text:
Topic Descriptor: artists (visual artists)×
  • “Mi pintura intenta expresar la vida del indio” : nos declaró ayer a su llegada de Cajamarca el artista Mario Urteaga
    The synopsis and the annotations in English are coming soon. However, our bilingual readers can click on “Español” to access this information in Spanish [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1144025

  • “No se debe esperar a que llegue la inspiración” : Alicia Tafur prepara su exposición
    This is an article written by the editorial staff at the weekly Magazine Dominical about the life and work of Alicia Tafur, the Colombian artist. It was written on the occasion of the “first large exhibition for Bogotá” at the Banco de la Repú [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1133397

  • [-1- no sé "de donde viene"...]
    In response to the questions put to her by Venezuelan filmmaker José Antonio Pantin, Gego remarks on the origin of her art and the processes it involves, focusing specifically on her three-dimensional work. She states that her works have been [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 854787

  • [¿Quiénes levantaran el monumento a Posada?=Who will raise the monument to Posada?]
    Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957
    This issue contains more than 400 engravings by José Guadalupe Posada, with a preface by Diego Rivera, in which he redefines the engraver as a “worker,” “warrior of leaflets,” the “greatest artist” produced by the people, and the [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 757821

  • [A cultura artística brasileira em geral...]
    Lourenço, Maria Cecília França, 1945-
    This is the catalogue for Nipo brasileiros. Mestres e alunos em 50 anos, the exhibition held at the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo, 1984). It includes an essay by Maria Cecília França Lourenço, the art historian and curator of the [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1110648

  • [A pesar que no es un lugar común...]
    Brandt, Alberto, 1924-1970
    This text by artist Alberto Brandt describes the artistic aims of his exhibition Alberto Brandt. Exposición de pinturas held at the Centro Profesional del Este in Caracas in 1957. As opposed to the “pseudo-classicism,” rationality, and formalism [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1160234

  • [A principio de mes para el Di Tella...]
    Ferrari, León, 1920-
    León Ferrari sketches his idea for the Christ mounted on a fighter jet for the piece he submitted to the Torcuato Di Tella Institute’s 1965 National and International Prize. This work would be known as Civilización Occidental y Cristiana [Western [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 743800

  • [Admiro con temor las grandes esculturas de Badii...]
    Romero Brest, Jorge
    By means o a poetic prose, art critic Jorge Romero Brest states that he fearfully admires the huge sculptures and lovingly cares about the drawings and small sculptures made by Líbero Badii. He analyzes the relationship between art and life, from [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 759435

  • [Anos oitenta : o ateliê experimental Francesc Domingo Segura no MAC...]
    Macambira, Yvoty
    In this chapter of her book on Evandro Carlos Jardim, Yvoty Macambira mentions the printing workshop created in 1987—the Atelier Experimental de Gravura Francesc Domingo Segura—whose name pays tribute to Jardim’s mentor. The workshop operated [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1110705

  • [Aparte de ser el seudónimo sortario de Juan Vicente Hernández...]
    Calzadilla, Juan, 1931
    Curator Juan Calzadilla begins his essay on the Venezuelan painter known as “Pájaro” [Juan Vicente Hernández] by pointing out the similarity between some, though not all, aspects of his work and orthodox Surrealism. Calzadilla comments on the [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1163174

  • [Arte es un estilo de vida...]
    De Romero, Ralph
    In this set of four brief poems, Ralph de Romero, a Puerto Rican artist born in New York, expresses his thoughts about painting and art. Some of the themes he addresses in his poems are related to defining art and its elements, and he also reveals [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 862843

  • [As an artist I'm not responsible to art history]
    De Romero, Ralph
    In these two brief articles, Ralph de Romero, a Puerto Rican artist born in New York, states that he feels no responsibility for art history. In other words, it is the artist’s privilege to call anything he creates whatever he wants to call it. De [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 863062

  • [Ata da primeira reunião do]
    Handa, Tomoo, 1906-
    This text is the minutes of the first meeting of the Grupo Seibi (1935). It presents the deliberations that took place in a meeting that stated the following objectives for the group: (1) Encourage ties among the members; (2) Hold a monthly meeting [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1110650

  • [Aunque en estas breves cuartillas no me extenderé demasiado en el aspecto histórico de la Pintura en Puerto Rico...]
    Homar, Lorenzo
    Lorenzo Homar begins these brief notes on Puerto Rican art and artists by discussing painter Francisco Oller. He goes on to state that art should be at the service of society and that artists should not be concerned with imitating avant-gardes who [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 861750

  • [Ayer al fin de la tarde..]
    Toral, Mario
    Chilean artist Mario Toral speaks of his experiences when he arrived in New York as an exile in 1973, immediately after the coup d'état led by General Augusto Pinochet. He compares the squandering of North Americans, who throw everything away, with [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 861808

  • [Born in Puerto Rico, living there the first nine years of his life...]
    Ortiz, Rafael Montanez
    Rafael Montañez Ortiz describes the assemblages of Marcos Dimas as an extension of the artist’s childhood experience of digging up bits of Taíno artifacts in the fields of Puerto Rico. Ortiz proposes that Dimas’s works are the result of his [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 802904

  • [C'est avec la Mort de Maximilien...]
    Salmon, André
    André Salmon introduces Lola Cueto’s work by referring to certain moments that he considers important. He suggests that Edouard Manet’s painting, La Muerte de Maximiliano [The Death of Maximilian], was Mexico’s debut in the visual arts. [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1104283

  • [Ce qui m’a frappé]
    Sandberg, Willem Jacob Henri Berend
    William Sandberg writes about the impact he experienced when he got to know the cultural life of Buenos Aires. He mentions the solidarity of the artists who worked in groups, using as an example the artists from Otra Figuración [Another Figuration [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 768891

  • [Chicago Latino]
    Sorell, V. A. (Victor A.)
    This exhibition catalog, Chicago Latino, was part of an intercultural dialogue initiated by two “socially-minded arts groups,” the 369 Gallery of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Near Northwest Arts Council of Chicago, Illinois. The exhibition [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1056360

  • [Coco Fusco es una de las figuras más visibles, vocales y agitadoras en el ámbito artístico latino...]
    Croteau, Mary Ellen; Okunseinde, Ayodamola; Rompilla, Denise M.
    The authors of this essay describe Coco Fusco as one of the most highly visible and vocal members of the Latino artistic community in the United States. The author, Mary Ellen Croteau, provides an overview of Fusco’s family background and academic [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 841940

  • [Colo emerges from a tradition that emphasizes and inventing of art more than a making of art]
    Ingberman, Jeanette, 1952-2011
    This essay by curator Jeannette Ingberman analyzes ten years of work by Papo Colo in painting, sculpture, drawing, and performance. According to the author, Colo’s work explores the metaphysical and the spiritual, incorporating organic forms and [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 849870

  • [Comentarios sobre el arte]
    Escobar, Elizam, 1948-
    This text consists of comments by Puerto Rican artist Elizam Escobar, regarding the various concepts and functions of art. In the quotations alongside or below the illustrations of his paintings, Escobar talks about what it means to be Puerto Rican. [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1053342

  • [Con motivo de la Tercera Bienal de San Juan del Grabado Latinoamericano...]
    Fernández Méndez, Eugenio; Cárdenas Ruiz, Manuel
    This timeline tracks the life of Puerto Rican artist Rafael Tufiño, who lived in New York and in Mexico City. Puerto Rican intellectuals Manuel Cárdenas Ruiz and Eugenio Fernández Méndez review the graphic work produced by Tufiño between the [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 857777

  • [Creo plenamente en la figuración…]
    Obregón, Roberto
    In this brief text that appeared in the catalogue of Roberto Obregón’s second solo exhibition held in Caracas at Galería XX2 (1967), the artist presents a creed-like manner in expressing his convictions about art and life, and also commenting on [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1063124

  • [Cuando hablo de la forma...]
    Varela, Víctor, 1927-2013
    In this essay, Venezuelan artist Víctor Valera discusses many of the concepts crucial to his work in sculpture. He describes, for instance, his conception of form as volume incorporated or projected into space. He mentions a number of [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1163126

  • [Cuando Lizardo regresó graduado de la Saint Martin's School of Arts de Londres...]
    Stein, Axel
    The curator Axel Stein introduces the exhibition of works by Luis Lizardo at the Centro de Arte Euroamericano (Caracas, 1991). In his essay Stein talks about the artist’s early days, when he was just getting started, interspersing his own formal [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1164679

  • [Cuando miro algo...]
    Nedo, 1926-2001
    In this brief prologue to the catalogue of his exhibition Nedo: Reversámbitos held at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas in 1973, Italian-born Venezuelan designer and artist Nedo [Mion Ferrario] describes his experience of space in terms of [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1102237

  • [Cuando Picabia escibía sobre un cuadro...]
    Rodríguez Saavedra, Carlos
    This brief introductory text by Carlos Rodríguez Saavedra was written for the official catalogue of the painting competition organized by the Festivales de Ancón, then an elegant resort on the outskirts of Lima. In a lyrical tone, the author [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1142381

  • [Current changes in modern society have many contrasting aspects,...]
    Apollonio, Umbro, 1911-1981
    In this essay, Italian critic Umbro Apollonio analyzes Jesús Rafael Soto’s vibrational work, particularly his production from the fifties. Apollonio starts out with a brief description of common, albeit distorted, perceptions of contemporary art. [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1069781

  • [de aquellos "totemes contemporáneos"...]
    Briceño, Pedro
    In his text, Pedro Briceño describes how the work of another Venezuelan sculptor, Pedro Barreto, has evolved from his early work (“totems”) of tropical and chain-like forms, to his new work. The latter is characterized by a greater preoccupation [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1162647

  • [Dedico esta estrofa del poema Elevation de Les Fleurs du Mal...]
    Rodríguez, Bélgica, 1941-
    Researcher and historian Bélgica Rodríguez analyzes the work of Hugo Baptista in a biographical text with quotations made by the painter; beginning with the artist’s move to Caracas in 1951 so that he could enroll in Vicente Emilio Sojo’s [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1169482

  • [Depression limitates the creative activity...]
    De Romero, Ralph
    This is a quote from Ralph de Romero, a Puerto Rican artist born in New York, which is accompanied by a pen and ink drawing: “Depression limitates [sic] the creative activity, deteriorates the involvement and mutilates the concept.” Written in [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 863157

  • [Deseo que estas obras confirmen que vivo de pie...]
    Luque, Ángel, 1927-
    In this essay, the Spanish artist Angel Luque, then living in Venezuela, performed a point-by-point review of the pictorial characteristics of his work and his general world attitude. He states that he is in search of a type of painting that is [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1156720

  • [Después de varias semanas...]
    Eiger, Casimiro, 1909- 1987
    In this text, Polish art critic Casimiro Eiger praises Luis Alberto Acuña’s art. He specifically mentions the artist’s use of color, the monumentality of his painting, the severity of his sculptural volumes, and his controversial approach to [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1132676

  • [Después del Di Tella...]
    Ferrari, León, 1920-
    León Ferrari notes that he has not produced any other works since the Torcuato Di Tella Institute’s 1965 National and International Prize. Ferrari explains that he has been busy working on his book, Palabras ajenas [Other People’s Words], which [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 743801

  • [Domenico Casasanta adhiere, a nuestro juicio...]
    Da Antonio, Francisco, 1930-
    In this document, the critic Francisco Da Antonio develops a chronological essay on the life and work of Domenico Casasanta, starting in 1958, when the artist arrived in Venezuela. After almost a decade in which he produced no work, in 1968, the [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1163653

  • [Durante años, varias generaciones de uruguayos...]
    Romero, Nelbia, 1938-
    In this leaflet Nelbia Romero expresses her goal of recognizing the identity and ethnicity of the indigenous race that once lived on the land that is now Uruguay. That race was, in fact, exterminated during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1238885

  • [El año que termina hoy...]
    Ferrari, León, 1920-
    In his notebook, León Ferrari reviews his performance in 1964, and announces that he has completed the projects he had been working on since 1962. Ferrari also mentions that in 1964 he worked with bottles, writings, and wire structures [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 743797

  • [El arte es una estructura compleja]
    Cruz-Diez, Carlos
    This is the preface of a book by Carlos Cruz-Diez, Reflexiones sobre el color (1989) in which the Venezuelan Kinetic artist uses short sentences to set forth the definitions and basic concepts of the art he creates. He also discusses the condition of [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 857019

  • [El caso de Germán Cueto en la escultura contemporánea...]
    Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984
    In this essay, the painter Carlos Mérida emphasizes Germán Cueto’s capacity to work with different materials such as iron, tin, and plastics, by connecting them to a new aesthetic modality called “design.” For Mérida, design is the vital [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 736834

  • [El desarrollo de la obra pictórica de Susana Amundaraín...]
    Sierra, Eliseo
    The art critic and researcher Eliseo Sierra reviews a decade of the life and art of the Venezuelan painter Susana Amundaraín, from her beginnings in the 1980s through 1992. After reviewing the art world at the time she began to produce art, the [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1163845

  • [El dibujo y el grabado han contando en el arte colombiano...]
    Serrano, Eduardo, 1939-
    The text, ¡Al Fin Pintura! (1976) [Painting, at Last!] was an introduction to the exhibition with the same name at the Galería Belarca in Bogotá, organized by Eduardo Serrano. This art critic emphasizes the acceptance of the drawing and the print [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1099111

  • [El Grupo de Plásticos Argentinos de Vanguardia...]
    Escandell, Noemí
    This early declaration—most likely written when Tucumán Arde [Tucumán Is Burning] was taking shape (early October 1968)—presents some of the basic ideas behind the group’s collective work. First, it denounces General Juan Carlos Onganía’s [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 760062

  • [El hombre es libre]
    Basso Maglio, Vicente, 1889-
    Vicente Basso Maglio sees “creative freedom” as a constant that lies outside historical time. In his view, it is intrinsically human—a pure concept not bound to questions of style in art, which are to his thinking, vulgar, ornamental, and [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1229417

  • [El nuestro - y es necesario decirlo ene veces- es un arte...]
    Ruiz Gómez, Darío, 1936-
    Darío Ruiz Gómez introduces the exhibition Darío Jiménez: Obras 1942-1979 [Darío Jiménez: Works 1942-1979] at the Galería Belarca in Bogotá. In this essay Ruiz Gómez states that Colombian art lives off “institutionalized aesthetic truths [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1099246

  • [El Salón de Atenas, auspiciado por Atenas Publicidad como un estímulo anual...]
    Serrano, Eduardo, 1939-
    In the catalogue for the first edition of the Salón Atenas exhibitions, Eduardo Serrano Rueda explains the project’s goal of supporting local emerging artists and promoting their work. After stating the rules that were developed to ensure the open [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1094478

  • [Empiezo a trabajar para el Di Tella...]
    Ferrari, León, 1920-
    León Ferrari prepares a sketch to send to theTorcuato Di Tella Institute’s 1965 National and International Prize [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 743799

  • [En 1962 organicé una gran exposicion con obras de Libero Badii]
    Romero Brest, Jorge
    Jorge Romero Brest published the letter written in Oslo (Norway), in 1962, for Libero Badii's exhibition at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes [National Museum of Fine Arts], in which he excused himself for not having been able to write the corresponding [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 759422

  • [En 1995 Daina López comenzó un proyecto...]
    Fuenmayor, Jesús
    Analyzing the work of Venezuelan artist Diana López, critic Jesús Fuenmayor highlights the most salient features of her work from the beginning of the 1990s (when she began her artistic career) up to the moment that the exhibition he is reviewing [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1164014

  • [En la nueva cultura visual,...]
    Laignelet Sourdis, Victor, 1955
    The Colombian artist Víctor Laignelet discusses the ability in painting to expand its range of action—what he calls its antropofagia [anthropophagy]—as it absorbs “new visual expressions” such as “installations,” exposing the roots of [...]
    ICAA Record ID: 1076692


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Book Cover Reveal!

BOOM: Vestigial Tales has a cover! We’re one step closer to the actual release.

This short book of my flash fiction is being published by Legends, the fiction imprint of Ichabod Press and is due to appear in ebook form later this month with a paperback version following in due course.

Containing 106 short stories of no more than 140 characters each and lovely original illustrations by Maria Astakhova, I can’t wait to share the finished product with you.

Watch this space for more news and, of course, links to the actual book!

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Instagram post by 🌹 • Nov 7, 2017 at 11:55am UTC

25.9k Likes, 456 Comments - 🌹 (@kirstannicole) on Instagram: “Food makes me happy 😂”


text:
I Analyzed Seven Factors that Affect My Medium Stats. This Is What I Found.

Medium provides us with three stats, number of views, reads, and fans for each post. The read ratio doesn’t seem to provide any extra information on top of these.

You can do a lot with these three stats. You can learn a lot of lessons from them. I’ve spent analyzing these stats for the last ten days. I published a series of posts on lessons I learned from them. This is the tenth post in this series.

My interpretation of views and fans is as follows. The number of views shows how successful a post is in pulling in readers. The number of fans shows how successful a post is in satisfying the readers.

I see the number of reads as a bridge between views and fans. The number of reads deserves its own analysis. I’m going to do that in the future and I’m going to publish my lessons. This post will be about views and fans.

In order to analyze my stats, I downloaded them with this script (Third party link and script. Please use it on your own risk).

I did some extra manual work, such as adding the publications and tags to the posts. I wrote a small program to avoid some manual work. If you can’t program, you can do the same work manually, by copying and pasting in Excel.

To give you an idea, I had more than 140 posts in my Medium profile at the time of this analysis.

Which Factors Impact Medium Stats?

In order to optimize my Medium stats, I need to know which factors impact them. Here is the list of the factors that I analyzed. If you think that there might be other factors affecting Medium stats, please let me know in the comments.

  • Publication the post is published in
  • The title of the post (*)
  • Post length (*)
  • The likability of the post, including its readability
  • Day of the week the post is published on (*)
  • Tags of the post (*)
  • Featured picture of the post (*)

My posts published in the Startup publication received 10x more views compared to the rest. In order to subtract the impact of that factor, I analyzed only the posts that are published in the Startup publication when analyzing the factors marked with (*).

Publication the Post Is Published In

According to my stats, getting published in a major Medium publication, the Startup, made the biggest change in my views and fans. It multiplied my views by 10 and my fans by 4.

The Title of the Post

Getting published in a major Medium publication gives a huge boost to your views and fans, but why stop there?

You can still optimize your stats by coming up with strong and counterintuitive titles. The title of a post has a huge impact on the views. I published three posts about writing impactful titles.

The Likability of the Post

I measured the likability of the post as the ratio of fans to views. The factors that make a post less popular are the following:

  • Incongruent title and content
  • Unbelievable claims
  • Arguments unpopular with the target audience
  • Low readability

I explained the details of each factor and gave several examples in the post This Is What I Learned from My Most Hated Blog Posts.

I use the Hemingway App to measure and improve the readability of my posts. You can see the details and an example screenshot in this post.

Featured Picture of the Post

Believe it or not, I checked my top 10 and bottom 10 posts for the pictures. I liked most of those pictures equally. I think they play a role, but I can’t measure it in my posts.

I’m convinced that each blog post has to have a relevant, beautiful picture at the top. Make sure this is at the top. Otherwise, Medium doesn’t display it in the preview card. This happened to me once.

You can find free pictures on Pixabay. Make sure you give credits to those photographers via a link.

Day of the Week the Post is Published On

This is one of the more interesting results I came across. Monday seems to be the prime time to publish a post, but that doesn’t mean you have to ignore the remaining days.

The posts published on Monday seem to get the 30% of the total views and fans. There is no reason to assume that the posts published in the weekend underperform the rest.

Fig. 1. Views and Fans vs Day of the Week

I came up with two conclusions from this data.

  • Publish my best content on Monday.
  • Publish on every day of the week.

Post Length

When I look at Fig. 2, posts that are six minutes long received the most views and fans. However, the fan to view ratio is the maximum when the post was seven minutes long.

Fig. 2. Views and Fans vs Post Length

To be honest, I didn’t normalize these values for other factors such as day of the week. Maybe, I’m just publishing longer posts on Mondays, because I have more time to write them in the weekend. This is something I have to look into as future work.

Until then, I’m going to stick with posts that are six to seven minutes long.

Tags of the Post

This was a difficult one to analyze. First, I had to fill the tags one by one. Then, I had to write a program to process these numbers. Finally, I realized that my more recent posts didn’t reach their full potential in views and fans yet.

As a result, I’m not 100% sure that the results of this analysis are accurate. I include them as reference for future work.

Fig. 3. Views and Fans vs Tags

The tags are sorted according the number of fans, the orange columns. The blue columns refer to the number of views.

People interested in startups don’t seem to click much on my posts, but the ones they do tend to like it more than the people that are interested in management.

In this analysis, I only used the tags that had more than ten posts. There are other tags with less than ten posts. I will use some of those tags in the future, such as leadership. I’m curious how they will perform.

The results are not clear in this one. I’m going to make a similar analysis in the future.

Factors that I Haven’t Analyzed

There are some factors that I haven’t analyzed in this study. I don’t know how to analyze them at the moment, such as the number of followers when a post was published.

I have no impact on some of them, such as getting a high number of initial claps from the editors of the publication.

I’m not going to experiment with some of them, such as consistency of publishing posts or interactions with the readers via responses. I’m not going to ignore reader comments just to measure the impact.

  • Timing of acceptance to the publication
  • Number of followers of the writer
  • Getting a high number of initial claps from the editors of the publication
  • Interactions with the readers via responses
  • Consistency of publishing posts, including tags

Here are the lessons I learned after all the analysis I have done.

  • Do my best to get published regularly in the Startup publication.
  • Come up with strong and counterintuitive titles.
  • Aim for posts around 6 – 7 minutes.
  • Pay attention to the likability of the post, including its readability.
  • Publish my best content on Monday, but keep publishing on every day of the week.
  • Pay attention to the tags.
  • Experiment with tags that I don’t use often.
  • Pay attention to the picture of the post.
  • Respond to user comments.
  • Keep publishing a post per day, focusing on the better performing tags.

When looking at these results, please take into account that they are based on my posts and my audience. Maybe your posts and your audience like 3 minute posts more than 6 minutes posts. Or they’d click your posts about startups more than management.

So, please use these results as information only. Do your own analysis if you can and please let me know if you publish it.

Future Work

  • Normalize the stats such as length vs day of the week.
  • Analyze the read stats.
  • Download the stats every week and do a week over week analysis.
  • Try to find a way to use the number of followers when a post is published in the analysis.

I thank my mastermind partner David Nowak for giving me the idea to look at my Medium stats.

Your Turn

Please let me know what you think about this analysis and conclusions.

  • Are there other factors that would play a role in Medium stats?
  • Did you do a similar analysis yourself?
  • If so, what are the lessons you’ve learned?
  • If not, are you inspired to do a similar analysis yourself?
Burak Bilgin
Software developer with a Ph.D. and 15 years of experience. I write daily on personal development and life lessons. Sign up to my email newsletter to receive a weekly overview of my latest content on personal development and life lessons.


text:
age, height, real name

Age, Height, Weight etc: edit

Who is it?: TV ACTRESS
Occupation: Actress, author, film producer, fashion designer, businesswoman
Real Name: Mary-Kate Olsen
Nick Name: M-K
Age / How old?: June 13, 1986
Birth Sign: Gemini
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, CA
Height in 2020: 5 ft 2 in or 157 cm
Weight in 2020: 49 kg or 108 pounds
Nationality: American
Race / Ethnicity: White
Mary-Kate Olsen Education:

She graduated from Campbell Hall School and New York University.
Mary-Kate Olsen measurements

Measurements, Body: edit

Body Measurements: 34-24-34 in or 87-61-87 cm
Shoe Size: 5 (US)
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
choose profession

Mary-Kate Olsen Bio

Bio: edit

Mary-Kate Olsen is an American actress, fashion designer, businesswoman and producer, born in Los Angeles, California in 1985. Apparently this skillful woman can do absolutely everything, but when did it start? Mary-Kate started her career at the age of nine months old along with her twin sister Ashley Olsen with the role of Michelle Tanner on TV sitcom named ‘Full House’. She appeared in ‘It Takes Two’, ‘Two of a kind’, ‘Passport to Paris’, ‘Seventh Heaven’, ‘Winning London’, ‘Beastly’ and thank to these movies and TV shows she got her fame.

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Family, Mother, Father, Wife & Husbands, Kids edit

In 1996 her parents decided to divorce.

Father: her father’s name is David Olsen, a real estate manager.

Mother: her mother’s name is Jarnette Jones, a personal manager.

Siblings: She has a brother named Brent, a younger sister, Elizabeth and a twin sister Ashley Olsen.

Husbands and kids: She is married to Olivier Sarkozy, a French banker and a half-brother of Nicolas Sarkozy. They don’t have kids from this marriage.

Mary-Kate Olsen sexuality

Sexuality / Sexual Orientation edit

Sexual orientation: straight

Mary-Kate had relationships with Max Winkler, David Katzenberg, Ali Fetourechi, Stavros Niarchos, Max Snow and Nate Lowman.

She was also rumored to be dating Heath Ledger, Lapo Elkann and Dustin Yellin.

★ Watch Here: TOP TV Actresses ➤
net worth

Money, Net Worth edit

Her net worth is estimated at around $ 200 Million.

Houses & Cars edit

Place of living: The married couple owns an $8 million townhouse in New York City.

Cars: The actress was spotted driving a Porsche Cayenne.

Facts and Favorite Things: edit

    • Mary-Kate is left-handed.
    • She loves horses.
    • Her first kiss happened on the set of ‘Passport to Paris’.
    • In 2012 she officially quit acting and hasn’t appeared anywhere since that time.
    • There is a museum in New York dedicated to Olsen sisters.
    • She has English, German and Italian ancestry.
    • She wanted to be a candy maker when she was a kid.
    • Mary-Kate has an attention deficit disorder.
misc questions

Misc Questions edit

What is it like to be married?

Mary-Kate Olsen has been married to Olivier Sarkozy since 2015 and from the previous marriage with Charlotte Bernard he has got kids, so she has to go home, cook diner and raise children.

Has she written a book?

In 2008 Mary-Kate and Ashley wrote a book, called ‘Influence’. There readers can find interviews with various artists, writers, photographers, and just bright personalities.

How is Mary-Kate connected to fashion world?

She is mostly concentrated on fashion industry. She has established a fashion line ‘Elizabeth and James’ with her sister

Mary-Kate Olsen Popularity in Google (2019-2020):

★ Watch HERE: TOP 100 Most Popular Stars ➤


text:
This qualification is awarded by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, United Kingdom (ACCA), the largest and fastest-growing global professional accountancy body. This qualification allows a person to work in any organisation as a Finance, Accounts or Management professional. To become an ACCA member candidates are required to pass a total of 14 papers plus an ethical module, and have three years of practical experience gained before, during or after qualification.

After completing the Fundamentals level of ACCA, and submitting a research paper, candidates can gain a BSc Honours degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, UK. Similarly after completing the Professional level, candidates can proceed to an MBA from the same university.

The syllabus is divided into the Fundamentals level consisting of 9 papers from F1 to F9 and the Professional level with 7 papers from P1 to P7. The Fundamentals level is further divided into a Knowledge module (3 papers) and Skills module (6 papers). Similarly, Professional level is divided into an Essential module (3 papers) and Optional module (with a choice of 2 out of 4 papers).

Knowledge moduleF1Accountant in Business
F2Management Accounting
F3Financial Accounting
Skills moduleF4Corporate and Business Law
F5Performance Management
F7Financial Reporting
F8Audit and Assurance
F9Financial Management

Essential moduleP1Professional Accountant
P2Corporate Reporting
P3Business Analysis
Skills moduleP4Advanced Financial Management
P5Advanced Performance Management
P6Advanced Taxation
P7Advanced Audit and

Various entry routes are possible to start:

Minimum entry requirements: Minimum three GCSEs and two A levels in five separate subjects, including Mathematics and English or equivalent.

Via FIA qualifications: If you don’t have minimum qualifications, you should register for Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) and study for one, or all, of the entry-level qualifications. You can study for the ACCA qualification after you have completed the Diploma in Accounting and Business.

Graduate-entry route: Relevant degree holders may be exempted from some or all of nine papers in the Fundamentals level.

Students can be given exemptions for some or all the fundamentals level papers based on their existing qualifications. To enquire about exemptions, the candidate should submit a copy of existing qualification certificates and Polyskills Institute will advise possible exemptions after checking with ACCA.

Papers F1, F2, F3 and F4 are all two-hour assessments which can be sat as a computer-based or paper-based exam. Polyskills Institute is an approved centre for computer based examination (CBE). Computer based exams are conducted on every Thursday and candidates should register three days before the exam. Skills, Essentials and Options exams are all three-hour paper-based exams. Paper-based exams are conducted by ACCA in June and December only.

You will receive Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business on completion of ACCA fundamentals level nine papers.

This course starts in January and July (third week) every year. The course can be organized for a group of participants by an organization on request.

The course is offered in two semesters of 18 weeks duration each in a year. The first semester starts from January to May and second semester from July to November every year. Each lecture consists of two hours and 4 to 6 lectures per week. Daily timings for morning classes are between 8.30 am – 12.30 pm and evening classes are between, 4-6 pm, or 6-8 pm.

You’ll discover a world of opportunity.

Why study with ACCA? Simple. You’ll have the world’s most progressive and supportive accountancy body driving your career towards even greater opportunity. Join the fastest-growing gateway to the accountancy profession and build your success story.

Six reasons to choose a qualification with ACCA

1 – You’ll discover a world of opportunity

ACCA is the world’s fastest-growing gateway to the accountancy profession, helping people like you to become successful accountancy professionals.

Our global reputation is so strong that we now have over 208,000 members and 503,000 students in 179 countries.

Our mission is to give you greater career opportunities through qualifications that are recognised and recommended around the world. And with the ACCA Careers Job Board, you’ll have access to a wealth of advice and thousands of vacancies waiting to be filled.

2 – Employers trust ACCA

We have 110 years of experience, so employers trust us to deliver skilled professionals. We work with over 7,300 Approved Employers and over 80 accountancy partnerships around the world.

Based on international accounting standards and independently benchmarked for quality, employers know that an ACCA qualification is a mark of professional excellence. And ACCA qualified candidates have what it takes to drive their business forward.

3 – Become part of an active network

Connections to the right network are crucial when you’re advancing your career. When you become an ACCA student, you’ll have opportunities to interact with fellow students through our virtual learning community, and take part in face-to-face networking events in your local area.

And once you become a member, you’ll automatically get access to our worldwide network of finance professionals via our members LinkedIn group. This provides you with a source of valuable connections and mentoring opportunities.

4 – We’re flexible

No other professional accountancy body offers the same level of study support and flexibility. We provide full-time, part-time and self-study options. You can even learn online through tools such as ACCA-X – our user-friendly online learning programme; providing high quality, free and affordable courses.

Get additional letters after your name – You can even gain a BSc in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, or a Master’s degree in Professional Accountancy from the University of London at the same time as studying for the ACCA Qualification. And we have specialism options which allow you to become experts in your chosen field.

5 – Quality and reputation are equally important

Our qualifications reflect ACCA’s reputation for excellence, integrity and accountability – a reputation you become associated with the moment you begin studying.

The learning materials you’ll use and the people who will teach you have to meet our high standards. And our Approved Learning Partners are specially selected and regularly assessed.

We also advise and support members, governments, organisations, regulators and employers, and encourage and deliver research that helps to inform and shape the future of accountancy and business.

6 – Here to support you

We offer extensive support online and through our 95 offices and centres globally.

You’ll get access to online materials including syllabus and study guides, past exam papers, guidance from the examining team and articles from experienced professionals in the field.

We work hard to make sure that exams are flexible and convenient. And we’re the only accountancy body with a student contact centre operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Language support – If English is not your first language and you need additional help and support, BPP University English Language Support for ACCA can help you succeed. It gives you tailored support for each exam you take.

Our Qualifications:

Find the starting point that’s right for you

We have more paths to success than anyone else. Start at the right level for you, and begin your ACCA journey today.

Strategic Professional
Strategic Professional is the final stage of the ACCA Qualification. If you have relevant education such as a university degree from an ACCA-accredited university, you could start here.

Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills
Our Applied Knowledge, Applied Skills and Strategic Professional exams together form the ACCA Qualification. If you don’t have the relevant education to jump straight in with our Strategic Professional exams then you can start at Applied Knowledge. However, you’ll need to have some relevant secondary education.

Don’t have the qualifications to start the ACCA Qualification? No problem. Our Foundations exams will give you all the grounding you need.

Your Career:

Why choose accountancy?

Accountancy professionals are in huge demand around the world, so there has never been a better time to launch your career. But why choose accountancy? We’ve gathered together some of the most popular reasons.

Every organisation in the world shares a common factor. Their success is entirely dependent on a sound approach to financial management. That makes accountancy as essential to the health of organisations as medicine is to human health.

It also makes accountancy one of the most diverse professions, with opportunities across all sectors and industries, and in all parts of the world.

Accountancy offers exceptional job prospects. You can progress quickly to a position of responsibility, and even work your way up to board level. It’s also an excellent foundation on which to launch your own business, or springboard into another profession such as corporate finance.

Accountancy isn’t just about numbers. It can employ a wide range of other skills such as communications, teamwork, strategy, leadership and problem-solving. Choose a global organisation and you could also benefit from some incredible travel opportunities.

As one of the most flexible professions, accountancy can help you achieve the perfect work-life balance. Part-time roles and career breaks are possible, and the global demand for accountancy professionals also creates many self-employment opportunities.

Accountancy can be extremely rewarding. Senior roles often attract high value salaries and benefits packages, with unlimited scope for progression.

You also benefit from being part of a prestigious profession that is respected and trusted by organisations and communities.

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FA1Recording Financial Transactions -
Professional Accountancy
FA2Maintaining Financial Records - Professional Accountancy 22-Nov-202013-Jan-2021Register
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IH Journal of Education and Development

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About changing worlds, cores values and working at an IH school by Helga Kuipers

It´s funny to write an article for the IH Journal shortly after finding out that our school will no longer be a member of IHWO – news that affected me deeply on a personal and emotional level. Why?

“It´s not like you´ve lost your job”, some friends said the other day, “such a long time with the same organisation, maybe this means new opportunities for you – don’t you feel excited?” No, not really… Why not?

I´ve spent my whole professional teacher´s life at IH, from my initial training and a few years of teaching and training at IH London to over a decade as a teacher, teacher trainer and DoS at IH Seville and then onto my present job at (still-) IH Berlin.

And after all these years, IH is still IH. It´s not quite the same atmosphere as back in 1996 when being communicative was somehow linked to sitting on the floor in a circle, when you had the choice between preparing your classes in the smoking or non-smoking teachers´ room (or the bar downstairs…) and when you could use TV programs recorded by Jim on big videotapes in class. The times of the legendary Christmas parties on the first floor of 106 Piccadilly are long gone… International House has undergone a lot of changes since then; it is a lot more professional now, offering courses on ELT management and online training courses, with teachers and trainers using Powerpoint and IWBs.

“What does it mean to be an IH school?” was the underlying question when identifying the core values of IH. “What does it mean to work at an IH school?” is what I would like to write about, and about how the core values have an impact on IH people – students, teachers, trainers and managers.

The IHC/CELTA course is one big inspiration when you first start your job. My teacher training course at IH London with five Teaching Practice Groups, each teaching a different language, certainly changed my life. And the good thing about working at an IH school is that it does not have to stop there. We don´t agree with the fact that in a teacher´s job the majority of the work should happen behind closed doors and that´s why IH schools make a continuous effort to encourage teachers to work on their professional development through offering observations, teacher development seminars and conferences. Being open and receptive to changing worlds around us and a flexible approach to methodology means that IH is an organisation still at the forefront of development in the world of language training.

Opening classroom doors and encouraging debates amongst teachers within a positive and motivating atmosphere where we learn from each other through giving and receiving positive feedback and ideas – that’s inspirational for IH teachers. Teachers carry this inspiration into their classrooms, this positive atmosphere where making mistakes is part of the learning process and students are encouraged to learn from each other.

Understanding the processes of language learning and the people involved in them is fundamental to IH. Working at IH means speaking the same language in terms of many aspects of teaching: teaching aims, student-centredness, self reflection, learner autonomy, TTT, PPP, ARC (sorry Mr. Scrivener, it might not have been your intention, but you did create another acronym), TBL… When moving to different countries to teach at IH schools it is quite reassuring to be able to find people who speak your “language”. When everything else around you is new: new country, new language, new flat, new people – walking into an IH staff room can be a little bit like coming home.

Turning a little language school in a flat in Córdoba into the International House World Organisation – that´s an achievement.

As an IH teacher you can accomplish a lot of things. You can travel around the world whilst earning a living, if that’s what you’re looking for, making use of the IH transfer system (it does help if you teach English, job offers teaching other languages are rather scarce). If teaching is your “proper job” and it’s a career in language teaching you’re aiming for, there are some excellent training courses at your disposal and you might even be offered a good deal by the school you work for. Learning to design materials, learning to give a Teacher Development Seminar, learning to take on senior responsibilities, learning to train teachers or run online courses… teachers looking for challenges and opportunities should be able to find plenty within IH.

Looking at a lesson plan from a CELTA course, one would think that teachers try to achieve aims all the time: lesson aims, stage aims, main aims, secondary aims, personal aims … Fortunately once you teach your own class at your own rhythm without an audience of 5 people (4 worrying about their next class, concentrating on observation tasks or wildly giving you signs to make you understand that there are 5 minutes left until the end of your 35 minute teaching slot and the fifth person frantically writing comments on every noise you make in class…) you don´t have to worry that much about achieving all your aims in one lesson anymore. Your students´ progress is in part your achievement as a teacher and it should fill you with pride if you stop and think about the number of students who learned a language with you, those who successfully passed an exam, maybe found a job because of their language skills, all those who managed to study abroad and maybe found the love of their life out there, or those who simply overcame their insecurity and managed to actually speak or that teenager who hated studying the language at school and then discovered that it can be quite fun and actually useful.  Oh no, it is not just any old job we’re doing, we do touch on people´s lives, don´t we? That’s quite a scary thought too, if you think of those students, who… But let´s not go there.

Teaching at an IH school means that you work in a supportive environment. There is a DoS if you need help, a staff room where you find colleagues who are happy to give you a hand with finding an activity or unjamming the photocopier. There are tons of teaching materials, magazines and books on language teaching methodology where you can read up on interesting and not so interesting developments and new or not so new approaches. Maybe I have been extremely lucky with the schools I’ve worked for, but I have always found that there was more material and literature available than I could actually read or look at…

There is a very good support structure available to IH staff working in management too. I can´t recall how many times I’ve gone back to the DoS Handbook or the IHWO website or got in touch with colleagues doing the same job around the world, when I’ve had to design a course, review the appraisal system, update level tests or, lacking inspiration, plan a Teacher Development session.

Imagine you´ve just won the lottery… Imagine you´re at a dinner party … Students have to imagine situations all the time. Teachers too. If I had to write a film review in another language, what would I struggle most with? If I had to learn how to use the third conditional, what would I find most difficult? If I had to stand in front of the whole class trying to mime the sentence ‘the tap´s dripping`, how would I feel? Trying to predict students´ potential problems with a particular language point or activity is what we do all the time.

Retaining the ability to put yourself in someone else´s shoes, no matter how many students you´ve taught or teachers you´ve trained, is quite a challenge! Working in an IH school helps to keep this imagination going.

Yes, that’s our job.

In the classroom we try to encourage our students to communicate. I have actually seen teachers who were so busy creating a need for communication, pre-teaching vocabulary, setting up activities, scaffolding the way to a freer speaking activity, giving models from native speakers, that, in the end, they didn´t listen when their students actually had something to say!

Observing a teacher trainee’s class the other day, I felt quite jealous of the amount and level of authentic communication happening in her classroom. The students were totally engaged in conversation trying to solve a problem one of the students had. No pre-teaching of vocabulary, no setting of a situation, no “advice” target language – and I felt for a moment that I would spoil, rather than improve things, if I tried to put any structure into her planning and teaching. Still, the good thing is that there is room at IH for such thoughts, and people to discuss them with.

My teaching has changed a lot since I first began, I´ve taken on board a lot of new ideas, tried out new approaches, gone back to old ones, using the latest materials or none at all… but my basic underlying teaching beliefs remain the same. A bit like International House, evolving and adapting itself to changing worlds, but always conserving its key values.

Author’s Bio:
Helga has been with IH since 1996. She has worked as a teacher, teacher trainer and Director of Studies at IH London, Seville, Freiburg and Berlin.

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Resuscitating Life Insurance for the Digital Age

Companies that fail to adapt will find themselves scrabbling over an ever-dwindling pie of revenue, but those that do adapt could find themselves at the forefront of a new golden age of life insurance.

(Image credit: aKs_phOtOs.)

The shock of the global financial crisis put life insurance, as an industry, on the back foot. A period of de-risking and retrenchment inevitably followed as companies looked to consolidate their positions and weather the storm. A decade on, and much of this necessary work has been done. The life insurance sector is on a much firmer financial footing, and growth is back on the agenda. Indeed, for many providers, growth is now vital. An aging population means mounting payouts, thanks to policies of old which were designed when data painted a different picture of risk than the one we see today. Securing new sources of revenue is crucial.

There is a huge problem, however: the “pie” of potential customers for traditional life insurance offerings simply isn’t what it used to be, and grows smaller every year. Whereas in the mid 20th Century it was something that most households purchased as a matter of course, younger generations tend to view it as optional at best, if they even consider it at all. The number of U.S. households that hold life insurance of some sort is now at a 50-year low, and according to trade association LIMRA some 38 million households don’t have any form of life insurance at all. According to a recent study by the same organisation, less than 20 per cent of millennials indicated an interest in purchasing life insurance at any point.

Two Options

So life insurers looking for new revenue have two options. They can try and increase market share of the existing, dwindling pie by wrenching already-engaged customers from rivals in an increasingly competitive environment. Or, they can look for new ways to engage new customers—to grow the pie, so to speak. While the first option is the easy route, any truly ambitious provider needs to think about ways to achieve the second, and the future of the sector in general will depend on re-engaging new generations of customers.

The challenge is one of engagement. The need for life insurance, and the protection it provides, hasn’t changed. What has changed, dramatically so, is how people consume information and purchase products and services. Much of this change has been underpinned by advances in online and digital technologies. Unfortunately, the decade of retrenchment following the crisis also meant life insurers stopped innovating. The sector has always had a reputation for lagging slightly behind the times. More than anything else, growing the life insurance pie will mean embracing these new technologies.

The process of gaining and keeping new customers can be broken down into marketing (funnelling people to the point of potential sale), policy creation and sale, and then customer retention and upselling. Digital technology holds the potential to transform each stage, and how they interrelate.

On the marketing front, part of the problem with the current set-up is overreliance on brokers and agents, who are incentivised to target wealthier households of the sort that still routinely look to buy the product (the dwindling pie). But newer forms of media, such as social networks—as well as the sheer ease of sending slick and professional communications in the digital era—can enable a more direct-to-market approach, allowing insurers to supplement their relationships with brokers by directly targeting the lower income and younger households that the existing model systematically overlooks. Research suggests that younger generations commonly perceive life insurance to be far more expensive than it is in reality—what better way to bust this myth?

On the policy design and sales front, younger, online consumers expect flexibility, speed and convenience above all, and are far warier of large or long-term financial commitments than their forebears. Modern advanced, automated underwriting capabilities can allow for the creation of a far wider range of niche, temporary policies, as opposed to the one-size-fits-all blanket coverage the industry is used to trafficking in. For example, an individual who engages in extreme sports at the weekend may not currently be interested in buying a whole life insurance policy—but may well see the value in taking out time-limited policies for the periods when they know they will be engaging in these riskier activities. By getting new customers into the ecosystem in this piecemeal fashion, the task of then getting those individuals to add on more coverage, or convert over to full-blown policies, becomes that much easier.

The Role of Data and Automation

Data and automation can play a key role in efficiently connecting these two steps together. Part of the reason the industry has avoided lots of smaller, niche policies in the past is that most will not apply to any given customer at any given time. But targeted, direct, data-driven marketing on social networks and other channels can get around this, to ensure potential customers are offered what they specifically need, when they need it.

To take the previous example, a Facebook group for extreme sports enthusiasts could be an appropriate channel. Or it could be taken further still, down to an individual level. Part of the problem the industry currently has with engagement is that it still relies heavily on the old fashioned approach of an annual sit-down with a financial agent or some other intermediary. The ability to identify customers in specific situations and engage them in a timely fashion—someone who has just gotten married, or is buying a house, for example – could prove a huge advantage, and the tools needed to achieve this do now exist.

The sales process itself also needs to be brought in line with modern consumer habits. In a world where people are used to being able to buy most things at the touch of a few buttons on a desktop or mobile device, this approach needs to apply to life insurance too. Rather than reams of paper forms filled with incomprehensible and irrelevant information, the process should be simple, user-friendly, and quick. Advanced, automated, real-time underwriting technology will again have a key role to play here, and this is one area where life insurers can learn from other insurance sectors that are further along this road. With modern technology, the entire process of policy creation and sign-up, from start to finish, needn’t take more than seven minutes.

It is the third stage, however—customer retention and upselling—where digital technologies could arguably play the most transformative role in redefining the relationship between life insurers and their customers. There is much excitement about the potential of apps and wearables. A regular stream of real-time data from an individual, relating to, for instance, heart rate or exercise levels, could be very useful for designing precisely the sort of tailored, niche policies mentioned above, as well as for the purpose of targeted marketing.

But why should the information only flow in one direction? The life insurance industry has always centred around the collection and analysis of data, and embracing a new digital approach will increase the volume—and individualised nature—of that data by orders of magnitude. The life insurer of the future may have more precise information regarding the health and habits of their customers than the individual themselves, their doctor, or anyone else.

‘Reciprocal Intelligence’

So why not give back? This is where what we call ‘Reciprocal Intelligence’ will come in. As well as providing the core insurance service, insurers could provide regular updates to customers regarding their own data and information – for instance, a message could inform a customer than they’ve reduced their average heart rate by X over Y period, or that their exercise levels have dipped by Z amount. This could be tied to incentives, function as a health warning, or could even connect to policy design through, for example, targets to reduce premiums. It would allow insurers to engage with their customers on a regular and meaningful basis, in a non-sales-oriented fashion, as opposed to the far more remote, irregular and formal relationship that has become traditional. This in turn would create far more opportunities for firms to educate and inform customers of the benefits of more comprehensive policies, as well as for more targeted upselling.

All of this potential for change carries big implications for insurance firms themselves, in terms of structure and culture. Utilising these new approaches will mean accumulating and processing huge amounts of data, and then knowing how to use it to maximum effect. It means that life insurance companies will need to become tech-savvy to the core, on an institutional basis. As has often been said in the era of Google and Amazon – “We’re all tech companies now.”

Firms looking to engage new customers will need to give serious consideration to the question of how to recruit, or collaborate with, those with the right skills and talent going forward. This will require a top-down element: firms wishing to lead the way will need to consider creating new digital departments, including new board level positions encompassing responsibility for delivering digital strategies (Head of Reciprocal Intelligence included). Firms will also need to work to find ways of integrating the right technology solutions into their businesses. There are already numerous InsurTechs that address some of the most pressing problems along the insurance value chain, so collaboration is key.

There is no real reason why life insurance shouldn’t be as much of a standard part of life as it was for individuals in the 20th Century. This isn’t a case of VHS being surpassed by the internet, or steam by electric. It is a matter of technological and cultural adaptation to new habits and ways of living. Those that fail to adapt will find themselves scrabbling over an ever-dwindling pie of revenue. Those that do adapt, that grow the pie, could find themselves at the forefront of a new golden age for life insurance.

Insurance Leadership: Survival of the Fittest in the Digital Age

Tony Laudato // Tony Laudato joined the Hannover Re Group in July 2012 and currently leads the firm’s Partnership Solutions Group, which supports insurance carriers’ products, web, mobile and digital strategies that are focused on the demands of today’s consumers and reaching new markets. In addition to working with carriers, the specialized team works with emerging, high-tech distribution companies and InsurTech players, vetting their technology and helping them gain access to insurers that want to modernize the life insurance sales process, products, risk assessment, client engagement and back-end analytics.

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Israel’s Terrorism
The Middle East is boiling over yet again. Israel is resorting to the one strategy it has perfected since the day it was created, murdering civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure.
Tuesday, July 18,2006 00:00
by Gabriel Ash, dissidentvoice.org

The Middle East is boiling over yet again. Israel is resorting to the one strategy it has perfected since the day it was created, murdering civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure.

The Israeli defense doctrine, old as Israel itself, considers bombing of civilian targets a means for pressuring “militants” and uncooperative governments. So Israel bombs bridges and villages in South Lebanon, power plants in Gaza, orchards, fields, schools, hospitals, residential neighborhoods, beach barbecue parties, etc. Everything is a legitimate target. Israeli ministers announce publicly that their chief strategy is to cause civilian suffering. Every day sees its Guernica, and the U.N., which proudly displays a reproduction of the painting, is mum in the face of a hundred Guernicas.

To be clear, Israel’s actions fit the very definition of terrorism. Doubly so now, since the bombing campaign is a response to attacks on Israeli soldiers, not civilians. The ever more morally bankrupt “international community” sees nothing, hears nothing, and says nothing. Don’t take my word for it. An aide of the Israeli PM said recently: “We are acting there [in Gaza] in an unprecedented manner; we’re firing hundreds of artillery shells, attacking from the air, sea and land and the world remains silent.”

Having been so encouraged by the world’s indifference to the bombing of Gaza, Israel is giving Lebanon the same murderous treatment. Putin and Chirac have managed to assemble some moderate testiness. The rest of the world called for “restraint.” When the mission statement is to exact revenge and kill civilians, what’s restraint?

According to the EU, Hamas has to renounce violence to become a “responsible government.” And Hizbullah has to release the captured soldiers. The Israeli government, on the other hand, although responsible for an unending campaign of terrorism, need not renounce violence, nor release any of its political prisoners. The brotherhood of money and white skin is proving again to be thicker than blood.

Hizbullah’s intervention proved again it is the only power that wouldn’t stay silent in the face of Israeli barbarism. Since Israel recognizes neither international laws nor international borders, there was nothing morally wrong in Hizbullah’s fighters crossing the border into Israel to raid a military patrol. Israel should not enjoy the defense of principles it doesn’t respect. With its latest raid, Hizbullah consolidated its position as the leading popular voice in the Middle East, displaying tactical brilliance, solidarity, and a refusal to be bribed or cowered that is putting the rest of the world -- the Arab puppet governments as well as Europe’s hypocrites -- to shame. To boot, Hizbullah is also putting to shame other Muslim radicals, most notably the Iraqi thugs and Al-Qaeda, both by successfully raiding legitimate military targets and by feeding a broad popular consensus that cuts across the Sunni-Shia divide.

However, courage and legitimacy aside, it is anybody’s guess whether the leadership of Hizbullah foresaw that Israel would go postal and open a full-blown air war against Lebanon, shooting civilians in cars like ducks. If they did not, they were certainly shortsighted, and if they did, they were reckless.

Nevertheless, it is far from clear who wins when the dust settles. While guaranteed to suffer severe damage, Hizbullah still has the odds on its side. When Israel invaded Lebanon for the umpteenth time, government officials announced that Israel’s goal was nothing less than the disarming of Hizbullah and the setting of “new rules of the game.” That pronouncement sounds awfully reminiscent of Sharon’s stated goal for invading Lebanon in 1982, to create “a new order in Lebanon.” What are the chances that Olmert will have better success than Sharon? Slim. Hizbullah will nor disarm willfully. Who will disarm it? There are three candidates, and none of them looks too promising.

Israel: Israel can re-occupy Lebanon. That would certainly be a setback to Hizbullah, which would lose men, installations, and freedom of operation. But can Israel destroy Hizbullah? Note that Israel is unable to destroy Hamas, a much weaker organization, on a much smaller territory. No matter how much violence it used, Israel couldn’t prevent Hamas from launching rockets and gaining popularity. Will Israel be more successful in Lebanon?

The “International Community”: One could see France and the U.S. occupying Lebanon, probably under the guise of some invitation from the Christian minority, or a call for U.N. “peacekeeping” a la Haiti. Assuming Western powers are stupid (or cornered) enough to take the bait, can they achieve in Lebanon what Israel, with a lot more commitment, couldn’t? A Western occupation of Lebanon is likely to turn the whole Middle East into one long crusaders vs. Muslims crescent. Does the West have the stomach for that? Does it have a reasonable chance of winning?

The “Cedar Revolution”: The most promising alternative, for the West, is to empower some local stooges that would rule the new Lebanon colony for Western and Israeli interests. That is the West’s favorite strategy, currently tried in many places around the globe. But Shiites are a poor, radical, bitter and armed majority in Lebanon. It would take more than a few Starbucks customers to subdue them. The anti-Hizbullah coalition is small and weak. Its unity is doubtful and its willingness to fight far from evident. Hizbullah, on the other hand, will have not only well-disciplined cadres and massive popular support, but also the support of Syria and Iran.

Israel could seek to cause as much damage as possible to Hizbullah’s infrastructure with aerial assaults, then call it victory. But the blow to Hizbullah would not be enough to put an end to its operations, probably leaving Olmert in the unpleasant position of having to declare impotence. Hence the scenario of a full-blown war is extremely plausible. Such a war will eventually involve an Israeli invasion seeking to severely weakens Hizbullah, followed by an international peacekeeping force that replaces Israel and nurtures a government of Lebanese collaborators. In the rosiest scenario that government eventually gains the ability to repress the majority of the Lebanese population with only Western financial support. At that point the “peacekeepers” withdraw and Lebanon joins the dubious fraternity of Egypt and Jordan, safe Western puppet regimes.

A not-so-slight complication of this classic colonial scenario is the fact that Hizbullah is not an isolated resistance movement; rather it enjoys the international support of Iran and Syria, as well as strong ties with the Iraqi Shia militias, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore, in the context of a growing resource conflict between the superpowers, Iran could eventually receive covert support from Russia and/or China, in ways reminiscent of the support the Afghani Mujahaddin (and Bin Laden) received from the U.S. Thus, a successful repression of Hizbullah is likely to require at some point dealing a severe blow to Syria and Iran, and such a blow could require a proxy war between the U.S., Russia and China.

To put it differently, the Israel-Hizbullah war can remain contained, or it can end in a decisive manner. But it cannot both remain contained and end in a decisive manner.

(In light of this, one must read skeptically Western editorials calling on Israel to exercise caution, avoid overreaching and limit itself to targeting Hizbullah only are a miserable attempt to defend Israel while keeping up the pretense of opposing the targeting of civilians. The fact is the “collateral damage” is not a result of Israel’s failure to “minimize the damage to civilian bystanders.” Since Israel can only achieve its aims by widening the scope of the war and forcing other parties to get involved, “damage to civilians” is not a by-product but the core of Israel’s strategy of escalation. The longer other parties fail to get involved, the more civilians will die. The New York Times is right that such indiscriminate murder strengthens Hamas and Hizbullah, but the problem is not one that Israel can rectify by changing its tactics. The problem is Israel itself and its true goals.)

The long war scenario, which is the only scenario that has a slightest chance of achieving Israel’s goal of disarming Hizbullah, is similar to what the U.S. strategy in Iraq, where success is getting ever more elusive. It is also similar to the original Sharon plan for Lebanon in 1982, which failed. Why would this scenario be more successful in today’s Lebanon? Odds are that it won’t. But there are good reasons to believe that it will be tried. Three reasons, to be precise:

First, the post-colonial Western imagination is limited. This scenario is the well-understood way of dealing with subject populations in troubled corners of the world. It worked many times in the past, and even if its effectiveness is on a downward curve, there isn’t any alternative short of giving up power and compromising.

Second, even if final success is elusive, war buys time, for Israel as well as for the U.S., for the politicians as well as for the interests they represents. For the latter, losing in a decade is still better than compromising today. Raymond Aaron called politics “the art of making things last.” That holds true even when what is being made to last is misery.

Third, in international politics it is often true that “it’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey.” For many Israeli and American interests, war has value, in some cases hard cash value, regardless of final outcome.

One aspect of the intrinsic value of war is that both the leaders and the public in Israel truly believe that all Arabs will surrender if enough force is applied. It never worked. But that racism is too deep to be inconvenienced by facts. The second Lebanon war won’t be the first war fought for the sake of maintaining illusions.

Israeli PM Olmert and DM Peretz are both lacking in the most important social capital in Israel, military rank. They therefore need to prove -- to the public was well as to themselves -- that their manhood is the longest in the Middle East; (in Israel this is called “deterrence.”) Within the Macho culture Israeli leaders have cultivated for decades, justice and compromise are for sissies. Real men murder civilians. The government has therefore little choice but to escalate the military conflict or risk losing its political credibility.

The Israeli Military, which pushed for the recent escalation in both Gaza and Lebanon, taking advantage of the weakness of the political echelon, itches for war. At stake is repairing the psychological damage than “asymmetric warfare” inflicts on the Israeli military (Ilan Pappe, “What Does Israel Want”) But beyond psychology, there are also crucial economic interests. Israel was in the middle of a debate over military expenditures, which the latest budget would cut significantly. The new war will certainly serve as the needed excuse for canceling or otherwise evading the cuts.

Beyond the tangible budget numbers, there is the central position of the army, and the economic interests behind it, within Israeli economy and politics. The stalemate in Gaza and the Hamas’s electoral victory are revealing the hollow core of Israel’s military dominance, Israel’s inability to reduce Palestinians to a hopeless and obedient subject population. Escalation masks this fatal weakness because Israel is undoubtedly the more powerful party. As long as fighting goes on, Israel has the upper hand, its army looks powerful, and above all, useful. The moment the fighting ends, the limits of military power reassert themselves. Continuing military escalation therefore protects the military establishment and Israel’s war economy from internal challenges.

Finally, Israel has no hope of a decisive outcome without the U.S. fully backing it against Iran. And while there are many sane voices calling for the U.S. to dissociate itself from Israel and seek a diplomatic compromise with Iran, there are also powerful U.S. interests itching for a global war. The neo-conservative argument is that a global war is necessary for the maintenance of U.S. dominance, not only in the face of rising local challenges such as Iran, but also to curb the rise of China as a global force. (as an aside, I tend to agree that war is necessary to U.S. global dominance. I doubt however that it is also sufficient.) And behind the neo-cons’ arguments loom the interests of the U.S. military-industrial-complex. Incidentally, the U.S. economy seems to be moving towards a potentially dangerous recession. While this is still early, there should be no doubt that as the U.S. economy deteriorates, the economic appeal of military conflict will increase.

Given his low poll numbers and public dissatisfaction with Iraq, Bush is probably unable to initiate a war against Iran. The generals are opposed and the GOP is likely to be hammered in the mid-term elections. But if the war is initiated by Israel and the U.S. is perceived to be “dragged” into it unwillingly, Bush and the GOP would benefit again from the popular glow of patriotism that war baths leaders in; Especially given that Democrats will not criticize a war fought “to protect Israel,” whose crony capitalists, like Haim Saban, pay for their election campaigns. An Israeli escalation in Lebanon can therefore serve as the necessary trigger for a global conflict that U.S. neo-cons desire.

A larger war will thus serve the short-term interests of the leadership in both Israel and the U.S. It may delay their inevitable decline, but chances are it won’t restore their power. Both have reached the double climax of military power and loathsomeness, a point at which they can win any war, but can impose no peace. Since the Islamist leaders of Hamas and Hizbullah tend to take the long view of history, whereas the leaders of the U.S. and Israel are driven mostly by concern for the near future of corporate balance sheets, an escalating conflict might just give both sides the kind of victory they most crave.

One wished that saner voices prevailed; the slide towards war can be stopped by determined international pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire. That would save many lives, but it will also be a blow to Israeli and U.S. dominance. Therefore, unfortunately, help is definitely not on its way. The people of Lebanon are now being taught a lesson many of them had wanted to forget, that their only defense against their psychopathic southern neighbor is bigger and badder weapons. Rest assured that the lesson will be learned, and that bigger and badder weapons will be used, perhaps against Israel, perhaps half a globe away. Nothing breeds murderers better than silence in the face of murder. Israel’s unquenchable bloodlust was forged in the furnaces of the holocaust and galvanized by the silence of the world. Bin Laden said he was inspired to blow the Twin Towers by the sight of Beirut burning in 1982, “and the whole world saw and heard but it didn’t respond.” Who knows whom and to what the latest mayhem will inspire. There is no real justice in this ever-unfolding sickness, but for those who are content with the poetic kind of justice, there is a plenty.

*  *  *  *

Perhaps a liberal rephrasing of Robert Frost can sum up the stakes:

Some say world domination ends in fire, Some say in ice. From knowing Olmert’s and Bush’s desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if our leaders go for ice, I think they are enough despised, so that for their destruction ice, is also great, and would suffice.

Gabriel Ash is an activist and writer who writes because the pen is sometimes mightier than the sword and sometimes not. He welcomes comments at: [email protected]

Other Articles by Gabriel Ash

* Another Brick in the (Apartheid) Wall
* Why the Boycott of Israel is Justified
* The Israel Lobby and Chomsky’s Reply
Why Oppose the Israel Lobby? Comments on Mearsheimer and Walt
News of Neoconservative Demise are Somewhat Premature
Bravo Abbas! Bravo Hamas!
* Rev. Jackson -- Pissing on the Graves of Civil Rights Heroes
* Imagine All the People, Living Like Mindless Lambs
* Mourning in America
* Oh!-sama
Diagnosing Benny Morris
When at a Loss, Escalate
* Dear Ayatollah
* Settlements: A User’s Guide
* A Victory for Israeli Democracy

* Don’t Get Mad, Get Going!
* Pink Delusions

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Full Day Solar Charger: $45.00
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Weekly Photo Challenge – Red Rule of Thirds

Right now I would be thrilled with the wonderful autumn weather that was the day this photo was taken at the Columbus Zoo in one of the bird areas instead of our current winter storm warning.

I wonder where this little guy is now? Hopefully someplace safe and warm.

About imagesbytdashfield

Fine art photographer who loves to see and capture the amazing things in this world. Owner of Images by TDashfield photography. www.imagesbytdashfield.com
This entry was posted in Nature, Ohio, photography, weekly challenge and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

12 Responses to Weekly Photo Challenge – Red Rule of Thirds

  1. Nice shot. I like the lighting. Yup, more snow in th forecast here too. Temp in the car this morning was -8F. Brrrrrrr

  2. Son of Sharecroppers says:

  3. Beautiful shot Teri, I would not think it was taken in zoo! I wish the same for this little birdie 🙂

  4. Cindi says:

    I hope he’s safe and warm, too! Cardinals are my favorite North American bird. I miss them here in Northern Europe!

  5. Nancy says:

    Okay this is just getting a bit strange… I just saw a Cardinal here in Arizona, yesterday! I have never seen one here in the Southwest and was missing them so! And then you post this. Whoa….. I am telling you…. Like Minds!! 😀 Another beauty of a photo!

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Legal and illegal immigrants in the United States can be deported or removed for a variety of reasons from East Windsor Connecticut.

Understanding How to Avoid Deportation from East Windsor Connecticut

In most instances, a person is Deported after an arrest or conviction from a criminal charge, despite the charge not being related to their citizenship status. As well, Deportation also happens for merely being in the United States illegally. If you are about to be deported from East Windsor CT, your best bet would be to learn about any remedies you may have.

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Those who seek asylum in the United States, and those who have lived in the U.S. for more than 7 years may be able to stop being deported or removed. Often times, many cities and states have "safe harbor" laws that allow offenders not to be reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless specifically compelled to by Federal law. You can present your case today and East Windsor CT Deportation lawyers will go over your situation and give you a plan of action.


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  • Matthew 7:7-8 January 22, 2021
    “[Ask, Seek, Knock] “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
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text: Dear all, We are extending the submission deadline for the HoTT 2019 proceedings special issue of MSCS; the new deadline is *Friday 13 December*. Two notes for submitters: - If you already submitted for the original deadline but would like to use the extra time to revise your submission, let us know, and we will hold back from sending your submission out for refereeing for now. - There are problems with the MSCS LaTeX class file currently linked in the author instructions. Hopefully this should be fixed soon, but for now, don’t worry about putting submissions into the journal style — this can be done later after acceptance. Best wishes, –Peter and Dan. Original CfP: Submissions are now open for a special issue of Mathematical Structures in Computer Science on the proceedings of the HoTT 2019 conference, edited by Dan Licata and Peter LeFanu Lumsdaine. Papers on work presented at the HoTT19 conference are particularly encouraged, but the special issue is open to any work on homotopy type theory and related research areas. Specific topics include but are not limited to: homotopical and higher-categorical semantics of type theory; synthetic homotopy theory; applications of univalence and higher inductive types; cubical type theories and cubical models; formalization of mathematics and computer science in homotopy type theory / univalent foundations; and new type theories based on higher-dimensional ideas. To submit a paper, please follow the general MSCS submission procedure at . When giving the submission details, select “Homotopy Type Theory 2019” for the field “Special Issue”. More information at: - - - Best, Dan and Peter. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Homotopy Type Theory" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to To view this discussion on the web visit


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China's Chongqing kicks off new postal rail service to Europe
Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality opened a new postal rail service to Europe Friday to meet the rising demand for international parcel delivery amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The text of the news was taken from a English-language source:

The first train of the service, operated by a China-Europe cargo train, carries 44 TEUs of relief supplies and parcels, expected to arrive in Lithuania 10 days later. After that, parcels will be transferred to 36 European countries such as Spain, Denmark and France.

The China-Europe cargo service departing from Chongqing plans to kick off seven postal trains to Lithuania in the near future.

The Europe-bound trains departing from Chongqing have been regarded as pioneering efforts in China’s rail postal service. As of the end of March, the China-Europe cargo trains operated from Chongqing have provided postal service to 36 European countries since 2014.

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Will China Railway Express boom in 2020?
During the month of December we have celebrated the fifth anniversary of the first cargo train Yiwu-Madrid (China Railway Express). In November of 2014, the Chinese and Spanish Governments both witnessed the longest railway route in the world being born. By then, the company responsible of the initiative, Yixinou, was able to manage one train to one destination. Five years later, we are confident to reach a total number of 500 trains operating to 11 different worldwide destinations departing or arriving in Yiwu, East China’s Zhejiang Province.
Source: Global Times
French economic outlook
The current situation in France’s rail freight market and the forecast of the main macroeconomic indicators point to the revival of economic activity.


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Two Indian Army Jawans Martyred In Ceasefire Violation By Pakistan

Two Indian Army jawans who were injured yesterday in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Rampur sector, have attained martyrdom today in the hospital.

The martyred soldiers have been identified as Havildar Gokaran Singh and Naik Shankar Singh Mehra.

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