#and the country is home to several reputable universities

[lionheartlr]

Discover Bangladesh: A Comprehensive Travel Guide

A Brief History of Bangladesh Bangladesh, located in South Asia, has a rich history that dates back to ancient times. The region was known as Bengal and was a significant cultural and commercial hub. Over the centuries, it saw the rise and fall of several dynasties, including the Maurya, Gupta, and Pala empires. Colonial Period In the late 16th century, the region came under Mughal rule, which…

[reasonandempathy]

Walz has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019 after 12 years in the House of Representatives and now chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He has built a reputation as a folksy politician who can get things done, as Minnesota has adopted a number of progressive laws during his tenure. According to a poll conducted earlier this year, Walz enjoys an approval rating of 55% among Minnesotans. Since Minnesota Democrats achieved a legislative trifecta in the 2022 elections, Walz and his allies have used their power to push a slate of progressive policies. The governor has signed bills protecting abortion access, expanding background checks for prospective gun owners and legalizing recreational marijuana. “Right now, Minnesota is showing the country you don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Walz said last year. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.” That philosophy has endeared him to progressives, who threw their support behind him as the veepstakes kicked into high gear over the past two weeks. They reshared clips of Walz lovingly mocking his daughter’s vegetarianism and tinkering with his car to paint him as the dad that America needs right now.

This is fucking awesome! Honestly, sincerely good news and a very promising pick for the potential Harris Administration. An aggressive, unabashed, popular, populist left-winger with a track record of enacting real, substantive help for people is capital-G Great.

What has he done, specifically?

Abortion rights

In a 1995 ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld abortion rights in Minnesota. In January 2023, Walz signed the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options Act) into law, making abortion a "fundamental right," as well as access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.

The law made Minnesota the first state to codify abortion rights in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which nullified Roe. v. Wade after nearly 50 years of precedent. In April 2023, Walz signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act into law, shielding women and providers from any legal action originating from the patient's state.

Pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order to protect the right of residents to have access to gender-affirming health care. Weeks later, he signed the "Trans Refuge" bill, banning the enforcement of arrest warrants, extradition requests and out-of-state subpoenas for those who traveled to Minnesota for care.

"When someone else is given basic rights, others don't lose theirs," Walz said. "We aren't cutting a pie here. We're giving basic rights to every single Minnesotan."

Paid family, medical and sick leave

In May 2023, Walz signed a law creating a state-run program to provide paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers, by 2026.

Legalization of recreational marijuana

In May 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis use. Three months later, people 21 and older could start to possess certain amounts of marijuana at home and on their person, in addition to legally growing up to eight plants at a time.

Restoration of voting rights for former felons

In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that restored the right to vote to more than 50,000 convicted felons who had already served their time.

Universal school meals

Amid the increase in food insecurity for many Minnesotans during the pandemic, and the subsequent strain on the state's food shelves that remains to this day, Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that ensures all K-12 students in the state have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days.

Do you know what makes this even better?

Fuck 'Em. I know negative partisanship is important and can help motivate right-wingers to vote, but they're going to vote anyway. And him being afraid of Walz is just a sign that he's a good pick, in policy and politics.

[ianduncankinnie]

I often post about Palestine but I'd like to take a moment to talk about what's happening in Bangladesh.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON BANGLADESH

TL;DR Students killed for protesting the government's quota system. Students are being arrested and murdered for speaking up about their deceased friends. Everyone is being threatened by the government and many social media platforms are being banned.

All I'm asking is to spread the word. Please. International pressure really works for our nation. We're dying here. UNICEF reports 34 children dead. There might be more. All reblogs and likes and shares are appreciated. Thank you. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.

Past

A movement protesting the government's quota system put forth by the father of our nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This was placed in the first place to help the grandchildren of those who fought in the Liberation War of our country to get government jobs. We have a terrible job market here which is why many highly educated people leave the country. On 16th July, While protesting, a Student named Abu Sayed of Begum Rokeya University was killed by the police. This only stoked the feelings of injustice between the students.

During a press conference, the PM was asked about the quota for the grandchildren of veterans. Her response? "If we don't give jobs to the grandchildren of Veterans, will we give jobs to the grandchildren of Razakars?" Razakars are the people who collaborated with the Pakistani Forces to bring down the Bangladeshi freedom fighters. They betrayed the nation for their own gain.

Traitors.

Imagine calling the youth of your nation traitors.

Imagine calling almost 14 million young people who can't find a job despite their credentials betrayers.

Imagine cursing people who are protesting for job equality under a government with the all time highest corruption in the history of this nation.

On 17th July the broadband connection centre in Mohakhali was burned down. Mobile data services and communication were shut down by the PM. After 11 days the internet was properly restored.

On 19th July, A National Military Curfew was put in place by the Prime Minister to mitigate the unrest.

But that was last month. If you need details I highly recommend sources in Bangladesh like the Daily Star or reputable like Al Jazeera. The quota has since been lifted. Lives were lost. But it was for a good cause, right?

Right?

RIGHT?

Present

Well no. There's still a curfew in the capital. Several districts like Cumilla are still under attack. The government warns of not spreading misinformation yet still lie about the severity of the issue. The police are arresting those who protest as well as those who speak up. The students are demanding for the resignation of the PM. The PM obviously refuses to apologise or even acknowledge the deaths of some 147?

or is it 200?

They're not counting how many they're killing. They're not letting anyone else count either.

It is midnight here. This morning as in 4th August 2024, the students have called for a non cooperation movement. The Ruling Party Awami League will also be holding rallies across the nation tomorrow. I do not know what is going to happen to me. I do not want to think of what will happen to my family tomorrow. I don't really care. What I'm truly scared for is the future. As these protests do not end well here.

Future

Precedence says the PM will eventually resign. Every student protest of our nation has ended in momentary success.

Momentary

What comes after is usually a military regime. A caretaker government until a next government is chosen in a supposed election. Even then if they decide to hold an election. The caretaker government is usually run as a dictatorship. It was true for the 60s. It was true for the 90s. I don't doubt it will happen again.

I'm graduating next year. My niece is still new to the academic system. I wish her the best. My grandmas and grandpas are dead. Nobody left to pray for me. My aunts and uncles are growing old. My cousins can't speak up for fear. My mom is so tired. My dad is angry. I'm unsure if I will still be able to post the next couple of days.

All I'm asking is to spread the word. Please. International pressure really works for our nation. We're dying here. UNICEF reports 34 children dead. There might be more. All reblogs and likes and shares are appreciated. Thank you. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.

[sailor-aviator]

Foul is Fair: Prologue

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: North Island University has a reputation for being a stepping stone for the elite. Generations of families have walked the halls of the institution, going on to have successful careers upon graduation. Only in the last few decades has the school begun to allow omegas earn their degrees from these hallowed halls, and you consider yourself to be among the few lucky ones. You’re determined to prove that you’re more than your designation, but when the cocky alpha in your English class decides to put you in your place, will you fold? Or will you rise to the challenge? (College!Omegaverse!AU)

Content Warning: A/B/O dynamics, mentions of a taser. I think that's really it, but let me know if I missed something!

Word Count: 765

Series Masterlist

The hallway echoed with the dull chatter of your fellow students, fresh back from their time away during winter break. It had been nice to spend time with your family, a quiet holiday at home, snuggled under layers of blankets by the fire as you sipped tea and watched old Christmas movies.

You were happy to be back, though, despite the hecticness of the day. You thought you had a good understanding of where all the buildings on campus were, but had found it somewhat difficult to find the one where your Early Modern English literature class was being held. You huffed as you weaved your way through the crowd, weary of the alphas that towered over everyone, and you found yourself thankful for the fact that you had remembered to renew your subscription for suppressants before returning to campus.

North Island University was among the most elite schools in the country, nestled in the heart of New England. It was known for its vast array of notable alumni, promising bright futures to the country’s elites. Of course, back when it was first founded, elites solely meant the wealthy alphas whose families could afford to send them there and the odd beta who managed to wiggle their way in. An omega like yourself could only dream of attending such a place up until a few decades ago when the school made the decision to open its doors to all who were eligible.

It hadn’t been a popular decision at the time, of course. Many alumni asked how their children were expected to receive the best education money could buy when there were omegas roaming the campus and causing distractions. Omega rights activists had fired back that alphas should be expected to control themselves everywhere if they were expected to be functioning members of society one day. The outcry had died down soon after that.

Of course, people were still weary of sending their omega children to the school for fear of something happening. Your family had been no different, but you had managed to win a scholarship covering the full cost of attendance, and you would be a fool to not accept a spot that all but guaranteed you a career in your field.

“I’ll be okay,” you had assured your parents, an attempt at a comforting smile on your face as your mother gazed at you worriedly, her bottom lip between her teeth as she chewed on it nervously. Your father, a usually stoic alpha, had a crease between his brows as his only sign of worry.

“I’m sure you will be,” your mother had sighed, reaching to hold your hand in hers, “but we’ll still worry.”

And they still did all this time later. Your mother called you every chance she got, and your father asked you every chance he got to see if you still carried the taser he slipped into your duffel that first day on campus.

North Island’s campus was small enough that you recognized several people as you continued on down the hall. There was still some time before class, but you would feel better once you found the correct room before stopping to chat with anyone, though you did send the occasional wave and smile to former classmates whose eyes you caught.

You were comfortable here despite all the warnings and misgivings that had plagued you up until your first few weeks of classes your freshman year. Now, you were starting your second half of sophomore year, eager as ever to learn as much as you could and pick the minds of North Island’s brightest academics. Yes, you were born an omega, the bottom of the barrel in terms of designation and luck, but you were still determined to make something of yourself. You weren’t going to let your designation dictate the confines of your life.

Of course, you wanted to get married and have children someday, you couldn’t deny that, but you wanted more out of life than just all that. You wanted to see the world and figure out who you were before settling down. You wanted to establish a career and leave behind a legacy of your own.

You sighed in relief as you found the room you were looking for—all the way down a back hall and on the left. It was one of the newly renovated lecture halls, and you could already hear several people chatting away inside. You adjusted your backpack on your shoulder before taking a deep breath to calm your first-day jitters. Things were going to work out for you.

A/N: Just thought you'd all want to know that this fic almost got cancelled after @goldenseresinretriever said it felt like something she'd read in 2012, so everybody go attack Ruthie rn ig (kidding, we love Ruthie)

As always, reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated. If you would like to receive updates on when I post, please follow my sideblog (@sailoraviator-library) and turn on post notifications! You can also find my works on AO3 under the username sailor_aviator. Until next time!

[mariacallous]

On Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and several other officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, died in a helicopter crash. This incident occurred following an unprecedented round of escalation between Iran and Israel in April, sparking speculation on the potential implications for Iran’s regional policy and the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Despite the sudden vacuum that has emerged at the top of Iran’s executive branch, the strategic direction of its foreign and regional policies, primarily determined by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and influenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are expected to remain unaltered. However, the recent escalation between Iran and Israel is already impacting Iran’s strategic thinking and its regional calculations.

For Iran, Israel’s April 1 attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus that killed several IRGC members, including high-level commanders, crossed a line. From its vantage point, both the targets’ seniority and the facility’s character represented an unacceptable Israeli escalation.

As an immediate matter, Tehran believed that leaving unanswered an attack on what it considers equivalent to sovereign territory could lead Israel to target more Iranian officials on Iranian territory. But perhaps more importantly, Iranian officials likely perceived the Damascus attack as the latest way station toward a bigger objective: an Israeli incursion into Lebanon aimed at cutting off Hezbollah’s logistical support.

Israel’s killing of Brig. Gen. Razi Mousavi outside Damascus in December eliminated the Iranian chief of logistics in charge of supporting Iran’s nonstate allies in the Levant; a similar attack in January removed the IRGC’s intelligence chief in Syria; and taking out Gen. Mohammed Reza Zahedi on April 1 eliminated the chief of operations in that area.

Iran also needed to save face at home and among its regional allies. After the April strike in Damascus, some hard-liners started openly criticizing the leadership. Tehran thus felt it had to react with force, but needed to restore a degree of deterrence without triggering a war.

It squared the circle by conducting a highly telegraphed but massive drone and missile strike on Israel in the early hours of April 14. The priority was not death and destruction—though the scale of the attack risked both—but demonstrating that it dared to strike Israeli territory directly. Tehran likely chose which parts of its capabilities to expose while at the same time gathering significant intelligence on Israeli and U.S. defensive capabilities.

The commander of the IRGC’s aerospace force suggested that Iran deployed less than 20 percent of the capacities that it had prepared for the operation, whereas Israel, helped by the United States and other allies, had to mobilize its full defensive arsenal. If these claims are even remotely accurate, it raises questions over whether the successful defense could be replicated were Iran to mount an even more significant barrage using more advanced weapons, especially one that comes as a surprise and continues over an extended period of time.

While Israel and its partners largely succeeded in neutralizing the attack, Tehran boosted its standing among its supporters, and perhaps its reputation as an avowed defender of Palestinian rights on the Arab street as well. It achieved all this without distracting international attention from the horrors of the war in Gaza—a fact further highlighted by the pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States and some European countries.

From this perspective, the attack’s success came not from its limited military achievement but from the very fact that it directly targeted a powerful adversary backed by an even more powerful superpower. As Khamenei has contended, the key signal that Iran sent to Israel was Tehran’s high tolerance for risk, which aims to deter Israel from future operations aimed at decapitating the Iranian military and cutting off its hand in the Levant.

Yet the red line set by the IRGC’s chief commander immediately following the strike—that any attack anywhere on any Iranian target would be cause for another direct Iranian attack on Israel—was quickly shown to be an empty threat in light of Israel’s subsequent strike in Isfahan on April 19 local time, carried out with an air-to-surface missile strike from Iraqi airspace on an S-300 missile defense system’s radar, near sensitive nuclear facilities in Natanz.

A return to a status quo ante shadow war is probably an acceptable outcome for Iran. From Tehran’s perspective, it would at best find a way to limit the scope of Israel’s mabam (“war within the wars”) campaign of targeting Iranian arms shipments and facilities in Syria. At a minimum, Iran hopes to put an end to Israel’s targeting of senior Iranian commanders and its humiliating covert operations on Iranian soil. It is too early to determine if Iran can achieve any of these objectives.

A key question now is how the bilateral rivalry fits into the wider regional picture. While Israel and the United States could boast that they activated an ad hoc regional cooperation with Arab states to intercept the salvo of projectiles, the Arab states involved were keen not to be named or seen as taking sides. Contrary to the Israeli attempt to frame Arab states’ actions as signaling the emergence of an anti-Iran regional alliance that would benefit it, Arab leaders instead saw proof of what they have long feared might happen: that tensions between Israel and Iran could put them in the crossfire.

Iranian leaders seem convinced that their retaliation, which did not even include the tip of their regional spear, Hezbollah, successfully mitigated the possibility of further escalation—for now. That defending Israel against an Iranian strike cost upward of $1 billion and required a major team effort involving at least five countries versus a $200 million price tag for Iran implies that neither Israel nor the U.S. seeks additional rounds of fighting. Iran thus has a window to focus on the lessons learned, just as Israel and the U.S. military are likely doing the same.

Despite the Iranian assertion of having pulled its punches, U.S. officials assess that the goal “clearly was to cause significant damage and deaths”—in which case those punches failed to land. This appears to be the result of both offensive vulnerabilities and defensive strengths, as Iranian drones traveling long distances were detected in near-real time, many of the projectiles were intercepted before even reaching Israeli territory, and a significant percentage—perhaps as many as half—of the ballistic missiles reportedly failed of their own accord.

To correct for these failings, Iran may seek to bolster the development and stockpiling of arms closer to Israel, necessitating a deepened presence in Syria, as well as to redouble the development of more advanced missiles—including hypersonic missiles—as part of any future strike package.

Israel’s retaliation was a reminder to Iranian leaders that Israel has the capability to do significant harm to Iran’s nuclear facilities. It also exposed Tehran’s principal shortcomings—its lack of more capable air defense systems like the S-400, as well as Israel’s essentially unchallenged ability to penetrate neighboring airspaces. To address the former, Tehran is likely to redouble efforts to obtain advanced Russian weaponry in exchange for ballistic missiles, even if doing so would further damage Iran’s relations with Europe.

Addressing the latter shortcoming could also cause it to look for help from Russia, especially in Syria; but in Iraq, the U.S. military stands in the way, which is likely to further motivate Iran to try to evict the nearly 2,500 U.S. forces from Iraq by encouraging its allied militias to continue targeting U.S. bases and ramping up political pressure on the Iraqi government.

Tehran is also likely to intensify efforts aimed at loosening the already precarious hold of the U.S.-allied, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on territory east of the Euphrates River in Syria. This could give Iran more land access points to Syria (and to Lebanon beyond), while strengthening its influence on the river’s western bank in Deir ez-Zor province. Finally, Tehran will also likely focus on addressing repeated intelligence failures that have exposed its senior commanders abroad and rendered it vulnerable at home.

Iran’s leadership believes that the capabilities it has demonstrated since October—the asymmetric warfare capacity of its regional partners as well as the enduring image of Iranian warheads soaring over Israeli skies—could, together with the Gaza conflict’s fallout, portend a regional reordering.

In Tehran’s eyes, Israel will become increasingly ostracized globally; the United States will no longer be the region’s most pivotal player as other powers like Russia, China, and India extend their influence; and the Gulf Arab states will steer clear of banding together against Iran, instead seeking to improve their relations with Iranian allies such as Syria and Hezbollah.

The Iranian leadership complement this vision with a desire to consolidate Iran’s status as a threshold nuclear weapons state that could in short order develop a nuclear warhead, which would complicate any future deal aimed at significantly rolling back Iran’s nuclear capabilities, especially given Tehran’s cynicism about the West’s ability to deliver effective and sustainable sanctions relief.

Yet Iranian leaders may find that enduring realities will undermine their bullish narrative and bring both short- and medium-term risks. Given that Iran and Israel have yet to fully define and test any new rules of the game, both may miscalculate, especially because those in Tehran who believe that Iran should abandon its vaunted strategic patience and replace it with a more aggressive posture appear to be ascendant. These hard-liners believe that Israel will soon test Iran’s willingness to stand firm on its red lines, and that if Tehran fails to do so, the returns from the massive risk it took on April 14 will be lost.

That increases the risk of miscalculation on both sides and could lead to an escalatory cycle that could be devastating. In the medium term, what Iran sees as the beginning of an emerging new order to replace a vanishing Pax Americana in the Middle East could instead push Gulf Arab states to double down on their request for stronger U.S. security assurances, and this in turn is bound to deepen Tehran’s perception of the threats it faces.

[beardeddetectivepaper]

$39,171/$62,500

My name is Layaly and I would like to raise money on behalf of Naya and her daughter Zeina and their family.

Please read the story:

Today, I reach out to you with a heart filled with hope, and I carry with me a dream that transcends the boundaries of wars.

I'm Zeina Ahmad, a young soul at the age of sixteen, raised in a happy home with my sister Salma and brother Youssef.

Since childhood everyone tells me that I've always outperformed my classmates, so since I was 6 years old, I received training in literary writing, poetry recitation, performing arts, science, and technology in quest of my passion.I enjoyed all fields, regardless of their differences, but I immersed myself in the world of programming and designing, finding there my spirit and passion.

Despite the challenges and difficult circumstances and my young age, I managed to build a good reputation in my community as a talented and self-taught programmer. As a result, I was approved as a member of the university students' technology club while I still being in high school.

I competed in various local and international mathematics, coding, and problem-solving challenges, where I placed highly, also I have participated in various local exhibitions, particularly with my AI projects, through which I tried improving my surroundings. I also participate in many volunteer activities.

My passion is coding, and my love is media and photography. Therefore, I worked as the youngest journalist and covered several events in Gaza, also I have a technology program that I prepare and present in cooperation with a local TV channel, which discusses the branches of technology and its impact on our lives.

I aspire to study data science and AI, learn more about cloud computing, and I hope to represent my country in international exhibitions and contests in coding.

I have many hobbies, such as reading, swimming, horse riding, skating, and cycling.

I've lately begun working on self-training in problem solving. However, the recent war has devastated everything, our schools, our beautiful home, where I spent every moment, the university where I aspired to study, and all the training institutes that had helped me develop myself.

Your support will be the lifeline that enables me to continue my journey and achieve my aspirations in the world of coding. Let me explain to you why the cost is so high. You need to pay some money to put your name on the list of passengers through the Rafah land crossing, which is our only hope of rebuilding our lives. The cost to be listed is approximately $5,000 per person, and I have 7 family members besides myself that need our names included. We are trying to raise $62,500 that will help us cover the entire cost of travel and get us out of this war zone as quickly as possible. The financing will be allocated for the expenses related to leaving Gaza, for myself and my family: Permits and transit fees are $40,000 Travel expenses from Gaza to Egypt are $5,000 Rent and other supplies so we can get work and manage our affairs in Egypt. $10,000 Immediate assistance to the family in Gaza: $5,000 GofundMe fees:2500$ The people I'm trying to evacuate are: The parents: Ahmed 42 - Naya 42 Daughter Zeina 16 Daughter Salma 12 Son Youssef 8 Naya's mother Amera 70 Naya's sister Randa 35 Naya's brother Jamal 33 Social media accounts: @naya.karam5 on Instagram. @zeeina.ahmad on Instagram. @zeina.ahmadd on TikTok. I thank you for your concern and support during these difficult moments for me and my people. With all my love.

[beardedmrbean]

Gangland shootings and bombings that have plagued Sweden's biggest cities have spread to quieter suburbs and towns, shattering its reputation as a safe and peaceful nation.

Half an hour north of central Stockholm, Upplands-Bro features lakeside boat clubs, copper-red wooden villas and apartments flanked by pine and spruce trees.

But a 14-year-old boy was found dead in a forest here in August, and since January there have been several shootings and bombings targeting houses and apartments.

"It's awful. We've [been] woken up by explosions in the neighbourhood and it's scary," says 42-year-old Anna Petterson, who lives in Bro and has three children. "It's very much something that we're aware of, and we talk about a lot, and are afraid of."

Sweden has been a European hotspot for gang-related shootings and bombings for several years. But recently the violence has shifted beyond low-income, vulnerable urban areas and police say one reason is that gang members are increasingly targeting rivals' relatives.

Detectives suspect some of the latest violence has been organised by criminal leaders based in other countries, including Turkey and Serbia.

More than 50 people have been killed in shootings so far in 2023, and there have been more than 140 explosions. Last year, more than 60 people died in gun violence, the highest number on record.

"What started out as gun violence between young gangs looking to defend their territory has turned into a vicious circle of firearms trafficking and gun violence," explains Nils Duquet, a firearms researcher based at the Flemish Peace Institute in Brussels.

"Gangs have also matured and are no longer just the street criminals, but are often connected to higher-level criminals as well."

Innocent bystanders are also among the dead.

In September, a 70-year-old man and another man aged 20 were killed in a pub shooting in Sandviken in central Sweden, and a newly graduated teacher, 24, died in an explosion just outside the university city of Uppsala.

Soon afterwards Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson gave a rare national address admitting that "no other country in Europe" was experiencing this sort of situation, and promising tougher penalties for deadly violence.

Evin Cetin, an author and lawyer who has represented teenage shooting victims and suspects, says boys as young as 13 or 14 are being recruited by gangs, often through social media promises of money and designer clothes.

"Children are using their own bags not to carry books, but they carry the drug markets in Sweden on their own shoulders," she tells the BBC on a visit to Upplands-Bro, part of a nationwide schools tour to more than a dozen areas affected by gang crime.

Others are trying to tackle the problem by organising street patrols in areas affected by drugs and violence.

"That we're out and go around chatting with our kids and young people - it increases safety," says Libaane Warsame, during a night walk in Jarva, northern Stockholm, on a wet, windy Friday night.

Jarva looks like a lot of Swedish suburbs, with well-maintained apartment blocks, a few shops, and a nearby forest. The main difference is that it is more multicultural than many neighbourhoods, and it has Stockholm's highest unemployment rate.

Mr Warsame began patrolling the streets after his 19-year-old son - who police say was not in a gang - was killed in a shooting in December 2020.

"It's hard for [young people] to sit at home for hours without any income, any work. So they go out and stand around and there's a big risk that they will be recruited."

He also runs an organisation that supports families who have lost loved ones in deadly violence.

This year there have not been any fatal shootings in Jarva, but many locals say they remain on edge.

"I haven't been outside so late… because I don't want to make my mum worried," says Gizem Kuzucu, 17.

She often spends her evenings studying at Framtidens Hus, a youth centre, and says none of her friends have been in trouble with the law. But she has been exposed to crime on social media.

"I've seen a lot of videos on TikTok [in which] people are, like, talking about crime. They are like saying 'follow me on Instagram, I'm gonna post like a rapper that got killed'."

Another teenager at the youth centre, Libaan, says he grew up around older criminals and "did commit a few crimes" when he was younger.

"Kids here, they are really, really mean to each other…they don't know how to speak about their emotions, so what they do instead is that they lash out," says the 18-year-old.

Swedish police do not currently map gang members' nationalities, but research for the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention in 2021 showed young people born in Sweden to two parents from abroad were overrepresented as suspects in murder cases and robberies.

The right-wing coalition government, elected in September 2022, believes the rise in gang violence in recent years is directly connected to Sweden's earlier immigration policies. Until 2016, it had one of the most generous asylum laws in Europe.

"We can now see that 'outsideship' and lack of integration, in combination with trade of narcotics and organised crime is creating this very, very toxic mixture," Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told the BBC in September.

The government wants to make it harder for immigrants from outside the European Union to get social benefits, and to make preschool compulsory for children with two foreign parents in some areas, in order to improve Swedish-language skills.

Earlier this year, it became an offence to recruit children to participate in criminal activities. Stop-and-search zones are set to be introduced in early 2024 and ministers want to double prison sentences for offences including gun crimes and explosions.

The BBC was not granted a government interview to discuss these plans, despite multiple requests.

At the state-funded Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, researcher Klara Hradilova-Selin believes tackling gang crime "should have been a more important issue earlier" for previous coalitions on both the right and left of the political spectrum.

"There are colleagues of mine who were actually warning like decades ago [about] this kind of development of growing marginalisation in the deprived areas."

Worries about how gang conflicts are impacting the country's international image are also growing. "Sweden has always been viewed as an extremely safe country. Maybe one of the top safe countries in the world. And this image is falling apart," says Hradilova-Selin.

According to a recent survey for the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, eight out of 10 Swedish companies questioned believe it will get harder to attract foreign talent, investment and visitors due to the ongoing violence.

At Framtidens Hus youth centre, teenagers are being offered the chance to drive, dance and make podcasts. Former criminal Libaan says he would like a job that involves writing, or helping others, but he believes his future is also dependent on how he is treated by other Swedes.

"I don't feel included in the culture even though I'm born here. They kind of see me as this ghetto kid who has no future."

[danicruel]

Where the grass grows tall (18+)

Jess McCready x Lupe García fic

Alternate Universe - Cowboys Falling in Love

Summary: Lupe Garcia arrives at the McCready farm to do a job - shoe the horses ahead of the Moose Jaw rodeo and maybe stick around as a farm hand if she's lucky. But when she meets the farmer's daughter, Jess, she quickly realizes she's not only in it for the money.

(Or: Lupe Garcia falls in love with the dirty, feral farm boy Jess McCready.)

(Photo Credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Lupe arrives to the McCready farm in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan sweaty as all hell.

The leather upholstered steering wheel of her growling 1995 Ford F-150 is hot under her calloused hands, and both her thin cotton t-shirt and undershirt are clinging to her back. Her dark, chin-length curls are tousled around her face from the earlier highway winds, and she’s trying to get some air flow behind her by sitting forward in the driver’s seat.

“Fuck me,” she mutters under her breath.

It’s mid July, and the truck’s air conditioning has decided to die on the hottest week of summer so far. She’s driven from her little rental apartment in a town called Drinkwater, 30 kilometers southeast of the city, with both of the two-door’s windows cranked all the way down to no relief.

She’s also stressed, so that may be contributing to the sweat dripping from her hairline.

And Lupe knows she shouldn’t complain about today’s high of 29°C, but she hasn’t spent a summer in her home state of Texas for years now. Instead, she’s spent the past few years roaming the Canadian prairies, working as a travelling farrier in the springs and summers for rodeo season and then as a farm hand in the falls and winters when there wasn’t as much shoeing work. She’s built something of a reputation for herself across the prairie provinces, and that’s how Mr. McCready heard of her. Based off the phone call she had with him last week, it sounds like he wants Lupe to work both roles for him.

Today’s her first day, and with McCready being such a well-known name in the rodeo scene, Lupe is determined to prove herself. She could use some steady work and a place to settle for a while. Being on the road has started to wear on her.

She turns down the volume of her ‘50’s Country Hits’ CD as she rolls up the long, gravel driveway, passing several sprawling pastures on her way. When she reaches a fork in the driveway, she slows the truck to a crawl to take in her surroundings.

To the right, there’s a pale-yellow farmhouse with tall double-hung windows and a big, wrap-around porch to the right. A wall of sunflowers sway against the side of the house, and the fenced off garden at the front is teeming with growing produce. Upon closer inspection, Lupe notices there’s a younger man sitting on the porch stairs, hunched over, smoking a cigarette.

From under the brim of his cowboy hat, he gives her a nod.

“You the farrier my dad’s expecting?” he calls out.

“I am – Lupe García,” she hollers back.

“Nice to meet ya, García! I’m Matt. Dad’s in the horse barn,” he points across the driveway.

She raises two fingers on her steering wheel at him. “Thanks, Matt!”

The barn looks straight out of a picture book, complete with red wood, white framing, and two big sliding doors at the front of it. The doors are open, but the inside is too shadowed to see anything from the driveway. Further in the distance, on the far side of the barn, there’s a fenced-off outdoor arena, outfitted with a holding pen and chute.

Another smaller barn off to the left looks to be where the cattle are housed.

Straight out of the early 1900s, Lupe thinks. It's charming.

She parks her truck twenty feet back from the barn’s doors, leaning to grab her ball cap from the passenger seat before she hops out. Outside, the air is sweet with the smell of alfalfa and grass, and the gravel crunches under her chunky, lace-up leather boots. It feels cooler now that she’s not baking in her oven of a truck, and she pulls her shirt away from her skin with a sigh. Stretching her arms over her head briefly, she shakes out her hair before pulling her ball cap snug onto her head.

“García, is it?” a voice calls from inside the barn.

“Hey there!” she calls back, striding toward it.

She’s got her favourite pair of Wrangler jeans on, held up with a black leather belt and her chunky 1994 roping champion belt buckle. In her plain white t-shirt, she suddenly feels underdressed when she spots who must be Mr. McCready dressed in starched jeans and an ironed long sleeve button-up. He’s leaned up against the outside of one of the horse stalls, looking straight out of an 80s Wrangler advertisement with his crisply shaped straw cowboy hat.

He’s also wearing a wide, toothy grin on his face.

“Mr. McCready, I assume?” Lupe approaches him with her right hand out. “Lupe García.”

“Please, call me, Tom,” he says, grabbing her hand for a firm handshake.

Tom McCready is a tall man, at least 6’3 in his boots and hat. He’s lean and a little weathered looking, like most of the older generation farmers are, and there’s a warm friendliness to his tanned face as he regards her.

“Welcome to the McCready farm, Lupe,” he says, gesturing around him.

The barn is even bigger looking on the inside.

There are five stalls and one tack room on both sides of the red brick alley way, and the rich smell of leather lingers in the air. Directly over their heads is what looks to be a loft, accessible by a wooden staircase over to the right, and at the opposite end of the barn is two more sliding doors to match the ones Lupe just walked through. They’re open as well, and from here, she can see somebody riding a horse in the outdoor arena.

“It’s a beautiful place you have, sir,” Lupe says.

“Thank you. It’s been in the family for generations,” he sighs. “Why don’t I show you around?”

“Yeah, please.”

They head further into the barn, passing many empty stalls on their way.

Both tack room doors are open, and from the brief glance Lupe gets as they walk past, they look stocked. She counts eight western saddles, at least a dozen colourful saddle pads sitting on a rack, and upwards of twenty bridles hanging on the walls.

And that’s only what’s visible.

“Most of the horses are turned out today,” Tom says. “You would have driven past the big field they’re grazing in on your way here – you can see it from the highway. The broncs are in another field further out.”

Lupe makes a noise of acknowledgement, wondering to herself how many horses are on the property total, if 10 are just the ones that stay in the stable.

“A few of the horses belong to folks boarding or training with us, but most of ‘em are ours,” he explains. “All of my kids are still so dedicated to it … I suppose they don’t know anything different. They were born and raised in the industry, but it still makes an old man proud.”

“How many you have?” Lupe asks.

“Six – five sons, one daughter. In that order, too.” he says, smiling fondly. “The oldest is 33, married with babies of his own, and the youngest is 25, still living and working here with me.”

Tom McCready is guiding them in the direction of the outdoor arena, and Lupe’s watching the horse and rider circle around the pen at a jog. It’s a long-legged sorrel paint horse, muscled and built out. She’s pretty sure she can make out long blonde hair on the rider, bouncing to the rhythm of the horse’s stride.

“You got a family, Lupe?”

Lupe nods, immediately thinking of her own younger siblings, who she left behind in Texas five years ago when she had been 22. They’ve been able to stay in touch through email, but she’s made a point of being inaccessible to her parents, on the odd chance they did want to reach out.

“They’re in Texas, actually. I moved up here a few years ago and haven’t really looked back. Something about the prairies agrees with me, I guess. But it’s just me here, sir.”

Tom nods thoughtfully.

Now that Lupe isn’t stuck in her stuffy truck, the sun feels pleasant on her bare arms and the back of her neck. The light breeze and shade from the cover of maple trees – in combination with Tom McCready’s warm, pleasant nature – has put her at ease, and she can feel her heart slowing to its regular pace.

As they get closer, Lupe can see that it’s a woman on the horse, wearing dark-wash blue jeans and a white ribbed undershirt identical to the one she has on underneath her own t-shirt. She’s got on a pair of yellow leather work gloves, and Lupe thinks they look almost comically large at the end of her long, lean arms. But then her eyes travel up those arms, and she finds her gaze hesitating at the swell of well-used biceps and triceps, and then further up to tanned, broad shoulders. Lupe also observes the soft way she uses her hands to steer the horse, and how she sits deep enough in the saddle that really only her hair jostles to the rhythm of the horse’s trot.

���Jess, come say hi!” Tom calls out.

The rider – Jess – glances back over her shoulder then, before turning her horse to face them with a small adjustment of her wrist. She’s holding the reins in her left hand, and she brings her right hand up to shade her face and squint across to where they’re standing.

Lupe adjusts her hat on her head.

Jess trots toward them on the prettiest paint horse Lupe’s ever seen. Soft in the eyes, ears pricked forward with curiosity, their coat is a rich, dark red colour with white patches that look like they’ve just been scrubbed clean. Jess rides with a loose rein, and their heads hangs softly.

Then the details of Jess become clearer, and Lupe finds herself blushing.

Jess has a strikingly angular face, with a wicked sharp jawline and high cheekbones that appear to be in the early stages of a sunburn. The bridge of her nose is narrow, and she’s squinting in the afternoon sun, so that her thin, light eyebrows cast a shadow on her eyes below. From this distance, Lupe thinks they’re probably blue or green based off their lightness.

Then Lupe makes the mistake of looking down at Jess’s mouth – deep pink with pouty lips that are pulled up into a smirk – and her stomach drops between her knees.

Standing there with one boot raised up on the bottom slat of the fence, Lupe suddenly realizes it’s been a long time since she’s felt this kind of electric tension in the air – the kind that prickles along her neck and threatens to produce a shiver. Perhaps, she’s just been so focused on securing work and making ends meet that she’s regressed to some teenage-boy level of touch starvation, she thinks.

But despite her roiling feelings, she forces an easy smile on her face when Jess stops at the fence.

“Jess, this is Lupe García – our new farrier and, potentially, farm hand if she feels like sticking around for a while,” Mr. McCready says, turning to Lupe with a wink.

Lupe chuckles, like she’s not at all flustered by the way it feels to have Jess’s eyes – definitely blue – flit over her, up and down. They jump back up to her face, and the two share what feels like too intense of eye contact for a first meeting. Jess’s lips part, like she’s about to say something, and Lupe’s eyes flick down to them just in time to watch her lick them.

“And Lupe, this is my daughter Jess.”

Daughter.

Oh, fuck.

Note: Hiiiii, thank you so much for reading! This fic is on AO3, and I will hopefully be updating regularly, so please subscribe to get updates on it if that’s your thing. I will try to update it on tumblr, but I likely won’t be posting full chapters again. Love youuu, byeeee 💗💗💗

Link to AO3

[dd20century]

The New Formalist: Edward Durell Stone

This is the second part of a two-part post. Read part one.

Stone’s Academic Career

During the late 1940s into the early 1950s Stone was an “associate professor of architecture at the Yale University School of Architecture” (2). His reputation allowed him to connect with other prominent architects in academia such as Walter Gropius at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and Pietro Belluschi, dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. He also guest lectured on architecture at Cornell, Princeton, and Stanford. (2)

A New Woman Brings a New Influence to Edward Durell Stone’s Life

Edward Durell Stone and his first wife, Sarah, divorced in 1952. After his divorce, while on a transatlantic flight, Stone found himself seated next to “Maria Elena Torchio, a fashion writer… and proposed to her before the plane landed” (1). The couple were married in 1954 and “would have two children, Benjamin Hicks Stone III and Maria Francesca Stone” (2).

Stone’s Pivotal Commission in India

In 1954 Stone’s firm was commissioned by the United States government to design a new embassy in New Delhi, India.  Stone strived to create a “modern structure that would respect the architectural traditions of its host country” (2). The embassy would define a major shift in Stone’s style which would become known as “New Formalism.” The most prominent feature of the clean, elegant building is its decorative concrete grille. Stone’s hero Frank Lloyd Wright who rarely praised the work of other architects, publicly lauded it (2,4).

Edward Durell Stone, United States Embassy (1954), New Delhi, India. Image source.

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger called it “one of the best‐known pieces of American architecture of the decade” (1). The success of the United States Embassy in New Dehli established Stone’s place as a major American Twentieth Century architect. It also led to important commissions such as the “John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, … the General Motors Building in New York, and the State University of New York campus at Albany” (1). “Business Week called him ‘the man with a billion on the drawing board’ ”(3).

“These designs fused the formalism of Stone's early Beaux-Arts training with a romantic historicism, … influenced, in part, by Maria Stone's Italian origins” (2). The couple took several trips to Italy during this time which “reawakened his interest in the classical and Italianate” (2) architecture. While Stone did not intend that his work copy classical architecture he hoped that his work would embody its timelessness. (2)

Edward Durell Stone, Koff Apartments (1965), Deerfield Beach, FL. Image source.

Stone becomes a Celebrity Architect

Edward Durell Stone’s work garnered him publicity both at home and internationally. In 1958 Time did a cover story on the architect. He appeared on many television programs, including Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now.” Stone published his autobiography, The Evolution of an Architect in 1962. (5)

Edward Durell Stone,  Carlo M. Paterno House, aka The Atrium House (1962), demolished around 2010. Image source.

Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art

Stone’s later work “became more romantic and more highly embellished” (1), such as the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art built on Columbus Circle in New York City in 1964.

Paul Goldberger described the building as “an eccentric marble box on delicate legs with arches at top and bottom and characteristic Stone grill work tracery up and down the sides.” The structure's delicate legs caused many New Yorkers to refer to it as “The Lollipop Building.” In the mid-2000s the structure would become embroiled in a controversy over preservation.

“New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to consider its eligibility for landmark status” (2). Little of Stone’s original design remains after its renovation designed by architect Brad Cloepfil. (7)

Edward Durell Stone, Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art - Two Columbus Circle (1964). Image source.

Edward Durell Stone’s Later Work

Stone’s firm continued to “garner major architectural commissions”, and his later work includes, “the Standard Oil building in Chicago, Illinois (completed 1973); the First Bank Tower in Toronto, Ontario (completed 1975); and the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee (completed 1978)” (2). His last residential work was the Sheldon Cohen House (1976) in Greenwich, CT. (3) Although successful, these later works earned more scorn than praise from the critics.

Edward Durell Stone, First Bank Tower (1975), Toronto, Canada. Photo credit: Arild Vagen. Image source.

In 1966 Stone and his muse, Maria Elena Torch, divorced. He remarried in 1972, this time to his executive assistant, Violet Campbell La Stella. The couple had a daughter, Fiona Campbell Stone…. Declining health forced Stone to retire from active practice in 1974.” (2) His firm Edward Durell Stone & Associates, however, remained in business until 1993.

Stone’s Tributes and Legacy

During his career Stone had several honorary degrees bestowed on him including one from the University of Arkansas in 1951. (4). Stone received numerous awards for his work including the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1955. He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1958 (2). He won the Horatio Alger Award in 1971. (4) The Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas holds “an extensive collection of project and personal photographs in addition to a collection of architectural drawings and papers” (2).

Edward Durrell Stone died after a brief illness in New York City on August 6, 1978. (1) His career spanned five decades and encompassed Art Deco, the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, Modernism, and his own unique decorative style of architecture, reacting against the cold International Style. As Paul Goldberger wrote, “Mr. Stone sought not to go beyond the International Style but to turn the clock back to a personal kind of modern architecture.”

References

Goldberger, P., (7 August, 1978). Edward Durell Stone Dead at 76; Designed Major Works Worldwide. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/08/07/archives/edward-durell-stone-dead-at-76-designed-major-works-worldwide-a.html

R. L. Skolmen and H. Stone, (n.d.). Edward Durell Stone: Life. https://www.edwarddurellstone.org/

Smart, G., (2024). Edward Durell Stone, FAIA (1902-1978). https://usmodernist.org/stone.htm

Wikipedia.com, (7 February, 2014). Edward Durell Stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Durell_Stone

Edward Durell Stone, The Evolution of an Architect, (New York: Horizon Press, 1962), 92.

Britannica.com, (n.d). Edward Durell Stone, American architect. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Durell-Stone#ref81069

Goldberger, P. (18 August, 2008). Hello, Columbus. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/08/25/hello-columbus

[unilifeabroadcareersolution]

Benefits of Paid Education in PORTUGAL

Unilife abroad career solutions

The climate is of one of the best in Europe

Perched on the western edge of Europe, Lisbon is the continent’s sunniest capital city and has an average temperature of around 20°C (that’s 68°F). The city boasts an average of more than 200 days of sunshine per year, so you’ll notice immediately how nice the weather is.

Generally speaking, Portugal is hot in the summer and has moderate temperatures in the winter. So if you're looking for some winter sunshine, Portugal is a fantastic option!

Portugal features reputable universities with beautiful campuses

With gorgeous and historic campuses, several universities in Portugal are strategically located close to the city's center yet still feature plenty of open and green areas. All over the country, you will find universities with a reputation around the world. The QS World University Rankings 2021 placed seven Portuguese universities in the list of top universities in the world.

As a Bologna Process participant, Portugal upholds the level of higher education in Europe. All higher education degrees, including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, are available in Portugal. Your career will certainly advance thanks to a degree from a university in Portugal or a study abroad semester at one of the many programs there.

 Security is a priority

As it should be. The Portuguese take security very seriously. In fact, according to a global peace index, Portugal is the sixth most peaceful nation in the world.

Despite the low crime statistics, pickpocketing, bag snatching, auto break-ins, and thefts from vacation homes and cars are frequent in popular tourist destinations and may include violence. As in any country, it's better to remain on guard, keep an eye on your possessions, and watch out for thieves who may be utilizing deception to their advantage. However, generally speaking, Portugal and its inhabitants firmly believe in mutual respect for one another.

The quality and price of education can’t be beat

You’ll want this country on your list if you’re searching for cheap places to study abroad. You’ll find world-class, affordable education in Portugal, which is also noteworthy in terms of global rankings. For example, the University of Lisbon offers a variety of programs and locations for every students’ needs.

The cost of tuition and fees is relatively affordable, particularly for degrees that are taught in English. Many colleges also encourage room sharing, so you can further reduce the cost of your study abroad program in Portugal.

You can study in English

Although learning Portuguese is a great reason to study abroad in Portugal, learning any language is that much more challenging when all classes are taught in the target language. If you’re asking yourself, “Can I study in English in Portugal?” before you hit send on your study abroad application, we have good news for you.

Programs in Portugal are increasingly being taught in English, especially at the master's level, thus Portuguese is not required. Fortunately, the majority of universities offer options for students to study in English in Portugal

Exchange students can study and work

Part-time employment is permitted for international students while they are studying in Portugal. During their semester, they are permitted to work up to 40 hours. Additionally, they may have the chance to work longer hours throughout the summer and during breaks.

You must obtain permission from migration in order to work while you are a student in Portugal. This can offer a huge benefit if you’re looking for ways to help pay for part of your living expenses while you're studying in Portugal.

 

Portugal offers a comfortable cost of living

One of the main benefits of studying in Portugal is that it is comparatively less expensive than the rest of Western Europe. Portugal is an ideal location for you if you have a limited budget yet wish to receive a top-notch education overseas. With less than $1,000, you may survive relatively well in smaller student cities.

Unilife abroad career solutions

Conatact us : 8428440444 , 8608777070 , 8428999090

Mail Id  : anagha@unilifeabroad.com , diya@unilifeabroad.com

[doctorbano786]

Direct Admission in Mbbs Abroad: A Gateway to Global Medical Education

Introduction:

In today's competitive world, pursuing a career in medicine has become a dream for many aspiring students. However, due to limited seats and intense competition in domestic medical colleges, more and more students are looking for opportunities to secure direct admission in MBBS abroad.

Why Choose Direct Admission in MBBS Abroad?

Direct admission in MBBS abroad opens up a world of possibilities for students who aspire to become successful medical professionals. Here are a few reasons why opting for overseas education can be a game-changer.

Affordable Tuition Fees: Many countries offering direct admission in MBBS abroad have significantly lower tuition fees compared to domestic institutions. This cost advantage attracts students from various financial backgrounds who may find it difficult to afford the exorbitant fees of private medical colleges or universities in their home countries.

No Entrance Exams: One of the primary advantages of pursuing MBBS abroad is the absence of entrance exams. While securing admission in prestigious medical colleges domestically can be challenging and require exceptional scores in entrance tests, universities abroad often offer direct admission based on merit or other criteria.

Global Exposure and Diversity: Studying MBBS abroad exposes students to diverse cultures, languages, and medical practices. They get the opportunity to interact with peers from different nationalities, exchange ideas, and gain a broader perspective on healthcare.

International Recognition and Accreditation: Many renowned medical universities abroad are recognized by global accreditation bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO), the Medical Council of India (MCI), and the General Medical Council (GMC) in the United Kingdom.

Diverse Learning Environment: Another significant advantage of pursuing MBBS abroad is the exposure to a diverse learning environment. International medical universities attract students from various countries, creating a multicultural and inclusive atmosphere. Interacting with classmates from different backgrounds enhances cross-cultural understanding and promotes a global perspective on healthcare.

Advanced Infrastructure and Technology: Many universities offering direct admission in MBBS abroad boast state-of-the-art infrastructure and cutting-edge technology. These institutions prioritize investing in modern facilities, well-equipped laboratories, and advanced medical equipment.

Quality of Education: Renowned universities abroad often have a reputation for providing high-quality education. These institutions employ experienced faculty members who are experts in their respective fields.

Clinical Exposure and Practical Training: Opportunities for Research and Specialization: Several international universities encourage research and offer opportunities for students to engage in scientific studies. By participating in research projects, students can contribute to medical advancements and gain a deeper understanding of specific areas of interest.

Enhanced Language Skills: Studying MBBS abroad often involves learning in a different language. This experience not only helps students develop proficiency in a foreign language but also enhances their communication skills. Effective communication is crucial in the medical field, as it enables doctors to understand patients and convey medical information accurately.

Personal and Professional Growth: Pursuing MBBS abroad is not only about academic excellence but also about personal and professional growth. Living in a foreign country exposes students to new challenges and experiences, promoting independence, adaptability, and resilience.

Conclusion:

Direct admission in MBBS abroad offers a viable pathway for students to realize their dreams of becoming doctors without the barriers of intense competition and complex admission processes. The benefits of affordable tuition fees, international exposure, and global recognition make pursuing an MBBS degree overseas an attractive option for aspiring medical professionals.

[scotianostra]

Dugald Stewart the noted Scottish mathematician and philosopher was born on November 22nd 1753 in Edinburgh.

Dugald Stewart  was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment. 

The Scottish Enlightenment began in the mid 18th century and continued for the best part of a century. It marked a major shift from religion into reason. Religion had been influential in every part of Scottish life. A little over a hundred years before it resulted in a war between the Royalists and covenanters causing countless deaths in period known as the killing time, indeed during the Enlightenment the strict Calvinists Government meant some people were punished for crimes such as blasphemy.

Dugald’s father was a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, his mother Marjorie Stewart was the only daughter of Archibald Stewart, writer to the signet, so he had a good pedigree, he was schooled at Edinburgh high school from then entered the University of Edinburgh where he took an arts degree although he also attended courses in natural philosophy. On the advice of Adam Ferguson, Dugald Stewart spent one year in Glasgow where he attended the lectures of Thomas Reid. On his return to Edinburgh University he spent 13 years teaching mathematics.

In 1775 he was appointed joint professor of mathematics with his father. However, when Ferguson resigned as professor of moral philosophy in 1785 he was succeeded by Dugald Stewart who held the post for 25 years.

His writing included: Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, published over 35 years in three volumes, Outlines of Moral Philosophy and Philosophical Essays.

Stewart left Scotland on a number of occasions to visit France. In 1806 for example he accompanied the Earl of Lauderdale in an attempt to negotiate peace with Napoleon. On a previous visit to the country, he had witnessed the outbreak of the French Revolution.

He spent much of his retirement at Kinneil House, Boness, a stately home owned by the Dukes of Hamilton since the 17th century. 

My favourite wee story about Dugald Stewart involves other big hitters of the era like Dr Joseph Black,  Professor Adam Ferguson, John Home and two other poets, Robert Burns, our national bard, and Walter Scott, famous for may poetic works as well as the Waverley series and Ivanhoe. I’m not sure about how Walter Scott had come to be at the meeting on Edinburgh Southside in  Sciennes Hill House as he was only 15 at the time, but he must have been a bit star  struck, these guys were the creme de la creme.

We know what happened, because Scott left several accounts of the meeting. Burns, it should be said, did not do so, but by then Burns was well on his way to fame and no doubt met many of Edinburgh’s literati in the Oyster Clubs and other clubs such as the Crochallan Fencibles Club, one of many he became a member of.

Scott recalled in 1827: “I was a lad of fifteen in 1786-7, when he came first to Edinburgh, but had sense and feeling enough to be much interested in his poetry, and would have given the world to know him; but I had very little acquaintance with any literary people, and still less with the gentry of the west country, the two sets that he most frequented.

“Mr Thomas Grierson was at that time a clerk of my father’s. He knew Burns, and promised to ask him to his lodgings to dinner, but had no opportunity to keep his word, otherwise I might have seen more of this distinguished man.

“As it was, I saw him one day at the late venerable Professor Fergusson’s, where there were several gentlemen of literary reputation, among whom I remember the celebrated Mr Dugald Stewart. Of course we youngsters sate silent, looked and listened.

“The only thing I remember which was remarkable in Burns’ manner, was the effect produced upon him by a print of Bunbury’s, representing a soldier lying dead in the snow, his dog sitting in misery on the one side, on the other his widow with a child in her arms. These lines were written beneath, – ‘Cold on Canadian hills, or Mindens’ plain, Perhaps that parent wept her soldiers slain: Bent o’er her babe, her eye dissolved in dew, The big drops, mingling with the milk he drew, Gave the sad presage of his future years, The child of misery baptized in tears.’ “Burns seemed much affected by the print, or rather the ideas which it suggested to his mind. He actually shed tears.

He asked whose the lines were, and it chanced that nobody but myself remembered that they occur in a half-forgotten poem of Langhorne’s, called by the uncompromising title of The Justice Of The Piece.

“I whispered my information to a friend present, who mentioned it to Burns, who rewarded me with a look and a word, which, though of mere civility, I then received and still recollect, with very great pleasure.”

[rileytakeda]

— BASICS

Name: Riley Takeda Age / D.O.B.: 30 / September 9, 1993 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Nonbinary, She/they, & Queer Hometown: San Diego, California Affiliation: Government Job position: Staff Attorney at the Bronx County Public Defender’s Office Education: Bachelor’s in Political Science from NYU, and J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law Relationship status: Single Children: None Positive traits: Resourceful, Compassionate, Perceptive, Ethical, Fair Negative traits: Obsessive, Hedonistic, Argumentative, Blunt, Stubborn

— BIOGRAPHY

TW: Child abuse, parental death

Riley’s parents were career military officers, having met and started their relationship while they were both serving overseas with the Marines, and they started their family while stationed in Camp Pendleton. She grew up half on that base, though her mother insisted that she also attend public school, so she had exposure to the world outside of the armed forces. It was honestly one of the only good things that her mother did for her because it made Riley realize that she didn’t have to follow in her parents’ footsteps, even if it was obvious that they expected that of her, and it gave her an opportunity to explore interests outside of their supervision.

As she got older and learned more about how the world operated, she began to challenge the worldview that she had been raised under, much to her father’s consternation. He was a traditional man who demanded respect in the form of total obedience from his wife and child. He had made it obvious from her childhood that he was disappointed she hadn’t been a boy, and had little interest in being involved in her life outside of making sure that she wasn’t a disappointment to him. To bring home anything less than perfection would earn her a backhand or lashes with a belt, under the guise of trying to prepare her for the military, but really just trying to exert whatever control he could over her.

The first time that she learned these systems weren’t worth shit, Riley was 13 and she had worked up the courage to tell one of her teachers about the abuse. When CPS showed up at her home, they took one look at the medals decorating the family home and were effortlessly charmed by the all-American military man. After they left, he broke Riley’s arm in two places as punishment for running her mouth. He warned her that people would never believe her over him and now she had proof of that.

From that day forward, Riley threw herself into her studies because it had the dual effect of keeping her father off her back and also setting her up to be able to get out. She got a scholarship to NYU, leaving shortly after graduating high school and never looking back. She took out loans and worked third shift to put herself through college, and on a professor’s encouragement, she went on to law school in the area.

Learning about the state’s and country’s legal systems radicalized Riley further. It was proof of what she had known since they were 13: that justice was not the priority of most of those who had the power to do something about it. With her grades, she could have gone to any law firm in the city and worked a cushy corporate job, and she was certainly recruited for the diversity points, but Riley went to law school to help people and that’s what she intended to do.

She’s been with the Bronx County Public Defender’s Office for nearly three years at this point and she’s earned a reputation for being a stickler for the rules but also fighting to be fair. They’re just starting to get a little more responsibility in their cases, taking the lead on simpler matters while making it known that they want to work on the high-profile ones. They still have a bit of an idealistic view of the world, believing that they can stay neutral amongst the various criminal groups while also pissing off the police. Debatable how long that view lasts.

Over the last several months, Riley has taken personal leave from the PD's office to care for her mother who had fallen ill. It's been emotionally difficult, given her strained relationship with her mother, but she also knew that her mother had no one else. The illness progressed quickly, both a blessing and a curse for Riley, and she's finally returned to the city after her mother's death. Being out of the loop for even just a couple months has set her more off-balance than she expected, and is trying to re-establish herself within her office and the fabric of the city.

update (5/12/24)

Due to Riley's budding relationship with Theo Langley, and a perfect storm of events that culminates in Theo's arrest during a protest, Tristan taps Riley to get him out of jail. This is their first true understanding of the organization both Theo and Tristan are a part of, and a leap of faith to become part of it. They still maintain their position with the public defender's office for the time being while trying to keep their head above water in a world they were only tangentially involved with up until this point.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS

CLIENTS - People whose legal matters she’s handled over the years. These could be gang members, civilians, anyone who doesn’t have the money to hire private defense. They could be happy she saved them from getting railroaded by the DA’s office, or they could be pissed because she didn’t do enough to get them off. Riley has a bleeding heart and always wants to believe the best in her clients, even when they might not deserve it.

PROSECUTORS - Lawyers on the other side of the table or the “Dark Side” as they like to affectionately call them. More than likely, despite representing different interests, there will still be some professional overlap, potentially old classmates or co-workers, etc. They can be cordial, butt heads, have rabid theoretical discussions, be really nerdy about law things, and more.

COPS/LAW ENFORCEMENT - Probably something more antagonistic here, regardless of whether they’re corrupt or not. On one hand, she’s fighting to defend “criminals” and on the other, she might be throwing a wrench in carefully-laid plans. But she could also use some allies on that side of the system, someone who either also believes in working through the system, or someone who is willing to take advantage of her shortsightedness.

MANIPULATORS - Riley is in a very specific place in her life where she still has some of the bright-eyed optimism of saving the world while also becoming increasingly more jaded at how slowly the system works. While she currently still believes there is justice to be had by playing by the rules, it’ll only take one or two big things to sway her in one direction or the other. Having an up-and-coming public defender in their pocket would be a boon to anyone playing the long game.

ACTIVISM - While a lot of their life takes place in the white collar sphere, Riley tends to prefer a more down to earth lifestyle in their day to day. She’s been known to knock on doors for local politicians or lend her voice to protests, happy to provide relevant insight if her expertise is helpful, namely getting protestors and other activists out of jail and reminding them of their rights.

[shehanchandrasoma]

Philanthropy Examples

There are several methods to engage in philanthropy, whether you are a corporate, a non-profit, or an individual. These are excellent strategies to help others while also building goodwill and a name for yourself.

Companies are increasingly turning to corporate philanthropy to boost their competitiveness. This is possible by addressing four factors of the competitive environment. This is not a straightforward task. Some features of the competitive environment are universal across sectors. By utilizing philanthropy to enhance these qualities, the company's long-term commercial prospects will improve.

Creating a stronger corporate philanthropic plan necessitates a different management style. It entails listening to the communities of scattered personnel. It may also aid in the improvement of ties with local governments. It can also benefit employees' and contractors' health. It can also help to improve the physical infrastructure's quality. It has the potential to increase the quality of local research and development institutes.

Philanthropy can also be used to improve inputs other than labor. It has the potential to improve the quality of infrastructure, local research and development institutions, and administrative institutions. It has the potential to promote public health and minimize the number of accidents. It has the potential to increase the quality of government services. It can also help to strengthen partnerships with NGOs.

Philanthropy has the capacity to enhance overall living circumstances in poor countries. Companies like Exxon Mobil, for example, have committed significant resources to improve fundamental living standards in underdeveloped countries. These efforts benefit not just the people in the receiving countries but may also have a substantial influence on the company's competitiveness.

Investing in charity is an excellent strategy to improve your reputation, raise your visibility, promote employee morale, and build consumer loyalty. Although some businesses may be hesitant to participate in philanthropic efforts, the advantages sometimes exceed the dangers.

The most successful philanthropy is aimed at boosting your company's competitive environment. This includes, of course, the most visible advantage of your company's donations, but it also involves improving the company's skills and infrastructure. Increase demand in your specialized area, produce more complex solutions and increase technology to boost your competitive position.

Context-focused giving is not an easy task. It requires a fundamental shift in how you contribute. It may appear selfish, but it may also lead to more effective approaches to benefit the world.

The essential advantage of philanthropy is that it helps you improve your reputation among your customers, workers, and the local community. Your efforts to address the world's most serious problem, corruption, will contribute to a more equitable and productive environment. It will also help you connect with your consumers more effectively.

Another advantage of giving is that it helps to improve the quality of your local research and development institutes. Your firm may profit from the exposure and goodwill connected with animal rescues by joining a program to help abandoned pets find new homes.

Corporate philanthropy might aim to make the competitive climate more productive and transparent. Philanthropy may assist businesses in leveraging resources from organizations and other institutions. Corporate philanthropy may also strengthen ties between businesses and local governments.

When a corporation launches a philanthropy program, it may be tempted to concentrate on areas where the firm does not add value. However, the advantages may be excessive. Exxon Mobil, for example, has committed significant resources to improve fundamental living standards in underdeveloped nations. In addition, the corporation distributes computers to schools.

Companies may establish a virtuous cycle by combining charity initiatives with effective commercial operations. This strengthens the company's competitive edge while also increasing the value provided by its philanthropic activities.

To optimize the value provided by its charitable endeavors, a corporation must concentrate on the context that best matches its strategy. For example, if the corporation wants to expand, it can form alliances with governments and other non-profits. It can also make use of its own resources and skills.

Philanthropy has the potential to improve the quality of physical infrastructure. A firm, for example, can create a new road infrastructure in a developing country, increasing competitiveness. Similarly, generosity may contribute to the improvement of local research and development institutes.

Employees, contractors, and contractors' health can all benefit from philanthropy. A firm, for example, can provide health care and other services to its employees.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (March 21)

Today, the universal church celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas of Flue.

During his lifetime, the Swiss saint had ten children, became a hermit, and prevented a civil war.

Nicholas was born in 1417 near the lake of Lucerne in Switzerland. In addition to his duties as husband and father, Nicholas donated his talents and time selflessly to the community and always strove to give an excellent moral example to all.

The saint was also able to devote much of his private life to developing a strong relationship with the Lord. 

He had a strict regime of fasting, and he spent a great deal of time in contemplative prayer.

Around the year 1467, when he was fifty years old, Nicholas felt called to retire from the world and become a hermit.

After receiving a mystical vision of a lily eaten by a horse, which he recognized as indicating that the cares of his worldly life (the draft horse pulling a plough) were swallowing up his spiritual life (the lily, a symbol of purity), he decided to devote himself entirely to the contemplative life.

His wife and children gave their approval, and he left home to live in a hermitage a few miles away.

While living as a hermit, Nicholas soon gained a wide reputation on account of his personal sanctity. Many people sought him out to request his prayers and spiritual advice.

Nicholas lived the quiet life of a hermit for thirteen years. However, in 1481, a dispute arose between the delegates of the Swiss confederates at Stans.

A civil war seemed imminent. People called on Nicholas to settle the dispute, so he drafted several proposals that everyone eventually agreed on.

Nicholas' work prevented civil war and solidified the country of Switzerland. But, as a true hermit, he then returned to his hermitage after settling the dispute.

He died six years later on 21 March 1487 surrounded by his wife and children.

He was beatified in 1669 and canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1947.

[committeeof100]

A brief explanation of the world of Anthology of American folk music, the short story series I am presently working on

Around let’s say 2020 (the year is not important) conservatives control all of American government in an increasingly teneous geopolitical standing

And so in a last ditch effort to maintain global supremacy the US pulls out all the stops and declares war on all non western countries in order to protect its trade routes and markets and ensure consumptive flow and production by introducing more low wage workers kidnapped from warzones

A major group which emerges in the fighting are mercenaries who either come from bloodied lineages with ties to America or reactionary movements who work for the US government and eventually increasingly become present in police action at home as the fighting abroad begins to sour

Many of these mercenaries eventually come to work under the Library of Congress who formulate them into the Army for the Remembrance of Content or ARC, as the federal American government begins to weaken, which it finally virtually collapses with the nuking of DC

With DC nuked (by unknown actors, perhaps the Library of Congress themselves, or their rivals in the Smithsonian in some suicide attempt after a merger) the ARC and LOC move their operations to (you guessed it) Michigan, even prior to this nuking they had many feelers in the state.

Several major warlords emerge from the ashes to secure their control over Michigan, though none are able to fully do it

Perhaps the most notable of these is a former academic known as Ronald Reagan II whose pederastic appetites have been sated by the LOC and ARC after he began to supply them with Heroin.

Heroin and drugs become a practical currency, serving as a recruiting tool for the ARC as the mercenary lineages begin to decrease in number. This creates also a demand for a new drug in the face of potiental subservience to Reagan II’s project.

Another notable figure who emerges is Bobby Symanski (this universe’s unabomber) who becomes the emperor of the Upper Penisula.

A recurring figure in this story whose role has yet to be fully decided is Uthman Ibn Al-Mawt, the son of an Iraqi Ba’athist official whose reputation is one of violence in the war, yet in reality is not nearly as bad as the people he works for

The future follows mostly the ARC, who long ago fully merged with the LOC with the main goal of preserving music. The ARC has a series of kidnapped and brainwashed children who serve as its collectors and mechanics in order to ensure their cultural supremacy, and perhaps one day lend their backing to a worthy warlord who will allow the restoration of civilization

Many of the future’s factions will be recognizable as having roots in the stories in the present/past, with The Imperial Real of DaYoop, the Republic of Trawerse, NeuNederland, Halamazue (the only truly new polity in the future), the Soviet of Keecago-Derought, The Oonited States, and The Sultanate of Al-Meshegaan all having traceable origins in the past.

There’s also flashbacks to previous points in American history- I’m mostly thinking the American “Revolution”, the Civil war, the Nixon presidency and the Reagan presidency (the American Rev and Reagan Presidency stories are already written!)

Want to read some of this world??? Check out my medium: Debs Guffaw

Substack: Committee of 100