#constantly trying to isolate us from our other superiors and departments

[robertsbarbie]

x

[ratofthemedievalsewers]

Heart of Steel - Part I

DBH Connor x Male Reader

Word Count: 2.5K+

Content warning: Minor injury detail, PTSD, language

Original game dialogue I got from this video:

https://youtu.be/32Np9LKI1Vg

We were attacked in the night.

After returning from a mission back to an outpost several miles from the red zone, we removed our gear save for a few pouches on our belts we could bother with later. Our team leader set up a fire while the SQ800s, CyberLife commissioned combat androids, began loading up the trucks with extra artillery and resources. A job that could have waited until morning, but Alpha always gave the androids something to do. He said that they creeped him out when they would just stand there in a dormant state, waiting for their next mission to be given to them.

"You know what I'm going to do when I get home?"

"Here we go again."

"I'm going to get me a WR400," Foxtrot; not everyone's favourite but he certainly kept us entertained when there was nothing to do.

"Uh-huh and with what money are you going to be using to pay for this WR400? A military salary definitely ain't gonna cut it." Echo always called out Foxtrot's bullshit, he was the only one that had the patience to deal with him.

"Fine, my birthday is comin' up, if you put towards two-thirds of what it costs we can share. How does that sound?"

"I am not sharing anything with you, I don't know what diseases you carry." Their constant back forth sent chuckles through the group.

"Alright, that's enough you two. It's getting late and past everyone's bedtime, I want you all awake by O-five-hundred at the latest," Alpha would often stop them before Foxtrot would take it too far, but he could never hide the twitching smile on his face.

"Yes sir," Foxtrot mock saluted as he stood from his seat around the campfire. "Hey Echo, that offer is still-"

One moment Foxtrot had a wide grin on his face, the next there was a hole in his head between his eyes, the sound of gunshot ringing in everyone's ears.

"SHOTS FIRED! GET TO COVER NOW!"

"FOXTROT IS DOWN! I REPEAT, FOXTROT IS DOWN!"

It was dark, we couldn't see where they were firing from. The android was the only one still standing, firing off in random directions as they were gunned down. The next was Delta, shot in the left shoulder, then the throat. My gun was back in my tent and there was no chance of me getting it. Stupid.

"MEDIC! GET TO DELTA! NOW!"

"GRENADE!"

I heard the thump by my feet before I saw it. You would think it would be terrifying, to know you're staring death in the face, but for a second it was peaceful. My body was cold and I already felt like a corpse, the Rigour Mortis freezing me in place, just softly gazing at what would kill me.

Something grabbed me before the grenade exploded, saving my life but destroying the android.

The bedsheets were crumpled and soaked in sweat again when my eyes shot open. It was hard to breathe, the panic was still running through me and closing up my throat at the memory.

In; one, two, three, four. Hold; one, two, three, four. Out; one, two, three, four. Hold; one, two, three, four.

It took a few minutes for me to remember where I was. That I was home and that I was safe. Out of nervous habit, I gripped my dog tags, they were wet from the sweat that had soaked through my shirt in the night.

"Shit." It was four in the morning, there was no chance of getting any more sleep and the station wouldn't be open for another two more hours at the least. Saying that; Fowler wanted to speak to me first thing, which never meant anything good for anyone.

It was aching again at the joint. The biomechanical component always felt itchy where it joined at the elbow. Anytime I would have that dream I would scratch at it in my sleep, it was like my subconscious knew it didn't belong. It knew my rotting left arm was still in the desert somewhere being picked apart by vultures.

It's almost ironic; to be saved by an android and then to have part of one attached to me. I hated it.

*****

"Morning Cyborg, you look like shit." Gavin was forever pleasant to talk to.

"Fuck off, Reed." He constantly hovered around the coffee machine, hogging it like it was his newborn baby. "Is Fowler in yet?"

"Not yet, you in trouble?" He took his time making his coffee, exceeding in being the department's resident asshat. "Did he catch you looking at porn on your work terminal again?"

"I'm pretty sure that's only ever happened to you." Not wanting to be reminded of his previous escapades I got no response. Gavin let out a small huff before moving to the side with his fresh cup of coffee, freeing up the machine.

"Officer (L/N)." Oh for fuck's sake.

"Sir?" Captain Fowler stood outside his office, his coat half soaked from the rain.

"My office, I need to speak to you." He didn't give a second glance to me before turning and letting the glass door shut behind him.

"Ha, good luck cyborg." Shooting Gavin the middle finger, I followed Captian Fowler into his office.

"What was it you wished to talk about, sir?" Feet shoulder-width apart, back straight and hands behind my back; habits from the army were destined to die hard. Often I would find myself moving my hand up to salute before leaving the presence of a superior, something else for Gavin to make fun of.

"You're aware of the deviant cases I've assigned to Lieutenant Anderson, correct?" Fowler sat at his desk, wet coat now hung on its rack, but there was slight dampness to his suit blazer where his coat had been left open.

"Yes sir. I believe he's being accompanied by a prototype RK800 from Cyberlife."

"That's correct. I'm sure you're aware that these deviancy cases are on the more..."

"Dangerous?"

"...Unpredictable side. Now, I can't exactly issue a gun to a prototype android if it's going to be in the field and, while I value Hank as a police officer, his record is on the rougher side."

"Captain Fowler, with all due respect, I don't believe-"

"Office (L/N), with all due respect, you don't have an opinion in this matter. I want you to accompany Lieutenant Anderson in these assignments just in case a deviant becomes too much for him or this android to handle. You've certainly got the skillset for it and you're not unfamiliar with working alongside androids, unlike quite a few officers in this department."

"I understand that, but-"

"Whatever you're gonna say I don't want to hear it." Captain Fowler didn't give me a chance to argue as he stood and walked to his office door, the annoyed look on his face worsening. "Hank, in my office!"

I let out a sigh before Captain Fowler turned back to his desk. Through the office wall made of glass Hank reluctantly made his way towards us grumbling something under his breath at the request, the RK800 model obediently following behind him like a little, lost puppy. Hank sat in the chair opposite Fowler while the android stood next to me, giving a small smile as a greeting.

Captain Fowler was the first to talk, "I've got ten new cases involving androids on my desk every day. We've always had isolated incidents, old ladies losing their android maids and that kind of crap... But now, we're getting reports of assaults and even homicides, like that guy last night. This isn't just cyberlife's problem anymore, it's now a criminal investigation and we've gotta deal with it before the shit hits the fan. I want you to investigate these cases, alongside officer (L/N) and see if there's any link."

"Why me? And why do I need a god damned partner? A stupid android is already too much. Why do I gotta be the one to deal with this shit?" Props to Hank for trying, but arguing with Fowler was like talking to a brick wall. "I am the least qualified cop in the country to handle this case! I know jack shit about androids, Jeffery. I can barely change the settings on my own phone."

"Everybody's overloaded. I think you're perfectly qualified for this type of investigation," They were already starting to blow up at each other.

"Bullshit! The truth is nobody wants to investigate these fuckin' androids and you left me holdin' the bag!"

"CyberLife sent over this android to help with this investigation and I've given you (L/N) as well. You've got a state of the art prototype and a leading police officer to act as your partners."

"No fuckin' way! I don't need partners, and certainly not this plastic prick and some action hero fucker."

"Nice working with you too, Lieutenant Anderson," I said under my breath, not intending for the others to hear. Connor turned his head slightly in my direction, I could see his LED blink yellow for a moment before going back to its bright blue.

"Hank, you are seriously starting to piss me off! You are a police lieutenant, you are supposed to do what I say and shut your goddamn mouth!"

"You know what my goddamn mouth has to say to you, huh?"

"I'll pretend like I didn't hear that, so I don't have to add any more pages to your disciplinary folder 'cause it already looks like a fuckin' novel! This conversation is over."

"Jeffrey, Jesus Christ! Why are you doin' this to me? You know how much I hate these fuckin' things. Why are you doin' this to me?" Most of the department knew why he had such a distaste towards androids, no one could necessarily blame him. Ever since losing his son Hank had become completely different as both a person and an officer. Admittedly, Fowler was harsh on him, but if he wasn't then Hank would drift.

"I've had just enough of your bitching. Either you do your job or you hand in your badge. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." Hank left in a strop, letting out his frustration on Fowler's office door.

"Well then..." Connor was quick to break the tense silence. His voice caught me off guard, it was smoother, more human than any android's I had heard before. The SQ800's voices had always been more robotic than other models so it had been a shock when the androids back home had sounded so normal, it felt like that all over again. It was jarring. "I won't keep you any longer. Have a nice day captain."

Connor left and I followed behind, giving a small nod of dismissal to Fowler despite him still looking at his terminal screen.

The android went straight to Hank either oblivious or ignoring the lieutenant's current bad mood, granted there was never a time the bastard was in a good mood. Heaven itself could rain down on Detroit and he'd huff at it like a hair in his food.

"I got the impression my presence causes you some inconvenience, Lieutenant. I'd like you to know I'm very sorry about that. In any case, I'd like you to know I'm very to be working with you." Ever the enthusiast.

"I'd give in now. You're talking to a toddler in a fifty-year old's body and the toddler is having a hissy fit." I half sat and half leant against Hank's desk, using my arms to support my weight.

"Apologies, I don't believe I've introduced myself. My name is Connor, I am the android sent by CyberLife." He turned to me, a gentle and manufactured smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to be working with you too, officer (L/N). I'm sure we'll make a great team."

"Er... (Y/N) is just fine."

"Is there a desk anywhere I could use?"

"No one's using that one." Hank points to the desk opposite him, while still sulking like a child.

"Gasp, it speaks," I said in a sarcastic tone while turning to Hank.

"Fuck off. I've already got an android on my ass, I don't need you on it too."

I grabbed a terminal pad before perching myself back at the edge of Hank's desk while Connor got comfortable at the empty one. The light at the side of his head flashing yellow for a moment like he was hesitant to speak."You have a dog, right?"

"How do you know that?"

"The dog hairs on your chair. I like dogs. What's your dog's name?"

"What's it to you?" Hank shifted in his seat, "...Sumo... I call him Sumo."

"Under all those shitty shirts and questionable stains there's a warm, beating heart," I say more to myself than the other two, skimming over the recent case files sent in by Fowler.

"Officer (L/N)... (Y/N), knowing that we'd be working together I read your academy and field records. You have quite an interesting background."

"Oh yeah, then you understand that I may be a little driven to get these cases over with. I can't say I'm a fan of you terminators."

"I understand you have a... warped view of androids due to what you've experienced, but I hope you understand that I am your partner and not your enemy."

"Connor, you're not my partner, you're cyberlife's latest gizmo for us kick around." I sigh, turning to sit at my desk adjacent to hanks, taking the terminal pad with me. "Just look through the deviant case files. Terminals on your desk, knock yourself out."

They're nothing but machines. They are not your friends.

"Two-hundred and forty-three files, the first date back nine months. It all started in Detroit... And quickly spread across the country." Connor had only connected the terminal moments before.

"Don't work your CPU too hard," I mutter under my breath, catching a quick huff of amusement from Hank.

"An AX400 is reported to have murdered a man last night. That could be a good starting point for our investigation." Hank was doing his best to pretend Connor didn't exist, but the android was persistent. Connor stood from his chair and made his way into Hank's personal space.

"Uh, Jesus..." Hank turned his chair away.

"I understand you're facing personal issues, Lieutenant, but you need to move past them and-" For an android, Connor has some balls on him.

"Hey! Don't talk to me like you know me. I'm not your friend and I don't need your advice, okay?" Hank's mood had soured like milk, it wouldn't be long until Fowler was adding another page to Hank's disciplinary folder.

"I've been assigned this mission Lieutenant, I didn't come here to wait until you feel like working."

"Connor, you're just gonna-" I had wasted my breath, Hank had already stood and was grabbing onto Connor by the collar of his Cyberlife jacket and slamming against the screen next to his desk. "Hank!"

"Listen asshole. If it were up to me, I'd rather throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it. So, stop pissing me off... or things are gonna get nasty."

"Hank," I placed a hand on his shoulder to try and lightly pull him away from Connor but only earned a nasty side-eye. "Leave off him, you don't get paid enough to replace him."

"Lieutenant... Officer (L/N), uh... sorry to disturb you," Looks like the tin can was saved before Hank could knock the light out of him, "I have some information on the AX400 that killed that guy last night. It's been sighted in the Ravendale district."

"I'm on it." Hank didn't glance back when he dropped Connor's collar. The puppy dog look on his face almost made me feel bad for him... almost.

"Come on, WALL-E. Don't want to keep the old man waiting."

[oldtrivia]

Intimate with the sound of my own pain: Learning from bell hooks, my same-race relationship, passions, and art

I devoured bell hooks’s 1997 memoir, Wounds of Passion: A writing life, on writing, love, and sexuality in under a week - an admittedly incredible feat for this slow reader and avid notetaker. I’d purchased it a few years ago from Spartacus Books and previously tried starting it but conditions weren’t right. This time, having recently committed myself to growing my art practice full-time (an act which encompasses writing as well) and being on the cusp of marrying an incredible human (who played a key role in helping me make that aforementioned decision, and who continues to help foster that career choice), hooks’s views on language, suffering, and women writers/writers of colour; navigating white supremacy and racial politics; and sustaining nurturing relationships resonated so deeply with me.

From the start of our friendship, Leo and I talked openly about our Chinese(-Canadian) identities and family histories - the certain ways our upbringings were structured; racialization and its impacts on interactions and relationships with others including past white partners; questioning societal norms and all the small and significant times we feel let down by them. Over the last two years, the frankness has been refreshing for us both, and particularly for me as I have never dated within my race. I want to believe that it’s not that I did not want to, but... white supremacy. 

Beginning as a child and a new immigrant to Canada, I had developed the impression that Asian males did not consider me to be authentically or attractively Asian enough. I did have crushes on white and Asian males in school but they only ever ended up with white girls, or in one middle school instance I can recall, the cool, petite Asian girl with only white friends. Seeing how my older sister idolized American culture and which males she found attractive — and by extension and exposure I did too — also meant that a certain kind of ideal significant other who looked like George Clooney/Noah Wyle/Brad Pitt had been ingrained in me from a young age.

hooks: “Having been involved in relationships with white partners we could both see the differences it made when we were two bright black folks together… It was evident to us that our bonding was seen as political, some aberrant admiration of blackness in a world where so many folks just assumed that the goal of our lives was to assimilate into the white mainstream as smoothly and as swiftly as possible. Having white partners was one way to make that transition.” (p.74)

I was brought to a standstill when reading hooks (a black woman) recount her relationship with Mack (a black man), delving into his desires to assimilate into writing and academia (both predominantly white spaces) and how something in him was affirmed by being selected from among other black people as an exception. hooks herself experienced isolation as a black, female, perceived-to-be-angry writer in those same circles in 1970s California. It abhorred me to reflect about how when I was in my last two relationships — with an Ojibwe/white and a white man, respectively — I felt an implicit superiority thinking that this was the ultimate acceptance into white culture, even though I often felt moments of discomfort at their predominantly-white family gatherings. Still, acceptance, and what a privilege I thought it was.

It has been a number of years now, but I look back on those two particular, toxic relationships now and think of how those partners would continually exotify elements of my Asian/Chinese-ness in jokingly, seemingly harmless ways. I remember many instances of how their male/white privilege loomed over me. One of them would argue how I was more privileged as an Asian woman with affirmative action than he, a poverty-stricken white male, was. The other — despite teaching me much about questioning white supremacy through an Indigenous/Other-ed lens — both sexualized and infantilized women and Asian women in ways I sorely wished I had called out.

A studio still life - conceptualizing a work on bodily violence

I am grateful that Leo and I can have discussions where he understands my racial frustrations, such as working in in jarringly-white environments, and brings his own accounts to the table to unpack. “Never does [Mack] try to pretend that there is no reason for rage,” (p.99) hooks wrote. I appreciate my partners’s openness in not just commiserating with my experiences but trying to learn and understand them. However, that being said, Leo will never be able to comprehend the double-bind of being Chinese and a woman. Just as sisterhood is not global, shared race ≠ shared intimacy (50).

Anger, grief, and sadness have all simmered in me, even before I knew of or understood their presence. It is partly my personality, my upbringing, my cultural background, and my femininity that finds me frequently silenced, unable to make waves, doing as I’m told, time and again - in both self-imposed and systematic ways.

“They listen to me but they don’t hear. They don’t have to hear. This is what it means to be among the colonizers, you don’t have to listen to what the colonized have to say, especially if their ideas come from experience and not from books.” (p.98)

I am constantly reminded of how the skin I am in disturbs the interactions I have. On Twitter, white men I was once in a small meeting with before show up in my feed. I called to mind being given zero eye contact by either of them who spoke in the direction of my white female colleague the entire meeting. Or flipping through a sketchbook recently, I remembered the white male friend of a friend who visited my studio almost 10 years ago. He wanted some of my hair from an art piece I made (I declined), then later that night proceeded to touch me in the small of my back in a crowded room (I recoiled), not before also asking more inappropriate questions about my fertility (as I recoiled some more). Last year, when I approached a white colleague and asked her to spell my name properly after multiple instances of letting the misspelling slide, she said she would try to spell it correctly and apologized, but got defensive saying she was experiencing trauma. A few months later, this same colleague was part of a two-person team who produced a department-wide appreciation slideshow butchering my name as “Clair Yao”.

hooks puts it this way: Language is a body of suffering and when you take up language you take up suffering too.... Words have been the source of pain and the way to heal. (p.208) This is why I am finding that the words of others have been so crucial in enabling me to unpack experiences and also articulate my own thoughts; why Wounds of Passion has been such a significant work of art/writing for me. “I am intimate with the sound of my own pain,” (p.257) she declares. "The word passion comes from the root word patior, meaning to suffer. To feel deeply we cannot avoid pain." (xxiii) When I reminisce about instances of microaggressions, a dull pang inevitably sprouts in my chest.

“She has been troubled for so long about what it means to want to be devoted to the artistic life and at the same time have intense committed relationships. Seeing Jess and Robert together gives her hope. They represent for her the ideal - mutual partnership, closeness yet autonomy, differentiation of status without subordination. That their love can open up to include friendships, lovers, an array of people not like themselves. Their gayness is both significant and not solely defining. This is how she wants to feel about blackness, that it can always be significant without being the only aspect of her identity that matters. The same is true of being a woman.” (p.237)

These last few months has found me completely shifting focus career-wise and also in the midst of planning for our marriage. They are two very distinct works-in-progress, but threads undoubtedly run through them both. I mentioned before that Leo was instrumental in my shift in careers and in her memoir, hooks mentions how Mack’s support gave her the confidence to write her first book even though women were critical that she gave so much credit to a man.

“I wanted to give public testimony about this gesture of support because I believed it was important to give concrete examples of men supporting the feminist movement… His suggestion was a gift I cherished and took to heart.” (xv)

A friend asked me a short time ago if it really was Leo who gave me the push to leave my fulltime job. Like hooks, I want to keep recognizing Leo for his own gesture of support because before he first brought up the possibility of me devoting myself to my art practice and us subsisting on a single income, the thought always remained a fleeting glint. It will enrich both our lives, he assured, just as he’s also reminded me to be gentle with myself despite my current rumblings of feeling I am in a creative block.

With 52 days left before we wed, I am thinking more and more about what it means to enter into this new phase of our partnership. bell hooks has helped me delve into that orbit. From maintaining intimacy together and autonomously, being unafraid to ask for consent and what we desire, having our Chinese-ness matter and sharing wholeheartedly in it, joining in a commitment to beauty, art and social justice, and loving tenderly/generously/expansively: these are all elements of our relationship I honestly never could have imagined wanting before and now with them, I don’t ever want to comprehend their lack.

This text is now published on Medium.com

[preciousmetals0]

Econ Recon; Jobs at Amazon; Theaters Be Gone

Econ Recon; Jobs at Amazon; Theaters Be Gone:

Dead Cats Can Dance

Initial reports on the U.S. economy started rolling in this morning … and I’m not sure if you really want to look or not.

The New York Federal Reserve’s Empire State Manufacturing Index plunged by the biggest margin on record: 34.4 points. The reading, which now stands at -21.5, indicates contraction in the New York manufacturing sector.

Elsewhere, U.S. retail sales fell a greater-than-expected 0.5% in February. According to the Department of Commerce, February’s weakness stemmed from a 0.9% drop in auto sales and a 2.8% plunge in gasoline sales.

In other words, the U.S. economy was on shaky ground even before the coronavirus’ rolling mass retail closures. In fact, when you throw COVID-19 into the mix, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) believes that the U.S. economy will show zero growth in the first quarter and a 5% decline in the second.

It’s no wonder that the Fed cut interest rates to zero. It’s also no surprise that the Trump administration is now pushing for $850 billion in economic stimuli to limit COVID-19’s economic havoc.

The Takeaway:

Despite today’s poor economic data, the S&P 500 Index is in rally mode, gaining roughly 5%.

Don’t believe it.

This is what we in the industry call a “dead cat bounce.”

It’s a complicated technical term that deals with math, velocity … and cats. The gist goes like this: If you drop something (anything … even, say, a dead cat) from high enough, it will bounce.

Yesterday, we saw the markets suffer their third-worst plunge ever, only behind 1987’s 22% plunge on “Black Monday” and a 13% drop in late 1929.

After a drop like that, even you’d bounce … and you’d probably join the cat in the choir invisible. But I digress…

We’ve had a few of these reactions in the past couple of weeks. Plunge and bounce. Plunge and bounce. It’s happening so often that this dead cat isn’t just bouncing … it’s dancing.

It’s a deadly dance that lured many investors who are used to buying into the 10-year bull market’s dips.

But we’re not in a bull market anymore. We’re in a bear market that’s headed toward a potential recession.

Now more than ever, you need a strong guiding voice in the market. Great Stuff has strived to be that voice, recommending solid action and investment ideas to protect and grow your wealth — even in these trying times.

But I know that some of you want a more diversified approach.

Enter Banyan Hill expert Ted Bauman (or “Cassandra,” as we call him these days).

Ted diversifies like no one’s business. In fact, his readers in The Bauman Letter had diversification at their fingertips long before this mess began…

That’s why Ted’s model portfolio in The Bauman Letter is actually three diversified model portfolios in one:

The “Base Hits” portfolio for investing in long-term gain opportunities in solid, financially stable companies … the ones that should outlive viral markets.

The “Home Runs” portfolio for impressive shorter-term opportunities — those quick stock rallies that most investors will miss in a blink in these volatile times.

The “Endless Income” portfolio for opportunities to generate income in the meantime.

Trust me when I tell you that Ted is the man to have in your corner when volatility like this hits the market.

Click here to learn more!

Going: Cat-ching Up to Demand

Great Stuff constantly talks about holding on to well-run companies with solid business models. These, as we say, are the stocks to not sell in the current market downturn. But we never really mention any names, do we?

Shame on us…

Well, here’s one to add to your list: Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) is doing so well right now that it’s having trouble keeping warehouse shelves stocked and meeting delivery times. It should come as no surprise that the biggest online shopping center is outperforming at a time when everyone’s confined to their homes.

To remedy the situation, Amazon will hire 100,000 new full-time and part-time positions. Furthermore, the company also announced that it will raise wages by investing more than $350 million, increasing pay by $2 an hour in the U.S.

Now that’s a well-run company with a business model designed for the COVID-19 scare.

Going: The Cat’s out of the Bag

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) has done the unthinkable — something so taboo that there may be no putting this genie back in the bottle. No … it didn’t raise your cable prices again in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The company’s NBCUniversal unit is skipping the “theatrical window” for movie releases. In layman’s terms, that means it will release feature movies directly on demand … at the same time those films arrive in theaters.

With coronavirus quarantines roiling the movie theater business, now’s the perfect moment to break this final taboo.

“Rather than delaying these films or releasing them into a challenged distribution landscape, we wanted to provide an option for people to view these titles in the home that is both accessible and affordable,” said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell.

Let’s not kid ourselves: NBCUniversal (aka Comcast) isn’t doing this out of kindness. It’s because movie theater revenue is in the toilet right now. What’s more, Comcast is set to launch its own streaming service (Peacock) in April.

The company has said that first-run movies will be available on a number of streaming partners. You can bet that Peacock will strut its stuff with new movies in no time.

My only misgiving is that Trolls World Tour will be the first movie to hit on-demand and theaters at the same time. Let’s be honest here … this movie would’ve been direct-to-DVD back in the ’90s.

Regardless, once NBCUniversal gets a taste of that oh-so-sweet on-demand cash, there may be no going back to the old way of releasing movies.

Gone: Cat-astrophic Development

When NBCUniversal opened the seventh seal, there was silence in the theater for about half an hour. And I saw the seven online media giants standing before Hollywood, and to them were given seven blockbuster films. And the seven giants with the seven movies prepared themselves to stream. — Comcast Book of Revelation, 3:17

With NBCUniversal’s announcement, no longer will people go to the movies just to see a movie. The advent of the “direct to on-demand” model means that the tide has finally turned. Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) pioneered this model, but no one really took it seriously. NBCUniversal’s move lends this model credence like nothing before.

This is catastrophic news for theater owners, such as AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) and Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK). These companies aren’t totally lost, however. They have long known their time would come.

Both AMC and Cinemark offer monthly subscription packages for movie-watching, stealing from the Netflix model. Both have also moved toward enhancing the “movie experience,” offering in-seat catering, drinks and superior video and sound quality. Not to mention … those nice, reclining leather seats!

The bottom line, however, is that “going to the movies” is no longer about the movies per se. It’s about the experience, convenience and luxury.

“It’s going to be hard to go back once they get a taste of it,” said Tom Ara, law firm DLA Piper’s co-chair of entertainment. Tom is talking about the increased revenue and lower marketing costs for movie studios.

Once NBCUniversal’s move takes hold, there’s no going back. Companies like AMC and Cinemark need to act now or be left in the dust.

If your business is closed it will make less money than if it is open; if it is closed for months it will make a lot less money. If you are buying the future earnings of businesses, you should probably pay less now than you would have last week, never mind a month ago.

— Matt Levine, Bloomberg Opinion financial columnist

Sometimes we need to be brought back to life, back to reality … back to the here and now, yeah. (Soul II Soul break for the win!)

Seriously, though. I get asked all the time why I think the market is crashing and why I think it will continue to go down. And now, I’ll probably be asked why I think a recession is coming.

Matt Levine sums up my line of thinking in plain language. Companies are making less money right now due to coronavirus closures and quarantines. They will continue to do so for the next several weeks … possibly months.

It doesn’t matter that China’s supply lines are finally flowing. Demand in the U.S. is falling off a cliff. I have friends who were already let go from their jobs due to the coronavirus. They’re drawing unemployment now. That demand is no longer there, and the same story is happening across the country.

That means less earnings for companies right now and lower future earnings in the coming months. Consequently, this means lower price-to-earnings ratios and lower stock prices (assuming anyone really traded on fundamentals in the first place during the past 10 years).

You have a chance to prepare for what’s coming now. Don’t squander it.

Great Stuff: Let’s Catch up Right Meow

I think we’re long overdue fur a paws in the action … a chance to lick our battle wounds and claw back a meow-ment of respite.

It’s only Tuesday, if you can believe it…

And that’s my cue to call on you! Write in to GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com and let us know how you’re faring in this wild, whacky week!

Purr-haps you’d like a few conversation starters:

Are you stimulated by the White House’s stimulus plans? Or is the White House scratching up the wrong cat tree?

How will mass isolation in the U.S. affect your personal line of work? For my retired folks out there … did you ever experience a work disruption like this?

What are your go-to recession stocks to hold? (If you aren’t the “cash in the mattress” type, that is!)

You know the drill: You have just two days to spin a yarn to GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com to make this week’s edition of Reader Feedback.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social meow-dia. If you can’t get enough meme-y market goodness, follow Great Stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

[goldira01]

Dead Cats Can Dance

Initial reports on the U.S. economy started rolling in this morning … and I’m not sure if you really want to look or not.

The New York Federal Reserve’s Empire State Manufacturing Index plunged by the biggest margin on record: 34.4 points. The reading, which now stands at -21.5, indicates contraction in the New York manufacturing sector.

Elsewhere, U.S. retail sales fell a greater-than-expected 0.5% in February. According to the Department of Commerce, February’s weakness stemmed from a 0.9% drop in auto sales and a 2.8% plunge in gasoline sales.

In other words, the U.S. economy was on shaky ground even before the coronavirus’ rolling mass retail closures. In fact, when you throw COVID-19 into the mix, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) believes that the U.S. economy will show zero growth in the first quarter and a 5% decline in the second.

It’s no wonder that the Fed cut interest rates to zero. It’s also no surprise that the Trump administration is now pushing for $850 billion in economic stimuli to limit COVID-19’s economic havoc.

The Takeaway:

Despite today’s poor economic data, the S&P 500 Index is in rally mode, gaining roughly 5%.

Don’t believe it.

This is what we in the industry call a “dead cat bounce.”

It’s a complicated technical term that deals with math, velocity … and cats. The gist goes like this: If you drop something (anything … even, say, a dead cat) from high enough, it will bounce.

Yesterday, we saw the markets suffer their third-worst plunge ever, only behind 1987’s 22% plunge on “Black Monday” and a 13% drop in late 1929.

After a drop like that, even you’d bounce … and you’d probably join the cat in the choir invisible. But I digress…

We’ve had a few of these reactions in the past couple of weeks. Plunge and bounce. Plunge and bounce. It’s happening so often that this dead cat isn’t just bouncing … it’s dancing.

It’s a deadly dance that lured many investors who are used to buying into the 10-year bull market’s dips.

But we’re not in a bull market anymore. We’re in a bear market that’s headed toward a potential recession.

Now more than ever, you need a strong guiding voice in the market. Great Stuff has strived to be that voice, recommending solid action and investment ideas to protect and grow your wealth — even in these trying times.

But I know that some of you want a more diversified approach.

Enter Banyan Hill expert Ted Bauman (or “Cassandra,” as we call him these days).

Ted diversifies like no one’s business. In fact, his readers in The Bauman Letter had diversification at their fingertips long before this mess began…

That’s why Ted’s model portfolio in The Bauman Letter is actually three diversified model portfolios in one:

The “Base Hits” portfolio for investing in long-term gain opportunities in solid, financially stable companies … the ones that should outlive viral markets.

The “Home Runs” portfolio for impressive shorter-term opportunities — those quick stock rallies that most investors will miss in a blink in these volatile times.

The “Endless Income” portfolio for opportunities to generate income in the meantime.

Trust me when I tell you that Ted is the man to have in your corner when volatility like this hits the market.

Click here to learn more!

Going: Cat-ching Up to Demand

Great Stuff constantly talks about holding on to well-run companies with solid business models. These, as we say, are the stocks to not sell in the current market downturn. But we never really mention any names, do we?

Shame on us…

Well, here’s one to add to your list: Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) is doing so well right now that it’s having trouble keeping warehouse shelves stocked and meeting delivery times. It should come as no surprise that the biggest online shopping center is outperforming at a time when everyone’s confined to their homes.

To remedy the situation, Amazon will hire 100,000 new full-time and part-time positions. Furthermore, the company also announced that it will raise wages by investing more than $350 million, increasing pay by $2 an hour in the U.S.

Now that’s a well-run company with a business model designed for the COVID-19 scare.

Going: The Cat’s out of the Bag

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) has done the unthinkable — something so taboo that there may be no putting this genie back in the bottle. No … it didn’t raise your cable prices again in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The company’s NBCUniversal unit is skipping the “theatrical window” for movie releases. In layman’s terms, that means it will release feature movies directly on demand … at the same time those films arrive in theaters.

With coronavirus quarantines roiling the movie theater business, now’s the perfect moment to break this final taboo.

“Rather than delaying these films or releasing them into a challenged distribution landscape, we wanted to provide an option for people to view these titles in the home that is both accessible and affordable,” said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell.

Let’s not kid ourselves: NBCUniversal (aka Comcast) isn’t doing this out of kindness. It’s because movie theater revenue is in the toilet right now. What’s more, Comcast is set to launch its own streaming service (Peacock) in April.

The company has said that first-run movies will be available on a number of streaming partners. You can bet that Peacock will strut its stuff with new movies in no time.

My only misgiving is that Trolls World Tour will be the first movie to hit on-demand and theaters at the same time. Let’s be honest here … this movie would’ve been direct-to-DVD back in the ’90s.

Regardless, once NBCUniversal gets a taste of that oh-so-sweet on-demand cash, there may be no going back to the old way of releasing movies.

Gone: Cat-astrophic Development

When NBCUniversal opened the seventh seal, there was silence in the theater for about half an hour. And I saw the seven online media giants standing before Hollywood, and to them were given seven blockbuster films. And the seven giants with the seven movies prepared themselves to stream. — Comcast Book of Revelation, 3:17

With NBCUniversal’s announcement, no longer will people go to the movies just to see a movie. The advent of the “direct to on-demand” model means that the tide has finally turned. Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) pioneered this model, but no one really took it seriously. NBCUniversal’s move lends this model credence like nothing before.

This is catastrophic news for theater owners, such as AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) and Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK). These companies aren’t totally lost, however. They have long known their time would come.

Both AMC and Cinemark offer monthly subscription packages for movie-watching, stealing from the Netflix model. Both have also moved toward enhancing the “movie experience,” offering in-seat catering, drinks and superior video and sound quality. Not to mention … those nice, reclining leather seats!

The bottom line, however, is that “going to the movies” is no longer about the movies per se. It’s about the experience, convenience and luxury.

“It’s going to be hard to go back once they get a taste of it,” said Tom Ara, law firm DLA Piper’s co-chair of entertainment. Tom is talking about the increased revenue and lower marketing costs for movie studios.

Once NBCUniversal’s move takes hold, there’s no going back. Companies like AMC and Cinemark need to act now or be left in the dust.

If your business is closed it will make less money than if it is open; if it is closed for months it will make a lot less money. If you are buying the future earnings of businesses, you should probably pay less now than you would have last week, never mind a month ago.

— Matt Levine, Bloomberg Opinion financial columnist

Sometimes we need to be brought back to life, back to reality … back to the here and now, yeah. (Soul II Soul break for the win!)

Seriously, though. I get asked all the time why I think the market is crashing and why I think it will continue to go down. And now, I’ll probably be asked why I think a recession is coming.

Matt Levine sums up my line of thinking in plain language. Companies are making less money right now due to coronavirus closures and quarantines. They will continue to do so for the next several weeks … possibly months.

It doesn’t matter that China’s supply lines are finally flowing. Demand in the U.S. is falling off a cliff. I have friends who were already let go from their jobs due to the coronavirus. They’re drawing unemployment now. That demand is no longer there, and the same story is happening across the country.

That means less earnings for companies right now and lower future earnings in the coming months. Consequently, this means lower price-to-earnings ratios and lower stock prices (assuming anyone really traded on fundamentals in the first place during the past 10 years).

You have a chance to prepare for what’s coming now. Don’t squander it.

Great Stuff: Let’s Catch up Right Meow

I think we’re long overdue fur a paws in the action … a chance to lick our battle wounds and claw back a meow-ment of respite.

It’s only Tuesday, if you can believe it…

And that’s my cue to call on you! Write in to GreatStuffToday@banyanhill.com and let us know how you’re faring in this wild, whacky week!

Purr-haps you’d like a few conversation starters:

Are you stimulated by the White House’s stimulus plans? Or is the White House scratching up the wrong cat tree?

How will mass isolation in the U.S. affect your personal line of work? For my retired folks out there … did you ever experience a work disruption like this?

What are your go-to recession stocks to hold? (If you aren’t the “cash in the mattress” type, that is!)

You know the drill: You have just two days to spin a yarn to GreatStuffToday@BanyanHill.com to make this week’s edition of Reader Feedback.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Great Stuff on social meow-dia. If you can’t get enough meme-y market goodness, follow Great Stuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff

[infolibrary]

10 Vile Ways Psychology Is Used For Evil

New Post has been published on http://www.infolibrary.net/10-vile-ways-psychology-is-used-for-evil/

10 Vile Ways Psychology Is Used For Evil

Psychology is a discipline meant to help us understand how people think, behave, act, and react to all the various situations that can occur in life. And considering that people are the most important part of our society, this is a pretty important discipline. Unfortunately, psychology isn’t always used for good reasons. Sometimes, the knowledge of psychology is used for evil, and the results are nothing short of sickening

10 APA Psychologists Reverse Engineer Anti-Interrogation Techniques

The US military has always been concerned about their soldiers being captured behind enemy lines. In order to deal with this problem, they had military psychologists come up with a program to teach soldiers how to resist torture. This program is called SERE, and stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. Unfortunately, after 9/11, many of the higher-ups in the CIA and the Department of Defense decided that we were the ones who needed to extract information—no matter how it was accomplished.

Enter military psychologists Mitchell and Jessen, who decided that they would reverse engineer the military’s SERE program in order to break detainees. The fruits of their labor have made popular such techniques as stress positions, waterboarding, humiliation, and a host of other ways to break a detainee’s spirit. Much of their work was inspired by the research of one Dr. Seligman, who discovered what he termed “learned helplessness.”

First, he tortured dogs by shocking them with electricity. After they had been subjected to this long enough, they no longer tried to escape the pain—even when they had the opportunity. While Seligman has denied any involvement in the military’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques, his work was certainly an inspiration to those who reverse engineered SERE.

9 PSYOPS Is Tasked With Manipulating US Senators

Photo credit: Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej

Most reasonable people understand that, if you’re going to use it, psychological warfare is supposed to be used on your enemies—not on your own people. However, Lt. General William Caldwell had other ideas. This intrepid general decided that he wanted more funding and support for the war in Afghanistan, so he tasked PSYOPS, the army’s psychological warfare division at the time, with using their training to convince visiting senators and VIPs to support the war effort.

The Lt. Colonel who was in charge of the operation felt extremely uncomfortable using his training in a manner that he felt was against the law, not to mention common ethics. However, despite his protests, he and his team were forced to go ahead and start working on their psychological profiles of visiting dignitaries anyway, with the general even considering trying to get into the heads of NATO leaders as well. Eventually, the Lt. Colonel had had enough, and blew the whistle on the operation, leading to a major scandal and an investigation by General Petraeus. But, like many whistle-blowers, Lt. Colonel Holmes—despite having an incredibly stellar record—was brought up on disciplinary charges for tattling on his superior officers.

At least, that’s one version of the story. Details on Caldwell’s specific orders suggest that maybe there weren’t any nefarious psychological persuasion techniques used at all. According to one of the military attorneys who looked into the case, the orders were simply to “gather publicly available information, analyze it, and share the analysis with the visiting politicians.” Perhaps the final “analysis” had some bias that would further the general’s plans to get more soldiers into Afghanistan, but that’s not necessarily illegal—just morally ambiguous. In any case, the full details of what really happened are buried in the muddy waters of military bureaucracy, so we’ll probably never really know the full extent of Caldwell’s little persuasion gimmick.

8 Massive North Korean Brainwashing

Photo credit: Stephan

Most people know that North Korea is a brutal regime that takes things far beyond the realms of sanity, but they do much more than just oppress their people with force of arms. See, to truly control a populace, you need to control their thoughts, so the leaders of North Korea turned to brainwashing on a truly massive scale.

People may remember the weeping citizens on the news when Kim Jong Il kicked the bucket. Many people thought it was faked by the North Korean government, but one defector who ran off to South Korea more than a decade ago explained that the emotion you saw on TV was genuine. In fact, even after almost a decade, watching the displays of emotion on TV brought her back to her time in North Korea, and made her feel like she believed in his godhood once more. This is brainwashing so powerful that, decades later, those who know the truth still have trouble divorcing themselves from the lies they were once fed.

7 The Social Isolation Of Bradley Manning

Photo credit: Bradley Manning Support Network

Recently, researchers have started to understand just how important social interaction is for the healthy functioning of a human mind. It turns out that humans need to interact with other humans almost as much as we need food and water. Copious research has now shown that extended social isolation, even for just a few months, can easily break a person and cause serious psychological harm. Bradley Manning is well known for blowing the whistle on awful things that the United States was doing in overseas military operations. Even though he had not yet been convicted of anything, and certainly didn’t receive a speedy trial, the military decided that they couldn’t wait for the law before they started punishing him for ratting them out.

For years before he actually stood trial, Manning was kept in solitary confinement and only allowed out of his cell for an hour a day to exercise. He wasn’t offered even the most basic items, like pillows and sheets, and had no contact with the outside world. To make matters worse, the doctors at the prison knew full well that what they were doing could be damaging him psychologically. However, instead of petitioning to give him humane conditions, they just stuffed anti-depressants down his throat so he wouldn’t go completely bonkers before they could finally put him to trial.

6 Sensory Deprivation Experiments

Back in the 1950s, when it was easier to get an unethical experiment past your university’s review board, psychologist Donald Hebb decided to test a pet theory of his. It was Hebb’s belief that if a person was totally deprived of any sensory input at all, their brain would start to weaken and perform less efficiently. To test this theory, he paid students $20 a day to take part in his study. However, even Hebb didn’t entirely anticipate just how awful the results of his experiment would be. Hebb initially thought that he would be able to observe his test subjects for several weeks to get some solid data, but it turned out that none could last even one week.

Now, this was pretty severe sensory deprivation. The test subjects wore frosted goggles, headphones that emitted white noise, and clothing meant to limit their sense of touch. It was found afterward that these people had temporary cognitive impairment even after just a short time with no sensory input, and they were also found to be highly suggestible while deprived. While Hebb’s work would likely be considered unethical now, he had no intention of torturing anyone, and was surprised at how quickly and dramatically his experiment worked.

However, a psychologist by the name of Ewen Cameron was interested in Hebb’s work, and decided to devise his own methods with which to “treat” patients. Hebb wanted no part in this, because Cameron would run his experiments on patients in his hospital who couldn’t really go anywhere, and, after using sensory deprivation and drugs to put them in a suggestible state, would attempt to “reprogram” them. Unsurprisingly, he was eventually sued for methods that Hebb himself referred to as “wicked.”

5 Gaslighting Performed By Psychoanalysts

The term “gaslighting” was originally coined in reference to the movie Gaslight, which involved an abusive husband who was playing a game of psychological warfare against his wife by constantly questioning her version of reality. One of his favorite tricks was to turn down the gaslights in the house, then claim that she was imagining it when she said that the lights had dimmed. This technique is used by abusers to make the other person question their own reality, which in turn makes them much easier to control.

Unfortunately, sometimes those who are learned in the psychological arts decide to use similar dark techniques, and the results are horrifying. In his book, one psychiatrist details a situation in which a doctor created a sort of psychotherapeutic cult, where he sexually abused some of his patients. To make matters worse, this psychologist was also seeing the husband of one woman whom he constantly coerced. The husband would tell the psychiatrist about his worries involving his wife and her involvement with the group, and the doctor would reply that it was the husband who was “distorting his own reality.”

Eventually, people started to come forward with accusations, and the doctor’s reign of terror came to an end—but not before one of his patients almost killed himself from the trauma that the attempted destruction of his reality put him through.

4 Scientology And The Destruction Of Critical Thinking

Scientologists aren’t exactly known for being a kindhearted group of lovely people who just want to make your life better. However, most people don’t know the full scope of how Scientology controls people. See, it’s much more than simply the threat of losing contact with your family, or any of the other methods commonly reported to be used by the church. The true cornerstone of Scientology’s ability to keep others under their thumb is their insidious training program.

The main point of this training program is to keep people from thinking critically about anything involving Scientology. Trainees are made to sit face-to-face with other trainees for long periods of time, without moving or saying anything. They are forced to listen to random passages from Alice in Wonderland—of all things—without laughing or reacting noticeably. Another one of their training techniques is called “bullbaiting,” and involves making a person listen to hostile and abusive things until they react. If they react improperly during any of these training sessions, they flunk and have to start over until they can pass. These combined techniques are designed to make the person believe what they are told without question.

3 Interrogation Through Guilt And Induced Regression

Ever since Dr. Seligman first performed his experiments with dogs, people have been thinking about how they can use his findings to regress people and abuse them mentally for the purpose of extracting information. What the more evil people who read his work figured is that if you treat people the way the dogs were treated in Seligman’s study, you will be able to render their minds more open to suggestion. The idea of “coercive” methods of interrogation is to essentially break down the higher processes of the brain that allow us to plan, think, and take care of ourselves.

In fact, some military documents have suggested that interrogators can use their position of power—and the regressed state of their victims—to guilt them into divulging information. This works because, when they’re tortured and questioned by the same individual for an extended period of time while being kept in a state of learned helplessness, a detainee might eventually start thinking of their torturer as a sort of parent. Once they reach that mindset, the interrogator can then use this weakness to make the detainee feel bad about not telling them what they want to know.

2 False Memories Implanted With Hypnosis

Most psychologists today will tell you that repressed memories are a bunch of pseudoscientific crockery. However, there was a time when discovering “repressed” memories was more common, which caused all sorts of problems for innocent people. Now, we aren’t necessarily saying that the psychologists who helped people recover these alleged memories did so with malicious intent. In fact, many of them probably thought that they were helping their patients. But as we’ve all heard, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

One of these mental health professionals discovered allegedly repressed memories that led to first degree murder charges against an innocent person, and ended up dragging that patient into a protracted court battle. The police eventually found that there was not even the slightest shred of evidence that any of the claims made against the man were plausible. While the man did successfully sue, it’s hard to say for certain whether his reputation will ever be the same. While it may seem like a strange case, the unfortunate truth is that implanting false memories is not even that difficult, and we can easily fool ourselves into believing something that never happened.

1 Sensory Overstimulation For Interrogation Purposes

Another technique popular among the “enhanced interrogation” crowd is the reverse of sensory deprivation. According to psychological researchers, subjecting someone to more stimuli than they can handle can be just as effective as taking all stimuli away. These researchers weren’t so much interested in the fact that overstimulating people could be psychologically damaging, but more in how suggestible it made people.

Overstimulation often involves extremely loud noises meant to make it hard for the person to think or react properly to any given situation, but also usually includes repeated rhythms for increased hypnotic effect. Some forms of overstimulation—like Japanese water torture—don’t use sound at all, but instead rely on the fact that your brain needs differing stimuli to continue processing its surroundings in a clear manner. The US military has made use of overstimulation techniques at Guantanamo Bay. These include playing music at extremely high volumes and flashing strobe lights at the detainees. Unfortunately, people don’t generally do well with torture in any form, and these enhanced interrogation techniques have led many of the prisoners to seek an end to their Earthly existence.

[finnegankerr3-blog]

After Many years Of Hoping, Indoor Place's Opportunity Has Arrive.

Thankfully, my desire was approved when Covad delivered an ADSL2+ connection along with a download velocity of up to 15 Mbps. In http://confrontation-beautiful.info when modern city yards, fantasy-themed municipalities, and also bright futuristic cities were actually therefore popular that seemed to blur right into the following, Bioshock launched me to Rapture, a globe completely unlike everything I had actually ever found in an activity, or even almost anywhere else. The game presents the heros as being actually most definitely straight, and the bad guys as incorrect ... that is actually merely our personal intelligence that creates to question why the bad guys misbehave, and that is actually an error from the game for not going grey, or otherwise providing motivation. I will concede that the first area is a little boring however I assume that selects Environment-friendly Hill Zone and also Emerald Mountain zone extremely. Electricity storage guarantees to not simply supply energy to comply with household and organisation demand, it likewise might send bursts from power right into the framework to help energies keep a balance from supply and demand. Along with images like Leonardo DiCaprio and Bill Gates utilizing their individual judgment of convictions and highly effective companies to turn the world's focus toward the problems from weather adjustment and the long-lever arm of electricity effectiveness, it is actually opportunity for policy creators as well as professionals to get serious concerning finding methods to take better treatment of our world. I have actually constantly hated completing timesheets, as well as the timesheet applications simply improved my abhorrence, although Timewerks possessed possible to change me. I preferred a timer that is actually user-friendly and also will keep monitor my ventures to the moment. I am actually believing I'll possibly acquire the doubler for Zombie Motorway Driver's Ed also, partially due to all the exciting I have actually possessed with the initial. The end results of metaphysical inspiration are actually appreciation, tranquility person and also aggregate wellness, a feeling of purpose and the feeling from a deeper fulfilment in one's being. The wait timers may not be extremely long, however this is an ideal instance of a game that possesses electricity cooking timers certainly not due to the fact that they really suit the video game, however because they could try to bring in even more loan. Likewise, remember that this is actually the cost after you actually purchase the power to demand this. Done in, located in New Jersey, this is still 2x the expense from grid-delivered electricity. Most of our company bear in mind when technology referred small and committed R&D departments, top-notch specialists that were kept in isolation as well as asked to deal with just what the planet needs to have. This is a mobile video game, so this is actually definitely just obtained sufficient area for the one prank, but if you enjoy that one prank, then you need to undoubtedly choose this one up. My Equine Royal prince maintains finding a brand new technique to become absurd long after you think that should end. Hastings, which was talking at the Stock market Diary Live conference this evening fought along with Comcast over a planned Time Warner merging in 2014, dreading the bargain could mean Comcast would certainly possess the potential to obstruct broadband world wide web access to Netflix consumers. I can not invest sufficient opportunity listed here, unfortunately, given that I possess various other accountabilities. Maybe that must be actually the bottom line, but the game does nothing with that said, that instead suggests that the romance possesses some great, deeper meaning as this is actually Laguna's and also Julia's love born from scratch ... yet I do not truly see what the game desires our team to deal with the energy of their passion. If you're brand new to Serendipity: The Gotten Master, returning after a long time away in front of the release of Rise from Iron in September or even just perplexed concerning time areas, our team're listed here for you. Wave energy is created by wind, stated Paul Jacobson, ocean electricity leader from the Electric Power Study Institute, a non-profit that studies the electric energy industry. I've from time to time described it in various other posts, yet this's high time it acquired its own location in the TMO evaluates exhibit. Key improvements in the electric grid's supply as well as need account are requiring electricals to believe creatively about how you can handle this shift. In http://confrontation-beautiful.info/smoke-out-danh-gia-noi-de-mua-thuoc-forum/ , for the ZEH, that placed photovoltaics on the south-facing roof covering to grab electricity coming from the sunshine and help counter consumption. Search for the familiar Energy Celebrity logo whenever you acquire ink-jet printers, fax machines, scanners, and various other items. Tidy Edge mentions that the proposed budget financial 2013 (although it isn't very likely to pass) includes spending of $1 billion on tidy power as well as power effectiveness projects, up from $400 million in the latest year. Sometimes our experts are lucky enough to have this currently created in to the goal our experts are actually functioning to like getting an award only for traversing the finish line at a fifty percent endurance no matter your opportunity. My nearby (Denver) consultations stay at the true time in iCal provided that I donit travel to a various opportunity area. Late in 2014 report possessed it that Indiana had snagged the job, which are going to be located a few hours' disk off Believe battery provider Ener1 (s HEV). If someone needs to know whether I am actually devoted to Microsoft window Phone, they ought to deal with exactly what I simply did with the free of cost upgrade to Windows, as opposed to - hello, I making four additional phone models valuable cell phones. When you need to, the goal is actually to have sufficient in your inventory that you feel comfortable using all of them. An invested remedy to save a run is a hell from a lot more better in comparison to being and dying compelled to reboot (shedding electricity) or even continue (dropping superior money). Ironpants Free slides around the # 1 totally free video game along with the removal from Flappy Bird, and also I make certain the infinitely replayable but shateringly difficult style from activity that Flappy Bird did such an amazing project of mading popular will definitely be at the cutting edge from the App Store launch cycle for rather a long time as programmers try to grab also a fraction from Flappy Bird's remaining results. Grid operators around the country have merely lately began to put guidelines in place that will certainly make it possible for energy storage space venture managers to make amount of money. While I believe mobile phone is the definite area to participate in the appropriate genre from video game, that is al its largest imperfection. To sum up, I assume it was actually very inadequate from Apple certainly not to include the complete collection of general apps in the apple ipad. For professional vets, the process most likely isn't really a big deal, but for a first cooking timer like me, that was actually absolutely harder compared to I will visualized.

[claudiascholzprojects]

Modifying As-found materials

Reception book Vällingby, 2010

(1) Foreword

The limits of site visits are determined by time frames, aspirations, curiosity and above all by coincidences. A one-day visit differs from a ten-day visit in the same way a one-year stay will differ from a ten-year stay in a place, though even a short visit will reflect some fragments of the discontinuous reality. It can inspire a “narration of a moment” in time and space. It partakes of the memory of a place. These narrations are challenged by the circumstance that there is no one reality which could be completely observed, analysed and studied. Every story can unfold in manifold directions. Every perception is different. The memory is fragmented and discontinuous, constantly enriched by other memories, experiences and images. But every image is generated by physical objects through sensations. The architect’s shapes form the backbone of the memories and, based upon their importance, they play varying roles. Once perceived our mind can reproduce them in any way it likes. It will reconstruct them in ways that suit. This narration is based on my 1st time visit to Vällingby in August 2010. I did not know anything about the place, it’s buildings, it’s constructors and inhabitants. The story is interwoven with other people’s narratives of the place that are based on interviews. The whole story was not mapped out in advance. Whilst the main sections were based on four questions that classify the events lived through in Vällingby 2010, many additional aspects were discovered over the course of writing. Today’s pictures were taken during my visit in August 2010. The criteria for the selection of the pictures is based on four principles: first, you understand how the pictured objects stand in relationship to each other and space; second, the position of the camera is comprehensible and is logical for capturing each situation; third, the images try to underline aspects of atmosphere and to make them visible. The typical rather than the exceptional usage of space is shown. The fourth criteria concerns the pictorial room where nothing is highlighted in the foreground, the camera’s gaze is straightforward and no special lenses are used.

(2) Evolving city : What best represents the feeling of the place?

Arrival. Arrival in the city in the park, attached to the subway line like a pearl on a string. A city with all it’s amenities placed close to the lakeshore area that 56 years ago was an area of virgin urban life. Nothing had been there previously besides two or three farmhouses.

It is a lovely day today. Sun. An expansive sky. There is this feeling of air and freedom. Emptiness, space for breathing and nature’s splendour wherever you look. It is right in front of you.

You glance at the horizon from the pier. The  nature of the lake makes you fall in love with the place. Stockholm eat your heart out. Everything says that this place belongs to Nature. You feel exposed, but nature’s continuity and generosity makes you loose any fear.

Benches and retaining walls remind one that the land is occupied and municipally digested. A place for everyone. Immense grasslands for picnics and sport are always close, surrounded by forests.

(3) Hidden continuities : What is most familiar / recurrent? What happens twice?

The long residential houses are always placed on the top of the slopes. Similarly, statues are placed on plinths. Coming home gives you a sense of superiority and command over Nature. Up-lifting. Nothing could be more natural than this way of building. Mini-fortresses separated from the overall circulation space in the green alleys of  the dell. Walking. Walking. Passing through clearings that interweave amongst the mass of trees.

There is nothing special about the houses. Diverse units but in their shapes just right. Long blocks in coloured plaster – everything very ordinary with no intention of increasing the potential of it’s location.  No street has a perfectly straight façade. It is rather a route made driveable than a traffic street for cars. Views are staged and appear recessed.

Enclosed spaces. But there is an overview in these somehow simplistic residential units. You can always move on, even if you would never guessed it by entering intimate courtyards. There is an exit, a pathway, an opening, that lets you step out of the enclosed spaces, that makes you feel protected and taken care of even in the public spaces.

These openings are like windows opening on free horizons, offering an escape from the constrained complexities of urban life. They attain breadth through their suggestion of deep space on the other side, there where nature rules. Wilderness. The trees, inside and outside the groupings are the same, although the trees inside don’t appear as wild as those outside. Wilderness is something else in Sweden. It seems to be gentle.

But the links to nature are kept to a minimum. Having once passed through the opening you almost don’t see the backsides of the houses as the stairs lead you quickly away from backsides that are always so different from the fronts. One minute here, one minute there. No doubt about where the outside is here, then.

(4) Leaps in scale : What do you notice when going?

As you arrive by train or car you encounter generous signs. V for Vällingby. A large laid-out roundabout sits independent from its urban setting. You are in the middle, but isn’t Vällingby only on the right, where the train station is?

The train stops 28 minutes after departing from Stockholm Central. You climb up the stairs from the train platform. From the covered tracks you emerge onto the wide-open roof. A perfect horizontal plane covered with a precise geometri circle pattern that seems to extend itself endlessly. Like an elaborated carpet, the stones are laid out over the urban infrastructure. Buildings seem to float on the overwhelming surface like boats do on the sea. Everything flows. Again that feeling of immediacy and opening up; you are outside of the city.

Towards the edges in the northeast the carpet folds itself softly to meet the green of the dell. Beneath it becomes more intimate. Home. Southwest it runs unpretentiously against the hill and disappears like a carpet does under furniture. There the stairs going uphill are understated and lead away instead toward something particular.

A cyclist passes in the sunset light. He smiles. From the plane you glance at the green and the more intimate spaces. Home. Tense city nerves relax. Home. Calmness. It is 6 pm. You meet few people. As the sun sets they gather upon the roof before turning home to their loved ones.

How might it be in an autumn haze? What would you still see? The streets-lamps on the carpet might be bright enough to guide your way. They might be illuminated grapes; and when it snows? Is the whole place cleaned or will you see people’s tracks? Will you see the boulders which had been kept but were then moved during construction?

The contour line of the slope on the other side of the dell is contained. The message from the carpet is simple. The green has so much grown in-between the terraced houses that the slope has become a straight line. A line of motion and soft changes[1]. You hardly notice the slight turn by the last unit of the terraced houses.

For sure I will see the high-rises in the view. They recur in such a rigorous way. Just a few as if a higher number would have hampered the recognition of their shape, the elaboration and the colouration  (FERDINAND HODLER). The leap in scale between the low and the high-rise is almost non-existent. First, you are too close to the high-rises, so that you don’t notice them and even then you see them only from a distance. But an intermediator of green, a kind of borderline, seperates the diverse volumes into different layers so that the leap happens effortlessly.

On the other side of the highway is the ‘lost’ composition. Building volumes are well-balanced against one another. A visual harmony, but why should you want to cross it again? It seems to be part of another world, not of Vällingby.

(5) Fragmented living : What is a residential unit?              

Vällingby seems to be made like a scattered puzzle. Once you leave the carpet you are in-between. How many pieces the puzzle has you may never know. You know there are as many as appear in the distance at brief glance. As you walk by the now mature trees you wonder about their strength and health. Who takes care of them? Is it part of the park or the gardens? Where does one end and the other begin? And after all, where would the difference lie?

Bicycles lean against walls; toys are strewn in the grass; doors are open. No fences or hedges confine the properties. Everything belongs to the country, to all. No hazards. Distinctions are unwanted, that which hinders, by visual crime or insensitive enclosure. It’s clear where the lines of force (demarcations) are. Nothing gets entangled, everything is clear.

But where have the people gone?          

Sven Markelius (1889-1972), master mind behind the general plan, somehow managed to convey the image that architecture is not about the single isolated building but about the building and its relation to space and nature.  

The relationships between the buildings vary. Houses follow the sun, the levels. They are a bit stark but there is a certain clarity in their relation to the landscape. Built in nature and not in a city. You step out into the street, you immediately step out into Nature. Social space is in the green, not in the ‘urban’. Is it still a town? The need for buffer zones is not there as cars and pedestrian walks are separated; but walk are long.  

(6)     Qualities of small scale city structure : What do people do? Usage. Human scale.     

Mrs. Vällingby thought: “Gardening is useful. When you are outside you keep your mind busy. You improve your health and connect to Nature. You are never alone, you are always part of the bigger cycle.” In the past she used to show the millions of visitors around, international and local, who came to review the success story that is Vällingby.

It was a beautiful day, Mr. and Mrs. Vällingby took the longer route. Since they have had her artificial hip implanted last year they have preferred to live closer to the ‘carpet’ with its shopping centre, library, church and cinema. The routes are shorter and since the children moved out there has been no need to have a big apartment. The rooms were smaller, but the view... the view was simply breathtaking from the highest point and you could see Lake Malaren.

Today they walk again under the silvery willows, where they first met 50 years ago. It is a narrow space, which somehow catches the light and creates an intimate feeling inside the huge park of Vällingby. It is velvet and fluffy. Light.

They pause to talk to people they meet. “Is there anything more delightful, more simple and beautiful, than walking?” No car has ever cross the path. Separate tracks for cars have ensured a safe environment. Let the cars go by at their own great speed. “Why does one want to rush so quickly past all the images and objects that the environment has to offer”

Mrs. Vällingby regrets that her daughter still has to go to work in Stockholm. With all the promises in the past one believed that future generations would have found work in Vällingby. Though she realises that since her intial enthusiasm for washing machines and central heating systems time has passed. How much easier it is to be a woman today. Who ever would have thought, “My daughter, the director of the National Museum.”.

She would have liked to talk with their old neighbours, but they have become so busy. The door is open. Not only their’s but from the whole block’s. What strange dynamics the houses create. Everyone does the same up to a certain point. You are proud of your house; although you know that your neighbor has the same tiny flowers on the wall inside the stairways. It is the consciousness of living in a realised utopia that makes you feel proud?

There is nothing better to do than to walk and go home.

Walking, she kept wondering about the day. The light had been so special in the church. Whoever would have thought that such a simple red-brick church could remain so long in your memory. Back then the architect Peter Celsing was right when he insisted that there was no need for ornaments or decorations. The dark bricks would bring the light to flitter, absorb and make it dance. Thanks to that beautiful experience does she see better know? Is there that famous after glow effect?

[1] Georgy Kepes said that “The most beautiful face loses much of its quality if it is without motion; and an ill-proportioned face loses its shortcomings when animated. Asymmetry is necessary for something to happen; life is motion, change, discharge of energy, and, complementary to the dream of stability and order, there is a persistent dream of vitality and change.”