#they simply refer to it as Ireland and not Northern Ireland on their pages

[nugothrhythms]

"Torn Apart" from a 2022 double release by Belfast, Ireland-based spooky synth and post-punk act The Funeral Rose

[orangerosebush]

Sturm und Drang

In hindsight, Butler should have realized it would only be so long before his charge grew bored with life within the manor. Artemis Fowl I had made sure the Fowl estate was well stocked with the finest things their fortune could afford: the kitchen had aromatic spices from every inch of the globe; the library was practically bursting with esoteric texts; the walls were adorned with beautiful tapestries and paintings. Artemis Fowl I had beaten the world down so that it fit within the stone walls of Fowl manor, and in theory, his wife and son had to want for nothing. When Angeline had been younger, Butler remembered her leaving on weekend trips to visit her family or friends, but after her son was born, it seemed like she was content to retreat into the beautiful dollhouse her husband had fashioned around her. Perhaps the reality of who her husband was and where she lived had finally sunk in, Butler mused, carrying the tea tray. At least inside she didn’t have to think about the sectarian violence broiling in Northern Ireland, or the heating-up Cold War, or the vile things her adoring husband had done to pay for their life in the manor.

Butler poked his head into the Fowl study, rapping a hand against the door frame. At the desk inside, Artemis Fowl II was curled up in his father’s ornamented leather armchair, nose buried in a book. The boy’s ears perked up at the sound, but he didn’t look up from his reading.

“You weren’t at lunch,” Butler remarked, stepping inside.

“I apologize,” Artemis said, his young voice cold and clipped in a way Butler had never stopped thinking of as strange. “I was busy.”

You’re seven years old, Butler thought, setting the tray down on the mahogany desk. Busy?

“Your mother missed you,” he said instead, and Artemis lowered his book, eyes almost guilty.

“I promise that I will be at dinner.”

“You should eat,” Butler ordered, pushing the tea and toast closer to the boy. Artemis hesitated for a moment, but he finally obliged, taking a small bite out of the portion of the toast with the least amount of jam on it. Artemis chewed thoughtfully, setting the food back down on the plate and pointedly nudging it away. Butler pressed his lips into a thin line. Thank Christ that at least Juliet wasn’t a picky eater.

“May I ask you a question, Butler?”

“Always, Artemis.”

“Where does Father go when he leaves on business?” Artemis inquired, and Butler sighed. He moved the tray on the table, making room for him to rest his weight against the desk.

“He’s on a business trip, Artemis. He’s told you this.”

“Where does he go, though? He won’t tell me what his ‘business’ is.”

Butler shrugged. “Your father told me the same thing.”

Artemis looked at him shrewdly. “I don’t think I believe that, Butler.”

“That’s too bad,” Butler admitted. “Because that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

“You work for me, though,” Artemis argued, brow furrowed. “If you do know more, then you must tell me.”

Frowning, Butler leaned back. “I protect you. I work for your father.”

Sensing that he’d offended, Artemis tried to backpedal. “I… no one will tell me, Butler. Why? I simply want to know more about my father.”

His bodyguard considered Artemis' plea.

“I’m sorry if I seemed dismissive,” Artemis wheedled, prodding further. “I’m… I’m just curious.”

Despite being fully aware Artemis’ apology was motivated more so by ulterior motives than it was by genuine compunctions, Butler softened.

“I know you must miss him,” he relented.

Artemis perked up, sensing he’d succeed in wearing down Butler’s earlier decision.

Butler ignored the voice of Madam Ko in the back of his mind. He wondered if he could absolve himself for a brief moment of weakness surrounding his bodyguard principles.

Artemis was just a boy, Butler thought. And a smart one at that. He doubted that there was a child on earth that could be satisfied with simply artifacts from the outside world.

Reaching to ruffle his charge’s hair, Butler almost smiled at the way Artemis scrunched up his face.

“Why must you and Mother persist in doing that?” Artemis complained.

“Just another grown-up thing, I guess,” Butler ventured, humming good-naturedly when Artemis scoffed.

“What are you reading?” Butler asked after a moment, changing the subject. Artemis glanced back at his book, debating his next course of action. Finally, his excitement surrounding the book he’d been reading won out over his desire to continue pushing Butler regarding his father.

Artemis spun the novel around, allowing Butler to examine it properly. “It’s a collection of short stories by Kenzaburō Ōe. Right now I am on ‘Lavish Are the Dead’.”

Butler nodded, picking up the work and mentally filing the name away. He was nearly positive Artemis fell very short of the intended age demographic.

“What’s it about?”

Artemis’ eyes lit up. “The subject material varies, but the tone is similar between the stories. Ōe’s style is very derivative of French existentialists. I like him more than Sartre and Camus, however.”

“Camus wrote ‘The Stranger’, right?” Butler surmised, looking at Artemis for confirmation. “Read that book during university. I’ve never forgotten the way the author described the old man’s sickly dog. Poor animal,” Butler reproved, tsking.

Artemis nodded. “Yes, that was Camus. ‘Lavish Are the Dead’ is similarly macabre in the service of its philosophy.”

Butler thumbed to the first page of the short story to which Artemis referred. He narrowed his eyes, reading silently. Artemis continued on, unconscious of Butler’s increasingly deepening frown as the man scanned through gruesome paragraph after paragraph.

“I suppose it can be read in many ways. One view would be that it’s a meditation on the forgetting of the Pacific War, despite the violence’s profound impact on the cultural psyche. However, it could also be read as the submerged presence of the Korean War in Japanese society, memory, and culture. I’d argue both critiques come mainly from the perspective of the intellectual establishment, be it that it is both Ōe and the protagonist studied French literature at the University of Tokyo.”

“Artemis,” Butler said slowly, resisting the urge to rub his temples or to throw the offending text from the room. “This is about dead bodies being kept in the medical faculty of a university.”

His charge tilted his head, blinking owlishly. “On a literal, textual sense, I suppose so, yes.”

Butler made a face, putting the book down. “It’s not appropriate for you. It’s… too much. You’re too young to be reading something like this.”

“I asked Father. He’s the one who brought it back from Tokyo,” Artemis offered lightly.

Butler floundered, unsure.

To push the matter, Butler would have to either insinuate the Fowl patriarch was so absentminded as to not curate the reading material of his son or he would have to insinuate that the man had made an incorrect call in judgment. Either would be a challenge to Artemis Sr.’s authority. Either would be making a statement on which of the two had more of a say over Artemis’ behavior. An absentee father or a paid caretaker — Artemis was beginning to test the waters of which of the two men had more of a claim to be the male figure to whom he deferred, Butler realized.

Artemis watched Butler, waiting for a response.

“I see,” Butler noted, being careful to keep his tone even. Artemis’ eyes widened, a motion that would have been nearly imperceptible had Butler not been searching for a reaction on the boy’s face.

The surprise vanished from Artemis quickly, and his eyes narrowed. “Oh?”

Rising, Butler pushed the book back towards Artemis. “Yes. If he approved the book, then I am fine with it.”

“You have no further opinion on the matter?” Artemis pressed.

Butler shrugged. “I’m just your bodyguard. Is my private attitude towards the matter necessary?”

A completely bullshit statement.

Butler knew that.

Artemis knew that.

Hell, it was likely even Artemis Sr. knew that.

Butler blamed Artemis Sr., just a bit. Usually, the Fowls and Butlers were closer in age. As eerily as the young Fowl might present himself, it was hard to not feel parental twinges towards the boy when Butler’s primary duties as a bodyguard were mundane things — things like keeping Artemis from skinning his knees around the house or preparing meals for him and Juliet. The Major and Artemis Sr. were unambiguously boss and bodyguard, but Butler, who had to force himself to not subconsciously categorize both Artemis and Juliet as his kids, and Artemis, who knew his father as a visitor to the house instead of a permanent fixture? Their dynamic was undoubtedly more fraught, unspeakably more complicated to unpack.

But Butler couldn’t bring himself to give words to his failure. To do so would make it irreversible. It’d be the final nail in the coffin he’d fashioned for himself.

So he pushed the tea tray closer to Artemis, quietly getting up to leave.

Disappointed, Artemis moved to pick his book back up, returning to his previous activity.

Pausing in the doorway, Butler turned, faltering.

Artemis didn’t lower the book, but his eyes tracked Butler’s every movement like a hawk. “Yes?”

“Artemis,” Butler began, hand curling around the doorframe with uncharacteristic timidity. “Your father said he’d be home tonight. You can ask him about his trip at dinner.”

“...Will you be joining us?”

“No.”

“I see,” Artemis commented neutrally, fixing Butler with a pointed stare.

Ignoring the way his feelings stung, Butler let his hand fall from the door, turning away.

“Make sure that you eat your lunch, Artemis,” Butler said at last, weary.

“Mhm.”

Both the toast and the tea remained untouched.

[duhragonball]

Hellsing Liveblog Chapters 25-27

This is the first leg of the “D” arc.   I had originally planned on trying to do the whole thing in one post, but it’s pretty long and meanders in places, so instead I’m going to break it up, starting with the part that wraps up volume 4 of the collected editions.

Much of these first three chapters just showcases Millennium preparing to depart their secret headquarters in Brazil.  They have three blimps, maybe more.   We already saw the Graf Zeppelin III, but there’s also a Graf Zeppelin II and a Hindenberg II.   Also, the Major refers to all of this as “Operation Sea Lion 2″.  The original “Operation Sea Lion” was Nazi Germany’s plan to invade the U.K. during World War II.   It was never enacted, however, because the Germans couldn’t establish air and naval superiority over the British.  Basically, the Major is declaring that he has finally achieved what Hilter could not, thanks to his “Last Battalion” of 1000 vampire soldiers.

The bridge of his flagship (flagblimp) has this big comfy chair on a robot arm, and a panoramic world map.   The arrows on the map point in all sorts of nutty directions, including the United States and other European nations.   I could have sworn I had heard some mention in Hellsing Ultimate of Millennium sending forces to the U.S., but the international angle was never mentioned again, and I assumed that I must have imagined it.  In any event, the Major made it clear that his target is Alucard specifically, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to invade places where Alucard is not.

The Major prepares to take his seat only to find Warrant Officer Schrödinger sitting in his chair.   Remember, Schrödinger inexplicably teleported himself to London to address Hellsing and Iscariot, and then he got shot and killed for his trouble.   But now he’s back, alive and well.   He mocks the Major for being to slow, and the Doctor scolds him for his insolence, but the Major orders Doc to back off.   This is a running gag throughout the rest of the series.  The Doctor keeps trying to chastise Schrödinger, but the Major lets him do whatever the boy wants, almost like he’s some favorite pet.  

Meanwhile, an unidentified helicopter tries to land on a British carrier, the H.M.S. Eagle.   The Captain orders his crew to open fire, but the first officer suddenly does this:

So yeah, the first officer is a vampire now, and he’s sold out Queen and Country for Millennium.  He and a handful of vampire crewmen kill the rest of the crew and turn them all into ghouls, allowing the helicopter to land, making way for...

This lady, Lieutenant Rip Van Winkle.  I should point out that in the pages leading up to her boarding the Eagle, she was singing Engelandlied, a German war anthem from World War I.   She’s nutty, is the idea.

So, I’m gonna go ahead and put forth my fan theory that all the bad guys we dealt with prior to Rip were just patsies for Millennium, and not actual members in their own right.   This includes Tubalcain “Dandyman” Alahambra, because, for all his powers, no one ever said his rank, leading me to think he didn’t have one.   Same with the Valentine Brothers and any of the vampires Alucard and Seras were sent to fight during the first dozen or so chapters of this manga.   Millennium may have turned them into vampires, and in some cases they even let them in on Millennium’s inner workings, but they were never more than cannon fodder.   Jan seemed to understand this, although Luke and Dandyman seemed to believe they were genuinely created to represent the new pinnacle of vampiric power.   Even the Doctor thought Dandyman had a strong chance of beating Alucard, but in the end they were just experiments meant to test Alucard’s mettle.

And, really, the rest of Millennium is not much different, except Rip and the others actually know why they’re being sacrificed, even if they don’t necessarily understand how or when.

Meanwhile, Seras still won’t drink blood, and she keeps trying to eat regular food instead, even though she struggles to swallow every bite.   I’ve never been very clear on whether vampires in Hellsing can eat non-blood food or not.  Seras is doing it, albeit painfully, but I don’t think she really gains anything from it, except whatever coping mechanism this is supposed to serve.   

So in walks Sir Integra, who dumps a bag of medical blood on her table.  Seras never really answers Integra’s question, but she already told Walter, and it’s not much of an answer.   The heart of the matter is this: Seras really doesn’t want to be a vampire.   Or, maybe, more accurately, she doesn’t want to stop being human.   The trouble is that she already lost that battle way back in Chapter 1. 

In many ways, Seras has accepted her fate.   She works for Hellsing, recognizes Alucard as her vampire master, and so on.  I think she understands that this is the only life she can have now, and her will to live is strong enough that she appreciates what Alucard and Integra have done for her.    At her core, Seras is a public servant, and fighting monsters for Hellsing is not so different from fighting crime as a policewoman.  I think she sees her current condition as a means to that end.   She doesn’t crave power like the evil vampires we’ve seen thus far.    Seras views her abilities as a means to an end.   Alucard biting her gave her a way to stay alive and continue fighting the good fight.

However, she doesn’t want the baggage that goes along with that.   She wants to retain as much of her humanity as she can, and drinking blood is the one thing that she has some control over, or so she believes.

But Integra’s far too practical for that dilemma.   Alucard was willing to respect Seras’ relucatance, but she needs her troops on their toes and ready for action.  So she takes a knife and cuts open her finger, and then orders Seras to lick the blood off.    This is... disturbingly sexual, and one of a number of scenes that reminds me that Hirano Kouta had done a lot of, er, adult comics before Hellsing.   I think he did a lot of uniform fetishy stuff too, which is why Seras and Schrödinger’s uniforms look so similar to each other.   Both are meant to resemble German WWII gear.   I’m willing to grant some leeway here, because there’s probably only so many ways to do a finger-licking scene like this without sexualizing it a little, but the last bit with the saliva trail is just revolting. 

So, what’s bugged me for a long time was that if Seras drank (a little) of Integra’s blood here, why did this subplot not get paid off until much later in the story?  She drank blood, didn’t she?   Well, yeah, but Integra ordered her to do it, so it doesn’t count.   This came up a couple of times earlier in the story, when Walter and Al mentioned that she wouldn’t drink blood willingly.  It’s not just an ethical issue for Seras, or she’d simply chow down on the medical blood.  I guess Integra could force feed her every night, but that wouldn’t solve anything.   This is about Seras accepting her transformation as a fait accompli.   I think this is why she very nearly drank Alucard’s blood back in Northern Ireland, when it sure looked like there was no other way for her to survive.  But if she’s just sitting there with no one making her do it, and no urgent need to do it, she’ll refuse every time.  

I think Hellsing uses the premise that a vampire has to do more than just bite a human to turn them into a vampire.  That is, Alucard had to put his own blood in Seras’ body to complete that transformation.   I think that’s how it worked in the Dracula novel, and Seras herself mentions it in the Gonzoverse anime.   But that wouldn’t count either, because it’s part of the change itself.  The idea is for the new vampire to partake in blood-drinking by choice, and until that happens, they won’t get all the cool powers.   

One other thing, Integra takes this opportunity to mention that she’s a virgin, which is a weird flex for this situation, but okay.  In Hellsing, that means Integra could become a vampire herself, but not if Seras bites her, because it has to be a vampire of the opposite sex.   In any case, Tegs warns Seras not to bite down during this creepy finger-licking KFC-hentai thing.   

Back in the damn ocean, Lt. Rip van Winkle is welcomed aboard by the traitorous crew of the Eagle.   She asks them how it feels to be a vampire, and causally reminds them of their treachery.   Then she gives them new orders, which are to die by her magic gun, which fires a bullet that can turn around in midair.

And so the First Officer and his lackeys learn the same lesson as the Brazillians working for the Dandyman, and the Dandyman himself, and the Valentine Brothers and whoever else.  Millennium might turn you into a vampire, but that hardly means that you’ll live forever.   Millennium always demands treason as payment for their help, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they might betray you sooner or later.

Besides, Rip doesn’t need the British crew, because she has her own henchman on board her chopper.   While she waits for them to wake up, she paints a swastika on the deck, just to make it clear that they’ve taken control of the Eagle, which she renames the Adler.  That’s German for “Eagle”, you see.

Back on his blimp, the Major cuts this twenty-minute promo which basically amounts to “I love war, we have no particular agenda except to wage endless war for the fun of it.”   Back in England, Alucard is eagerly awaiting their arrival.  

[theotherjourney7]

“The Week In Tory returns for the second time in 4 days.

The weeks grow shorter, but the days last forever...

1. The consultant who advised the government to look for "alternative arrangements" on the Irish Border is in line for a £200m contract if alternative arrangements go ahead.

But to facilitate this, the government has to break international law with the Internal Market Bill (IMB)

Nobody can tell us what the "alternative arrangements" are, but the IMB passed through parliament anyway.

2. The UK’s highest-ranking law officer in Scotland resigned over the IMB

& The UK’s special envoy on media freedom, Amal Clooney (yes, that one) quit over IMB

3. The former (Tory appointed) ambassador to USA said the IMB was "hugely damaging to our international reputation"

4. Those snowflake liberal Remoaners Toby Young, Peter Hitchens and Tim Montgomerie turned on the govt over IMB. As did every living former-Prime Minister.

5. Joe Biden said there would be no UK/US Trade Deal if the IMB went ahead

But, Iain Duncan Smith said "we don’t need lectures" from Joe Biden

Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland also said there would be no Trade Deal

Apparently, Iain Duncan Smith does need lectures. Who knew?

6. Oh, and IMB also includes a provision allowing the government to break absolutely any law, absolutely any time!!!!!

7. Unrelated, I’m sure, but the number of "problem drinkers" in England doubled this year

So the government cut funding to alcohol addiction services

8. Dominic Raab, whose job it is to understand the Good Friday Agreement, admitted he hasn’t read the Good Friday Agreement

His excuse is: "it’s not a novel". True. Novels tend to be longer than 35 pages, aren't vital to solving conflicts that killed 3600 people

9. The Prime Minister, who literally voted to break a deal he signed with the EU, said the EU was "not negotiating in good faith"

The next morning, Northern Ireland minister and arch memo-misser Brandon Lewis went on TV and said "I believe the EU is negotiating in good faith"

10. It was revealed the Smart Freight System to handle post-Brexit trade won’t be ready until at least April 2021.

That’s at least 4 months without a freight handling system, during the time of year we rely on food imports the most

11. The Road Haulage Association said a meeting with Michael Gove to discuss border checks provided "no clarity" and was "a washout"

12. An official report says 2-day queues at Dover in January are "a certainty"

So the government closed a Covid test site in Kent, to convert it into a lorry park, in what experts (well, me) are calling "the world’s shittest game of whack-a-mole"

13. The government said people would be fined £1000 if they don’t self-isolate after getting a positive test

And then all tests ran out in the 10 worst-hit Covid hotspots

And then all home testing kits ran out, nationally

And then the website for booking tests broke, and just showed a series of error messages.

And then the government said the system was under strain because people were asking for tests when they didn’t know they were infected

So [deep breath] you must self-isolate after getting a test that doesn’t exist, and you can only get a test if you already know the result

14. Naturally, honesty no-fly-zone Home Office Secretary Priti Patel went on Radio 4 and announced tests were available everywhere and there were "no problems getting tests"

Same day - same hour, in fact - Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the testing system "has huge problems"

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who simply cannot shut up about fish, said we should stop the "endless carping" about not being tested for a fatal infection

15.Prime Minister Boris Johnson went on national TV and announced a "£100bn moonshot" approach to Covid, which would test "10m people per day"

Three days later, in front of a Parliamentary Committee, said he "didn’t recognise" the figure of 10m a day

And it was reported his half-brother is on the board of the business that would get most of the £100bn budget, which I’m sure is just a massive coincidence

Officials branded the moonshot as "Moonfuck"

16. And then Health Secretary Matt Hancock had to ask other cabinet ministers to stop referring to him as "Matt WankCock"

Despite appearances, these are not 7 year old boys

17. Food news, and Tory MP Douglas Ross said "I have seen the difference free school meals can make, and I want to make sure nobody falls through the cracks"

Douglas Ross voted against free school meals

18. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said we cannot put punitive restrictions on food imports from the EU (to force them to give up on Ireland), or we will starve

And then, minutes later, he agreed with a Brexiter MP who said we SHOULD put punitive restrictions on food imports from the EU

19. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "I venerate our civil service" after sacking the innocent heads of multiple departments to protect friends including Gavin Williamson and Dominic Cummings. And as a result, people leaving the civil service rose 14% in a year

20. Planning-ahead news: an international conglomerate pulled out of a £16bn power project because the government hasn’t performed its part of the deal for the last 20 months

21. Funding cuts since 2010 meant the government had to inject £700m to prevent further education going bankrupt

22. This week it was found the government– which last week voted not to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry – has also failed to deliver its promise to remove the same dangerous cladding from at least 2000 tower blocks. Sleep well.

And then the government said files on Grenfell were "lost forever", after a laptop was wiped. Because everything is always stored on a single laptop. We all know this.

The government runs G-Cloud, its own dedicated cloud backup service, which has been active since 2012. So... yeah.

23. At a committee in parliament, an MP read out the Covid test figures. Dido Harding, in charge of testing, said “I’m sorry, that’s just not true, I don’t know where that number is from”

It was from her own report. Page 8. In bold type.

Dido Harding said "nobody could predict" a rise in demand for testing

Government scientists predicted it, and in a July report sent to Dido Harding – maybe it was a different one? - said "July and Aug must be a period of intense preparation for a September resurgence in Covid"

Oh, and standard advice says the NHS must always prepare for cold and respiratory infections to spike immediately after the return to school in September

Dido Harding wasted £13m on a "world-beating" testing app that cost £12.3m more than the German app, and didn’t work

She is now in charge of the test-and-trace service which has collapsed completely

So naturally, it was reported the government wants to sack the head of NHS England and install Dido Harding instead. Let's make the most of that successful record, eh?

24. In June the government tweeted "grab a drink and raise a glass, pubs are reopening"

The Prime Minister said "it is your patriotic duty to go out and enjoy yourselves"

This week they said the public is responsible, and "people going to the pub fuelled the rise in Covid"

So the government closed pubs at 10pm, because it’s well-known viruses only pop out for last orders.

25. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government "threw a protective ring around care homes"

A leaked document said care homes are now being asked to accept patients who are known to have Covid

26. Hospitals were banned from launching their own testing regime for staff and patience because… nope, nobody knows why. Just because.

27. There hasn’t been a meeting of COBRA (the government’s committee for national emergencies, headed by the Prime Minister) since 10th May

28. As Covid infections surged, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said restrictions are increasing, and pointed to a chart showing the government has "moved to alert level 3". Level 3 is "a gradual relaxing of restrictions". Not only can't he remember his own alert system, he can't even read it.

29. Despite travel restrictions, it was reported the Prime Minister flew off for a long weekend in Perugia, where his friend the Russian billionaire Evgeny Lebedev lives. He denies it, but the airport has his landing documents. So either he’s lying or... no, that’s the end of that sentence

30. In June the government spent £500m on a GPS satellite system to replace the one we lose due to Brexit

In July it was reported "we bought the wrong satellites"

This week the government cancelled the programme and began asking the EU if we can keep on using their GPS system

31. A cross-party committee of MPs found nurse-Ratched cosplayer Home Office Secretary Priti Patel "bases immigration policies on anecdotes and prejudice"

It found her dept has "no idea" what its annual spending achieves, and referred to "the wreckage that [Patel’s department’s] ignorance caused"

She is one of the favourites to replace Prime Minister Johnson

32. This is because it was reported the Prime Minister is thinking of quitting because he’s worried about his personal finances: the poor man has to "pay tax", "buy his own food" and "support 4 of his 6 children". Oh, the humanity!

33. And Jonathan Aitken – look him up – continues to get privileged access to parliament despite a ban on MPs who have served more than a year in prison. Which he did. And it was hilarious.

34. And finally, because he always needs a guest appearance, Chris Grayling, the man who awarded a ferry contract to a company with no ships, has got a £100k appointment to advise ports”-Russ

[themokupuni]

East-West Center Report Suggests Need for Better Fact-Checking

Asia Matters for America is a longstanding series of reports that provide “visually easy-to-understand data, graphics, analysis, and information on the US-Indo-Pacific relationship.” 

Produced by the East-West Center in Washington, these reports are designed to help “policy makers, politicians, business leaders, academics, media, and the general public” make sense of U.S. relations in the Indo-Pacific Region. They are intended to do so through “nonpartisan, credible, and up-to-date information on diplomacy, policy, trade, investment, and educational and cultural exchanges.” 

This year, the East-West Center (EWC) published a new report in the series on the Pacific Islands. Funded by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), this report is supposed to give a primer on “the trade, investment, employment, business, diplomacy, security, education, tourism, and people-to-people connections between the United States and the Pacific Island Countries.” 

Here, the authors set out to make the case that Pacific Island Countries (PICs) matter to America, and vice versa. One of the key pieces of evidence that they use to back-up their argument is that American cities maintain eight sister city partnerships with five Pacific Island Countries. Unfortunately, this claim is based on contradictory and questionable premises.

Digging deeper into the report, the contradictions become apparent. 

Whereas the authors claim that there are eight partnerships with five PICs, they only provide a table with six of them. As for the rest, they note that Hawaii “also shares two connections with the US territories of American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.” 

The math simply does not add up. Either these American territories must count as sovereign states or two of the sister city partnerships must be missing from the report.

The other problems are less obvious.

Last week, I thought that the mainland partnerships would make a good feature for the Center on Public Diplomacy. So, I set out to do some background research on the Compton, Des Plaines, Gilroy, Neosho, and Oceanside ones.

When I reviewed official websites, I was surprised to find scant mention of these partnerships. 

On the Oceanside website, I found a page dedicated to sister cities. It listed cities in China, Ireland, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Montenegro, and the Philippines. However, there was no mention of one in Samoa. 

On the other websites, I encountered more problems. The Gilroy website references a regular advisory meeting with the Gilroy Sister City Association. Their website has a page dedicated to a partnership with Koror. However, it fails to mention recent sister city activities. On the Compton, Des Plaines, and Neosho websites, I found nothing of relevance.

When I reached out to city officials, I was in for even more surprises. Their responses suggested the partnerships with A’ana, Apia, Koror, and Nailuva actually don’t seem to matter all that much.

In Gilroy, the president of the Gilroy Sister Cities Association, Hugh Smith, confirmed that the city officially still has a “sister city relationship with Koror,” but that “has been inactive for many years.” He shared that they had sent “a letter to that effect” to their Koror counterparts about a decade ago. However, they “got no reply.” He added, “I doubt if anyone there is even aware of it.” So, what does this mean? In Smith’s words, “For all intents and purposes … we don't have a real sister city in Koror.” 

Outside Gilroy, the story appears to be murkier. A Compton official said that they didn’t recall any recent activities with Apia. A Des Plaines official responded, “I’ve done some research internally and as far as I can tell we do not have an active partnership with any Sister Cities at this moment.” An Oceanside official acknowledged, “no - we do not have a Sister City relationship with A’ana.” 

These findings left me shaking my head. 

EWC seems to have accidentally published inaccurate, or at least misleading, information in their flagship publication on U.S. - Pacific Islands relations. And, that should concern American policymakers.

First, these findings bring into question whether this EWC report is a reliable source. One of the key factors in being able to persuade others that something matters is one’s perceived credibility. When it becomes known that an institution has published inaccurate or misleading information on a particular topic, people will start to question more than the expertise and trustworthiness of the authors of that publication. They will question the credibility of their employer and funder as well. To restore their trust, American policymakers should not only demand that all Asia Matters for America reports be fact-checked post haste. They should require strong fact-checking safeguards be put in place on future research projects funded by the United States Department of Interior.

Second, this incident begs the question of whether the United States has a large enough bench of experts on Pacific Affairs. One of the key strategies for winning any argument is to avoid the fallacy of questionable premises. This exists whenever an argument is based on questionable or unlikely to be acceptable premises. To expose such a fallacy, one has to possess sufficient background information to know that a premise being advanced is questionable or unlikely to be acceptable. In this case, that body of knowledge is Pacific Affairs. Without it, a faulty argument can go unnoticed like this one. To avoid a repeat, American policymakers need to invest in broadening and deepening the bench of American experts. This will require strengthening regional studies departments at universities, improving regional coverage at media outlets, expanding regional programs in think tanks, and creating more regional  programs at nonprofits. This is how you create more fact-checkers on the issue. Of course, that will take time. In the interim, Aussie and Kiwi policymakers could fill the gap.

We ought to hold those who we trust to produce facts about the Pacific Islands Region to a high standard. Here, that standard was not met.

However, it is important to recognize that no one is perfect when it comes to writing about regional affairs. Not academics. Not bureaucrats. Not journalists. Not policy wonks. We all make mistakes. And, we actually make them quite often. That’s why we need safeguards like editors and reviewers. They help to protect our reputations. Here, those safeguards unfortunately seem to have broken down.

Michael Walsh is a freelance foreign correspondent who formerly served as the Washington Correspondent for The Diplomat.

This article appeared in the Pacific Island Times on October 4, 2022.

Image Credit: East-West Center Website

Copyright 2022

[fortheheavenssake]

CELTIC-ISRAELITE COMMONALITIES

http://www.british-israel.ca/Celtic.htm

by Yaacov Levi

To many who are interested in the history of the Celtic peoples and their modern descendants in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany and Cornwall, and from their descendants around the world a subject that is often brought up is possible connections with the ancient Israelites, in particular the “Lost Tribes” of Israel.

The purpose of this article is not to establish ‘connections’ to the Lost Tribes, but to discuss some of the many common characteristics of these modern Celtic peoples and the ancient Israelites. These characteristics I call Commonalities. I am not attempting in this short article to establish connections which has been addressed in many other volumes such as The Tribes and Ephraim by Yair Davidy and The Lost Tribes of Israel - Found! by Steven Collins as well as in ancient works. I am simply going to point out and discuss a very few of the great many commonalities between these peoples.

The Lost Tribes of The House of Israel

The peoples we refer to as the Lost Tribes were part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel which was conquered by the Assyrians around 740-720 BC. and exiled to areas in Assyria and to the north. This is told in the the Bible in 2Kings chapters 17 and 18. About the same time a contingent from the Kingdom of Judah were also exiled to the northern lands. It is these peoples and their immediate descendants that are also variously referred to as the Lost Tribes, and the subject of many works and studies.

Being both Irish and Jewish, I grew up familiar with customs and the cultures of both peoples, only in later years becoming aware that they were quite difference cultures and had greatly varying cultural characteristics. Yet growing up with both cultures, I had noticed similarities even on a casual basis. Over the years I began to see more of this similarity and in recent years I began to collect this data into what I term an Overview which I am still assembling. It is this Overview in differing areas of life that I will discuss here.

There are a number of areas that I have been looking at which includes: language, agriculture, religion and taboos, burial practices, music and folk dancing, the traditions and self determinations and self-identification of the Celts and other areas as the arise. I will point out a few items in each category and note that these are just a few of a great many commonalities and I mention them as examples.

Language is one of the subjects that led to my overall interest in the topic as early on I had noticed similarities. Considering the long period of time from the expulsion of the Israelites to our time, it would seem unlikely that there would be little, if any, common letters, words or structure, but that is not the case - there is indeed much in common.

Gaelic is a member of the Celtic group of the Indo-European family of languages that includes Russian, English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi and Italian. The Celtic group has been confined to the British Isles and part of the French coast.

Linguistic Similarities

The Celtic group is divided into two divisions which has three languages in each division. Each division makes up its own unique language.The two branches are:

the BRYTHONIC branch which is made up of the Welsh, Breton and Cornish lan guages; and

the GOIDELIC branch with the Irish, Scots and Manx Gaelic languages.

The Breton and Cornish languages are seeing some resurgence after near extinction while the Irish, Scots and Welsh languages are holding their own at this time. Manx is an ancient form of Irish and is considered to be oldest and purest Irish Gaelic in existence. Manx is very close to the extinct dialects of nearby Ulster and Galloway and separated from Old Irish in about the fifth century of our era. It occupies much the same position to Old Irish as Icelandic does to Old Norse. For the purpose of my study I have chose to concentrate on Manx and Scots Gaelic. I am sure though that an indepth study of Welsh or the other Gaelic languages would provide much food for thought on this issue.

The Gaelic alphabet as well as the ordinal numbers show more commonality than could be expected after 2,700 years of divergence; for example we have a Hebrew “S” retained in the modern Gaelic - the Hebrew Sheen, pronounced Shh is found in the Irish “S” as in the name Sean pronounced Shawn. Other letters are similar, the ordinal numbers 6 & 7 are pronounced almost the same as Hebrew and Gaelic. Words with same or similar meanings abound; for instance the Hebrew word for holy in common usage according to Halacha (Jewish law) is Kasher. The word in Manx Gaelic for hallowed or holy is Casherick. The syntax of Gaelic is entirely different from any other European language, especially English. RL Thompson, in his work Outline of Manx Literature and Language says that “in several respects Gaelic syntax has similarities with that of languages like Hebrew and Arabic”.

As in Hebrew, adjectives follow the noun that they describe: for example “ben vie” = “a good woman” in Gaelic and “Rosh ketan” = “small head” or “stupid” in Hebrew. Vie of ketan being the adjectives. The word order also is similar in Hebrew in that the verb is usually first in the sentence unlike English or many other European languages. These are just a very few of the many commonalities that I believe suggest a definite connection between the two languages and their family streams. This alone could constitute a major comparative study.

Commonalities in Ethnic Customs

One of the first areas in which I noticed similarities was in customs, notably folk dancing and later, musical instruments. The Hebrew Hora and other old traditional dances are parallelled in many Gaelic folk dances and especially the wedding dance of the Gaels which is very similar to the traditional Ashkenazic wedding dances of Europe. The musical instruments of the Gaels are

found in the Israelite tradition, notably the harp in both Celtic tales and certainly Hebrew tradition as the favoured instrument of the psalmist David [see the article “The Harp of David and the Harp of Ireland” by John Wheeler in the August-October issue of Origins of Nations - ed]. But, one of the most intriguing things to come up was that the Irish and Scots pipes we are all familiar with has its origins in the desert flute played daily throughout the Middle East. The flute of the desert shepherds is identifiable in the “chanter” of the Irish and Scots pipes.

Amazing Religious Parallels

The ancient religion of the Celtic peoples prior to Christianity was generally believed to be Druidism, of which we know very little; yet that which we do know has many overtones of the Canaanite religions that the northern tribes turned to after the split of King Solomon’s Kingdom under his son into a Northern and a Southern Kingdom. Like the pagans of Canaan, their sacred places became high hilltops and sacred groves, notably oaks. There is a great deal of similarities from what we know archaeologically in both the Northern Kingdom ritual sites and the Druid sites in the Isles. Additionally, the burial practices of both the peoples of the northern Kingdom and the Celts bear much similarity in the presence of Dolmens - large slabs of stone place horizontally across upright stones with the graves under them. These are found throughout the area of Europe which Celtic peoples passed and are found also in the areas of present day Jordan and Israel in which the Northern Israelite tribes dwelled.

You can find pictures of these dolmens in Yair Davidy’s book Ephraim on pages 137-38. This book is available from History Research Projects. Overseas it may be purchased direct from Yair Davidy in Israel (addresses on inside back cover).

Even Agricultural Similarities!

Agriculturally there are interesting commonalities - the grain crops are much the same, and even though wheat was known to them in their passage through Europe it was not a major crop in their final homes. In fact oats and barley were their staple grains. As with the Israelites, the cattle were of several colours, but the preferred colour for ritual for both peoples was red. The virgin cow used in the Hebrew ritual for purification was the forerunner of the red cattle used by the Druids in their rituals.

After the invasion of the Romans into the Isles, white cattle were introduced and later used; until that time red was the preferred colour. One of the most famous wars in Irish history was over a Red Bull stolen by a northern Irish tribe. Also, swine were not raised in any of the early Celtic areas until after they were introduced by the Romans; the Celts had a taboo against them, along with scaleless fish as eels and shellfish. The Celts, in similitude to the Israelites, were excellent headsman and developed identifiable breeds of sheep, cattle and horses, that carried on the traditions of the Israelites.

Other Proofs

Perhaps one of the most telling of the commonalities is simply the self-identification as Israelites - the Hibernians - the name of the Irish and the Scots and the Hebrides Islands off the coast of Scotland. The Milesians, one of the early Celtic peoples to come to Ireland from Spain had a tradition that they were of the Lost Tribes. The name Heber, Eber, or H’berian is found throughout early literature to describe the Celts as they described themselves to be “Of Eber” - the grandfather of Abraham.

What I have presented here in greatly abbreviated form just skims the surface of the commonalities between the Celtic Peoples and the Israelites. There is a tremendous amount of information available for those who would like to look at this closer themselves. A few resources are listed at the end. This is one of those subjects in which at first one can say “oh - that's an interesting coincidence”. But the sheer mass of these “coincidences” that build up after one goes from discipline to another becomes totally overwhelming. The fact that so much of the languages are similar almost three thousand years later, that customs are clearly identifiable as being related, that religious practices are uniquely similar and that the everyday agricultural practices and crops were similar - all along with the many other commonalities bespeak a common origin.

For those interested in pursuing this I wish you well and much enjoyment.

Suggested Information Sources

Manx Gaelic Society

Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh

St Judes

Isle of Man IM7 2EW

United Kingdom

Gaelic Books Council

Dept of Celtic

University of Glasgow

Glasgow G12 8QQ

Scotland

Yair Davidy

Brit-Am

PO Box 595

Jerusalem

Israel 91004

Chadwick, N (1965) Celtic Britain. London.

Chadwick, N (1970) The Celts. United Kingdom.

Rankin, H (1987) Celts and the Classical World. London.

Squire, C (1905) Celtic Myth and Legend, Poetry and Romance. London.

Squire, C (1909) The Mythology of Ancient Britain and Ireland. London.

[the-starchariot]

Ship

Nouns / phrases: Departure, farewell. Absence. Voyage, journey, venture, adventure. (Long) distance, international. There's a gap between where we are and where we want to be. We are not there yet. Adventurous, new places (literally and figuratively speaking). Change of environment. Changes that we set in motion ourselves. Exploration, experimental probing, research, investigation, a search for something or someone. Atmosphere of departure, wanderlust. Lack of commitment; unwillingness (or inability) to stay. For some also: Commerce, business, moving vehicles. Activities: To depart, say good-bye. To travel, have an adventure, venture. To make a change, set change in motion. To explore, probe, research, investigate, look for something or someone. To fidget, to not settle down, to not commit. Attributes: Departed (in the sense of "gone away"), absent, missing, very distant, international. Travelling, not there yet, on the way. (Ad)venturous. Foreign, new, yet to be explored. Explorative, investigative, seeking, searching. Full of wanderlust; fidgety, ready to leave. Not committed. As a person: Someone with the above qualities. A traveller. Someone who won't stay (long) or who is often away. Someone with a job to do with travelling. As advice: Just give it a go; explore! Make a change! Leave! Negatively: Isn't it maybe time to commit? Wouldn't it be good to stay put for a while?   Time factor *) : It is / you are on the way, but it's not going to happen quite yet.

Departure, journey, change, wanderlust 

About the meaning: All my interpretations of the Ship start with the fact that ships used to be the means of transport for long distance travel. While, as usual, I elaborate a bit on the traditional meanings, my general thrust is very close to them on the whole. Only business, commerce, which traditionally are important meanings of the Ship, I reallocate to the Fish. Departure / good-bye / absence: This first dimension of meanings is about the very first part of a voyage: the departure. The Ship represents farewells to me, the saying of good-byes, and actual departures. It can stand for the act of leaving something or someone behind. As the representative of someone or something else, the Ship can stand for something which is missing, for someone who has left. It can mean that a relevant person is absent, or, less spatially and more mentally or socially thinking, who is going their own way. Journey / (ad)venture / distance / not there yet: A ship is a means for going on a voyage. Thus, actual journeys, actual travelling, are often used meanings of the card traditionally. For me personally, for the type of questions I ask the cards, they aren't often productive, though. I have found it more useful to interpret the Ship as any type of venture I embark on, especially ventures which don't lead me to new places literally speaking but metaphorically speaking. In that sense, the Ship not just represents actual adventures to me, but also adventurousness as a disposition. Another important traditional meaning of the Ship is long distance, and internationality. Again, while I feel they are both very appropriate symbolic meanings of a ship, I only rarely find them applicable. So I usually interpret "distance" metaphorically, too. From this angle, the card can be saying that I'm not there yet, that there's still a considerable gap between where I am now and where I want to be. In relationship readings, the Ship can represent long-distance relationships. But it could for example also be saying that there is an emotional distance between the parties concerned, or, that they have quite a long way to go yet until they are truly, intimately, on the same page as a couple. Change of environment / to change something / exploration: So, a ship is a means to travel. Why do we travel? Sometimes we go on a journey just to "get away". In this sense, the Ship is about a need for a change of environment. It can, for example, be suggesting that it would be a good idea to move to a different country. Less literally thinking, it suggests to do things differently. It could stand for leaving our nest, for a change of job, or even for the attempt to change an unproductive habit. Basically, the Ship to me represents changes that we make; changes that we ourselves set in motion. It stands for the attempt to do things differently, to do new things. Closely related to "doing things differently" is exploration. Often, we don't go on a journey to leave something behind but because we want to explore the yet unknown. In this sense, the Ship represents anything related to exploration: not just experimental probing but also research, investigation. It can even stand for the simple act of looking for something or someone we have lost or whose whereabouts we don't know. And it can stand for anything which is foreign to us, new. Atmosphere of departure / wanderlust / lack of commitment: The Ship can represent not just journeys we are already on or at least about to embark on, but also the unbearable wanderlust we develop, the itchy feet we start to feel, when we stay put for longer than we should. The Ship can represent the atmosphere of departure which sometimes develops long before we actually leave. Consequentially, the Ship might be an indication for someone's unwillingness to stay, for the inability to settle down comfortably. In relationship readings it may represent the unwillingness to commit - not because of a lack of love or respect but because of a sense that "there is so much else to discover yet!". In this sense, the Ship can represent someone who won't stay with us.

About the Image: Because to me the Ship is a lot about change that we ourselves set in motion I decided against depicting the ship from an outsider's perspective, but instead from the sailor's perspective. The viewer is right inside the ship, travelling in it, possibly even steering it themselves. They are either just about to leave their home waters, departing into the open ocean, or coasting along a foreign shore, about to explore it. The reason why I chose a rather cold, northern setting as background is partly a matter of personal taste, and partly irrespective of that, and more complex. Firstly, I simply feel drawn to the north - Ireland, Scotland, the Scandinavian countries, and Iceland. These countries have a raw beauty that touches my heart more than any other kind of landscape, which awakes wanderlust in me more than anything else does. So when I think of making a journey I always think of these countries first. But secondly, when I researched ships in the course of history, I happened upon the Vikings. The Vikings were, in their high time, the most adventurous boatmen then known. With their agile but strong wooden longboats they even went as far as North America, long before Christoph Columbus reached the South! So I thought it very fitting to paint a wooden ship resembling a Viking longboat, and a landscape that might well be Greenland. 

Ship-Rider Something or someone causes us to make changes in our life. To be pressed to change. Quick or hurried changes. Someone tries to force change. A foreigner. Someone is exploring in an intrusive way. A new acquaintance who will soon leave again. Someone is in a real rush - rushing in, rushing off. When in uncharted waters beware of unexpected things, or even attacks from unexpected angles. Overwhelmingly foreign; some new experience is overwhelming. Ship-Clover Nice, pleasant journey. You can change it, yes, but is it really that important? A chance to change something - jump at it! To be on the lookout for an opportunity. To let ourselves be blown around this way and that, wherever fancy takes us. To act as a vagabond. Risky foolhardiness. To venture something with no thought about the risks (which might be a good thing though!). To change one's luck. Total irresponsibility: Unwillingness to commit and to take on responsibilities. To not commit to a responsibility. To go looking for the gold at the end of the rainbow. Ship-Ship*) To make a major change. An important departure. Adventurous journey; adventurousness regarding a new (business) venture. To look for adventure. To not commit to a venture. Something or someone is very definitely missing/absent. Insatiable wanderlust (makes us unable to commit). Ship-House To leave home, to move to a different place. To turn away from tradition and do things in a new way. To start new traditions. Conflict between wanting the comfort of familiarity and wanting to go explore the unknown. To be familiar (and comfortable?) with exploration, with the process of making new discoveries. To have a habit of leaving. To be used to someone's absence. To plan a journey; to plan a change. Mobile home. Holiday home. To find the structure of what is still unfamiliar. A family member who has has left - or who goes a different way than the rest of the family. An absent family member. A family member who doesn't commit (to the family). Someone can't commit to starting a family. Ship-Tree To depart from one's comfort zone and go where there's a lot of insecurity, unfamiliar conditions, and adventure. Uprooting - to leave one's roots behind. Or: to search for one's roots. To make changes for pragmatic reasons. To not lose one's calm in new situations. To grow with new experiences. Exploration of nature or of one's body. Exploring is healthy. Calm journey. An inner conflict between difficulties with moving and knowing that it's time to leave. Conflict between someone who is very deeply rooted and wants things to develop only slowly, and someone who has constantly itchy feet and likes to shake things up regularly. Ship-Clouds Journey or change with a very unclear path, purpose, or destination (might be a warning or just stating a fact). To want to change - but there are no reference points and/or no guidance. To make a change out of despair. A hopeless journey. To lose hope that we can change. Great big adventure: to explore that which is completely unknown yet. To leave behind everything which is conceited, confusing, or hopeless - a fresh start. To go explore confusion / look into a misunderstanding. Someone's departure causes despair. We're disoriented because we've entered uncharted waters. Ship-Snake Strong desire to leave, strong desire to discover new territory, to experience new things. Exploration of one's desires. To search for what we truly want. The empowerment to explore. Travel guide. Sexual exploration. To begin an affair / a sexual relationship with parameters yet unknown. Extremely strong wanderlust. To really want to reach the end of a journey. That which is the goal of a venture. To put everything we have into making a change happen. To search for knowledge. To leave everything behind which is not conducing to reaching our goal. Reckless adventurousness. To not commit to others because commitment would hamper our target achievement. Ship-Coffin A journey is over. No more exploration. To suppress one's urge to leave or one's wanderlust; to suppress one's adventurousness. To not allow oneself to make changes. The loss of someone - because they left, literally speaking. A final farewell. To move on (from a loss). To leave something or someone behind for good. To explore one's grief; to explore that which is buried deep down. Ship-Bouquet To be welcome(d) were you go. To welcome a foreigner; a stranger. A welcome journey/change. To re-decorate. To be not very committed to one's friends. Change your ways - you need to be more friendly, praise others more! To go visit someone new; to embark on the venture of broadening one's social circle. To explore new social circles. To leave one's social circle. To leave behind the need to look pretty and look for something better. A farewell party; a farewell gift. To give (or receive) praise for making a change. Exaggeration of an adventure. Admiration of adventurousness. Ship-Scythe To cut off ties with someone and leave them behind (or, someone does this to you). Painful (possibly premature) good-bye. To tidy up loose ends before a departure. A sudden departure; a very sudden decision to change something. Unexpected journey. Sudden (painful, disruptive) end of a search or exploration. To cut off the old; to cut off anything and anyone who holds one back. Disrupted journey. Premature end of something which was still moving, changing. An adventure or exploration which might get you hurt. Ship-Whip To get away from abuse. To change one's own abusive behaviour. To bring justice to the world. To punish/torture someone by being unreachable. The threat of leaving someone behind. To go looking for trouble. Guilt about leaving. Someone's guilty of leaving someone else behind who they should have committed to. Conflict about changes we are making or planning to make. Exploration of aggressive tendencies. To receive scolding/punishment for departing from something, for changing something, for doing uncommon things. Absence of conflict. To experiment with BDSM. Ship-Birds Strong wanderlust; inability to stay put. Nervousness or worries about a pending journey, venture, or change. Excitement about a journey, venture, or change. An unorganised journey, venture, or change. Chaotic departure. To leave chaos behind. Worries that someone might leave. Someone is busy exploring. The attempt to change everything at once. Constant change of direction. To leave a stressful situation. Someone's constant nagging, talking, or worrying, drives someone else away. Ship-Child Abandonment issues. A very inexperienced explorer. Everything is a novelty because we've entered uncharted waters. Beginning of a journey. To initiate change; to take the first steps in a new direction. Absent child. Abandoned child. To take a child on a journey. Playful exploration; naive exploration (e.g. no awareness of the risks). Great joy of exploration. A small (short, or not very far) journey. A change that we make is still delicate - it mightn't take hold. Wanderlust which is going to grow. Someone is in need of guidance in regard to a venture they are embarking on. A young person is exploring something. Child leaves the nest. Ship-Fox To assess the risk of a change which could be made. To identify as an explorer; to have built one's sense of self around being a globetrotter / someone who doesn't settle down. Self-exploration. To make necessary changes. To leave even if this means leaving people who depend on you. To not commit for selfish reasons. Someone who won't commit no matter how much you may want them to. Adventurousness vs. caution. To leave someone or something because that's good for oneself. To adapt to a changed environment. Ship-Bear Travel guide. To be confident about a change. To know how to change something. Preparations for a change or a journey. Absent parent. To search for a parent(al figure). To go exploring with confidence. Someone bossily arranges things on behalf of others whether they asked for it or not. Someone or something interfering. Something that greatly influences the direction we take. An absent parent; absence of a leader. To leave behind someone who had a lot of influence on you. To explore one's own powerfulness; to explore dominance. The attempt to change a bossy, dominant person. Ship-Stars A journey we've always wished to go on. Itchy feet. To finally dare to go and reach for the stars. The belief that it's better elsewhere. To explore spirituality. The search for meaning. To envision what we would like to change, or where we would like to go. To embark on making one's vision come true. To just daydream about doing something instead of actually doing it. To leave something/someone in order to follow one's dreams. To fantasise about someone who is absent; to keep connected with someone although they are absent. Ship-Stork Inner transformation leads to making changes in one's behaviour or environment, too (and vice versa). Strong longing to depart, or to travel. Someone is a vagabond by nature. Transformative power of new experiences. To revisit a place we've been before. Traveller returns. Someone departs but they will return eventually. Someone will be on their way for quite a while yet. To go on a journey of self-exploration. A journey towards one's true self - a search for one's true self. Ship-Dog Travel companion. Someone who follows you wherever you go (literally and figuratively). Help on a journey or support concerning making a change. Ask for permission before you leave / change things! Adventure with a friend. To explore a friendship. To shift one's loyalties elsewhere. To stay loyal to someone who has left; to stay loyal to someone although they won't commit. Long-distance friendship; to feel distant from a friend. Friend who is absent. To leave a friend - to look for a friend. To change something just because we were told to. Ship-Tower A lonesome journey; to travel alone. In uncharted waters you're always alone at first. To seek solitude. Solitude is a new experience which might teach us a lot. A change we can bring about only by ourselves. To say no to a change / journey / exploration. To feel isolated because one feels different, foreign. Foreign authority. To explore authority. Travel authority. To be justifiably proud about or to brag about one's explorations. To depart from loneliness: to seek contact. To leave someone (or a place) even though this means that we'll then be alone. Someone's aloofness, or control-freak-mentality, or pride, made someone else leave them. Very, very distant (emotionally, or spatially). Ship-Garden Social (ad)venture; to embark on a social expedition; to rise in society; the attempt to change our social position or reputation. The attempt to change society. To present as adventurous. Foreign culture; to explore a different (sub)culture. To leave one culture behind; to search for the culture/society where we could finally settle. To search for publicity. The public / everybody tries to discover something. To travel together; to explore something together. To change something by collective effort. Publication of one's research. Social experiment. Someone is not committed to their team. An absent team member. Someone important has left the team. Ship-Mountain To seek out challenges. Challenging change. Difficult journey. Forced pause; developments have come to a stop. Impeded/delayed departure. Something blocks change. The refusal to change anything. To leave behind someone who is just hindering us. It's the elephant in the room that someone will soon leave (or won't commit), or that someone important is not there. Conflict between someone who refuses to move and someone who has itchy feet. That which blocks us from leaving. To not express one's desire to leave. Someone is going to leave; there's nothing which can be done to stop them! Ship-Crossroad To explore alternatives. Try out different directions and see where they lead! The adventure of being free to go wherever we feel drawn to. A change of direction. To be undecided in which direction we should go. The decision to leave. Free to go. Ambivalence about a departure; to not be sure whether we should leave. To contemplate the pros and cons for leaving. Procrastination of a necessary departure or of a necessary change. Speculations about an absent person's whereabouts. Ship-Mice Being fed up with the present situation has made us want to leave, or change things radically. Dwindling of adventurousness. Too little exploratory spirit. Bad (corrupt) research. Unhealthy inability to settle down. To be constantly moving is draining. To spoil a journey. Bad new experience. To spoil someone's readiness to try new things. Lack of adventure, lack of exploration. To depart secretly without telling the people who have a right to know. To leave behind an unhealthy situation. Lies or rumours spread widely. Foreign disease. To look into what is going wrong. Ship-Heart (The idea that) absence makes the heart grow fonder. To explore a new romantic relationship or to tread new paths in the one we already have. Romance feels like an adventure. To leave something behind that is dear to us. A loved one leaves. We leave a loved one. Long-distance relationship. The feelings are there but commitment is not. To look for love. To miss someone. The heart of an explorer. Our heart tells us to leave. In our heart of hearts we know we should change something. Change of heart. To change something for a loved one. Infatuation with someone who won't stay. Forgiveness for someone who left. Ship-Ring A promise to say farewell. A promise to make changes. Commitment to exploration, to adventure. Shared adventure. To go through changes together. To make connections internationally or on a journey. Commitment to something means that changes have to be made. A predictable departure; it's predictable that a person won't stay/commit. Conflict between a person who is committed and another person who isn't. To share wanderlust. Emotional attachment to someone who is absent. Someone we relied on has left. Ship-Book Travel book; knowledge/facts about foreign places. New studies. To embark on a scientific venture; scientific research. To explore new areas of knowledge and wisdom. To make a change in one's education. To look for the truth; to follow the facts; to go where the truth leads. To be out of one's depth. To leave behind the well-known; exploration of the yet unknown. Something departs from the truth. To leave school. Ship-Letter To make inquiries; to go looking for information. Long distance communication. Communication about a change one would like to make; or, communication would cause change! Communication with someone who is absent. To express one's wanderlust. To inform someone about one's inability or unwillingness to settle down. Someone expresses (possibly not verbally, though!) their inability to settle down. Communicating/expressing ourselves is new to us, and scary. Travel documents; to book a journey. Ship-Man (a) Man who is absent, missing, gone away, very distant, travelling, not there yet, on the way, (ad)venturous, yet to be learned to know, exploring, seeking, searching, full of wanderlust; fidgety, ready to leave, not committed. To leave a man; to look for a man; to explore a man (or manhood). A man makes changes. An explorer, a traveller, a foreigner. Ship-Woman (a) Woman who is absent, missing, gone away, very distant, travelling, not there yet, on the way, (ad)venturous, yet to be learned to know, exploring, seeking, searching, full of wanderlust; fidgety, ready to leave, not committed. To leave a woman; to look for a woman; to explore a woman (or womanhood). A woman makes changes. An explorer, a traveller, a foreigner. Ship-Man (b) Man who is absent, missing, gone away, very distant, travelling, not there yet, on the way, (ad)venturous, yet to be learned to know, exploring, seeking, searching, full of wanderlust; fidgety, ready to leave, not committed. To leave a man; to look for a man; to explore a man (or manhood). A man makes changes. An explorer, a traveller, a foreigner. Ship-Woman (b) Woman who is absent, missing, gone away, very distant, travelling, not there yet, on the way, (ad)venturous, yet to be learned to know, exploring, seeking, searching, full of wanderlust; fidgety, ready to leave, not committed. To leave a woman; to look for a woman; to explore a woman (or womanhood). A woman makes changes. An explorer, a traveller, a foreigner. Ship-(Sensual)Lily To explore sensual / sexual pleasures. To enjoy a journey, to be passionate about travelling, about a new experience. To make changes when the time is ripe. A very slow but intense change. A slow journey. To go looking for where the passion has gone. An absent lover; to say goodbye to a lover; long distance sexual relationship. Sexual relationship without commitment. Strange new pleasures. To experience the sensual impressions of a foreign country (food, climate, language, landscape...). To gain experiences. Ship-(Virtuous)Lily To explore morality, or, specific moral virtues. To research moral concepts. To be in uncharted waters, morally. To try and become a better person. To say goodbye in a morally correct way. The moral relevance of adventurousness: a warning that it is not the same as foolhardiness. To make changes with good intentions; to try to change the world to the better. To travel/commute in morally good ways (where one doesn't exploit others, or pollute the environment etc.) To make peace with the absence of someone or something. Wise ways of handling changes. To be honest to others about changes you're going to make or if you are planning to leave. Lack of commitment to moral principles, or to modesty or abstinence. Ship-Sun A holiday trip; an outing; to go out; to be out and about a lot. To go where there's a lot of warmth and sun. To look for happiness. To change things only on the surface. Joyful exploration; fun experiments. New experiences bring joy! Awareness that it's time to leave. To keep up appearances although we're very close to just leaving. Someone is strongly broadcasting that they won't commit. Joyful departure. Farewell party. Absence of joy. Ship-Moon Explorations or changes or departures that leave a deep mark on the psyche. To explore the unconscious. To explore something intuitively, without a conscious plan. Sadness because of a departure. Melancholic good-bye. Fear of the unexplored, fear of the unfamiliar. To explore something in depth. A restful journey. To leave so we can find rest. To meet our fears with courage. Strange emotions. Very profound need for a change of environment. To look into something in depth. Ship-Key An openness to doing things differently, to making a change. Unrestricted exploration. Discoveries. To allow oneself to leave - or: to flee a place. To explore an idea. The solution lies in doing things differently, or in leaving. To be ready for adventure. To give someone permission to leave. Leave of absence. To look for acceptance. To look for relief. Experiments and brainstorming - to look for new ways of doing things. The permission to just experiment, to try something, to look into something. Ship-Fish A change or journey that costs or brings in money. To discover new values. Valuable discovery. To value adventure. To busily collect new experiences - but to be unwilling or unable to really relish them. To not let to opportunity to make a valuable, special new experience go by unheeded. Adventurous or foolhardy business decisions. International business dealings. International job. A commuter; to commute. Job description that entails travelling a lot. Work-related changes (e.g. to quite you job, or to take a different career path). Journeys of the type "See all of Europe in 10 days!" Ship-Anchor A journey finally comes to an end. To reach one's final destination. Conflict between wanting to leave and wanting to stay. To cling to someone who wants to leave. Something is holding us back from leaving (or from changing something). To change one's routines. To stick with a journey, with exploring something. Everyday life contains a lot of mobility, a lot of exploration, adventure (positive or negative). A safe journey. The feeling that our daily life, life's necessities, make it impossible for us to go exploring, have adventures. A focus on a search, on an exploration, on changes we want to make. Everything revolves around a departure. Ship-Cross Making a change/exploration brings a lot of hardship with it. To explore an ideology. To go where fate leads. To go a away on a quest. To explore suffering. Foreign/strange ideologies or convictions. To depart from one's dogmata; to leave an ideology behind. Painful departure. The responsibility on/for a journey. Fateful journey. Commuting/travelling is a burden. Little commitment to principles, or to one's duties. To change one's principles. To leave behind that which is painful. It's our duty to go looking for something or someone, to go try and find out about something. It's our responsibility to change. The making of difficult changes.

[cynicinafishbowl]

DVD Commentary

I’m bored, so you get all of Chapter 5. I’m breaking it up into scenes, so here’s scene 1/2: Chess (under the cut)

On quieter days (namely days in which parliament actually sat, and so members were unable to engage in any kind of idiocy which might reflect badly on the government and by association, the efficacy of the civil service which underpinned it), Elizabeth would venture to see if her dear papa was free for a chat and a game of chess. Not that the game was ever actually competitive, because while Elizabeth was by no means a slouch at the game, her father was an intelligent gentleman, well steeped in age, craftiness, and treachery, [’age and treachery’ is a phrase I picked up from @tamorapierce, and which I absolutely adore, and use whenever I can] and he had a good forty or so years more experience than Elizabeth. Nevertheless, she persisted. [This chapter was written in the immediate aftermath of #NeverthelessShePersisted. I try to pop in as many topical references as I can, and this one was too perfect not to add]

Given that she was going to be visiting her father in one of the various rooms given over to the Lords, [I have no idea of the layout of Westminster, and I’m honestly not overly fussed by that lack of knowledge] and given her position in the civil service, not to mention her reputation as a bloodstain on the sadly rent [such a good word] cravat of the gentle image of British politics [the ‘stain on the whatever of whatever’ description trope is a massive fave] (or at least as much Britain as there was after Northern Ireland and Scotland seceded after the Brexit) [lol remember that this is set in a post-Brexit England which lost Scotland and the rest of Ireland, and is barely holding on to Wales], Elizabeth could not simply swan in to say hello to her father without a collective sharp intake of breath from every politician in the room, and a lot of wary stares. When engaged in a game of chess, however, she was not regarded as an active threat. She was just a dutiful daughter visiting her doting father.

It was not, however, just that. As a young girl, her father, who may or may not have dabbled in espionage during the cold war (after all, he’d never admitted anything in as many words, but he had a suspiciously good grasp of Russian, and the hints were certainly dropped semi-regularly) [the ‘is he a spook, or is he just suspiciously knowledgeable’ trope is another fave. It’s going to be popping up in later chapters of both this fic and An Evening] had taught her that, especially as a woman, her best disguise was to be occupied with something else. A man apparently reading a book was suspicious. A woman happily ensconced in her knitting or embroidery or a game of chess, however, surely had no part of her wits available for anything more than what she seemed to be doing [another idea shamelessly taken from Tammy]. Mr Bennet was reasonably certain that while the regularity of her visits was in part undoubtedly due to the fact that it was impossible to sit down to a game with him when she was at home because Mrs Bennet tended to go into fits of mild hysterics when they disappeared off into his study, as she was convinced that they were up to something nefarious (which, when Elizabeth thought about what she had learned of espionage from her father, may have actually been the case), it also, probably had something to do with keeping abreast of the political gossip, the goings on of the Lords being notoriously underpublicised whenever there wasn’t a scandal.

As usual, Elizabeth made her way through the lounge, around various tables and armchairs to where she knew her father would be sitting, reading that week’s The Economist [I swear I don’t have a product placement deal with them - it’s just my go-to news magazine, so I’ve made it everyone’s] while he waited for her to appear. When she did, he would hand her the hinged box which opened to form a chessboard, and which, when closed, contained the pieces [one of my grandfathers had such a set], and Elizabeth would set the board for their game as they regaled each other with the banalities of their day-to-day interactions. The serious conversation happened during the game.

I’d like to take a moment that this chapter was early days of the fic. I hadn’t entirely figured out where I was going with it or the characters, and so there are a number of moments which I would, were I editing it later, have removed. Indeed when the fic is complete, I may go back and do some ret-conning and edits so that it is a stylistically continuous work, as opposed to something that was written one chapter at a time.

That day, however, she found her father already engaged in a game of chess. His opponent was a man in his mid- to slightly-after-mid-thirties, who was dressed in a manner which made the word ‘impeccable’ seem lacking. If not for a nose which could only charitably be called ‘aquiline’ [I’m such a fan of the ‘narrator is desperately searching for a way to politely explain that they have a FUCKING MASSIVE nose’ trope, and all of its permutations], and which, strictly speaking, ranged far more into ‘aggressive’ territory [the trope continues], he would have been easily the most conventionally attractive gentleman whom she had ever encountered in real life, the end result was an overall countenance which could be called distinguished without charity entering into the equation [given that later discussions of casting ideas resulted in my decision that Lord Tristan would be played by Richard Armitage, I’m pretty happy with this description]. As for his state of dress, Elizabeth, as a couturier’s daughter [let us never forget that Mrs Bennet had quite a career], could tell at a glance whether something was tailored to someone’s form after the fact or during manufacture, and this gentleman’s clothing most certainly fit into the latter category. The three piece suit was simultaneously entirely modish and timeless, in a fabric which looked to be a navy cashmere/wool blend of a high percentage of the former (although she couldn’t be sure without feeling the heft of it, and that was simply not the done thing with people to whom one had not even been introduced) [I only just realised that the ‘I can’t tell how much of the fabric is a certain fibre without touching it’ thing was also used by me in An Evening. I totally did not remember that it had already been used. Whoops. I’d love to say that this was planned and that I was subtly showing that Elizabeth and Mary had very similar upbringings etc, but as I’ve already admitted, that was very much not the case], and his shoes had an air of being handmade by Mediterraneans [I’m sure other people make shoes by hand equally well, but Tristan is Continental in his tastes].

The only indication that he had not stepped off of the fashion plates of some menswear publication of the sort of erudition and privilege that Elizabeth, a mere ‘the Honourable’, and by dint of her father’s profession, not even by birth, could never dream to hear of, was the fact that if her eyes did not deceive her (and that was unlikely, as she had watched enough Regency and Victorian costume dramas [I couldn’t resist the meta] to know at what she looked), he was wearing a cravat with his very crisp, very white shirt. It was exquisitely tied, and clearly silk, but it was a cravat nonetheless. Something about its appearance made her remember the fact that the word ‘chit’ had been used to describe her, and she worked hard to stifle the giggle which formed at that memory. The ire had faded, leaving only the residual mirth of that most ridiculous of situations.

On second thought, Elizabeth mused, given her at best limited understanding of what was de mode in gentlemen’s fashion at the time, the presence of the cravat didn’t at all preclude him from having stepped from the pages of some fashion magazine for the violently rich and exorbitantly well-heeled.

Taking the final few steps, she placed a hand on her father’s shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. “Hullo papa. I see I have arrived a bit late.”

Moving his head from where he had been engaged in a rather concerted length of sustained and rather menacing eye contact [we return to the Julie Bishop staring competition] with his opponent, he turned to smile at his favourite daughter. “Not at all, my dear. You are here precisely when I had expected you. Tristan here is merely proving to be less of an easy win than I had initially thought.”

With the utterance of this not even partially veiled [Lord Reg gives zero shits] aspersion, the gentleman in question, this ‘Tristan’ [remember when I named Fitzminor ‘Evelyn’ because I loved horrifically posh names? Well Tristan was the next poshest name I could think of that wasn’t ‘Tarquin’], castled with a look of louche disinterest [loucheness is another fave of mine when it comes to characters actions], and stood to acknowledge Elizabeth [a well-raised lad]. She was slightly surprised by this, as she wasn’t at all sure that standing when in the presence of a lady was something which was done outside of period dramas. He extended a nod in her direction which flirted with the territory of being a shallow bow, and it was only when Elizabeth was herself seated next to her father that he sat again. “You’re too kind, Reg,” [a power play] he muttered darkly before turning to Elizabeth. “Do I have the pleasure of addressing Miss Elizabeth Bennet?” he enquired.

Elizabeth, who had only before heard her father referred to as ‘Reg’ by some of the old squires in the village when he visited the local for a pint and a game of darts [for Reg is a man of the people when all else is said and done], found it slightly ridiculous to hear such a nickname uttered in what had to be the poshest accent she had ever encountered in her life, and did her best to school her face into a neutral expression. Elizabeth was saved from having to answer through her barely suppressed mirth by her father’s answer. After taking his opponent’s rook with his bishop, accompanied by a withering look which said ‘I expected better from you’ [looks speaking loudly and with passive aggression are a literary device which I absolutely adore, as I’m sure you’re all aware by now], he nodded. “You do indeed have that pleasure. Tristan, this is my second daughter, Elizabeth, who works in media relations for the Commons. Lizzie, this is Tristan, the –th Earl of ----.” Her father, ever a slight Bolshie, had a tendency to ‘accidentally’ forget people’s appropriate honorifics in conversation. [Ah yes, Bolshie Reg. Such a fave]

Cordial nods were again exchanged at this formal introduction. With over 800 peers in the House, Elizabeth could not be expected to keep track of all of them. Keeping track of the commons was difficult enough. She was, however, vaguely aware of some of the more interesting members. Lord Tristan, as he was known, [Well I could hardly have him referred to as ‘Lord ----’ for the rest of the narration, could I? ‘Lord FirstName’ is a less common, but still technically accpetable, form of address] held a hereditary seat, being one of the landed gentry, which he had inherited five years previously [so I had completely forgotten that this was when I had put the timing of the previous Earl’ls death. When I started writing my Persuasion oneshot of Anne meeting Wentworth again, I ran some vague timelines and decided that five years pre-P&P was a good time to kill him off, and once again, my subconscious wins at consistency, if not active memory] following the untimely and premature death of his father. Being under the age of sixty, he was notable merely for his existence, but by all accounts he was a clever chap, and seemed to take his position as a member of the upper house of a bicameral democracy rather seriously.  He was also of a family which had been well established in England long before the Hanoverians took over the monarchy. [the ‘had been nobility in england since long before the royal family’ trope is another favourite of mine]

One of the slightly more bluestocking blogs Elizabeth followed, which concerned itself with the gossip of Westminster [totally not @ircats], had alleged that one of his ancestors was depicted on the Bayeaux tapestry, but had not gone so far as to intimate which. Elizabeth wasn’t sure how much truck she gave that suggestion, but she did know that the family could trace its way back to the Norman conquest and then further back in France (a younger son having sailed with Wilgelm, the eldest being somewhere in between feudal lord and minor prince [’a middling to major noble’, ‘light to moderate treason’ - deliberate vagueness is yet another fave] at the time and rather more interested in crusades to the Holy Land than conquesting some godforsaken rock in the middle of the uncivilised ocean [homage to Annie Proulx’s description of Newfoundland in ‘The Shipping News’: “the rock that had generated his ancestors”] to the west). What had most impressed her was the fact that there had been an unbroken line of male heirs through the intervening millennium [honestly, how often do those pop up?]. Or, at least, if not an unbroken line, at least sufficient younger sons to perpetuate the lineage. [totally not dropping a hint here, am I]

Elizabeth was interrupted from her musing of the virility of the house of ----‘s issue when she realised that Lord Tristan had said something to her, and seemed to be expecting a reaction. “I’m so sorry,” she said, returning to reality, “you were saying?”

Lord Tristan smiled. “I was merely commenting on the fact that your father is about six moves from having me in checkmate, is well aware of the fact, and seems to be toying with me.” [what a nice, self-aware lad]

Elizabeth glanced at the board and deduced that to be true. “Yes, he does enjoy doing that,” she agreed.

“If it’s not too forward, I wonder if I might request to play the next game with you,” he enquired, as if he were a gentleman requesting a set at a ball. [sometimes my references to the fact that the source material is a Regency novel aren’t that subtle]

Elizabeth glanced at her father, who smiled, bemused. “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m perfectly happy to read. We can play the next time you’re at home for the weekend. The two of you will actually be rather well matched.”

The rest of the match was dispatched with brutal efficiency [he was toying with Tristan] on the part of Mr Bennet [come on, Adela, you’re the one who made him a Lord, do better/be better], and resignation on the part of Lord Tristan, and the result was a surprise to neither. True to his word, Mr Bennet [COME ON] retrieved a folded Economist from the inner pocket of his jacket, and walked a few paces to a conveniently placed armchair where he could occasionally peer over the top of his spectacles and magazine to observe the course of their game. Elizabeth was reasonably sure that that was all he was of a mind to observe, because she was almost entirely sure that the Earl was rather not necessarily a gentleman interested in the fairer sex. [Her gaydar may not be the most fine tuned, but Tristan is hella flaming]

[williamexchange]

How to Use LinkedIn to Build a Powerful Network

Are you connecting with the right people on LinkedIn? Want to build a stronger LinkedIn network?

In this article, you’ll learn how to make strategic LinkedIn connections to grow your influence and your business.

Why Build a Selective LinkedIn Network?

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a business professional, LinkedIn is the perfect social media platform to grow your business network. The platform is deliberately designed to encourage you to make connection requests to people you already know.

The key to building a powerful LinkedIn network is to choose your connections strategically. Instead of adding anyone and everyone, limiting the number of people you add to your network will ensure you see posts in your feed from people who are truly relevant or of interest to you.

Sales on LinkedIn come when you’ve developed a valuable network and start to engage with that network. A soft-selling approach works best. Sharing content that helps your network, highlighting examples of how you’ve worked with clients, and answering questions about your field of expertise are all good approaches.

How do you add people to your network? You can send out your own connection requests to your colleagues, clients, and local business network. You’ll also receive connection requests from people you may have never interacted with, either on- or offline.

Rather than accepting every request you receive or sending out hundreds of requests a week from your own account, here’s how you can build a genuine network by being selective.

#1: Control How People Can Connect With You on LinkedIn

By default, anyone can send you a connection request on LinkedIn; however, there are ways to control how people can connect with you.

For instance, you can set up your LinkedIn account so only people who already have your email address can connect with you. To do this, click on your profile photo in the upper-right corner of the screen and choose Settings & Privacy from the drop-down menu.

On the Communications tab, change your settings as appropriate.

If you want to grow the number of people who follow you rather than the number of connections in your network, you can set your LinkedIn profile to Follow first. This allows you to grow your followers without necessarily adding to your network connections.

To change your profile to Follow first, go to your LinkedIn account settings. On the Privacy tab, scroll down to the Blocking and Hiding section and select the Make Follow Primary option button.

You can also follow other people’s posts and updates without adding them to your network. These might be speakers, podcasters, or influencers you’re interested in keeping up with, rather than having a direct connection with them.

Why Your LinkedIn Headline Matters

Your LinkedIn headline should attract your ideal client to reach out and connect with you. When you comment on someone else’s post, that person’s network will see your profile and your headline will play a major role in their decision whether to reach out and connect with you. If you don’t write your own headline, LinkedIn will pull the title of your current post.

The creative headline below might prompt potential connections to send a personalized invite that includes a question about how she builds trust and communication. If the headline were simply “CEO,” on the other hand, that wouldn’t particularly entice people to send a connection request.

#2: Identify People to Connect With

Are you a member of your local chamber of commerce? Maybe you’ve joined a local networking group. If so, run a search of the membership on LinkedIn and your fellow members will appear in the search results.

To find specific people, use the search bar at the top of the page. You can search for users based on names, jobs, content, companies, schools, or groups. You can also put in the name of your chamber of commerce or your city.

Here, I searched for “Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce,” of which I am a member. The top results will include the options to Follow or Connect and will show any shared connections you may have. 

Add People via LinkedIn’s Find Nearby Feature

When you attend a conference, workshop, or networking event, you can turn on the LinkedIn Find Nearby option on your mobile device to find other LinkedIn users who are within 100 feet of you. It’s designed to encourage users to build their professional network.

To use this feature, first make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.

Next, open the LinkedIn mobile app and tap on the My Network icon at the bottom of the screen. Tap the blue Connect button, and in the pop-up, toggle Find Nearby to On.

People who are attending the same event and have their Find Nearby status set to On will start to appear in the window. This can take a few minutes. LinkedIn recommends that event managers use this feature to invite attendees at the start of the event.

Keep in mind that your Find Nearby status will stay on until you switch it off.

There are two benefits to using this feature:

Find new connections who are at the same event as you.

See the people who are already in your network at this event and send them a message to meet up.

Pro Tip: When you add someone to your network using Find Nearby, you don’t have the option to send a personalized message. I recommend taking a screenshot of the names and sending personalized invitations to those accounts later when you have the time.

Having a personalized invitation accepted means you’re initiating a one-on-one conversation with that connection. Without it, the new connection is added to all of your other connections and you may forget to follow up with a message later.

Add People via LinkedIn’s Suggested Connections

When you add new people to your network, LinkedIn then suggests other members you might know. The People You May Know section shows people who are connected to your first-degree connections, so it’s worth having a look at the suggested people. There are usually two rows of four profiles listed.

If you want to connect with these people, the default option is to click Connect, and you won’t have the opportunity to personalize your connection request.

However, if you prefer to send them a custom invite, click on the person’s profile and request the connection via their personal profile page.

Add People via LinkedIn Suggested Introductions

Another option is to ask someone in your network for an introduction. If you click on a suggested connection’s profile on your desktop and then open a messaging conversation window on the right, LinkedIn will suggest someone in your network who can introduce you to your potential new contact.

#3: Send a Personalized LinkedIn Connection Request

When you send a connection request, add a personal note to it. To illustrate, mention that you’re both members of the same group or attended the same conference.

When you personalize an invitation, you’re starting a conversation with your new connection. Instead of waiting for a post or comment on the main feed to take the next step of building on that new relationship, you can start a one-to-one conversation with them.

This isn’t an opportunity to start pitching your business, however. Build a relationship with your new contact first. Then down the road, an opportunity to work together or refer work to each other is more likely to arise.

To send a personalized invitation on desktop, click the Connect button at the top of the person’s profile and click Add a Note.

To personalize your invite on the LinkedIn mobile app, tap on the user’s profile, and instead of tapping on Connect, tap the More button. On the next page, select the Personalize Invite option. If the person you want to connect with has Follow as their default option, the More button will also provide a direct way to Connect.

If you’re using LinkedIn on desktop and want to connect with someone who has Follow as their default option, open their profile and click the More button to the right. Then from the drop-down menu that appears, choose Connect.

LinkedIn will send two reminders to the person you’re trying to connect with. If after 6 months they haven’t accepted your invitation, the invitation will expire.

Restrictions on Your LinkedIn Requests

If you send too many connection requests in a short period, you may find your account is restricted from sending more requests. Also, if too many of your invitations are left pending or unanswered, your account can be restricted by LinkedIn.

How many are too many? LinkedIn isn’t forthcoming with this information. However, if you’re planning to grow your network of genuine connections and plan to send personalized invites, this in itself will limit the number of people you can physically connect to in 1 day!

To check how many pending invitations you have, open the My Network tab and click on Manage All at the top right.

You can withdraw invitations to connect, but you won’t be able to resend the invite for 3 weeks. Your pending connection requests may go unanswered for several reasons. People may be receiving too many connection requests, aren’t using LinkedIn very often, or simply prefer not to add you to their network. 

#4: Engage With Your LinkedIn Network Connections

Once you’ve started building a LinkedIn network with valuable connections, where do you go from there? Start to engage with them. The majority of LinkedIn users never post updates or leave comments. By starting to leave comments, you’ll be raising your profile.

Be strategic. When you leave comments on someone else’s post, that person’s network will see your profile photo and headline. Whose network would you like to get in front of?

If your contact (or someone in their network whose article your connection has commented on) shares a link to an article, check what the article says before commenting. If someone else has left a similar comment that you agree with, you could reply directly to that user’s comment. This is a great way to find new contacts on LinkedIn.

You can also find relevant articles to comment on by searching for LinkedIn hashtags that are popular in your industry. Your search results will show relevant articles and you can like, comment, or share these posts. By leaving a thoughtful comment, you’re raising your visibility and attracting people who are interested in the same topics.

Conclusion

If you follow some (or all) of the suggested ways to connect with people on LinkedIn, you’ll start to grow a valuable network that will raise your profile and help lead to sales in your business.

Sales on LinkedIn tend to happen in the messaging inbox or offline. To find contact information for your connections, open their profile and click the Contact Info link.

When calculating your social selling index, LinkedIn looks at four categories, which are updated daily. Here’s how you can improve your score in these areas:

Establish your professional brand: Share articles and write posts relevant to your industry.

Find the right people: LinkedIn recommends reaching out to your connections to give a warm introduction to your second-degree connections, connect with people in the same LinkedIn groups as yourself, and connect with people who have viewed your profile.

Engage with insights: Check the number of views on your posts, profile, and articles. When someone has viewed your profile, why not reach out and connect with them?

Build relationships: Comment, share, and get involved in conversations with your network.

Need help growing your audience and engaging your leads on LinkedIn? It may be time to partner with a social media marketing  agency that understands the needs and challenges of small businesses.

[smartpayni-couk]

Smartpayni - Simple, Inexpensive Payment Solutions for One And All!

Online Payment Processing is one of the most important factors in today’s era. Here, we will give you information for the same. It will help you out to discover the best and reliable Payment Solution Service provider at smartpayni.co.uk.

SmartPayNI is a leader in offering solution for the Payment Processing. The company offers outstanding technology, dominant payment solutions with the lowest cost. For more than the last 20 years, exceeding £176 billion are processed using SmartPayNI’s acquiring partners trusted in 29 countries.  We are a globally well-known Card Payment Solutions Northern Ireland platform that is one of the top five global payment providers in the whole world. The company has won the European Leadership award in 2016 and the Card and Payment awards in 2012.  SmartPayNI’s acquiring bank process 3 billion transactions of over 1 million businesses.

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United States Army, Press Review, 1917

Page 2: The ‘Times’ also with this significant victory began to express openly the hopes of better times in Ireland which, as outlined above, influenced the nation from the time it was sobered by Mr. Redmond’s death. “The result of the Waterford election has improved the political situation,” it declared. “Captain Redmond’s victory was substantial, and the Unionist vote is another proof of the gradual coming together of moderate Irishmen of all parties. Irish Unionists are especially gratified by the prominence which Captain Redmond gave during the election to his country’s duty in the war, particularly in view of Mr. Dillon’s silence on the subject in his recent declaration of policy.”

The ‘Times’’ reference to Mr. Dillon is a reminder that the old animosities are still substantial. Mr. Dillon was chosen by the Nationalist party to the vacant leadership almost at once after Mr. Redmond’s death. He was the logical candidate, so much so, that no other, save Mr. Devlin, perhaps, was seriously mentioned; and Mr. Devlin was much too outspokenly pro-labor for the Nationalist party in its present complexion. As the ‘National News’ (March 17) puts it, “Mr. Dillon’s election has been received with mingled feelings…. He has sat in Parliament for nearly forty years, had he has been elected unanimously to his present post, but there are many who doubt whether he has those qualities of caution and urbanity which mark out the diplomatist, and which Mr. Redmond possessed in so superlative a degree.”

The Ulster press, unfortunately, has always been bitter against Mr. Dillon, and it must be confused that in extreme Unionist circles his reception has not been happy. They call his election a serious descent in Irish Nationalist prestige. The ‘Northern Whig’ (March 13), in particular, declares that “whatever influence Mr. Dillon may have at Westminster will com solely from his official status. Nowhere is he credited with any of the elements of statesmanship. He is regarded simply as a fanatic, and a fanatic of a virulent type.”

Unionists are not unanimous on Mr. Dillon, however. Temperate Conservation, as expressed in the ‘Times,’ has not echoed in Ulster’s provocative disdain; and the ‘Observer’ (March 17) chose St. Patrick’s Day to say, with special conciliatory emphasis: “Mr. Dillon’s election as chairman of the Nationalist Party is perhaps the best thing the Party could have done, in the present critical circumstances. He is sufficiently in line with the views of Mr. Redmond to secure the continuation of moderate policy, and the time for other developments has not arrived.

Page 2: The attitude of the Irish press, insofar as can be ascertained, entirely meets expectations. Interest attaches, of course, principally to the Nationalist press, since the attitude of neither “Ulster” nor Sinn Fein could be in doubt. The generally pacific ‘Freeman’s Journal,’ which is practically a Nationalist organ, shows a bitterness which is none the less intense for being restrained. In an editorial of April 1 it goes so far as to trace the “inspiration” of the English campaign for conscription in Ireland to the ‘Morning Post’ and thus to the War Office, of which this paper is the “oracle.” The War Office, continues the editorial, is now under Sir Henry Wilson and “it would be too much to expect him, however eminent he may be, to rise superior to the opinions and prejudices that are so strongly marked in his nearest friends and associates in Ireland…. His political opinions are the opinions of the (Ulster) Covenant.” Moreover, it is declared, “the real purpose of the whole agitation…. is, by provoking insurrection in Ireland, to defeat any chance of a peaceful settlement of the Irish question upon the lines of Home Rule.”

Of at least equal significance is a speech made on March 31 by Mr. Devlin, whose position in the Nationalist party is second only to that of the official leader. Some of the more striking passages of his speech (as repeated in the ‘Freeman’s Journal’ of April 1) are as follows:

“I wish to say tot he British conscriptionists and to all concerned that no nation ever has been or even can be conscripted against his will…

“The Sinn Fein party did not, and could not, prevent conscription. The Irish party can and will prevent it. We shall fight it to the death both in Parliament and in the country, and we have no doubt that we shall succeed. We shall never submit to a levy on the blood of Ireland, unless with the full consent of the Irish people themselves, and I warn the Government from this platform that it would take more than five army divisions to enforce conscription in Ireland, and that even then the cost would immeasurably outweigh the result.”

Page 2: A few alterations have been made in the original proposals. The Government consented to relinquish the proposed power of calling up, in case of great emergency, men between the ages of 50 and 56. Such a call is to be made only by a joint resolution of the two Houses. Ministers of religion are still to be exempted. Regarding the most crucial question of all, that of Ireland, the Government has refused to abate its demands. It is true that hints have more than once been given by members of the Ministry that the establishment of an Irish Parliament would precede the calling up of Irish conscripts; but the Government has refused to make any definite promise of this sort. It has been announced that a Home Rule Bill, based on the majority report of the Irish Convention, will be introduced and passed at the earliest possible date; but the announcement has given no satisfaction, in so far as can be perceived, to the members of the Nationalist Party. In fact, there is every reason for thinking that, as affairs stand now, the Government has irritated virtually every section of the Irish public.  The people of “Ulster” are as much alarmed and angered by the proposed immediate introduction of Home Rule as are the Nationalists and Sinn Feiners at the announcement of coming conscription. There is even some reason for believing that “Ulster” as a whole is giving anything but a warm welcome to the manpower bill.

Page 3: Meanwhile, Mr. John Dillon, leader of the Irish Nationalist party, has decided to go on with the East Cavan election and run a Nationalist against the Sinn Fein candidate, Arthur Griffith, one of the deportees, even though in his opinion (‘Times,’ May 27) “the Government has improved Sinn Fein’s chances of winning.” His views on the evidence against the Sinn Feiners are apparent from his statement on May 26 (‘Times,’ May 27) that “Mr. Lloyd George is very much mistaken if he thinks that the statement about the Sinn Fein conspiracy published on Saturday will be accepted as evidence by any fair-minded man in any part of the world.” It should be noted that, largely to determine this point, a meeting of the Nationalist party in full strength and described (‘Times,’ May 27) as “of great importance” was called to meet on May 30 in Dublin.  

Finally, there is more than usual interest attached to the increased activity and sympathy shown on all sides with the cause of Irish voluntary recruiting. Some twenty members of the Nationalist party are known to favor cutting loose from Sinn Fein extremism on this point. Major General Maurice has written an article for the ‘Daily Chronicle’ (May 23) eloquently demanding Irish recruiting under Irish auspices for Irish divisions under the plan which unhappily fell through in 1915 when the exclusive Irish character of Ireland’s military effort might have gone far to conciliate the thousands of moderates who have now got over to Sinn Fein. The best statement of this demand from an Irish Nationalist point of view is the appeal made by Capt. Stephen Gwyon, Mr. Redmon’s former Parliamentary secretary, in the ‘Daily News’ of May 23. Capt. Gwyon’s statement, which costs much light on moderate Irish opinion on the present crisis and pithily explains much of the trouble with Irish recruiting, is, in part, as follows:

“If we return to saner ways it will be a first principle to emphasize the Irish character of every Irish body of troops. Appeal, by all means, to the local patriotism of Ulster — let them have their distinguishing marks as Orange as they choose — but treat the rest in the same way. I have in mind one particular division. If it were to be formed afresh, some of the blunders committed in raising it originally could easily be avoided. The great part of the field officers should be not only Irishmen, but Catholics; and there would be no difficulty in finding them. I remember perfectly well how angry Willie Redmond was at seeing, Sunday after Sunday, strong battalions of Catholics marched to church parade under Protestant officers. In one brigade (the 47th) there was, I believe, not one Catholic with higher rank than that of captain. Suppose the converse had applied to the Ulster Division; what would have been said? There were good Protestant officers, my own colonel, for instance, one as much believed as could be; but it was bad management to make Protestants in high command the rule and not the exception, when the rank and file were 95 percent Catholic.”

Page 7: His victory would be a victory for the extremists at the other pole, the Orange Covenanters, whose only chance of success lies in the wrecking of the Irish National cause by the Irish Nationalists themselves.”

That victory is now sweepingly apparent and its immediate results may be expected first, under the influence of the markedly increasing Sinn Fein electorate, to postpone indefinitely the relaxation of hostility between the Irish Nationalst party and the British Government, secondly, to increase measurably the confidence of the Sinn Feiners themselves to swing the Nationalist cause farther still away from conciliation and moderation, and thirdly, still further to hearten the predominant anti-conciliationists of Ulster.

If Lord Curzon shelved Home Rule, Irishmen realize, nevertheless, that he has shelved Conscription too. And it is not fair to say that his speech offered no conciliation to moderate Irish opinion. It was a painstaking effort and showed the breadth of its vision by beginning with the cornerstone of recent conciliatory Irish policy, the Convention. As briefly but accurately summarized by the Parliamentary correspondent of the ‘Daily News,’ Lord Cochrane’s main points were as follows. ….

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Sage Advice About paintball mask From a Five-Year-Old

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It had been called the splattmaster and had a huge reputation among the players at that time. An average participant would shoot no more than 40 paintballs in one day. The first game was "Catch The Flag" in which the players used a Nelspot 007 marker from nelson.

Nearly all regions are required to wear protective masks or gears & most importantly the guidelines of the games must be strictly followed and considered cautiously by each player. Indeed, the playing area is normally distributed with either artificial or organic surface which players can freely make use of for strategic cover. The types of games in paintball differ; nonetheless it can gain control over the ammunition limitations, flag and elimination.

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There are various websites out there that will not give you all the information that you really need to make the very best paintball grenades that you any kind of for this paintball guns you are working with. When it comes to trying to make these yourself you could be wise to leave that to the professionals if you have no understanding whatsoever about how either paintballs or grenades (as in the "real" ones found in military combat) function or are loaded into paintball guns. It will take many games to pick up on the methods that may make you a great player.

You can't be prepared to be Rambo the 1st time you play paintball. As you will quickly find out, being unsure of wear individuals are in the game of paintball can be quite frightening! After shopping for the best quality and cheapest paintball devices, a fresh page was put into our website featuring the most complete collection of affordable paintball party supplies Visit our web store for even more great tips about how exactly to throw the very best paintball themed birthday party in history.

I wrote this article after recently throwing an effective paintball birthday party for my 14 year old son. In addition, it pays to shop around; invest some time browsing the internet, asking for quotes and volume discount rates when purchasing paintball party supplies. Whether you hold your paintball party at a commercial field or the woods behind your home, plan far enough ahead and try to have every fine detail covered.

For the most fun, make an effort to have your paintball game well organized. Included in these are extra hoppers, gun squeegees (to greatly help clean the paintball guns in case a paintball breaks prematurely in the barrel) and anti-fog spray for your guest's paintball masks. Paintball masks are the only mandatory little bit of safety tools and should be worn all the time to play; with out a mask, your guests shouldn't be permitted to play.

When hosting your own paintball video game, the least expensive way is to 'BYOPBG' (Bring Your Own Paintball Gun). Booking your party at a commercial field is most probably the easiest way to draw off an effective paintball party as the field has already been create and rental equipment is plentiful. Web host a paintball video game at the next party and you may keep your guests occupied and thrilled all day!

In the event that you, or someone you know, owns an area of private property, air rifles or B.B. guns are huge fun for teenage boys. There are many accessories and equipment that you will need to be effective in playing paintball. Additionally it is the primary requirement for airsoft, but paintball requires a uniform and another safeguard too in order to avoid getting harm by the glass.

Airsoft is for each kind of player, sometimes for beginners. These varieties allow 'playing with ease,' especially for those who cannot handle large guns. Airsoft ammo is normally perfect for anyone who is above 10 years of age, but for paintball, it is best if they are 16+ years.

8 points supporting airsoft bullets over paintball pellets. Which one is a better investment - paintball pellets or airsoft ammunition? for review articles on paintball Guns , paintball gear, apparel & paintball photos.

Ask any paintball participant out there. Someone once said: "No paintball player makes $100,000 unless he's. But if players genuinely like and respect one another, a group can hang collectively through the ups and downs of a long and challenging season and often defeat opponents with an increase of individual talent.

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In conclusion, the Backman position is most beneficial off with a paintball gun best paintball gun which has a fairly lengthy barrel (16-18+ inches) or perhaps a sniper paintball marker for longer range, accurate shooting. If the field is little enough, the Backman can simply call out commands/guidelines to the other players. He also instructs the mid-players when to take over the Frontman position or where else to be on the field for cover or the next move.

Sometimes the Backman has a better vantage point and can communicate with the front players about the positions and movement of the enemy. In paintball, there are many different positions you can play on the field. Best Paintball Equipment For THE TRUNK Player Position.

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The new grape, which will definitely be actually used making dry out white wines, is the current in a series from cold-hardy cultivars launched by university that caused the inchoate red or white wine market in Minnesota and various other northern environments all over the world. Feel free to keep in mind that if you are actually needed to fulfill a British foreign language condition, we provide a lot of 'pre-sessional' training programs in English for Academic Purposes You join these programs before beginning your degree program. Constructed as the Alabama Union, the structure worked as the pupil union for more than 40 years. The head of state's quarters gone on the 3rd floor, while the bottom two floorings are actually utilized for parties and also receptions. To choose yourself or even a co-worker, simply deliver a declaration from rate of interest or qualification as well as a resume to the assistant from the faculty. The University frequently hosts a large number from Erasmus as well as various other exchange students. This module is actually indicated to offer trainees to the vital procedures and also mechanics of sub-Saharan African past history in the course of the past pair of centuries. The College of Glasgow supply a TWENTY% price cut to China University of Politics and also Law (CUPL) students and also graduates embarking on a LLM at the Educational institution of GLasgow. Partner Professor and Supervisor of the Center for Sustainable Structure Research study. At the College from Created Settings, we focus on organizing, concept, building as well as control from our built settings. By means of real-world performance adventures as well as over 20 distinctive degree courses, there is actually zero better spot to grow your music artistry and establish a fulfilling daily life and also career in popular music. If you have any concerns pertaining to where and how to utilize simply click the following page, you could call us at our own page. Cyclic Nucleotide-Dependent Equipments: G healthy proteins in regulation from adenylyl cyclase-cAMP-protein kinase A (PKA) and guanylyl cyclase-cGMP paths. All you should examine for our on the internet programmes is a pc and web hookup. Bronze participants pay each activity (Pupil - ₤ 4.30, Personnel and Public Junior - ₤ 5.30, Alumni and People Adult - ₤ 6.30). Enrolled trainees stand for all FIFTY states and also 121 other countries. Refer to the Panel of Regents policy on trainee reports if there is certainly not a non-disclosure ask for on report along with the Registrar pertaining to a certain trainee's relevant information. Researching in an international educational institution was just one of the greatest long for my life and also concerning College of Bristol has confirmed to be the best fantastic encounter from my life.