#there are many other groups that have proved the industry is heavily profitable

[sanstropfremir]

pls do talk more about b*s and their current image (censoring because if you don’t have great things to say i don’t want you to be attacked by their crazy stans :))

i always bring this up when i talk about them but it’s really :( that they are the way they are now. like i was a fan because of their hyyh era and their songs about the troubled youth. and of course they can’t stay in that image forever (because we all grow up and it would just be v fake if they tried to continue it given their status and wealth now.) it’s just disappointing that they went down the ‘safe, disney image’ and are releasing generic mainstream pop songs people will forget after a couple listens. i’m no longer a fan of them now but yuh.

also not to mention how they essentially made kpop boring for me now lol i wish companies had fun with their music selections instead of aiming for whatever b*s has. like we will never get a group like orange caramel again (i know wjsn chocome’s concept was similar but it just didn’t feel the same. you talked about it before and i wholeheartedly agree with ur points.)

thank you for the consideration of censoring the name but honestly i'm not that worried about it. i do however find the increasingly creative ways people censor it to be extremely hilarious so keep it up if you would like.

i addressed most of the first part of your ask in the second part of my response here, this is now the third installment in a series, somehow. (the first part is here).

not to level this at you in specific anon, because i know a lot of people share this sentiment of kpop being 'boring' now, and while there is an element of this that is influenced by bts, and although it is true we aren't getting the same level of wild that produced orange caramel, there is actually interesting and kinda weird stuff happening in kpop; it's just not by the groups that are getting the most attention. dreamcatcher has been out here doing horror rock since their debut in 2017. onf has put out two excellent summer pop tracks with fun and stupid genre mvs. i love this recent ghost9 track. i'm obsessed with the instrumental in the chorus of bdc's moon walker. just b debuted last month with a strange bang yongguk track and a very 2013 feeling mv. here's another weird and fun boy group debut, blitzers. a.c.e have put out favourite boys, the fave boyz remix, down, and higher as their last four releases which all have the most coherent and well designed concepts in the last year. and while i'm at it i might as well include take me higher and undercover. oneus put out a mad max themed performance video randomly for no reason like three weeks ago. the rest of the industry were cowards for not following up on to be or not to be with a shakespeare comeback wave. rip onlyoneof but they gave us a whole three week comeback of dick grabs. hanya brought my attention to this weird as shit debut track from a group that has now totally disappeared. knk's sunset exists. we moved on way too fast from the mv because taeyang was being cunty on music shows but sf9's teardrop has probably some of the most interesting shots in a kpop mv in the last several years. and we definitely moved on too fast from my favourite just some guy and goofy movie character woodz's feel like.

i think it's pretty fatalistic to view bts as having singlehandedly made the industry boring because honestly......i don't think they have. if you want to talk about the downturn to plainclothes styling....well that's shinee's fault. and the general trend to less dramatic fashion and visual tastes is not exclusive to the kpop industry, it's been a whole cultural trend. the mid to late 2010s were the rise of 'normcore' and we haven't burst the bubble yet. bts is just reflecting trends happening in the wider world, and in particular the western one. for the most viewed kpop mv of 2020 dynamite did....what exactly? it didn't really spawn any significant copycats in terms of sound or aesthetics, with the exception of maybe superm's we do if you look at it a bit sideways. although this is one of bts' better styled mvs, 70s retro did not make any resurgence in kpop styling, EXCEPT in magazine and fashion shoots, which it was already doing in the west. taemin's criminal was significantly more influential; i can think of at least three different male soloist mvs that borrowed heavily from it. honestly i think stylists and groups are trying to steer as clear as possible of whatever aesthetics bts uses, lest they accidentally doom themselves to a (perceived) slighted fanbase. plus, there's been a pretty sizable resurgence in contemporary hanbok styling, so even though there is a lot more outward attention going to things like international promotions for other groups and whatever the hell sm keeps trying to do with nct, i think a fair amount of companies are interested in maintaining the koreanness of kpop while facilitating broader global access.

and honestly, bigger acts have also put out interesting things in the last year. we did all see taemin's back to back release roster for ngda right? criminal? idea???? advice???????? fuck, chocolate was barely a year ago. whatever your opinions on yunho are, thank u is fucking brilliant mv. sunmi's tail. lie to me and tell me the mv for you can't sit with us isn't fun as fuck. i dunno what the hell the new nct127 song is gonna be like but the teaser photos and mood sampler are weird as hell and i'm absolutely interested. he's only kpop adjacent at the moment but jackson's 100 ways and lmly are really sharply produced low budget mvs with clean and interesting visuals. maniac shot to the top of my most listened immediately after it dropped because lia kim AND those slick horns in the instrumental???? ten's paint me naked was not at all what i was expecting but it's still fun as hell and has a pretty unique aesthetic.

the tldr of this whole three parter is this: bts has always been reactionary to wider cultural trends and that's been how they've made it this far. yes their influence on the industry looms very large because of the predominence of them on the scene, but it's mostly in the perception of kpop rather than in the artistry of it.

i don't think any company is going to be able to achieve what bts and hybe have, which i think is fine. they're the scale tipped too far. hopefully by now most companies have probably noticed that they don't need to cater to the western market so hard, and that it's probably not a good idea to offer their artists up on the racist chopping block of the western pop scene. you can market to an international fanbase without trying to gun for a grammy or for billboard or whatever. creating interesting art should be at the fore, not numbers goals. but we're just gonna have to wait and see what happens in the next year or so.

#now if youll excuse me im going to go listen to the mixnine love in the ice stage again for the 524th time #because i have FEELINGS and today has been a LOT #i dont know that im necessarily saying anything that other people havent said before but yea #there is definitely a saturation in the market but i really dont think you can blame that on bts #there are many other groups that have proved the industry is heavily profitable #it is very reasonable that there is a glut. finding the gold may require a bit more sifting but it's still there #honestly watching the music shows is the best and easiest way to keep engaged and finding new stuff #you dont even have to watch the whole show. you can just watch the stages #that's what i do in the morning. like reading the newspaper lmao #i will answer more questions about bts if people have them but i will try not to make them this long because this is just unreasonable #875 #kpop questions #kpop analysis #group analysis #text #answers

[fr-economics]

A Brief History of Neoliberalism  #2

Here's the second post in which I summarize and discuss David Harvey's A Brief History of Neoliberalism. In this post, you'll learn:

how a specific group of people plotted to advance neoliberal theory and ideology

how the U.S. created the Iraqi and Chilean governments to benefit the wealthy

the historical events that led to the adoption of neoliberal policies

how the Darkest Timeline emerged, as the 1% started to consolidate political and economic power

Please feel free to ask any questions. This post is longer than the previous one and this material is a lot to take in.

Chapter 1: Freedom’s Just Another Word...

The founding figures of neoliberalism specifically aimed for neoliberal thought to become dominant. In order to do this, they advanced a “conceptual apparatus,” as Harvey puts it, that appeals to our intuitions, instincts, values, and desires.

They aligned their theory closely with "political ideals of human dignity and individual freedom." These were, of course, threatened "by all forms of state intervention that substituted collective judgements for those of individuals free to choose.”

So who were these founders? In 1947, Austrian political philosopher Friedrich von Hayek and a group of advocates (including Ludvig von Mises and Milton Friedman) created the Mont Pelerin Society. They called themselves neoliberals after liberalism, in the traditional European sense, because of their (supposed) commitment to personal freedom, and neoclassical economics from the 19th century.

In the 1970s, advocates of neoliberalism aimed to garner financial and political support, such as in think tanks and academia (most notably, the University of Chicago). The theory also gained credibility "by the award of the Nobel Prize in economics to Hayek in 1974 and Friedman in 1976."

The Creation of Neoliberal States

According to Harvey, a neoliberal state is "a state apparatus whose fundamental mission [is] to facilitate conditions for profitable capital accumulation on the part of both domestic and foreign capital."

The promotion of "freedom" was used as a key justification for invading Iraq by President Bush. However, Bush had no intention of actually promoting the well-being of the Iraqi people. In 2003, Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, promulgated orders for "full privatization of public enterprises, full ownership rights by foreign firms of Iraqi businesses, elimination of nearly all trade barriers" and more. However, the labor market was strictly regulated. Strikes were forbidden in key sectors and the right to unionize restricted.

Some argued these orders violated the Geneva Conventions, "since an occupying power is mandated to guard the assets of an occupied country and not sell them off." However, "they would become legal if confirmed by a ‘sovereign’ government." The interim government appointed by the US was given the power to only confirm the existing laws, not edit them for the benefit of the Iraqi people.

We've seen this creation of a neoliberal state under the "coercive influence of the U.S." before. This famously happened for the first time in Chile in 1973, when Augusto Pinochet enacted a coup against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. This coup was backed not only by "domestic business elites threatened by Allende’s drive towards socialism" but also by U.S. corporations and the CIA.

This coup violently repressed and dismantled leftist social movements and popular organizations, such as community health centers. Pinochet then brought Chicago-trained economists into the government. Since the '50s, the U.S. had funded training of Chilean economists there "as part of a Cold War programme to counteract left-wing tendencies in Latin America." These economists "privatized public assets" and "opened up natural resources to private and unregulated exploitation." They also facilitated direct foreign investment.

Why the Neoliberal Turn?

After WWII, the aim of the "restructuring of state forms and of international relations" was to "prevent a return to the catastrophic conditions that had so threatened the capitalist order in the great slump of the 1930s." The new post-WWII states all accepted that "the state should focus on full employment, economic growth, and the welfare of its citizens, and that state power should be freely deployed, alongside of or, if necessary, intervening in or even substituting for market processes to achieve these ends.”

Keynesian policies were widely deployed to meet these goals. States regulated industry and constructed welfare systems, including healthcare, education, etc. State-led planning and even ownership of specific sectors were not uncommon. "This form of political-economic organization is now usually referred to as ‘embedded liberalism'," and it delivered high rates of economic growth in the '50s and '60s.

However, by the end of the '60s, problems emerged. Unemployed and inflation surged, causing "stagflation" well into the '70s.

One potential solution was to "deepen state control and regulation of the economy." "The left assembled considerable popular power behind such programmes," even in the U.S., where even Republican President Nixon oversaw a wave of regulatory reform, including creating the EPA. There was an "emergence of a socialist alternative to the social compromise between capital and labour" and "popular forces were agitating for widespread reforms and state interventions." This was obviously a threat to ruling elites.

Elites were also threatened by reduced economic growth in the ‘70s. U.S. control of wealth by the 1% plunged during this decade. Implementation of neoliberal policies in the ‘70s, such as deregulation under President Carter, helped the income and wealth of the 1% so much that some writers "have concluded that neoliberalization was from the very beginning a project to achieve the restoration of class power." "...Increasing social inequality [has] in fact been such a persistent feature of neoliberalization as to be regarded as structural to the whole project."

However, keen observers of American politics in the past couple of decades will note that there's often a tension or outright clash between actual neoliberal theory and what neoliberal politicians implement. There is even a tension within neoliberalism itself. For example, distrust of the state's intervention sits alongside the need for a coercive state that will enforce private property rights. Harvey says, "when neoliberal principles clash with the need to restore or sustain elite power, then the principles are either abandoned or become so twisted as to be unrecognizable."

Harvey concludes that the "theoretical utopianism" of neoliberal theory, meaning all that talk about human freedom and individual liberty, "primarily worked as a system of justification and legitimation for whatever needed to be done to achieve" the restoration of class power after the crisis of the 70s.

The Reagan Administration

Reagan's presidency was preceded by "the Volcker shock" in 1979. Paul Volcker, chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank under President Carter, promoted "a policy designed to quell inflation no matter what the consequences might be for employment." This was in contrast to Keynesian policies that aimed for full employment. By steeply raising interest rates, Volcker jumpstarted a recession "that would empty factories and break unions in the US and drive debtor countries to the brink of insolvency."

Reagan himself, starting with the 1981 air traffic controllers' strike, began an "all-out assault on the powers of organized labour at the very moment when the Volcker-inspired recession was generating high levels of unemployment (10% or more)." This began the long decline in wages, and was accompanied by massive deregulation in many industries and huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy—the top personal tax rate was reduced from 70% to 28%.

A series of events had begun in the '70s which came to a head in the '80s. The OPEC oil crisis of 1973 led to Middle Eastern oil-producing states being pressured militarily by the U.S. to funnel their wealth through New York investment banks. These banks needed new outlets for this influx of funds, and turned their predatory gaze towards foreign governments.

Previously, the U.S. exerted military pressure on various nations to meet its own financial needs, and primarily exploited raw material resources or cultivated specific markets. However, the New York investment banks became more active internationally by lending capital to foreign governments. Developing nations were "encouraged to borrow heavily... at rates that were advantageous to the New York bankers."

However, since the loans were in U.S. dollars, any rise in U.S. interest rates "could easily push vulnerable countries into default," leaving the banks exposed to huge losses. This was proved when the Volcker shock drove Mexico into default in 1982. Reagan's administration oversaw the pioneering of structural adjustment, in which the IMF, World Bank, and other lenders rolled over debt in return for the debtor countries implementing neoliberal reforms, such as cuts in welfare, privatization, and reduction of labor protections.

Remember that tension between neoliberal theory and practice, though? If free market principles were truly implemented, then the lenders would be on the hook for the loss if their borrowers default. They took the risk of lending, so it's their problem. However, in this case, borrowers are forced by the U.S. to repay their debts no matter the consequences for the well-being of their people.

The Meaning of Class Power

"While neoliberalization may have been about the restoration of class power, it has not necessarily meant the restoration of economic power to the same people." There are several trends under neoliberalism that reorganized what it meant to be part of the upper class.

First is the fusion of ownership and management of companies, for example, CEOs being paid in stock options. Stock values are then prioritized rather than production. Second is the reduction of the gap between capital earning dividends/interest and production/manufacturing. Large corporations became more financial in their orientation. An example of this is car companies opening departments to finance car purchases, instead of simply making cars. Mergers helped spur this trend, creating larger and larger diversified conglomerates.

There were also new innovations in financial services, creating "new kinds of financial markets based on securitization, derivatives, and all manner of futures trading." "Neoliberalization has meant, in short, the financialization of everything." Finance's tentacles became embedded in all areas of the economy as well as the state, and companies became more profitable not through gains in manufacturing, but through increased financial services.

All of these changes allowed "new processes of class formation to emerge," for example, the creation of tech millionaires and billionaires who got newly rich on new technologies, as well as newly acquired wealth through creation of conglomerates.

#ABHON #economics #real world #ABHON post

[ziniosedge]

How Does Artificial Intelligence Revolutionize the eCommerce Industry?

Have you ever wondered how many times you had any interaction with AI-powered applications in your daily life?

Well, the answer may be shocking!!! The present-day tech-savvy life offers a million ways to link us to programs using AI, even without our consent.

To illustrate, a report by BCG (Boston Consulting Group) revealed that retailers who have deployed AI-based solution to roll out a personalized customer experience strategy are gaining additional sales rate of 6-10%, which is around 3-times greater than other retailers.

The widespread availability of broader internet connectivity and ultra-modern gadgets had revolutionized our lifestyles. Everything will reach our doorstep within a matter of a few clicks.

Consumerism had gripped the world population into its broader spectrum, and the leader in this realm is undoubtedly the e-Commerce business. It has become an integral part of shaping our preferences in the latest shopping trends.

Why should you implement AI in eCommerce?

This is a million-dollar question for any entrepreneur,  and the best answer to this question is hiding in the following figures and statistics. Gartner, the research and advisory company, declares that by 2020, customers in the eCommerce sectors will manage 85% of their relationship with the enterprise without interacting with a human.

Tractica’s survey states that AI in eCommerce is booming at such a pace that the revenue is expected to reach $36.8 Billion worldwide by 2025. Some other market studies show that AI could be found in eCommerce as 61% of businesses used AI tools in 2017 and are still counting.

In fact, a Ubisend study in 2019 found that 1 in every 5 customers is willing to purchase products that involve a chatbot service, while 40% of the online shoppers are looking for great offers and shopping deals through them. Don’t you think that all these figures and market research are still not good enough to implement AI in the eCommerce field? So this leads us to yet another important query.

How is Artificial Intelligence transforming our online shopping experience?

Before we go into an in-depth analysis of the significance of AI in eCommerce, first let’s check out in brief what Artificial Intelligence is and how vital is the use of AI in our day to day life.

“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race”-these words of Stephan Hawking sums up the real significance of AI. It could be explained in simple terms as the science and engineering process of creating efficient machines, simulating what a human being can think, speak, and do in the real world.

Having said that, it’s vital to understand that AI is just not a replica of humans. It’s designed to continuously pursue patterns, assimilate from experience, and sort out the most suitable responses in various complex situations, just like us.

From self-driving automobiles to drones,  everything around us is using intelligent automation. Implementing AI can help the business achieve better paid digital campaign results, developing innovative business strategies. In the case of potential economic slowdowns, recessions, or other unforeseen external market conditions, AI can help every business to innovate, scale, and increase efficiencies to stay competitive.

Build Intelligent eCommerce solutions with ZiniosEdge

How does AI make a difference in the eCommerce world?

With its competitive and effective use in online shopping, AI  is transforming the eCommerce industry in many ways. This is especially so by predicting shopping patterns based on the products that consumers buy and collecting and analyzing data on how and when they purchase them.

AI helps eCommerce firms to cater to their consumers comprehensively. Also, it eases the labor of business owners with regard to automation. In a nutshell, AI technology helps to satisfy the users’ informational needs and assist them in providing the most appropriate or relevant recommendations. We are living in a profit-driven society where marketing and sales are happening every day, irrespective of the time and hour. This means that the business has to be operational for the customers 24/7. Thus, this is when AI proves its mettal.

It can easily fulfill these goals by letting the companies gather information from a wide variety of sources from the internet in real-time. Ultimately this mechanism helps generate more leads and to provide excellent user engagement. As a result the eCommerce business around the globe is joining hands with artificial intelligence.

AI uses in ecommerce & retail-A quick look

Purchasing recommendations

Voice-enabled shopping assistants

Custom/Personalized e-commerce shopping experiences

Image and video recognition

Payment methods using Facial recognition

Anti-counterfeiting tool

Profile building of potential customers

AI implementation in your eCommerce business – How? And Where?

Voice Assistants

In the era of Alexa and Siri, purchasing your preferred product is just a voice command away! You need to give the command – Alexa buys this for me. And wait for Alexa to shop for you at the best price. Voice assistants are the latest trends allowing customers to interact with the web services platforms using their voice command with ease.

The best thing about this technology is that it could be easily integrated into gadgets like smartphones or smart speakers specifically designed for voice communication. So why delay? If you want your business to rule the competitive market, don’t hesitate to jump on the trend of ‘Voice’ optimization.

Customer-Centric Visual Search and Product Description

Today Artificial Intelligence is widely used in automated content creation. ECommerce platforms can utilize AI to optimize product descriptions. Sometimes when the customers shop online, they may be lead to pages with product results that are not only irrelevant but foreign too. This is so annoying that we tend to leave the page at times. AI could be the game-changer in such circumstances. To tackle these types of problems, AI tends to use NLP to contextualize and refine the search results. Also, AI uses visual search capabilities, which help to match the product. This indeed makes it possible for the consumers to shop for the right things they are searching for.

ChatBots

Offering 24×7 virtual assistance has become the key factor in the popularity and acceptance of eCommerce sites, thanks to Chatbots’ presence. These unique programs offer consumers all the possible solutions for their shopping needs. Its use is not just limited to guidance as these days the Chatboats becomes your helping hands in selecting the best possible product for your need.

The most sophisticated part of this technology is that, as a customer, you can literally communicate with these bots. As AI takes in charge, chatbots are turning itself to a magnificent tool dealing with customer interaction. Most of the eCommerce platforms and business firms have already integrated chatbots in their sites, along with social media applications, to give a unique shopping experience to their customers. Chatbots reduce the need for extra manpower for additional customer service support. They are very handy for online stores to get potential new customers.

Also it could be used to perform automated tasks that can’t be performed manually. They can automatically give feedback on FAQs to save precious online time, which makes it the darling of the eCommerce sites.

Personalization

Personalization is the ability to collect and use mass consumer data to customize your content and web interface. This striking feature opens up the business prospects in the coming years to the next level. AI helps eCommerce companies to eliminate the challenges faced while trying to personalize their customer experience.

Once you embed AI into your business, it opens the door to your customer’s likes and preferences, which will help you come out with precise recommendations that equal the customer’s choice. Not just this, AI, along with the search engines, helps to maintain a track of the consumers’ buying patterns and purchase history. It identifies users’ preferences to offer them custom suggestions.

AI converts the customer experience in the eCommerce store much personal and warm. Hence, you can exoect a significant hike in sales for the online store merchandise. As per a report by Econsultancy, about 74% of marketers have stated that targeted personalization increased their customer engagement rates. The implementation of AI has allowed the eCommerce businesses to increase their engagement rate and conversion, meanwhile producing decrease time for transaction.

Filtering Fake Reviews

Fake reviews are a daunding headache affecting the credibility of online retailers and e-commerce brands. These days’ reviews have become the key factor in people’s shopping decisions, directly influencing online sales.

It is very evident that most of the customers depend heavily on the reviews provided. But people tend to encounter fake reviews as the competition for market leadership is crossing all ethical limits. Therefore, to confront such challenges, the eCommerce brands are now using AI to eradicate fake reviews and help customers find authentic comments.

The conversion rate goes much higher when a product review is given. It is to be noted that the star rating, number of reviews, the nature and credibility of the review will surely occupy priority in customers’ concerns. AI helps in developing a system using a language processing method to detect unusual patterns of text, style and formatting. AI can easily filter out fake reviews that are written ineptly.

Pricing Optimization

Artificial Intelligence can be a game changer in your pricing optimization. It can help you to determine suitable prices that satisfy customers along with keeping your profit margins. Sometimes to overcome the economic slowdowns the eCommerce platforms go firing all cylinders out by creating seasonal sales. In such competitive times AI can be your savior.

It eases your crew’s work loads to set optimal prices for a massive number of products through its mammoth analytical and computational skills. It helps you to maintain competitive pricing to attract maximum customers.

Closing Remarks

Artificial Intelligence has certainly paved the way for eCommerce businesses to maximize their pottential and profits. The best AI developers can make drastic changes in the way eCommerce companies deal with their customers, getting rapid access to the information and harnessing the customer data to scale up sales.

This article is published first on ziniosedge website here is the link:https://ziniosedge.com/how-does-artificial-intelligence-revolutionize-the-ecommerce-industry/

[sierraninerseventwozero]

Moscow's mercenaries: How Russia is swelling the global market for private military companies

Moscow is increasingly using mercenaries to expand its spheres of influence.

Analysis: In an era of increasingly privatised warfare, Russia is spearheading the use of mercenaries to expand its influence.

What do we think about when we hear the term 'mercenaries'? For the president of Mozambique, the word has only one meaning - control - and he is willing to pay handsomely for it.

Filipe Jacinto Nyusi has two problems; the unrest in the troubled but resource-rich Cabo Delgado region and the jihadists who are taking advantage of it. The conflict has been ongoing since 2017 but escalated in 2020 following a series of gruesome attacks. Over 420,000 people have been displaced in the mainly Muslim province.

To deal with the growing threat, the Mozambican leader made offers to several private military companies. In the end, he chose a shadowy mercenary outfit with alleged ties to the Kremlin, the Russian Wagner Group, who said they would get the job done quickly.

However, the plan did not work. Several Wagner mercenaries were killed in ambushes in areas completely unknown to the Russians, who have no previous experience with the southern African terrain. In their place, the Mozambican government hired the DAG company, led by South African Colonel Lionel Dyck. 

He had served in the army of what turned into the white colonialist former republic of Rhodesia in Zimbabwe and has extensive experience in conducting asymmetric fighting. The irony is that in the 1970s, Rhodesia's army, which included Lionel Dyck, attacked Mozambique and Zimbabwe's guerrilla bases, which Filipe Nyusi's party had sheltered. Times are changing.

All signs indicate that Africa is the new arena for experiments in the military industry, and it is there that we can see what military action across other theatres of conflict will soon look like. War is the same - but warfare is changing. Although the UN bans mercenary forces under some treaties, this too is changing. The data show that there are more mercenaries in Africa than anywhere else in the world. Some of them date back to colonial times such as Rhodesia. 

Examples from Africa, Syria and Libya show that mercenaries successfully enforce Putin's foreign policy in areas where the Kremlin has direct interests

In the years when many African countries gained independence, mercenaries supported separatist movements and participated in coups. Many young people enrolled in private companies in the 1990s to fund their university education. Mercenaries and former marines fought in Katanga as it tried to secede from the Congo in the early 1960s and in Biafra, where separatists were leading an independence movement from Nigeria. In 2004, a former British Special Forces officer, Simon Mann, attempted a coup in Equatorial Guinea.

In the past, Western governments have looked half-heartedly at the activity of mercenary companies in serving their economic interests. Today, Russia is gaining a leading position in this area, with the Kremlin increasingly using mercenaries to expand its influence. Most of these mercenaries' activities go through the Wagner company, whose main sponsor, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is one of Putin's closest associates and known for his actions from Ukraine to Syria and Libya.

Shortly after the Mozambican president met with the Russian president in 2019, Wagner received a contract to protect gas fields in the country. Mozambique is currently developing the largest energy project in Africa, where France, via its megacompany Total, has visible interests.

With the expanding political and economic influence of Russia in Europe, the Middle East, and cyberspace, it is not surprising that the presence of Moscow in Africa did not garner much attention until the beginning of 2019 and the presence of Wagner in Libya. Many of Russia's actions in Africa reflect Vladimir Putin's desire for a foreign policy under his leadership and military adventurism that restores the country to its former place among the superpowers.

Clearly, there is a geopolitical dimension. Africa is home to 25 percent of the world's countries, and Russia is not the first country to try to create a political bloc to serve its interests in the UN and other international institutions. In this regard, the African continent offers excellent opportunities for the deployment of global "active events" that allow Moscow to return to its former spheres of influence. 

At the same time, it is developing its geo-economic strategy for access to valuable mineral resources in countries torn apart by internal conflicts and instability, and for the export of finished products and weapons systems. The focus on African countries is by no means accidental, as Moscow must carefully allocate its resources and international commitments after the annexation of Crimea, given the imposed political and economic isolation. 

Mercenaries offer several major advantages. They are cheaper than regular armies, highly trained, and allow military operations without visible state involvement

In this regard, given the dynamics of events, fierce competition with the West and the search for parity with the East, Moscow is looking for new allies. It is in the process of re-establishing old Soviet-era ties and establishing new ones that the tools offered by private military companies will prove most useful, as they fit perfectly into Russia's "package of deals", first introduced widely in Syria.

This includes arms sales and sending military advisers engaged in the training of regular armed forces and paramilitary groups to wage anti-guerrilla wars and quell riots in the 'client' countries, in combination with bodyguards for the political elite, as well as providing 'political technologists' to take care of strengthening their unstable power.

Wagner has worked with several African regimes. In Sudan, the company assisted long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir as he tried to quash protests in the country, which eventually ousted him from power. In 2018, hundreds of Wagner fighters arrived in the Central African Republic to guard diamond mines, train the local army and guard President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, whose real power does not go far from the capital. In Guinea, where Russian aluminium giant Rusal is heavily involved, Wagner joined President Alpha Conde, who faced bloody protests against the new constitution, allowing him to remain in office for a third term. 

In Libya, despite the UN embargo, Wagner has deployed 1,200 members and staff in support of General Khalifa Haftar's rebel forces, which have besieged the capital, Tripoli, for a year. US Africa Command`s satellite images showed Russian Air Force planes directly supporting Wagner.

However, Libya emerged as a failure for the mercenary company after Turkish-backed Libyan government forces managed to reverse Haftar's offensive. The general left several mass graves with hundreds of bodies found by Tripoli's forces in the city of Tarhuna. In other areas, such as Bani Walid, there is evidence of torture at Wagner's headquarters.

Private companies usually say they are plugging security holes that could otherwise lead to chaos. In the Central African Republic, for example, France withdrew much of its military forces in 2016, leaving just the United Nations and a small European mission, which failed to bring order. Wagner arrived just in time.

In 2015, the South African company STTEP appeared in northeastern Nigeria, training local forces in their battle against Boko Haram jihadists. Their contract was terminated by President Muhammadu Bukhari, who said government forces had to deal with it on their own – but they would eventually fail. 

Mercenaries - and Russia is aware of this - have several major advantages. First, they allow state denialism. By using them, governments can sponsor military operations without visible involvement. Second, mercenaries are efficient, experienced, and mobile. Third, they are cheaper than maintaining a regular army unit. Soldiers receive lifelong pensions, while mercenaries have only their contracts.

They are also cheaper than the expensive heavy weapons that governments import. Sometimes Western governments like the United Kingdom help mercenary companies to provide military power to profitable leaders in Asia or Africa. Russia does so directly through a link between Putin's businesspeople and Russian foreign policy theorists. In the Russian model, the boundaries between private and public interests are blurred.

Mercenaries are here to stay. Companies like OAM, run by another Rhodesian, John Gartner, operate in at least eighteen African countries. Although on paper it opposes the use of mercenaries, the UN is also softening their tone. There is already a code relating to mercenary work, according to which the UN is recruiting similar forces for planning, demining, and training local security forces. Most Western companies have already adopted some of the UN rules in their treaties, and mercenaries are committed to acting on them, such as banning civilian attacks. 

Russian mercenaries, on the other hand, have not accepted such clauses in their contracts. Moreover, they still do not exist officially, as Russian laws prohibit them. As the examples from Africa, Syria, Libya and the CAR show, these companies are not only real but also successfully enforce Putin's foreign policy in areas where the Kremlin has direct interests.

Indicative of this new model is the case of Kiril Shadrin. In 2015, Shadrin was a loyal Russian soldier. Later, he became a "volunteer" in Donbas, and in 2017 he appeared in Syria, where he fought in a Syrian paramilitary pro-government group under the supervision of Syrian and Russian intelligence. There are several cases in conflict zones around the world such as the Shadrin's - Russian soldiers occupying the grey area between the army, mercenaries, and operations invisible to the public. 

As private warfare re-emerges, there will be increased media reports about mercenary groups, and Russia will be the main driver. Expansionist appetites for Russia's foreign policy in the Middle East and military involvement abroad in general, combined with lobbying pressure from the oil and gas powers, have created today's situation.

The escalating conflict in the Central African Republic highlights the role played by mercenaries from neighbouring countries in inflaming tensions. Indeed, the data is clear that the mercenaries – i.e. Russian groups – worsened the conflict there. 

But the Kremlin is "closing its eyes" if it is profitable, and in the case of the CAR, persistent tensions have led to more deals and a stronger presence.

[jamescgeis2021]

Ohio's Health Centers Have Critical Role In Covid

Here's the evidence your membership can use to continue to build relationships with the medical neighborhood. When your club reopens many things might want to change—together with how you approach staffing operations. This guide looks at five key areas to help you via the transition. The areas embody office safety, employees training, policies and procedures, communication, and supporting staff. An online app can help shed light on what you are able to do in your health club facility to lower the risk of COVID-19 unfold by taking into account ceiling height, MERV filters, human habits, and other factors that affect indoor areas. Due to the growing want for steering in reopening well being and fitness clubs, industry leaders from across the globe have formed a reopening group to offer clubs with recommendations. Group exercise specialist and business chief Ingrid Knight-Cohee answered consumer-submitted questions live on the IHRSA Forum about group fitness operations during the coronavirus pandemic.

Request that vendors accessing the premises direct their staff to observe all physical distancing tips and well being directives issued by the relevant public authorities. The State of Maine has adopted a staged method, supported by science, public health expertise, and trade collaboration, to allow Maine businesses to soundly open when the time is true. Experts say people who find themselves breathing heavily are doubtless expelling more respiratory droplets — the primary means contaminated people spread the coronavirus — so it’s additional necessary to wear a mask and apply social distancing. Here are some of the stuff you’ll see at reopened exercise and health centers. Science so far tells us that the novel coronavirus doesn’t spread through sweat. And, a widely cited Norwegian examination, nicely-performed but printed before peer review, found no increase in COVID infections amongst gym goers who frequently washed their hands and adopted social distancing measures.

Michigan gyms are now open with new safety protocols in place. IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, is a not-for-profit commerce association representing the global fitness industry of over 200,000 health and fitness amenities and their suppliers.

America’s health trade is one of the hardest hit by the compelled closures mandated by the coronavirus disaster. To ensure the inclusion of every well being and health membership in reduction efforts, IHRSA and business leaders are ramping up federal lobbying. A comprehensive listing of all U.S. particular COVID-19 aid and closure information to help health golf equipment navigate the coronavirus outbreak whereas many clubs are closed. A new survey by IHRSA, carried out by Kelton, a Material Company, reveals that U.S. health consumers are awaiting the opportunity to resume their fitness routine at wellbeing golf equipment.

Follow the health club's tips and stay no less than 6 ft away from other members. Some equipment that is troublesome to wash, such as foam rollers and yoga blocks, may not be out there. Avoid giving excessive-fives or doing elbow bumps with others. Health directive about greatest practices for outside gyms and fitness centers. Health directive about best practices for indoor gyms and fitness centers. This steering for indoor gyms and health facilities was developed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health for use by Gyms and Fitness Centers.

A comprehensive listing of all U.S. particular COVID-19 aid and closure information to help wellbeing golf equipment navigate the coronavirus outbreak. IHRSA is here to help wellbeing golf equipment throughout this difficult time. Email us along with your questions to assist us as we create extra sources. An increasing variety of studies are mentioning the benefits of physician referrals for trains. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some clubs who may prove they were offering health companies had been allowed to stay open, at the same time as others closed.

Before reopening, stroll your staff through all of the cleansing protocols. As efficient as these kinds of security measures could be, most experts are still extraordinarily cautious concerning the concept of going to the health club right now, even in parts of the U.S. the place COVID-19 and infection rates are dropping. Put merely, going to the fitness center — like many issues in this new pandemic world — isn't a danger-free activity. FWIW, although, masks seem to be extremely efficient in avoiding these spikes in infection rates. But within the COVID clusters in Ontario and Massachusetts, public masks mandates weren't as strictly enforced at the time, which seems to have played a major role in those infection-fee spikes. All of this underscores the crucial need for normal bodily activity — particularly now in the time of COVID — for our nation’s physical and psychological properly-being. And while weddings, events, and different giant group gatherings are identified hotbeds for COVID transmission — giant health facilities, however, are not.

Indoor gyms and fitness facilities should shut, due to SF being assigned to the State’s Purple Tier. Personal trainers can nonetheless work one-on-one with customers. Allow group fitness courses only if courses could be accomplished in accordance with physical distancing recommendations. Screen for COVID-19 signs for all entrants, together with workers, visitors, and clients upon arrival to the health club or health heart. Facilities can choose from several methods for screening.

But, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and schools reopen, some areas are reporting a resurgence of COVD-19 infections. So, it’s necessary to know what the transmission fee is in your community and to weigh the personal risks earlier than making any choices to return to a health club. To make social distancing simple, go to the grocery store early in the morning or late at night, when the shop might be less crowded. If you are at a larger threat of significant sickness, find out if the store has particular hours for individuals in your state of affairs and store during these instances. You may additionally contemplate ordering your groceries online for house supply or curbside pickup. If possible, attend a gym with outside spaces and check in electronically. Your gym will doubtless implement social distancing by blocking access to every other cardio machine or by placing up obstacles round equipment.

#covid #gym

[perfectirishgifts]

College Students: Degree Insurance May Be The Next Big Thing Coming Your Way

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/college-students-degree-insurance-may-be-the-next-big-thing-coming-your-way/

College Students: Degree Insurance May Be The Next Big Thing Coming Your Way

A new company is ready to offer college degree insurance, which institutions can buy and assure … [] their graduates of an initial base salary for five years.

For many young people and their families paying for college is one of the largest financial investments they will make. Witness the fact that the majority of graduates assume thousands of dollars in loan debt to pay for their education. For most students, the outlay is perceived to be worth it because if they earn a degree they stand a good chance of reaping a substantial return on investment (ROI) in the form of better jobs and bigger earnings.

But what if you could ensure that ROI? What if your college degree came with an insurance policy that guaranteed for the first five years after college you would receive the income a degree in your major field typically provides? And to top it off, what if the premium for that insurance were paid for by the college you attended?

Sound like a good deal? Well, that type of insurance product may soon be available, thanks to a new company that’s just getting off the ground and beginning to make its pitch to colleges and universities looking for ways to increase their value proposition, attract more applicants, enroll more students, and improve their graduation rates.

Degree Insurance is the company, and it’s the brainchild of Wade Eyerly, founder and CEO, and his co-founder Dennis Murashko. Eyerly has experience with start-ups. With his brother, he raised several rounds of venture financing to found Surf Air, a private, member-only airline. Prior to that he served as an economist at the Pentagon, a civilian intelligence officer for the U.S. government, and as as an advance press representative for Vice President Dick Cheney. Murashko is an attorney who previously served as the general counsel and senior advisor to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, where he led a state team responsible for a wide range of legal, regulatory, and compliance issues.

When I asked about the idea behind Degree Insurance, Eyerly told me, “There are a lot of folks working to keep the costs of tuition down and looking at why college costs what it does. We are focused on the other side of the equals sign, asking ‘Did you get what you paid for?’ Because, if we can be sure your education will lead to a good job then the debt burden becomes a lot less scary. With enrollments down 3-16% this year, colleges are experiencing a new kind of financial pain. If we can give students the confidence necessary to enroll (or to continue enrolling) we plug the budget hole that was made when a pandemic scared a generation of kids away from making long-term investments in their future.”

Here’s how it works. A college or university purchases the degree insurance – called American Dream Insurance – for an entire entering class of undergraduates. The insurance guarantees graduates of that institution that they will earn a given annual salary for five years after they graduate. The warrantied salary is calculated actuarially and depends on students’ majors and the college they attend. A psychology major from the University of Iowa might expect to make $35,000 annually, an electrical engineering graduate from Purdue might average $65,000. For graduates who earn less than the guarantee over the initial five years post graduation, the insurance makes a payment that covers the difference between what they actually made (verified by W2s and federal tax returns) and the guaranteed amount.

The premium a college pays varies, depending on the institution’s student outcomes, but a ballpark figure would be $3,000 per head. Assume an entering class of 2,000 undergraduates, that’s a total cost of $6 million for the institution.

Why would an institution purchase this kind of group policy, involving a tab that substantial? Because, according to the company, it should be able to make back its costs and “turn a profit” in just a few years. Eyerly told me that his team projects that in three years, a college could recoup its investment through a boost in enrollment and gains in retention. In other words, it will recover the $6 million and more through the additional tuition dollars it brings in.

Here are some of the terms and conditions to keep in mind. The benefit is available only to students who graduate within six years, thereby creating a strong incentive to finish a degree. The differential salary benefit is limited to five years, although the clock can be paused for students who, for example, go to graduate school or who enter the military. Any claims are paid as a cumulative amount after five years.

Graduates are required to seek employment, although realistically that can be hard to verify. And they are expected to meet their state’s unemployment requirements if/when unemployed, whatever those are. A graduate might be able to sit back and sit out the job market, thereby gaming the system, but the company doesn’t expect that to be a common problem, arguing that individuals who persist through four or five or six years of college are not likely to then be content doing nothing with their hard-earned degree. 

The company was launched with the help of an investment of more than $4 million from Trust Ventures in Austin, Texas, in addition to smaller amounts from other individual and fund investors. At this point, it’s licensed to sell its product only in Illinois, but Eyerly hopes that by the end of next year, it will be approved in as many as 30 states. Because insurance is such a heavily regulated industry, securing state approval to sell a new instrument is considered to be the major hurdle for a fledgling company to clear.

Degree Insurance is currently in the process of recruiting its first institutional clients, and Eyerly anticipates go/no-go decisions within the next 60 days.

The idea of college warrantees is not entirely new. Colleges have experimented with various kinds of graduation and employment guarantees, which promise that if students can’t find jobs after graduation the institution will provide them a semester or two of free tuition to return to school. But insuring the salary associated with a college degree is a whole different level of commitment. It takes much of the risk from the cost of college off the table, and it provides a huge incentive for degree completion at the same time.

Will colleges put their money into this kind of guarantee? While that remains to be seen, offering degree insurance is a bold, new idea and it just might be a way for states or even the federal government to persuade more students to pursue higher education and to stick with it.

As one example of how this product could scale, the company estimates that for $100 million, the initial salaries for every new student at all the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities this year could be guaranteed upon their subsequent graduation. For about $14 million, and the necessary regulatory approval, it could guarantee the salaries of every public college student in Idaho.

Using this model, states, foundations and even the federal government could purchase insurance today that would let colleges begin to recruit and retain students much more effectively for the future. And underwriting this kind of insurance might prove to be very attractive to major donors as an alternative to traditional scholarships.

As Chuck Staben, former president of the University of Idaho and an advisor to the company, told me, “American Dream Insurance can provide the confidence that students and families need to invest in higher education, eliminating apparent risk from one of the largest investments they will make. More than that, American Dream Insurance can provide the confidence in higher education that has been sorely tested by the pandemic, but that is desperately needed to insure America’s competitive economic future.”

From Education in Perfectirishgifts

[hydaelyn-arts]

Of the indelicacy of Witch Hunts

This could have been a day like any other. One where I would sit at my computer once my coffee was prepared, ready for another day, beginning with a quick glance at my emails and private messages on various social media platforms as is customary. Then, I noticed there was a submission waiting for me which isn’t unusual and always makes me happy. After over year, Hydaelyn Arts is keeping its promise to be a voice for every artist within our community. Yet when I checked, the name of the contributor was unknown and odd.

I checked the links, read the witty comment “Anon ([email protected])” found necessary to add, and set aside my breakfast to write what will be the second message of this blog.

About “using references” and “tracing”

Each and everyone has their own point of view on referencing and tracing, which can range from “It’s alright so long it follows some rules.” to “I’ll submit art to Hydaelyn Arts because it doesn’t matter if it’s traced or referenced, this person deserves to burn in hell!” So while my eggs and bacon are getting cold, I’m wondering if “Anon ([email protected])” knows the difference between referencing, tracing, and when one or the other is appropriate to do in as an artist in a variety of situations or if “Anon ([email protected])” thinks both are big, bad boogeyman to be avoided at all times. Apparently not.

So instead of labeling references and tracing as evil in all situations outright, let’s demystify them a bit, shall we?

Using references

References are something which is accepted in the art community at large, utilized regularly by industry professionals who have directories full of references and should hopefully be used by every artist whenever it is needed. If an artist creates something without the use of references, it is usually because they have done multiple studies prior to creating a piece of artwork, to the point where they no longer need a reference to create the piece. However, nowhere in the professional art industry is it considered shameful or wrong to use reference when creating work.

To be quite frank, if you think references are taboo, it is a sign that you’re ignorant of what working in the art industry is like, have not been through any kind of formalized art training, never went to a museum to admire accurate portraits or watched a movie where people are asked to pose for an artist. Everyone from Da Vinci to Norman Rockwell to Disney used references for their craft. Entire films like Alice in Wonderland relied on live actors to perform for the artists so they could realistically get movements down as firmly as possible.

To consider using references as something bad is ridiculous.

Who hasn’t done a gesture to describe it properly in text? Who hasn’t looked at their hand to draw fingers properly? Who hasn’t done a google or youtube search to have a better idea of a movement before animating it? Using references helps artists progress, because who can draw or describe a Tacca chantrieri without having seen or heard of it before? Even if they have (heard of it), without having practiced it many times it’s unlikely an artist could pull all the details from memory. It is necessary for growth as an artist, to learn about the world in order to avoid things like this from happening:

Think of how much better the above artwork could have been if the artist just looked at some actual reference of what a real human woman looks like in a similar pose instead of just winging it. 

Tracing

Ladies and gentlemen, ready your pitchforks, the evil word has been written. The one that’s caused several artists in this community to be pilloried, at times unfairly. Most of these people have deleted their Tumblr blogs, after a group has tried and convicted them for something they did (and sometimes didn’t) do.

The term tracing means what it says: to trace, one works atop another piece of art to make an exact copy. Like using references, it can be a useful tool for artists to practice and learn from (if they are using it in an ethical manner for study), but it has its limitations. Very easily, tracing can become a crutch, hindering an artist’s progression in the long term. This post isn’t about singing the praises of the virtues of tracing, however. What needs to be discussed here are the times when a piece of art is posted by someone, and others decide it has been traced, often without taking the time to double check to make sure that it is actually the case.

The important words in that last sentence are “others decide it has been traced”.

In some cases, the evidence of tracing is flagrantly obvious. In other cases, the lines literally and figuratively are blurred. If you weren’t there during the process, or if the lines don’t match perfectly, it can be difficult to tell if a work has been traced, if it was just heavily referenced, or if both artworks in question coincidentally have a similar pose. Yes, it’s true that many art thieves will try to manipulate images to hide their tracing, but where do we draw the line? How do we know for absolute certain the difference between someone who tried really hard to obscure their tracing efforts and someone who just happened to draw a head at the same angle?

As an artist, it is easy to get fired up about destroying a potential art thief with extreme prejudice and understandably so. No one wants to work hard and study hard, spending years and years refining their skills only for some asshole to stroll along and profit from that effort by tracing it all and passing that work off as their own. However, if we don’t take the time to carefully decide for ourselves, investigate things on our own, and see with our own eyes whether something was traced or if something less insidious was perhaps at play, we’re liable to hurt people that were undeserving of our rage.

Is this person always an art thief or is this surprising new behavior? Has this artist created multiple original pieces before now or do all their works appear potentially traced? Are significant portions about the artwork an exact match or is this potentially a case where someone malicious can rely on Tumblr to get up in arms the moment it’s implied someone is tracing without some rock solid evidence?

The easiest method to refute accusations of tracing would be for an artist to provide their references. But, given that references are often derided as a sin on par with tracing, many artists feel uncomfortable admitting they used any material as support for their work at all.

Tumblr “domino effect”

I want to be clear. I don’t consider one artist copying another’s work and claiming it as their own a good thing. Tracing artwork and passing it off as your own work is unquestionably wrong, but I have seen too many witch hunts on Tumblr based upon half-baked evidence to let myself get swept up in emotion now.

After all this time spent on Tumblr, a question we should be asking ourselves is whether a barrage of fury, harassment, hate mail, and cruelty is really what we want our first response to be when we encounter someone who is potentially tracing, or if we want to approach things calmly, through private messages and peaceful dialogue - until we’re absolutely certain we’re dealing with an unrepentant thief willing to profit off of their fellow artists without guilt or shame.

For me, the answer is the latter.

There’s enough rage on Tumblr already. And I believe that most people who are using this platform have already witnessed what happens when someone is accused of something. Even more when the topic is "tracing". Not only does the primary post spread like wildfire, but people instantly see red and reblog within a few seconds without taking the time to make sure that it is actually a case of tracing. Then suddenly more posts pop up, often with blanket statements such as “Tracing is bad” or “If You are OK with Art Thieves Unfollow Me”, bland generic statements which are often reblogged by people who aren't aware of the drama but agree with the sentiment. All of this is like a whole orchestra shaming the artist whose voice cannot be heard through the clamor. At this point, it doesn't matter if the artist actually traced or not. Even if it's not the case, the harm has been done and nothing can repair it. Nothing. Tumblr already judged them guilty as charged.

How do you expect this experience, justified or not, to not have a huge impact on the person who is the victim of so much hate? Ask yourself how you would feel in such a situation, how you would deal with it, and how you would recover, even if by some miracle someone proves that the statement was wrong and their voice was heard.

I saw the effect first hand as I have been swimming in the artist community for long enough to have met victims of the Tumblr mob. They are broken. Judged guilty before they were allowed to be proven innocent. Sometimes even abandoned by people they thought as being friends. Alone, against a whole community. If they disappear, it's not always out of shame, but because the experience they dealt with left a trauma, at times even leading them to stop their craft for some time or forever. Is this really what you want? If it's a first time for them, if the proof is really hard to see or if they didn't do anything, they don't deserve any of this rage. Posting such an accusation on Tumblr is like a train breaking loose that you can never ever again stop. No matter what they do in the future, there will always be someone to remind them of what they did, or didn't do, sometimes waking up the rumors for another time. I'm asking you again... Is this really what you want?

Until I’m positive of what I’m dealing with, and that the artist in question is truly a thief who felt no remorse about what they were doing and only seemed sorry when they were caught in the act, I want to treat people with the dignity they deserve. I want to avoid jumping to conclusions and getting caught by the wild self-righteousness that Tumblr is infamous for. And if it turns out they are tracing? I want to be that person who calmly tries to help this artist see what they’re doing wrong. I want to talk them into embracing and enjoying what art really can become if they do things the right way. I’m not here to be a destructive force, I’m here to celebrate art, share it with the community, and get others to love it just as much as I do.

Thus, “Anon ([email protected])” if you want to start a crusade, you will have to do it from your own personal platform, rather than as a submission to mine. Especially as you took the time to create another account to submit your request since this blog doesn't accept anonymous ones. If you are REALLY positive that tracing was absolutely going on here, then find your courage and post this to your own blog instead of submitting it to mine, hoping you can foist the responsibility on someone else.

I’m not here for witch hunts, “Anon ([email protected])”. I’m here for beautiful artwork of Hydaelyn and sharing it with the community at large. If I discover artwork that is unquestionably traced on this blog, I will remove the post in question, but I will never accept submissions like what you sent to this blog. Relevant or not. And even if the person throwing around accusations is right on their statement, the accused deserves a private message and a chance to explain themselves before being burned at the stake.

[gravitascivics]

WHO GOES THERE?

Perhaps one has heard the bit of common wisdom that prejudices are not inherited, they are not inbred, they are learned.  This writer wants to believe this notion without any qualifications.  The problem, though, is that this whole business of “Us-vs.-Them” is a bit more complicated than just attributing it to socializing hateful messages to young people.

         One neuroendocrinologist, Robert Sapolsky, writes on this very issue. Here is an excerpt:

As it’s been said … “There are two kinds of people in the world:  those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don’t.”  There are more of the first.  And it is vastly consequential when people are divided into Us and Them, in-group and out-group, “the people” (i.e., our kind) and the Other … The brain fault lines dividing Us from Them [can be shown through a] discussion of oxytocin ... [T]he hormone prompts trust, generosity, and cooperation toward Us but crappier behavior toward Them – more preemptive aggression in economic play, more advocacy of sacrificing Them (but not Us) for the greater good.  Oxytocin exaggerates Us/Them-ing.[1]

What seems to be going on is that there is an inbred bias toward tribalism.  That parochial bias was probably useful in pre-civilization days when, due to scarcity, protecting one group’s resources was vital to the survival of a tribe.  Those groups so armed with oxytocin were successful, those not so armed were not so successful.

         But a hormone cannot distinguish between people.  The bias might be inbred, but the target is learned.  And, by wishing for more efficiency and, in turn, the efficiency a tribe can attain by trading and cooperating with other tribes – and later, with other peoples, nations, and leagues of nations – an economic motivation was introduced to corral this bias under some control.  That is, because it has proved so profitable, humans marched toward global, economic arrangements.  This march progressed from trading with those nearby toward those far away.

         At times, these arrangements were set up by exploitive relations.  This was probably most clearly done in the age of colonization.  Led by the European powers, 1500s onward, efficiencies were had by stealing the resources of others.  Under such a system, an Us-vs.-Them view was functional to seek that system’s immediate ends.  Unfortunately, though, it sowed the seeds for increasing levels of antagonism between the exploiters and the exploited and, then, among the exploiters.  History is full of wars between and among colonial powers.

         This historical trend became evermore destructive. Ironically, heavily influenced by the ever-increasing economic viabilities of this global trend, monies were available to “advance” the military capabilities of these exploiting actors. These capabilities took a prodigious leap with the development of industrial modes of production.  One of the first indication of how destructive industrial weaponry is was the American Civil War.  That war took the fighting from open fields to urban areas.  The death rates rose substantially and included many non-combatants.

         Then, a few years later, there was World War I (18 million deaths) and World War II (50 to 80 million deaths).  In addition, the very economies of the warring nations were being devasted.  World War II practically destroyed the manufacturing facilities of Europe.  In other words, the very motivations that promoted exploitation were being attacked.  Exploitation, via both the rationale of economic advantage and demonizing the Them was undermined.

         Hence, the post-World War II movement toward a globalized economy materialized.  There have also been policies, especially among Western nations, to mature beyond Us-vs.-Them thinking.  This, for a non-prejudicial person, is a welcomed development, but one does need to remember:  there is that natural bias toward Us/Theming.  

The point here is:  it doesn’t help to underestimate this bias.  All that is needed for this ugly aspect of human nature to show itself is to have reverses in a nation’s economic conditions.  To wit, currently, there is an apparent rise in nationalism – a type of Us/Theming.  This writer believes that this is not a trend emanating out of nowhere.  

He sees it resulting from the Great Recession and developments negatively affecting some groups who have suffered from globalization.  Specifically, those groups are former manufacturing workers who have lost their jobs due to cheap, competitive workers in developing countries. Another group has been miners – particularly of coal – where economic trends and concerns for the environment have lowered the demand for those minerals.

So, while the point that prejudices are learned is correct when it is applied to who gets victimized, it does not apply to people’s predispositions to develop prejudices.  Therefore, and this lesson is important to civics education, an enlightened people needs to be proactive in meeting the challenge of prejudicial thinking.  Not all that is natural is best or even good.

[1] Robert M. Sapolsky, Behave:  The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (New York, NY:  Penguin Press, 2017), 387-389 (Kindle edition).  Oxytocin is a hormone.  It is produced by the hypothalamus, in the brain, and emitted by the pituitary gland. This is an important hormone during the childbirth process and assists the male reproduction function.

#prejudice #nature vs nurture

[fredthedead]

Secrets For Real Estate Investing Tips

Real estate investing isn't as straightforward as you might think. The truth is investing is a more time-consuming procedure. It requires finding the ideal property, managing the investment property correctly and maintaining good financial records. You can be successful as a investor only if have time and interest to find great properties and keep track of your possessions. You will need to understand some property investing tips so as to be secure and profitable.

Try to construct a suitable real estate network. In case you have opted to try investments, then it's much better to build the perfect group of people around you. This team could consist of investment professionals comprising an agent, a mortgage broker, an attorney, an appraiser and an accountant. But ensure to select just professionally experienced and talented investment professionals to direct you.

Get idea from close men and women who have investment expertise. You can get suggestions from those that are close to you, including your friends, coworkers, neighbors and family, who have property investment experience. Get an idea in their investment expertise, from legal issues to tenant difficulties.

Look closely at the industry and do your own research. Try to research to know the worth of a property. You can even search Real estate investor websites with MLS listings to get an idea about the properties closer to your region.

Be certain that you accurately assess your property's cash flow. Perform a cash flow analysis including your monthly earnings and expenses. Calculate your mortgage payments, insurance amounts and utility costs. Allot some amount for repairs and upkeep. Get an idea of the sales cost, building price and rental rates of properties in your region. 

Negotiate openly in the event you have opted to purchase a real estate property. This may help to prevent wasting time in investment properties which aren't within your budget. Try to locate potentially-profitable properties and publicly negotiate the best prices.

Be a safe investor. Ensure to create your property just after considering essential factors and deciding your investment plan. Get suggestions and advice from experienced and talented investment professionals or from Real estate agent websites prior to making a property investment. Only then you can create a safe investment.

Make sure to attract good tenants for your property. Avoid choosing problematic tenants to be able to prevent unnecessary issues in future. Select only potential tenant whose history and credit checks provide positive outcome. As soon as you have picked a tenant, make sure to clearly explain the rental provisions to them, and be sure to get a decent security deposit. If your tenant is truly great, make sure to make them happy by all means.

These investing tips are the guidelines for getting successful investors. Building a suitable network, getting proposal from individuals experienced in investments, understanding updated marketplace, doing your own research, assessing cash flows, negotiating publicly, creating safe investment and receiving good renters, are the hints to enhance your investment returns in terms of both money and peace of mind.

The Five Worst Real Estate Money Wasters

The real estate sector is among the most lucrative industries out there and those doing the profiting are not always the agents. Real estate agents and brokers are always bombarded with ads promising ways to earn more money without needing to lift a finger or brand yourself better.

Here is the thing: No amount of money will replace hard work and you won't need to feed the demand for more expendable income in case you decrease your costs and only pay for services and tools that provide you a terrific ROI (return on investment).

Here are five products property agents/brokers purchase that are a huge waste of money:

1) Magnetic Car Signs - I am not sure who thought this was a fantastic idea but placing your contact information on the outside of your vehicle serves no practical function for two reasons.

First, if you are driving anywhere you'll do between 30 - 55 miles and at that rate how a lot of people do you believe (realistically) will see your name, realize that you're a realtor, consider using you for their real estate needs and have the capacity to write down your number or web site address.

Even if you DID find somebody who was interested in your service after seeing the signal what are you going to do if you see them after you for 2 miles in your rear view mirror? Probably try to evade them. Now they think you are a crazy driver and also don't have the last 2 digits of your phone number.

Which brings me to my next point: What if you cut off someone or somehow manage to upset someone on the street? Is putting your name, number and other personal info out there in the open really a fantastic idea?

Magnetic car signs are a terrific idea for builders, plumbers and comparable service companies but you need to save your $30 and use it to get an AdWords campaign.

2) Third Party Website Vendors - I am not writing off all property site vendors because I really do think there are a couple of amazing website vendors like.

In an upcoming series I will be showing you how you can construct your very own property site for under $500.

3) Lead Generation Websites - I have tried a few different lead generation sites and really closed one house sale based on a lead I purchased but generally speaking you can spend the same $20-$40 which you'd spend on every lead to advertise your site via PPC (Pay Per Click) and yield more qualified leads than what you would get from a lead generation site.

Tip: If you do not wish to become involved with search engine PPC (which can run hundreds of dollars per month if you are not careful) you might want to think about advertising on heavily trafficked property search engines using an inexpensive advertisement subscription version.

4) Newsletter Services using Recycled/Generic Follow-Up Letters - I regularly receive unsolicited emails from coaches in my Keller Williams office which are generically written (pre-written) newsletters offered by the company. I don't read them and the odds are your prospects do not read them either.

Instead, sit down and write (or pay someone to write) a customized list of newsletter emails that are related directly to your lead's demands. By way of instance, say a lead inquires about active adult communities in your area that they want to see 12 months from today. By creating your own follow up email collection for active adult buyers you're likely to have a higher conversion ratio than you would with, say, a generic"Hello Mr. Buyer" or recipes email.

Hint: A great, inexpensive service to use for your email follow up with real estate prospects is Aweber. It is used by top business people in many businesses and you may take it for a free test drive by going to the link above.

5) Recipe Cards and Unrelated Direct Mail Marketing Pieces - I am all about branding oneself but branding yourself through marketing materials unrelated to your business isn't intelligent branding. If you will do direct mail marketing contemplate what you're asking the receiver to do. Would you like them to bake cookies? Because that is exactly what a recipe card mailer implies.

Maintain your marketing focused by sending property market reports and buying/selling suggestions which can prove useful to your potential if they need your services.

By holding your property expenses accountable you will start to notice what efforts are generating the most business for you and what is just burning a hole in your pocket.

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