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Blonde Ambition Grama grass

Bouteloua gracilis

The Blonde Ambition Grama grass is a unique native grass. It is known for its eyelash-like flowers on top of horizontal stems. This grass will add a beautiful appearance and movement to any garden. In the summer, the blades of grass provide blue-green foliage. The delicate leaves will add texture to your landscape. You can still enjoy its beauty during the winter as the seed heads provide color to your outdoor spaces.

Blonde Ambition Grama Grass Attributes

The natural beauty of the native Blue Grama grass is taken to another level with the Blonde Ambition variety. The horizontal seed heads resemble elegant, small flags, and they have colors that range from chartreuse to blonde. The delicate blooms hover over the two-foot blue-green stems. The Blonde Ambition has won awards for its low water conditions, long-lasting attractiveness, and resistance to pests. This plant is known to even pop back up after the heavy snowfalls in the winter season. For these reasons, the Blonde Ambition is an ornamental grass that has become very popular in the marketplace.

Bouteloua gracilis

  • An upright clump of blue-green grass. Horizontally held yellow seedheads. Native to dry prairies.
  • Drought Tolerant

  • Deer
  • Native to North America

  • Light Requirement: Sun
  • Maintenance Category: Easy
  • Bloom Time: Mid Summer / Late Summer
  • Hardiness Zones: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
  • Water Category: Average
  • Soil Fertility Requirement: Average Soil
  • Soil PH Category: Neutral Soil

  • Container
  • Cut Flower
  • Mass Planting

Maintenance Notes:

Grow in any well-drained soil. Tolerates poor soils. Drought tolerant once established.

Blonde Ambition Bouteloua gracilis USPP 22,048

Plant Type:
  •  Perennial

Height Category:
  •  Tall

Garden Height:
  •  30 – 36 Inches

  • 30 – 36 Inches

  • 30 – 36 Inches

Foliage Colors:

  • Blue

Foliage Shade:

  • Blue-green

  • Upright

Container Role:

  • Thriller

Blonde Ambition Grama Grass Landscape Uses

This versatile and distinctive plant can be used in contemporary landscapes or rustic gardens. The Blonde Ambition will reach a height and width of 28 to 32 inches. With its towering height, the Blonde Ambition makes an excellent plant to add with other grasses or flowering perennials. For an impressive look, you can plant this grass in masses to help accentuate its stunning flowers. Since the Blonde Ambition is a type of native species of the shortgrass family, it is incredibly adaptable and tolerant of most soils that are well-draining.

Planting and Care for the Blonde Ambition Grama Grass

These plants are heat-tolerant. They are also cold hardy for those who want to plant them in colder climates. The Blonde Ambition Grama grass needs full sunshine and water for the best performance in your outdoor space. However, the plant does have excellent drought tolerance, and it will perform in a wide range of soils, except poorly-drained ones. It is a self-seeding plant so that you never have to worry about pollination.

This plant does not require heavy feeding. You will want to avoid any high nitrogen-based fertilizers. For those who want to add some fertilizer, you should stick to organic or natural products that can be mixed with compost. A feeding should be done in the late fall. If you want to topdress the plant, you should scratch the soil surface and irrigate it to help activate the soil’s organisms.

The Blonde Ambition is a warm-season growing grass. You will need to cut it to a height of two to four inches in the middle of the spring. This cutting should be done before the plants go into an active growth stage during those warm spring nights. Thatching can be done with a hand cultivator or gloved hands. You need to remove the thatch to make room for interior growth near the center of the plant. The Blonde Ambition should be cut to the ground in late winter.

For long term care, the Blonde Ambition must be divided every three to five years in the early to mid-spring. Once the center of the grass becomes loose and new growth begins to form on the outer edge, you will want to divide the plant. If you’re going to split the plant, you should dig out each clump into a medium-sized ball. That clump should be cut into quarters as you remove any dead stems or roots. When you want to add the section back to the ground, you must add compost into the hole and back-fill space.

Choose the Blonde Ambition Grama Grass for Your Customers

The 2011 Plant of the Year Award winner goes to the Blonde Ambition Grama grass. This native ornamental grass will give your outdoor space an elegant and updated look. With its chartreuse flowers that appear in the summer, you will have a stunning piece for your yard. By fall, the blonde seed heads will provide more outstanding color for you to enjoy. When you want a stunning ornamental for your landscape, the only choice is the Blonde Ambition Grama grass.

Bouteloua gracilis

At Arbor Valley Nursery, we have a full range of grasses, shrubs, and trees. We can help you find the right natural elements for your customers, including the exceptional Blonde Ambition Grama grass. Our team is ready to help your landscaping, nursery, or garden center business. To learn more about our inventory or a particular plant, make sure to fill out the contact form.

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Kapten And Son Women's Mirrored Venice KS02-L-GOM-OM-V1 Gold Sunglass

$119.00$45.99 + Free Shipping & Handling

Short Descriptions

  • Gold / Grey Color
  • Sunglasses : Eyewear : Sunglasses Style
  • Mirrored Lens
  • UVA/UVB Protection
  • 53mm / 17mm / 145mm

More Information

Gender Women's
Series Venice
Brand Kapten And Son
SKU 1681970022
Color Multicoloured

Reflect your style with the trendy Venice sunglasses from Kapten And Son. They are your ideal pair of sunglasses for each and every day with their stylish design and top-notch quality. These unique sunglasses feature a sleek shape suitable for any face structure. The smooth grey glass lenses provide the ultimate UVA/UVB protection and eliminate any unwanted glare from harmful rays. Additionally, the gold metal frames are constructed with durable materials to ensure comfort and long-lasting use of the product. Do not forget to store your Venice sunglasses by Kapten And Son in a protective case when you are not wearing them to keep them wearable for years to come.

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Table of contents

Our forms support multiple steps to reduce user friction filling up the form progressively, instead of requiring users to fill in tens of fields without any feedback.

Form navigation

When your forms have two or more steps, an additional back button is added automatically to every step of your form (except the first one because there is no previous step).

The text of both Back and Next buttons is customizable per step, so you can display a different text for each button of each step.

Input validation

When someone completes a step and presses the Next button, the data of all the fields associated to that step is validated. Furthermore, if a validation flow is associated with that step, that information will be sent to the backend for its validation, by using the relevant flow.

See Validations section for more information about how this is done and the security involved in the process.

Progressive checks

If your flow needs data that belongs to different steps, you do not have to ask the user for that information twice. Every time a flow is executed, the information from previous steps as well as the current ones is provided.

This kind of behaviour is essential for two-factor verifications – first, the user is asked for their phone number, and then the security code is in their mobile phone.

Data persistence

Despite sending the form data to the flow for data validation, we do not store that information into the submissions database until the whole form is filled in and the Submit button is pressed and the associated validation flows are passed.

If you persist that information or provide it to third-party systems during validation, notifying the user about it is your complete responsibility.


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Mississauga, Ontario, January 27, 2015 – Armada Data Corporation (TSX.V: ARD) reports its interim financial results for the quarter ended November 30, 2014 have now been filed on Sedar and are available to view on the Company’s website www.ArmadaData.com as well as on Sedar at www.Sedar.com.
To review each document click the appropriate link below.
Press Release
Financial Statements


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Sierra-Olympic Introduces Long-Range, Thermal-Zoom Camera Family

Sierra-Olympic Technologies, supplier of infrared (IR) and thermal imaging components, cameras, and systems solutions for innovative imaging applications, has unveiled the new Vinden LR series of long-range thermal cameras with powerful continuous-zoom optics.

The OEM camera modules have several zoom lens options that provide a narrow horizontal field-of-view (HFOV) as small as 1.5° without compromising image quality, optical speed, or sensitivity. It also features a highly tuned, one-touch autofocus that is easy to use, with dependable operation throughout the zoom range.

The Vinden LR camera series features a pixel resolution of 640 x 480 x 12-microns, high sensitivity up to 60Hz frame rate (max), and three, athermalised and parfocal continuous-zoom lens options between 17.5° – 1.5° HFOV. Onboard functions include advanced image processing, video recording and storage (32GB), H.264 IP encoding, and Ethernet control connectivity. The OEM-friendly camera series is an ideal choice for integrators who design thermal and multi-sensor imaging systems for security, surveillance, military/defence imaging, and border, port, and base security applications.

Sierra-Olympic’s new longwave infrared (LWIR) long-range zoom cameras are non-ITAR controlled, and are available with a 25mm – 150mm, 25mm – 225mm, or 40mm – 300mm continuous zoom lens.

For more information, please go to:, or call +1 855 222 1801.

More About This Company


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Reception Furniture

Modular Reception Units

The reception area is of critical importance for any business. It needs to be a welcoming space for all visitors, from valued customers to prospective new starters arriving for an interview. But the reception area is also where every office day begins for all employees and it should inspire them to be proud about where they work and reassure people that you mean business.

Denver is a flexible modular unit that can be arranged in a variety of configurations with the desk and hutch units to create a commanding reception feature that will make a good first impression with clients and visitors. Available in a beech finish, cables are managed from the hutch to the desktops with classic design pieces that will create a lasting visual message.

Welcome Reception Desks

You only get one chance to make a good first impression with clients and visitors, so having a high quality front office reception desk is essential and will add a contemporary presence to any reception area. Ensure the first point of call for your workplace features modern furnishings and accessories with a reception desk that will reinvigorate your entrance area and reflect your business.

Welcome is a stunning, contemporary design in white which shrouds an existing desk or can be bought with an ‘Adapt’ or ‘Maestro 25’ desk. An optional D-end extension adds to the reception unit to give greater access and additional desk workspace. Welcome also allows for a company name and graphics


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Sticks Bar Height Tables

Are you looking for a truly unique piece of handmade furniture to enhance your entertaining? Artcraft's selection of bar tables and matching stools by the American artists at Sticks is sure to have something to suit your space. Every one of the beautiful stools and bar tables in our Sticks collection is created and finished by hand, for a truly one of a kind result. Each piece of our handmade furniture has a durable finish to ensure you get years of use from it. Don't see the piece you're looking for? Check out our Sticks Personalized Design Center to learn how to create your own! And Remember: All Sticks Pieces Ship for FREE!

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Extra Large Alibaba Basket

Pre-order now for delivery early March 2021

This beautiful Extra Large Alibaba was expertly woven by Fatou and her team in a remote village near Thiès in Senegal. There are very few artisans who can weave extra large Alibabas to Artisanne's exceptional quality and it takes them a week to create.

This stylish Fair Trade basket would be the feature of any bedroom, bathroom, landing or hallway.  Not only is it beautiful but also perfect for a large family's laundry or for storing linen and duvets.

It is weaved from a sustainable ndiorokh grasses intertwined with long strips of repurposed plastic traditionally used for making bazin mats similar to prayer mats. Its unique hand crafted nature means that no two baskets are exactly the same.

Each basket has braided leather handles and arrives in in its own reusable cotton drawstring bag, handmade in Senegal.

Dimensions are approximate:
Extra Large: 87cm H (to top of lid) x 45cm W

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Very Valentine Bath Bomb

Scent Description: The popular Cherry Almond Bath Bomb, but tailored for Valentines Day.

Bath bombs are fun, effervescent, delicious-smelling bath-time treats; adults love them because they leave your skin feeling soft and wonderful; kids love them for their fizziness.

Directions: Drop one bath bomb in a tub of warm soothing water and enjoy the relaxing fizzy release of its moisturizing goodness. Please note that bath bombs do not replace bubble bath. Some bath bombs may change the color of your bath water for an added touch of fun. Finally, bath bombs may leave an oily residue or ring in the tub, which may be reduced with a healthy dollop of bubble bath. Use caution to avoid slipping, and simply wipe out the tub immediately after your bath.

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil, Fragrance, Organic Shea Butter, Colorant.


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16 Jul 2008

A career in fine arts

(Nalini S Malaviya)

There have been a considerable number of mails requesting for various kinds of information on a career in fine arts. This has come from students at the threshold of selecting a profession and also from professionals looking at making a career switch. Then, there are a few homemakers who have been pursuing art as a hobby and would now like to take it up as a full time profession.
For the first category, I would suggest that students interested in a career in art should decide only after consulting a professional counsellor, who will help them evaluate their aptitude and suitability in this field. A career in fine arts may appear to be filled with glamour and glitz to those from the outside, thanks to the million dollar sales. And, now that artists are appearing regularly on the page 3 circuits there is a lot of visibility as well. But, as a profession, fine arts is like any other career. Remember, there is a huge number of artists who struggle to make even ends meet, and to establish oneself can be a long and tedious journey. Creativity and talent are just some of the prerequisites needed to be successful as an artist. A career counsellor can provide all the necessary details regarding institutes and colleges and also on the diverse sub-categories that one can opt for.

For professionals who want to work as artists, they should consider the financial implications before making any drastic move. But before that, they must be sure if they have the capabilities to make it as a fine artist.
I would like to point out that it is always difficult, especially initially, for self taught artists and painters to be taken seriously by critics and collectors. Incidentally, MF Husain, Arpana Caur and Badrinarayan are some of the self-taught artists who have found tremendous success. Women artists who have a background in fine arts may find it easier to get acceptance. Especially, homemakers who have a degree in fine arts may fine it fairly straightforward to get into mainstream, whereas it might be a little difficult for the occasional hobby painters.

All said and done, one should make a career choice for the right reasons. It is so much more satisfying when one does something because one enjoys it.
However, do remember that art by itself is an extremely therapeutic outlet. Whether one pursues it as a career or not, one should definitely try to paint or sculpt and it will surely be a great stress buster.

1 comment:

Shalin Enthusiast said...

I love Indian art


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What I 'll be doing in America -Atiku speaks upon arrival in US

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has confirmed his arrival in the United States.

In a post on hIs Official Twitter Page, he said he would be meeting with the US government officials.

He tweeted, “Just arrived Washington D.C for meeting with US government officials, Nigerians living in D.C metropolis and the business community. -AA”,

DAILY POST gathered that Atiku is expected to speak at the Chamber of Commerce on Friday, from 2:30pm to 4pm.

Post a comment


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Professor Timothy Endicott

Vinerian Professor of English Law
University Academic Fellow since 2020

I work on the doctrine and the theory of United Kingdom constitutional and administrative law. I have written about the constitutional law of India, Canada, and the United States, and about human rights law. I also work in general jurisprudence, with particular interests in legal interpretation and in the relation between adjudication and the law.


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Friday, October 16, 2009

Today's Words of Inspiration - Never Fear Inspiration is HERE!

Be The Palm Tree!

Wow my butterflies! After a very short mini vacation over the Columbus Day Holiday Weekend, I've spent much of this week catching up on emails. Most from readers asking where the words of inspiration and focused breathing meditations went! I'm happy to say they are back today in full swing!

It's been quite a week! We had a winner this week in our SodaStream USA Penguin Starter Kit Soda Maker Giveaway, the lucky winner was reader 'heygip', congratulate him in the official winner announcement page HERE

And we have lined up some amazing giveaways, it's going to be an awesome winter season at Ascending Butterfly. Grab your favorite warm beverage and a throw blanket and curl up with your laptop. You are going to want to check in daily so you don't miss anything.

We have some very different giveaways coming up, not only in the variety of items, but HOW you can enter, but more on this later. (Hint: Those who have already joined the NING group have an advantage of staying in the know about what is coming a little earlier.....)

Because this week has forced me out of my routine in many ways I thought it would make a great focus for today's words of inspiration. Variation stimulates the mind and soul in so many ways. Change and adapting to that change helps you see things from a new perspective. That new perspective is where amazing growth and progress comes from. The weekend is a great time to break out of your rut! It's Friday, don't go straight home, go out after work today, go to a park, a museum, a movie, bowling, dancing; just go do something you normally wouldn't! (nothing destructive or you'll impede your own progress!) If you are not working and spend all your weekdays job hunting, cut the search short early today and go OUT. Meet up with an old friend for lunch. Re-connect with a sibling (in person!). Just don't go home and sit on the couch!

Obviously you can't go out every night after work, but you can make other changes in your day to day routine that will benefit you. For example you can turn in 15 minutes earlier and avoid the 3pm slump the next day at work. You can get up 10 minutes earlier and meditate. You can spend the whole day taking the stairs instead of the elevator. You can try a restaurant you've never eaten in before for lunch. You can take a walk around the neighborhood after dinner with  your family. You can change or add on an additional family game night.

Embrace change and be rejuvenated by it, buck it, and watch the house of cards come tumbling down! I often remembered hearing the story of the Palm Tree, how it sways both in warm, balmy breezes as well tropical storms, but doesn't break. So if someone asks you that 'getting to know you' quiz question and asks you what type of tree you are, don't easily be swayed by proclaiming yourself a mighty oak, consider becoming a go with the flow Palm Tree, the ones with the true longetivity. The ones that sway....come what may.

Use 'Today's Words of Inspiration' as a breathing meditation to still your mind, quiet your thoughts and bring in positive energy. As you inhale bring in only positive energy by saying in your mind, I breathe in positive energy (or you can say creative energy if that is what you wish to create more of) and as you exhale, Affirm out loud today 'I welcome, change, variation and a new way of thinking into my mind and into my life. I AM a Palm Tree.'

Spend some time each day enjoying focused breathing AND soul guided meditative visualization, in doing so, you can bring about amazing, profound and powerful changes in your life.

Visualize yourself manifesting something unique, guided by universal forces that emerge spontaneously from within your soul. Do this at least twice today and see how by taking a moment away from the hectic pace and breathing in positive energy and affirming what you wish to create, your thinking will become different.

Remember, attitude really does determine altitude.

It is OK to *Re-Tweet* the link to this post and You can find me (@Tracy_Iglesias) on Twitter here! twitter love: re*tweet by copying and pasting the following into your update field:

OK to RT: @Tracy_Iglesias Today's Words of Inspiration and Two Super Giveaways! -

Make this your best day ever, Bless and Be Blessed!

NOTE: Readers have asked us to make entering the contests and giveaways, faster and easier. Your wish is our command! We have moved our 'Today's Butterfly - Featured Site(s) of the day, which is where we host our giveaways, to the upper right hand side of the page. It will be located here from now on to make entering the giveaways faster and easier.

NOTE 2: Twitter followers: please remember you must also follow Ascending Butterfly using Google friends connect on the upper right hand side of the page for your entries to be processed.

Just a helpful Reminder:

How to Follow Using Google Friends Connect:

Please look to the upper right hand side, where the follower pictures are. (Note the number of followers before you start this process)

1) press the follow button - the google pop up wizard will open, this is not an ad and your pop up blocker will not block it

2) tick the option that reads 'follow this blog publicly' once that button is selected, hit follow again - it should now read 'you are now following'

3) if the follower count went up you know you did it succesfully, if your profile has a picture, that picture will be the first one on the left side. If your profile doesn't have one, it should still be searchable on the members list.

  1. I'm so glad I found your site...

  2. Great post - very happy to be a palm tree but, I MUST have some sparkle !!!

  3. @Dawn - Thank You, I am glad you are here too!
    @Elise - You can be a Palm Tree and definitely still have sparkle! You should always have sparkle! :-)


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Monday, September 11, 2017

It’s Official: US Debt Finally Tops $20 Trillion, Jumps By $318 Billion In One Day

money cash

Following President Trump’s sign off last Friday on a short-term debt-ceiling/government funding/hurricane aid deal (thanks to Democrats’ votes), the US Treasury was finally freed from the shackles of the debt ceiling which it hit nearly one year ago and which meant that US federal debt would be at roughly $19.808 trillion for months.

Well, no more: according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement as of Friday, total US debt surged by $317.6 billion from its Thursday closing print of $19.845 trillion, following the short-term debt suspension which kicked the can through December 8, to finally rise above the “psychological barrier” of $20 trillion, or $20,162,176,797,904.13 to be precise.

As shown in the chart below, from March 16 until Thursday, Sept. 8, the official federal debt subject to the legal limit was at $19,808,747,000,000, i.e. the statutory debt ceiling. This is because the previous suspension of the debt limit expired on March 15 and the debt limit had been reset on that day at the level the debt reached at the close of business that day. On that day, the Treasury started using “extraordinary measures” to keep the debt subject to the limit about $25 million below the limit.

The Treasury was finally freed from this limit on Friday, and thus the $317.6 billion surge in one day as the US Government replenished its extraordinary measures, which should allow the Treasury to coast until some time in March even after the next debt ceiling is hit on December 8.

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China South Sea Myth Backfires

The lengths to which China will go in creating myths about its claimed historical rights to the so-called (in English) South China Sea has been uncovered by an enterprising reporter for the BBC.

A few weeks ago supposed documentary proof was widely reported in China’s media, and elsewhere, from 600 years ago of Chinese fishermen’s use of the Spratly and Paracel Islands as their traditional fishing grounds. In the possession of an 81-year inhabitant of Tanmen on the east coast of Hainan was a document handed down from generation to generation of his family. It supposedly described how to sail both to the (relatively close) Paracels and the (distant and widely scattered) Spratly islands.

However, on being questioned by the reporter, the man, named Su, said it was no longer in his possession. He was quoted as saying: “I threw it away because it was broken.”

The incident would be comic if it did not reveal the lengths to which party propaganda will go to prove the most outrageous territorial claims. Even if foreigners are sceptical, belief in their accuracy becomes deeply embedded in citizens, part of a nationalist mythology that go unquestioned by controlled media.

It is indeed a reminder of Adolf Hitler who was among the most successful practitioners of this form of propaganda, enabling him to convince Germans their war against Jews and Communists was essential for national survival.

Quote from Mein Kampf: "Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively… it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favorable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted… Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward"

Hitler to his generals: “I will provide a propagandistic casus belli. Its credibility doesn't matter. The victor will not be asked whether he told the truth."

Less ridiculous but more dangerous than the Hainan “document” is the endless flow of deliberate lies about historical events that flow from China and its army of ethnic brethren apologists on the subjects of the islands and shoals in the South China Sea.

The well-drilled propaganda machine has been busy trying to discredit the author of perhaps the most authoritative work on the sea claims “The South China Sea” by Bill Hayton. Hayton wrote a critique of an article in the South China Morning Post under the byline of former Hong Kong Chief Executive and members of various “patriotic” bodies Tung Chee-hwa pointing out a number of egregious factual errors.

This has since been followed by letters attacking Hayton on the basis of historical fictions. One W.L. Chang wrote that the omission of reference to the Spratlys and Paracel islands in the 1943 Cairo Declaration (attended by the Republic of China) and the Potsdam agreement two years later on the subject of restoration of territories seized by Japan meant they were obviously included through the use of the phrase “such as” in relation to Manchuria, Formosa meant that they were included!

Chang must know perfectly well that France claimed both island groups on behalf of the Emperor of Annam and had sent warships there in the 1930s.The modern Philippine claim to the Spratlys dates to 1946, a few weeks after independence when France was still insisting on its Annam claim and left a marker on Itu Aba. This is the biggest of the Spratlys and lies closer to the Philippines than to any other country. Known as Taiping in Chinese it has been garrisoned by Taiwan since 1956.

The brutal fact is that no one else in the region or the major outside powers ever recognized Chinese claims to the Spratlys any more than they had recognised Japan’s claims, enunciated in 1939 and implemented in 1941-42 after the ouster of the Americans from the Philippines.

Yet another writer to the SCMP, one K.L. Tam repeated the statement the claim that omission of the islands from the Cairo and Potsdam declarations meant they were included in territories to be restored to China – notwithstanding the French claims which, in the case of the Paracels, were backed by force to thwart Chinese attempts to occupy all of them.

Again Tam ignored the French claims to the Spratlys which date to well before Japanese claims and China’s first landing on any of them in 1946 or the 1947 publication of the nine-dash line to which Chang referred.

Hayton was also attacked for noting that China had originally claimed an island, Zengmu Tan which did not exist. This feature, close to the Sarawak coast and known in English as James Shoal, is actually 20 meters below the sea surface. Only later did China change its designation from island to shoal. It is the approximate southern limit of Chinese claims based on imagination and the “manifest destiny” of the Chinese people than on actual history or knowledge.

Underlying Chinese official attitudes is not simply the need of the Communist Party to find an expansionist nationalist ideology to replace Marxism. It also appears to represent traditional Chinese views of the racial and cultural inferiority of their neighbors to the south. The belief in the superiority of pale over brown, let alone black, skin is pervasive in Chinese history. It finds echoes today in mainland interest in eugenics and the lingering belief that Chinese people evolved separately from other humans.


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Cracks showing in Bhutan's new order

Bhutan vaulted from feudal monarchy to parliamentary democracy in 2008 following a royal edict in 2006 by the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, or Dragon King, abdicating in favor of his eldest son and mandating elections in 2008.

For a mountain people who revere their king and don national dress every day, this sudden devolution of power has been most unsettling. While the outside world is enamored of the vision of a comic opera state that governs by the Gross National Happiness Index, the Bhutanese are struggling with reality. Who is the boss now? No one seems to know. None dare claim the role either.

The civil service has been left floundering between an elected parliament of newbies still unclear about their remit and a monarch who stepped back. While the civil service acted on orders of the monarch, it was beyond challenge. That certitude has evaporated. The demand for transparency and accountability plus a proliferation of newspapers has put the powerful bureaucracy on the defensive.

The new democratic dispensation allows elected representatives to criticize administrative shortcomings in open debate. The newspapers amplify that embarrassment. This is an entirely novel experience for civil servants. They feel insecure and unloved.

The resulting reluctance to take action on many pressing issues across the spectrum of administration is beginning to slow down and paralyze the system. Even routine queries from the press are parried by bureaucrats for fear of being blamed for giving the wrong answer. The civil servants feel they have been left high and dry without any precedent to follow. There is a leadership vacuum.

While devolution of power to the masses has a Utopian ring about it, the reality is that 70 percent of Bhutanese society is agrarian. The issues that preoccupy them are elemental - tilling the very limited (9 percent) arable land, tending livestock and eking out a subsistence in barren mountain terrain with difficult logistics, poor communications and freezing cold.

The finer points of parliamentary democracy and a free press seem too far from their lives to matter much. All the democratic noise and fury plays out in the capital Thimpu, where about 100,000 of Bhutan's 725,000 population and all its 12 newspapers reside.

GNH excites the UN

The fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, is credited with musing about the need to redefine traditional gross domestic product factors about 40 years ago, for a more inclusive matrix of social progress and well-being. That evolved over time into the Happiness Index introduced in 2005, for which Bhutan is now universally lauded.

The trashing of the capitalist narrative in the United States and Europe, climate change effects from abuse and depletion of the earth's limited resources plus anger at the "1 percent" has coalesced into a search for alternative development models which put people and the environment ahead of profit. Bhutan's GNH approach is becoming an interesting model for many more nations.

In July 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously adopted Resolution 65/309 empowering Bhutan to convene a high-level meeting in New York on GNH - at its 66th session in April 2012.

Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley led the discussions which received wide international media coverage. That has given the tiny landlocked Himalayan Kingdom, sandwiched between China and India, an outsize international profile. The Bhutanese leadership basks in that limelight with great pride.

Too much GNH distraction?

Western academics have turned Bhutan's GNH into a conference-tourism industry. There is talk of a Center for GNH to be built in Bumthang, a 10-hour drive along hairpin curves from the capital of Thimpu, to facilitate international studies and research about the concept. Every other month there is a forum, seminar or international dialogue about GNH. There is no shortage of academic pilgrims journeying to Bhutan to talk GNH to death.

What is most curious about GNH seminars is that most of the speakers tend to be foreigners who do not live in Bhutan. The Bhutanese wisely stay out of the lecture circuit. They listen attentively and smile.

At the top where it matters, there is considerable GNH-fatigue and frustration with the hard realities Bhutan must confront. The young king, the deputy chairman of the National Council and the leader of the opposition are all railing for effective action to fix the obvious problems.

India bankrolls the Bhutan economy, supplies most of its imports, builds its infrastructure of bridges and roads and provides unskilled labor for construction. Most of Bhutan's teaching faculty for schools and colleges are also recruited from India.

All of that has led to a rupee crunch which saw the Bhutanese ngultrum, previously accepted at par with the Indian rupee, being discounted by Indian banks and traders. That has now turned into a rigid demand for rupees only. Petty border trade is grinding to a halt with severe disruption to small business.

Bhutan has run out of rupee reserves to pay for its one-sided Indian trade. Emergency loans from India and conversion of Bhutan's US dollar reserves into rupees are propping up the situation for the moment. Panic measures by the Monetary Authority to stop loans and slow rupee transactions have failed to address the fundamental problem of the utter imbalance of Bhutan-India trade flows. It is one-way: Indian goods and services imported into Bhutan which have to be paid for in rupees. Bhutan has little to export to India other than hydroelectric power (which is financed, built and traded by Indian energy companies).

Private sector not thriving

Entrepreneurial energy is needed to drive a private sector to promote import-substitution and to generate export earnings. Some have blamed excessive regulatory hurdles and difficult bank credit for the lack of a domestic private sector.

The agricultural sector is disorganized, handicapped by lack of silos to store rice, grain, vegetables and fruit and has to cope with long supply-chains across difficult mountain roads to get produce to market.

Rural-urban migration depletes the availability of educated youth to organize the agrarian economy. University students all aspire to join the civil service for the prestige it still carries plus the job security and pension it entails.

The capacity for government to absorb university graduates annually is running out. Already 75 percent of the government's operating budget goes to pay salaries to its civil service.

There is 9 percent youth unemployment and rising crime in Thimpu from drug and booze addiction compounded by undisciplined low-level imported labor.

Politicians and newspapers are gearing up for the second general election due in 2013. Unless elected representatives in parliament can lead a bottom-up, self-sufficiency revolution across Bhutan to deliver a 'democracy-dividend', time is running out rapidly for Happiness Land.


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Indonesia Anti-Protest Bill Stalled

A controversial bill designed to give officials unprecedented control over protest by civil society organizations appears to have stalled in Indonesia's parliament, to the relief of the country's flourishing activist and advocacy organizations who worked feverishly to stop it.

The bill got its start with the support of organizations and individuals pushing the government to regulate such violent groups as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) who intimidate Christian and other groups including moderate Muslims and the splinter group religious group Ahmadyah, trash night clubs and harass women who are not dressed under strict Islamic codes.

However, in the hands of lawmakers who have ignored the warnings of United Nations experts on the possible damage to free speech, it metamorphosed into a measure that is more restrictive to the hundreds of civil society organizations that have blossomed over the past decade.

Despite the recent rise in reported conflicts carried out by mobs of local vigilantes, military, and extremist Islamic groups, Indonesia's civil society NGOs, stultified under decades of rule by the late strongman Suharto, are now vocal, active, and mobilised for positive social and political change.

Indeed, Jakarta City Circle is awash on any given day with demonstrators and protesters advocating a host of causes, from feminist warriors to aggrieved farmers, whose relentless presence represents a movement toward recognition of democratic consolidation; people power and democratic rationality.

Indonesia has a civil group for just about everything; The Pedestrian Coalition- advocates for safer streets, The New Alliance for Men—who are unafraid of wearing miniskirts in public to oppose violence against women – Indonesia for the Environment, Indonesia Prosperity Foundation, Foundation for Women in Small Business, and many more.

This week, for instance, members of the Yogya Pedicab Driver Community took to Yogya streets to campaign against thuggery. In Jakarta last Wednesday the streets were blocked by labor union workers protesting low wages and a lack of healthcare.

Legitimate civil society organizations don't engage in violence; none of these groups will seal a church, attack a family, or raid a prison to get what they want, but they will march around the city circle with banners, lobby government, talk to journalists, and write press releases for their web pages – all of which has been an increasing irritation for government figures.

Parliament was supposed to deliberate and pass proposed amendments that would give government officials discretionary powers to suspend and dissolve civil society organizations, restrict the participation of both local and international such groups to Pancasila ideology, force international organizations to secure permits, and limit the activities of civil organizations to those that are the ‘duty of law enforcers and government'.

The plenary meeting did not go ahead, political analysts said, because it was too risky for lawmakers to alienate their voters before the 2014 legislative elections, particularly when civil society groups can take strong political positions and have the power to mobilise members to pointed effect.

But isn't this why the Bill was drafted in the first place? To tighten the reins on dissent?

It is a credit to Indonesian civil society that it managed to stall the measure so far, and only due to the ability of contrary groups to foster enough bridging capital to overcome differences and reject what they see as excessive controls on civil and political freedoms.

Even though they come from different angles, Muslim groups and rights groups recognised what sort of repercussions the Bill would have on their organisations activities, and for civil society as a whole.

The World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) published an open letter to The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia, criticising the proposed amendments that will further limit CSOs by already restrictive legislation.

CIVICUS, in alliance with the International NGO forum on Indonesian Development, and the Indonesian Forum for Environment, said the already vague and overbroad provisions should not seek to further broaden state interference in CSOs, which are crucial for a robust democratic society, and that ORMAS should comply with international standards and constitutional protections on the freedom of association.

They said the Bill severely undermines freedom of association enshrined in the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Indonesia is signatory.

CIVICUS suggested the council formulate alternative legislation to create an enabling environment for civil society free from unwarranted restrictions.

While many Indonesians feel powerless to act against injustice, compelled to violence or apathy, the efflorescence of grassroots civil society organisations speaks of a significant transformation of the way people in the country demand change and undertake rights claims.

The rise of civil society groups echoes the cultural tendencies of Indonesians to band together over common problems, but this innate community spirit has now evolved into a politicised form of social capital that is contributing to the practical realisation of democratic norms.

That is, democratic norms are realised in processes that allow legitimate actors to advocate for and demand social change instead of resorting to violent and unjust means.

Yet as the attempt to write in even more restrictive legislation proves, a flourishing civil society challenges the authority of lawmakers, military and those in general who employ extractive conditions to exploit and perpetuate the status quo.

Yappika, an Indonesian civil society alliance for democracy founded in 1991 for strengthening civil society organisations, adopted a Civil Society Index measurement. In its 2006 report, Yappika said that despite significant environmental and structural obstacles, such as legal barriers, poor law enforcement, and lack of financial resources, Indonesian CSOs scored high for values and participation.

The shift toward civil society groups and the vocal, diverse, range of their advocacy activities, despite the difficult operating environment, is a definite positive for Indonesian democracy and development, and challenges insidious cultures of violence, abuse of power, and vigilantism, by encouraging participation and resistance against illegitimate means of dominance.

(Lauren Gumbs is a human rights student at Curtin university in Perth and holds a masters degree in Communications. She resides in East Java.)


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King Duck’s Last Reward

When Chen Chi-li returned to Taiwan for the last time, a motorcade of three black limousines and five coaches carried him to a memorial hall lined with 2,000 white orchids and Buddhist priests chanting sutras. The Taipei police mobilized 1,000 officers for the event. On November 4, thousands of mourners, including Chen’s associates from Japan, Hong Kong and Macau, will assemble for a memorial service.

Such a send off might be fit for a national celebrity, a religious figure or film star, but Chen was none of these. “King Duck”, as the 64-year old was known, headed the Bamboo Union Gang, the largest criminal syndicate in Taiwan, which had 100,000 members worldwide at the height of its power and branches in the United States, Latin America, Southeast Asia and South Korea.

A fugitive who left Taiwan in 1996 and settled in Cambodia, Chen died of pancreatic cancer in St Theresa’s hospital in Hong Kong on October 4. His return in the middle of an intense campaign for next March’s presidential election is a dramatic and unsavory reminder of how deeply China’s fabled gangsters were entwined with the Kuomintang party that ruled China and then Taiwan and how the party used criminal gangs to intimidate and kill opponents, giving them a measure of immunity in return.

According to many biographies of Chiang Kai-shek, the very founding of the Kuomintang in Shanghai was closely entangled with organized crime, although the Bamboo Union Gang was born in Taiwan. Chiang used the infamous Green Gang, and its godfather “Big Eared” Du, to stage a murderous purge of Communist Party members in Shanghai in 1927 when Chiang’s alliance of convenience with the Left fell apart.

For his service, Du was appointed by Chiang to head the Board of Opium Suppression Bureau in Shanghai – which did nothing to suppress opium – further cementing the Green Gang’s privileged status with the British and French, who ran their respective concessions and used the gang to police the Chinese brothels, opium dens and gambling parlours. When Chiang and the defeated nationalist movement decamped for Taiwan in 1949, the gangland connections moved with him across the strait.

It is a measure of the maturing of Taiwan’s politics that the party’s gangland connections have diminished. Public opinion has forced the KMT to sell or divest itself of many of its companies and other assets, many of which were linked to organized crime. One result of the transition to democratic politics has been a reduction of these links and greater transparency.

The live coverage of Chen’s return and next month’s service, which the media are calling “the gang funeral of the century,” has sparked intense anger. President Chen Shui-bian said the media should not mislead people into believing that the deceased gangster was a hero. The president’s wife was left in a wheelchair after a car ran over her three times in November 1985, an attack often blamed on gangs hired by the Kuomintang.

The debate today over Chen Chi-li is whether he was a “patriot.” His opponents call him a murderer and a criminal. The crime for which he became most infamous was the murder, on October 15, 1984, of Henry Liu, also known by the pen name Jiang Nan, an author who had written a biography critical of President Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek. Chen’s supporters say he was acting on behalf of the government and the KMT in killing Liu in his home in a suburb of Los Angeles.

It was to have profound consequences. Chen and two others sought for the killing returned to Taiwan safely but the FBI found a tape which Chen, fearing he might be betrayed and killed by the Kuomintang, had left with a fellow gang member named Yellow Bird in Houston, Texas. The tape led FBI agents to discover that Taiwanese intelligence agents had ordered the murder of a US citizen on American soil.

Washington put such pressure on the Taiwanese government that it was forced to arrest Chen and his two accomplices and the three senior officers in military intelligence who had planned it. In 1990 the government paid US$1.45 million in compensation to Liu’s widow.

Some suspect Chiang Hsiao-wu, the son of Chiang Ching-kuo, of involvement in the plot. Whatever the truth, Chiang Ching-kuo decided that none of his children would succeed him in office and ended martial law in July 1987. The botched killing and the opprobrium it brought on his country and his party played a part in his decision and helped the new opposition Democratic Progressive Party to gain legitimacy and ultimately come to power.

Chen was born on May 11, 1943 in Jiangsu province and went to Taiwan at the age of six, when his father, a KMT civil servant, fled the mainland. At school, he received a baptism of fire as one of only three mainland children in a class full of Taiwanese. They were subject to constant bullying as revenge for the massacre of Taiwanese carried out by the Kuomintang army in 1947, he recalled later.

In his teens, Chen became a member of a branch of the Bamboo Union Gang and rose in the hierarchy as he took over territory from other gangs. In April 1968, at a meeting on a mountain overlooking Taipei, he was formally installed as the gang’s leader and given the nickname King Duck. In 1972, he was sentenced to four-years in prison for involvement in the murder of a renegade gangster. When he came out, he resumed his post and forged good relations with the police, who used the mob to control other gangs in exchange for more freedom for its activities. In 1983, in a true burst of hubris, he set up a weekly magazine to report on the activities of Taiwan’s gangs.

So it was that he agreed to kill Liu. As leader, he could have ordered an underling to carry out the operation but chose to do it in person. “I felt that this was a duty of a patriotic citizen,” he told an interviewer 20 years later. “I did not think about whom I was doing it for.” He refused the US$20,000 reward offered to him.

Chen served less than six years of the life sentence he received for the crime, was released in January 1991 and returned to the Bamboo Union Gang. In 1996, hearing that the police were coming for him, he escaped to Cambodia, where he went into property and other businesses and made friends with the country’s national leaders. He bought a luxury mansion in Phnom Penh and did charity work for the city’s poor. He entertained visiting Taiwanese and said how much he wanted to return home.

But he was unable to agree on the terms of this return. He demanded that he be properly welcomed at the airport and not arrested, but the authorities refused.

In 2000, he displayed his mansion’s weapons on Taiwan television, provoking Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen into ordering a raid by 100 police and soldiers. They found 12 AK-47s and M-16 automatics, hand pistols and 2,000 bullets. A court in Phnom Penh sentenced him to three years in jail for illegal possession of firearms.

After his release, he was less active, spending his time on calligraphy and swimming. “In this world, there are no truly good and no truly evil people,” he was quoted as telling a visiting friend. “Whether a man does good or evil depends on the change of time, place and people. There are no fixed criteria.”


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Singapore: Murdochian Democracy?

Probably the most telling statement the press baron Rupert Murdoch made during his abject mea culpa before the UK Parliament Tuesday was his praise of Singapore, saying "the most open and clear society in the world... is Singapore -- the cleanest society you can find anywhere -- as every minister is paid at least one million dollars a year and has no temptation to transgress."

What that statement betrays is that Rupert Murdoch appears to have no basic understanding of either independent journalism or democracy itself.

Transparency International’s Corruption Index ties Denmark and New Zealand with Singapore at the very top of its corruption perceptions index. Leave aside the question of what the lawmakers of Denmark and Sweden are paid to maintain their integrity – a fraction of what Singapore ministers get.

What keeps Singapore’s ministers in line is not those million-dollar paychecks but the fact that they are scared to death of Lee Kuan Yew, who has shown no compunction whatsoever in jailing the odd minister who does stick his hand in somebody else’s pockets. In 1986, Teh Cheang Wan, one of Kuan Yew’s best friends, a co-founder of the state and the head of the country’s national development ministry, committed suicide rather than face corruption charges that Kuan Yew was intent on bringing against him. Also leave aside the fact that the PAP has historically delivered a supine parliament mostly via gerrymandering and intimidating the opposition.

The leader of the world’s most powerful news organization, who presumably ought to believe in the independence and freedom of the press, was praising a country that most recently jailed the author Alan Shadrake for pointing out that Singapore’s criminal justice system is skewed towards hanging the poor and finding ways to excuse the wealthy and expatriates. Singapore has the highest per-capita rate of executions in the world.

It seems odd that Murdoch didn’t notice that Reporters Without Borders ranks Singapore at 140th of 167 countries in terms of press freedom, or that Time Magazine, Asiaweek, the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Economist, Bloomberg News Service and other publications have been cowed into submission through libel suits, contempt of court action and gazetting to limit their circulation. It is especially odd that Murdoch owned two of them – the Far Eastern Economic Review, before it closed, and the Wall Street Journal/ Asia. Those that haven’t been sued or otherwise attack have learned their lesson and simply don’t report critically on the country.

The country’s own media dare not report what happens in Singapore beyond what the leaders want to see in print. And what has happened, considering the practice of democracy and free elections, is nothing short of appalling.

According a chronology compiled by the website New Asia Republic, since 1994, in addition to suing newspapers on the thinnest of pretexts and winning all of its cases in its own courts, police have raided private homes and arrested members of churches it doesn’t like.

Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong once threatened to turn constituencies into slums if they didn’t vote for the ruling People’s Action Party. Both opposition leaders Chee Soon Juan and the late JB Jeyaretnam have been sued, charged with perjury and defamation and hounded with a variety of other offenses in an effort to drive them out of politics. Opposition leaders’ homes and offices have been stormed by Inland Revenue officials who carted away tons of documents and articles to seek to make cases for tax evasion.

According to the US State Department’s human rights report on Singapore, it is “widely believed that the authorities routinely conduct surveillance on some opposition politicians and other critics of the government.” The same report also stated that the Internal Security Department is believed to run a network of part-time informants in the US, Australia and other countries.

Political films and videos have been banned. Foreign television stations and networks have been asked to restrict covering of small political parties and warned against critical reporting of the country. The police have been given lawful access to data and encrypted material. CD-ROMs have been added to the Undesirable publications Act.

In 1999, the Home Affairs Ministry admitted that it had secretly scanned the computers of more than 200,000 Internet users. Even women’s magazines have been warned not to get involved in partisan matters. Public rallies by the opposition have been banned repeatedly. Falun Gong members have been arrested.

In 2001, the Parliament passed a law that allows punishment of foreign news broadcasters deemed to be “engaging in the domestic politics of Singapore.” Political campaigning has been restricted on the Internet. Election time for campaigning has been as short as 17 days. Police have raided Internet critics’ homes and confiscated their computers. In 2002, the supposedly independent courts ruled that there would be no trial for defamation suits brought by Goh Chok Tong and Lee Kuan Yew against opposition leader Chee Soon Juan. He was found guilty by summary judgment.

Nor does Murdoch appear to have noticed that Singapore, this paragon of integrity, is home to vast amounts of the stolen wealth of both Burma and Indonesia. Some 18,000 Indonesians described as “rich” were living in Singapore in 2007, according to Tempo Magazine, worth a combined total of US86 billion. Some US$13.5 billion of that alone was looted from the Indonesian central bank’s recapitalization lifeline to 48 ailing banks during the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis.

Burma’s generals, who have beggared their country and savagely repressed their citizenry, are believed to have transferred nearly US$5 billion into two Singapore banks from the sale of gas since 2000, according to Earth Rights International. One of their generals has even had a rose named after him in the Singapore Botanical Gardens.

Aside from whether the old lizard was crying crocodile tears in his testimony when he said he and his top executives knew nothing of the fact that his employees had hacked into hundreds of voicemails up to and including the royal family, his apparent admiration of Singapore speaks volumes about his own corporate empire.

If this is what he believes about the foundations of democracy – that mere money will bribe politicians to stay out of trouble – then there are few moral imperatives that guide his stewardship of the press. It is okay for Fox News in the United States to hire Republican presidential candidates and give them a nationwide forum while – in Fox’s famous slogan – they report, the viewers decide. It is okay for a putatively neutral news organization to virtually dictate who will be in power in the UK.

It was okay for him to make a fire-breathing speech in 1993 to London advertising executives that communications technology would allow dissidents to bypass state controlled media and that satellite broadcasting would make it possible “for information-hungry residents of many closed societies to bypass state-controlled television channels. … The Bosnian Serbs can't hide their atrocities from the probing eyes of BBC, CNN and Sky News cameras … the extraordinary living standards produced by free-enterprise capitalism cannot be kept secret.”

But it also appears to have been okay to cravenly back away from that statement when it appeared that it enraged the Chinese authorities who had direct control over his Star TV footprint in Asia, and to court them in every way possible. He dropped the BBC from programming after he heard that BBC news offended the Chinese government, then tried to claim it was a business decision. A Murdoch subsidiary purchased the rights to a book by Deng Xiaoping’s youngest daughter her father.

None of it worked. The Chinese figured that out.

It would be inimical – unthinkable -- for any government to order the divestment of any enterprise having to do with a free press, no matter how odious, and a lot of Murdoch’s various media enterprises are odious in that they have interfered with the free and fair operation of democracy in at least three countries by scandalous and biased reporting designed to further his business interests. But maybe it is time for the heretofore toothless board of directors of News International to take a look at where he has got them. That is what boards of directors are for.


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Women Come Up Short in Asia

What is the meaning of development? Many supposedly successful countries in Asia and the Pacific could well be asking themselves how they fare on the data about women's positions in society compared with supposedly lagging regions in Africa and Latin America. But clearly gross domestic product and internet connectivity are not the only gauges of development.

A United Nations Development Programme report published on International Women's Day points to data which should cause plenty of embarrassment in Asia, northeast and South Asia in particular.

Surely the most outstanding and a rebuke to all those who insist that Confucian ideas should rule the modern world is the data on sex ratios at birth. The norm where there is no interference in natural processes is generally assumed to be between 104 and 105 boys per 100 girls – a ratio determined by nature because of higher death rates among males in the first years. Top of the list is that Communist paragon of male supremacy, China at 120 boys per 100 girls.

But second on the global list of aggressive gender selection is that paragon of the electronic age, South Korea, at 110 boys per 100 girls. This is one area where the South lags the North, which not only has a more sustainable fertility rate but a natural ratio of 105 boys.

South Korea is thus even worse than India, often cited as second only to China in sex imbalance, but only at 108. Generalizing about India is also difficult because some provinces (Punjab is worst) have very high male ratios while others, mostly in the south, have natural levels.

Low economic development actually seems to help gender balance at least in some countries. The most equal in Asia from a sex birth ratio standpoint are Bangladesh and Myanmar, both at 103. Southeast Asia generally comes out well with a regional average of 105 compared with the neo-Confucian Northeast at an average 107. The only poor performer in SE Asia is Singapore which also at 107. Meanwhile Malaysia at 106 is above the regional norm probably because of the impact of its Chinese population on the overall data.

Asia generally compares poorly with the rest of the world. The average in Africa is 103, the most equal to be found anywhere. North America and Latin and Northern Europe come in at 105 and Southern Europe at 107, a sure sign of gender bias around the Mediterranean.

Of course other regions may show greater bias as incomes and health services develop to the point where choice becomes easier. But most in Europe and the Americas have been at that point for many years already.

Abortion or infanticide of females is not of course the only way women go "missing" from the population. In total percentage of "missing women" Pakistan is in the lead at nearly 8% followed closely by India, with China close to 7 percent and Bangladesh and Iran around 4%. Given that neither Pakistan, Iran nor Bangladesh exhibit gender bias at birth, the only conclusion can be that these Muslim societies have high rates of early death due to neglect and disappearances from unnatural causes or in childbirth.

Says the report: "Few countries have adopted or implemented laws prohibiting violence against women, despite widespread evidence of discrimination and assault. Nearly half of the countries in South Asia, and more than 60 percent of those in the Pacific, have no laws against domestic violence. Nor are there many provisions against sexual harassment in workplaces, though 30 to 40 percent of working women report experiencing verbal, physical or sexual abuse."

Migrant women, a huge category in Southeast Asia, are subject to particular abuse and discrimination, including in such developed countries as Singapore where foreign domestic servants have low wages and even less freedom.

Development has brought more women into the workforce in most countries, but variations are still huge. For instance in Bangladesh 50 percent are in the workforce compared with under 20 percent in Pakistan and 30 percent in India.

China is ahead of almost everyone worldwide with 70 percent in the workforce – clearly a contributor to high growth. It and Vietnam and Thailand over 60 percent are well ahead of developed Asia -- Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore are all around 50 percent. (Though some of the differences reflect different age structure as well as social patterns and economic pressures).

Income disparities are also relatively small in both China and Vietnam, with women making nearly 70 percent of male rates, almost up to Australian and New Zealand levels, compared with barely over 50 percent in Singapore and South Korea. Bottom of the heap again is Pakistan, followed by India at 30 percent while Bangladesh is a creditable 50 percent.

Northeast Asia does well on gender equality in education – though it is not alone on this as Iran performs well on this count despite negligible political representation as measured by members of parliament. China does well on that measure too – over 20 percent -- but the real power in China lies elsewhere and women are conspicuous by their scarcity at politburo, party secretary and provincial governor level.

In China as elsewhere in northeast Asia, education and the rising economic power of women should in time make Confucian male chauvinism unsupportable. The absolute shortage of women will also erode male dominance. Nonetheless by then it may be too late to offset the damage done by gender bias compared with both undeveloped societies in Africa and the developed ones in the Americas.


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ATees Home Blog Touring

RedCat Fully Functional 1/10 Hopping Lowrider RTR

1964 Chevrolet Impala SS - Fully Functional Hopping Lowrider

Expertly designed and engineered, the Redcat SixtyFour hopping lowrider captures the 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS in a classic highly-detailed, fully-functioning 1:10 scale Remote Control Car. The SixtyFour was designed from the ground up with the lowrider, auto enthusiast, and R/C scaler communities in mind.

Every detail of the SixtyFour was painstakingly and passionately created with scale accuracy and detail. The Impala SS interior and exterior badging adorn the 1964 Impala SS body and interior. 23 individual chrome plated molded parts are used to create the body’s accessories. Optional LED lights are available for night time cruising. Clear windows feature high-quality chrome foil trim to complete the ultra-realistic appearance. The attention to detail continues below the body, with the chassis frame, faux transmission, and functional solid rear axle with removable differential cover.

The SixtyFour is designed for slow cruising and performing tricks that you can only do with special hydraulically actuated suspensions. Using specialty servos and precision weight bias, it replicates the driving style and overall look of a full-sized lowrider/hopper.

Vehicle Features

  • Officially licensed and highly detailed 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS body
  • Scale 14-inch spoked wheels
  • Detailed chrome injection molded trim
  • LED light kit ready

Mechanical Features

  • Patent-pending front suspension hopping mechanism
  • Real-time adjustable ride height
  • Ultra-fast custom made REEFS RC Hopping Servo
  • Two 25KG rear axle height adjustment servos

Radio Features

  • 6-Channel LR6X Radio control with lowrider style switches
  • Individual switches for each of the 3 height adjustment servos
  • Momentary switches for raising either the front or rear to max ride height/hopping
  • Momentary buttons for lowering either the front or rear to minimum ride height

  • Scale: 1/10
  • Transmission: Forward & Reverse
  • Length: 519mm (20.5")
  • Width: 223mm (9.2")
  • Height: 145mm (5.7")
  • Servo Type: 4 Servos
    • Reefs Hopping Servo x1
    • Rear Lifting Servos x2
    • Steering Servo x1
  • Wheelbase: 287mm (11.3")
  • Speed Control Type: 40A Brushed ESC with 5A 7.4V BEC
  • Radio System:
    • Custom Designed LR6X 6-Channel Radio with Lowrider Controls
  • Battery: 3800mAh NIMH with USB Charger
  • Needed to Run: 4 AA Batteries for Radio

ByRob C.

Tags :RedCat, Hopping Lowrider,

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how to sell ethereum

Ethereum has the second-largest market capitalisation of any crypto in the world. It still needs to find a way to get past race leader Bitcoin, but it has the second-place spot currently firmly under control. It does face certain challenges though. If you’re looking to sell Ethereum to invest funds elsewhere, or simply to lock in some profits, then this review will provide you with the information to make that decision work best for you.

  • What is Ethereum?
  • How has Ethereum traded since 2015?
  • What are the challenges facing Ethereum?
  • Tips for selling Ethereum
  • How to convert Ethereum to cash
  • Final thoughts

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a relatively recently established cryptocurrency that applies innovative new technology with the aim of becoming the world’s favoured form of payment. It follows the tried-and-trusted crypto approach of using decentralised peer-to-peer transactions and blockchain technology.

This means that individuals and institutions can make and receive payments on transactions from anywhere in the world. The native coin of the Ethereum platform is ether (ETH), which also has a role as a store of wealth.

Symbol  Last price Avg vol (3-month) $bn Market cap ($bn)
BTC-USD    16,301.09 27.59 302.2
ETH-USD         453.63 13.95 51.46
USDT-USD            1.00 42.1 17.88
XRP-USD            0.27 1.88 12.44
LINK-USD           12.29 1.54 4.83
BCH-USD         249.37 1.9 4.63
LTC-USD           67.54 2.36 4.45

Source: Yahoo Finance

Like other currencies, Ethereum ticks the two main boxes of being a means of exchange and a store of wealth. Where Ethereum has an edge is in the high-tech processes that make its platform so desirable to users.

It applies protocols that ensure the trademark crypto transparency, with users finding security through the sharing of account information on the blockchain platform.

The secret sauce for Ethereum is the way that it supports other coins and tokens, not just ETH. Some exciting new tokens have sprung up that use Ethereum to cater to a specialist market. These include:

  • Basic Attention Token (BAT), which caters specifically to the digital advertising industry
  • Bancor (BNT)
  • OmiseGO (OMG)
  • Status (SNT)
  • TenX (PAY)
  • Augur (REP)
  • 0x (ZRX)
  • Civic (CVC)

Ethereum uses smart contracts and decentralised applications (Dapps) to get a technical advantage over Bitcoin in terms of payment functionality. They cut down on downtime, fraud and interference from third parties.

The Ethereum system went live in July 2015 when 72m coins were minted. The first recorded transaction was one month later on the Kraken system and was priced at $2.77 per coin.

How has Ethereum traded since 2015?

Ethereum is often referred to as ‘the Silver to Bitcoin’s Gold’. There is sometimes a lag between a price move in BTC and one in ETH, but the two are more closely correlated than they are to other stablecoins.

Ethereum Chart

Source: IG

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum has enjoyed a significant price rally through the second half of 2020. Between 1st August and 23rd November, Bitcoin doubled in value, but ETH posted a staggering 160% price increase.

Ethereum vs Bitcoin Chart

Source: eToro

Over a longer timeframe, from March 2018 to November 2020, Bitcoin has the upper hand. It has increased in value by 64.19%, while Ethereum is in negative territory after experiencing a 30% price drop.

The fact that the Ethereum price is more than 30% underwater over a long timeframe is one of the reasons why some are looking into selling Ethereum. There are no guarantees in the financial markets and cryptocurrency markets are notably volatile.

Downward pressure on ETH can be driven by specific issues. During 2020, the firm has been dogged by issues with a system upgrade. Even coveted cryptos can suffer if the sector-wide mood shifts to negative.

What are the challenges facing Ethereum?

One major shadow that hangs over Ethereum is that it is showing little sign of being able to improve on Bitcoin’s reputation for acting as a reliable holding of wealth.

Ethereum’s strength comes from being able to support payment transactions. This sounds great, but  it also brings challenges:

  • Sell out – charges that ETH has forsaken the revolutionary essence of crypto may be harsh. It still uses blockchain technology and has a strong crypto-based pedigree. The problem is that any crypto that engages in regulated activity with established financial institutions risks losing die-hard fans in exchange for corporate clients.
  • Space race – if you are going all in on payment processing, then it’s worth remembering that new entrants and disruptors are always waiting around the corner. There can only be one ‘fastest’ and one ‘cheapest’ payments processing platform. The suggestion that Ethereum’s framework is looking tired has not been helped by the delayed rollout of Ethereum 2.0.

Source: IG

Realistically, there can be only one winner – and even then, that crypto will have to take on resistance from the establishment. Central banks, investment banks and other financial institutions have a lot to lose by rolling over and letting crypto do their job for them.

If you are looking to take a position in any market, then timing is everything. Developing a clear strategy with entry and exit points is strongly recommended. To help with this, most brokers offer free research on Ethereum and the crypto markets. It comes in different formats, and you can choose whether to build your knowledge using video, webinar or written reports.

Tips for selling Ethereum

One of the strongest reasons for selling ETH is that you need to turn some assets to cash.

It doesn’t matter if you want to sell Ethereum because you don’t fancy it as a long-term investment or you just want to release some spending money. You may even be looking to ‘sell short’ as part of a trading strategy.

Working though the options and taking the right steps for you is always going to be a sensible option.

Pairs trading – Ethereum vs Bitcoin

The principle of pairs trading can work in any asset group. By buying one name – for example, Bitcoin – and selling another – for example, Ethereum – it’s possible to trade the relative strength of the two.

Selling Ethereum

Source: eToro

Pairs strategies also offer a degree of market neutrality. If the whole crypto sector tanks, or alternatively skyrockets, which can happen, then your positions will to some extent be hedged

Naked shorts

Online brokers that offer markets in cryptos and use CFDs can enable you to sell ETH even though you don’t already own it. Short-selling is an established if risky operation. For one thing, your losses are, hypothetically speaking, unlimited, and cryptos can and do go on price runs that astound everyone.

How to convert Ethereum to cash

convert ethereum to cash

If you’re coming into the market fresh and looking to sell short, then one of the fundamental principles is to use a regulated CFD broker. The crypto markets have a reputation for attracting scammers.

Broker selection is therefore very important, and finding a broker regulated by a Tier-1 authority is crucial. The below are good starting points:

  • Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
  • Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
  • Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)

Online broker platforms are models of user-friendly functionality. Simply register online, upload some ID, and follow the instructions on how to sell. It really is as simple as clicking a button.

How to sell out of existing ETH positions – exchanges

The process of selling ether on an exchange works similarly to the process used to buy it.

Key things to look out for include transaction costs and whether your bank and the exchange have a relationship. Once those boxes are ticked, you are in a position to sell and convert to cash or alternatively into a different cryptocurrency.

Most exchanges operate using a system where you advise how much ether you want to sell and at what price, and then wait until the offer is taken up.

How to sell out of existing ETH positions – peer-to-peer trading

A local Ethereum exchange allows you to sell directly to another party.

Such exchanges, called LocalEthereum, can be found by following this link. There is no need to complete a registration process or hook your bank account up to an exchange. Instead, the process is 100% decentralised. Your ETH will be transferred to a buyer in exchange for cash.

Sell ETH

Fees are typically lower because you are cutting out the middleman, but don’t forget that one of the benefits of involving that same middleman is that Ethereum exchanges tend to be safer.

Final thoughts

Whatever the reason for wanting to sell Ethereum, the main aim of the game is to keep your funds safe.

If you’re stepping into the market, then make sure that you use a regulated broker. If you’re selling an existing position, still keep your eyes open to potential pitfalls.

People who read this also read:

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage . 75 % of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider . You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money .


text: Draft Alberta recovery plans have been posted for the following species for online public engagement: Alberta Whitebark Pine & Limber Pine Recovery Plan and Alberta Porsild’s Bryum Recovery Plan. Both plans are updated versions of previously approved plans; the separate original plans for the two pine species have now been combined into a single plan. The surveys will be open until September 10, 2020.


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- The Strategist - https://www.aspistrategist.org.au -

Another drone kill in Pakistan

Posted By on June 3, 2013 @ 12:50

MQ-1 Predator drone [1]The Pakistani Taliban (the TTP as it is known in Pakistan) has just taken a substantial hit with the death of of Wali-ur-Rehman, the number two of the TTP as a result of an un-manned US drone strike this week. This was confirmed by the TTP today [2].

Wali-ur-Rehman was a very nasty terrorist who, according to the Americans, had been responsible for an attack on a US base in eastern Afghanistan in 2009 which killed nine CIA employees. He had a $5 million US government bounty on his head.

While Rehman was considered less of a hard-liner than TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, he directed most of his attention and efforts at fighting the Coalition forces in Afghanistan. He was also linked to the Haqqani Network, which is probably the most lethal anti-Afghan government Taliban force.

Inside Pakistan, as head of the TTP’s operations, he had probably been responsible for the death of thousands of civilians and military personnel for the last six years.

His death will without any doubt further weaken an already fractured and divided TTP. Hakimullah Mehsud will certainly not miss him.  They disliked each other and certainly didn’t trust each other. Rehman had hoped to become the leader of the TTP upon the death of the previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a drone strike in four years ago.  He always resented being passed over for the top job.

But quite interestingly, apart from the usual Pakistani government official statement of condemnation for this strike, there’s been no public comment from Imran Khan, the famous cricketer-turned-politician whose party has just been sworn in as the new government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province adjacent to the tribal areas from where the TTP launch their deadly attacks. Imran Khan has been highly critical of the drone strikes, demanding that they cease immediately.

But more importantly, Nawaz Sharif, the soon-to-be installed new Prime Minister, has made no public statement either.  That’s probably because he must be quite conflicted by the death of Rehman.

On one hand, Sharif must be pleased to see the removal of Rehman, a man who has caused so much misery in Pakistan.  On the other hand, having made a lot of noise in the lead up to the 11 May election about wanting to see an end to the drone strikes, he can hardly publicly celebrate the elimination of Rehman.

However, in the lead up to the 11 May election and several times afterwards, Sharif had made it very clear he wanted to begin negotiations with the TTP as soon as possible, with no pre-conditions attached. And Rehman, considered a ‘moderate’ among the TTP leaders, would probably have been a key player in those negotiations.

The TTP had indicated that it would be interested in talking to the government. However, in the wake of the death of Rehman, the TTP announced that not only were the peace talks off but that it would seek ‘revenge in the strongest way’ by stepping up its terrorist attacks.

Given the poor track record of negotiating with the TTP, the cancellation of the talks might not be such a bad thing. In the past, the government of Pakistan had cut several deals with the TTP and each one of these agreements had been broken by the terrorists. The one that everyone remembers is the one in the Swat Valley in 2009, which eventually led to the TTP fighters coming within 100 km from the capital Islamabad [3]. It took some 35,000 army personnel to dislodge them.  Several hundred thousand civilians were displaced in the process.

Certainly the head of the army, General Pervez Kayani, was never keen to talk to the TTP. And if talks did take place he had made it clear on several occasions the TTP would have to first end the terrorist attacks and abide by the law of the land, pre-conditions the TTP would find difficult to accept.

In any case, the successful elimination of the TTP’s number two will be a severe psychological and military blow to the terrorists. It also confirms, yet again, that the drone strikes are very effective at removing the Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.

So although President Obama stated last week that there would be more restrictive rules in the execution of drone strikes, we can expect more of these drone hits.

Accordingly, Hakimullah Mehsud will need to keep a very low profile because he must know that he’s likely to be the next one on the hit list. His predecessor, Baituallh Mehsud, was killed in a drone strike in 2009, as was the TTP’s previous number two last year, so the odds aren’t looking good for him.

What does this mean for the war in Afghanistan?  With a most likely intensification of terrorist attacks in Pakistan—as threatened by the TTP, which would require the diversion of manpower away from the Afghanistan theatre, there may be fewer attacks against Coalition forces, although the group has also vowed to attack American bases linked to the CIA in Afghanistan [4]. In any case, I suspect that any diversion from Afghanistan would only be for the short-term. Given that this is spring, therefore the fighting season, I don’t think the insurgents would want to take their eyes off the main game for too long.

Claude Rakisits is associate professor in strategic studies at Deakin University. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons [5].

Article printed from The Strategist: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au

URL to article: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/another-drone-kill-in-pakistan/

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/MQ-1_Predator_unmanned_aircraft.jpg

[2] confirmed by the TTP today: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/05/pakistani_taliban_cl_1.php

[3] TTP fighters coming within 100 km from the capital Islamabad: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-04-17/pakistan/28018071_1_taliban-militants-tribal-areas

[4] vowed to attack American bases linked to the CIA in Afghanistan: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/world/asia/pakistani-taliban-confirm-deputys-death-and-some-choose-a-replacement.html?_r=0

[5] Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MQ-1_Predator_unmanned_aircraft.jpg

Copyright © 2021 The Strategist. All rights reserved.


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Andhra Pradesh stands second in Commerce and Industries, fifth in overall ranking

Andhra Pradesh secured the second rank in Commerce and Industries in the Good Governance Index (GGI) released by the Ministry of Personnel, Government of India. It was preceded by Jharkhand and followed by Telangana in the category. AP stood fifth in the overall rankings with a score of 5.05, while Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh secured the first four places among the big States. Neighbouring Telangana stood 11th in the list. Expressing delight over the State getting the second place in Commerce and Industries in the GGI, Minister for Industries and Commerce Mekapati Goutham Reddy tweeted   “AP stands out at “Good Governance Index” practices in Commerce & Industries areas – as per the ranking of States released by Ministry of Personnel – GoI. Our performance speaks – a strong foundation for a better future!”

GGI, a uniform tool to assess the status of governance and impact of various interventions taken by the States and Union Territories was initiated by the Centre to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance and enable the States and UTs to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance by switching to result-oriented approaches and administration.

A total of 10 sectors were taken into consideration for rankings based on different sets of indicators (50). The States were divided into two groups – big States and NE and Hill States with UTs being another group. Ranking in Commerce and Industries was determined based on three indicators – Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), Growth Rate of Industries and MSMEs with a weightage of 0.9, 0.05 and 0.05 respectively. In Commerce and Industries ranking, AP scored 0.94. Though the score of Jharkhand was also the same, it was ranked first for unspecified reasons. Telangana with a score of 0.93 was ranked third, followed by Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Haryana.

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Why is Rugby so much better than Football in certain areas?

I’ve been watching the six nations over the weekend and wanted to post this then, but of course Tim Sherwood’s appointment and the Leicester game were far more important, hence it’s had to go on the back burner.

I’ll hold my hands up and say that I’m not a Rugby fan at all and don’t really watch it.
It just doesn’t grab me in the same way as football does, but the missus loves it, especially the England games, hence we have it on the telly and you can’t help having a glance when the crowd starts winding up and something’s happening.

But there are things that I think Rugby does way better than Football.

First off, is being able to hear the referee. This for me, is brilliant, as you get an explanation of what he’s thinking. Whether you agree with the explanation is another thing, but at least you get one.
That’d put a stop to any not understanding why a decision was made.

There’s also the plus point where you can hear how the players speak to the ref in response.
Perhaps we’ve got to the stage where footy players give refs total abuse and it’s accepted, hence putting a mike on is not a good idea?
I’m not sure, but whatever, it strikes me football referees don’t have the same authority as it seems Rugby referees do, where the decision is final and just not up for debate.
Any slight sign of dissent is met with a reprimand and then a sending off.
I’d love this in football.

Second is where the clock gets stopped when there’s an injury or whatever.
Why this doesn’t happen in Football, is just beyond me.
It cuts out time-wasting at a stroke, something I’m sure we’d all like to see.
Or is that just part of the drama, that is all part of the Premier league/Champions league design, that is there purely to help wind us up?

Finally, there’s the video replays.
I know the criticism here. It stops the flow of the game.
My response to that is “so what?”
The referee gets a second opinion, where things are viewed from multiple angles.
Surely this can only be good, as we get more accurate decisions?
Even with slow motion shots, thing can still be debatable in my opinion, so it’s not like we’d be sanitizing the game entirely.

I know we have goal line technology, but how often has it been used?
Not much, I’d suggest.

No, I think we have to accept that Football is way behind the times in these areas.

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  1. Avatar
    gerry February 21, 2015 at 9:23 am .

    Even I have gotten off my arse and traveled across the sea to watch this one (ok I was coming over anywhere) so no dodgy streaming and the real thing. Mind you I am still 150 miles away. We know these guys can play football and today there are no excuses with the real fans behind them. Good luck lads and UTV

  2. Avatar
    nath February 21, 2015 at 10:17 am .

    can’t wait to see how the style changes made.philosophy of our new manager words into action. can our great players pull it off. if his spurs days all 6months are anything to go by. he’ll play 442 like all the fans on here wanted. i think they could play this against the bottom 8 but not the others. anyway looking forwards reading the players tweets about mcdonald return most are welcoming him back, seems like he’s well liked and respected.

    they better win as i splashed out on them to win 13/8 i got just for the win against a stoke side apparently depleted with injuries. and 2 hammering defeats one against a championship club

    3 nil to the villa

  3. Avatar
    GIDDYVILLAN February 21, 2015 at 10:24 am .

    I thought with an upbeat feeling now on the site we’d have a stoke preview LADS. 😀

    1. Avatar
      GIDDYVILLAN February 21, 2015 at 10:26 am .

      Soz lads just got the alert.

  4. Avatar
    Hitchens 60 February 21, 2015 at 2:07 pm .

    Looks like 4 4 2. Surprised he’s gone for Richardson but probably prefers his forward runs and crossing ability over Sishoko’s defending

    1. Avatar
      OohAhPaulMcGrath February 21, 2015 at 2:09 pm .

      I’m amazed he’s picked gabby. Strange one that.

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Dr. Loosen, Riesling Eiswein

Half-Bottle of Dr. Loosen, Riesling Eiswein - 2016

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A half bottle of Eiswein goes a long way as the concentration is exquisite. Made from grapes harvested frozen while still on the vine. Showing classic Mosel minerals on the palate paired up with luscious Riesling acidity.

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Though the trend is now in the other direction, for many years Riesling was known for producing wines with little alcohol and some residual sugar - too sweet for many modern wine drinkers. Though it's now cultivated worldwide, Riesling is nearly synonymous with German wine, and that country's winemakers have lately begun to produce some very exciting dry versions. They are careful to retain the...

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Halloween Fun

Monday, 28 October 2013

Halloween Fun

With our Halloween party planned for Friday we have spent this afternoon testing out some of our ideas for food and games with a couple of friends. There have been many sweets and cakes consumed and the kids were even worse!

So here are a few of the games we played.

The Flour Game

A favourite of mine as a child and my boys love it too. A great one for looking spooky too if you are the "un"lucky one that gets to eat the chocolate.

Fill a small bowl with flour, make a castle and pop some chocolate in the top
Take it in turns to cut away the flour until the chocolate falls
Eat the chocolate without using your hands!

Dangling Doughnuts

Nice and simple and made me giggle as well as the boys.

Apple Bobbing

A must for Halloween. I have seen some people use red food colouring to make it look like blood, but I wasn't keen of the mess that it could make so we stuck to plain old water. Apples are a favourite of middle man's so he was keen to play this!

Frame it

Not so much of a game but a way of taking photos that my boys don't mind being taken. They love watching Art Attack so like their photo being taken with a frame and shouting frame it! Add a few Halloween masks, headbands and decorations for some more fun.

Yucky Dip

I made a dip using cornflour water and spaghetti and hid a black bat ring in there to find (and some orange ones to make it harder. Middle man did not like this at all as it felt too yucky!

For dessert, I made some jelly with hidden jelly skulls in and chocolate mousses topped with jelly snakes and crushed digestive biscuits. The jelly skulls had melted a bit so if you have a go, make sure the jelly isn't too hot when you add them. Chocolate mice are good too and big man would have preferred these.

For party favours I put a few sweets into some mini pumpkins that I had purchased from 99p stores.

I also made this pumpkin sweet holder. My neighbour did one of these for Halloween last year and it is a lovely way to put sweets out for trick or treaters, if you are out trick or treating yourself. Just pop a LED candle in it to light it up.

I still have a couple more pumpkins to carve, so if you have any good ideas on what to have a go at let me know. I have seen a nice looking spider one that I may try.....

  1. Some lovely ideas and some new ones to me. I love these sort of games.

  2. Lovely ideas, great how you managed to play the flour game without making a load of mess, we played that at my friends house one year and the house ended up looking ridiculous ;)

  3. Halloween looks like soooo much fun in your house, you have some fab ideas!

  4. Sara (@mumturnedmom)30 October 2013 at 17:03

    Love all your ideas :) You're going to have a fab party!

  5. What amazing ideas. Hope you have had a great party!

  6. Brilliant ideas....all of them, particularly like the look of the flour game, and I remember bobbing apples very, very well! Little A enjoyed her first proper Halloween last night. X

  7. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:21

    Thanks we did!

  8. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:22

    Oh that is fab. It is fun for little ones

  9. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:22

  10. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:22

    It was hard work but the kids were happy x

  11. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:23

    Unfortunately the kids preferred the cake!

  12. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:23

    I have a handheld dyson!

  13. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:23

    Great for parties with my boys x

  14. Louise Fairweather2 November 2013 at 19:24

    I like it as a bit of fun x