography. In 1908, Emmeline Pettick-Lawrence formulated the scheme of purple for dignity, white for purity and green for hope (The Guardian, 2015). This led to Liberty and Selfridges to sell ranges of tricolour ribbon, underwear, bags and soap, (The Guardian, 2015). This link between a world event and social change shows how these factors can impact the fashion industry in many ways and can lead to a range of different things.

Another example of this is the ‘Make Do and Mend’ campaign that was published in 1942 in the midst of World War II. The pamphlet that was published about the ‘Make Do and Mend’ scheme highlighted ideas on how housewives could update their wardrobes by altering the clothes they already had. Examples given were to unpick old jumpers to knit new ones, turn men’s clothes into women’s and to add patches of fabric to cover holes in garments. The world war changed how people dressed during that time, as there were restrictions on what people could buy due to the limited resources during the war. More structured clothing, such as a women’s suit, were seen more regularly, as many women restructured their husband’s suits to create a new blazer and skirt set. Another popular item was a jumpsuit style garment, which was very convenient to pull on in a rush whilst being stylish at the same time.

A few years after the war, this more masculine approach to female clothing was disappearing, with a more feminine approach to style starting to show through. In 1947, Christian Dior came out with a collection that completely contrasted against what what seen in fashion at that time. Instead of short skirts and square shoulders, Dior brought out a collection that included knee-length skirts, with rounded shouldered blazers with a tight waist to emphasise the busts and hips of the women (Independent, 2011). The ‘New Look’ collection was a breakthrough in the fashion industry and seemed to turn it on its head, leading to the continuation of this style into the 60′s.

In this lecture, my group and I were given a task to look into the 1990′s and consider influencing factors that impacted fashion designers from that decade. To start this task, we looked into what was happening in industry and technology in this decade. The internet was gaining popularity as well as internet shopping, with the invention of Amazon and Ebay in the middle of the decade. The first smart phone was introduced in 1994, leading to the blow up in the mobile phone industry that is seen today. We also looked into world events from the 90′s and the first event we found was Princess Diana’s death. Diana’s death shocked the whole world and lead to a great period of mourning for the princess. Diana herself had an impact on the fashion industry when she was alive, with iconic outfits such as her little black dress after her divorce, or her bicycle shorts with sweatshirts that she was constantly seen wearing. The event of her death would have lead to a lot of people wanting to commemorate her and one way to do this would be to take inspiration from some of her most iconic style choices. 

We looked into the most prominent fashion trends of the 90′s and try to create links to other elements of the decade. The first trend we looked into was grunge. The rise in rock music and bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam influenced the way that many people chose to dress in the 90′s. The death of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain would have impacted this community heavily as Nirvana was an integral part of the grunge music industry. People associated with the grunge trend were seen to wear plaid shirts over a band t-shirt with Dr. Martens and torn jeans. The trend originated from Seattle, which was trying to shed its ‘hippie’ style into the grunge style with the emergence of the bands that were popular at the time.  Leather was another trend seen throughout the 90′s, with the infamous image of Winona Ryder in a leather jacket and graphic t-shirt circled around. This outfit would tie back to the grunge theme as well, showing how prevalent it was during the 90′s. With the rise in paparazzi in this decade, it seems as though more celebrity outfits were captured and shown in the tabloids, which led to trends spreading quicker than they previously had.

Another fashion trends was derived from the film ‘Clueless’. The trend was based on the iconic plaid blazers and skirts that were seen in the movie. Even Princess Diana herself had her own take on the fashion trend, with a grey blazer and skirt set. This trend rose from the increase in popularity of ‘pop culture’ with the high interest in the film. This was brought into the 00′s, where a pop culture was at its peak with the celebrities at the time, such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Similarly, Friends was launched in the 90′s and was an integral part of the fashion and beauty industry of the time, with Jennifer Anniston being the inspiration behind many people’s style choices and even haircuts. This is once again illustrating the influence of pop culture in the 90′s and how quickly people were influenced by it. 

This lecture highlighted how influential other industries are towards the fashion industry. In current times, events such as the current pandemic can have a huge impact on what is trending and how popular a product is or will be. This is something that my group and I have the take into consideration when choosing our products and to ensure it will fit with the current social changes that are happening and will continue to happen in the future.

[fawsldaily]

'Same sport, different game' has long been the unofficial tagline of women's football. But as it continues to grow and in doing so moves closer in proximity to men's football it is inevitable that some distinctions between the two sides of the sport will begin to blur. 

The question of how the women's game can ensure the preservation of its elements worth holding on to, whilst simultaneously needing to attract fans outside of its bubble, is one which it has been asking itself for some time now. There is no simple answer, as demonstrated when those with the task of balancing the scales openly admit they are not sure of the best approach to take.  

For the sake of its prosperity the women's game must tap into an audience which is more accustomed to the starkly contrasting culture of men's football; something so established and ingrained it permeates through to the very society we live in as society itself filters the other way. The nearer the women's game is positioned to something so influential the more likely its norms will change as a result, but there is still opportunity to control to what degree its customs are altered. If managed correctly it should one day be possible to look back and see a positive evolution as opposed to the loss of better days. There is, however, little time to decide how the game intends to achieve the former if events of Manchester United vs Liverpool on Saturday afternoon are anything to go by. 

Many things were said about Manchester United's vocal fan base in the days before they hosted Liverpool in Leigh. Many more things have been said in the aftermath. 

The commentary during the opening minutes of the match was dominated with talk of the club's ‘Barmy Army’ fan group. It echoed the positive sentiments of a BBC article published the day before detailing the group's origin, their song book and growing attendances. A particularly audible chant during the eighth minute prompted the commentator to again commend the group and their efforts creating an atmosphere. He was seemingly completely unaware that they had in fact just finishing singing about the visiting fans being so poor they resort to eating rats.

The chant in question was that of Park Ji-sung; once a player for Manchester United's men's team. Seven years after departing the club his chant was sung at a women's team match, all due to its punchline about Scousers and poverty. It is, therefore, the perfect example of the two most likely things to be brought into the stands on the back of importing too much of a fan base from the men's game and too soon - those two being, things which are unrelated to the women's game and things which should not be present in either. Park Ji-sung's irrelevancy to a Women's Super League match is not negated just because the final line of the chant referenced the opposition, and the nature of that reference ought to mean the chant be considered unwelcome at any match at all. It is hard for Barmy Army members to justify singing this particular chant on them not yet having material more suited to the women's team when they pride themselves so much on the existence of their women's team centred song book.

The point that new fans won't initially know the inner workings of a women's football crowd is a valid one, however. It has to be expected that their contribution will likely be what they do know, which is men's football. Often perceived to be the default in any case. A common argument being made in reaction to events at Leigh this weekend by those on the outside looking in has been that if women's football wishes to be treated equally it must be prepared to have the same elements as the men's game - warts and all. Many comments read like they had been left by people resigned to accepting that abuse is part and parcel now and you can't have football without it. It is easy to understand why somebody would resign themselves to that when also in amongst the reaction were comments from others carrying the disturbing notion that the sort of chants from the Manchester United fans are not even warts but are in fact enhancing a match day experience. Mocking destitution and death (as referenced in their chant related to the Hillsborough Disaster) is not an enhancer of anything. 

It is difficult to find fault in the principle behind the argument that women's football must adopt things from men's football, when it is an argument being made in the general sense. But when made in the context of fan base attitudes and behaviours, it does not in fact need to adopt what are warts. It is impossible to convince fans not to cross a line or to come back on the correct side of a line when they do not acknowledge the existence of one. It is critical therefore that the women’s game establish exactly where the line is as early as possible.

Preventing the adoption of the worst elements of men’s football will require a robust, zero tolerance approach with input from all sides. Including the existing fan base who must play a role and be prepared to police both themselves and new arrivals. It is likely not a coincidence that the one set of fans failing to read the room, or outright ignoring it, happen to also be the set with no grounding in women's football culture because their team is only just over a year old. Whilst it is not possible to force new match goers to adapt to the differences of a women's match, a club stands a much greater chance of their fan base growing into a positive asset if new match goers can at least enter a ground and see women's football culture on display. Recognising and then taking on board the differences will largely be an education achieved through good example. 

It is a shame then that the FA spent so many years catering to children and families rather than to the young adult and adult demographic who have been responsible for setting the crowd tone to date, and so are therefore the subsection who would be most likely to successfully set that necessary example moving forward. Had more of this type of fan been targetted earlier and more assistance been given for the establishment of fan groups then perhaps there would be enough of a vocal presence at matches to offset the introduction of anybody wired to make distasteful contributions.

It would be a continued shame if that demographic were now overlooked for a second time in favour of bussing in 'ready made' fans from men's matches, when it is the case that had this demographic instead been the target audience they could by now have developed into exactly what those bussed in fans will be, but crucially minus the problematic tendencies. The ‘source from elsewhere’ approach may shortcut to higher attendances, but, just as targetting children now so there is a fan for tomorrow came at the expense of building up the fan of today, an influx of fans too contrasting with the present will come at the expense of having a desirable culture in the future.

The young adult and adult demographic who have been part of the league are also key to establishing rivalry. The more seasoned the fan and the older they are the more able they are to recount previous meetings between their team and another. One argument made for bringing in fans from outside of the bubble is that it is a step towards lively atmospheres with needle, but the fact that we so often highlight the times such an atmosphere is present proves the women's game does in fact already have the ability to create such thing - the issue is that it isn't created often enough. This is not because there is something wrong with the current fans and their methods, it is because there isn't yet enough narrative and history which are two things vital to cultivating a partisan crowd. 

The Women's Super League is only nine years old. It has also been through multiple restructures and re-licencings at the same time clubs and squads have been becoming unrecognisable from one season to the next, meaning you can divide those nine years into three or four completely different and practically unrelated eras. Going back further than a season or two takes you into a time of little relevancy to what is happening on the pitch nowadays. It is an unfair and unrealistic expectation that fans regularly create an atmosphere to rival those seen in men's football when those men's football fans are often doing so with a lifetime of meaningful past meetings to reflect on. 

Of the eight founding Women's Super League clubs, only one fixture between them could really be considered a local derby but for the first two years it did not feel like one. Only in 2013, once some of Everton's better players had 'crossed the park' to join Liverpool who had finally become competitive and the power started to swing to the red half of the city, did the Merseyside Derby have the fitting significance. Almost 1500 fans travelled to Widnes on a freezing cold March night despite inches of snow on the ground to watch a Continental Cup match. The atmosphere whenever they faced each other during that period was exactly what is required and requested. Two seasons after the derby found its feet Everton were then playing in the second division and little of the Liverpool team which leapfrogged them into being best in the city remained, causing the few meetings between the sides in the years since to not manage to spark anywhere near the same level of passion in a crowd.

If we are affording ourselves time to grow the size crowds then we must also afford the crowd time to develop an identity, practices, stories and traditions. Such things can not be manufactured or come as a byproduct of transferring fans from men's stadiums because context is what makes the occasion.

Much is said about women's football being reluctant to the culture of the game changing with the introduction of new approaches but the fans being accused of having this attitude are the same fans wishing others would join in with their singing and bemoaning when an attendance is down from the week before. They are ones doing the utmost to create an atmosphere. The are the ones most open to changes which would benefit that goal. Their perfectly reasonable hope that change come with the respected condition that lines not yet crossed remain uncrossed should not be confused with a reluctance to welcome new people. Because to confuse the two will leave the door open for new people to cross the line and justify doing so on it being unreasonable to ask that they don't.

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

Political scientists also increasingly interpret human political structures as data-processing systems. Like capitalism and communism, so democracies and dictatorships are in essence competing mechanisms for gathering and analysing information. Dictatorships use centralised processing methods, whereas democracies prefer distributed processing. In the last decades democracy gained the upper hand because under the unique conditions of the late twentieth century, distributed processing worked better. Under alternative conditions – those prevailing in the ancient Roman Empire, for instance – centralised processing had an edge, which is why the Roman Republic fell and power shifted from the Senate and popular assemblies into the hands of a single autocratic emperor.

This implies that as data-processing conditions change again in the twenty-first century, democracy might decline and even disappear. As both the volume and speed of data increase, venerable institutions like elections, parties and parliaments might become obsolete – not because they are unethical, but because they don’t process data efficiently enough. These institutions evolved in an era when politics moved faster than technology. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Industrial Revolution unfolded slowly enough for politicians and voters to remain one step ahead of it and regulate and manipulate its course. Yet whereas the rhythm of politics has not changed much since the days of steam, technology has switched from first gear to fourth. Technological revolutions now outpace political processes, causing MPs and voters alike to lose control.

The rise of the Internet gives us a taste of things to come. Cyberspace is now crucial to our daily lives, our economy and our security. Yet the critical choices between alternative web designs weren’t taken through a democratic political process, even though they involved traditional political issues such as sovereignty, borders, privacy and security. Did you ever vote about the shape of cyberspace? Decisions made by web designers far from the public limelight mean that today the Internet is a free and lawless zone that erodes state sovereignty, ignores borders, abolishes privacy and poses perhaps the most formidable global security risk. Whereas a decade ago it hardly registered on the radar, today hysterical officials are predicting an imminent cyber 9/11.

Governments and NGOs consequently conduct intense debates about restructuring the Internet, but it is much harder to change an existing system than to intervene at its inception. Besides, by the time the cumbersome government bureaucracy makes up its mind about cyber regulation, the Internet has morphed ten times. The governmental tortoise cannot keep up with the technological hare. It is overwhelmed by data. The NSA may be spying on your every word, but to judge by the repeated failures of American foreign policy, nobody in Washington knows what to do with all the data. Never in history did a government know so much about what’s going on in the world – yet few empires have botched things up as clumsily as the contemporary United States. It’s like a poker player who knows what cards his opponents hold, yet somehow still manages to lose round after round.

In the coming decades, it is likely that we will see more Internet-like revolutions, in which technology steals a march on politics. Artificial intelligence and biotechnology might soon overhaul our societies and economies – and our bodies and minds too – but they are hardly a blip on our political radar. Our current democratic structures just cannot collect and process the relevant data fast enough, and most voters don’t understand biology and cybernetics well enough to form any pertinent opinions. Hence traditional democratic politics loses control of events, and fails to provide us with meaningful visions for the future.

That doesn’t mean we will go back to twentieth-century-style dictatorships. Authoritarian regimes seem to be equally overwhelmed by the pace of technological development and the speed and volume of the data flow. In the twentieth century, dictators had grand visions for the future. Communists and fascists alike sought to completely destroy the old world and build a new world in its place. Whatever you think about Lenin, Hitler or Mao, you cannot accuse them of lacking vision. Today it seems that leaders have a chance to pursue even grander visions. While communists and Nazis tried to create a new society and a new human with the help of steam engines and typewriters, today’s prophets could rely on biotechnology and super-computers.

In science-fiction films, ruthless Hitler-like politicians are quick to pounce on such new technologies, putting them in the service of this or that megalomaniac political ideal. Yet flesh-and-blood politicians in the early twenty-first century, even in authoritarian countries such as Russia, Iran or North Korea, are nothing like their Hollywood counterparts. They don’t seem to plot any Brave New World. The wildest dreams of Kim Jong-un and Ali Khamenei don’t go much beyond atom bombs and ballistic missiles: that is so 1945. Putin’s aspirations seem confined to rebuilding the old Soviet zone, or the even older tsarist empire. Meanwhile in the USA, paranoid Republicans accuse Barack Obama of being a ruthless despot hatching conspiracies to destroy the foundations of American society – yet in eight years of presidency he barely managed to pass a minor health-care reform. Creating new worlds and new humans is far beyond his agenda.

Precisely because technology is now moving so fast, and parliaments and dictators alike are overwhelmed by data they cannot process quickly enough, present-day politicians are thinking on a far smaller scale than their predecessors a century ago. In the early twenty-first century, politics is consequently bereft of grand visions. Government has become mere administration. It manages the country, but it no longer leads it. It makes sure teachers are paid on time and sewage systems don’t overflow, but it has no idea where the country will be in twenty years.

To some extent, this is a very good thing. Given that some of the big political visions of the twentieth century led us to Auschwitz, Hiroshima and the Great Leap Forward, maybe we are better off in the hands of petty-minded bureaucrats. Mixing godlike technology with megalomaniac politics is a recipe for disaster. Many neo-liberal economists and political scientists argue that it is best to leave all the important decisions in the hands of the free market. They thereby give politicians the perfect excuse for inaction and ignorance, which are reinterpreted as profound wisdom. Politicians find it convenient to believe that the reason they don’t understand the world is that they need not understand it.

Yet mixing godlike technology with myopic politics also has its downside. Lack of vision isn’t always a blessing, and not all visions are necessarily bad. In the twentieth century, the dystopian Nazi vision did not fall apart spontaneously. It was defeated by the equally grand visions of socialism and liberalism. It is dangerous to trust our future to market forces, because these forces do what’s good for the market rather than what’s good for humankind or for the world. The hand of the market is blind as well as invisible, and left to its own devices it may fail to do anything about the threat of global warming or the dangerous potential of artificial intelligence.

Some people believe that there is somebody in charge after all. Not democratic politicians or autocratic despots, but rather a small coterie of billionaires who secretly run the world. But such conspiracy theories never work, because they underestimate the complexity of the system. A few billionaires smoking cigars and drinking Scotch in some back room cannot possibly understand everything happening on the globe, let alone control it. Ruthless billionaires and small interest groups flourish in today’s chaotic world not because they read the map better than anyone else, but because they have very narrow aims. In a chaotic system, tunnel vision has its advantages, and the billionaires’ power is strictly proportional to their goals. If the world’s richest man would like to make another billion dollars he could easily game the system in order to achieve his goal. In contrast, if he would like to reduce global inequality or stop global warming, even he won’t be able to do it, because the system is far too complex.

Yet power vacuums seldom last long. If in the twenty-first century traditional political structures can no longer process the data fast enough to produce meaningful visions, then new and more efficient structures will evolve to take their place. These new structures may be very different from any previous political institutions, whether democratic or authoritarian. The only question is who will build and control these structures. If humankind is no longer up to the task, perhaps it might give somebody else a try.

- Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

[eroticcannibal]

Please stop telling people to “just do CBT”

CBT, like medication, can be valuable and life-changing to an individual. And like medication, it can also be devastating if it’s not the right treatment to you. It seems a lot of people seem to think that because it’s accessible and you can get free PDFs online, that it’s safe to just hop on any post and tell complete strangers to try it.

That is dangerous and irresponsible behavior. 

CBT is suited to those who are having trouble specifically with their thought patterns around things that do not justify those kinds of thought patterns, to the point where it impacts their life. CBT is not suited to just anyone having problems with their mood or anxiety or their thought patterns. And yet it is frequently pushed on people by strangers, by doctors (because it is relatively quick and cheap, thanks capitalism!), even forced on patients who aren’t suited to the treatment, causing worsening situations, even trauma. 

I can’t link to any of the wonderful conversations I’ve witnessed in private groups by those harmed by CBT, unfortunately. To summarise, I have seen fair comparisons to ABA, gaslighting, victim blaming, brainwashing, neglectful parenting that dismisses the feelings of the child (have fun with that one if that’s the source of your problems), grooming the patient to be receptive to coercion and institutional abuses, But from my own perspective as someone who had to stop CBT before I killed myself as a result of it, HERE is some highlights of the more damaging parts of a typical CBT workbook (and there's some great contributions in the notes). For those with issues caused by abuse or oppression or other situational factors, CBT becomes gaslighting. CBT is routinely weaponized against the oppressed and the abused, when our understandable reactions make others uncomfortable. CBT is used to make us into “good victims”, who don’t hurt or cry or complain or blame anyone. CBT is a therapy that can sever the connection between a person and themselves, it can be compassionless and cold. Not to mention that CBT inherently shifts the blame for feelings and behaviors entirely onto the individual rather than acknowledging the true role of triggers. 

In addition to this, CBT and how it is implemented is not only criticized by those harmed directly by it, but by professionals too. 

“this model appears to confuse the symptoms (i.e., negative self concepts) of depression with its cognitive causes...  In many cases, clients' appraisals and reports of their negative or distressful experiences are quite rational, realistic, and accurate. For example, their experiences of sexual or physical abuse at the hands of another or the tragedies of their loved ones have left enormous scars in their life. In such circumstances, cognitive-restructuring exercises, with their emphasis on reframing reality and not on changing it, do not deal with the true problem...  research has shown that positive self-evaluations may be dysfunctional and maladaptive...  the self-focused cognitive model puts a strong emphasis on examining the association between negative thoughts and mental dysfunction, but it has not answered the question of why individuals choose to focus on their negative attributes when the positive evaluation of the self is more accurate. “

“ Opponents have frequently argued that the approach is too mechanistic and fails to address the concerns of the “whole” patient...   the specific cognitive components of CBT often fail to outperform “stripped-down” versions of the treatment that contain only the more basic behavioral strategies... patients with major depression improved just as much following a treatment that contained only the behavioral strategies and explicitly excluded techniques designed to directly modify distorted cognitions... “

“Some critics argue that because CBT only addresses current problems and focuses on specific issues, it does not address the possible underlying causes of mental health conditions, such as an unhappy childhood...  CBT focuses on the individual’s capacity to change themselves (their thoughts, feelings and behaviours), and does not address wider problems in systems or families that often have a significant impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing. “

“ Seek a therapy referral on the NHS today, and you’re much more likely to end up, not in anything resembling psychoanalysis, but in a short series of highly structured meetings with a CBT practitioner, or perhaps learning methods to interrupt your “catastrophising” thinking via a PowerPoint presentation, or online...   CBT doesn’t exactly claim that happiness is easy, but it does imply that it’s relatively simple: your distress is caused by your irrational beliefs, and it’s within your power to seize hold of those beliefs and change them...    Our conscious minds are tiny iceberg-tips on the dark ocean of the unconscious – and you can’t truly explore that ocean by means of CBT’s simple, standardised, science-tested steps...  Examining scores of earlier experimental trials, two researchers from Norway concluded that its effect size – a technical measure of its usefulness – had fallen by half since 1977...  For the most severely depressed, it concluded, 18 months of analysis worked far better – and with much longer-lasting effects – than “treatment as usual” on the NHS, which included some CBT. Two years after the various treatments ended, 44% of analysis patients no longer met the criteria for major depression, compared to one-tenth of the others. Around the same time, the Swedish press reported a finding from government auditors there: that a multimillion pound scheme to reorient mental healthcare towards CBT had proved completely ineffective in meeting its goals...

 A few years ago, after CBT had started to dominate taxpayer-funded therapy in Britain, a woman I’ll call Rachel, from Oxfordshire, sought therapy on the NHS for depression, following the birth of her first child. She was sent first to sit through a group PowerPoint presentation, promising five steps to “improve your mood”; then she received CBT from a therapist and, in between sessions, via computer. “I don’t think anything has ever made me feel as lonely and isolated as having a computer program ask me how I felt on a scale of one to five, and – after I’d clicked the sad emoticon on the screen – telling me it was ‘sorry to hear that’ in a prerecorded voice,” Rachel recalled. Completing CBT worksheets under a human therapist’s guidance wasn’t much better. “With postnatal depression,” she said, “you’ve gone from a situation in which you’ve been working, earning your own money, doing interesting things – and suddenly you’re at home on your own, mostly covered in sick, with no adult to talk to.” What she needed, she sees now, was real connection: that fundamental if hard-to-express sense of being held in the mind of another person, even if only for a short period each week.“I may be mentally ill,” Rachel said, “but I do know that a computer does not feel bad for me.”...    

In the NHS study conducted at the Tavistock clinic last year, chronically depressed patients receiving psychoanalytic therapy stood a 40% better chance of going into partial remission, during every six-month period of the research, than those receiving other treatments...  Alongside this growing body of evidence, scholars have begun to ask pointed questions about the studies that first fuelled CBT’s ascendancy. In a provocative 2004 paper, the Atlanta-based psychologist Drew Westen and his colleagues showed how researchers – motivated by the desire for an experiment with clearly interpretable results – had often excluded up to two-thirds of potential participants, typically because they had multiple psychological problems...  Moreover, some studies have sometimes seemed to unfairly stack the deck, as when CBT has been compared with “psychodynamic therapy” delivered by graduate students who’d received only a few days’ cursory training in it, from other students...  But the most incendiary charge against cognitive approaches, from the torchbearers of psychoanalysis, is that they might actually make things worse: that finding ways to manage your depressed or anxious thoughts, for example, may simply postpone the point at which you’re driven to take the plunge into self-understanding and lasting change. CBT’s implied promise is that there’s a relatively simple, step-by-step way to gain mastery over suffering. But perhaps there’s more to be gained from acknowledging how little control – over our lives, our emotions, and other people’s actions – we really have?...        

Many neuroscience experiments have indicated that the brain processes information much faster than conscious awareness can keep track of it, so that countless mental operations run, in the neuroscientist David Eagleman’s phrase, “under the hood” – unseen by the conscious mind in the driving-seat. For that reason, as Louis Cozolino writes in Why Therapy Works, “by the time we become consciously aware of an experience, it has already been processed many times, activated memories, and initiated complex patterns of behaviour.”...  This doesn’t mesh well with a basic assumption of CBT – that, with training, we can learn to catch most of our unhelpful mental responses in the act. Rather, it seems to confirm the psychoanalytic intuition that the unconscious is huge, and largely in control; and that we live, unavoidably, through lenses created in the past, which we can only hope to modify partially, slowly and with great effort.  “

“ after completing low-intensity CBT, more than one in two service users had relapsed within 12 months.”

“ the overwhelming majority of CBT still operates through Becksian principles of normalisation, fitting a governmental agenda of producing good, quiet, working subjects who contribute to the economy and shut up. “

“To make this analysis, let’s imagine you are a therapist who is given the task of providing therapy for Ariel Castro (the recent accused kidnapper and rapist) to help him deal with suicidal thoughts over being universally hated and most likely condemned to a life sentence or the death penalty. Now think about the absurdity of doing CBT in this situation; that is, analyzing his negative thought patterns to help him deal with his one-sided thinking so he can better adjust himself to his (not so nice) life conditions.

Even better, imagine you’re given the task of providing therapy for Dr. Joseph Biederman (the key promoter of children’s Bipolar diagnoses) who perhaps is dealing with a severe depression related to negative public opinion regarding the enormous damage his work has done to tens of thousands of children (unfortunately his depression is a made-up scenario). Again you have the assigned responsibility to use CBT to help him see beyond the “negatives” in his thought patterns to find the “positives” in his career in order to help relieve his depression so he can get on with his work with great enthusiasm.

And even more controversial, let’s say you have the task of providing therapy using CBT for President George Bush several months after he launched the Iraq war; imagine for a moment that he has become quite depressed related to the growing mass demonstrations and the grief displayed by the parents of dead American soldiers coming home in coffins on a daily basis. Your job is to help him overcome his depression so he can get back to being The Commander In Chief...

CBT, being part of the “idealist” school of thought, tends to sever the relationship between the specific nature of the material conditions in the environment that gives rise to a person’s thoughts, and leaves it up to the interpretation of the listener (often a therapist) to determine whether or not the environmental source of those thoughts was actually traumatic or oppressive or more positive and humane. “

[Let me be clear, this is not me saying that CBT is bad, should never be used, or that it can’t be helpful to you. If it works for you, use it. It is the attitude that damn near everyone has, laypeople and professionals alike, that it’s a magic fix it that works for everyone, that I am challenging here. I’ve had issues with professionals not believing me recently when I expressed that I was unwilling to go through CBT again because it is a danger to me, because “oh it’s just changing how you think, that can’t be dangerous!”. Recommending particular treatments without a complete understanding of someone’s situation and without the proper clinical knowledge is dangerous, and when it comes to CBT it happens all the time. Recommending CBT without considering situational factors is dangerous, and it happens all the time.]

[berniesrevolution]

FML: Why millennials are facing the scariest financial future of any generation since the Great Depression.

Huffington Post Highline

Part II

What Scott remembers are the group interviews.

Eight, 10 people in suits, a circle of folding chairs, a chirpy HR rep with a clipboard. Each applicant telling her, one by one, in front of all the others, why he's the right candidate for this $11-an-hour job as a bank teller.

It was 2010, and Scott had just graduated from college with a bachelor’s in economics, a minor in business and $30,000 in student debt. At some of the interviews he was by far the least qualified person in the room. The other applicants described their corporate jobs and listed off graduate degrees. Some looked like they were in their 50s. “One time the HR rep told us she did these three times a week,” Scott says. “And I just knew I was never going to get a job.”

After six months of applying and interviewing and never hearing back, Scott returned to his high school job at The Old Spaghetti Factory. After that he bounced around—selling suits at a Nordstrom outlet, cleaning carpets, waiting tables—until he learned that city bus drivers earn $22 an hour and get full benefits. He’s been doing that for a year now. It’s the most money he’s ever made. He still lives at home, chipping in a few hundred bucks every month to help his mom pay the rent.

In theory, Scott could apply for banking jobs again. But his degree is almost eight years old and he has no relevant experience. He sometimes considers getting a master’s, but that would mean walking away from his salary and benefits for two years and taking on another five digits of debt—just to snag an entry-level position, at the age of 30, that would pay less than he makes driving a bus. At his current job, he’ll be able to move out in six months. And pay off his student loans in 20 years.

There are millions of Scotts in the modern economy. “A lot of workers were just 18 at the wrong time,” says William Spriggs, an economics professor at Howard University and an assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Labor in the Obama administration. “Employers didn’t say, ‘Oops, we missed a generation. In 2008 we weren’t hiring graduates, let’s hire all the people we passed over.’ No, they hired the class of 2012.”

You can even see this in the statistics, a divot from 2008 to 2012 where millions of jobs and billions in earnings should be. In 2007, more than 50 percent of college graduates had a job offer lined up. For the class of 2009, fewer than 20 percent of them did. According to a 2010 study, every 1 percent uptick in the unemployment rate the year you graduate college means a 6 to 8 percent drop in your starting salary—a disadvantage that can linger for decades. The same study found that workers who graduated during the 1981 recession were still making less than their counterparts who graduated 10 years later. “Every recession,” Spriggs says, “creates these cohorts that never recover.”

By now, those unlucky millennials who graduated at the wrong time have cascaded downward through the economy. Some estimates show that 48 percent of workers with bachelor’s degrees are employed in jobs for which they’re overqualified. A university diploma has practically become a prerequisite for even the lowest-paying positions, just another piece of paper to flash in front of the hiring manager at Quiznos.

But the real victims of this credential inflation are the two-thirds of millennials who didn’t go to college. Since 2010, the economy has added 11.6 million jobs—and 11.5 million of them have gone to workers with at least some college education. In 2016, young workers with a high school diploma had roughly triple the unemployment rate and three and a half times the poverty rate of college grads.

Once you start tracing these trends backward, the recession starts to look less like a temporary setback and more like a culmination. Over the last 40 years, as politicians and parents and perky magazine listicles have been telling us to study hard and build our personal brands, the entire economy has transformed beneath us.

BOOMER: 306

MILLENNIAL: 4,459

Hours of minimum wage work needed to pay for four years of public college

For decades, most of the job growth in America has been in low-wage, low-skilled, temporary and short-term jobs. The United States simply produces fewer and fewer of the kinds of jobs our parents had. This explains why the rates of “under-employment” among high school and college grads were rising steadily long before the recession. “The way to think about it,” says Jacob Hacker, a Yale political scientist and author of The Great Risk Shift, “is that there are waves in the economy, but the tide has been going out for a long time.”

The decline of the job has its primary origins in the 1970s, with a million little changes the boomers barely noticed. The Federal Reserve cracked down on inflation. Companies started paying executives in stock options. Pension funds invested in riskier assets. The cumulative result was money pouring into the stock market like jet fuel. Between 1960 and 2013, the average time that investors held stocks before flipping them went from eight years to around four months. Over roughly the same period, the financial sector became a sarlacc pit encompassing around a quarter of all corporate profits and completely warping companies’ incentives.

The pressure to deliver immediate returns became relentless. When stocks were long-term investments, shareholders let CEOs spend money on things like worker benefits because they contributed to the company’s long-term health. Once investors lost the ability to look beyond the next earnings report, however, any move that didn’t boost short-term profits was tantamount to treason.

The new paradigm took over corporate America. Private equity firms and commercial banks took corporations off the market, laid off or outsourced workers, then sold the businesses back to investors. In the 1980s alone, a quarter of the companies in the Fortune 500 were restructured. Companies were no longer single entities with responsibilities to their workers, retirees or communities.

They were Lego castles, clusters of distinct modules that could be separated, optimized, sold off and put back together.

Businesses applied the same chop-shop logic to their own operations. Executives came to see themselves as first and foremost in the shareholder-pleasing game. Higher staff salaries became luxuries to be slashed. Unions, the great negotiators of wages and benefits and the guarantors of severance pay, became enemy combatants. And eventually, employees themselves became liabilities. “Corporations decided that the fastest way to a higher stock price was hiring part-time workers, lowering wages and turning their existing employees into contractors,” says Rosemary Batt, a Cornell University economist.

Thirty years ago, she says, you could walk into any hotel in America and everyone in the building, from the cleaners to the security guards to the bartenders, was a direct hire, each worker on the same pay scale and enjoying the same benefits as everyone else. Today, they’re almost all indirect hires, employees of random, anonymous contracting companies: Laundry Inc., Rent-A-Guard Inc., Watery Margarita Inc. In 2015, the Government Accountability Office estimated that 40 percent of American workers were employed under some sort of “contingent” arrangement like this—from barbers to midwives to nuclear waste inspectors to symphony cellists. Since the downturn, the industry that has added the most jobs is not tech or retail or nursing. It is “temporary help services”—all the small, no-brand contractors who recruit workers and rent them out to bigger companies.

The effect of all this “domestic outsourcing”—and, let’s be honest, its actual purpose—is that workers get a lot less out of their jobs than they used to. One of Batt’s papers found that employees lose up to 40 percent of their salary when they’re “re-classified” as contractors. In 2013, the city of Memphis reportedly cut wages from $15 an hour to $10 after it fired its school bus drivers and forced them to reapply through a staffing agency. Some Walmart “lumpers,” the warehouse workers who carry boxes from trucks to shelves, have to show up every morning but only get paid if there’s enough work for them that day.

“This is what’s really driving wage inequality,” says David Weil, the former head of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor and the author of The Fissured Workplace. “By shifting tasks to contractors, companies pay a price for a service rather than wages for work. That means they don’t have to think about training, career advancement or benefit provision.”

This transformation is affecting the entire economy, but millennials are on its front lines. Where previous generations were able to amass years of solid experience and income in the old economy, many of us will spend our entire working lives intermittently employed in the new one. We’ll get less training and fewer opportunities to negotiate benefits through unions (which used to cover 1 in 3 workers and are now down to around 1 in 10). Plus, as Uber and its “gig economy” ilk perfect their algorithms, we’ll be increasingly at the mercy of companies that only want to pay us for the time we’re generating revenue and not a second more.

(Continue Reading)

[sacha-oleksandr]

Today, instead of doing a random prompt, I have an announcement and a happy little story!

Earlier in 2020, about the same time that we went into lockdown, my department at work was restructured. Previously, I was under the Final Documents Department, and we were our own thing parallel to the Shipping Department. However, the company hired a new manager for both departments and put them both under the Shipping umbrella (we shall call him Z). I was carved out as my own department and brought someone over from Final Docs with whom I worked well and who would become my ops assistant.

I became an actual manager with one employee. I delegated a few tasks to her, and we were in contact every day (both of us are still working from home), so it wasn’t like managing a team. Thankfully. Being a manager has reinforced my aversion to being responsible for another living being in any capacity, let me tell you. But we have been a pillar of efficiency and despite some technical difficulties a few times we have always managed to get everything done. (Okay, there are a few things dropped in our laps that we never got around to—but a lot of balls were dropped in the juggling of these tasks, and none landed in our court.)

When I first met Z, we had a video call where we introduced ourselves and spoke some about his philosophies on management and I explained what MERS is and what we do on my team. I mentioned to him that I was learning data science on my own time, especially since I was obsessively completing DataCamp courses while in quarantine, and he told me he knew the data scientist at our company who he was happy to connect me with. (Yes, there’s only one data scientist. We’ll call him A.)

A got me all kinds of permissions “under the table,” like access to the database that the software we use for the main company gets its information from and the ability to download programs and such things onto my computer. I got set up with Jupyter Notebooks and he walked me through some basic things I was having trouble figuring out. Once I got comfortable experimenting and building things on my own, I built a handful of report generators and transformers in Python that I could run on my computer, which takes a bunch of manual organization and review out of my daily routine (which is huge, because I’m handling daily reports and responsibilities for two of the three companies—my ops assistant does the dailies for the third). A helped me troubleshoot my code and marveled at what I could do on my own.

Fast forward to two or three weeks ago. A calls me and tells me he’s been talking with his boss about me, and for a few weeks they’d been discussing bringing me onto the new team of which A has recently become team lead, the Strategy and Innovation Group. He offered me a position as a junior software developer on his team and told me my first project would be to finish automating the crap out of my current responsibilities.

I had a call with Z and my ops assistant this morning to finalize the details, one of which is that she was offered a team lead position in the Final Documents Department! It’s extremely gratifying to know that the tools and methods I’ve taught her are actually contributing to her forward momentum and success.

The announcement, then, obviously, is that I accepted the position as Junior Software Developer in the Strategy & Innovation Group. I’m officially a tech person lol. And I have to learn a new programming language (Clojure) which is exciting and terrifying at the same time. The whole thing is, honestly. I have been the MERS Operations Manager since 2015 and frankly all my dreams for it are coming true: It’s being moved to a technical position, it’s being highly automated, and I get to be the one to make it happen.

Yay me! Sorry everyone, but 2020 is totally my year.

[internetandnetwork]

6 Things You Should Know When You Step Into the PPC World

Have you just started your PPC journey? This is one of the most interesting spheres in marketing, and it is ever-changing and evolving. However, when you first step into this world, there are a few things you must be aware of (well, at least we wish somebody told us about them). When you are new to PPC, everything will seem very exciting as well as challenging at the same time. But in order to master it, you must understand its scope completely first.

In this blog, we are going to discuss the six helpful things that will make this journey a smooth one for you.

Utilize the Opportunities to Learn

Earlier, the opportunities to learn were scanty, and new PPC executives had to become determined researchers in order to find programs.

Meanwhile, now numerous PPC platforms have started offering plenty of advanced training.

Now you can find lots of certification programs that go in-depth into PPC and help boost your knowledge. Moreover, these programs also allow the candidates to secure various career opportunities in this field.

When it comes to polishing your skill set, these top online paid media platforms won’t ever disappoint you:

Google Skillshop

Microsoft Advertising

Amazon Advertising Learning Console

Facebook Blueprint

Pinterest Academy

Making Mistakes Is Part of the Process and It’s Okay

You must have heard that, in life, it is essential to learn from the mistakes. In fact, most of our important life lessons come from those mistakes.

Although making mistakes in PPC can be thwarting and sometimes cost you a lot.

But fortunately, we don’t usually see a lot of sudden fully-fledged implosions here.

Tracking the performance in real-time and taking immediate actions will help in finding out and preventing the paid media disasters before they take place.

These are the four things you should focus on to steer clear of making costly mistakes in PPC:

Budget and bid settings – Incorrect set up can lead to your PPC account overspending or exhausting the ad budget on irrelevant clicks.

Account Structure – If you don’t organize your account structure in a way that aligns with your intended strategic direction, your PPC goals will not be achieved.

Targeted Keywords – Using too many keywords or wrong keyword match types can stop your ad from reaching the right/target audience.

Inappropriate Expansion – Untimely or inappropriate expansion into additional audiences or targeting will ruin your ad reach and performance.

Moreover, when it comes to PPC, it is always good to learn from the mistakes of other people.

Typically, every PPC training program will train you in things you should do, but they don’t tell you the things you should strictly avoid doing.

Now, this is where partnering up with other peers in your industry, conducting thorough research, and plenty of reading comes into play.

Blogs, articles, podcasts, and physical meetings are great places to listen to PPC war tales and utilize these stories to determine what you should and shouldn’t do to avoid making the same big, costly mistakes.

Educate Other People on PPC 

There was lots of confusion and wrong/lack of information for people working in the PPC sector in the past.

How much does one-click cost? What is an Ad Auction?

Why is Quality Score important?

But the most scary and mysterious among all was the information regarding click frauds.

Most of the time, those in PPC were unable to get answers to tricky questions at once; therefore, the whole learning and updating process was going on always earlier.

As the PPC marketing world started growing progressively popular over the past decade, organizations and new marketers become more knowledgeable.

Moreover, the skills of PPC professionals will now be going in-depth on technical tasks and strategic approaches, making things even more exciting.

PPC Platforms and Features Are Ever-Changing

If you don’t know it already, here’s a fun fact about PPC that your learning and work in this domain are never “finished.”

With new updates, features, and releases rolling out for our favorite paid media platforms always keeps PPC professionals alert and attentive, ever ready to adapt to the changes.

Although at times, all these changes demand just a little bit of tweaking by the PPC managers. And sometimes, they require changing or restructuring the whole campaign or account and putting your time as well as efforts in conveying these changes to your clients or company and getting them on board with it.

In addition to all this, as a PPC manager, you will have to describe these changes thoroughly to the concerned people, manage the project, implement all the changes, and then monitor its impact on your campaigns.

This is what makes a PPC executive’s job so difficult – working in an environment that keeps changing continuously.

And in case you are working in eCommerce, it’s an entirely different scenario.

User Behavior Is Always Changing

User behavior will eventually change, be it now or years later; it is inevitable and only a matter of how and when.

For instance, during the last decade, we witnessed a big shift from desktops to smartphones, and today more than half of the total web searches happen using mobile devices.

Then a couple of years ago, we saw a shift from keywords to audiences giving way to a more audience-centric marketing and audience-powered approach.

Forget about what happened years ago; the biggest example is right in front of our eyes – all the changes that have occurred during this Covid-19 outbreak.

This pandemic has completely transformed how we live, work, eat, communicate, and travel, among others. It has also changed the way customers search for products and services online.

A lot of elements together influence user behavior. Here are some factors, along with common examples that you should keep in mind:

Platform usage changes – People of specific demographics shifting to Instagram from Google.

Social trends – Celebrity news and gossips, sports events

Search habits – Including “near me” in web searches

Device usage – Wearables

Universal trends – Climate change, disruptive innovations

Political trends – Court cases, elections

Become a Part of the PPC Community

As soon as you enter the world of PPC, it won’t take you much longer to develop a sense of comradeship with your other peers working in the same industry as you.

Online meetings and regular conferences will help expand your PPC network vigorously.

Having mutual interests and the evergreen shoptalk will help you discover new tips, strategies, and more information about different platforms.

However, considering the current situation, most of these interacting opportunities have been limited and gone online for our own good, of course. Still, even then, online platforms offer unparalleled access, and at times it’s free too!

Joining Linkedin and Facebook groups and other professional business memberships and participating in group discussions actively are an excellent way of becoming a part of the PPC community and partner up with co-workers.

Conclusion

One of the many things that no course will tell you is that you will be working in a super dynamic environment that keeps changing and how you can navigate through those changes as a PPC professional.

However, that surprise and constant change are what keeps the PPC specialists excited about their work.

These were the six things you should know when you are new to this industry. Keep them in mind and start your beautiful journey with enough information to keep you going without hindering your growth.

Hariom Balhara is an inventive person who has been doing intensive research in particular topics and writing blogs and articles for E Global Soft Solutions. E Global Soft Solutions is a digital marketing, seo, smo, ppc and web development company that comes with massive experiences. We specialize in digital marketing, web designing and development, graphic design, and a lot more.

SOURCE : 6 Things You Should Know When You Step Into the PPC World

[codeavailfan]

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[imaginetk]

At the end of all things:

How could something be borne in a world where everything around us was dying? Finding answers is what I do, it's my job but I already know, I will never be able to answer that question. There are matters of the heart that the mind can't understand and this is one of them. 

Our world was dying. After a nuclear cataclysm, a strange disease emerged and it spread much faster than the Cholera or the Black Plague. This was the worst disease we humans had encountered. Those who got infected died within a month but the particularity about it was that, within that month, they aged immensely and unnaturally. As if the disease could not only affect their organs, making them age and malfunction, but also as if it could affect time, fast forward their life until reaching old age prematurely. We scientists, the best in the world, had been summed to work together in order to find a cure as soon as possible, before this disease could wipe out the human race. But this was not an easy task; we had to find, in a period of 6 month, the cure to death. 

We all had been paired up in couples of man and woman and I was working with the most brilliant scientist in the whole group. I was not bad but she was extraordinary and the person I admired the most. Her name was Y/N and she was our hope to find a cure to this inevitable but premature end of our days. 

As you entered the laboratory at 5am in the morning, you noticed Tom was already there. He was making notes about the over night evolution of the samples you had prepared together last night. He didn't hear you opening the door and there you realized you had been working with his for almost four month now and that your initial admiration for him had slowly turned into a deeper feeling. All those late nights spent in the lab, working non-stop, researching and helping each other, had made you slowly fall for him. He was so different from everyone else. 

You tilted your head to a side and looked at him with your chest burning inside. He was sitting down on a high stool, leaning his left arm and elbow on the table. In his hand he held the sample and with the other one he wrote vigorously all the observations he could make. He was one of the brilliant young scientists of the group and one of the most dedicated ones. He was always looking for the small details that, in the end as he said, made all the difference. His white robe fell along the stool; a few wrinkles showed he had actually slept without taking it off. His hair was pulled up in a man bun but it was messy. You suddenly felt a smile curving the corners of your mouth. The sky was beginning to light up and suddenly you realized how much you loved him. But he had never said nor showed anything to you, so you simply enjoyed looking at him from afar, when he was concentrated in something else and unaware of your presence. He had a brilliant mind but also a warm heart, one he wanted to use to find a cure to this invisible death disease that had been terrifying the world lately. 

You finally grabbed your robe and made your presence known.

"Good morning Tom." You said putting your robe on. "You're here very early today. Did you sleep here in the lab last night?" 

Tom took his eyes off the samples and his notebook and looked at you a bit surprised. 

"Good morning Y/N" a smile quickly covered his lips "Yes, I did. I had an idea about how we can modify the antidote you made to restructure of the red blood cells and make it work." 

You had come up with an antidote that had worked for a few weeks but then the flaws in the formula started to show. It turned out it was not enough to be a cure, it simply slowed down the progression of the degradation of the body the disease provoked but it didn't cured it. 

The International Science and Research Department had agreed that all the groups should work from now on in your formula in order to make it a real antidote. The answer was there in your serum; they just needed to find a way to make it work properly. Meanwhile, your serum was being sold in all the pharmacies and hospitals in the world. They called it the "Expectant", all who took it was desperately expecting for the cure that had not yet been found but they were given a little more time to live. 

"Tell me all about it." You walked to where Tom was and he explained his idea. 

As he talked, you could not stop looking into his eyes, which lit up whenever he talked about something he was passionate about. You knew he was willing to give his own life in order to find a cure.

Tom kept explaining the procedure he thought could make a difference in the attempt of transforming your serum into a real cure. He went through all the details and the more he talked, the more you saw a possibility in his plan. You started feeling a cold chill running down your back and the palms of your hands sweating. He had found it! He had found the right way! 

When he finished you looked straight into his brown eyes and a deep silence replaced the words you should have said in that moment. But, how could you say anything at all when the wonderful light of the cure had completely blinded your soul and mind? That smiling, sassy and sometimes goofy boy from Germany, who had changed the guitar for the microscope not too long ago, had found the cure to eradicate this silent killer which you and all the other scientists from around the world had been fighting. Tom was effortlessly and naturally a genius. 

"Y/N?" He finally asked breaking the thick silence around you both. "What do you think?" 

You blinked a few times and your lips parted as if trying to speak but you could not say anything. 

"I knew it was too complicated and impossible." He sighted "Ok then, I'll keep thinking about something more plausible." 

I had been working on this idea for almost a month now and until now I had not pulled up the courage to talk to Y/N about it. She was the leading scientist of this whole research and I was terrified I would say something stupid or absolutely impossible to do. After all, I was one of the scientists with less experience but sometimes I could just feel the solution and answer inside of me. That's why I thought it was worth telling her about this plan but her silence brought all my expectations down. I knew this was impossible and that she disapproved of it. 

I turned around, trying to look away from her but before I could walk away, I felt her cold hand on my wrist. I looked back at her and a smile I had never seen was invading her lips. An strange warmth ran through my whole body in that moment. She was looking at me in a different way than before and I simply got nervous. The morning sun was now streaming through the lab windows and it hit her face making her look like a beautiful vision. Until then, I finally asked myself a question that had been roaming around inside of me for a long time: did I truly felt admiration for her or was it something else? 

"Tom..." you said in a weak whisper. "Don't you see it? Can't you?" 

You got up and walked to him, his eyes wouldn't leave yours. 

"What?" He asked a bit confused and overwhelmed. 

"You...you found it!" Your hand on his wrist now traveled, as if by itself, along his arm to his shoulder, the other one imitated it. 

"Found what?" He asked, still more confused. How could he not see it?! 

"The cure, the cure Tom!" Your hands were now holding tight to his shoulders. You felt warmth inside your chest and an overwhelming excitement. "What you just described to me, that's it! That's what we have to do to transform my serum into an antidote. It's brilliant Tom, absolutely brilliant!"

Tom sighed deeply and a big smile appeared on his lips. He could not shake off the overwhelming feeling of the moment. 

Moved by excitement and the sudden realization of success against death itself, Tom wrapped his arms around your waist and spins you around as he pressed you tightly against his warm and manly chest. You let out a small scream of surprise and excitement as he lifted you from the ground and you rested your head against his shoulder, locking your hands around his long neck. You suddenly looked at him, a yellow morning light covered the room and his eyes seemed lighter than before. He placed you back on the floor and without thinking, he simply leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours. The warmth of sun rays against your back could not compare with the vibrating warmth you felt in that kiss. Tom's lips were soft and they caress yours, slowly and with a taint of longing. His hands held you against him and in that moment, in that small lab, in a world that seemed to be coming to its end, something full of life and possibility was born. An end of silence came to be.

Your lips separated slowly and his forehead rested on yours. The tip of his nose brushed against yours and your fingers in the back of his neck caress it gently. He smiled and, as the noises of the other scientist walking into their own labs resonated in the background, he whispered:

"I think I found something more important than the cure, you know." He slowly opened his eyes and found yours already looking at him.

"What do you mean? That's impossible." You stated.

"No, it's not." The back of his fingers fell gently against your cheek and he caressed it with care. "I found you." Your heart started to beat faster and your cheeks got suddenly blushed. "I think I never truly admired you, it was something more all this time. I'm sorry it took me so long to realized that whom I loved was right in front of me." 

"That's ok." You managed to say with your heart burning inside of you.

She didn't need to say anything else, I knew. Her eyes held this vivid light inside of them and I knew it was all for me. I could not let this opportunity go. Who knew if I would survive to see the day of my new idea actually being applied to the serum and become an antidote? I don't know how much time I have left in this world where everything is so uncertain, all I know is that finding her is the best discovery I ever made. 

He leaned forward one more time and gently kissed you again. He placed a few loose strands of hair behind your ear and smiled with that gentleness of his you loved so much.

"Now let's make of this serum the antidote we've been looking for so long." 

He kissed your forehead, held your hand and you both walk together to the 'experiment room' to make the first tests. 

I hope it was worth the wait anon ;)

[leadlovelearn]

Restructure and Rewire

Something I’ve gone over and over for years, but that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is how to maximize efficiency without overstuffing tasks, piling on the pressure and stress of getting things done, or rushing through things for the sake of getting things done. That is not a sustainable way to work or live! Sure, you might be able to do it for a while, but then what? Burn out. We aren’t made to be machines, we’re made to be vehicles of connection and purpose. When we act as machines, we disconnect. We go, go, go and do, do, do just to check things off our list. When learning and working are tasks we rush through in the name of maximizing efficiency, we disconnect and the tasks and experiences lose their meaning. When learning and working become meaningless, they lose their purpose and we stop being vehicles of connection and purpose. And we burn out.

How can we make learning and working meaningful, without sacrificing efficiency?

In order to restructure our behavior, we need to first rewire our brains. In situations or work cultures where we spread ourselves thin and have “go, go, go” and “do, do, do” mentalities, we put ourselves into overdrive. We rely on adrenaline (“Go, do, fight!!”), and our noradrenaline (“This is how I will go, do, fight.”) is powerless.

When we are experiencing task overload, our amygdala (the brain’s temperamental leader) recognizes the stress and urgency, preventing the pre-frontal cortex (the doer/learner/worker/decision-maker) from getting all of the information it needs to get things done. Because the pre-frontal cortex partners with the hippocampus (where our memories live) to recall information and past experience, in times of stress or task overload, the hippocampus has a hard time effectively storing memories and recalling information for the pre-frontal cortex. Not only does this put our brain in a disorganized state of chaos, but it also makes our ability to complete tasks less efficient and productive.

When learning and working are messy and inefficient, they can’t be meaningful. When learning isn’t meaningful, it’s not buildable. When learning isn’t buildable, we run in disconnected circles of inefficiency and aimlessly work at skills that cannot grow. This is true for us as grown ups, and even more true for our kids.

Maybe your to-do list is ten miles long, or maybe you’re learning something new and you need 50 repetitions to master and polish this new skill. In either case, you want to get it done as efficiently as possible, right? We can’t be efficient in overload. We can’t make learning or working meaningful in overload.

So how do we prevent overload before it kicks in?

Slow down. My mom used to tell us, “Slow your whole self down.” Don’t just slow your body, slow your brain. Take a breath and regroup.

It’s time to restructure and rewire. Let’s get to work.

In order to restructure and rewire, we need to know what we’re up against.

To simplify: In overload, we face a task or experience and react. Our “go, go, go” brains have learned this pattern, so that is our automatic response. To react.

What we’re going to do: Fill our toolboxes so that when we face a task or experience, we can slow down to thoughtfully evaluate and plan, and then respond. Not react. This requires an enormous amount of patience and a willingness to stop, breathe, and consider before taking action. This is not a quick-and-easy, overnight fix. To make responding our automatic response, we need to restructure our behavior to rewire our brains.

Efficiency is maximized in meaningful responses, not task overloaded reactions.

How?

Before we can expect our little ones to respond, we need to make sure we are on track to do this ourselves. Once we restructure and rewire to make responding a habit, then we can use our toolboxes to fill the toolboxes of our littles.

Let’s do it:

1. Make your list.  - Write it all down. Work tasks, home projects, new skills, situations that you’re working through with your kids. Deadlines. Write everything down in one place. Now put it away. Stuff it in a drawer, set it aside, put it in the freezer. Whatever works for you. We’ll revisit it later.

2. Evaluate your toolbox. - How do you react in stress/task overload? - Are your reactions consistent? - Are they effective?

3. Make room for new tools. - Breathing: In overload, stop what you’re doing and take 5 deep breaths with a clear mind. Slow your whole self down. - Naming: Take the time to name your feelings and name your motivations, instead of just pushing past them. Don’t chalk anything up to “I’m just being dramatic” or “I just need to get this done and move on.” Name your feelings. 

4. Name your motivations. - Reflecting: Consider the meaning and intention of a task or experience opportunity. Remind yourself why you’re doing something and what you’re hoping to get out of it (today, next month, five years from now). Journaling can make utilizing this tool more effective and impactful. - Attitude: Establish an attitude of gratitude. I know, it’s the Hallmark card of personal development, but hear me out. When we restructure our motivations from “I have to…” to “I get to…,” we rewire our brains and our stress responses to tasks and task overload reduce.

5. Revisit your list. - Group together tasks that can be completed together. Instead of having 20 things on your list, you may be able to group them down to 5! - Now that your workload is more manageable, consider your new tools.

Give it a try! Remember, if you’re using these steps to restructure and rewire, you’re learning something new. It won’t come automatically to you. Take the time to slow down, consider your new tools, and apply them to your work or situation. This can be extremely challenging, but don’t quit. Face the challenge, take your breaths, remember your purpose, and respond.

The research says that it takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit. Be patient with yourself. Every day and in every situation, we are faced with opportunities to continue growing and learning. When we react, we sacrifice those opportunities. By investing in your toolbox and working towards restructuring and rewiring to respond, you’re learning something meaningful and it will change your life, and the lives of those around you. Give it the chance it needs to be successful for you.

[cameron-ashurst22]

Year 2 Weekly Summaries - Week 5

 Day 1 - sound introduction

In today sound introduction we had to adjust the sound of a clip from the iron giant. I found that this was beneficial in creating sound for my animations. This was because I was able to add other sounds on the timeline instead of the existing sound track. I was able to cut and adjust the pitch of the sounds. In addition to layering the sounds up to create a more realistic explosion for when the iron giant shoots.

Day 1- Film language group tutorial

In todays group tutorial I was able to get feedback on the research I have been completing for the essay. I found this quite helpful as I was able to present my finding and get feedback rom the group. The feedback was that the two scenes I had selected from Dunkirk and Battle of the bastards( game of thrones) long takes were good to compare as they had two different tones. One being in the battle itself the other is just before and shows the scale of the beach itself. 

Day 2 - Sound room introduction

In todays sound room introduction we learned how to record sound both with voice acting and foley sound using audacity. I was chosen as one of the voice actors and found it very enjoyable to read the script to the clip and record my voice. It is fascinating how sound can help create emotion within the piece and by using my accent instead of the actors how the tone changed within the clip. I am looking forward to using this to help my future animations.

Day 2 - media lab work 

In todays session I was able to rectify the camera movement which was a key element of feedback from the group tutorial. By doing this I delayed the time the camera moves on the step up to the ball , the camera begins to track after the forks movement. Furthermore, this adds more speed to the ball itself which I also changed. For the grape I began to add the physics of how it would move in the air after it was struck. After watching Roberto carls’s free kick once again I rotated the ball on the z axis to create the topspin on the ball swell as rotating it clockwise to show the curve of the ball as it spins back into frame. Finally I changed the slide of the character so there was more weight to it. For this I added more key frames at the start of the motion. Also at the start I added the anticipation of the fork jumping into the knee slide. This adds to the weight of the character as it gives him the momentum to move through the slide. Th slide begins to slow down toward the end and this is where the fork realistically falls off the edge of the table. I have made the fork clatter against the table edge after it has slipped off. This then forces the fork to rotate and fall out of shot. I am looking forward to adding the light and rendering out the piece intake for the deadline.

Day 3- Life Drawing

In today’s life drawing session we focused on a clothed subject. I found this extremely difficult as clothes overlap the subject. At first because we had a spotlight I couldn’t see my pencil marks properly so’s switched to charcoal for the initial 6 minute drawings. I found that I was drawing the head too large in proportion to the rest of the body and so tried to rectify it in later drawing. The next task was to draw the subject for the remaining part of the session.This was quite easy to do as I blocked out the proportions well especially around the face. I find myself focusing heavily on the face in every life drawing session as it is something I want to continually improve to help show expression.

Day 3 - Motion Graphics Introduction 

In todays workshop we were introduced to the new motion graphics brief using pre designed assets. We have to move between the storyboards seamlessly using innovative

Ve transitions. The first part was to move three buildings from the bottom of the screen up and make the traffic move. To make the traffic move I drew round the template using the pen tool and animated one line moving from right to left. I then added a wiggle to the cars which helped the overall motion of the traffic. Next I duplicated and offset the three cars so that there appeared to be a constant flow of traffic. The next part was to create a transition from scene 2 to scene 3. To do this I transformed the square in the top right so it began to fit three quarters of the screen. I also used the null object tool to move the remaining squares off the screen. I found that this transition worked well as the square that grows larger it pushes the squares off screen and the final three squares helped the transition into scene 3

Day 4 - Media lab Session with John 

In todays session I was able to restructure my entire composition for the animation. I moved the wall itself over to the right had side. This allows the bend and dip of the free kick to be emphasised more.In addition this allows more exaggeration to be placed on the goalkeepers jump and dive as he now moves from the left hand side of the goal and falls towards the right hand side of the goal. I also introduced a cut into the camera movement to satisfy the brief. One more cut is needed to show the three camera shots , close , medium and wide. However I struggled to implement this as every time I moved the animation along the timeline things will become out of place. To counter this I need to create a new scene and establish the cut from that position after a full render in after effects.

Furthermore, I was able to add little nuances to the characters themselves after the ball is kicked the fork leans to the right as he begins to watch the ball fly into the top corner. The wall also jumps and begins to look towards the balls trajectory. I find by adding these details it fully enhances the piece and incorporates he elements of research I have been watching where individual players react differently to the scenario itself.

Areas of development will be to make the wall of spoons to turn further on the jump to fully establish the reaction. The next part is to delay the keeper so as he jumps he is late to the ball. At the moment the keeper appears to save the ball , he does fall before the ball hits but it will benefit the piece more if he is late. In addition, I need to add a run around for the celebration to give more momentum to the character when he slides. 

Day 4 - Lecture with Steven Ong

Specialises in after effects

Work out of your comfort zone 

Started freelance 

Then became a junior creative

Was made redundant so went freelance again

[ladystylestores]

When Alessandro Michele Reinvented Gucci – WWD

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MILAN — In January five years ago, the first time Alessandro Michele took a bow at the end of Gucci’s men’s fall 2015 show, surrounded by the brand’s design team, WWD wrote it felt like the first day of school.

With that seminal show, Michele, who would officially be anointed with the creative director title two days later, began to reinvent Gucci with a completely new, quirky and androgynous aesthetic that toppled his predecessor Frida Giannini’s jet-set lifestyle image.

Quickly assembled in only a few days, following the sudden exit of Giannini a week earlier, that men’s fall 2015 collection sowed the seeds of Michele’s style, which would help return Gucci to the fashion forefront, cater to a younger customer and post growth exceeding 35 percent for five consecutive quarters by the first quarter of 2018, prompting president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri to set a 10 billion euro revenue target for the brand in June that year.

The first look out on the runway — another surprise as it was an industrial grate, never seen at a Gucci show — said it all. All eyes were on an ephebic man with long wispy hair wearing a silk, red pussy bow blouse and beach sandals with a furry vamp, his fingers brimming with signet rings — a reflection of Michele’s own hands.

Voilà. A trend was launched. Michele’s gender-fluid and romantic spirit would go on to influence a slew of other designers, and fast-fashion giants jumped on the bandwagon quicker than you could say Jack Robinson.

Officially, Michele’s first solo collection bowed a month later, with Gucci’s women’s fall 2015 collection, which solidified his vision as he paraded bohemian flower child dresses, shrunken proportions, and school teacher skirts.

However, the designer was smart not to throw everything to the wind, as he revisited Gucci’s iconic GG logo, canvas bags and horse-bit loafers, which he turned into fur-lined slippers and clogs, further fueling sales of the accessories division — historically a cash cow for the brand. After all, Michele was previously head accessories designer and Giannini’s deputy. Logo bags came hand-painted with flowers or embroidered with big insects — a theme dear to Michele, who continued to explore it over the seasons.

At the time, Bizzarri, who took on his role at Gucci on Jan. 1, 2015, told WWD that elevating Michele to the post of creative director was “looking from outside, not the most obvious choice,” but that he was “exactly the right person” for that position, tasked with halting Gucci’s then-performance declines. With his arrival, the focus shifted from archival iconography to pure fashion.

Michele joined the Gucci design studio in 2002 following a stint as senior accessories designer at Fendi. He was appointed “associate” to Giannini in 2011, and in 2014 took on the additional responsibility of creative director of Richard Ginori, the porcelain brand acquired by Gucci in 2013.

Five years after his debut at Gucci, in the midst of a global pandemic, Michele has abandoned what he has called “the worn-out ritual of seasonalities and shows to regain a new cadence, closer to my expressive call. We will meet just twice a year, to share the chapters of a new story.”

Conceiving new names for the collections and inspired by the music world, Michele today will present what would have traditionally been called a cruise collection and that is now dubbed “Epilogue.” Once again, he said, he wanted to “overturn things” and present a story with the people from his office instead of models, a project that includes a 12-hour livestream.

As reported, Epilogue is the conclusive chapter in Michele’s narrative, which began with his fall show presented last February in Milan, dedicated to the multitiered ritual of designing, making, staging and viewing a fashion show.

Here, Michele talks to WWD about that very first show in January 2015, while at the same time eyeing future projects.

WWD: Five years later, how do you remember that first bow on the runway? Did you expect such a global reaction to your designs and know or expect that you would be appointed creative director of the brand?

Alessandro Michele: We put together the collection in record time, without any commitment. Marco [Bizzarri] wanted to leave a sign and we redid the collection from scratch. I had no title and knew nothing about the future. Marco and I just liked each other, it was similar to being on a new date, when there’s not certainty you’ll ever get engaged. I love my job and I just followed my instinct, living the beauty of the moment.

There was no contract and I had not really sensed what projects Marco or [Kering chief] François-Henri Pinault had for the brand or for me. This proves how creative Marco is, the way he approaches projects. He took a gamble with me, but like a coach with his team, he risked everything.

WWD: You had been working at Gucci for a long time; how did your team feel about you taking the lead? Were they supportive or suspicious?

A.M.: Marco didn’t know me but I admit I had an audience of friends and colleagues who shared my passion and must have supported me. They had known me for many years, they knew my approach to work, my passion, they were fans. I wasn’t worried, there was empathy with people in the company. It almost felt like they were expecting it. We worked hard, we restaged the show location, but I don’t remember feeling tired. We had fun, it’s a beautiful memory.

WWD: Speaking of the location — how did you conceive that? It was definitely a different set from what we were used to seeing at Gucci. As was the styling, the casting, the music. How did you plan that?

A.M.: I was thinking of codes that belonged to the brand and that could fit with my vision, I did it instinctively. Gucci had been reflecting the jet-set, a social class that was totally dead, symbols of an era that was closing. I was thinking of Apollo and Venus, a less precise gender, of the beauty of a new generation, mirroring the reality I saw, the chic French professor blouse.

I chose the emotional music from Tom Ford’s [movie] “A Single Man” because he has always been a great point of reference — the inventor of Gucci for me. He has marked an era, revolutionizing the brand.

WWD: When did you realize you were leaving a mark in fashion?

A.M.: I never imagined that anyone would say that I had done a gender fluid show. I was happy and I wasn’t disturbed by this, but I just thought [the designs] reflected my life in a normal way. As a farmer [selling] his vegetables, as a designer I simply staged what I saw, traveling, looking at my friends. To me they were simply parts of a certain beauty and aesthetics that belonged to Gucci. The brand has been able to change so much, and quickly, over the years, it’s a chameleon, mirroring what’s outside. And a brand makes sense if it is part of the contemporary times.

WWD: You had been working with Frida Giannini for years, yet it became apparent that you did not share her sense of style and fashion vision. How did you channel your creativity at that time?

A.M.: I am a professional and worked to deliver my craft and experience. I was loyal, we had a very good relationship and I was delivering what I was asked to do, but there was no sharing. Not often is one asked for an opinion, so I executed as best I could. I was part of a huge mechanism. At the same time, I explored my own world privately.

I had been thinking of leaving for the previous two years; I was tired and flattened because I like the sense of freedom in my work.

Richard Ginori was a lifeline for me. I was finding my day job boring and rigid, and [former president and ceo] Patrizio di Marco asked me to become creative director of Richard Ginori. I had great freedom and so much fun with that. Porcelain is one of my great passions and I had the opportunity to revamp a wonderful brand. I redid the stores, pored over every small detail. I started from things that I have at home. I do the same for Gucci. I keep so many things, objects, furniture. This job follows me always. When I look at something, I think of fashion. It’s a job that engages you and I was not engaged before.

WWD: What happened once you were confirmed creative director? Did the responsibility or the pressure worry you? Did you think about things in a different way?

A.M.: From the first to the second show it was all very natural. I was so happy to work with a group of people that I love and respect. I was free to be creative, I was not there to secure a job. It was a life experience, whatever happened.

When I saw the reaction to my first show and that quite a few people were disoriented, I thought they would fire me, but I always say that Marco was my Pygmalion. He gave me freedom and I did not always feel free before then.

I wanted to show how I saw the world outside, not Photoshopped, not a world frozen in a Jurassic era, and a man that was different from the Alpha man.

WWD: Why did you think your designs had so much traction and were copied around the world?

A.M.: The collection had an echo because many aspire to that freedom. Once you feel free, you want to create a product that represents what is outside. Some designers, each in their own way, realized that fashion is a language that can be liberated from marketing. We were coming from 15 years of pushing iconic bags and the bourgeois look, but outside the world had changed.

WWD: Five years into this role, you are now renaming and restructuring the collections. Is this a topical moment for you?

A.M.: I feel good, these have been five wonderful years. It’s been an incredible journey, I feel fulfilled, and, when I look back, I wonder at some of the things I did.

Creativity fascinates me, like a voice simply coming out. I did what came to mind, I had fun and enjoyed it. I like to see that I have told an authentic story and I am happy with what I did.

With the lockdown everything stopped, but if you are receptive, you can produce something different. I spoke with Marco about this. Fashion is experimenting and it is connected with what is happening in the present. I have a lot of energy, and I feel like a gymnast. As long as my legs work, and I am in a good place mentally, I can do whatever it takes. I love to question myself, I hope to maintain this energy, to risk and experiment.

WWD: Fashion is also about newness, but in the wake of the pandemic, many brands are underscoring the need to have more carryover designs and products that can withstand time. You have not dramatically veered your aesthetic over the years. Do you think this could serve you well? Should we expect something very different after Epilogue?

A.M.: It could have been risky because from the grandmother’s dress to the nerdy sweatshirts, the changes were made within my world.

I swim in this sea that is mine, watching with my own eyes, so that you can tell that [my designs] are seen through my eyes. I am very monogamous and loyal to my soul, so products reflect what I see. I instigate, but then fashion goes on its own path, from the freaks and extravagance to normality.

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[hudsonespie]

MOL Celebrates 135th Anniversary Aiming To Boast Highest Competitiveness

On the occasion of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ 135th anniversary, we are pleased to bring you a message from our President & CEO, Junichiro Ikeda.

All MOL Group members, as you know, today we begin Fiscal Year 2019 and mark the 135th anniversary of our founding.

For the last fiscal year, ordinary profit is expected to exceed our initial outlook, thanks to wide-ranging efforts to improve profits under “Rolling Plan 2018.” First of all, I would like to express my appreciation for you, all MOL Group members, and for your hard work over the last fiscal year, and let’s look back at results.

Representation Image Credits: wikimedia.org

Specific Results of Rolling Plan 2018

Over the past two years, we have emphasized our visions for the MOL Group ten years from now, which was set forth in the Rolling Plan. We saw steady progress in divisional and company-wide measures aimed at realizing the three visions-provide stress-free services; develop the environment and emission-free businesses into one of our future core competences; and make the MOL Group a collection of businesses that have a clear advantage, boasting the highest competitiveness in their respective fields. In particular, during fiscal year 2018, we made targeted investments in growth fields, proactively developed business operations in the power ship project, which draws upon our FSRU expertise and knowledge and in the project aimed at total logistics for chemical transport. With the ocean shipping business as a stable earnings, we saw some good examples of winning business by anticipating the issues our customers face and developing solutions. In the field that still requires business reforms, we have set a course for the future. During the year, we steadily launched strategic preparations in each business field as we move into the future, and we look forward to meeting new challenges.

Direction of Rolling Plan 2019- Aiming to make the MOL Group a collection of businesses that have a clear advantage and boast the highest competitiveness

Now I will talk about the direction of Rolling Plan 2019, which starts today. After reviewing the meaning and relationship of the three core pillars we have set forth, we decided to position “Aiming to make the MOL Group a collection of businesses that have a clear advantage and boast the highest competitiveness” as the vision for the MOL Group ten years from now. Those three pillars as management strategies to realize the vision are “provide stress-free services from a customer perspective,” “promote environmental strategies and develop the emission-free business into one of our future core operations,” and newly added “invest management resources in fields where we have the greatest strength, with our offshore business.”

By adding the element of “from a customer’s perspective” to stress-free services, and taking various strategic measures to address environmental issues, we will further enhance our relative competitiveness. Following those two pillars, we will push ahead with five group-wide priorities (marine technical skills, ICT strategy, technology development, environment and emission-free businesses, and work style reforms) as mid-term actions. The key words for this fiscal year are “LNG fuel,” “Use and application of data toward autonomous sailing (promotion of Senpaku ISHIN NEXT),” and “workplace reforms.”

The newly added pillar on focusing our management resources on fields where we have the greatest strength, particularly the offshore business, means ensuring we have what it takes to be the preferred solution provider for customers and partners; in other words, greater strength and proficiency than our competitors. That reflects our approach of objectively analyzing our competitiveness and aggressively investing management resources in projects that can help further develop our strengths. We have participated in several offshore business projects, so we can recognize our relative competitiveness in some of these fields. This ties in with our vision of “making the MOL Group a collection of businesses that have a clear advantage, boasting the highest competitiveness,” by prioritizing investment in areas where we can develop our strengths, and reach our long-term goal of developing the MOL Group into “an excellent and resilient organization.”

In addition, we set focus themes for FY2019. One is to establish a group-wide safety and quality management system with the objective of reflecting seriously on the incidents that occurred at the end of last year and restoring the trust we lost as a result. Safety is our core culture. Every one of us must boost our awareness of safety and the need to take responsibility for our own actions and operations. Under the leadership of the Chief Safety Officer appointed on April 1, and with an additional focus on compliance, we will move ahead with group-wide efforts on safe operation. At the same time, I will hold a series of discussions with you on this critical topic.

Second is developing a strategic response to stricter regulations on SOx emissions effective in January 2020. We have a daunting list of things to do-complete the technological verification of compliant fuel oils, properly time the changeover from current fuels, secure a supply of compliant fuel and negotiate with business partners and customers, to name just a few. This is a big challenge for the ocean shipping industry, but I think this is a good opportunity to differentiate our businesses at the same time. We will come up with counterplans ahead other companies, soundly implement our plan to switch to compliant fuel, and operate our vessels safely, without interruption, even after the regulations take effect. This seems like simple common sense, but realizing our plans hinges on the formulation of efficient operation plans by those in charge of vessel operations and excellent negotiation skills on the part of account representatives, as well as marine technology and engine expertise. I look forward to seeing all group companies work together as one team, demonstrating to customers our capability to address difficult tasks and solve problems, while contributing to society.

Next, I will introduce a new organizational structure, starting this month, to support the promotion of “Rolling Plan 2019.” First of all, we newly established the Environmental Management Committee as a company-wide approach. It will serve as a control tower for MOL Group’s environmental strategies as we respond to the constantly growing requirements to address environmental issues, social and political shifts, and customer needs. We have also newly appointed an executive responsible for promotion of sustainability. With our eyes set on the tasks we need to realize a sustainable society, we will promote initiatives on contributing to SDGs through our businesses.

We also established the Marine Technical Management Division, which clusters ship management functions for every ship type except LNG carriers. The new division considers ways to use our vessel assets safely and economically over the long term, from the viewpoints of ship management. Speaking of business divisions, we renamed Dry Bulk Carrier Division (A) to Iron Ore and Coal Carrier Division, and split off Dry Bulk Carrier Division (B) into Wood Chip Carrier Division and Bulk Carrier Division, making it easier for customers and business partners to understand our services Steaming Coal Carrier Division was renamed to Steaming Coal & Energy Project Division to meet customers’ needs for not only steaming coal transport but also its associated businesses. Regarding other divisions, we reviewed our internal structures when we introduced the team system last year, and restructured the teams.

I want to emphasize “being flexible in the face of changes” and “setting directions by full participation-based discussion” to promote Rolling Plan 2019 on a group-wide scale. I have repeatedly mentioned we must flexibly meet changes. However, all of us can raise our hands, express our own ideas, be open to others’ opinions, and determine our direction based on inclusive discussions. I believe this is the corporate culture we must develop in response to a society that grows more diverse every day. Please put aside reserve or conjecture, and let’s vitalize communication not in vertical lines of teams, but among members inside and outside our teams, as well as upward and downward.

Toward Further Growth

As I said at the beginning, we marked the 135th anniversary of our founding today. Our predecessor Osaka Shosen Kaisha (OSK Line) was founded in 1884, later rose from the ashes of World War II, and 55 years ago today, merged with Mitsui Line. On this date 20 years ago, we marked another milestone when we merged with Navix Line. As you already know, throughout our history we have repeatedly been tossed up and down by economic, social, and environmental changes. But I want to confirm once again that our social responsibility-contributing to the growth of industries around the world and bringing greater affluence to people’s lives through ocean transport-has not changed since our founding, and it has been inherited in an unbroken line to this day. We are currently seeing a trend toward economic deceleration, and the ocean shipping market still faces many uncertain factors. By no means we can say that we are in a strong position in our field. We set sail in FY2019 while anticipating rough seas, but we can see our course clearly. The will we have inherited from our predecessors, and our accumulated efforts and achievements, must become the impetus for further growth. We are expecting ONE to recover from its initial teething problems and return to profitability. I ask everyone to take specific actions with a sense of speed and urgency, based on the visions set out in Rolling Plan 2019. I want this to be a full and fruitful year in which we gather all of our group strength. Let’s do our best together.

Reference: mol.co.jp

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[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 3/14/2019

Good MORNING  #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Thursday 14th March 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

PAY DAY DEADLINE – Some businesses owed millions of dollars by Government, and are prepared to accept 85 per cent of the debt in cash, are in line for payment this month. But in order to access the offer and receive the funds before the financial year ends on March 31, these suppliers of products and services have to notify the Ministry of Finance by filling out and submitting the requisite form by tomorrow. Otherwise, payment will be made by the end of September and once businesses accept the offer in writing, they are agreeing to make no further claim on that debt. The bad news for those creditors who want all of the money Government owes them is that they might have to wait another four years to get it. The “85 cents in the dollar” debt repayment offer was announced by Prime Minister Mia Mottley in a Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly in December. (DN)

BIG PAYDAY – The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) has scored a major victory in their fight to secure compensation for temporary public officers, who were recently retrenched, some after giving ten or more years of continuous service. This morning Acting Assistant General Secretary of the NUPW, Wayne Waldron told Barbados TODAY that on Monday, the union received confirmation of Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s commitment to advance the gratuities of 83 such workers, who had received their walking papers from the Ministry of Transport and Works during the first phase of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme. This decision followed a proposal from the union to Mottley two weeks ago “We are happy that Government seems to be committed to settle the matter and [compensate] these MTW workers by advancing their gratuity. This way these workers are going to get a lump-sum payment for being terminated. Government would have made the promise that nobody will go home without compensation. So, we are happy that we have gotten some commitment from Government to compensate these 83 workers,” said Waldron. The trade unionist explained that instead of workers waiting until retirement age, as the law instructs, they will be able to get their gratuity now. However, the workers will still be required to wait until the age of retirement for their pensions to kick in. The NUPW spokesman revealed that this decision would not just apply to the 83 displaced MTW workers, but going forward, public officers in the same category will benefit, if they were placed on the breadline. “Similarly, you are going to have to treat other people based on this same principle going forward. The NUPW said as much in its proposal and this was agreed to. So yes, it means that no longer will temporary workers with ten years of service be forced to walk away from their jobs emptyhanded,” he noted. However, Waldron told Barbados TODAY that while the union is grateful for the settlement, Government needed to put its foot on the gas to expedite the process, as many of these retrenched workers were growing increasingly desperate with each passing day. According to the high-ranking NUPW official, the union is concerned for the well-being of this group, some of whom have expressed frustration to the point of suicide and violence. “The issue now is how soon the process is going to move along to facilitate these workers by having these monies calculated and released. We want this process to be sped up because a lot of persons out there are calling the union every day. This is no joke, these persons are getting very angry, some are suicidal, some are on the verge of a mental breakdown and some are getting violent. The reality is that these are people that are accustomed to paying their bills on time but now they are being harassed by debt collectors and threatened with legal action,” he stressed. He further argued that these workers had no business being in this position in the first place, noting that “even though you delayed their appointment and kept them temporary for ten years, they have the same rights as appointed officers and should not have gone home in that manner. Instead these officers should have been part of some re-organization process where they would be considered for a comparable post and if none was found then they should have been compensated.”  (BT)

WELCOME, KOOYMAN – Emphatically declaring that  “Barbados is fully open for business” Prime Minister Mia Mottley this evening welcomed Dutch Caribbean hardware megastore Kooyman Holding International as it broke ground at Kendal Hill, Christ Church. Kooyman Barbados’ hardware megastore is expected to open in early 2020. As she delivered the feature address, Mottley said the relocation here of Ross University School of Medicine and now Kooyman was an indication of  investors’ faith in the country despite economic struggles. It was a point that was confirmed by Kooyman’s chief executive officer Herbert van der Woude, who said the company saw Barbados as having “a good investment climate”. Kooyman Barbados represents the 80-year-old company’s first venture outside the Dutch-speaking islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St Maarten. Said the Prime Minister: “The bottom line is that no one comes to invest the sum of money that is being invested here this afternoon unless they have confidence in the country, confidence in what is happening [and] confidence in the future of the country. “I am happy therefore to welcome you this evening and say to you at Kooyman, that this for us represents a signal to all Barbadians and to the rest of the world that Barbados is fully open for business, that Barbados may not yet have reached its destination of where we want to after a decade of decline, but we are on that right road and that road means attracting persons both domestically and from outside to invest, because they believe that investment will attract a return.” Mottley declared that in the space of nine months, her administration had been able to significantly improve the country’s financial position. Acknowledging that it had not been an easy task, she said Barbados was now on the right track to recovery. Mottley added: “The restructuring of an economy and the stopping of bleeding is not an easy thing to do, and it doesn’t send the right signals necessarily to those who may say ‘when it finishes I will come’. We have been able in the space of nine months not to do everything that has to be done, but we started a process such that people who are watching on see us passing the right road signs, see us on the right road and recognize that if we continue on this road we shall reach our destination. “I hope Barbadians come to understand that growth is triggered not by closing inwards, but in fact by opening outwards…and that is why my Government is insistent on creating the space and the opportunities that will allow us to support Barbadian entrepreneurs because the measurement of our economic success cannot only be the GDP, but also the Gross National Income, the extent to which we export capital and from which we can earn from that capital which we export.” But Mottley also called on domestic investors to show greater interest in business ventures at home. She said that with limited Government finances, Barbadian investors needed to play a bigger part in fuelling capital projects, saying that there was “excess liquidity” in the economy. Van der Woude explained that Barbados was a perfect location for the company to expand its brand. Despite the current economic downturn, he expresssed confidence that the island would rebound. The Kooyman CEO said: “We think Barbados has a good investment climate in the long term; political stability and steady yearly GDP growth. Secondly, in our four existing markets there are 320 000 inhabitants altogether so Barbados with its 290 000 inhabitants almost doubles our potential market.” He also praised an independent judicial system, well-educated population, fair trade regulation and high ranking on the Transparency International Anti-Corruption list as other reasons for choosing Barbados. Kooyman is to sell hardware, building materials, home decoration and paint on approximately 165,000 square-foot store at Kendal. Construction is set to begin between April and May and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020. Up to 250 people are expected to build the store which will employ between 100 to 120 people. (BT)

ECONOMIST WARNS OF A FOREIGN EXCHANGE CRISIS – A well-known local economist is warning Barbadians that unless Government comes up with a growth strategy during this period of austerity, the country will be in for a “foreign exchange” crisis soon. According to Michael Howard, Professor Emeritus in Economics at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, “In the context of a serious foreign exchange constraint on growth, Barbados will continue to be a low growth economy and will experience future foreign exchange crises.” Howard did not go into detail about the nature of the foreign exchange crisis but his prediction flies in the face of Government’s best assurances that the Barbados dollar is safe. The retired economics professor is concerned by what he sees as a lack of Government strategy for structural transformation and economic growth. Howard told Barbados TODAY in a recent interview that it was simply impossible for growth to occur under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Barbados Economic Recovery Transformation (BERT) programme. “Sustainable growth is important for the future. However, it is almost impossible for Barbados to experience severe austerity under the present IMF/BERT programme and sustainable economic growth simultaneously, in the present recessionary context. Even though Jamaica has done well under recent IMF programmes, and had a private sector-supported growth strategy, Jamaica’s average growth rate has been a low 0.9 per cent for many years,” he explained. He added, “The fundamental problem of restructuring the Barbadian economy is that we lack internationally competitive export growth engines other than tourism, which can earn foreign exchange.” As if this was not ominous enough, the economist told Barbadians to brace for more belt-tightening when Prime Minister Mia Mottley delivers her first budget next week. He predicted that Barbadians could expect some new taxes, pointing out that despite being asked on several occasions, Government is yet to show a credible alternative to taxation that would bring the country in line with the ambitious goals of the IMF. “I believe that the Barbados Government will have to bring more austerity measures particularly in the form of taxation in 2019, on top of the mini-budget measures of 2018,” he said. The economist argued that with more layoffs certainly on the horizon, resulting in a further dampening of Government’s tax revenues, it was difficult to see Government meeting the IMF target of six per cent primary surplus of GDP. “Moving the public finances from a three per cent surplus to a six per cent surplus is a big task requiring further cuts in public expenditure and increases in revenue. (BT)

ON THE JOB – Minister of International Business and Industry Ronald Toppin says Barbados is working towards having its name removed from a European Union blacklist. Following yesterday’s blacklisting, Toppin said in a press release from his ministry today, that Barbados has already been deemed compliant by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the globally-recognized body for the setting and monitoring of international tax standards. Minister Toppin said Government was aware of the European Union’s (EU) actions and has been working on addressing the matter appropriately. “Barbados recently converged its domestic and international corporate tax rates to a range between 5.5 percent, to one per cent, and I am sure that the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister of Finance [Mia Amor Mottley] will have much to say on this matter next Wednesday, as will I during the Budgetary Debate,” the release stated. The Council of the European Union added ten governments to the five already on its blacklist of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. The revised list now includes countries such as Aruba, Barbados, Belize and the United Arab Emirates. According to the statement, the jurisdictions failed to implement commitments that they had made to the European Union by an agreed deadline. The council also said that it would continue to regularly review and update the list in the coming years to take into account evolving criteria and deadlines for jurisdictions to deliver on their commitments to improving their tax governance. (BT)

NEW LAW MAY HELP GOVT GO AFTER ‘MR BIG’ – A Government senator suggested today that law enforcement target the proverbial ‘Mister Big’ – the invisible hand driving serious crime – and move beyond “boys on the block” as its key target in the war on crime. And Senator Damien Sands, a lawyer, indicated that the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Crime Bill could help authorities go after crime’s higher echelons, as the legislation moved through the Upper House. The Senator suggested that the real criminal was the person calling the shots – the ones not in handcuffs and in court yards. He declared: “The landscape has changed the way in which criminals operate. We don’t have street level criminals living lavishly. When you read the newspapers there seems to be a common sentiment when they interview [people in] the village and communities. They would suggest the young boy that you’ll accuse doesn’t have the means or network to import a firearm. We don’t manufacture firearms here so somebody else is the source. “The person we see being arrested and convicted they do the leg work those are the ones we see law enforcement apprehending. We only see the end product we only see where the crimes are committed . . . . We don’t see where the crimes began. The reason for that is because there exist the link, the connect, the facilitator, this invisible hand, that controls the underworld while not directly involved in the underworld. It is extremely hard to link those types of persons to the offences we see being committed because they don’t leave finger prints cause they don’t touch anything. A phone call a direction and everything else falls into place that is the most that some of them may do.” Senator Sands said the only way to fight crime was to get more serious and modernised about crime-fighting, indicating his support for the bill which will empower the Government to reach back in time and seize the assets of crimes dating 20 years. He continued: “Yes, we are getting convictions. We are putting persons behind bars but we are not dealing with the problem. We are dealing with the result after the fact. In order to fight crime in a 21st Century Barbados a bill like this is needed. We need to approach it in a practical modern and fair way. Having acknowledged that the current criminal has become sophisticated, what this new legislation does is enhance the framework by expanding its scope, by creating tentacles that are far reaching.” (BT)

NEW CRIME PROCEEDS LAW ‘AN ACT OF SELF-GOVERNANCE’ – The passing of the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Crime Bill has been praised as an example of the Labour Party Government’s “self-governance”. In giving the new law her full support, Government Senator Lynette Holder said that while some people wondered why BLP lawmakers were introducing a bill that could seemingly “shoot themselves in the foot” she was proud to be a part of an institution willing to uphold principles. She said the bill was in the public’s best interest since it reinforced transparency. Senator Holder said: “The question must be asked: Why would an administration seek to regulate itself in such a stringent manner as this bill purports. I think it speaks to the philosophy of this administration. It speaks to the core values. It speaks to the covenant this administration, party as it was at the time, would have entered with the people of this country. I think it underscores who we are as an administration. This is self-governance. “I took comfort from the fact that the Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate agreed wholeheartedly with this bill. We all will agree in this chamber that this is good governance. I am satisfied that it goes to that philosophy we hold as an institution: one of transparency . . . accountability . . . that says we are going to be upfront with those whom we govern and we are going to always seek to act in their interest.” Calling it a “significant” law on the statue books, Senator Holder, the chief executive officer of the Small Business Association, said the fact that the law is retroactive speaks volumes about the present Government. The senator said: “This is a significant piece of legislation that binds this current administration as well. This legislation is retroactive 20 years. The leader of Government business reminded us which administration was in office 20 years ago. There was no gun to our heads that said we had to agree to that particular time horizon but we wanted to ensure we didn’t limit it to one decade.” “We will hold all those who are considered political exposed persons accountable. It says to me that all of us need to pay close attention going forward to how we do business. We need to ensure that we operate above board. When we come to public life we have an obligation to hold to certain moral and ethical behaviours. If we are not that way we need to become that way. I don’t believe you should have to legislate ethics.” (BT)

TOOTHPASTE AND SOAP LAND WOMAN IN PRISON – An 18-month suspended sentence imposed only last year by a magistrates’ court came back to haunt a 45-year-old woman today. The three-month sentence attached to that order was triggered today after Maria Magaly Medford, of Hinkson Gap, Black Rock, St Michael was convicted, reprimanded and discharged on the offence that she stole a box of toothpaste and a packet of Dettol soap belonging to No. 1 Beauty Supply on March 11. The accused was seen by a security guard removing the items from the shelve and concealing them in her handbag after she entered the store around 12:30 p.m. When she appeared before Magistrate Douglas Frederick, Medford, who had previously appeared in another court on a similar offence, apologised for the crime and asked for help. The magistrate ordered that she receive counseling at HMP as she served the three-month sentence. A restitution ordered was also granted for the items to be returned to the establishment. (BT)

ROSS BACKS BRADSHAW’S ANTI-FLOGGING STANCE – Children’s advocate Shelly Ross is throwing her full support behind Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw’s warning to teachers against flogging students without legal permission to do so. Ross sees the Minister’s warning as timely, since she has been receiving complaints from parents about children being beaten badly by teachers, and in some cases, for unnecessary reasons. Ross told Barbados TODAY this evening: “The Minister has very good grounds for the action she has taken and I support her 100 per cent. We have the situation where the special needs child was being beaten like that. I have a situation where a child at the age of five, when she first went to school, was beaten on her buttocks until she was black and blue and sore. The reason the teacher give for beating the child, is that while she was trying to write her name, she was erasing too much.” Bradshaw who made known her zero tolerance stance on corporal punishment while speaking in Parliament last week, advised parents to report such matters to the ministry and the police. Bradshaw said following a recent incident in which a primary school principal flogged an entire class because a new teacher was finding it difficult to handle the students, she received photos of the bruises on the children’s buttocks and backs. According to the Education Act, only principals are allowed to administer floggings. They may delegate that responsibility to the deputy principal or senior teachers. Ross said: “I honestly do not agree with anyone hitting anyone. I think corporal punishment should be banned across the board. I don’t like to see parents hitting children, or I don’t like teachers or anybody hitting children. “Hitting sends the wrong message. If in 2019 we do not understand yet the damage that corporal punishment does to a child, we are in serious trouble.”  Furthermore, the children’s advocate argued that flogging damages children’s self-esteem and encouraged them to hate school. She stressed the need for teachers to equip themselves with knowledge of better ways to deal with children’s behavioural issues. Ross added: “There is a lot of evidence that points us to the damages that corporal punishment causes, and there is just as much research that tells us of different ways that we can handle children behaviour. A lot of these children that are being beaten, some of them have mental health issues, some of them have stressors from home that they can’t deal with, and beating them is not going to help.”  Ross said she has also noted some teachers’ apparent negative response to Bradshaw’s comments, suggesting they might be upset at having to be spoken to. She continued: “It seems as those teachers have attitudes where everything must go their way, and they have this job, but they have the worst kids to deal with. That is very sad. We have to get away from that thinking. There are some excellent teachers out there.  (BT)

KIDNEY PATIENT CRIES OUT – As Barbados marks world kidney day today, the lack of sterile conditions in the Artificial Kidney Unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is a cause of concern for one patient, who has been on dialysis for more than five years. The absence of basic supplies, the way the machines are cleaned and even the water system, from which samples are being taken, are the reasons he cites. In a series of conversations over two months, the patient feared lives would be lost unnecessarily if conditions did not improve. The source indicated everyone being treated in the unit needed sterile equipment, but those with the permcath, which allowed access through the chest, needed to be treated with “kid gloves” when compared to those with the fistula. “There are no sterile gloves for the nurses to use. There is no surgical alcohol. There is no sterile gauze and there is no paper to wipe down the machines. You have to use the tissue that you dry with when you wash your hands to wipe down the machines,” he said.  (DN)

IN BIND OVER PLASTIC BAN – Retailers are trying to dump stock ahead of the April 1 deadline ban on single-use plastics, but one of them is saying six months is not enough time for some to make the switch. The ban will be on items such as plastic cups, plates, spoons, forks, knives and straws, and styrofoam containers (including egg trays). The retailer, who has slashed his prices, said they met with Government representatives last October, and the ban was a “rush job”. “I had stock before they indicated anything about banning these products. You know they were coming to ban, but Government hasn’t been saying anything. It was the Future Centre Trust that was mainly putting this out,” said the man, who declined to be named but has been in the business for 13 years. “Six months is too short. Even if they had given you a year to put your house in order, things would turn out for the better because the minute that this happened, business slowed down on this foam tray issue. This is the same stock I am trying to get rid of.” He has not looked at alternatives, adopting a wait-and-see attitude so market forces could determine which products would be accepted. He said people selling food were going to miss the Styrofoam. President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), Alister Alexander, said while he could understand the need to protect the environment, he was not sure “if they have thought through the implementation of these things and the implications”. (BT)

FAIR PLAY – Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow can expect better treatment in the homeland of Cricket West Indies president Dave Cameron, than they received from the cricket boards of Barbados, Guyana and the Windward Islands. The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) today distanced itself from the stance taken by the three territorial cricket boards and indicated it would host Cricket West Indies presidential hopeful Ricky Skerritt and running mate, Dr Kishore Shallow in a meeting there tomorrow. Skerritt and Shallow will outline their vision for cricket development to the JCA, in an effort to gain the board’s two votes at the CWI elections in Jamaica on March 24. The duo was previously snubbed by the Barbados Cricket Association, Guyana Cricket Board and the Windward Islands Cricket Association – all of whom have already signalled their support for the incumbent Dave Cameron and vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan. But JCA vice-president, Dr Donovan Bennett, said it was only “fair and proper” to hear from all parties involved in the elections, before making a decision on who to support.  (BT)

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