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The Difference Between A and ER

Editor’s Note: This post is going to take an in-depth look at the word “nigger.” As such, it will be used (as discreetly as possible) throughout this commentary. This post was not written with any intent to offend. Rather, it is to make people think about the ramifications of using this word.

What’s the difference between A and ER?

Okay. Let me put this in context. What’s the difference between the slang suffix A and the proper suffix ER? If I said, “Me and my patnas (partners) are about to go hoop,” then does the meaning of partner change with an A ending? Keep this example in mind as we explore one of the most contemptuous words in the English language.

” What’s good my nigga?”

Did reading that make you cringe?

“Stupid niggers. Why don’t they go back to Africa?”

Did reading that make you cringe? It made me cringe writing it. Why is that? Well, it’s because this word has a history of being controversial.

The word nigger can be linked to the Latin word niger and the Spanish word negro, both meaning black. Early French history recalls a transition of the word to negre/negress (black woman). It is said these terms were derogatory in the French language. Fast forward to the days of American slavery, and the word was solidified as a hateful description for African-Americans.

This term is mired in oppression and hate. It has a long history of African-Americans being told their value is worthless. It’s immersed in the blood, sweat, and tears of slaves beaten for any excuse. It holds the fear of slaves thrown overboard to lighten the boat’s load. It has the blood of every black person beaten, burned, and lynched covering it. It has fire hoses, police dogs, church and bus bombings, and a whole history of being treated sub-human behind it. This word is powerful. Not in a positive way either.

It is without a doubt, one of the filthiest racial slurs used in America.

It’s not used to inspire pride in African-American heritage. It was (and still is) used as a reminder that blacks are nobody in America. It is used to incite feelings of inferiority; to diminish any sense of self-confidence in a black person.

As long as it’s said with the ER.

Conversely, a good majority of black people have taken this word and made it part of their every day vocabulary. African-American culture has become pop culture in a sense with the soaring popularity of rap/hip-hop music. As such, pop culture has grabbed the word in such a way that people use it regardless of their race. It’s “new meaning” is a term of endearment towards one’s friends. It is usually interchanged with other slang words (i.e. bro, homie, homeboys, brothas, dude). It can also be used to express disdain. Not of a racial nature, but with a specific person or group of people (i.e. I was about to hit that nigga in the mouth). These “new meanings” have been created as a way to reclaim/restore the word from its original definition. That’s what proponents of using this word will tell you.

As long as it’s said with an A at the end.

The same word with two different endings garners multiple meanings depending on the context in which it’s used. Sounds like the regular rules of the English language, right? Understanding language evolves with time and some words change societal meaning, we have to ask ourselves if the word nigger/nigga has really changed. That questioned can be answered by what racial group says it. A perfect example of this happened recently at a high school in Arizona.

Who Said It?

Six girls attending Desert Vista High School tweeted out the following picture.

Source :

As you can see, the girls would be considered white based on looks alone. The deception of race is that two of them could possibly be Latino or Native American, but they are categorized as white since that’s what their skin says.

This picture was taken after their senior class photo where students were encouraged to wear shirts with letters and asterisks to spell out a completely different phrase ending with “Class of 2016.”

The top photo quickly went viral, and people went OFF! This was not just black people bemoaning a negative word. People of all races were thoroughly offended. So much so until the Desert Vista High School’s office was flooded with outraged emails, tweets, and phone calls from random strangers across the country. A good majority of the comments I read were in favor of expulsion plus classes on the history of the word. To say people were upset is an understatement. The girls received a five day suspension from the school, but the wrath of twitter knows no bounds. Someone tweeted the picture with each girl’s name.

These ladies are social media’s public enemy number one. For now anyway.

These types of situations create a massive discussion. Some people feel there is a double standard as it appears blacks are okay with the continued use of nigga as an in-group term. However, when a white person says any variation of the word (i.e. nigga, nigger, my nig, etc…), then it becomes a racial issue.  One of the comments I read regarding the Desert Vista High School girls reads as such.

“And yet black artists promote the word in music, movies, and poetry. Where is the outcry over that? Double standards are double standards. The word is abhorrent or it is not. Can’t go both ways. And if you say it is okay if a person of color uses it but it has a different meaning when whites use it look in a mirror and tell me honestly who is being racist now.”

I don’t agree with everything in this comment, but it is interesting to dissect. What he’s really saying is there is no difference between A and ER. Regardless of how the word is said, it means the same thing. So, why the uproar? For that, I agree with him. The part of who is being racist now? That’s where his comment gets distorted. However, that’s how divisive this word can be. I do have some questions for those who believe there is a double standard.

Do you really want to say nigger?

I don’t think you do, but the premise of a double standard would also imply you feel left out from using this phrase. Do you really feel excluded? Do you feel a sense of injustice from blacks who continuously use this word as part of their everyday vernacular? I’ll let you think about it.

While the double standards are pondering, they do make some valid points. It’s an interesting concept to discuss.

Why is this term exclusive to black people?

Several comments point to the fluid use of this word in rap/hip-hop music which is no longer listened to by majority black people. Rap is mainstream to the point that ALL races of this younger generation listen to it. Therefore, they become desensitized to the word because the context of how it’s said is under the guise of “new meaning.” In turn, this creates a problem between blacks and those who they have not accepted to use the term. The very idea that blacks can choose who says this term is foolish in itself.

I’ll take it a step further and ask, why do some black people feel it’s their word? It truly make no sense. A word used to describe your race in the filthiest way possible has now become a term to use at your leisure? I balk at this claim for this very reason.

If African-Americans truly reclaimed/changed the meaning of this word, then we wouldn’t throw a fit when a non-black person says it.

Point blank. Period. End of discussion.

The Difference

No matter how hard people try, saying any variation of nigger will always spark the ire of others. The American history of this word will never be erased. To deny it’s original meaning is to deny our history. American history. It renders countless lives lost insignificant. Using it sets everyone back from this supposed progress we have made as a country. It’s time to realize this, and eradicate the use of this word. Then, and only then, can we take steps to truly love our brother and sister.

What’s the difference between A and ER?

10 Comments Add yours

  1. Eddie Gilliam says:

    Great voice, well put together.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Laura says:

    THANK YOU for such a thoughtful piece on this subject. This issue reared its ugly head this year for my son. A white student (though I’m not sure it matters what color he was) referred to my son using the -A version and seemed somewhat genuinely confused that the word he claimed he’d heard in rap music was so violently unacceptable. I rolled with the “let’s educate him” approach the first time he did it. The second time? Well, I dropped a brick on the administration that made it clear a third offense would raise holy hell from our house.

    I truly don’t understand the concept of reclaiming the word, seeing as it comes from the root of such hatred. But since I’m not black I don’t know how much weight that opinion carries in public discourse…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Jarrod Brown says:

      I actually find this subject very interesting in terms of the response I got. I had A LOTS of white people sing the praises of this piece. I haven’t tested it or in the black community yet. However, I have a sneaking suspicion it’s gonna get torn to pieces. People actually believe there is a difference between A and ER. The only difference is what group says it.

  3. What those girls did was dumb, but it also came out they were encouraged by… someone. I thought that was an interesting addition to the story myself.

    Great post and way to take on a tough topic head on!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Jarrod Brown says:

      Thanks, Jason! That is an interesting tidbit. It goes to show what can happen if you let someone talk you into something. This one was hard to write, and I’m surprised I have received positive feedback on it.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I thought it was interesting they said the person that asked them to do it was black. 🙂

  4. MLewis says:

    Confrontational, thought-provoking piece. Keep up the dialogue.

  5. MLewis says:

    Confrontational, thought-provoking article.

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Africa witness

People’s voice

Illegal drugs ruin lives in South Africa

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Nyaope is a mixture of different substances, including heroin, marijuana, rat poison and anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat HIV patients

A man smokes the illegal drug called Nyaope, a mixture of different substances, including heroin, marijuana, rat poison and anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat HIV patients

A man smokes the illegal drug called Nyaope, a mixture of different substances, including heroin, marijuana, rat poison and anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat HIV patients

It’s a warm night in Mayfair, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city.

Most businesses have already closed, except for a few drug dealers on the street corners awaiting their usual customers.

A group of five untidily dressed young men walk from the Mayfair Train Station and head straight for a street corner on the central road.

They can be seen giving money to a drug dealer who hands them a small plastic packet containing Nyaope, a cheap cocktail of drugs.

Nyaope is a mixture of different substances, including heroin, marijuana, rat poison and anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat HIV patients. A small plastic packet of Nyaope sells for about 20 rand (roughly $1.80).

The five young men speed away after taking their drugs, heading towards Newtown near Johannesburg.

We followed them at a distance. About 15 minutes later, they were sitting under a bridge rolling their drugs into joints to smoke.

We introduced ourselves to the youths and they immediately became hostile – before our guide convinced them to talk to us.

“I left home last year after becoming addicted to Nyaope,” a 16-year-old, who identified himself as Tupak Zondi, told Anadolu Agency.

“I used to steal and sell items from my parents’ home, but when they caught me, I decided to leave,” he added, puffing on his joint.

Zondi also dropped out of school. He now looks much older than his actual age, with drug abuse and rough living having taken a toll.

Layers of black dirt now run across his once clean, light-skinned face.

Like most addicts, Zondi has not had a bath for several weeks. His hair is unkempt, his teeth are yellow and his lips are parched.

“When I wake up in the morning, I just think of one thing: smoking Nyaope,” he said.

Zondi says his body feels weak, his stomach growls and, at times, he shakes if he does not take the drug.

“It’s like an energy drink for me,” he added, a slight smile on his face while his friends laugh.

He feeds his addiction by collecting and selling scrap metal. Sometimes, however, he turns to crime to raise money.

“Sometimes we rob people who walk on foot at night,” Zondi admitted. “We take their money and cellphones.”

When asked to have his picture taken, Zondi declined and abruptly ended the interview.

One of his friends allowed himself to be photographed, but declined to give his identity.

He took us to a nearby park where he demonstrated the process involved in rolling Nyaope into joints for smoking.

He unwrapped the plastic packet, mixed marijuana into it, and rolled the mixture up in a white rolling paper before lighting it.

“This drug is powerful. It takes away all my stress,” he said between puffs.

In his 30s, he said he did different types of drugs, blaming chronic unemployment for his habit.

“Since coming to Johannesburg, I could not find a job and so resorted to drugs,” he said.

“Sometimes I find menial jobs. But I use the money for drugs and food,” he added.

He says he has seen many young lives destroyed as a result of Nyaope.

“I know many young boys and girls from well-to-do families who dropped out of school and joined us smoking this drug,” he said.

David Bayever of the CDA, South Africa’s official drug control organization, said it was difficult to determine the number of drug addicts in the country.

“It’s very complex,” he told AA. “There are many different types of drug abusers. We learn of them whenever they are arrested, in hospital or when they go to rehabilitation centers.”

According to Bayever, the CDA depends largely on figures provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Along with nyaope, some of the most commonly abused drugs in the country include alcohol, marijuana, heroin and cocaine.

Most drugs are brought into South Africa by drug cartels that distribute them through a network of dealers.

A few, however, are manufactured locally.

Clara Monnakgotla, national community developer at the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, an NGO, says her organization has noticed a decrease in the average age of drug abusers.

“What we have noticed is that the age of substance abusers is decreasing – and this is very concerning,” she told AA.

She said that, despite legislation banning the consumption of alcohol by children under 18, many minors were now involved in binge drinking and drug abuse.

“It has impacted our society very negatively; most social ills are now linked to substance abuse,” Monnakgotla explained.

She said leading causes of drug abuse included trauma, poverty, peer pressure, depression and availability.

“We are engaged in the stakeholder networks with our government departments and other entities to form integrated strategies to reduce the harm, demand and supply of substance abuse,” Monnakgotla told AA.

She said her NGO’s centers were providing prevention and treatment services to local communities.

South African police, meanwhile, say they are working tirelessly to fight the illicit drug trade.

“We just pounced on drugs worth 85 million rand from Mpumalanga,” police spokesman Paul Ramoloko told AA by phone.

He said police had busted major drug hauls in different parts of the country.

“Drug consumers will feel the pinch this season,” the spokesman added. “Last year, we dismantled 34 drug laboratories and a number of people were arrested.”

He said narcotics worth millions of rand had been confiscated in recent drug busts, while several people – both South Africans and foreigners – had been arrested.

(C) Reserved. This was originally published on Anadolu Agency.

Written by africawitness

January 7, 2015 at 12:53 am

Posted in Xenophobia

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Monday Morning Gamification: A Word of Warning…

April 18, 2011

This is an interesting sort-of critique of the idea of gamification:

Unless I’m talking to a quantum physicist, I don’t trust people who argue for multiple versions of reality. That is why I’m wary of “gamification,” an idea that’s been blowing strong through confabs like South by Southwest and is championed by authors, consultants, and startup gurus like Jane McGonigalSeth Priebatsch, and Gabe Zichermann. The basic idea arises from how engaged people are when they play games, even if they’re doing mundane things like running a farm or mining ore. If we make the world more like a game, the thinking goes, we can harness all that energy to solve real-world problems.

It’s a compelling idea, certainly. I’ve been covering video games for more than 10 years and am especially interested in the “serious games” movement; I believe whole-heartedly that wonderful things can happen when people play. But gamification advocates do not preach the beauty and power of play. Perhaps without knowing it, they’re selling a pernicious worldview that doesn’t give weight to literal truth. Instead, they are trafficking in fantasies that ignore the realities of day-to-day life. This isn’t fun and games—it’s a tactic most commonly employed by repressive, authoritarian regimes.

Not sure I agree with all this.  Adding play to something does not avoid the truth of that thing.  It’s just another way of us engaging with and processing a subject.  Gamification is not just about creating fantasy and escapism; its about the fact that play is a very, very human thing.  So making important things play is a way of re-interpreting them in a way that some (not all) will find more appealing.  For some its the competition, for others the peer recognition and others still the satisfaction of codified achievements (or indeed a mixture of all three).

However that said I think there are points in this worth taking on-board.  Gamification is no magic wand, its not going to generate success everywhere.  Not only that but all gamifcation is seen to do is give shopping vouchers, then it will be a bit of a waste…

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Contribution vs Attribution – A Pointless Debate

RCT-Gold-StandardThere are three certainties in life. The first two are death and taxes. The third – known only to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practitioners – is that during any workshop on M&E, someone will smugly point out that we should be examining contribution, not attribution.

Those of you without experience in M&E jargon (lucky you!) will need a bit of help at this point. “Attribution” is the idea that a change is solely due to your intervention. If I run a humanitarian programme dedicated to handing out buckets, then the gift of a bucket is ‘attributable’ to my programme. I caused it, and nobody can say otherwise. “Contribution” is the idea that your influence is just one of many factors which contribute to a change. Imagine that I was lobbying for a new anti-corruption law. If that law passes, it would be absurd to say that I caused it directly. Lots of factors caused the change, including other lobbyists, the incentives of politicians, public opinion, etc. The change is not ‘attributable’ to me, but I ‘contributed’ to it.

There are two reasons why it is a mistake to emphasise contribution. Firstly, it’s far too often used as a get-out clause. The phrase “we need to assess contribution, not attribution” is typically used to mean “Something good has happened. We want to imply that it was thanks to us, without trying to work out exactly how.” Even if you’re assessing contribution, you still need to understand the extent to which you contributed, and the process through which this happened. Of course, the contribution gurus understand this. All too often, however, their disciples just use contribution as an excuse to avoid doing any actual thinking.

This reflects a fundamental misconception that, if you look at contribution, you no longer need to examine the counterfactual. (The counterfactual, for the by-now-bewildered non-M&E folk, is the question of what would have happened if your programme had not existed.) Of course, it is not always possible to quantitatively assess the counterfactual, in the way that randomised control trials (RCTs) do. But it is always a valid thought-experiment, and an essential part of good M&E. If you’re not thinking about the counterfactual, then you’re simply not asking whether your programme really needed to be there.

Secondly, the term ‘contribution’ itself is used to mean multiple, often inconsistent things. The common-sense meaning of contribution, as defined above, is that there were many factors that caused the observed change. This is completely unhelpful. Any change (except for the most simple) is caused by many things. An RCT – often seen as the gold-standard way to assess attribution – recognises that many factors caused the measured outcomes. That’s why you use a RCT in the first place. Consequently, this meaning of ‘contribution’ does not justify the methodological differences that this approach implies.

A more useful definition of ‘contribution’ is that the change is not possible to measure quantitatively, or is a binary change (like a law being passed). In this case, it is not possible to ‘attribute’ a certain percentage of the change to your intervention. To illustrate the point, consider two different outcomes; (1) increased yield, (2) the passing of a law, and (3) a change in societal values. The first one is quantitative and divisible – it makes sense to talk of a percentage of a change in yield. Consequently, we can speak of an ‘attributable’ change in yield. The second and third, by contrast, don’t’ lend themselves to quantitative breakdown. It does not make sense to pass a percent of a law – it either passes or it doesn’t. Consequently, trying to work out what percentage of a new law is ‘attributable’ to your organisation is simply nonsensical. Similarly, you could never assign a percentage to the extent to which societal values change. In the latter two cases, consequently, it makes sense to talk of contribution rather than attribution.

In every case, however – whether ‘attribution’ or ‘contribution’ – the basic question is the same; what difference did the intervention make? How did it make this difference, and what other factors were relevant? Whether you can quantify the difference or not is a methodological detail, but doesn’t affect the basic question that you are asking. Looking at contribution, consequently, is a red herring.

Ebola: Lessons not learned

Guest Author: Marc DuBois, Consultant for Overseas Development Institute

Today marks 42 days since the last new case of Ebola in Sierra Leone, meaning the country will join Liberia in being declared Ebola-free. That brings the world one step closer to a victory over Ebola the killer.

But Ebola has another identity – messenger. We listened. It told us that many aspects of the international aid system are not fit for purpose. Many – too many – of the problems the outbreak revealed are depressingly familiar to us.

Pre-Ebola health systems in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia were quickly overwhelmed and lacked even basic capacity to cope with the outbreak. The World Health Organisation (WHO) failed to recognise the epidemic and lead the response, and international action was late. Early messaging around the disease was ineffective and counterproductive. There was a profound lack of community engagement, particularly early on. Trained personnel were scarce, humanitarian logistics capacity was insufficient and UN coordination and leadership were poor.

The lessons learned should also come as no surprise: rebuild health systems and invest in a ‘Marshall Plan’ for development; make the WHO a truly robust transnational health agency and improve early warning systems; release funds earlier and make contracts more flexible; highlight what communities can do, and engage with them earlier. Except these lessons learned haven’t really been learned at all: they are lessons identified repeatedly over the past decades, but not learned.

Why is the system almost perfectly impervious to certain lessons despite everyone’s good intentions? The short answer: these lessons are too simplistic. They pretend that the problem is an oversight, a mistake to be corrected, when in fact the system is working as it is ‘designed’ to work.  The long answer: what is it about the politics, architecture and culture driving the aid system that stops these lessons from becoming reality?

Take a simple idea, like reconstituting the WHO as an intragovernmental agency with a robust mandate to safeguard global public health, and the power to stop an outbreak like Ebola. Sounds great, but not new. So it also sounds like wishful thinking. It does not address the inherent tension between sovereignty and transnational institutions.

Think of it this way: the more robust an institution, the more of a threat it poses to the individual states that are its members, and hence the greater incentive for those states to set limits to its power. WHO was ‘designed’ not to ruffle feathers.

A robust WHO? Can you imagine the WHO ordering the US or UK governments to end counterproductive measures such as quarantining returned Ebola health workers or banning airline flights to stricken countries? It will never happen.

Here is the true lesson to be learned: at a time of public fear and insecurity, it would be political suicide for any government to allow such external interference. The problem isn’t the institution, it only looks like it is; the problem is the governments that comprise it. That is not to say that WHO cannot and should not be improved. It is to say that the solution proposed cannot address the fundamental problem.

Or take a complex idea, such as community engagement. Our Ebola research found that the ‘early stages of the surge did not prioritise such engagement or capitalise on affected communities as a resource’, a serious omission that ultimately contributed to the spread of the disease, and hence a key lesson learned (see e.g., this Oxfam article).

Disturbingly, this is a lesson with a long history. Here, for example, is what the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) found in evaluating the international response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The relevance, virtually word for word, to the situation in West Africa speaks for itself:

The international humanitarian community – with the exception of the organisations already established in Haiti for some time – did not adequately engage with national organizations, civil society, and local authorities. These critically-important partners were therefore not included in strategizing on the response operation, and international actors could not benefit from their extensive capacities, local knowledge, and cultural understanding … This is not a new observation. Exclusion of parts of the population in one way or another from relief activities is mentioned in numerous reports and evaluations .

Why is this lesson so often repeated and so often not learned? Does the answer lie in an aid culture where ‘taking the time to stop and think – to comprehend via dialogue, engagement and sociological research – runs counter to the humanitarian impulse to act’. Our report discusses a greater concern: the degree to which people in West Africa were treated ‘as a problem – a security risk, culture-bound, unscientific – to be overcome’.

The ‘oversight’ is hardly an oversight: people in stricken communities ‘were stereotyped as irrational, fearful, violent and primitive; too ignorant to change; victims of their own culture, in need of saving by outsiders’. Perhaps that clash of cultures highlights why we should not expect community engagement to spontaneously break out simply because the problem has been recognised.

Powerful forces work against aid actors engaging with the community during an emergency, leaving us with a lesson that has not been learned even after years of anguished ‘never again’ promises to do better.

Lessons learned are where our analysis of the power dynamics and culture of the international aid system should begin, not where it ends.

For the full report, read ‘The Ebola response in West Africa: Exposing the politics and culture of international aid’.

Why aid shouldn’t be outsourced.

Over the past few decades, an increasing amount of public money has been outsourced. Medical, security, and social services have been put out to tender, and contracts worth over £100 billion a year in the UK are won by businesses ranging from major accountancy firms to tiny consultancies. Sometimes the competitive pressures have cut costs, increased quality, and enabled innovation. At other times, it’s led to huge profits for contractors and shoddy service for everyone else.

By outsourcing, I mean any kind of arrangement whereby an external party, whether NGO or private sector, is contracted to deliver a pre-designed aid programme. The services to be delivered are defined in advance, and then the donor (or contracting body) invites bids to deliver these services. This is increasingly prevalent in the aid sector. A recent review of DFID’s work revealed that the percentage of aid channelled through for-profit partners in fragile states increased from 3.7% (2009-10) to 19.4% (2012-13). Despite the occasional grumbling from politicians and the British tabloids, I’ve seen remarkably little serious critical scrutiny of this trend.

Like anything else, outsourcing is sometimes good, sometimes bad. Outsourcing cleaning services seems to work pretty well. Outsourcing healthcare, by contrast, raises much more significant concerns. This blog discusses three factors that would justify successful outsourcing, and then explores the extent to which the aid sector meets these criteria.

The first factor is a competitive market. Outsourcing is often justified on the grounds that competition between suppliers drives up quality and cuts costs. If there are not enough suppliers to form a competitive market, then this logic falls through. Outsourcing in an uncompetitive market just leads to a state-sponsored monopoly, with no pressure to cut costs or perform well. Even in a market with multiple possible contractors, it needs to be easy to switch from one supplier to another. If that’s not the case – for example, because the donor is locked into a five or ten year contract – then this reduces the pressure on the supplier to perform.

The second factor is predictable and measurable results. Outsourcing aims to harness the innovation and cost-cutting ability of the private and third sector, by aligning private and organizational incentives (to make money) with public incentives (to deliver some kind of service). In order to align incentives, contracts are drawn up specifying what results the business has to achieve to receive the money. If these results can’t be specified upfront, then it’s unclear how such a contract could be created. How could the donor agree to pay money, if it doesn’t know what it’s paying money for? If results can’t be measured throughout the programme, then the donor will never know whether the contractor has performed well or not.

The final factor is intrinsic motivation. Some theoretical research has suggested that mechanisms that reward high performance with high pay can have a negative effect if they undermine intrinsic motivation. In an international development context, organisations also often need to work together to achieve the results they need. Sharing knowledge and developing partnerships is key to success.

Is the market of aid suppliers competitive? To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve heard plenty of accusations that aid is delivered by a small cartel of large organisations. Large aid programmes, especially in fragile states, are complex to manage and deliver. ICAI found that “As a result, the security and justice portfolio is increasingly reliant on a small pool of large contractors.” Their review of fragile states highlighted a potential “over-concentration in a few big global players”. On the other hand, there are plenty of aid contractors out there: although each with a different speciality and focus. I’d be interested to hear more evidence on the competitiveness of the aid market.

My problem with outsourcing for aid projects comes from the second and third factors. Results in most aid programmes are unpredictable. Attempts to specify them in advance can damage programmes rather than aid them, setting perverse incentives to meet inappropriate targets. If results can’t be specified in advance, however, it is not possible to hold them accountable for performance. Any kind of result can be seen as a success – because you have no prior target by which achievements can be deemed to be successes or failures. Contracting organisations to deliver unspecified services seems to open the door to poor performance backed up by excuses.

This is compounded by the fact that the results that really matter aren’t easily measurable. Some are, of course; number of mosquito nets distributed can be counted, the number of children in school can be assessed, and they can even be split up by gender. Higher level outcomes, however, are often impossible to measure and attribute to one project. Incidence of malaria depends on the strength of the health system, weather, and public sanitation. Children’s education is dependent on the wealth and interest of the parents, the way in which teachers are trained and treated, and so forth. Private organisations would (quite rightly) feel uncomfortable being held accountable for such goals.

Outsourcing aid delivering starts by trying to align incentives through complex contracts. This is the wrong place to start. Instead, donors should concentrate on finding organisations that share values and interests, whether governments, NGOs, or local community organisations. They should build the capacity of these organisations through long term support, and hold them accountable for long-term success, rather than for hitting targets or running projects.


text:
The perfect sunglasses

A few types of sunglasses perfect for summer and not only : 1.Ray Ban, 2.Dior ,3.Chanel, 4.Yves Saint Laurent and 5.Dsquard2…

I’m still in love with the aviator sunglasses at the moment…

This entry was posted in Clothes and accessories and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

12 Responses to The perfect sunglasses

  1. Ariana says:

    OMG they are fabulous!!!!

    All are too great

  2. Tanya William says:

    i like the chanel sunglasses ❤

  3. Jennifer Heizman says:

    I love them all wooow!!!

  4. Jennifer Heizman says:

    Great sunglasses!

  5. Ashley says:

    oh yes I like the aviator sunglasses too

  6. Victoria Scheckler says:

    love this post

    you have really good taste Alexandra!

  7. alefashion says:

    @Victoria : Thank you so much !!!!! you are really nice!! xx Ale

  8. Christiane S says:

    All the pairs are nice 🙂

  9. Marco Hermas says:

    I hope next time it will be a post with men sunglasses too ;);):)

  10. Yvonné says:

    J’adore ces lunettes de soleil!

  11. Paty says:

    Cool 🙂 I’d like to have one of this sunglasses!!

  12. fani says:

    a die brillen nur geil 😄

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The Procrastination-Princess and the Blog

Above all else, I’m an expert procrastinator. I’m the Macgyver of procrastination. I can take any random object or idea, use it to escape from my work and, with just a little ingenuity, morph it into hours of dead space in my day. I’m really very good.

I named this blog The Time is Write as an answer to all my excuses. “I haven’t cleaned the apartment in a while” or “Maybe I should finally hang that wall painting. Where is that hammer?” or “I haven’t clicked through every single photo of my high school friend’s honeymoon yet.” No, no, no. The time is write.

I manage to convince myself that, in order to write successfully, all the stars must be properly aligned; I can only produce in the most ideal conditions: There has to be a block of at least two hours, with the capability of writing for at least three days in a row (because otherwise my juices would get flowing only to be clogged again). Like a high maintenance celebrity in her dressing room, I demand freshly brewed coffee, internet access, good lighting, and enough–but not too much–food. Well, this just isn’t acceptable. If J.K. Rowling could scribble the first Harry Potter book on napkins during her cigarette breaks, I can probably manage to get out a paragraph even if my lap top screen has glare.

I’m going to take the opportunity here to name all of my favorite procrastination techniques–the tools of the trade–my weapons of less production. Maybe if I name them in a public forum, I’ll be too guilty and embarrassed to use them so casually in the future. Or maybe once I tell you, I’ll have to kill you. Let’s find out, shall we?

  • Facebook newsfeed scrolling
  • Yahoo inbox refreshing. And refresh again. Still no mail? Refresh again.
  • Reading (it’s essential, yes. But not as essential as I sometimes claim it to be. As in: “Are you going to write today?” “Um, excuse me but reading is the greatest teacher.” “Okay, but you’ve been reading for four days straight.” “Well I don’t see an MFA degree lodged somewhere in your bookshelf.” All right I would never say the last one. Only think it.)
  • Cooking (usually big vats of soup until I run out of freezer space and we’re eating pasta e fagioli three meals a day)
  • Cleaning (when I’m really desperate)
  • Online shopping (not buying. What’s the virtual version of window shopping? Screen shopping?)
  • Online shopping… and buying (I usually have my birthday and Christmas gifts done the season before)
  • Browsing through yahoo articles (Don’t you want to learn about the loneliest cities in the world and tricky job interview questions?)
  • Selecting houses I can’t afford on
  • Whimpering over puppies I wish I could adopt on (I really don’t recommend this one. Unless you’re prepared to save an army of adorable yet abandoned canines, it’ll just depress you)
  • Printing out photographs, sorting, and inserting into albums (this easily killed two days)
  • Eating
  • Watching Ellen Degeneres video clips
  • Working out (When I’m exercising because I don’t want to work, I know I’ve hit rock bottom)
  • And now…. blogging!

Wait a second! The point of the blog was to help…. Ah, crap.

2 thoughts on “The Procrastination-Princess and the Blog

  1. Lol ok that’s it, I have to stop reading now. I’m starting to believe that we could be twins but that’s probably because I’m becoming delusional – I not only need to stop procrastinating, I should also probably get some lunch… Have a good day and keep writing! 🙂

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Roc Supports Beanie, Verdict Approaches

As the attempted murder case of Roc-A-Fella rapper Beanie Sigel comes to a close, label CEO Dame Dash has released a statement proclaiming support for the Philadelphia rapper. A verdict is expected as early as tomorrow (Wednesday April 21).

Of a trip to the Court of Common Pleas Monday, Dash says, My partners Jay-Z, Kareem Biggs Burke and I appeared in a Philadelphia court today in a show of solidarity and support for our good friend and great artist Beanie Sigel. Roc-A-Fella is and always has been a family, and family is there for each other. We have been there as Beans has developed into a million-selling artist, encouraged and supported him in his growing entrepreneurship, helped him launch a successful clothing label, watched him flourish as an incredible actor. We are there for him now, and will be regardless of the road ahead. We look forward to working with our brother Beans in releasing more great records, great films and other projects in the future, and will always support him in all his struggles, endeavors and triumphs.

Sigel also faces about three years in separate case where he plead guilty to gun and drug charges last week. The rapper will be sentenced on July 8 in that case.

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Thread- $GE (General Electric Company)

$GE {{ '2016-01-22T14:25:01+0000' | timeago}} • Webcast

$GE, which is relocating to Boston from its long-time headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut, said it had $0.04 of charges related to industrial restructuring and other items that were taken at Corporate. Charges were $567MM on a pre-tax basis with $160MM of those charges related to the Alstom deal cost and accounting items.

$AEO {{ '2017-05-23T22:28:29+0000' | timeago}} • Announcement

$AEO announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share, payable on July 21, 2017 to stockholders of record on July 7, 2017.

$BRS {{ '2017-05-23T22:25:45+0000' | timeago}} • Announcement

$BRS announced that its Board of Directors approved a $0.07 per share quarterly dividend, payable on June 22, 2017 to stockholders of record on June 7, 2017.

$VSAT {{ '2017-05-23T22:03:23+0000' | timeago}} • Webcast

Going forward, $VSAT expects to have continued challenging market conditions and multiple competitors in its market segments. The company estimates U.S. DoD budget wrangling to create lumpiness in award timing.

$VSAT {{ '2017-05-23T21:52:13+0000' | timeago}} • Webcast

$VSAT said that despite the high utilization of its existing satellites it still expects year-over-year revenue growth in FY18 and beyond. The company expects to increase its presence in Europe through its new joint venture and existing customer relationships.

$UVV {{ '2017-05-23T21:33:19+0000' | timeago}} • Webcast

$UVV delivered strong results for 4Q17 despite supply headwinds. On a segment basis, South America results were down, however, from lower volumes and higher factory unit cost as a result of the reduced buying program and lower third-party processing volumes in 2017.

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Mike Seinberg

I just saw a new study that indicates taking vitamins may increase your risk of developing cancer. Really. I also saw one that clearly shows no link between vaccinations and autism.

Well, we have finally emerged from what everyone in the Northeast is calling the worst winter ever.

As we move into the heart of the holiday season, it’s important to keep your wits about you and your stress level at a sane level. This is especially true if you are a caregiver.

“Recalculating.” How can one word contain so much condescension, and negativity and yet seem so non-threatening in print?

Why would a normal-looking human being want to wear sunglasses so huge, ungainly, and ugly that their own parents wouldn’t recognize them?

Subscribe to RSS - Mike Seinberg


text:
Three dead in Tel Aviv shooting

World Today

Three people were killed in central Tel Aviv on Wednesday night after two suspected Palestinian fired on them, Israel police said.

Another five people were wounded in the shooting, which took place near the popular open-air Sharona market.

Police later said both suspects were “neutralized,” and that one was arrested, while the other was wounded from gunfire.

Israel has been struggling to cope with eight months of Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, shootings and vehicular assaults, that have killed 31 Israelis and two Americans.

About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most identified as attackers by Israel.

For more about Tel Aviv attack, CCTV America’s Elaine Reyes spoke to Yossi Frankel, a member of the emergency services, who is also coordinating the rescue efforts.

Follow Elaine Reyes on Twitter @ElaineReyesTV

Story by Associate Press


text:
The Remarkable Rocket

The Remarkable Rocket was first published in 1888 as part of Oscar Wild's collection of children's stories entitled The Happy Prince and Other Tales. That collection of children's stories also includes: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Devoted Friend, and The Selfish Giant.
An illustration for the story The Remarkable Rocket by the author Oscar Wilde
An illustration for the story The Remarkable Rocket by the author Oscar Wilde
An illustration for the story The Remarkable Rocket by the author Oscar Wilde

The King's son was going to be married, so there were general rejoicings. He had waited a whole year for his bride, and at last she had arrived. She was a Russian Princess, and had driven all the way from Finland in a sledge drawn by six reindeer. The sledge was shaped like a great golden swan, and between the swan's wings lay the little Princess herself. Her long ermine-cloak reached right down to her feet, on her head was a tiny cap of silver tissue, and she was as pale as the Snow Palace in which she had always lived. So pale was she that as she drove through the streets all the people wondered. "She is like a white rose!" they cried, and they threw down flowers on her from the balconies.

At the gate of the Castle the Prince was waiting to receive her. He had dreamy violet eyes, and his hair was like fine gold. When he saw her he sank upon one knee, and kissed her hand.

"Your picture was beautiful," he murmured, "but you are more beautiful than your picture"; and the little Princess blushed.

"She was like a white rose before," said a young Page to his neighbour, "but she is like a red rose now"; and the whole Court was delighted.

For the next three days everybody went about saying, "White rose, Red rose, Red rose, White rose"; and the King gave orders that the Page's salary was to be doubled. As he received no salary at all this was not of much use to him, but it was considered a great honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette.

When the three days were over the marriage was celebrated. It was a magnificent ceremony, and the bride and bridegroom walked hand in hand under a canopy of purple velvet embroidered with little pearls. Then there was a State Banquet, which lasted for five hours. The Prince and Princess sat at the top of the Great Hall and drank out of a cup of clear crystal. Only true lovers could drink out of this cup, for if false lips touched it, it grew grey and dull and cloudy.

"It's quite clear that they love each other," said the little Page, "as clear as crystal!" and the King doubled his salary a second time. "What an honour!" cried all the courtiers.

After the banquet there was to be a Ball. The bride and bridegroom were to dance the Rose-dance together, and the King had promised to play the flute. He played very badly, but no one had ever dared to tell him so, because he was the King. Indeed, he knew only two airs, and was never quite certain which one he was playing; but it made no matter, for, whatever he did, everybody cried out, "Charming! charming!"

The last item on the programme was a grand display of fireworks, to be let off exactly at midnight. The little Princess had never seen a firework in her life, so the King had given orders that the Royal Pyrotechnist should be in attendance on the day of her marriage.

"What are fireworks like?" she had asked the Prince, one morning, as she was walking on the terrace.

"They are like the Aurora Borealis," said the King, who always answered questions that were addressed to other people, "only much more natural. I prefer them to stars myself, as you always know when they are going to appear, and they are as delightful as my own flute-playing. You must certainly see them."

So at the end of the King's garden a great stand had been set up, and as soon as the Royal Pyrotechnist had put everything in its proper place, the fireworks began to talk to each other.

"The world is certainly very beautiful," cried a little Squib. "Just look at those yellow tulips. Why! if they were real crackers they could not be lovelier. I am very glad I have travelled. Travel improves the mind wonderfully, and does away with all one's prejudices."

"The King's garden is not the world, you foolish squib," said a big Roman Candle; "the world is an enormous place, and it would take you three days to see it thoroughly."

"Any place you love is the world to you," exclaimed a pensive Catherine Wheel, who had been attached to an old deal box in early life, and prided herself on her broken heart; "but love is not fashionable any more, the poets have killed it. They wrote so much about it that nobody believed them, and I am not surprised. True love suffers, and is silent. I remember myself once - But it is no matter now. Romance is a thing of the past."

"Nonsense!" said the Roman Candle, "Romance never dies. It is like the moon, and lives for ever. The bride and bridegroom, for instance, love each other very dearly. I heard all about them this morning from a brown-paper cartridge, who happened to be staying in the same drawer as myself, and knew the latest Court news."

But the Catherine Wheel shook her head. "Romance is dead, Romance is dead, Romance is dead," she murmured. She was one of those people who think that, if you say the same thing over and over a great many times, it becomes true in the end.

Suddenly, a sharp, dry cough was heard, and they all looked round.

It came from a tall, supercilious-looking Rocket, who was tied to the end of a long stick. He always coughed before he made any observation, so as to attract attention.

"Ahem! ahem!" he said, and everybody listened except the poor Catherine Wheel, who was still shaking her head, and murmuring, "Romance is dead."

"Order! order!" cried out a Cracker. He was something of a politician, and had always taken a prominent part in the local elections, so he knew the proper Parliamentary expressions to use.

"Quite dead," whispered the Catherine Wheel, and she went off to sleep.

As soon as there was perfect silence, the Rocket coughed a third time and began. He spoke with a very slow, distinct voice, as if he was dictating his memoirs, and always looked over the shoulder of the person to whom he was talking. In fact, he had a most distinguished manner.

"How fortunate it is for the King's son," he remarked, "that he is to be married on the very day on which I am to be let off. Really, if it had been arranged beforehand, it could not have turned out better for him; but, Princes are always lucky."

"Dear me!" said the little Squib, "I thought it was quite the other way, and that we were to be let off in the Prince's honour."

"It may be so with you," he answered; "indeed, I have no doubt that it is, but with me it is different. I am a very remarkable Rocket, and come of remarkable parents. My mother was the most celebrated Catherine Wheel of her day, and was renowned for her graceful dancing. When she made her great public appearance she spun round nineteen times before she went out, and each time that she did so she threw into the air seven pink stars. She was three feet and a half in diameter, and made of the very best gunpowder. My father was a Rocket like myself, and of French extraction. He flew so high that the people were afraid that he would never come down again. He did, though, for he was of a kindly disposition, and he made a most brilliant descent in a shower of golden rain. The newspapers wrote about his performance in very flattering terms. Indeed, the Court Gazette called him a triumph of Pylotechnic art."

"Pyrotechnic, Pyrotechnic, you mean," said a Bengal Light; "I know it is Pyrotechnic, for I saw it written on my own canister."

"Well, I said Pylotechnic," answered the Rocket, in a severe tone of voice, and the Bengal Light felt so crushed that he began at once to bully the little squibs, in order to show that he was still a person of some importance.

"I was saying," continued the Rocket, "I was saying - What was I saying?"

"You were talking about yourself," replied the Roman Candle.

"Of course; I knew I was discussing some interesting subject when I was so rudely interrupted. I hate rudeness and bad manners of every kind, for I am extremely sensitive. No one in the whole world is so sensitive as I am, I am quite sure of that."

"What is a sensitive person?" said the Cracker to the Roman Candle.

"A person who, because he has corns himself, always treads on other people's toes," answered the Roman Candle in a low whisper; and the Cracker nearly exploded with laughter.

"Pray, what are you laughing at?" inquired the Rocket; "I am not laughing."

"I am laughing because I am happy," replied the Cracker.

"That is a very selfish reason," said the Rocket angrily. "What right have you to be happy? You should be thinking about others. In fact, you should be thinking about me. I am always thinking about myself, and I expect everybody else to do the same. That is what is called sympathy. It is a beautiful virtue, and I possess it in a high degree. Suppose, for instance, anything happened to me to-night, what a misfortune that would be for every one! The Prince and Princess would never be happy again, their whole married life would be spoiled; and as for the King, I know he would not get over it. Really, when I begin to reflect on the importance of my position, I am almost moved to tears."

"If you want to give pleasure to others," cried the Roman Candle, "you had better keep yourself dry."

"Certainly," exclaimed the Bengal Light, who was now in better spirits; "that is only common sense."

"Common sense, indeed!" said the Rocket indignantly; "you forget that I am very uncommon, and very remarkable. Why, anybody can have common sense, provided that they have no imagination. But I have imagination, for I never think of things as they really are; I always think of them as being quite different. As for keeping myself dry, there is evidently no one here who can at all appreciate an emotional nature. Fortunately for myself, I don't care. The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated. But none of you have any hearts. Here you are laughing and making merry just as if the Prince and Princess had not just been married."

"Well, really," exclaimed a small Fire-balloon, "why not? It is a most joyful occasion, and when I soar up into the air I intend to tell the stars all about it. You will see them twinkle when I talk to them about the pretty bride."

"Ah! what a trivial view of life!" said the Rocket; "but it is only what I expected. There is nothing in you; you are hollow and empty. Why, perhaps the Prince and Princess may go to live in a country where there is a deep river, and perhaps they may have one only son, a little fair-haired boy with violet eyes like the Prince himself; and perhaps some day he may go out to walk with his nurse; and perhaps the nurse may go to sleep under a great elder-tree; and perhaps the little boy may fall into the deep river and be drowned. What a terrible misfortune! Poor people, to lose their only son! It is really too dreadful! I shall never get over it."

"But they have not lost their only son," said the Roman Candle; "no misfortune has happened to them at all."

"I never said that they had," replied the Rocket; "I said that they might. If they had lost their only son there would be no use in saying anything more about the matter. I hate people who cry over spilt milk. But when I think that they might lose their only son, I certainly am very much affected."

"You certainly are!" cried the Bengal Light. "In fact, you are the most affected person I ever met."

"You are the rudest person I ever met," said the Rocket, "and you cannot understand my friendship for the Prince."

"Why, you don't even know him," growled the Roman Candle.

"I never said I knew him," answered the Rocket. "I dare say that if I knew him I should not be his friend at all. It is a very dangerous thing to know one's friends."

"You had really better keep yourself dry," said the Fire-balloon. "That is the important thing."

"Very important for you, I have no doubt," answered the Rocket, "but I shall weep if I choose"; and he actually burst into real tears, which flowed down his stick like rain-drops, and nearly drowned two little beetles, who were just thinking of setting up house together, and were looking for a nice dry spot to live in.

"He must have a truly romantic nature," said the Catherine Wheel, "for he weeps when there is nothing at all to weep about"; and she heaved a deep sigh, and thought about the deal box.

But the Roman Candle and the Bengal Light were quite indignant, and kept saying, "Humbug! humbug!" at the top of their voices. They were extremely practical, and whenever they objected to anything they called it humbug.

Then the moon rose like a wonderful silver shield; and the stars began to shine, and a sound of music came from the palace.

The Prince and Princess were leading the dance. They danced so beautifully that the tall white lilies peeped in at the window and watched them, and the great red poppies nodded their heads and beat time.

Then ten o'clock struck, and then eleven, and then twelve, and at the last stroke of midnight every one came out on the terrace, and the King sent for the Royal Pyrotechnist.

"Let the fireworks begin," said the King; and the Royal Pyrotechnist made a low bow, and marched down to the end of the garden. He had six attendants with him, each of whom carried a lighted torch at the end of a long pole.

It was certainly a magnificent display.

Whizz! Whizz! went the Catherine Wheel, as she spun round and round. Boom! Boom! went the Roman Candle. Then the Squibs danced all over the place, and the Bengal Lights made everything look scarlet. "Good-bye," cried the Fire-balloon, as he soared away, dropping tiny blue sparks. Bang! Bang! answered the Crackers, who were enjoying themselves immensely. Every one was a great success except the Remarkable Rocket. He was so damp with crying that he could not go off at all. The best thing in him was the gunpowder, and that was so wet with tears that it was of no use. All his poor relations, to whom he would never speak, except with a sneer, shot up into the sky like wonderful golden flowers with blossoms of fire. Huzza! Huzza! cried the Court; and the little Princess laughed with pleasure.

"I suppose they are reserving me for some grand occasion," said the Rocket; "no doubt that is what it means," and he looked more supercilious than ever.

The next day the workmen came to put everything tidy. "This is evidently a deputation," said the Rocket; "I will receive them with becoming dignity" so he put his nose in the air, and began to frown severely as if he were thinking about some very important subject. But they took no notice of him at all till they were just going away. Then one of them caught sight of him. "Hallo!" he cried, "what a bad rocket!" and he threw him over the wall into the ditch.

"Bad Rocket? Bad Rocket?" he said, as he whirled through the air; "impossible! Grand Rocket, that is what the man said. Bad and grand sound very much the same, indeed they often are the same"; and he fell into the mud.

"It is not comfortable here," he remarked, "but no doubt it is some fashionable watering-place, and they have sent me away to recruit my health. My nerves are certainly very much shattered, and I require rest."

Then a little Frog, with bright jewelled eyes, and a green mottled coat, swam up to him.

"A new arrival, I see!" said the Frog. "Well, after all there is nothing like mud. Give me rainy weather and a ditch, and I am quite happy. Do you think it will be a wet afternoon? I am sure I hope so, but the sky is quite blue and cloudless. What a pity!"

"Ahem! ahem!" said the Rocket, and he began to cough.

"What a delightful voice you have!" cried the Frog. "Really it is quite like a croak, and croaking is of course the most musical sound in the world. You will hear our glee-club this evening. We sit in the old duck pond close by the farmer's house, and as soon as the moon rises we begin. It is so entrancing that everybody lies awake to listen to us. In fact, it was only yesterday that I heard the farmer's wife say to her mother that she could not get a wink of sleep at night on account of us. It is most gratifying to find oneself so popular."

"Ahem! ahem!" said the Rocket angrily. He was very much annoyed that he could not get a word in.

"A delightful voice, certainly," continued the Frog; "I hope you will come over to the duck-pond. I am off to look for my daughters. I have six beautiful daughters, and I am so afraid the Pike may meet them. He is a perfect monster, and would have no hesitation in breakfasting off them. Well, good-bye: I have enjoyed our conversation very much, I assure you."

"Conversation, indeed!" said the Rocket. "You have talked the whole time yourself. That is not conversation."

"Somebody must listen," answered the Frog, "and I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments."

"But I like arguments," said the Rocket.

"I hope not," said the Frog complacently. "Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everybody in good society holds exactly the same opinions. Good-bye a second time; I see my daughters in the distance and the little Frog swam away.

"You are a very irritating person," said the Rocket, "and very ill- bred. I hate people who talk about themselves, as you do, when one wants to talk about oneself, as I do. It is what I call selfishness, and selfishness is a most detestable thing, especially to any one of my temperament, for I am well known for my sympathetic nature. In fact, you should take example by me; you could not possibly have a better model. Now that you have the chance you had better avail yourself of it, for I am going back to Court almost immediately. I am a great favourite at Court; in fact, the Prince and Princess were married yesterday in my honour. Of course you know nothing of these matters, for you are a provincial."

"There is no good talking to him," said a Dragon-fly, who was sitting on the top of a large brown bulrush; "no good at all, for he has gone away."

"Well, that is his loss, not mine," answered the Rocket. "I am not going to stop talking to him merely because he pays no attention. I like hearing myself talk. It is one of my greatest pleasures. I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

"Then you should certainly lecture on Philosophy," said the Dragon- fly; and he spread a pair of lovely gauze wings and soared away into the sky.

"How very silly of him not to stay here!" said the Rocket. "I am sure that he has not often got such a chance of improving his mind. However, I don't care a bit. Genius like mine is sure to be appreciated some day"; and he sank down a little deeper into the mud.

After some time a large White Duck swam up to him. She had yellow legs, and webbed feet, and was considered a great beauty on account of her waddle.

"Quack, quack, quack," she said. "What a curious shape you are! May I ask were you born like that, or is it the result of an accident?"

"It is quite evident that you have always lived in the country," answered the Rocket, "otherwise you would know who I am. However, I excuse your ignorance. It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself. You will no doubt be surprised to hear that I can fly up into the sky, and come down in a shower of golden rain."

"I don't think much of that," said the Duck, "as I cannot see what use it is to any one. Now, if you could plough the fields like the ox, or draw a cart like the horse, or look after the sheep like the collie-dog, that would be something."

"My good creature," cried the Rocket in a very haughty tone of voice, "I see that you belong to the lower orders. A person of my position is never useful. We have certain accomplishments, and that is more than sufficient. I have no sympathy myself with industry of any kind, least of all with such industries as you seem to recommend. Indeed, I have always been of opinion that hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing whatever to do."

"Well, well," said the Duck, who was of a very peaceable disposition, and never quarrelled with any one, "everybody has different tastes. I hope, at any rate, that you are going to take up your residence here."

"Oh! dear no," cried the Rocket. "I am merely a visitor, a distinguished visitor. The fact is that I find this place rather tedious. There is neither society here, nor solitude. In fact, it is essentially suburban. I shall probably go back to Court, for I know that I am destined to make a sensation in the world."

"I had thoughts of entering public life once myself," remarked the Duck; "there are so many things that need reforming. Indeed, I took the chair at a meeting some time ago, and we passed resolutions condemning everything that we did not like. However, they did not seem to have much effect. Now I go in for domesticity, and look after my family."

"I am made for public life," said the Rocket, "and so are all my relations, even the humblest of them. Whenever we appear we excite great attention. I have not actually appeared myself, but when I do so it will be a magnificent sight. As for domesticity, it ages one rapidly, and distracts one's mind from higher things."

"Ah! the higher things of life, how fine they are!" said the Duck; "and that reminds me how hungry I feel": and she swam away down the stream, saying, "Quack, quack, quack."

"Come back! come back!" screamed the Rocket, "I have a great deal to say to you"; but the Duck paid no attention to him. "I am glad that she has gone," he said to himself, "she has a decidedly middle-class mind"; and he sank a little deeper still into the mud, and began to think about the loneliness of genius, when suddenly two little boys in white smocks came running down the bank, with a kettle and some faggots.

"This must be the deputation," said the Rocket, and he tried to look very dignified.

"Hallo!" cried one of the boys, "look at this old stick! I wonder how it came here"; and he picked the rocket out of the ditch.

"OLD Stick!" said the Rocket, "impossible! GOLD Stick, that is what he said. Gold Stick is very complimentary. In fact, he mistakes me for one of the Court dignitaries!"

"Let us put it into the fire!" said the other boy, "it will help to boil the kettle."

So they piled the faggots together, and put the Rocket on top, and lit the fire.

"This is magnificent," cried the Rocket, "they are going to let me off in broad day-light, so that every one can see me."

"We will go to sleep now," they said, "and when we wake up the kettle will be boiled"; and they lay down on the grass, and shut their eyes.

The Rocket was very damp, so he took a long time to burn. At last, however, the fire caught him.

"Now I am going off!" he cried, and he made himself very stiff and straight. "I know I shall go much higher than the stars, much higher than the moon, much higher than the sun. In fact, I shall go so high that - "

Fizz! Fizz! Fizz! and he went straight up into the air.

"Delightful!" he cried, "I shall go on like this for ever. What a success I am!"

But nobody saw him.

Then he began to feel a curious tingling sensation all over him.

"Now I am going to explode," he cried. "I shall set the whole world on fire, and make such a noise that nobody will talk about anything else for a whole year." And he certainly did explode. Bang! Bang! Bang! went the gunpowder. There was no doubt about it.

But nobody heard him, not even the two little boys, for they were sound asleep.

Then all that was left of him was the stick, and this fell down on the back of a Goose who was taking a walk by the side of the ditch.

"Good heavens!" cried the Goose. "It is going to rain sticks"; and she rushed into the water.

"I knew I should create a great sensation," gasped the Rocket, and he went out.

The Remarkable Rocket was featured as The Short Story of the Day on Thu, Jun 02, 2016

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Highlights: WordCamp Kansai 2016

The AMIMOTO team members participated as sponsor, speaker and executive committee at WordCamp Kansai 2016 that was held at Osaka University Toyonaka Campus last July 9 & 10. Hands-on Session Slides Sponsor Booth & Exhibit Hall Panel discussion held at the hall Other Highlights We’re happy to introduce the AMIMOTO team and our community contributions […]

AMIMOTO is Sponsoring WordCamp Singapore 2016!

As we approach half of this year, we look back on our challenges, accomplishments and whether the steps we take have impact with our colleagues, business and our community. For years, our team continuously contributed to open source, WordPress by means of pitching in to core, creating plugins, themes, organizing, speaking and sponsoring WordCamps around […]

WCEU 2016 Talk: Contributing to WordPress

Our company, DigitalCube is composed of members who are passionate about contributing to the WordPress core, creating plugins, themes, WordPress-related books, translation and working with the community. Through the years of contributing to WordPress, we saw the benefit in our profession, our business and how it impacts the local and overall community. That’s why it’s […]

Highlights: WCEU 2016

WCEU 2016 was a Blast! Held at the Museums Quartier in Vienna, WCEU 2016 weekend of 24-26 June was incredible! Thanks to the amazing organizers, volunteers, speakers, sponsors and attendees, WCEU 2016 was made possible. With over 2,000 attendees from different countries, WCEU is ultimately diverse. We speak hundreds of languages, but we all speak […]


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Good foo Gone bar

Until today, ImgBurn was my go-to app when I needed to read (rip) or write an optical disc. ImgBurn had a great reputation for being free and exceeding expectations. ImgBurn was like, oh, WinAmp before AOL; it was like your all-time favorite band before they sold out.

I looks like the ImgBurn crew sold out. Oh well.

ps. I realize this is not an appropriate use of the foobar construction. I probably should have titled this “Good foo gone bad” or perhaps “Good foo gone fubar”.


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links for 2008-09-30

  • On November 4, 2008, Johnson County voters will be asked to throw out our current and well-tested selection system where judges are selected based on merit, experience and qualifications and instead install a partisan election system that will turn every judge into just another politician, making promises and taking money like any other politician.

    If that's not enough of a reason, how about this: by electing judges, we open up the possibility of having Phill Kline in a position of power. Again.

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Norway massacre

Over ninety dead, one huge bomb in Oslo, stories of a laughing, gun totting, right-wing, Christian fundamentalist, blond, Aryan, man.

Wow, what the hell is going on?

Well, that is if the story was completely believable, there is much that does not seem to fit. And considering we are only two days from the terror, it means we will not know, can not know exactly what happened. When the story did break, the ‘counter jihadis’ were there in a flash writing about nasty Muslims blowing up Oslo, then when it seemed like it was a white guy, they wrote, ‘oh he must be a convert’, and now, well, they are becoming ‘conspiracy theorists’, much like those they have ridiculed for the last decade.

I think we may now see a few ‘counter jihadis’ see who and what is our real enemy, and it aint Muslims, they are the symptom, not the cause of our cultural and moral collapse, they are like a rash or a boil on our culture, they are a warning to those who can see.

I have heard a few pronouncements from the talking heads on the MSM describe this as Europe’s ‘Oklahoma’, they say this in their puffed up way, to imply that this is by some right-wing nut job, although like 9/11 anyone with a pinch of curiosity will quickly see that there is more than meets the eye in the rubble of the Murrah Building. However, I think they may be unintentionally onto something, ‘Oklahoma’ was a sudden attack on innocent people, at first some blamed Muslims and then fingers were pointed at one man and one man alone, he took the rap for the attack. The results were the beginning of the world-wide terrorist state, in which governments increase their already vast pool of powers, in this pan world terrorist state, we are tracked and licensed, we are taxed and inspected, we are stopped and searched, we are told in no uncertain terms, that all of the discomfort, all of the interference, all of the humiliation and delay is necessary, because of the ter’ists. We are held in contempt if we resist, we are imprisoned if we speak up, we are smeared if we are right and they are wrong. In this world-wide terrorist state, we have people randomly kill other innocent people, and once the massacre is over, we hear the terrorist state, drone on about ‘terrible loss’, as if they care. Many times real questions are left unanswered, many of those questions relate to the terrorist state’s involvement in said atrocity. I think a peruse of Vigilant Citizen can explain better than I, the possibilities involved, and he can point you in the direction of studies of false flag events and abusive government operations such as MK Ultra.

The official story in Oslo, if true, would seem to be a leftists dream. A nasty white Christian man killing lots of children, but what is the point in killing children? If he hates Muslims, as he supposedly does, why kill his own?

Is Anders Behring Breivik, supposed to have been able to plan, build and detonate a massive bomb that rocked the centre of a largish European capital. How did he manage this, when the underpants bomber and the Times Square bomber had spent months abroad studying to build bombs and then fail on their return? Not that I necessarily believe the official stories on those either, but come on, did he just make the bomb like others would make a cake?

Another thing that is very fishy, is the now, official account of what has happened, seen here at Wikipedia, how is everyone so sure about all this? It almost seems like the information has been given out by someone, it’s almost as if this has been planned, and not by one man either.

The story also seems a bit muddled, he is being refered to as right-wing and conservative, but his alleged writings point to him being quite the libertarian, I know some think of those things as similar, but except for the general desire to see freedom, we are not. Libertarians are a bit too free for most conservative tastes. Brevik seems to have visited hookers and taken drugs, indulged in fantasies of violence and admired people like Geert Wilders. None of these are ‘conservative’ in my book, neither are the ‘pro-gay’ opinions or his virtual worship of Israel.

But whatever did happen, it matters little, because people’s opinions have already been formed, given to them on a plate courtesy of the MSM, and the story, is and always will be, some right-wing, Christian fundamentalist nut, killed kids and blew up some buildings, see, you are all the same, religion is BAD!

I can now see what is in the future. We shall see more and more attacks by ‘Christians’ against innocent children and pregnant women, we shall see crazed white men murder innocent foreigners, and all the time our governments will be cracking down on us, everyone to the ‘right’ of Obama or Tony Blair or which ever frothing lefty is in government at that time.

The time draws near, when we will be arrested, only for criticising what our tyrannical governments are doing, and it is events like these that will give them their excuse to clamp down on us.

2 responses

  1. Many forget that Oklahoma was a retribution attack, specifically done in revenge for the holocaust of innocents by government forces at Waco.

    July 25, 2011 at 2:55 pm

  2. anirishtory

    But that is another example of a story that has been twisted by the MSM.

    The official story is: some religious nut, who abused kids, made his brainless followers kill themselves and the government tried to stop him.

    I know that is no where near what happened, but that is the popular view!

    July 26, 2011 at 12:09 am

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My Account Checkout Cart

Kenya AA Kiriani

Our second in a limited release run, this coffee from Tharaka Nithi county on the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya and around Nyambene Hills was grown at 1,600 meteres ASL in red volcanic soils rich in organic matter. A very complex coffee that represented everything great about clean processed Kenyan coffees - light, bright, fruit forward flavors with hints of ripe mango and tangrine, classic green tomato umami notes with ripe tomato savoryness emerging as the coffee cooled

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Coffee Details

Tasting notes: Mango, Pink Grapefruit, Winey
Producer: Kiriani Farm Co-op
Location: Tharaka-Nithi County
Varietal: SL 28, SL 34
Altitude: 1,600 MASL
Processing:Fully Washed, Sun Dried


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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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2nd Quote of the Day: Kellyanne Conway

“I’ve noticed a lot of people are very bold and blustery on Twitter, because it’s easy to do that with the poison keyboard and a hundred and forty characters.”

— quoted by Ryan Lizza in The New Yorker, 17 October 2016

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Sauce Box

Running my sauce box about my humorous human encounters and probably some other stuff. Enjoy!

GK Dutta

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Learning and teaching the art of composition.

Fear holds you back, fashion takes you places!

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My writing and photo journey of inspiration and discovery

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Observations about my life and the world around me.

Insanity at its best!

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text:
Download with the symchk command for all binaries the correct symbols beside the binaries. You need to have symchk.exe in your path to make this command work. *Note: You need the 32/64 bit version of symchk depending on your binaries.

-GetPdbs <file/s> [PdbStoreDirectory]
If the pdb store directory is omitted the pdbs are downloaded beside the binary. Default is Microsoft (http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols).
You need to set the environment variable %SYMSERVER% to use a different one.

Download the pdbs for the given binaries from Microsoftsymbol server.

ApiChange -getpdbs $net2 c:\net2pdbs

Start downloading symbols.
Estimated download time 1:03 minutes for 159 files from symbol server

Last edited Jun 8, 2010 at 9:00 PM by Alois, version 1

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text:
FriendCaster Pro for Facebook v5.4.5 APK Download for Android

FriendCaster Pro is one of the most popular zxc app for Android.

Free download latest FriendCaster Pro for Facebook v5.4.5 APK file for Android smartphone and tablet from Apkwebsite with direct link.

FriendCaster Pro provides a beautiful interface, many unique features and push notifications.

How to Download is simple and easy: choose the desired file, then select one of the Download Locations to get the apk file and click “Download APK”, after that you just need to install and enjoy the FriendCaster Pro APK! You can get it for free without any payments here!.

Key Features:

  • Daily news RSS FEED
  • Quick access to post status updates, photos and videos.
  • Comment on related posts
  • This zip-Hid posts by a user or application
  • Save your favorite posts to check again later
  • 6 + beautiful themes
  • See your friends Check ins, or a list or map
  • See full size background image on the screen to open the app
  • Supports multiple accounts on Facebook
  • Hi resolution photos in news feed
  • Quick and easy Setup Assistant for notifications
  • Designed specifically for Android

You can select one of the server link below to download latest FriendCaster Pro for Facebook v5.4.5 APK file, and then move the files to your Android SD card and browse file using one of your preferred File Manager app and install the app on your Android device.

DOWNLOAD APK | MIRROR | Install from google play

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text:
To Hedge, Or Not To Hedge, That Is the Question: SP500 Levels, Refreshed

POSITIONS: Long US Dollar (UUP), Short Industrials (XLI), Energy (XLE), and German Bunds (BUNL)

Keith is out in California meeting with some of our larger west coast based subscribers, but managed to find a few minutes to sneak into Starbucks and short the SP500 in the Virtual Portfolio.   We’ve been waiting and watching on a price, and our risk management models gave us the signal today.  So, regardless of your strategy, we see this as an opportunity to hedge and reduce exposure.

As of 2:15pm today, the SP500 was up 0.63% to 1,372.  Akin to many of the equity market rallies we’ve seen over the past three years, the rally over the last week from the 1,327 level on July 12th was characterized by light volume.   The other important factor in our quantitative models is volatility.

The VIX, a measure of SP500 volatility, is down almost 3% on the day to 16.00. Over the past three years, a VIX level of 15ish has pretty consistently signaled a near term bottom in U.S. equities.  We’ve highlighted this in the chart below.

To Hedge, Or Not To Hedge, That Is the Question: SP500 Levels, Refreshed - VIX

The primary fundamental catalyst over coming weeks is earnings season.  Currently, 73% of the 63 companies that have reported earnings in the SP500 have beat results.  Interestingly, according to analysis from Bloomberg, the entire SP500 is expected to report a -2.1% decline in earnings year-over-year this quarter.  It is difficult to make a case for equities when earnings are not growing.

The other key point related to corporate earnings is that downward revisions are a major headwind, especially into 2013.  Currently, SP500 EPS estimates for Q1 2013 and Q2 2013 are for 14% year-over-year growth in each quarter.  Those numbers are likely going a lot lower.

Daryl G. Jones

Director of Research


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Puffy’s “Splurge”

Puffy / Splurge / June 28, 2006
08. missing you baby / 13. Security Blanket

It’s hard to believe that I actually met Puffy during their first US tour in 2002. Before that, they had been a band since 1996, hosted their own television show, and virtually gained enormous popularity in their native Japan. After that, they created their own television show in the US which airs on Cartoon Network, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, which is sort of a semi-biographical exageration of their musical lives, and changed their international name to Puffy AmiYumi (due to that one rapper guy). Who knew they would get so popular in the United States? Certainly not me. In fact, when they autographed a CD for me, all I pretty much knew about them was that one of them had been married to Takanori Nishikawa from T.M.Revolution, who I was really into at the time, and that their compilation CD released in the United States was pretty horrible. In fact, the only song I really liked was “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi” and the rest left me bored. I was still heavily into X Japan and hide at that time, and the ABBA/Beatles/punk references did nothing but annoy me because I didn’t remember the Beatles ever being that bad.

In fact, it was only listening to this new CD that I can see where all of these references might stem from. But if we’re going with the Beatles comparisons, I would say early Beatles, but less catchy and more poppy. The sounds used to produce the album are all soft, using minimal electric guitars. The biggest instrument that stands out to me is the drums and the synth sounds created on the keyboard (as in the 50’s prom song “Koi no Echuudo”). If you’re looking for something more Camera Obscura this summer, I guess this CD would be for you. Many of the songs have a late 50s, early 60s pop sound with a perhaps slightly vintage early 90s anime sound evidenced in “missing you baby.” There’s even traces of 80s alternative, if I dare say. On the plus side, it’s certainly a change. For everything reminiscent, the CD plays fairly well.

Four years ago, songs like “Radio Tokyo” and “MOGURA LIKE” would have fallen on completely deaf ears, but today, though the CD still seems somewhat flavorless to me, I do enjoy it. It’s innocent, enjoyable, and upbeat. A fluffy marshmallow, if you will. There’s even a cover of Green Day’s “Basket Case”…but I’d rather forget that’s on there, if only because their vocals are way too thin for the song and prove the stereotype of Japanese rocker chicks (light, high-pitched vocals against sounds way too harsh to mesh with their tones).

This CD continues to grow on me today, which is the sign of a longtime keeper. I just wish I had appreciated them as much as I do now when I had met them.

Official Site
Buy Splurge

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text:
In the zone, that where we were tonight, I think I may be using the royal”we”. Made it with a couple of minutes to spare and very quickly in the deep end. Jack, Heather, and I. Eighteen booked in at the top end of the bar for 7pm so the four tables to the north gone for the night. Residents and walk ins made for a busy, busy evening. But first the hot news from Ingilston was that Aron had won eight, yes eight, bronze medals for his ice creams. He had put in twelve flavours  and honestly hoped for one award. This was the kick off for the evening. As soon as I heard the news I wiped the board outside and was going to write-up his achievements. My writing is eligible but does not compare to the Boss’s……in fact no one’s does.

So just asked the two visitors approaching the door if they could write. Got a wry smile from the Mrs who said that believe it or not she could and not only that she could do joined up as well. Thought I had come across a teacher. All just good craic which set up for the evening. Seems the other news from the Royal Highland Show was Aron’s shirt, so loud it was heard at Edinburgh castle, ten miles away, and yes even he has now been interviewed by Dougie Vipond, almost tempted to call him Our DV. Bit of a late shift as we had twelve people waiting for tables around 8.30pm. As usual it all works out and there were many happy people leaving the Inn. From start to finish the customers were special, appreciative, interesting and great company. They came from Maine, California and the mid west, France and all parts of the UK. Humour levels high as was intelligent conversations. At one time in between a retired Met Bobbie and two French journalists. Very different opinions on Scotland, England, France and Europe. And that was without going into the Ref, Salmond and Sturgeon. A couple of mistakes tonight in the ordering but even they were okay, lamb for a crab and a curry for a linguine. The mood and atmosphere were so good that the lamb and curry were eaten, complimented and were no longer regarded as mistakes. Nights like these fly by and the ten o’clock quiet descends on the bar. A dozen people left down stairs as I spend my second night sleeping in. Morning up earlier to get away to do some fishing as the weather has settled down again and met Berry, the Californian with this family getting ready for breakfast. Another good chat, this time he expressed surprise at hearing Iris Dement on our playlist, always back to music. Abiding political theme is not if but when the next Indy Ref is going to be. Hope there is not too much anti Jock sentiment stirred up by the more basic press. I suppose we have a job to do in continuing to welcome one and all as guests first and foremost, an easy thing to do in an evening like last night.

Although the evening shift goes like a dream there is still time to think of the Mackenzies and their extended family as yesterday they said goodbye to Mary. Big crowd and they came from far and wide to pay their respects. Always a catch in the throat as the coffin is lowered slowly down into the grave. The weather stayed off and a brief chat at the grave side meant I was one of the last to drift away. I never made it in time for the service but paid my respects at the grave. Went to the Heritage Centre and had a wander around for ten minutes waiting for the mourners from the Clachan church to emerge. Not sure if I am privileged to be on the Heritage round of photos as every one else I saw has passed away, just think that I am older than I look.

Tonight I was told that this summer/spring is the worst for 43 years.

Not sure what the reference is but good it is not. One day of decent weather

followed by four or five of miserable stuff. Even Dougal

and Eilidh are getting down about it.

So in between the fishing days there are still creels to mend,

prawns to deliver to the Loch Ness Inn,

where there must have been some serious celebrating last weekend, some cousins may have been partaking.

Also I picked up some boards from the sign makers at Inverness, did not know at the time what they were, but Alison had organised historical photos put on hoardings

with the intention of displaying them at the Filling Station.

And since the engineer has been here there has been no drop off. Seems it was a hardware issue and not our broad band.

Was back out while Alison unpacked

and spread them out in the living room.

They are amazing and will look tremendous on site.

Spread around the room you could not help but be transported back in time.

The garden is very unconventional and we no longer have any vestige of a lawn, the grasses being waist-high. The Aquilegia are looking fine

and the rain on the mantle always stays as drops on the leaves.

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the interwebs tell me to do something

…so I blindly go forth and do it.

It’s pillow week at House on Hill Road, so naturally, I had to make this pillow.  A photo of the other side is here. I used this simple tutorial from Design Sponge to insert a zipper and was shocked by the simplicity of the process.  The fabric is by designer Thomas Paul for Duralee.  I found four yards of it on the remnant table at Franklin Mill and was thrilled because I can think of a million things to make with it. I’ve got two more pillows in beautiful Echino fabric lined up next.

8 thoughts on “the interwebs tell me to do something

  1. what great fabric! i love those big sea creatures. great pillow too. i used to be able to sew zippers, but suddenly they never work out. perhaps i’ll try this tutorial…

  2. This is great. I love it….ah, could you please stop introducing me to wonderful web sites like Design Sponge. Now I’m going to have to spend lots of time there and fight off the urge to buy a sewing machine. 🙂

  3. no,no,no,no,no. not going to do it… sorry, just a little self talk there so that i do not spend the next two weeks making pillows, no time, no time, no time….
    oh but i do love that fabric, makes a naturalist swoon!

  4. Thanks for the great links. I made two pillows last week for a friend. They had piping and and the zipper on the seam. It’s been awhile since I’ve made these and I couldn’t remember how I use to do it. Maybe with large piping I should have set the zipper over on the back to one side. Yours looks great. Can’t wait to see more pillows.

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