#inspired by bill cramer

[slippy-socks]

yeehawgust day 4: desert rains

[thatrickmcginnis]

JOHN TCHICAI, Toronto 1988

John Tchicai was in the right place at the right time in the mid-'60s. Born in Copenhagen to a Danish mother and a Congolese father, he had studied music when he was young and was playing the alto saxophone when he met Bill Dixon and Archie Shepp at a festival in Helsinki. Inspired, he moved to New York City and ended up playing on several of the most important records in free jazz, including Shepp's Four for Trane, Albert Ayler's New York Eye and Ear Control and John Coltrane's Ascension - the record where I first heard him. By the time I photographed Tchicai he'd had a long career in jazz and avant-garde music, playing on records like John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Life with the Lions, and had switched from alto to tenor sax.

John Tchicai was in town playing with my friends Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer, who had organized a series of gigs at Sneaky Dee's - not the somewhat famous club on College Street but further up Bathurst at Bloor, in its original basement location. John was staying with Jane and Larry, who were my neighbours, so when they told me he was there I arranged to swing by for an impromptu morning portrait shoot in their backyard. I remember John being very charming, and maybe a bit bemused by this young photographer who was still learning the fine points of using his camera.

When Jane told me that John Tchicai was available for a session I grabbed whatever film I had on hand - a roll of black and white Ilford and a roll of expired Kodachrome that I'd been given by my cousin Terry, who worked at Kodak Canada. I didn't shoot this legendary (and now extinct) film much - its low speed and unforgiving latitude weighed against its famously vibrant colours. The morning light meant that many of my portraits were abundant with bokeh (a word we didn't use back then). John Tchicai received a lifetime grant from the Danish ministry of culture and moved to California not long after I photographed him, and from there to the south of France at the turn of the millennium. He suffered a brain hemorrhage in the airport in Barcelona Spain in 2012 and died a few months later. His wife Margriet Naber published his biography, A Chaos with Some Kind of Order, in 2021.

[germanpostwarmodern]

The work of Swiss landscape architect Ernst Cramer can be divided into two distinctive phases: one before 1946 and one after. While the former is characterized by a certain conventionality the latter is radical and completely different. In 1944 Cramer became member of the Schweizer Werkbund and in the Zurich chapter got acquainted with Max Bill and Johannes Itten, both of whom consecutively influenced him: from the early 1950s onwards Cramer turned towards abstraction and unfolded an almost explosive creativity that established Cramer’s fame as one of the great garden architects of the 20th century. This second phase of his career also forms the center of Udo Weilacher’s groundbreaking monograph „Visionäre Gärten - Die Landschaften von Ernst Cramer“, published in 2001 by @birkhauser_books. Weilacher makes short work of Cramer work up until the 1950s and focuses on Cramer’s abstract and far better known later works that include his planting of Willy Guhl’s Eternit bowls in 1952, his contribution to the 1957 Interbau building exhibition in Berlin and the so-called „Garden of the Poet“ at the G 59 exhibition in Zurich in 1959. Interestingly Weilacher also breaks down Cramer’s manifold influences and inspirations including Piet Mondrian as well as Roberto Burle Marx’s curvaceous designs. The latter is the result of Cramer’s intensive reception of Brazilian garden architecture following his travel to Brazil in 1960 that in turn resulted in an even more sculptural output afterwards. „Visionäre Gärten“ is a great read that boasts with fascinating projects supplemented with excellent illustrations and which is very worthy tribute to this great garden architect.

[pintando-paredes]

Mural at infant school in Brazil - crowdfunding campaign

https://youtu.be/OhFp7ym5bIc

Original campaign: https://chuffed.org/project/infant-school-mural-brazil

What and where

We are painting an 85 metre mural at João Batista Cardoso infant school in São Luiz do Paraitinga, Brazil with the participation of the children, parents and teachers.

The mural will transform the wall into bright, colourful and engaging space for the whole community to enjoy, especially the children as they walk to and from school.

Why

The infant school takes approximately 180 children from 3-6 years old and is compulsory as the first stage of schooling in Brazil. The school provides a wonderful space for young children to play and learn but as part of a small rural town it lacks the funds to spend on anything other than the normal day-to-day running costs of the school. For this reason we are using crowdfunding and asking you to help us realise the project.

We strongly believe that participatory art projects bring people together in a creative, constructive and positive action that benefits both the individual participating and their wider community. Mural projects nurture and inspire creativity in children and adults alike and can boost morale, community cohesion and create a sense of pride and ownership over a public space.

How

Our community artist and project leader Andy will organise and implement the painting in conjunction with the director, teachers and parents of the school. Andy is an experienced community artist and has spent the last five years working in Brazil running various participatory art projects for children and young people with different charities and NGOs.¹

We will run scheduled sessions with the different classes for the children to participate in the painting as well as inviting and encouraging parents to participate as well.

Design

The design depicts many of the animals that are native to this region of Brazil and also the Paraitinga river which runs by the side of the school and from which the town gets its name.

The design of the mural is simple and geometric, this creates an impactful visual style whilst at the same time allowing for everyone to take part in painting as the design can be ‘painted by numbers’.

Mural plan to scale:

Details of each animal:

Capivara / Capybara – Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

Corujinha-do-mato / Tropical screech-owl – Megascops choliba

Borboleta 88 / Cramer’s eighty-eight butterfly – Diaethria clymena

Bugio-ruivo / Brown howler monkey – Alouatta guariba

Jararacuçu / Jararacussu – Bothrops jararacussu

Tucano-de-bico-verde / Green-billed toucan – Ramphastos dicolorus

Preguiça-de-garganta-marrom / Brown-throated three-toed sloth - Bradypus variegatus

Beija-flor-de-orelha-violeta / White-vented violetear - Colibri serrirostris

Anta-brasileira / South American tapir - Tapirus terrestris

Saúva-limão / Leafcutter ant - Atta sexdens

Tatu-galinha / Nine-banded armadillo - Dasypus novemcinctus

Onça-pintada / Jaguar - Panthera onca

Periquito rico / Plain parakeet - Brotogeris tirica

Macaco-prego / Black capuchin - Sapajus nigritus

Rã-flautinha / Lutz's treefrog - Aplastodiscus albosignatus

Morcego-beija-flor / Geoffroy's tailless bat - Anoura Geoffroyi

Jacutinga / Black-fronted piping guan - Pipile jacutinga

Quati-de-cauda-anelada / South American coati - Nasua nasua

When

We have already painted around 20% of the space beginning with the water pattern which included the participation of the school children and we believe the project will realistically take five months to finish.

This timeline is an estimate that can change depending on various factors. It also does not just reflect the time it will take to paint the mural but the time it will take to complete the project as a whole. This includes the other preparation work necessary such as: finalising the design and colour choices inline with paint available, preparing the large stencils, transferring the design onto the wall and organising participatory workshops with the school children inline with the school's timetable.

Objectives

To complete the painting of the mural through the participation of parents, children and local community members.

To transform the space, creating a sense of ownership, pride and community.

To strengthen the ties between the families and the school.

To run further sessions with each class so that every child in the school makes their mark on the mural.

Funding

Until this point our community artist has given his time voluntarily to work on the project and we have been able to cover the cost of the paint and materials through fundraising events at the school. But with the scale of the mural and the time it will take to complete it this funding will to allow him to support himself whilst he completely dedicate his time to running the project with the school over the next five months.

We are looking for your help to raise £1000 to be able to fully realise the mural and achieve our objectives for the project.

This funding amount is based on the minimum monthly wage in Brazil which for 2019 is R$998.²

The average GBP-BRL exchange rate for the last 12 months has been 4.989.³

This equates to £200.04 per month, so a projected timeline of 5 months therefore gives a total of £1000.20

Perks

As a thank you for supporting the project we have come up with some amazing perks that includes the original artwork from the mural by our community artist Andy Câncio Bunce.

Remember to please include your name to be painted on the wall and address to receive the postcards, prints and posters in a message!

For the posters please include which animal you would like based on the designs featured on this page.

Name on the wall

Your name will be painted on the wall as part of our list of supporters for everyone to see and to show our appreciation of your donation. A photo of the names on the wall will be posted on here and our Instagram page for you to see once they have all been painted.

Thank you postcards

A handwritten thank you postcard sent directly from São Luiz do Paraitinga in Brazil, each one features an animal from the mural design. There is a total of five postcard designs, if choosing one or three the designs will be chosen at random.

Limited edition signed A4 print

Small print (210 x 297 mm) of the final mural artwork showing all 16 animals used with their common names in Portuguese and English and their scientific name. Printed on 250gsm matt couché (coated) paper. The prints are from a limited run 50 which will be numbered and signed by the artist.

A3 poster

Medium print (297 x 420 mm) of one of the animals from the mural artwork printed on 140gsm matt paper.

A2 poster

Large print (420 x 594 mm) of one of the animals from the mural artwork printed on 200gsm satin paper.

Delivery

Postcards and Prints will be sent after the crowdfunder has finished and should arrive within 2-4 weeks but could take longer depending on printing times.

Photos of the names on the wall will be published once the mural is completed.

If there are any problems with your perk/reward please get in contact so that we can resolve it quickly.

Updates

We will post regular updates on the project here on the crowdfunding page and also on our Instagram www.instagram.com/pintando_paredes/ so you can see the difference your help has made to the project and how the mural is progressing!

Thank you!

Thank you very much for taking the time to check out our crowdfunder. We will be very grateful for any donations, big or small, to help us realise this project!

Please share this crowdfunding page on your social media accounts to help us reach more people.

For any questions please email andrewcanciobunce@gmail.com

Thank you very much!

Media

References

¹ https://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/harpenden-artist-leads-project-inspired-by-rio-olympics-1-4670633

² http://www.brasil.gov.br/noticias/emprego-e-previdencia/2019/01/decreto-fixa-salario-minimo-de-r-998-em-2019

³ https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=BRL&view=1Y

Perks

Level 1

Name on the wall

Level 2

1 x Thank you postcard from Brazil 

Name on the wall

Level 3

3 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 4

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 5

Limited edition signed A4 print

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 6

A3 poster

Limited edition signed A4 print

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

Level 7

A2 poster

Limited edition signed A4 print

5 x Thank you postcards from Brazil

Name on the wall

[patriotsnet]

Why Do Republicans Stand Behind Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-do-republicans-stand-behind-trump/

Why Do Republicans Stand Behind Trump

Senate Republicans Are Not Going To Convict Trump

Donald Trump: Some Republicans did not honor their pledge to stand behind Trump

It is not likely there are enough votes to convict Trump. President Biden himself said in an interview on January 25 that Democrats did not have the votes in the Senate to convict Trump. Even though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was not sure how he would vote, signalling the first significant break between Trump and the most powerful Republican in the Senate, he and 45 Republican senators voted on January 26 in favour of a motion proposed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to dismiss the impeachment trial. The strategy behind this motion was to question the constitutionality of convicting a former president, another first in American history. Only five Republicans opposed the measure. This is the most glaring indication that nowhere close to 17 Republicans will vote with the Democrats to convict the former president.

Moreover, Trump has threatened political retribution against those GOP members of Congress who support impeachment. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and his closest aides were in discussions about creating a new Patriot Party to challenge Republican candidates. However, Trump recently disavowed these reports and reassured Senate Republicans. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota relayed to Politico that The president wanted me to know, as well as a handful of others, that the president is a Republican, he is not starting a third party and that anything he would do politically in the future would be as a Republican.

The Partys Core Activists Dont Want To Shift Gears

This is the simplest and most obvious explanation: The GOP isnt changing directions because the people driving the car dont want to.;

When we think of Republicans, we tend to think of either rank-and-file GOP voters or the partys highest-profile elected officials, particularly its leaders in Congress. But in many ways, the partys direction is driven by a group between those two: conservative organizations like Club for Growth and the Heritage Foundation, GOP officials at the local and state level and right-wing media outlets. That segment of the party has been especially resistant to the GOP abandoning its current mix of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, opposition to expansions of programs that benefit the poor and an identity politics that centers white Americans and conservative Christians.

You could see the power and preferences of this group in the response to the Capitol insurrection.

In the days immediately following Jan. 6, many GOP elected officials, most notably McConnell, signaled that the party should make a permanent break from Trump. Pollsfound an increased number of rank-and-file GOP voters were dissatisfied with the outgoing president. But by the time the Senate held its trial over Trumps actions a month later, it was clear that the party was basically back in line with Trump.;

related:Why Being Anti-Media Is Now Part Of The GOP Identity Read more. »

Trump Breaks Silence With Cpac Speech

Most notably, these state and local parties launched a barrage of censures or other forms of condemnation not long after a violent pro-Trump mob inspired by the former presidents lie about a stolen election and egged on that day by Trump himself stormed the Capitol intent on disrupting Congress as it formalized President Joe Bidens win. Many of the efforts were aimed at the small number of Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment or conviction after House Democrats moved swiftly to impeach Trump on the charge of “incitement to insurrection.”

In Louisiana, the state GOP censured one of its U.S. senators, Bill Cassidy, moments after he voted to convict Trump. North Carolina’s state GOP passed a similar measure aimed at Sen. Richard Burr just days later.

In Illinois, Larry Smith, chair of the LaSalle County Republican Party and a leader in the effort to censure Rep. Adam Kinzinger after he voted to impeach Trump, told NBC News that local GOP leaders in his state are overwhelmingly still pro-Trump, and that the detractors amount to a splinter group by comparison.

I think they’re stunningly naive or have completely misread the tea leaves, he said of Republicans who believe they can leave Trump behind.

He pointed to comments from Kinzinger in The Atlantic in which the lawmaker expressed hope that the segment of the GOP base ready to move past Trump could grow to 35 or 45 percent by the midterm elections.

Read Also: What Cities Are Run By Republicans

Why Dont Republicans Stand Up To Trump Heres The Answer

Rep. Mark Sanford

If youre still flummoxed by the abject servility of congressional Republicans, by their refusal to confront Trump and stand up for American values, check out last nights primary election in South Carolina. The purging of Mark Sanford says it all.

Sanford is a long-serving conservative lawmaker who typically votes with his party, but on a few public occasions, he has actually dared to suggest that Trump is not the supreme very stable genius that the deluded Republican base deems Trump to be. The result: Sanford loses his job.

For the inexcusable sin of speaking his mind about factual reality, the Republican base voters in Sanfords House district threw him out last night, handing the GOP nomination to a far-right Trumper who repeatedly denounced Sanford as disloyal.

This is why rank-and-file Republican lawmakers refuse to speak out. Theyre afraid of their own constituents. Its Trumps party now, and the constituents in red districts virtually worship the guy. Forget about putting country over party, because its actually worse than that. Sanfords colleagues wont put country over career. Theyll vow that what just happened to Sanford will not happen to them.

As conservative commentator Erick Erickson said today, Mark Sanford losing in South Carolina is pretty much proof positive that the GOP is not really a conservative party that cares about limited government. It is now fully a cult of personality.

I stand by every word.

Why Do Republicans Continue To Support Trump Despite Years Of Scandal

It was late September last year when a whistleblower complaint revealed that President Trump had tried to force the Ukrainian government to investigate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Within moments the scandal captured headlines. What followed was months of back and forth as Republicans supported the president while the Democrats used their political capital to get him impeached.

But this was not the first time ;;or the last time ;the president was caught in the middle of a scandal.;Since the impeachment trial that followed the Ukraine incident, episodes from The New York Times uncovering unsavory details from President Trumps tax returns, to his questionable dismissal of multiple Inspectors General, to his refusal to clearly condemn white supremacists have all sparked widespread media attention and partisan fighting in 2020.;

Although with his polls dropping, some Republicans may finally be distancing themselves from the President, the question has been regularly asked the past four years: why do the Republicans continue to support the President despite these troubling charges being leveled at him? And, what is it that the Democrats stand to gain from repeated allegations?

;In addition to demonstrating how polarization accelerates scandals, the paper also found that:;

Read Also: Which Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump Today

Trump Is Still A Force In The Party

After the 2012 elections, prominent Republicans sharply criticized Mitt Romney and his campaign. Democrats did the same to Hillary Clinton after 2016 and sometimes included former President Barack Obama in their criticisms, too. For a political party to change direction, it nearly always has to distance itself from past leaders.;

Or put another way: For there to be an autopsy, there has to be a dead body.

Republicans’ Choice: Stand With Trump Or Risk His Wrath

Trump has already informed at least two GOP lawmakers of his dissatisfaction with their defense of his racist tweets.

Sen. John Cornyn prides himself on winning a large share of the Latino vote in Texas, campaigning in the Asian American community and running ads in three languages. Its a crucial strategy for a Republican in a diverse state and one that is sharply divergent from President Donald Trumps approach.

So as Cornyn seeks reelection next year with Trump on the ballot, hes making sure that he isnt dragged down by the presidents more inflammatory politics, exemplified again this week by his racist tweets telling four liberal Democratic congresswomen to go back to where they came from.

I dont have any trouble speaking to any of my constituents. They dont confuse me with whats happening up here in D.C., said Cornyn, who has gently criticized Trumps battle as a mistake that unified Democrats. I know we are consumed by this here, but it doesnt consume my constituents when I go back home.

Its a common refrain for Republicans trying to deflect a Trump-fueled firestorm and highlights the dilemma that the party will face for months to come.

GOP lawmakers, especially those facing potentially tough reelection bids, need to create independent identities to win over Trump skeptics. But if they break too fiercely with the president, he and his grassroots supporters might turn on them, with disastrous political consequences.

Also Check: How Many Seats Do Republicans Have In The Senate

A Clue About This Difficult Political Surgery

Reuters: Yuri Gripas

Trump is like a drug Republicans are yet to find a way to kick. By most accounts, few Republicans in Congress want him back, and many believe that if a secret ballot had been held in the Senate on the weekend, more than the required number of 17 would have joined with the 50 Democrats to convict him and ban him from holding office in the future.

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech condemning Trump as “practically and morally responsible” for the deadly January 6 attack on Congress by his supporters, offers a clue about the difficult piece of political surgery he is now trying to perform.

“Seventy-four million Americans did not invade the Capitol,” McConnell said. “Hundreds of rioters did. Seventy-four million Americans did not engineer the campaign of disinformation and rage that provoked it. One person did. Just one.”

Have Expressed Reluctance Or Misgivings But Havent Openly Dropped Their Backing

Why military veterans stand behind Donald Trump

Paul Ryan and John Boehner, the former speakers of the House: Both have expressed their dislike of the president, but have not said whom they will support in November.

John Kelly, a former chief of staff to the president: Mr. Kelly has not said whom he plans to vote for, but did say he wished we had some additional choices.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska: She has said that shes grappling with whether to support Mr. Trump in November. She told reporters on Capitol Hill in June: I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time.

She said: I think right now, as we are all struggling to find ways to express the words that need to be expressed appropriately, questions about who Im going to vote for or not going to vote for, I think, are distracting at the moment. I know people might think thats a dodge, but I think there are important conversations that we need to have as an American people among ourselves about where we are right now.

Mr. Sanford briefly challenged the president in this cycles Republican primary, and said last year that he would support Mr. Trump if the president won the nomination .

That has since changed.

Hes treading on very thin ice, Mr. Sanford said in June, worrying that the president is threatening the stability of the country.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

Also Check: Which Republicans Voted Against The Budget Resolution

Why Are Republicans So Afraid Of Voters

There is no both sides do it when it comes to intentionally keeping Americans away from the polls.

By The Editorial Board

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstandingvalues. It is separate from the newsroom.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 93 million Americans had cast a ballot in the November elections. Thats about two-thirds of the total number of people who voted in 2016, and there are still two days until Election Day.

This is excellent news. In the middle of a global pandemic that has taken the lives of nearly a quarter of a million Americans, upended the national economy and thrown state election procedures into turmoil, there were reasonable concerns that many people would not vote at all. The numbers to date suggest that 2020 could see record turnout.

While celebrating this renewed citizen involvement in Americas political process, dont lose sight of the bigger, and darker, picture. For decades, Americans have voted at depressingly low rates for a modern democracy. Even in a good year, more than one-third of all eligible voters dont cast a ballot. In a bad year, that number can approach two-thirds.

Why are so many Americans consistently missing in action on Election Day?

For many, its a choice. They are disillusioned with government, or they feel their vote doesnt matter because politicians dont listen to them anyway.

Republicans Almost Won In 2020

To torture this autopsy metaphor even more: Theres a good argument that the party is still very much alive.

Historically, parties have done more self-reflection and been more likely to change course when theyve hit electoral low points. In the 1988 presidential race, Democrats carried only 10 states and Washington, D.C., and that loss was their third consecutive failed bid for the White House. In 2008, Obama won the popular vote by 7 percentage points Republicans didnt even carry Indiana. So of course the parties were ready to rethink things after those defeats.

In contrast, Trump would have won reelection had he done only about 1 percentage point better in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and about 3 points better in Michigan. Republicans would still control the Senate had Republican David Perdue won about 60,000 more votes against Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgias Senate runoff. A slew of court rulings that forced the redrawing of House district lines in less favorable ways to the GOP helped the Democrats win several seats otherwise, Republicans might have won back the House. Add all that up, and 2020 wasnt that far from resulting in a Republican trifecta.;

Also, Republicans did really well in state legislative races and gained ground among Black and Latino voters nationally .

related:What Did CPAC Tell Us About The Future Of The GOP? Read more. »

Don’t Miss: Which Republicans Voted For The Resolution Today

Dire Rhetoric Used To Describe Democratic Political Opponents What’s At Stake In Country

During the second impeachment trial, the core of the House impeachment managers’ case was this: Trump’s extreme rhetoric about the presidential election being “rigged” incited a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Every Democratic senator and seven Republican senators bought the argument, voting to convict Trump. In both the House and Senate, even Republicans who did not vote to impeach or convict Trump, respectively, criticized his rhetoric and actions surrounding the election.

But at CPAC, while there were few mentions of Jan. 6, several speakers’ rhetoric was similarly inflammatory as they described political opponents in extreme terms and painted a dire picture of a nation led by Democrats.

During his speech, freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., delivered a line eerily similar to one Trump gave on Jan. 6, when the former president said, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

“If we sit on the sidelines, we will not have a country to inherit. If we do not get involved and say that it is our duty to make sure that our country is responsible, that our country doesn’t take away our liberties, then my friends, we will lose this nation,” Cawthorn said. “The Democrats, my opponents and adversaries on the other side are brutal and vicious and they are trying to take away all of our rights.”

Opinion: Why Are Republicans So Afraid Of A Fair Fight At The Polls

THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic has left state leaders scrambling to run a fair election this November. Ramping up absentee voting is the most sensible response, but unfortunately it also is becoming a partisan choice. President Trump continues to spew disinformation about the supposed dangers of mail-in voting, some state Republican leaders are refusing to make voting easier, and party officials are fighting states that are trying to do the right thing.

There is NO WAY that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent, President Trump tweeted May 26, accusing California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, of proposing to send ballots to anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there. In fact, voter fraud of any kind is rare, and states that conduct all-mail-in elections, such as Oregon and Utah, have not seen widespread fraud. Mr. Trump may have been spurred by a lawsuit the Republican National Committee filed May 24 against Mr. Newsom, demanding that the courts stop the governor from distributing absentee ballots in California. That lawsuit, too, is built on fearmongering.

If Republicans fear that enabling more people to vote will hurt them, they should offer more attractive policies and candidates and stop trying to suppress the vote, in California and everywhere else.

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Recommended Reading: How Many Democrats And Republicans Are Currently In The Senate

[mood-report]

The Amazon Signal

Binky Chadha calls it a “winner take all” market. Jim Cramer says “the big will get bigger” and the little guys will go under. Mark Mahaney calls it a “marketing event” for big companies. Mark Cuban thinks Amazon will go “up, up, up, up.”

America 2.0: we’re going to stay inside for the rest of our lives and order online from a handful of behemoths.

Ridiculous.

Human nature doesn’t change. If it did, Madison Avenue wouldn’t exist.

Humans are risk-seeking, social creatures, and last I checked, as bad as the coronavirus has been, it’s still wayyy below the seasonal flu.

Most people aren’t afraid of the flu; they’re used to it. We’ll get used to this one, too.

Just after the deadliest pandemic in recent history -- the Spanish flu, during which the stock market went sideways -- people were drinking gin out of bathtubs.

Shortly after came the Roaring Twenties.

If Wall Street thinks consumers will put up with Big Brands charging higher prices simply because they’re the ones that survived, they had better get ready for a backlash.

Or do some people want an America 2.0? 

Social mood is saying “not so fast.”

In my corner of America, I see nothing but creativity, imagination, and spirit.

Here, America 2.0 is curbside.

America 2.0 is local, independent, online brick and mortar, analog meets digital.

Even better, it’s no app required, so no privacy issues. No fodder for the Apple and Google contact tracers.

Therefore taking a brand deeper into digital just for digital’s sake increases fragility.

Digital-only is the siren song of companies that have done well since the virus. It’s reflecting now behavior. It’s crisis mode. It’s not forever.

People just want their damn toilet paper.

When it’s over, Americans will revert back to local with a such a surge that Wall Street will wonder “where did everyone go?”

Which brings me back to the Amazon signal.

It started on February 13th:

That was the subtle clue the markets were about to get smashed. Coronavirus was simply the catalyst.

Soon after hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s on-air breakdown signaled the crash low was nearby, Amazon and Netflix and Teledoc and Slack and Zoom and the rest of the stay-at-home-economy darlings boomed as the new normal social-distancing-forever narrative took hold.

Then an unfortunate headline appeared:

With Main Street in trouble, Americans could soon shift to supporting the dominated.

I was noodling around with an Amazon chart when suddenly an idea flashed in my mind inspired by a Twitter friend Doption Fisher (@doption) who asked if I’d considered an Elliott irregular running flat after he saw what I posted.

Here’s what I “saw” when he mentioned it.

It’s not an Elliott irregular running flat, but it’s closer to the ABC pandemic pattern that has already occurred in the SPX, DJIA, DJTA, RUT, NYA, TSX, UK100, CAC, DAX, BSE SENSEX, ASX 200, and NIKKEI.

Mr. Fisher’s irregular running flat did occur in Salesforce, so I still consider it a very viable alternative:

Goldman Sachs raised its Amazon price target 12% to $2,900, the highest on Wall Street, while just days ago, Jefferies set a Wall Street high with a target of $2,800. So sentiment is hot.

Amazon reports earnings next Thursday, April 30th, after the bell.

I’m rolling the dice with some put ratio backspreads once again that, just like TSLA and MSFT before they corrected sharply, are so mispriced that I’m getting paid to take the bet, meaning I can be wrong and still make money if Amazon rockets higher.

But if I’m right, if Amazon gets below $1,500 on so-so earnings, whoa.

Perhaps the broader markets will tread water while Amazon (and possibly Netflix too) gets a wash ‘n’ rinse before the liquidity wave floats everything higher.

In the meantime, if you have any trouble accepting that human nature never changes, check out this video that Mr. Fisher posted on his excellent Twitter stream. Madison Avenue has a friendly reminder for you:

[creepykingdom]

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood Star-Studded Opening Night

Universal Studios Hollywood rolled out the red carpet to usher in “Halloween Horror Nights” 2019 attended by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele and cast members from Universal Pictures’ blockbuster Us, including Evan Alex, Madison Curry, Alan Frazier, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Cali and Noelle Sheldon; Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters) and filmmaker Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, National Lampoon’s Animal House); acclaimed director and executive producer Greg Nicotero (“Creepshow,” “The Walking Dead”), filmmaker Eli Roth (Haunt, The House with a Clock in Its Walls), GRAMMY® Award-winning musician SLASH, multi-platinum recording artist and filmmaker Rob Zombie (House of a 1000 Corpses), executive producers Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer (“Stranger Things”), and John Murdy, Executive Producer, “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood.

“Halloween Horror Nights” continues on September 13-15, 19-22, 26-29; October 3-6, 10-13, 17-20, 24-27, 31; and November 1-3, 2019.

Additional talent attending the premiere event included director Michael Dougherty (Godzilla); Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses); Tichina Arnold (“The Neighborhood”); Lauren Ash (“Superstore”); Jaime Camil (“Jane the Virgin”); special effects artists/filmmakers Stephen, Charles and Edward Chiodo (Killer Klowns from Outer Space); Cody Christian (“All American”); Grant Cramer (Killer Klowns from Outer Space); Devin Druid (“13 Reasons Why”); Kelly Osbourne; Nolan Gould (“Modern Family”); Seth Green  (“Family Guy”); Andrey Ivchenko (“Stranger Things”); Nia Souix (“Dance Moms”); Dylan Sprayberry (“Teen Wolf”), recording artist Angela Aguilar and Angélica Vale, and hip hop dance crew Jabbawockeez.

Opening night also featured a special “Behind the Screams” panel highlighting filmmakers and musicians who have collaborated with Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Halloween Horror Nights” over the years. John Murdy led the insightful discussion that included filmmaker Eli Roth, director and producer, Greg Nicotero and musician, Slash.

This year’s terrifying “Halloween Horror Nights” lineup of mazes and attractions includes:

“Us,” an all-new maze based on the blockbuster film from Universal Pictures and visionary Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele

“Ghostbusters,” Sony Pictures’ classic 1984 film comes to life for the first time ever in this all-new maze

“Stranger Things,” based on seasons 2 and 3 of Netflix’s critically-acclaimed supernatural thriller

“Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” the popular 1980s horror sci-fi film lands at “Halloween Horror Nights” in this all-new chilling maze

“Creepshow,” maze inspired by the 1982 cult classic movie directed by George Romero and Shudder’s brand new anthology series, reimagined by acclaimed make-up artist, director and executive producer, Greg Nicotero

“Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man,” inspired by Universal’s original cinematic monsters and the movie studio that invented the horror film genre

“House of 1000 Corpses,” inspired by Lionsgate’s 2003 cult classic film and directed by multi-platinum recording artist and filmmaker Rob Zombie

“Holidayz in Hell,” an all-original maze featuring demented versions of everyone’s favorite seasonal celebrations

“Curse of Pandora’s Box,” an all-new original maze based on the twisted Greek mythology tale

·         “The Walking Dead,” Universal Studios Hollywood’s permanent attraction inspired by AMC’s popular television series

·         The Jabbawockeez award-winning hip hop dance crew returns by popular demand with an all-new, high-energy performance created exclusively for “Halloween Horror Nights”

Tickets are available at Hollywood.HalloweenHorrorNights.com and advance purchase is recommended as event nights will sell out.  Following are the various tickets options:

Universal Express™                           One-time priority access to all mazes,

                                                                       Jabbawockeez performance and theme park rides.

Multi-Night Passes                              Ultimate Fear Pass:  scare all 32 nights

Frequent Fear Pass:  scare 25 select nights

September Pass:  11 select nights throughout the month of September

R.I.P. Tour                                          Groups of up to 12 can scare in style with the new

R.I.P. Tour featuring a VIP guide, unlimited Universal Express access to all mazes, attractions and Jabbawockeez show, private VIP trolley transportation to backlot mazes, interactive themed photo ops and special tour of the Universal backlot, gourmet buffet dinner at the VIP Dining Room & Lounge, access to lounges for drinks and desserts, and complimentary valet parking.

After 2 p.m. Day/Night Combo           Experience the park’s popular daytime attractions,

and remain for the terror that awaits at “Halloween Horror Nights.”

For updates and exclusive “Halloween Horror Nights” content, visit Hollywood.HalloweenHorrorNights.com, like Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood on Facebook; follow @HorrorNights #UniversalHHN on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat; and watch the terror come to life on Halloween Horror Nights YouTube.

[maealbert]

Stronger

AU

Requested by: janai-farn

Hello there! I noticed your a new writer and thought I might submit a request to you dear!   I was wondering could you do an x reader where she has a physical disability but strives to be an agent. Who also has a massive crush on Emily? She finally gets accepted to be an agent and reader is so happy she confesses her love for her?   Am I too specific? Aha if not just make it reader and Emily then :3

A/N: So I’m basing this off of something I personally struggle with. I was recently diagnosed with over-analyzing anxiety and mild depression. So it is an inspiration for this story.

Hearing your phone ringing on the nightstand you groan turning over in bed. Looking at the clock it read 5:30am. An hour before you had to get up and get ready for training. Picking up your phone you look at who is calling you.

Emily Prentiss.

Her name flashing on your screen and groan. Tapping the answer button you press the phone to your ear. “An hour before my alarm goes off.. This better be good.”

“Sorry but this morning I’m your alarm. Get up and get dressed and meet me down at the park.” Before you could respond she had hung up. Groaning even louder you pull yourself out of bed and walk into the bathroom to start getting ready. When you finished getting dressed you grabbed your things and started to head for the door when you stopped. With your hand on the doorknob you turned back around.

Am I forgetting something? You think before opening your bag and digging through it. Phone. Check. Wallet. Check. Water bottle. Check. What if you just called her and told you were sick? She’d understand. Taking out your phone you pulled up her contact on the screen. Your thumb hovered the contact. Clicking on the contact you clicked the message button and sent her a quick text.

I’m not feeling so well.. I thought if I took a shower and didn’t think about it than I’d be fine.. But I’m not.. I’m sorry.. Maybe some other day.

(Y/N), this is your last training day. You have to come.

Sighing you leaned against the wall before sliding down to the floor. I’m sorry. really I am. Can we try tomorrow?

Alright. Tomorrow at eight.

Four years ago you were diagnosed with over-analyzing anxiety and depression. For some things you did came so easily and you weren’t afraid to do anything. For other things you thought bad things would happen. Sometimes the anxiety got so bad you didn’t want to leave your house or worse, leave your bed. You’d lie and say something came up or you were sick. You felt bad for bailing on someone, especially someone you cared for or really close to. You lived a normal life. You had a stable job that paid well while you trained for the FBI. But other than work and occasional outings with friends you were always at home drowning yourself in tv shows or movies or down right sleeping. Even on your days off when you had nothing to do you’d just sleep all day or watch tv all day. Of course you kept in contact with friends via text, phone call, or social media. Although sometimes hearing the phone ring or vibrate from an incoming call or text made you nervous. You overthought what it could be about? Did you do something wrong? Did you make them mad? Did you forget to pay your bill again? Were you in trouble legally? Idiot thoughts would flood your head and you knew it wasn’t going to be anything bad it just your reaction. Sometimes it wasn’t just thinking something bad was going to happen but that maybe you’d even mess up in front of people or embarrass yourself somehow so you kept to yourself most times when you were in public. You’d be so quiet and look so down that people would ask if you were okay. Of course you were fine physically but mentally your mind was racing and over-analyzing the current situation.

Today like most days you’d have enough courage and confidence to take on the day no matter what happens but than you’d find yourself freaking out last minute and thinking about what might happen if it happened at all. You wanted to see Emily again but you were so scared that you might screw up or do something wrong and if you did something wrong than there went your chances of becoming an FBI agent. You wanted this so bad but your mental state almost always got the best of you.

Hearing a knock on the door, you stood up from your position on the floor and grabbed the for door handle. Opening the door you see Emily standing in the hallway of your apartment building. “Emily?”

“At least you got dressed.. That’s an accomplishment..”

“Emily, I’m sorry-”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Emily said walking inside your apartment. “I know why you backed out and it’s okay. Which is why I brought the training to you.”

“Ummm that’s gonna be kind of hard.” You say gesturing around your tiny apartment.

“Not that kind of training. You’ve been doing good with the physical aspect of the training. But today I want to train on the mental aspect of the training.”

“Like I don’t do enough of that already.”

Emily sat down on your couch and patted the space beside her. “I’m gonna give you an already solved case. Your eyes are fresh to this case so you don’t know anything about what’s going on. Let’s begin.” You take a seat next to her on the couch and she begins to explain the case to you. “Three girls were kidnapped and murdered here in DC. The first girl was blonde, blue eyed, and in her twenties.” Emily said laying out the first girl’s photo. “Second girl was blonde, blue eyed, and in her twenties.” She laid out the second photo. “The third followed the characteristics.” She said laying out the last photo of the third girl. “Where do we go from here?” She says looking at you.

Her eyes. Dark brown eyes, almost black. They had a little sparkle in them. No, stop. Focus, (Y/N). This is time for training to become an FBI agent not time for training on how to screw your potential boss.

“Well it’s clear he has a type and by the looks of how he murdered the girls he’s angry.” You speak up tearing your eyes away from hers.

“Good. What else can you gather?”

“Police reports say he waits until they’re alone outside preferably at night to take them. People would be asleep so it’s a perfect time to kidnap someone leaving no witnesses.”

“Great. Now where we do go from here?”

Rushing through the halls of the courthouse you met up with Emily. “I came as soon as I got your text. What’s going on?”

“I have good news. One is that you passed your exams so high five for those case studies!” She said high fiving you.

“That’s great. So what’s number two?”

“Two is that you passed your gun training.”

“Not surprising. Keep going.” You say as the two of you head for the elevator.

“Three you passed your PT test. Cruz said you did great even though you were “sick” for the last one. And last but not least.” She says as the elevator doors opened on the their floor. “You have to swear under oath.”

“Wait, what?” You say following her into a courtroom. There is sat the Brass at their own little places high above the rest of the room.

“Here we go.” She said patting your shoulder before taking her seat. She gave you a thumbs up before you were called up to the front table. Soon you were being told to recite the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s oath with your right hand raised in the air. You stared straight at Agent Cramer as you spoke.

“I, (Y/N), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

After reciting the oath you kept your eyes trained on Cramer as he looked back at you. “Congratulations, (Y/L/N). You are now officially an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” He said giving you a warm smile. You let out a sigh of relief as you leaned on the table in front of you.

“You did it!” Emily exclaimed as she rushed over to you and embracing you in a hug. “I told you could do this.”

“I was worried about nothing.” You said hugging her back.

“Come on. The team’s waiting downstairs.”

“I never could have gotten this far if wasn’t for you.” You say as the two of you exit the court room. “Seriously without you I would still be working at a coffeeshop for the rest of my life.”

“You’re a good friend of mine, (Y/N).” Emily said smiling at you.

“I love you.” You blurt out before you could stop yourself. You quickly cover your mouth. “Oh my gosh… I didn’t… That wasn’t-” The elevator doors opened and you quickly run out before she could stop you.

“Did you get in?!” Penelope calls as she rushes towards you in her bright blue, six inch pumps.

“Yeah I did!”

“Aw yay, congratulations!” She exclaimed throwing her arms around you. “We all had faith in you!”

“Thank you Penelope.” You say giggling. You glanced over at Emily as she still looked stunned. JJ walked up to you and you quickly tore your eyes away from Emily as you went to hug JJ.

Did I make a mistake? Will she hate me? What if she treats me differently? You felt a hand on your shoulder and you turned you head to see Emily. She had a smile on her face. She bent down to your ear to whisper something. “I love you too.”

[deadpresidents]

Are there any good books you've read on the various Vice Presidents(specifically Biden)?

For Biden, I can’t give a high enough recommendation to Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption (BOOK | KINDLE) by Jules Witcover. It’s a fantastic look at Biden’s tragic yet inspirational life, most of which has been spent in the service of others. Here’s my review of it from when it was released.

Richard Ben Cramer’s What It Takes: The Way to the White House (BOOK | KINDLE) is a book about the 1988 Presidential election and a half-dozen of the top candidates during the cycle, but it’s also a very revealing look at Biden, and probably more so when it comes to his personal life than his unsuccessful candidacy for the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination. As I warn everyone when recommending What It Takes, you better pack a lunch if you decide to read it because it’s a massive book (over 1,000 pages) and Cramer’s style isn’t for everybody. However, it’s also the best book ever written about Presidential campaigns.

Some other recommendations for books about the Vice Presidents or institution of the Vice Presidency include two more titles from Jules Witcover, who is probably the foremost Vice Presidential historian (and a damn good political journalist and Presidential historian, as well). Witcover’s older book is Crapshoot: Rolling the Dice on the Vice Presidency, written during the Vice Presidency of the infamous Dan Quayle who gave Witcover plenty of material. Witcover’s more recent book is The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power (BOOK | KINDLE), released in 2014 and including biographical sketches on VP from John Adams to Joe Biden.

Another more recent book is Joel K. Goldstein’s The White House Vice Presidency: The Path to Significance, Mondale to Biden (BOOK | KINDLE), which focuses on the Vice Presidency since it finally became a truly influential position beginning with Walter Mondale in the Carter Administration. The modern Vice Presidency that we are familiar with today and seems to gain more power and influence with each new Administration would be unrecognizable to nearly every Vice President in American history who served prior to the 1970s.

Veeps: Profiles In Insignificance: The American Vice Presidential Pantheon from Adams to Cheney written by Bill Kelter and illustrated by Wayne Shellabarger is an extremely entertaining and, yes, fun book about our Vice Presidents -- many of whom have been super weird dudes. It features individual profiles on the first 46 Vice Presidents and a handful of some of the more memorable would-be Vice Presidents who were on the wrong side of the Electoral College tally after Election Day. If you’re looking for something really fun to read and packed full of fascinating, odd, and all-around surprising facts about VPs, this is the book to get.

One last recommendation is actually a free one that you can check out online. Since one of the Vice President’s few Constitutional roles is as President of the Senate, the United States Senate has a GREAT resource on the institution of the Vice Presidency along with information on the Vice Presidential Bust Collection and in-depth individual biographical profiles on every Vice President in U.S. history. And, like I said, the best part of it is that it’s free on the U.S. Senate’s website along with a ton of other awesome historical resources put together and made available by the Senate Historical Office. Definitely take some time to check that site out.

[deniseyallen]

Portman, Warner, Alexander, King Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Address National Park Service Maintenance Backlog

Conservation & Recreation Groups Praise Bipartisan Legislation to Address $12 Billion National Park Service Backlog in Deferred and Overdue Maintenance 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Restore Our Parks Act, bipartisan legislation that would address the nearly $12 billion backlog in long-delayed maintenance projects at the National Park Service (NPS). Other original cosponsors include Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Kamala Harris (D-CA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Boozman (R-AR), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Steve Daines (R-MT). This legislation has been praised by Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Parks Conservation Association, the U.S. Travel Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Trust for the National Mall. A similar bill is being introduced today in the House led by Representatives Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA), which has more than 90 cosponsors. 

“For more than a century, the National Park Service has been inspiring Americans to explore the natural beauty of our country,” Portman said. “My visits to various national parks in Ohio last year made it clear that we must pass this legislation to ensure that they have sufficient resources to maintain our national parks. This bill will create the Legacy Restoration Fund to provide the National Park Service with funds for deferred maintenance projects. This legislation will also help tackle the more than $100 million in maintenance backlog at Ohio’s eight national parks and will ensure the National Park Service can continue preserving American treasures like Cuyahoga Valley National Park.” 

“The deferred maintenance backlog at national park sites in Virginia is currently over a billion dollars. The Commonwealth trails only California and the District of Columbia in total deferred maintenance needs. Colonial National Historical Park, which is home to Historic Jamestown and Yorktown Battlefield, has over $400 million in deferred maintenance needs alone,” said Warner. “We owe it to our Commonwealth and to our country to pass this bill and clear the $12 billion maintenance backlog that is holding back essential repairs and renovations at our cherished national parks. This problem will only worsen if we fail to act.”  

“Today, too many of our national parks are in bad shape. American families spending their vacations in our national parks are often shocked to find that so many of the roads, picnic areas, trails, campgrounds and visitor centers are run down or even closed,” Alexander said. “The Restore Our Parks Act would be the biggest help to the National Park Service in 50 years – it would cut in half the maintenance backlog at our national parks and help restore our 418 national parks so Americans can enjoy them. The legislation is supported by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, the Trump Administration and more than 100 conservation groups. When an idea this good – fixing our national parks for future generations – gets this much bipartisan support, it’s going to happen sooner or later. It is my hope we pass the legislation as soon as this year.” 

“From Acadia to Zion, the National Park System captures our country’s diverse natural beauty and is a proud reminder of America’s dedication to preserving public land for all its citizens,” King said. “As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, ‘There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm.’ We have a collective responsibility to maintain this spirit of the wilderness in our National Parks – and this starts with the $12 billion maintenance backlog. With strong bipartisan support, this bill will ensure our parks are well-maintained so generations of visitors can experience the wonders of our National Parks for years to come.” 

“The Restore Our Parks Act would provide billions of dollars to address the multibillion-dollar repair backlog at our national parks,” said Marcia Argust, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ project to restore America’s parks. “This investment would help preserve these treasured places and support sites that generate more than $18 billion in annual spending in nearby communities by park visitors.” 

“For years, our national parks have been plagued with underfunding while also dealing with a mounting backlog of repair needs, totaling nearly $12 billion. Grand Canyon’s water and sewer systems, built during World War II, are failing. Roads in Yellowstone that were originally built in 1905 for carriages, not the millions of cars and RVs that use them today, are sinking. Thanks to the leadership of Senators Portman, Warner, Alexander and King, park staff could get the funding they need to fix our national parks. The bipartisan Restore Our Parks Act would make a much needed and significant investment to address these and so many more infrastructure needs in national parks across the country, ensuring they are ready to welcome the next generation of park visitors,” said Theresa Pierno, President and CEO for National Parks Conservation Association. 

“In 2018, our National Parks contributed $35.8 billion in total economic output and supported 306,000 American jobs. National Parks are a huge attraction for visitors across the country and around the world, which makes investment in the maintenance of our national parks not just an environmental necessity but also an economic priority. U.S. Travel applauds Senators Portman, Warner, Alexander and King for reintroducing the Restore Our Parks Act, which will invest in national park infrastructure and facilities and shrink the nearly $12 billion in deferred maintenance facing our parks,” said Tori Barnes, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, U.S. Travel Association. 

“The nearly $12 billion National Park System deferred maintenance backlog jeopardizes some of our nation’s most iconic historic resources and cultural artifacts. By creating a reliable federal funding source to reduce the backlog, this legislation will enable the National Park Service and other federal agencies to save the historic structures, landscapes, and necessary infrastructure that enable the public to safely enjoy the places that reflect our nation’s history. We commend Reps. Bishop and Kilmer and Sens. Portman, Warner, Alexander and King for their leadership in creating a bipartisan path for Congress to secure the future of important historic and cultural resources now at risk,” said Thomas J. Cassidy, vice president for government relations and policy for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

“The time is now for Congress to address this national crisis, particularly in the Nation’s Capital. The National Mall hosts more than 35 million visits each year and has the highest deferred maintenance bill of any National Park across the country. As the greatest symbol of American Democracy, we must improve and preserve this historic legacy for generations to come. We express our gratitude to Representatives Bishop and Kilmer in the House and Senators Portman, Warner, Alexander and King in the Senate for their steadfast leadership of this important legislation,” said Catherine Townsend, president and CEO, the Trust for the National Mall. 

NOTE: The Restore Our Parks Act would establish the “National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund” to reduce the maintenance backlog by allocating existing revenues the government receives from on and offshore energy development. This funding would come from 50 percent of all revenues that are not otherwise allocated and deposited into the General Treasury not to exceed $1.3 billion each year for the next five years. 

###

from Rob Portman http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=89E13C74-A3DA-4CEC-9F69-4BFC49E68129

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

8 pre-internet political moments that would have spawned huge memes

Believe it or not, there's a storied history of presidential blunders that stretch back years and years, all the way to before they could become instant memes — because there was no internet.  

Shocking, but true.

These moments were "viral" in that they were everywhere — TV, radio, newspapers — but there was no widespread internet to give them a second life as pure meme bliss, like just about everything that happens in the Trump White House these days.

SEE ALSO: Trump insider who wrote anonymous op-ed inspires glorious memes

So what moments would go super viral, saturating our culture to the point you can't get away, if they happened today? You know, like the "Dean scream" or when Dick Cheney shot a friend in the face? 

History is rife with political screw-ups, all the way back to the country's founding, but we combed through the last 40 years or so to find the stand outs from modern political history. 

Here goes. 

Ronald Reagan's mic drop (1980)

Ronald Reagan was known for being quick with a quip, but the one that really signaled his ascendency on the way to the White House came at the GOP's New Hampshire primary debate in February 1980. 

When the FEC told the Nashua Telegraph, a local newspaper, that paying for a two-man debate between Reagan and then-frontrunner George H.W. Bush would violate regulations by showing favor to those two candidates over several others that were also running (and amount to a contribution to Reagan and Bush), Reagan offered to pay for it and invited those other candidates to participate. (These types of situations would eventually be remedied in 1987 by the formation of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which would sponsor all debates beginning with the 1988 election cycle.)

Meanwhile, both the Telegraph and Bush held firm in their insistence on a one-on-one debate between Bush and Reagan during a long, protracted process of negotiations.

This led to a heated argument at the beginning of the debate, during which Telegraph editor Jon Breen asked for Reagan's microphone to be cut. An angered Reagan answered with a red-hot one-liner about the microphones that doubled as a Grade A Alpha Dog moment.

High drama followed in which no one appeared to back down. Eventually, after Bush used his opening statement to stand his ground for a one-on-one debate, the other candidates begrudgingly left the stage and the debate became just Bush versus Reagan. 

More important: That thunderous Reagan line reverberated with voters, portraying Reagan as someone standing up for his Republican comrades/competitors while painting Bush in an unfavorable light. It all came to a head with a blowout Reagan win in New Hampshire that launched him to the front of the pack and an on to an  eventual White House win in November over incumbent Jimmy Carter.

Walter Mondale asks "Where's The Beef?" (1984)

Reagan was always the king of the one-liner, but it was Walter Mondale who laid down the best quip of the 1984 campaign during a Democratic primary debate against Gary Hart. Mondale's zinger harnessed the pop culture zeitgeist of 1984 by lifting the line from an incredibly popular Wendy's ad.

"Where's the beef?" was ripe for leveraging in a political campaign as a question begging for substance. And Mondale did so, beautifully.

The two candidates remained locked in a battle throughout the campaign, with Mondale winning the nomination. But "win" is a relative term. He was later steamrolled by Reagan in the general election, proving that the beef is relative. 

Dukakis tanks (1988)

Nearly 30 years before the Trump campaign there was the completely bonkers 1988 campaign. It was filled with so much drama, intrigue, and a succession of moments that would have crashed Twitter a few times over. The legendary Richard Ben Cramer book What It Takes is a must-read for absorbing it all from beginning to end. 

There was the Gary Hart scandal that involved a boat called "Monkey Business" (that's the subject of the upcoming Hugh Jackman film The Frontrunner), the Joe Biden plagiarism scandal, George H.W. Bush's "Read my lips: no new taxes" promise (that he wound up breaking), and one of the great debate burns in U.S. history when Lloyd Bentsen, the Democratic VP candidate, slammed Republican VP candidate Dan Quayle.

But perhaps the most would-be viral moment of the 1988 campaign was a September photo-op gone awry. It was a moment that had nothing to do with politics or qualifications and everything to do with optics: when Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis rode around in a tank.

The story behind the infamous incident is now legend, but here's a quick recap. The visit to a General Dynamics facility in Michigan was meant to make Dukakis seem strong on defense. Part of that trip wound up being a ride in an M1A1 tank, but the General Dynamics team insisted Dukakis wear a helmet for safety. The helmet dwarfed the diminutive candidate, making him look like a child and prompting guffaws from reporters covering the event. 

It was such a disaster that video of Dukakis riding around in the tank was used in an attack ad by the Bush campaign.

It wasn't the only reason Dukakis' early campaign poll leads evaporated — effective attack ads by the Bush team (Roger Ailes!) and poor debate performances by Dukakis and Bentsen (burn aside) also contributed — but it was a major misstep that definitely played a part. 

A grocery list of campaign mishaps (1992)

While not quite as crazy as the 1988 election, the 1992 election had plenty of memorable moments — Bill Clinton's sax-tastic appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show, those Clinton and Al Gore jogging photos, Bill's love of McDonald's (which spawned a classic SNL sketch), and the entrance of third party candidate Ross Perot, who turned things upside down for a few months. 

But three particular moments perfectly show what an appetite voters had (and still have) for political stumbles, and how much they were willing to overlook the quiet truth of what actually happened.

Bush's first misstep, in January 1992, was a messy one. Fighting a vicious case of the flu while on a diplomatic trip to Japan, The incumbent Bush became ill at dinner and wound up vomiting on Japan's prime minister.

Vomiting on a head of state, no matter the circumstances, is, well, not great. That said, it's not like Bush chose to vomit on Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. As the story goes, Bush had already toughed out a full slate of diplomatic duties, including a game of tennis with the emperor of Japan. 

It's also worth noting that a lapful of vomit has not come close to doing the damage Trump has done in his behavior toward our allies.

Bush's next misstep came a month later when he appeared to be amazed by a grocery store scanner during a visit to the National Grocers Association convention. One thing led to another, a famous photo was taken, and it was assumed that Bush, who came from wealth, had been exposed as being out of touch.

The truth, though, seems far more innocuous: Bush was apparently marveling at a new feature in grocery store scanner technology that had the machine correctly read a torn and jumbled bar code, proving he wasn't quite as out of touch with grocery store behavior as a future Republican president would prove to be. 

Vice President Dan Quayle's slip-up was worse. While visiting a New Jersey school in 1992, he watched a student write the word "potato" on a chalkboard and then told the student he was missing an (erroneous) 'e' at the end of the word. The confused student — who would later say, "I knew he was wrong, really. He's the Vice President and I couldn't argue with him with all the people there" — complied. 

If there's a saving grace for Quayle, it's that he was reportedly reading from a school-provided cue card that had the word misspelled with the extra 'e.' But Quayle didn't catch the mistake, simply parroting it, and wound up with a scene that wouldn't have appeared out of place on Veep.

Clinton's secret signal (1998)

It's hard to think of a moment in the Lewinsky-Clinton affair that wasn't "viral," as we'd call it today. The internet was becoming a force in the United States, spreading first reports of the scandal thanks to online bomb thrower Matt Drudge. 

Remember the infamous line from Clinton's grand jury testimony, in which he questioned the definition of the word "is"?

Of all the moments from the sordid affair, there's a smaller one that feels as intriguing and ripe for virality as anything else that happened: the time Bill Clinton allegedly wore a tie Lewinsky had gifted him on the day she testified before a grand jury in the Ken Starr investigation.

Clinton wearing the tie on August 6, 1998, less than 2 weeks before he would admit to having an affair.

Image: Corbis via Getty Images

It was said to be a signal of solidarity between Clinton and Lewinsky, coming at a time when Clinton still denied the affair. (He would publicly admit to it less than two weeks later.) Clinton played the whole thing off, but the story has held on for 20 years. 

The sigh heard 'round the country (2000)

The 2000 presidential election would be remembered for far more important things, like a presidential election being decided by the Supreme Court, the phrase "hanging chads," and Florida being unable to get its act together. 

But then-Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, didn't do himself any favors during the presidential debates against GOP nominee George W. Bush, letting his body language speak louder than anything he actually said, sighing, rolling his eyes, and even trying intimidate Bush during the town hall debate only to have that backfire. 

Gore is hardly alone, as we've seen, in making debate mistakes, but his behavior made him seem aloof and irritated compared to the "folksy" Bush. It even got the SNL treatment, one surefire way to know you've transcended into the mainstream.  

Gore's behavior called to mind Bush's father's watch-checking mistake in the 1992 debates, but we also saw shades of Gore during the 2016 debates when Trump infamously stalked Hillary Clinton on stage. 

Trump is just creepin' around the stage now #debate pic.twitter.com/MajNvjuFZX

— Mashable GIF (@mashablegif) October 10, 2016

The latter moment exploded across the internet, an early example of the way our current digital culture came to consume things at a lightning-fast pace. While these moments got play in newspaper, on national news, and late-night comedy, they didn't become ubiquitous, ever-evolving memes the way they do now. 

The 2000 election felt like the tipping point, the moment when internet shifted into something all-consuming. Then, as social media evolved in time for the 2008 election, the minute-by-minute accounts of politics and elections took on a life of their own.

It's not so much that more is happening in our hyper-connected era — though certainly politician's direct access to citizens on social media has changed the way things unfold slightly. But mostly it's that we're more aware of every single thing that occurs now and we're able to weigh in now with more speed and in more places than ever before. 

Every slip-up, misquote, and awkward handshake is inescapable, occupying every conceivable nook and cranny of our lives if we let it. It's all grist for the never-ending content mill that doesn't just occupy television and the few remaining newspapers, but every platform we use, be it Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat. 

Now we can both look back at the moments of the past and forward to the fresh hell of a 24-hour news cycle that awaits us as we wade further into the Trump administration and closer to the 2020 election.

WATCH: Sarah Huckabee Sanders' most ludicrous moments as press secretary

[fictioncareercreativity]

Into The Future/Afterlife Freestyle Creative Fiction Series episode 22-Start of Creative Fiction Career Stories by Stella Carrier

Into The Future/Afterlife Freestyle Creative Fiction Series episode 22-Start of Creative Fiction Career Stories by Stella CarrierInto The Future/Afterlife Freestyle Creative Fiction Series episode 22-Start of Creative Fiction Career Stories by Stella Carrier vital note; these creative fiction stories are fun creative writing therapy and I feel humbly blessed for the viewers of  my online writings. I admit that within a few days I am going to try something experimental different before returning to these type of  creative fiction stories in 2019, more details to first show in the googleplus by Tuesday August 28th 2018 andor sooner. It is the year 2128 I Charlie Barry am  here at the 3rd year festival for the Cartoon Convention that is held in the summer time in Washington DC in June and a second cartoon festival that is held in Anaheim California in December.  I  became interested in volunteering for this event after I visited here on my 55th birthday. Chefs and Cooks from across various industries and countries are setting up tents and food trucks staged near the Union Station metro in Washington DC. A convention of over 30 different cartoons are being organized in 3 city wide blocks in the area and people from both around the world and country are coming. The cartoon conventions usually draw writers, intuitives and people from other types of industries to get writing and creative inspiration for songs, books, films, and even various restaurants and food businesses both near certain universities, military bases, and libraries. For instance, last year in the year 2127 a Dragon Ball Z themed restaurant opened near the American University campus complete with an Automatic writing and electronic dance music festival. In the year 2125 an Ever After High themed restaurant and library opened up near a writing institute that opened in the year 2100 in Hollywood which drew psychics, writers, prominent professors and their children and other family members, and even transportation career professionals because this particular business spanned over 2 miles and draws at least 3000 people daily to where the business had to add over 1000 employees. A cartoon inspired eatery from the 2000s era Librarians tv show anda hybrid Sophia the First Princess opened in two locations one in College Park maryland and a second location near the Rockville Maryland metro. These businesses attract also at least over 2800 people daily because of them adding music venue buildings for festivals and museums. On a weekly basis multiple cooks and chefs from multiple industries such as the universities, various military bases, and even airports come to these places to volunteer both for professional evolution/spiritual development and other types of activities. For instance, the Librarians tv show inspired cartoon hosts music and books festivals monthly that need at least 200 chefs, cooks, and food service workers at each event which opens the door for these cooks  chefs and food service workers to come from various places. Resources http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/30/netflix-faith-based-programming/Netflix Jessica Kramerhttp://dailycaller.com/2018/07/30/netflix-faith-based-programming/ http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/27/chick-fil-a-canada/ Chic Fil A Opening First Restaurant in Canada Jessica Kramerhttp://dailycaller.com/2018/07/27/chick-fil-a-canada/ http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/30/charle-koch-cramer-north-dakota/http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/30/charle-koch-cramer-north-dakota/ http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/30/bill-kristol-2020/Bill Kristol Considering Run For President in 2020http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/30/bill-kristol-2020/ songs for me to keep in mind; Love Keeps Calling by Annagrace Wednesday August 22, 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/summer-is-rich-with-historic-american-music/2018/06/01/5ed9b0ca-5de6-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html?utm_term=.ff672e713797 https://www.instacart.com/grocery-delivery https://tvline.com/2018/08/21/the-last-ship-final-season-5-key-art-photo/ https://wtkr.com/2018/08/17/naval-station-norfolk-holds-change-of-command/ https://djmag.com/content/new-mix-charts-history-early-%E2%80%9890s-trance https://scs.georgetown.edu/academics/professional-masters-degrees/ https://djmag.com/news/paul-oakenfold-become-first-dj-play-stonehenge https://djmag.com/content/armin-van-buuren-plays-huge-seven-hour-set-untold-festival-watch future higher self automatic writing https://www.joannetchen.com/blog/how-to-access-higher-wisdom-through-automatic-writing-repost How to Access Higher Wisdom Through Automatic Writing https://www.joannetchen.com/blog/how-to-access-higher-wisdom-through-automatic-writing-repost more storytelling inspiration https://pilotonline.com/life/flavor/taste-test/ an interesting Virginian Pilot link on community kitchen cooks https://pilotonline.com/life/flavor/taste-test/article_8c91e591-171b-5a14-95b8-f3266ce898a3.html Community Kitchen Cooks by Judy Cowling https://pilotonline.com/life/flavor/taste-test/article_8c91e591-171b-5a14-95b8-f3266ce898a3.html washington post community kitchen information that includes a soup recipe https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/could-there-be-a-better-place-to-cook-than-the-river-cafe/2018/06/21/9b12c92c-7345-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html?utm_term=.c3a19e86d872 River Cafe by Bonnie S Benwick https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/could-there-be-a-better-place-to-cook-than-the-river-cafe/2018/06/21/9b12c92c-7345-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html?utm_term=.c3a19e86d872 https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/20th-century-english-names.php rick and morty restaurant https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/08/02/a-rick-and-morty-themed-bar-is-coming-to-dc/ A Rick and Morty Themed Pop Up Bar by Jessica Sidman https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/08/02/a-rick-and-morty-themed-bar-is-coming-to-dc/ still incorporate creative fiction storytelling ideas fitness entry, script entry, heaven based entry, work log, something new coming up in 2 days songs for me to keep in mind;So Hott by Kid Rock, close by Nick Jonas feat. Tove Lo, Hands in the Air by Timbaland and Neyo, clumsy by Fergie, Candyman by Christina Aguilera, Burnin for You by Blue Oyster Cult, Commander by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta, Miracles by Pet Shop Boys

[simplemoneyman-blog]

Learning From Influential Financial Personalities

  Sometimes I feel like I know what I need to know about Personal Finance. I continue to follow the philosophies and insight from billionaire Warren Buffett. But there are more successful and influential financial personalities that I can learn from. Why not learn from a diverse pool of experts?   So I decided to see if there was any major investment or personal financial philosophies I may not know about and could use. My plan was to google famous and influential personal finance personalities and read about their wisdom. Several names popped up and so I got a takeaway from each person which I’d like to share:  

Jim Cramer's Influence

  Many of us know Jim Cramer. He’s a popular American TV personality. He’s mostly known for his show on CNBC’s Mad Money. He has over a million Twitter followers and is the “most influential radio and television personalities covering personal finance.” He’s also super wealthy with a net worth of $100 million.   If you’ve ever seen some or all of his show, he shows tremendous energy and passion around his thoughts and opinions.  I’m a believer in that you can make any topic exciting if you speak about it with excitement.   His show Mad Money is ranked is a top Business and Finance TV show which has been on the air for over 12 years.   Younger investors watch his show due to the excitement he brings into the investing world.   Popularity and influence are not always positive. There are many Cramer critics out there as well. Motley Fool stated that although Cramer was advising people to sell in the 2008 recession, he didn’t advise them when to get back into the market. This was back in October 2008 when the Dow Jones dropped to around 8500. But guess what, it continued to drop all the way to March 2009 to around 6500. So if you listened to Cramer you did save money by selling your stock.   And Cramer also said is “if you can withstand it, ride it out.”  Therefore, I don’t agree with Motley Fools advice of not listening to Cramer. When you invest in the in the stock market means you should position yourself to ride it during its ups and downs – it’s part of testing your patience and remains committed to your decisions. If you need access to your some funds, consider investing some in Treasury Bills, Bonds, CDs, etc. – investments with lower risk and greater stability.   Remember, Cramer is not working with other Portfolio Managers. This is evidenced by his support of index funds and negative comments towards actively managed funds. More and more people are moving into low-cost index funds because they don’t want to pay fees for performance which is below the index anyways.   My takeaway is that even though Cramer is not exclusively within the Personal Finance space and more on the investment-specific side, some of his advice or rather rules are still pretty solid. They’re his 25 Rules for Investing that I came across.   One of Cramer’s rules, in particular, I can learn from is Rule 11: Don’t Own Too Many Names. Per Cramer, it can be constraining, but it’s better to have a few positions you know well and like. This rule stems from his hedge fund manager days.   Cramer learned that good performance is tied to owning few positions and goes on to say bad money managers have tons of positions and good ones have few which they know well.   Check out the short video below where Cramer talks about 401k(s). I was excited to hear that he agrees it’s better to invest your retirement contributions in low-cost index funds as opposed to traditional retirement funds.   It was good to hear this because I made the change into low-cost index funds in my retirement account a few months back and am glad I did since I’ll be saving in fees!  

Dave Ramsey's Influence

  Ramsey is probably right behind Cramer in terms of personal finance popularity and influence. Ramsey has a radio show that reaches almost 10 million people. He uses the Bible to teach people about money. One and perhaps the greatest example of his use of the Bible as is to avoid debt at all costs. He references Proverbs 22:7 stating, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.” This was a great takeaway and reminder of the consequences of taking on debt.   Debt usually always helps the lender rather than the debtor. In the end, the lender receives more than the amount they have loaned to people. The debtor has to follow the rules of the lender, make payments on time, and accept the risk of losing something if the debt is not repaid.   Something that I didn’t know was that Ramsey filed for bankruptcy back in his twenties. But oh boy he has bounced back strong ever since with a net worth of $55 million.   The bank wanted Ramsey to pay off the full balance of the loan he had from acquiring rental properties. Ramsey wasn’t able to do so and had to file for bankruptcy. This led him to practice Christianity more and in the process help others which ultimately parlayed into a radio show.   Dave Ramsey invests in funds and not individual stocks. He also has real estate investments, but they are not debt financed.  

Chris Hogan's Influence

  I’m surprised that I don’t know about Chris Hogan. He seems to be very popular. Hogan’s focus is to help people prepare for retirement.   He actually learned personal finance concepts from Dave Ramsey as he worked with him for over 10 years before starting his own show.   He developed the Retire Inspired Quotient R:IQ, a retirement calculator This is a tool to help you determine how much you need to retire. You have to sign-up on his website in order to get your personalized R:IQ. It obtains simple inputs from you such as your budget, how many years you’ve worked, how much you currently have saved up in all your accounts, and how much you owe in debt.   Hogan believes that retirement should be based on a nest egg number or amount you’ve set for yourself and not your age.   Similar to Ramsey, Hogan is strongly opposed to debt. He says debt is like “quicksand” to your retirement plans.   Hogan’s advice solidifies my plans to never acquire additional debt. So far I have a mortgage, which I hope to pay off many years before I retire and a car loan at a very low-interest-rate that I plan to pay it off within a year. I also have a couple of credit cards, but these have always been zero interest and I pay the balance off in full every single billing cycle.   As a whole, I continue to believe that personal finance is not complex, rather it’s SIMPLE. Effectiveness in your financial plan comes from simple activities like keeping your investment list short and investment costs low, reduction and elimination of debt and finding simple and intuitive tools to help you plan for the future or retirement. This may be my biggest takeaway after all.     Join The Discussion: Is there an influential financial personality that you levitate towards? What do you like about their personality? Have you recently enhanced your personal finance knowledge from someone's influential personality/philosophy/investment style/tools or tips/etc.?   ____________________________________________________________________________

I use  because (1) it’s free, (2) it tracks all of my accounts and overall net worth, (3) my account balances automatically update, (4) it shows how my investments are diversified and allocated in various sectors, and (5) can use built-in tools like “Investment Checkup” to get….wait for it…free personalized advice!     Read the full article

[usabreakingnews-blog]

PayPal CEO: A Cashless Society Is Possible as Mobile Payments Take Over Using cash is so 25 years ago. TheStreet caught up with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman on the latest Jolt podcast to chat about a range of topics. Of course a talk about the future of physical cash came up. Excerpt: TheStreet: Given your growth and others in mobile payments, are we looking at a world where there is no physical cash in 10 to 20 years? Schulman: I think that's probably more accurate than not. The world is rapidly digitizing. You look at every industry, whether it's media publishing or entertainment and you are now seeing different value propositions being driven by software and mobile connectivity. Financial services is no different. I think you are going to see more changes in the financial services industry in the next five or 10 years than maybe we have seen in the last 25 or 30 years. The world is rapidly digitizing. People are writing many less checks than they ever have before. Peer to peer lending, which once involved giving cash to a friend to split a bill at a restaurant, that's now happening digitally. Listen to more of Schulman's thoughts on mobile payments, Amazon's possible entrance into mobile payments and what inspires his workforce to innovate down below. PayPal and Amazon are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS. Schulman was a featured speaker at TheStreet's recent Investor Boot Campconference. Check out what else he had to say about the future of mobile payments here.

[blueprintnewspapers-blog]

SDGs in Africa: The UN example

New Post has been published on https://www.blueprint.ng/sdgs-in-africa-the-un-example/

SDGs in Africa: The UN example

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, during her opening remarks at the Commission for Social Development’s in New York, tasked Nigerian government on the need to utilise its vast resources to eradicate poverty. HELEN OJI writes on how countries, including Nigeria, are stepping up on this. The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBDC) was established in 1964 to ensure the sustainable and equitable management of Lake Chad and the preservation of ecosystems in its basin. Its members are Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Libya and Niger. The commission is funded by its member states. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development initiated by the commission has been adjudged the most ambitious plan ever developed to eradicate extreme poverty and safeguard the planet. While it is a global agenda, it is believed that it could only be achieved by addressing the multidimensional aspects. Places like Durban in South Africa, and Cauayan City in the Philippines have aligned their development plans with the SDG targets. In Nigeria, domesticating the SDG agenda, Kaduna and Edo State have exemplified both positive and negative reactions in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals plan.

Global development efforts The UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, had in 2017 during an interaction with the local SDG leaders in the 2017 session harped on the need for high participation at all strata. She said: ‘’We will not achieve the SDGs if low engagement with local communities continues’’ “To achieve the SDGs, all communities must be engaged substantively and we must also increase our knowledge of local conditions, we must also capture the lives of residents in the most rural areas and densest informal settlements, again, we must ensure that Global and national funds must be decentralized and new financial instruments developed in cities and States’, Across Nigeria, government and stakeholders like civil society organisations, actors and financiers are making outstanding contributions to poverty reduction. According to her, the importance role of community-focused programmes across the globe complement national and local communities knowing full well well the conditions that can make or break efforts to expand development opportunities to everyone.

Viewing issues from the environment angle The Ekuri Initiative, in Cross River seeks to sustainably manage the Ekuri forest as a community asset, which has over the time generated income, subsistence materials and food to the community. Another initiative, ‘The Smallholders Foundation” has used rural radio broadcasts to educate 250,000 farmers on modern agricultural and environmental management techniques as a way of providing up-to-date market information, and give farmers a platform on which to advertise their products. Nigeria, like some developed countries African countries observers believed has an opportunity to build on recent economic, political and social gains to leverage on its vast human and natural resources to eradicate poverty. Unfortunately, many internal conflicts like the insurgency in the north-east, the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta and disputes between herders and farmers they believed could also undermine and reverse development and gains made.

Private sector as advisory group When the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, launched the first national Private Sector Advisory Group on the Sustainable Development Goals in 2017, it was to among other things coordinate public-private partnerships and amplify locally-driven solutions to achieve the SDGs. The (Private Sector Advisory Group) which includes 13 diverse partners, like Lagos Business School, the Dangote Group, General Electric and the Sahara Group. Model after the Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa, another inspiring example of SDGs is the one Chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Aliko Dangote, CEO of the Dangote Group.The Centre which had over the time brought together Governments, civil society and private sector leaders to collectively devise SDG solutions such as advancing inter-country project on sustainable infrastructure and development of new platform to better connect communities to achieve the SDGs in Africa. “We must prioritize an integrated response to peace, security, human rights and development. And we must improve our efforts to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts while promoting inclusive, sustained and equitable development. Harnessing the power of partnerships will be critical and we must deepen the joint and coordinated efforts of the federal Government, state governments, local authorities, private sector and civil society organizations. Nigeria has taken concrete steps in this direction,”

The Gate Foundation intervention in Africa Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation once triggered inspiring partnerships between it and the Nigerian government in the area of health. They worked closely with immunization and health experts in Nigeria as well as private sector to strengthen vaccine cold chain infrastructure in Nigeria. Also, initiatives such as Project Last Mile and Coca-Cola, has partnered the Foundation in the past with the aim of increasing the number of Nigerian children who can access life-ensuring vaccines, In Ethiopia, the Gates Foundation is supporting the advancement of national priorities and reinforcing Government leadership in the areas of agriculture and health through partnerships across Africa. Similarly the Foundation had improved agricultural productivity, increase coverage of life-saving health and nutrition interventions. Localizing United Nations SDGs The Lake Chad Basin is an important source of fresh water on which more than 40 million people in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Nigeria depend and the UN agency noted that rainfalls had declined over the past 50 years. The proposed three years AfDB funded project aims to take stock of Lake Chad’s water and other natural resources alongside socio-economic and cultural factors which will bring development. It also aims to reinforce local capacities in natural and cultural heritage preservation and undertake pilot activities for the rehabilitation of some ecosystems and the promotion of a green economy. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has partnered with the relevant authorities to promote SDG localization in Nigeria States of Anambra, Benue, Kaduna and Kogi states. There has been previous support, implementation and monitoring of SDG-based state development plans. Stakeholders believes that in translating the 2030 agenda to reality such that global goals is step-down into local action, it requires concerted and coordinated efforts at all levels of decision-making, and the empowerment of local actors.

Opinion Researching violence in Africa, byAdewale Kupoluyi Africa is a continent experiencing one conflict or another. There is nothing too abnormal about conflicts because they are part of human existence. However, what is more important is how well we manage and report African conflicts such that they are not snowballed into violence resulting in the complete breakdown of law and order. This is what the book: “Researching Violence in Africa: Ethical and Methodological Challenges”, edited by Christopher Cramer, Laura Hammond and Johan Pottier, seeks to unfold. This chapter titled; “Navigating the Terrain of Methods and Ethics in Conflict Research,” examines conflict settings, changing wars and changing analyses. It admits that after the Cold War era, the dimension in world conflicts had increased significantly and Africa cannot be left alone. This challenge requires getting tangible answers to questions bordering on methodology, ethics and the urgency required for the application of social science researching conflict and security studies. It has been observed that Africa has been marginalised, prone to violence and terrorism; an unfortunate development that pose danger to the international community because such negative occurrences bring about diseases, unwanted migration and terrorism. Terrorism and herdsmen clashes have assumed worrisome dimensions. Ethics and credibility of research on violence are so crucial that they should be given utmost attention in order to obtain accurate findings, as much as possible and justify why the research is worth the effort. The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the United States of America seems to have increased the debate on how social science research should be better carried out such that ethical considerations are not infringed upon in tandem with the recommendations of the American Anthropological Association (AAA). On security, there is a knotty question that demands genuine answer: which one comes first; getting research facts at all cost, or saving your life in the course of researching violence in Africa? The paper reveals that the likelihood of research raising awareness about important and unpopular phenomenon is what gives empirical research on conflict and war the required legitimacy. Researchers of conflicts have been advised not to control the settings they are working on, but they should rather leave them as they are and rely on intelligence and get the desired protection. It observes that during research on conflicts, ethical concerns do not dramatically change but they only get pronounced and become hard to settle/sort out. Another thing to look at while carrying out successful research in violence is to look at how to become ‘witnesses’ rather than ‘spectators’, to get to the root of any matter. The paper alludes that useful ideas can be learnt from journalists while carrying out their investigative journalism/reporting, where everything ethically possible is deployed in order to get good results. That takes us to another point of silence, as noted in the paper. Ordinarily, silences may also be experienced in the course of the research due to peoples’ fears and unwillingness to divulge vital information. When this happens, the researcher needs to explore other secondary data sources such as reports, newspapers, government gazettes and testimonial (including the use of structured and semi-structured interviews). What is paramount is the need to build trust and maintain regular contacts with the research area rather than trying to desperately get correct information at all cost. The chapter further identifies that one aspect that has not been talked much about is the degree to which the researcher may face personal risks and the right steps to take to protect themselves because at times, researchers may not even know they are really facing security threats. To overcome some of these challenges, there is the need for researchers to have basic training on security tips that could assist them in the course of carrying out their assignments. In conclusion, the paper has richly contributed in no small way in offering rich insights into the subject-matter. However, it has not been able to delve into what happens, perhaps, when the researcher dies in the course of the assignment. Could there be an insurance cover? Any form of compensation? This missing gap would have been mentioned or explained so as to strengthen the courage of African social scientists in taking the big risks of researching violence. Few questions agitated my mind: Africa has been described as housing failed states; is reference being made to some specific African countries or to all the respective states in general? Is this classification real? How truthful or honest is our research? Do we actually report what we see on the field or we do the opposite by documenting only what we feel? What happens to a researcher, if he/she has to take a hard decision? Which option is wiser: taking the risk in the name of researching or jettisoning the desire? Is research impartiality a truism or an illusion? At what point is a researcher at great risk while conducting research on conflicts? Objective responses to the above questions should be an assignment that whoever wants to engage in researching in violence in Africa should really find desirable in providing answers.

[misssallymontana]

September 17th, 2017 Thank you again @wonderfulmachine / Bill Cramer for the shoutout as well as everyone who stopped by to say hello. It's amazing to be part of a project like @womenphotograph and @photovillenyc. The show is on until September 24th - make sure to head out there and be inspired. #photoville #photo #passion #womenphotograph #brooklyn #exhibit #photojournalism (at Brooklyn Bridge Park)