#been contemplating whether to make a post about anything streaming related here because...

[toiletshit]

I sometimes be thinking about trying out streaming, but I don't really know what to stream (like art or just video games), but with art it'd be like super boring and I'd probably completely forget to at least check the chat (tho it's unlikely anyone'd be watching/commenting anyway).

which just gave me the super random idea that I should stream pokemon puzzle challenge, which would guarantee that I be ignoring everyone and everything for at least four minutes straight lol

[ohmygoodnessgraciouss]

Hi! I heard u were taking requests so I was wondering if u could do a Steve rogers x reader one shot super fluffy post Endgame (Tony and Nat live) were reader thinks Steve is going to leave her for Peggy but comes back and she tells him that she is pregnant? Thank u so much love ❤❤❤❤❤

Hello!!  Aww, this was so cute to write!  I loved being able to do it, and I hope you enjoy it!!

Masterlist

Words: 1686

It seemed like everything was perfect.  After Nat and Clint somehow annoyed Red Skull enough to give up the soul stone without a sacrifice being made (It turns out Red Skull had lied about all that was required) and Tony along with all of the Avengers snapped to make Thanos and his army vanish, everything returned to normal.  Tony was yelling at Peter for trying to find supervillains, Nat was babysitting Nathaniel while Laura and Clint went on a date, and you and Steve returned to your daily life.  

Yes, you were dating Captain America.  He was an almost perfect boyfriend.  Note the keyword being almost.  He was so sweet, kind, and always willing to make you a priority.  In fact, he recently proposed to you right before the time heist.  He didn't want to miss his chance in case anything happened.  Steve loved you dearly.

You were worried when you heard the story from Tony about the two of them traveling back into the 1970s.  Steve admitted to seeing his first love, Peggy Carter back then.  You and Bucky slowly realized that Steve had been very quiet since he returned.  You'd sometimes catch him looking at his compass, staring at her picture.  You'd have to quickly leave the room, tears springing up in your eyes.  You weren't sure if it was from heartbreak or the hormones.

It turns out that only a week before the final battle, you learned that you were pregnant.  It was supposed to be a regular check-up at the doctor's, but you learned more than you expected.  You didn't tell Steve yet because more important matters were going on and held his attention.  Finding out that he was still had some sort of feelings for Peggy was not a part of the plan.

The time finally came when Steve would have to go return three of the infinity stones.  Tony was taking the other three back considering he knew how to fix the space stone and place it back in the cube.  Steve walked over to you after talking to Bucky.  You smiled, trying to mask the anxiety you had about everything.  "Be careful out there."

"I always am," He smiled back at you.

"Promise to come back to me?"  You asked hopefully.  

Steve nodded as if he were unsure of the answer himself.  You hoped you were wrong.  You hoped that he'd come back, and he'd tell you that he loves you more than Peggy.  Did it sound selfish?  Probably, but you didn't care.  You were selfish when it came to him.  

He walked up to the machine, configuring the GPS.  He watched you as the machine worked its magic, sending him and Tony far off into time.  Bruce counted down the five seconds.  

Those five seconds felt like five years.  The time from 2018 to 2023 seemed shorter than this.  Bucky walked up next to you, trying to comfort you to the best of his ability.  He couldn't control what his best friend would do, but he made sure to tell Steve to think carefully about his options.  

Bruce counted down to zero and Tony returned.  Your breath hitched when you didn't see Steve come back.  Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Steve came back, falling onto the ground.  You rushed over to him, helping him up.  "What happened?!"  Sam yelled.

"I was having a bit of trouble running from Asgardians after putting the reality stone back.  Apparently, they don't appreciate you injecting a woman with a stone," He commented sarcastically.  He was still working on sarcasm, as it wasn't something everyone used back in the Golden Age.  Even after a decade in the modern world, he was still learning the

You hugged him tightly, surprising him.  Steve hugged you back after a moment, knowing he made the right choice in staying.  He couldn't lie to you.  He was contemplating the choice, but he knew he loved you too much to do that.  There was no way he could let you go after all the time you've had together.  Peggy may have been important to him, but he couldn't imagine a life without you anymore.  

He was knocked out of his thoughts when you spoke again.  "I thought you would've stayed with her," You commented, lifting your head up to meet his gaze.

"I couldn't leave my best girl alone."

"Well," You laughed nervously, unsure of whether or not this was the best place to announce it.

"What is it?" He asked, confused.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you for a while now.  Actually, just a few days before the time heist happened.  Can we talk about it, alone?" You asked, nodding over to where a private space was.  

Steve couldn't predict what was happening.  Actually, a part of him feared that you were ending it right then and there.  He was trying to playback memories from the last few days, trying to remember if there was anything specific that could bring it up.  He could only assume that you spotted him looking at Peggy's picture.  In truth, he was looking at it, trying to figure out a proper place to put it away.  There was a museum dedicated to the Avengers that would probably use it, but a part of him wanted to throw it in a river as well.  He could just toss it in, letting it kick up into the stream, leaving his life for good but continuing onto a new path.  

He nodded, allowing you to drag him over to the more private area by the lakehouse.  Sam and Bucky watched the two of you walk away, confused.  You both looked tense while walking away.  Bucky and Sam weren't sure what to make of it, but shrugged it off, knowing that they didn't have any business with it.  

"Steve, you know I love you, right?"  You asked him.  He didn't like the question, concerned by its meaning, but answered anyway.

"Yes?" He answered in more of a question, implying for you to go on.

"Well, I have something really important to tell you.  Remember when I went to the doctor's for a check-up a little while ago?"  You started fiddling with your fingers.

"Yeah, why?  Did you find something out?"

"Yes, I did.  Steve, I found out that I'm pregnant.  I'm about a month along.  We're going to be parents!"  A grin started to spread on your face.  

You could see the shock on his face stay there for only a few moments before his eyes lit up.  Tears sprung to his eyes as he quickly wrapped his arms around you.  You laughed breathlessly and returned his embrace.

"You just made me the happiest man alive, Y/N L/N."  His hands started to make their way through your hair, brushing through the strands.

You couldn't say anything because you were too happy.  You had your fiance, your friends, your family, and a baby coming to join in soon.  This felt impossible only a month ago.  You could see the front door to Tony's house open up as Natasha and Tony come outside.  Steve turned around to see them, keeping an arm around you.  

"What are you two hugging about, Capsicle?" Tony called out, walking down the steps with Morgan following closely behind.

"Should we tell them?" Steve turned to you, making sure it'd be alright.  

You nodded and started walking over to them.  When that happened, the rest of the Avengers started to group around you.  Bucky raised an eyebrow, surprised to see his best friend so happy.  It almost made him concerned.  

"Well, Tony, it looks like I may need to take some time off from missions.  In about eight to nine months, I'd say," He said, trying to hint at your pregnancy.  Bucky's eyes widened, Sam let out a chuckle, and most of the other Avengers standing around understood exactly what he meant.  Tony, on the other hand, seemed too shocked to understand what was going on.  

"You- what?" He asked.  

While Steve had made the comment, Pepper had come out to grab Morgan.  As she overheard his comment, she quickly congratulated you both.  When she heard how Tony responded, she was quick to tell him as a way to knock him out of his daze.  "Y/N's pregnant, Tony!"  She rolled her eyes and laughed slightly.

"Well, I can't stop you now, can I?" He finally had a response.  You laughed as Pepper nudged his shoulder.  He muttered something quietly to his wife before congratulating you both.  

From Wanda to Peter Parker to Mantis, you were constantly receiving congratulations all day.  Pepper told you that if you ever needed advice she was there for you, Wanda was already planning on finding out how she could help, and Sam was trying to get Steve to drink a beer as a celebratory drink.

The two of you couldn't catch a break after that.  Every time you tried to get alone with him, someone would walk up and disturb the silence.  You didn't mind it all that much considering you hadn't seen everyone for five years though.  Steve felt the same way but made sure to stay near you most of the time.  

Laughs and drinks lasted for the rest of the day.  You couldn't believe it was only just a few days ago that everyone was fighting for their lives against Thanos and his army.  Now, you were sitting on the couch with Steve, watching Bucky and Sam trying to lift up Stormbreaker together.  Thor was laughing at their antics.  Tony, Pepper, Peter Parker, Nebula, and Morgan were all grouped together as if they were one big family.  Wanda talked to Valkyrie and Carol, loving that she was able to relate to someone.  Bruce was showing Shuri how he made the time machine as she critiqued every single one of his steps.  You didn't pay that much attention to them considering you didn't understand anything they said.  Either way, you were happy to see it all happen.  

For once, everything seemed okay, and you were grateful to be here to experience it all with your (quite large) family.

[fanfictrashdump]

Queening a Pawn, 20

If you’re new: this is my procrastination fic. It is what I drabble around with when I’m being my worst self, and ignoring all my other WIPs and responsibilities! Enjoy!

X

Summary: During the Time Heist, Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped. He did not expect, however, to be pulled through a Time Loop that delivered him to a Midgard more than a decade older, wiser, and bitterer. Having just lived through his unsuccessful attack in New York, Loki must learn to live in Midgard after the defeat of Thanos (post-Endgame). The question is, who is Loki without a quest for a throne or total domination?

Pairings: Loki x OC

Warnings: language, suggestive content (I think nothing terrible), soft fluffiness, two idiots in love.

=

Loki awoke with a sharp inhale. Wild eyes hopped form place to place, taking in the moody lighting and dark woods of his own living quarters. He did not remember getting here. He certainly didn't walk, which meant that, more than likely, Banner had carried him to his room while he was unconscious. He didn't know whether or not he was OK with the idea, but the pounding in his head did not allow him to focus on the quandary. Atop the sheets, Delilah was kneeling beside him, her fingers gliding gently over the collection of scars marring his pale skin.

Despite the fact that he had awoke quite violently, she did not seem to have noticed him. Instead, she was intensely focused on prodding at the circular areas of shiny flesh. His chest felt heavy with sorrow that was not his own and a fear of the unknown prickling at his skull.

His long fingers closing around her own made her start, and she glanced up, cutting her eyes at him, instantly. A lazy smile tilted his mouth at the wide-eyed gaze. "Counting scars to see how many are new will not make you feel better, dove."

"You don't know. Maybe I'm a secret sadist."

"Oh, there is no secret about that, but I rather believe that you enjoy my pain more when it brings pleasure," he riposted without missing a beat. "I have the bite marks to prove it." Delilah did not respond. Instead, she stretched out alongside him and buried her face into the crook of his shoulder. Loki chuckled, turning his head just enough to press a kiss to her crown. "I do not die so easily, darling. Many have tried, none have succeeded."

"That's not true."

"The Titan did not kill me." He drew a finger beneath her chin to cast her eyes up to meet his. "I will always make it back to you, I swear. Even if just to die at your feet."

"Don't… don't say things like that," she mumbled, trying to blink away tears.

"Darling," he whispered, brushing her hair back away from her eyes. They were so terribly vulnerable and open and their emerald hue glinted with her tears. His heart, a part he had foolish thought dead for hundreds of years, twisted painfully. How could he keep her from feeling this way? "My purpose has never been to be safe. Even on Asgard, my well-being was unimportant in relation to the good of the realm. In some cases–"

"No."

When Loki glanced down, Delilah looked like she was livid and his eyebrows slowly rose in a surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Stop… stop talking like you don't matter."

"Love–"

Tears were streaming down her face at this point. "You fucking matter to me. If you died because you decided the greater good was more important than you I would raze the Earth in vengeance. Do you understand?"

Swallowing at the lump in his throat, he nodded.

"Say it."

"Say what, my Queen?"

"Say you're important," she demanded, heatedly. "I need to hear you say it. I know how easy it is for you to ignore what you don't acknowledge. So, say it."

"You know me far too well, I must say." Taking Delilah's hand in his, he raised it to his lips. He kissed her palm and sighed wearily, like a heavy load was set on his shoulders. "I am important, if to no one but you."

"Is that not enough?"

"On the contrary. I'll have to start taking care not to accidentally die. I'd never want you to be upset… or to raze the Earth for my sake." He continued pressing kisses to her palm, seeping in the warmth of her hand and taking solace in it. She was fiery, electric and obstinate. He adored it more than life itself. He coveted her protective nature more than he ever did a throne.

"Hey," she whispered, pulling away from the dungeon he built in his mind. "Where did you go just then? I'm sorry if I upset you."

He smiled "You could never. I just… find it hard to believe I've earned your protection and it throws me for a loop, as it were." With a groan, he sat up against the headboard, pulling her along with him. "I'll make you a promise. For as long as you wear that ring, I'll do everything in my power to come back to you. I can't guarantee I won't take stupid risks for the sake of what is right, but–"

"I'll take it." Delilah brushed his shaggy hair back, undoing knots with her fingers before grasping the dark tresses to pull him towards her. "I don't want to keep you from doing whatever it is you want. I just want you to make sure you spare a thought about whether or not you'd survive afterwards." As if remembering herself, she started. "Oh, one moment."

With another kiss, she hopped off the bed and out the door before he even had the sense to question her. The sound of the front door closing irked him enough to debate whether or not he could physically chase after her. He was Aesir and had improved healing over Midgardians, but that building had done a number on his form and every bone in his corporation ached. The door opened and closed once more before Delilah scurried into the bedroom.

She hopped back onto the bed with a giddy leap, crawling up to the head and sitting back on her heels. "So, between days six and eight of you being entirely MIA, I got antsy and sat down with Tony in his lab. I was going through some of your old files and noticed that we had data about the specific signature your magic leaves behind."

"That is interesting." It sounded like a question rather than a remark.

"That's not the point, Lo. The point is that since we could tell the specific signatures it left behind, maybe we could predict what the magic looks like. Then, if we could do that, the next logical step would be find a way to amplify it."

Loki bobbed his head side to side, weighing out the probabilities with a serious frown. "I suppose it's possible. How would you validate it?"

"Oh, we used Strange's signature as a base model. It worked well to predict his energy." Her expression brightened with the small smirk of pride blossoming at the left corner of his mouth.

"Very clever, indeed, but I am still unsure as to what it all means." For a moment, she fidgeted and the excitement that had been brimming within her a second ago is dimmed with nervousness. "Delilah?" He rarely uses her full name, so it has the desired effect of forcing her to look up, instead of her knotted hands.

"It's stupid…," she trailed off.

"That is invariably untrue. You were excited. Tell me… or perhaps show me is the appropriate request," he amended, seeing her hands twitch tighter around something.

Her fingers loosened fractionally, a golden chain tinkling through her fingers for him to see. He waited patiently for her to reveal her secrets.

"You don't really wear anything, so I didn't… I put it on a chain, but it can also clip onto your lapel or go around your wrist. It just needs to be on you somewhere."

Loki grinned excitedly, leaning forward. "Go on, show me."

With a reluctant groan, she gripped his wrist and deposited the object in his palm, immediately looking elsewhere as she burned red. Along the gold chain rested a golden ring, etched in simple geometric designs like a circuit board. It consisted of a longer circle, twisted and doubled upon itself. He could slip the two bands apart just the slightest bit to slide it onto a lapel or the chest plate of his armor. Small pin mechanisms belied the ability of pulling it apart and expanding what he now noticed were two twin snakes.

"I'm gonna go," Delilah irrupted, suddenly, flushed from head to toe and feeling awkward at his quiet contemplation. Loki pounced from bed, tackling her onto the floor before she had even made it to the bedroom threshold. Caged between his arms, he trailed kisses from her neck to her jaw until ending on her lips, giving a contented sigh when she responded in kind.

"How would you prefer me to wear it?" She shrugged, looking awkward again. He nipped at her pulse point in protest for the shift. "Certainly you had an initial design in mind." He hummed against her throat in thought. "You're practical, which is why you've added the chain. Easy to keep around, minimal effort in minding it. While on the lapel offers visual advantages, it would look out of place with the clothes I've been wearing as of late." An open-mouthed kissed burned the hollow of her throat. "And while you are all for practicality, you are also fiercely possessive. Don't bother, you know you are," he added in a haughty tone when she went to protest. "So, your initial design was for my hands–visible and apparent. The others were an afterthought."

Another nip, much more forceful landed on her collarbone and she bucked into him in surprise. He repeated the action with a growl, pressing into her. "A ring. It was a ring. I didn't want your wrist to get caught on anything, Jesus!" A moan cut through her defense. "You don't wear jewelry and I didn't want you to think I was being stupid and sentimental with a ring, so– oh god." Delilah shuddered against him as Loki hitched one of her legs over his hip.

"I love stupid and sentimental," he husked. "Our whole relationship can be described as stupid and sentimental." He pressed a kiss behind her ear. "You're going to put that ring on me and then I'm going to take you like I almost died on what should have been an easy mission. Yes?" Delilah barely nodded before Loki eased off, pulling them up to sit beside each other. With shaking hands, she freed ring from chain and slipped it over his finger. With a wicked grin, he swooped down and threw her over his shoulder, gracefully slipping onto his feet and towards the bathroom. There was a warm bath with both their names on it.

[michaelandy101-blog]

How to Be a Better Marketer Through Mindfulness and Meditation

New Post has been published on https://tiptopreview.com/how-to-be-a-better-marketer-through-mindfulness-and-meditation/

How to Be a Better Marketer Through Mindfulness and Meditation

Let’s get this out into the open: I bite my nails. Or at least I did. (Kinda gross, right?)

But a few summers ago, I watched as my then three-year-old son chomped down on his fingernail. That was it. The final kick in the butt I needed to see to finally stop a decades-old bad habit.

Little did I know that in my quest to stop biting my nails, I’d unlock something much bigger for myself — both personally and professionally. It was mindfulness.

According to the folks at U-Cal Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, mindfulness is about “maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.” 

For me, mindfulness has helped me make better decisions, listen more, and above all, be present. Amidst the chaos of our busy, multi-screen, too-many-browser-bookmarked lives, it helps me return to a more centered self.

More and more, people are embracing both big and small mindfulness tactics. So, what can you do to get in on the goodness? I’ll tell you. Here’s how I met mindfulness. 

Consulting a Mindfulness Expert

I knew that guided meditation and hypnosis was probably a good bet to kick the nail-biting habit.

So, I reached out to Paul Gustafson, a Boston-area consulting hypnotist. Gustafson helps people — via guided meditation and hypnotic suggestion — with anything from quitting smoking to overcoming a fear of flying.

I sat down with him for three, 30-minute sessions where he talked me into a deep relaxation and then, as I reached a deep meditative state, he provided guidance and suggestions for me to figuratively cut the cord of my past nail-biting behavior. From there, I kept his guided meditation recording on repeat. 

“The immediate benefit of guided meditation is profound relaxation,” Gustafson told me. 

“It’s impossible to be stressed or to worry while enjoying deep meditative bliss. One of the long-term benefits of meditation is that the relaxation becomes the rule rather than the exception. People who meditate are happier, and often feel less affected by the pace of day-to-day life. They’re healthier and more productive.”

Paul has become an oft-invoked name at my house. My wife, also a marketer, has gone to see him and notes that it’s been entirely transformative in finding her chi, both in and out of work. (After all, anyone with small children can attest to the need for mindfulness.)

How Mindfulness Contributes to Better Marketing

Mindfulness is a terrific asset for today’s marketers … but you’re probably wondering where the data is, right? 

Well, a study conducted by INSEAD and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania found that 15 minutes of mindful meditation could help a person make better decisions. That same study shows that mindfulness “can reduce confirmation bias and overconfidence, allowing decision makers to better differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information.”

This isn’t the only study that points to how mindfulness can help you in the business world. More recent research suggests that 10 minutes of mindfulness each day can lower stress, improve your mood, and make you more creative.

Considering the vast information available to marketers, having a filter for the superfluous can let you focus on what’s most important and make decisions accordingly.

Gustafson has helped patients deal with stress related to dealing with a boss, or co-worker, too.

“I’ve had many clients come to me because of work-related stress. When someone repeats a stressful response to certain situations it becomes a pattern. Over time, patterns become rooted, and people feel powerless to change the situation. Guided meditation enables individuals to release and become free of unpleasant patterns,” Gustafson told me.

Some companies — like Google, Goldman Sachs, and Medtronic — have gotten on board the mindfulness train, too. 

I’ve been lucky enough to work for a company that values its employees’ approach to work, rather than just the output.

The HubSpot perk I took full advantage of while in my role was the Nap Room in the Cambridge, Mass. office.

For me, the nap room is a meditation chamber. Just 20 minutes of guided meditation — or slow, deep breathing as the hammock gently rocks back and forth — will clear the mind and bring a sense of focus that even the strongest cup of coffee can’t conjure.

But, unfortunately, many companies don’t have a Nap Room. Some also don’t take time to encourage mindfulness or positive mental health practices. If you’re in this type of situation, there are still a number of ways to embrace mindfulness in any environment. 

How to Practice Mindfulness and Meditation

What You’ll Need

When you really need to pause, contemplate life, or navigate stress, here’s a quick and simple recipe for a solid meditation session:

Mindfulness Ingredients:

A quiet spot

An open mind

20 minutes each day

Optional:

Headphones, with guided sessions

Popular apps for reminders or self-guided meditation

Mindfulness Tips

1. Meditate in the mornings.

Akin to the adage that a trip to the gym in the morning gives you more energy, a trip to mindfulness early in your day sets your mind up for success, too. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your bed. Just put on the headphones as you awake.

2. Or, try to meditate at night.

At the other end of the day, it’s entirely acceptable and effective to fall asleep as you meditate. If you’re using a guided meditation track, whether you’re awake or asleep, your mind is taking in the information.

3. Block out time for meditation, yoga, or other mindfulness activities.

Set up a recurring daily calendar item so that others don’t cut into your “mindfulness meeting.” My colleague Steve Haase has written quite a bit on meditation and mindfulness. Haase and other colleagues sit in silence for 20 minutes on Wednesday mornings to clear their minds for the day.

4. Practice deep breathing.

Sometimes the biggest rewards come from the smallest of actions. Deep breathing falls into that category. Take deep breaths throughout the day when you feel overwhelmed, overstimulated, or just need to top off the mindfulness tank.

5. Fight distractions while meditating.

The brain is a muscle. And, when you work out any muscle, it can be hard to try doing something that feels unnatural with it. Sitting in quiet is something that is challenging for the brain, especially when you’re busy or stressed, but this is something you can train yourself to do. 

For many of us, our instincts when idle — in line at the grocery store checkout, in the elevator, at the traffic light — are to fill the void with a few swipes of the screen. Don’t do it. In much the same way that good ideas sometimes arrive whilst in the shower, lying in bed, or even sleeping, simply being present can be the difference in finding clarity or that elusive good idea you’ve been chasing.

6. Practice mindfullness and meditation regularly.

Like any new workout, you might fail the first couple of times you try to meditate. For some, it can be surprisingly hard. And, no matter how much you feel like you’ve gotten mindfulness down, your mind can still slip on any given day.

Are you going to enter a state of deep bliss every time you sit down to meditate? Probably not. Your mind will wander. Just like some runs or workouts feel better than others, so do meditation sessions. No two are alike.

Mindfulness Apps and Software

While finding a quiet space and trying to clear your mind will provide a good foundation for mindfulness and meditation, there are also a number of digital aids that can ease you into a more mindful state. Here are just a few:

Headspace

Headspace is a mobile app and subscription service which allows you to stream or purchase thousands of guided meditations from mindfulness experts. When search “Best meditation apps” on Google, it appears at the top of the list on a number of blogs. 

Aside from meditations, Headspace also offers sleep sounds and mindfulness workouts that people can try before going to sleep. 

Although you can get a free trial for Headspace, the subscription costs $12.99 per month. At the moment, Headspace is also offering free subscriptions to those who are unemployed. 

Calm

For those looking for a cheaper app, Calm (Roughly $6 a month or $70 perr year) similarly provides guided meditations, mindfulness training, and sleep sounds. The app allows a 7-day free trial before charging users.

When joining the app, you can answer a few questions about why you’re looking to learn more about mindfulness and meditations. This will help the software send meditations that fit your lifestyle. 

For businesses and academic institutions that want to embrace mindfulness, managers and colleges can invest in a company Calm membership, which allows employees globally to use the app on multiple devices. This membership price is not specified on Calm’s site. 

Ten Percent Happier

If you’re skeptic of meditation, but interested in learning scientifically-backed meditation practices, you can consider the paid app, Ten Percent Happier. 

The app takes a realistic approach to meditation. The creators and brand admit that meditation isn’t perfect, easy, or an answer to all of life’s woes. However, science does prove that it can help you in some areas. The primary goal of the subscription is to make users just 10% happier. 

Image Source

Pricing is not directly listed on the app’s website, however, a paid membership includes hundreds of guided and daily meditations, as well as access to one-on-one conversations with a meditation coach.

Ten Percent Happier offers both a free trial of the full membership and a limited free version which offers basic meditations and information, stats related to meditation performance, and daily notifications reminding you to meditate. 

Sound Machines or Voice Assistants

While sound machines might offer a plethora of natural relaxing sounds or white noise that can drown out roommates or traffic outside, a voice assistant, like an Amazon Echo or Google Home, might have a number of meditation or sound related skills pre-programmed on the device. Investigate what your voice assistant or sound machine can offer and identify ways to implement these machines in your mindfulness strategy.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Still feeling skeptical about whether or not you should try mindfulness and meditation practices? I’ll leave you with just a small handful of benefits to keep in mind:

1. Your mind will become more open to opportunities.

If you expect a lot from yourself, you’ve probably experienced the anxiety of your expectations actually getting in the way of success. With mindfulness, you can open yourself up to the moment. You can focus less on the eventual outcome (though mindful of that goal) and instead be present to new ideas.

2. Stress-management could become easier.

Do I get worked up still? Sure (ask my wife). But more often I can find myself navigating stressful situations with a bit more grace or awareness of solutions rather than focusing on frustrations.

3. Planning things on the spot might get easier.

A less cluttered, focused mind tends to provide more room for planful thought. I’ve found myself able to pull together a thoughtful response or tidy plan in less time.

4. Being present can improve your outlook on life. 

Take it from Bill Murray. We do our best when we’re present. But it’s not easy.

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[gloieee]

Languid Seductions

I’ve found myself reading my old blog posts often lately. Until now, I had been reading ones from this past year, because those felt the freshest to me, and hence, the most “real”. Reading through some of the older ones, especially from 2018, I’m realizing that this is emphatically untrue—I was perhaps subconsciously reading through the ones from 2019 because it was light enough for me to handle. Reading through my quarries from 2018 make me realize that life has become so much simpler and “normal” since then. It’s interesting. I have felt “lonely” more often lately, but in a way that seems shared by others. It’s that universal, millennial sense of being alone—mid-late 20s; feeling lost about love, career, life; feeling behind for my years; wanting love but not; being in a new city and not having totally found my niche or groove, all tinged with light exasperation at myself for a lack of many things--trying, drive, knowing, feeling? 

The loneliness I was experiencing in 2018 feels more profound because I really had no one I could fully explain it to. It did not feel shared at all. Even to my close friends, I remember it was a burden to fully explain why I was so agonized. Even with my genuinely concerned friends, I could tell that it sounded “like a lot,” but that it wasn’t fully grasped or relatable. There was a cloud that shrouded my being, a (literal) weight on my body, and I remember feeling it in many moments, even when one shouldn’t have—while letting out a stream of smoke in Fenway waiting for an Uber after a very rare, light-hearted “fun night” out with friends; while walking back to Longwood after a casual beer with coworkers, with the scent of early summer drifting; after I chatted with a dear friend on the steps of a church, a cool iced latte percolating in my hand, the orange, dry sun bathing us. It’s interesting, because I remember speaking with another good friend of mine, in the “lounge” of my sad ass Longwood apartment (touted as a great plus and as a justification for not having a dining table or living room in the apartment, and of course no boys lmao, by my crazy subletter). I said I don’t understand at all how I was so moody throughout college, because I really feel no emotions anymore. Or at least, I didn’t feel the random throes of my emotions as much, at least not without an appropriately inciting life situation. In 2018, there were such clear things to be uncertain about, so many things I just had to get through. I felt like I had become so much more practical as a person then, which is a little laughable, since in Spring of 2019, I had a whole crisis that whipped me into shape (perhaps), and made me realize I didn’t know shit about anything practical. In retrospect, I suppose I was more “dedicated” in early 2018 than “practical”. 

This is not to say that I didn’t feel happy in 2018, or that I was always down. I knew I was working towards something I wanted (at the time…), and because the moments of mutual/ shared understanding were rare, when they happened, when I felt the weight be lifted or at least attempted to be shared, I felt such deep warmth. My moments of happiness in 2018 are still some of my most vivid memories, for I do think they were so real. A perfectly crafted lemon chicken had on the balcony with a curiously strong, sour Pilsner after a particularly dismal day at work; a spontaneous walk along the Charles River on a slightly chilly, windy day as a break from the flurry of MCAT studying; a trip to Haymarket tasting local delectables; finding a favorite bourbon whiskey at a heavily discounted price and enjoying a whiskey+lemon+iced tea at any time on scorchingly humid Boston summer days. 

I was struck by this bit from my post in 5.2018:

I’ve always gone against the current, but not in any kind of romantic, rebellious, edgy way—I find no delight in defining myself as ~alternative~ or a free soul or some bougie highbrow connoisseur of life. I literally hate that shit, perhaps because I feel indignant. I feel like more of a farce than some open-minded intellectual-artist type. Ultimately, I want the plainest, most generic things in the world—revel in security, love the suburbs, love benefits-eligible positions and dream of being a homeowner—but yet, I seem to choose the hardest route to that goal.

It appears as though I have achieved this goal to a certain degree. Or have embraced it more fully than I ever have before. Although perhaps this is my binary thinking coming into play (as my therapist notes). I feel as though I’m belatedly experiencing very relatable, common emotions. Not that that’s bad. It does evidently make me a worse writer—which I had suspected it would—but, I suppose there’s no use to being a particularly good writer when I’m not going to write for a living, at least not in the context in which such good writing is required. 

Of course, I’m sequestered in a beautiful home in the Midwest, where I feel secluded from the outside world, which could be a contributing factor to all this. But, looking back on even my difficult moments this past year, there is a common theme of them being just so very relatable, so normal (which has actually brought me great comfort at the time). Both in their nature as well as how I’ve dealt (been dealing) with them. I’ve been targeting my distress not necessarily through deep contemplation and forging my own path but trite, reactionary decisions and therapy. Memes seem to capture my life. It is, I suppose, what I’ve wanted for a while. But the lack of weight/substance does strike me--not that I’m necessarily unhappy with it, but it is noticed. 

I had a moment recently (it happens often) where I felt as though I had lived my recent years wrong. Too unnecessarily hard in ways that did not amount to much, and just fucked me up a little more than I’d like. They seemed to have set me up for unrealistic expectations. But reading through some of my thoughts, I feel an odd sense of comfort. Even if my thought process from the past is hard to explain to others—and yes, often it is met with deep perplexion and furrowed eyebrows, especially in the crowd I find myself in hahaha—it appears I really felt things and processed them. I do think there is meaning in feeling the full depth of emotions life offers, although I waver back and forth on whether I want to continue to do so for the future, since what’s irrevocably true is that feeling a lot makes life much more difficult. It is still good to know that when I did have pain, even if it’s a blog post that a couple of my loved ones read, I made something beautiful out of it. Perhaps I did make some gold out of pain. 

I feel slightly numb/bored/boring,  if not neutral. I do suppose that is better than feeling distress, which has often been the issue. Amidst the craziness of the world, I suppose this is natural. 

Returning to my current state, some of my favorite songs have been accordingly, extremely mainstream and straightforward. Slow and rhythmic, slight seduction, slight wistfulness, but to a very manageable degree. Subdued emotions all around. Languid desires. The kind you bop to with slightly closed eyelids, maybe do a jiggly dance to alone when deprived of human or sensual contact. These songs seem to be tied more by their melody than their lyrics, which is a bit unusual for me, since I thrive on lyrics and attaching meaning to them. If anything, there’s a bit of a morning vs. nighttime dichotomy. Lazy Weekend morning (Peach- Kevin Abstract and Ace- Noname, Sminom Saba) or deep, flowy evening vibes (Jaded (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)- Drake and Since Way Back (feat. Drake)- PARTYNEXTDOOR) I don’t resonate with the lyrics of any of these songs, especially not with any sort of depth. But I think that’s how these songs are meant to be listened to. 

 Girls Need Love (feat. Drake) – Summer Walker

Honestly, I'm tryin' to stay focused I just need some dick, I just need some love Girls can't never say they want it Girls can't never say how Girls can't never say now 

You just need some dick with no complications You just need some, you just need some Late night attention, uncondition Fucked up, shouldn't even have to justify I get it, I'm on your side, guys get their way all the time Besides, pleasure not meant for one side You should just do what's best for your mind Girls need love, too, I know

I think this is one of the most seductive songs I’ve heard it a while. So honest and carnal without overdoing it at all (in the style of Trey Songz or something, ahem). Trying to stay focused--so many of us millennials who are busy with life and trying to achieve things, whether it’s self/personal development or career goals. I do appreciate the simple, clear message, and the extremely true point of how girls can rarely say they want something sexually or romantically (and in many other aspects tbh). The response from Drake is amazing, and truly written in the perspective of a woman, which I often find isn’t the case when male rappers/ singers sing about pleasuring women, as they so often do—it’s really often more of a brag on their end than anything. Either Drake is extremely woke or a woman wrote this for him.

The desire here isn’t burning either, it’s understated and subdued. Kind of like an undercurrent. Something on the back of your mind that hits you once in a while, while you living that life being focused and getting shit done. 

Some pretty bits & musings from the other songs, for no particular reason: 

Peach (feat. bearface, Joba & Dominic Fike)- Kevin Abstract 

Ayy, she met me, let me fuck in the shower I wrote my number in the mist on the mirror I'm not the type to tell my homies about ya You're not the type to hold me down through the year

I'll be your baby doll and your bodyguard if you tell me to I'll try to make it all not as hard if you let me through

It's all peaches and cream If you left your love I'll be right

What a dear sentiment, sang in an equally casual but sweet and earnest way. The guitar strumming intro is just so perfect for this track. Like the first ray of sunshine in the morning. The first verse reads like an idealized snapshot of a casual relationship, a modern fairy tale if you will. Love the examples Kevin chooses to establish that this is casual--cause it’s fairly true that girls will still tell their friends about something that isn’t serious. All Peaches and Cream, no one getting hurt regardless of the outcome, even though they both enjoy each others’ company. Isn’t it pretty to think so? 

Ace- Noname, Smino, Saba

And my n- is hella pleased and I bought me a better pen so a Bitch she ain't 'bout to write I'm just writing my darkest secrets like wait and just hear me out Saying vegan food is delicious like wait and just hear me out

This one is more of a milky, gray but still happy kinda morning vibe. Also writing my darkest secrets out here (although to a very scant audience). Also just can’t get over how Smino sings: 

Oh when I say I been at the Ace hotel, you gotta tell me somethin' Fuck is you sayin'? Oh let me tell you, I been on the way What you sayin'? I'm making runs

Just so smooth & flowy~ Buttermilk smooth rhythm 

Since Way Back (Feat. Drake)- PARTYNEXTDOOR

Back to deep evening vibes with this one. Didn’t notice how beautiful and deep PARTY’s voice was really. I always figured it was autotuned (which it may be). Just a fun typical song about hot & heavy sexual tension, complete with a little jealousy, resentment, and flirtation with coy percussion and tantalizing beat switch ups. Love the slow, heartbeat like thuds that make up the outro of the song. 

Jaded- Drake 

Ayy, told me about all your insecurities, for what? Dragged me like two hours to your family's house, for what? Said you need some time but I should stick around, for what? Always felt like stickin' 'round's the same as being stuck

Yeah, you played me, you played me, you played me Low down, dirty, shameful, crazy I need to know how the new n- you got does the same thing I do for a living but it's way less wavy In all the pictures that I seen lately Lord knows, you still look amazin' That's besides the point I'm makin'

Oh sweet sweet pettiness. I’ve always loved Drake from the beginning for these moments. Some petty, relatable shade, but always with that sly cheeky smile that compliments the woman he’s in love with, even while telling her she did him dirty. He’s petty in a lovable way, cause you can tell he really doesn’t have malintent, or really that much bitterness. He’s just telling his story, his feels; he knows that that’s just his perspective. As a completely far-fetched tangent, realizing lately that that’s what I really value in people. People who really own their emotions and experiences, but doesn’t believe that they are fact or universal truths--simply your own truth. You can tell that he just loves his women and is processing his romantic trysts. I do think he truly embodies the “it’s all love” mentality for dissipating beef. 

Stickin round’ being the same as being stuck. Such a smooth, pretty line, but don’t think I agree with that. 

Yo Love - Vince Staples, 6LACK, Mereba

And after the eclectic moods and stories of the previous tracks, the one that hits like a smooth night cap of the most enjoyable of treacly liquors, still with a dark kick. Bittersweet, like maybe Baileys with a shot of coffee, or a tawny port. Menacingly romantic. A slightly twisted, crooning lullaby. 

4.23.2020

[thisdaynews]

The Russia Hawk in the White House

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/the-russia-hawk-in-the-white-house/

The Russia Hawk in the White House

Just weeks into her new job as the White House’s top Russia analyst, Fiona Hill was sitting in one of her first high-level meetings with the president, his national security adviser, and a pounding migraine.

Furiously writing notes, keeping her head down, and willing both the meeting and the hammering in her head to end, it took her a few moments to realize her then-boss, Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, had called on her repeatedly. She shot up, wide-eyed, sure she’d be fired. Trump at that point confused her for the executive secretary rather than his top Russia adviser.

Story Continued Below

“Fiona got off to a rocky start,” said one of her longtime friends, to whom she confided in those early days.

This account of her 2½-year tenure was pieced together through interviews with more than a dozen people who either worked with Hill or are close to her. Her time as special assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian Affairs, a role that put her at the center of domestic and geopolitical intrigue, follows the arc of the Russiagate scandal that dogged Trump’s presidency almost from its inception.

Since her departure, that scandal has been replaced by a new one: Hill resigned her post just seven days before Trump made a fateful call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a conversation that has embroiled him in a deepening impeachment inquiry. Her story as an unlikely Trump adviser, examined in depth for the first time here, is emblematic of the tension facing so many national security experts between their personal ambitions and their sense of duty.

Hill’s sense that she might be fired at any moment never quite subsided — in part because she was such a surprising pick in the first place. A sober critic of Vladimir Putin — she described the Russian strongman just months before her appointment to the National Security Council as motivated to meddle in the U.S. presidential election and fond of “blackmail and intimidation” — Hill also hailed from the Brookings Institution, the epitome of the D.C. establishment Trump had pointedly rejected.

And she was recruited by K.T. McFarland and Michael Flynn, who were out as Trump’s top two national security officials before Hill even formally started. She had even worked with Christopher Steele, the British ex-spymaster behind the salacious dossier that rocked the early days of Trump’s presidency.

National security insiders were shocked when she took the job—she was anything but a Trump loyalist (her colleagues weren’t even sure whether she was a conservative) and the Trump-Russia probe was gaining steam and in the headlines daily. But Hill earlier this month officially departed the administration on good terms, having helped craft responses to Russia’s malign behavior that, to many experts, are arguably even tougher than those imposed by the Obama administration—including the expulsion of 60 undercover Russian intelligence officers from the U.S. following a Russian chemical weapons attack on British soil, the provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine, and a U.S. troop buildup in Poland.

And she did it by following a playbook that has become familiar to nonloyalist administration officials hoping to survive in their jobs: pick your battles; stay out of the news; and understand that sometimes the wins are as prosaic as stabilizing an erratic, adversarial relationship and reassuring allies.

“She understands as well as anyone what drives and constrains Russian policy under Vladimir Putin,” said McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser. And during her time in the White House, McMaster added, Hill “set conditions for better relations should Putin and those around him realize that their sustained campaign to undermine the United States and the West is backfiring and harming the Russian people.”

***

Before joining the White House, Hill seemed to underestimate how well Trump and Putin would get along: “We’re going to have an awful lot of friction [with Russia] and Trump isn’t exactly the most diplomatic of people,” she told The Atlantic after Trump was elected. “So I imagine he’ll fall out with his new friend Vladimir pretty quickly.”

Such a falling out hasn’t happened — and despite her skepticism of Putin and belief that a “reset” with Russia is unattainable, Hill came to view Trump’s desire to forge a working relationship with the Kremlin and anchor the relationship in a long-term arms control treaty as a fundamentally good instinct.

Still, current and former officials acknowledge privately that even with the expertise and experience Hill brought to the White House, the administration has no coherent foreign policy, let alone a unified strategy for dealing with Putin — forging a new arms control treaty with Moscow while deterring Russia’s influence operations in the U.S., for example, remain steep uphill battles. And the recently fired John Bolton, McMaster’s replacement, wasn’t exactly an empowering boss.

“She wasn’t sitting around with Bolton debating what policies to implement,” said a former NSC official who’s worked with Hill. “And she hints at the fact that she doesn’t know what’s going on sometimes. Damage control is really her purview.”

In the Trump era, that’s hardly a minor role.

“Things certainly could’ve been a lot worse if Fiona weren’t there,” said another longtime Russia expert and friend of Hill’s. “But even if she could make a positive change and get away with it because the president maybe isn’t fully focused on it at that moment, ultimately it’s going to be undone by what he says and does privately.”

Trump’s tendency to rely more on his instincts than his advisers was initially anxiety-inducing. His off-the-cuff chats with foreign leaders and public comments — whether chastising U.S. spies, dismissing NATO as “obsolete,” or questioning the value of the European Union—often undermined his own national security advisers’ positions. One notorious phone call to Kiev aside, perhaps, Hill and the broader team began to view Trump’s private musings with world leaders with less alarm once they realized they rarely resulted in actual policy shifts.

Two particularly fanciful Trump ideas — a joint cyber initiative with Moscow the president proposed on Twitter in 2017, for example, and the Russians’ offer to “help” interrogate Americans on U.S. soil last year — were never seriously considered by the White House, sources said.

“One of Trump’s favorite things to say to Putin is, ‘I’ll have my guys look into it,” said a former Trump national security official who attended their bilateral meetings. “But, much to the Russians’ frustration, he rarely if ever actually does. They think they’re getting concessions, but they’re really just getting hot air.”

***

Hill, meanwhile, is an intense academicwhose deliberateness can best be characterized as the complete opposite of Trump’s stream-of-consciousness style — a product, perhaps, of her working-class upbringing and desire to distinguish herself in a field dominated by men.

Born into a family of coal miners in northern England in 1965, Hill was deeply affected by the Donbass miners strike in 1989—the first major strike in Soviet history in what is now eastern Ukraine. She went on to become a scholar of Russian history, earning her master’s degree in Soviet studies from Harvard in 1991, where she also met her future husband. (She became a dual U.K.-U.S. citizen after they married.) After completing her Ph.D. in history and working in the research department at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, she joined the National Intelligence Council as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia in 2006.

Fluent in Russian, Hill has been studying Putin since he came to power nearly two decades ago. Like many Eurasia hands at the time, Hill was initially receptive to Putin’s self-branding as a no-nonsense leader who sought to rebuild the Russian state after its post-Soviet collapse. She seemed particularly impressed with the ex-KGB agent’s diplomatic chops: “Stop Blaming Putin and Start Helping Him,” she wrote in a 2004 op-ed, on the heels of a meeting Putin held with a Western delegation to discuss countering Chechen terrorists.

But she soon became what her friends and colleagues describe as a Russia “realist.” In 2013, nearly a decade after urging the West to try to work with Putin and roughly a year before Russia forcibly annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Hill wrote that Putin “has never seen the West as a model for Russia. Now, he is not even interested in joining it as a partner.”

From her perch at Brookings, Hill urged the Obama administration to go into its so-called Russian reset with eyes wide open, and criticized the policy as somewhat unrealistic.

“The reality is this: There are no big deals to be had with Putin,” she wrote along with co-author Cliff Gaddy. “Outside the traditional U.S.-Russian bilateral realm of arms control, there is no great opportunity for the Obama administration in Russia. The only quid pro quo Putin would likely strike with the United States is one no administration could (or would) contemplate—where Moscow agrees not to make life too difficult for Washington, as long as the U.S. ignores Russian domestic developments and human rights abuses.”

Four years later, Hill found herself working in an administration that withdrew from its chief arms control deal with Moscow and regularly ignores Russia’s crackdown on free speech and dissent—joining some others who entered the administration with backgrounds and worldviews that seemed deeply at odds with those of the president, who repeatedly extolled Putin as a “strong” leader and seemed eager to work with him.

Those include Mary Kissel, a Mike Pompeo adviser who, as a Wall Street Journal opinion writer, tweeted about Trump’s “frightening ignorance” and criticized his approach on Syria and China, and Elliott Abrams, a special envoy overseeing policy toward Venezuela who wrote during the 2016 election that Trump “should not be president of the United States.” James Jeffrey, a special envoy dealing with Syria policy, considered himself a “Never Trumper” before joining the administration last year.

Hill never criticized Trump so overtly, and Bolton, who succeeded McMaster as national security adviser in March 2018 and was ousted earlier this month, resisted pressure from the more hard-line, loyalist factions of the White House to fire her when he was appointed.

But she entered the White House with a particularly heavy piece of baggage that either didn’t bother Trump or never crossed his radar: a former working relationship with Steele.

According to people familiar with their relationship, the two British Russia hands are not exactly friends. But they have known each other for years, beginning when Hill was working on Russia at the National Intelligence Council and Steele was on MI6’s Russia desk.

“She had a high opinion of Steele, and thought he was very smart,” a foreign policy veteran, and one of Hill’s close friends, told POLITICO. Hill spoke to Steele in 2016 and discussed him with friends in 2017, after BuzzFeed published his memos outlining a potential conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to win the election.

Hill told McMaster “as soon as she was hired” that she knew Steele and had worked with him in the past, according to a former NSC official. But she confided in some that she wasn’t in a position to judge whether the former spy’s assessments were accurate, and even thought Steele might have been played by the Russians into spreading disinformation.

Trump’s display in Helsinki in 2018, meanwhile, led many to conclude that Steele’s report was more accurate than not. In the news conference that followed his private meeting with Putin, Trump sided with the Russians over the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow had waged an all-out attack on the 2016 election, and seemed to entertain Putin’s offer to “help” interrogate Americans on U.S. soil — including Barack Obama’s former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul — about the Russia probe.

The joint news conference, which Hill had been dreading and urged Trump’s advisers to cancel, cemented fears among some that Trump was in Putin’s pocket and prompted bipartisan backlash. And Hill was flooded with calls and emails urging her to resign in protest.

She never seriously considered stepping down, though, according to a person familiar with her thinking, because the news conference didn’t reflect the substantive issues like arms control and terrorism that were discussed in the leaders’ bilateral meeting (the one where U.S. officials were present, anyway). Still, she was rebuked internally when she later met with McFaul, a fierce and frequent Trump critic, to hear his concerns about the administration’s handling of the episode.

“That was the one time” Hill got a bit too close to politics, the person said.

Still, she bounced back—and her views were always nuanced enough that she was never seen as impeding the kind of improved relationship with Russia that Trump wanted. A former NSC official recalled an episode in which Russia’s national security adviser, Nikolai Patrushev, wanted to meet with McMaster but faced enormous pushback by the State Department and Pentagon.

“Fiona, on the other hand, was very supportive of McMaster maintaining that channel,” the former official said. “She understands the role that Patrushev plays, and that he’s more important in the Russian hierarchy than, say, Foreign Minister Lavrov. So that’s also why she encouraged that dialogue.”

But it wasn’t always the Russians Hill had to worry about. When she tried, unsuccessfully, earlier this spring to prevent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban from meeting with Trump — Hill thought the far-right nationalist shouldn’t be welcomed at the White House — Orban sympathizers waged “an all-out war of intimidation on her,” threatening her and calling her home multiple times a day, a former official said. The attacks subsided only after she asked the Hungarian Embassy to intervene.

Now, current and former intelligence officials, national security experts, and foreign policy veterans fear Hill’s departure has left a gaping hole in expertise at the White House, at a moment when Russia’s ongoing efforts to interfere in the 2020 election require a whole-of-government response. Hill has been replaced by Tim Morrison, an arms control expert and Bolton loyalist who has been described as a “nuclear superhawk” — a logical choice given Trump’s fixation with nuclear weapons, but not Hill’s first choice.

Morrison has big shoes to fill among European officials, who had been able to count on Hill for reassurance that they wouldn’t be abandoned by the U.S. despite Trump’s threatening rhetoric. “Fiona’s door has always been open to the Europeans,” said Karen Donfried, president of the German Marshall Fund and a longtime friend of Hill. “She was seen as approachable by our European interlocutors.”

She “comforts” them, too, said another former NSC official who worked with Hill. From maintaining U.S. support for the Three Seas Initiative — a dialogue of 12 Central and Eastern European states in the EU — to pushing for the U.S. to play an important role in penalizing Russia for a chemical weapons attack on British soil in 2018, Hill “has always stood firm in terms of her policy recommendations,” the former official said. That consistency has reassured European partners that there is some coherence to the White House’s foreign policy.

One veteran U.S. diplomat who has known Hill for years said Hill and her team “regarded themselves as people with the responsibility to do the right thing — not to undermine the president, but try to take his better instincts and turn them into something constructive. And they succeeded to the point where I’ve told European diplomats critical of this administration’s Russia policies that they’re gonna look back on Fiona’s time at the White House as the good old days.”

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[samuelfields]

Creating The Next Best Frugal Site: Introducing Frugal Wonderful

A buddy of mine who so happens to be a very successful frugal blogger gave me some incredible advice recently. He said,

“Sam, you’re doing it all wrong focusing on the mass affluent / aspirational niche. Instead of writing about investing, entrepreneurship, and real estate, you should focus on frugal living. I teach people how to save money on groceries, encourage people to walk or ride a bike to work, tell people to never turn on the heat, and of course never buy anything new. As a result, people love me for it! Teaching people how to be more frugal is possible for 100% of the population, which is why my site is so popular.

Whereas you, you talk about how earning $300,000 is middle class, establish tough net worth targets by age, and write super long posts on investment strategies in retirement while most of your readers are still working with less. Of course people are going to end up hating your guts because you’re excluding the vast majority of the population!

Showing tough love should only be reserved for the people you care about the most, not your readers who pay you nothing. If they end up getting crushed by inflation 20 years from now because they didn’t invest or thought they could cruise through life, it’s not your problem. 

Another thing. I hate to say it but you are at a structural disadvantage as a minority. Most people like to connect with people who look and talk like them. Even if you get a 100% following of the Asian American population, you’ve only got a 6% marketshare. Conversely, if you get only a 10% marketshare of the Caucasian American population, you get a 7.7% market share! Thing wisely about the demographic you want to reach. 

Carefully analyze the backgrounds of your greatest detractors. Look at owners of the sites that have been sold for multiple millions of dollars or have developed a cult-like following. Finally, look at the profiles of the people in the mass media and the people the mass media repeatedly highlight. You will find a clear trend if you’re honest. 

You can’t change your race or the name of your site, but at least you must make your readers feel better about themselves by telling them how little you spend and how little you need to make. I tell my readers I spend less than $30,000 a year for a family of four despite earning well over $1,000,000 on my website each year. This way, most of my readers can relate to me or even feel sorry for me because the median household income is double that. Of course I spend way more than $30,000 a year, but my readers will never know. I’ve carefully crafted a frugal image that is now unshakeable!

At the end of the day, people just want to read what they want to read to validate the decisions they’ve made in their lives. Stop putting so much opinion in your posts. Every successful site in the PF space focuses on frugal living with uncontroversial topics. Focus on easy and watch your site rocket straight to the top!”

Digesting The Truth

Initially, I thought my friend’s advice was full of shitake mushroom. Why wouldn’t people want to focus on making more money, since making more money has unlimited upside compared to saving money. Further, I love to challenge myself to discover new ways to earn more. Being frugal is boring!

But then I realized much of what he said was true. There’s a reason why I no longer have four-pack abs. Eating healthy and working out every day is hard. Every personal finance site that sold for millions or that has grown to cult-like status focuses on personal finance basics. Finally, the disdain for my work is consistent, which is a bummer because my wife and I can’t stop being silly everyday.

Below is one example of an unpleasant reaction when I used satire to promote my pro-public school post. Even though the post is clearly pro-public school with detailed charts, and even though there’s a friendly dialogue in a podcast at the end of the post with my wife sharing our thoughts on education, there’s still so much outrage.

If I want our business to survive for the next 22 years to give my son the option to work for his old man after college and to have something fun to do as an unemployed person, I’ve got to find a way to at least sustain traffic. The only way I can do so is to broaden the topics in order to broaden the audience. Using controversial words that may hurt people’s feelings is probably not a good long term strategy.

With so much hate in this world, I worry about my son’s future. I know he’ll face bullies and lose opportunities because of who he is and how he looks. Surely, he will make the same mistakes as his father and write or say something that gets misconstrued. But these are all teachable moments that can help prepare him for the real world.

Other teachable moments from the tweet include:

* Realizing not everybody has the same sense of humor, so tread carefully.

* Realizing social media can be a big waste of time, so get off social media if you want to increase happiness.

* Realizing some people only read headlines and not the content, so spend less time writing and podcasting and more time crafting generic SEO friendly headlines.

* Realizing some people will hate you no matter what you say or do because of your background, so learn to accept and let go.

* Thinking differently will jolt people, so figure out when is the most appropriate time to be different and when is the most appropriate time to assimilate.

* Learning how to keep going no matter how difficult the path.

For our son, I will keep working hard for as long as possible just in case he needs help. Failure is not an option. It doesn’t matter whether folks think it’s ridiculous for me to keep our business going to provide for my family or contemplate important decisions like education to plan for the future. I will always do what’s best for my loved ones and so should you. Contemplation is free and worth doing.

A New Beginning On Financial Samurai

Starting on June 15, 2018, Financial Samurai will seek to become the best frugal blog on the planet with a new URL: FrugalWonderful.com! It cost me $20 to register. Oh, how I love having an internet based business.

I’ve been focused on maximizing wealth since 2009 and now its time to boost my Budgeting & Savings category on my new site. By dropping the Asian theme, I hope I can appeal to a broader audience who otherwise might be put off by Asian culture. With a name like Frugal Wonderful, how can the site not be filled with awesomeness!

Here are sample titles of upcoming posts I’d like to work on:

* The 10 Finest Cat Foods That Taste Like Chicken To Use In Your Stew

* Aggressive Snuggling: The Best Way To Save On Heat And Build A Loving Relationship

* If You Spend No Money You Can Retire Yesterday: How One Man Retired By 18

* 10 Date Ideas That Cost No Money If You Don’t Want To Get Laid

* If You’ve Never Pooped In The Woods You Don’t Know What You’re Missing

* Biking Is Life: Don’t You Dare Talk To Me If You Drive To Work

* How To Make Your Parents Pay For Everything As An Adult Child (oops, I already wrote about that)

* How To Get Girls If You Live In Your Mom’s Basement (darn, wrote about that too)

I really hope everybody can support me in my new endeavor. It’s going to be tough at first given my inexperience as a frugal blogger, but with your support, I believe we can make frugal sexy again!

May we continue to love and accept people from all different types of backgrounds – even those of us who choose to pinch our pennies. Happy Easter and Happy April 1!

Related:

Ranking The Best Passive Income Streams

Here’s How Much Can You Make Blogging For A Living

The post Creating The Next Best Frugal Site: Introducing Frugal Wonderful appeared first on Financial Samurai.

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Making investment declarations? New income tax rules you should know

It’s far that point of the 12 months whilst a lot of you’ll be giving your investment declarations for the 12 months to your company. Based on the funding announcement given by means of the employee in the starting of the financial year, the organization deducts tax from the revenue every month. So, before making the funding announcement it will be right to recognize the brand new tax regulations relevant from the present day monetary 12 months 2017-18.making a murderer

1) The tax fee for profits slab of Rs 2.5 lakh – Rs five lakh has been reduced from 10 according to cent to five per cent.

This reduction in tax price will bring about a tax benefit of Rs 12,500 for taxpayers. In case you upload schooling cess (2 consistent with cent), and higher and secondary education cess (1 per cent) to it, the tax saving will growth to Rs 12,875. 2) The tax rebate enjoyed with the aid of the taxpayers underneath Segment 87A has been reduced from Rs five,000 to Rs 2,500. In advance, it was available to people with taxable earnings of Rs. five lakh, whereas now the restrict has been decreased to Rs 3.five lakh.

3) In the case of let loose assets, the set-off of ‘loss from residence assets’ from other income streams has been restricted to Rs 2 lakh in a monetary yr. There has been no cap on it Earlier. So, if There was a loss from house assets as the whole hobby of home loan for a let loose belongings became tax deductible, you may prompt the entire loss against any other supply of profits, as a result, reducing the tax burden drastically. However now, you can activate losses handiest up to Rs 2 lakh at the same time as can carry ahead the loss for subsequent 8 years. But as in the preliminary years, the hobby value is high, the tax savings will reduce considerably because of the Rs 2 lakh cap.

Role of Decision Support System For Decision-Making Process in Global Business Environment

A Choice Help Machine is an incorporated set of laptop gear allowing a Decision maker to engage directly with PC to retrieve records useful in making semi-established and unstructured choices. An instance of this decisions encompasses such things as merger and acquisition choices, plant enlargement, new product decisions portfolio control and marketing choices.making of a murderer wiki

Decision making is a fundamental managerial activity. It can be conceptualized as which include four degrees: intelligence, layout, desire and implementation.

Important aspects of the Decision Help Device:

1) The most Vital attention is the Choice Assist Device’s ease of use – its capacity to allow no -technical humans to deal with it immediately. The single finest and maximum enduring trouble with computer systems has been their inflexibility, their incapacity to let the person who honestly wishes the records to deal at once with the PC.

2) The potential to get entry to records needs to not be restricted to most effective a part of a business enterprise or to handiest certain managerial or professional companies. As a substitute the aid ought to be allotted to all of the people and part of an enterprise wanting it without tremendous access; the power of superior dispensed Processing Gadget will move untapped as they commonly have in the beyond.

3) The correct Selection Aid Gadget in sharp contrast to the preceding technique of designing programs have to no longer be a ‘Machine’ at all inside the strict feel of the term. Instead, it must be a particularly adaptive Decision Guide generator which can without problems be utilized by specialists to speedy design information Support prototypes appropriate to each specific Decision-making undertaking. This adaptive device ought to permit short layout modifications if the authentic design does not closely healthy someone’s statistics amassing style or needs.

4) To properly Aid the human detail, this enormously adaptive Help functionality has to be able to provide access to operational information and as well as to summary records that already has been processed with the aid of software packages designed for other precise operational obligations. Equally, Crucial this tool must offer the professional with getting entry to an enterprise’s uncooked facts and it needs to allow the access to be completed in one step the use of a single clear-cut method or command and while not having to re-key summary records.

5) The agencies need to get admission to original statistics now

And again because efficiency is associated with how nicely the authentic information is prepared within the Device; the Choice Aid Generator have to be capable of interface with a true DBMS. It has to also be capable of getting entry to standard ‘flat’ documents indirectly the usage of the power of the host pm to facilitate both the person interface and records get right of entry to without converting current documents.

6) The Choice Aid Generator should allow the user decide whether data should be displayed on the CRT screen for immediate use or whether or not it must be revealed for later use. The fine way to accomplish such bendy information presentation is a workstation. The control or expert data computing device would include a keyboard, display and an interface to a printer that could print the whole thing from immediate text to portraits like pie charts, bar charts, and line charts.

7) The Guide tool need to interface with several special structures and capabilities, it has to be well matched with them all, the device should offer customers with an unmarried without difficulty used language to get admission to manage and gift facts in a manner with a view to excellent Guide the stop-consumer. 8) To facilitate formatting and manipulating displayed records, the Choice Help generator must ideally be capable of interface with word processing software. With this capability, the DSS becomes the critical link among information processing and office automation, integrating both functions in an without difficulty-used, uncomplicated, extraordinarily effective System. Selection making traits in the Worldwide Business Surroundings:

Financial Investment Services

Economic Offerings is a time period used to consult the Offerings provided by way of the finance marketplace. Monetary Offerings is likewise the time period used to describe organizations that address the control of money. Examples are the Banks, funding banks, insurance organizations, credit card agencies and inventory brokerages.

It’s far a part of the Economic device that offers one of a kind kinds of finance via numerous credit score instruments, Monetary services and products.

These are the kinds of firms comprising the market, that provide a variety of cash and funding related Offerings. These Services are the most important market aid inside the international, in phrases of earnings.

The challenges confronted with the aid of Those Offerings marketplace are forcing marketplace individuals to maintain pace with technological advances, and to come to be extra proactive and green whilst keeping in thoughts to lessen charges and risks.

Those Services had been capable of representing an increasing number of huge Monetary motive force, and a great purchase of a huge range of business products and services. The current Fortune 500 has indexed forty industrial banking companies with sales of just about a $341 trillion, up a modest 3% considering that closing 12 months.

An importance of Economic Offerings:-

It serves as the bridge that human beings want to take better manage in their price range and make higher investments. The Economic Offerings provided by way of an Economic planner or a financial institution can help human beings control their money a good deal better. It offers customers the possibility to understand their dreams and higher plan for them.

How to make an investment

It is the presence of Financial Services that allows a rustic to enhance its monetary condition whereby there may be more manufacturing in all of the sectors main to financial boom.

The benefit of the monetary boom is contemplated at the humans within the shape of financial prosperity in which the individual enjoys better fashionable of residing. It’s miles right here the Financial Offerings allow a person to collect or acquire diverse patron products thru rent purchase. in the procedure, there are a number of Economic establishments which also earn earnings. The presence of those Economic establishments promotes investment, manufacturing, saving and so forth.types of investment

The Secrets of Passive Income

I have continually wanted to develop passive earnings. I am certain the general public inside the global do. the general public wants to earn huge money.

The trouble is what do you need to do to gain it. In a survey in which 50 people had been asked if they want to be wealthy – all 50 said “yes.” However, when they were requested approximately what to do to be wealthy, most of them had been speechless.

So many of us want to stay a comfortable lifestyle But we appear not to do something to gain it. If you do no longer work for your desires then they may constantly remain dreams. Human beings continually whinge approximately poverty But for the maximum element – do not anything.

Wealthy People are Rich because they labored for it. They may be dedicated and decided in uplifting their profits.

In case you want to develop extra earnings, that is the precise article for you.

Passive earnings

Have you ever heard about passive earnings? I’m sure quite a few People have already heard the term. This form of profits is earning profits even as you sleep, it’s far advanced by way of setting up a few type of a cash making challenge at the net that virtually runs on car-pilot. This means that even If you are on a holiday along with your family, you are nevertheless earning money.