text:
>When Walking through "Stuff"

>Most know I’m not at all a fan of the unbiblical concept of Your Best Life Now in its various disguises. (By the way, have you considered the only people who can say they are having their best life now are the people enroute to hell???).

Jesus said following Him would involved persecution, hatred, struggle. Perhaps best to take Him at His Word?

Here’s some tremendous and comforting counsel from C. H. Spurgeon:

“The lesson of wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble.
“Count it no strange thing, but a part of ordinary ministerial experience.
“Should the power of depression be more than ordinary, think not that all is over with your usefulness. Cast not away your confidence, for it hath great recompense of reward. Even if the enemy’s foot be on your neck, expect to rise and overthrow him. Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not his saints.
“Live by the day—ay, by the hour. Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reeds of human help. Be not surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world. Never count upon immutability in man: inconstancy you may reckon upon without fear of disappointment. The disciples of Jesus forsook him; be not amazed if your adherents wander away to other teachers: as they were not your all when with you, all is not gone from you with their departure.
“Serve God with all your might while the candle is burning, and then when it goes out for a season, you will have the less to regret. Be content to be nothing, for that is what you are. When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full, except in the Lord.
“Set small store by present rewards; be grateful for earnests by the way, but look for the recompensing joy hereafter. Continue, with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you.
“Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith’s rare wisdom enables us to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide.
“Between this and heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our covenant Head. In nothing let us be turned aside from the path which the divine call has urged us to pursue. Come fair or come foul, the pulpit is our watch-tower, and the ministry our warfare; be it ours, when we cannot see the face of our God, to trust under THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS.”

Author: Jack Hager

Jesus invaded my life shortly after my arrest at age 26. I spent the first few years of my new life incarcerated. Went to Bible school after parole; have served with Kansas City Youth For Christ, Headwaters Christian Youth (Rhinelander, Wi), Family Life Ministries (Bath, NY), and now with Midland Ministries (Saint Joseph, Mo). Married with four children, work with youth, adults, inmates. Heavily involved in Bible quizzing for four decades. Narrow minded about Jesus and the gospel; fairly open minded about most other things. Speak in churches, camps (both teen and family), civic groups, public schools, Christian schools and colleges...amazed I get to do what I get to do....favorite verse Romans 15.13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, may overflow with hope."

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text:
Fish - Jerry Garcia Silk Collection 17 Necktie

This red, blue and green tie is in excellent condition. 4x57inches (SKU# T52154)
In stock
Only 1 left
Now Only $20.00 Regular Price $25.00

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Product Name Fish - Jerry Garcia Silk Collection 17 Necktie
SKU t52154
Price $25.00
Length 57.0 inches
Width 4.00 Inch
Color Multi-Colored
Material Silk
Pattern Geometric
Designer Jerry Garcia
New Arrivals 111

Think of YourNecktieShop as your friendly neighborhood store, the corner shop where you can browse your favorite neckwear at your pace, ask a question or just chat it up with our knowledgeable staff!

We are driven to provide the largest selection of men's neckties on the web, to provide the best customer service that can be found anywhere and committed that every tie we ship is of the highest quality.

All our neckties are 100% guaranteed and can be returned for any reason. Buying online can sometimes be an adventure. All the neckwear from are guaranteed to please or your money back, no questions asked.

We are here 24/7 to assist with all of your buying needs.,Feel free to contact us by email at or toll free at 1-888-740-7942. We are happy to help!

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text:
Teacher to Entrepreneur

My journey from playschool teacher to entrepreneur was actually interesting. I still remember the day when I left my job because of some conflict at work. I was in a deep thought, what’s next? Because honestly at that time I was not very ambitious. Moreover, my job was just a means of earning pocket money.

I was doing job by chance not by choice. I started introspection what exactly was my passion. During my school and college days, relatives and friends always appreciated my creativity. We gave a gift to one of our relative on their 50th Marriage anniversary. Next day of the anniversary, she called back and enquired about the gift-wrapping rather than the actual gift. She actually liked the gift wrapping and presentation. Similarly, during one of my cousin's wedding, we did some quilting work on envelopes and photo frames. Everyone appreciated a lot; in fact, few of them approached me to get the same work done for them.

With these thoughts, I created a page on social media in October 2015 about our work. During that time our products were quilting work on envelopes, photo frames and kid’s accessories, Trousseau Packing, Handcrafted bangles etc. Luckily, we got a very good response. Day by day, our customer base was increasing. We were getting inquiries not only from Delhi NCR but from different states of India like Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, MP, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu etc. Infact, the cherry on the cake was we received few queries from Countries like Australia & US. This was quite motivating for us that our hard work was appreciated not only in India but also around the world. Unfortunately, at that moment of time, we were not able to export or send our products to those foreign leads as we had minimal knowledge of export-import regulations of these countries. During this phase, our focus was on evaluating whether our products range suffices the market trends or not. By this time, I gained the confidence that there is a demand for our products in the market. We were able to understand the mind of customer.

Now finally the time arrived when we realized we should start focusing on B2B in addition to B2C market. Because by this time Indian government also introduced few policies for the ease to start the business. I approached different big players in Handcrafted business and showed our products to them. We received an appreciation from them but at the same time, they suggested us to show something more and unique in addition to our current product range. Exactly at the same time, we got an opportunity to participate in one of the well-known exhibitions of North India. Now, this was the time when we were established as a brand and customer expectation also increasing from us. High time for me to think what’s more I can introduce to expand. Because to sustain & perform in a competitive market it is important to come up with new ideas.

By the time our venture was an almost 1-year-old baby and during this struggling phase, I had to add the range of products. I did the market analysis and realized India is a country of Festivals and famous for Big Fat weddings. In addition to this India is a leader in Handmade Artifacts & Products in World Art community. Indian Government was also promoting skill India and Handicraft business. Finally, we participated in the exhibition with newly added products range like Customized handmade gota jewelry, gift & Dry fruits boxes, different marriage and festival accessories like brooches etc. I purchased the raw material and converted my design into reality. I got a very good response in term of business as well. I received few big orders of customized goat jewelry and handmade boxes. Although that was not easy for me to deliver those orders on time as marriage season was around the corner and I did not have required workforce to complete the order in time. However, the thought, which motivated me to proceed further was that if I was not able to deliver on time then this is not the right place for me. During that time my family supported a lot to make my dream come true. It is really important to understand that in start-up & competitive environment, services also play an important role in addition to the quality of products.

Currently, after 2 years of establishment, approximately 7000 users are connected with us through different platforms. Our customers are not only from India but from other parts of the world as well like US, UK and Australia etc. Now this is really important for us to create a formal structure in place so that we can deliver our quality products within committed timelines. In addition to this few of the media houses are also covering us. Now in coming days, few of our primary focus areas are to increase the capital to bring our venture to next maturity level, increase the team size, Creating the advanced e-commerce platform so that we can provide seamless experience to our customers, Setup small outlets in different parts of the country and set up the call centre to attend our customer queries.

Updates from around the world


text:
sydsen job near Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa

Displayed here are Job Ads that match your query. SimplyHired may be compensated by these employers, helping keep SimplyHired free for jobseekers. SimplyHired ranks Job Ads based on a combination of employer bids and relevance, such as your search terms and other activity on SimplyHired. For more information, see the SimplyHired Privacy Policy.

  • SydSen Recruit - Centurion, Gauteng

    A well-established Motor Dealership in Centurion, is looking for a Used Vehicle Sales Executive to join their Sales Department.


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text:
Watch HD Barbaros

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Barbaros -

Overview:Barbaros: Sword of the Mediterranean will take viewers on a historic journey across the Ottoman Empire based on the life of 16th-century Ottoman admiral "Barbaros" Hayreddin Pasha and the adventures of four brothers who become seafarers. The drama series retells this adventure through the stories of four brothers; Ishak, Oruc, Hizir, and Ilyas, fighting high tides and the secrets of the seas. It focuses on their pursuit of a holy secret with the help of Master Suleyman, and during the course of their journey, they make enemies in, Pietro; the Pope's hand reaching out to the Mediterranean who is also pursuing the secret and organizes an attack against their ship. But this doesn't stop the brothers and they continue their original quest to find the holy secret all the while fighting their enemies at high tides.

Watch Trailer First Air Date: Sep 16, 2021 Last Air date: Nov 25, 2021 Season: 1 Season Episode: 14 Episode Runtime: 120:14 minutes Quality: HD IMDb: 1 / 10 by 4 users Popularity: 15.237 Language: tr

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text:
Biweekly Report (September 15 — September 30)

Section 1: ZB Token Trends

  1. On September 30, issued an announcement regarding the expansion of ZB application scenarios and the addition of smart contract addresses. The announcement stated that in order to better support DeFi scenario applications, swap transactions, and allow some public chains/cross-chains to support ERC20 ZB Token, has appropriately adjusted the ZB Token contract address and generated 200 million on the new contract address (0x5a9c8c6406d341a16aa3010108026f45fc372168) .

ZB Token can be used for decentralized transactions, and the 200 million ZB Tokens on the old contract address (0xbd0793332e9fb844a52a205a233ef27a5b34b927) will be destroyed within two working days. Destruction address: 0x8C572469F25336c7fB962B8f98c8232329343274.

In this adjustment, the name, total issuance and circulation of ZB Token have not changed, and ZB transactions, recharge and withdrawal of platform users are all operating normally and will not be affected.

After adjustment, the circulation of ZB Token is as follows:

Maximum supply: 630,393,910 ZB

Total circulation: 398,501,310 ZB

User Protection Fund: 231,892,600 ZB

The specific contract address is announced as follows:

ZB old contract address: 0xbd0793332e9fb844a52a205a233ef27a5b34b927 (430,393,910 ZB)

User protection fund address: 0xe3ecccd6c67da25871fc5ff9a32a6f5c379167a6 (398,501,310 ZB)

ZB new contract address: 0x5a9c8c6406d341a16aa3010108026f45fc372168 (200,000,000 ZB)

2. On September 30, released the ZB smart contract based on TrueChain. The announcement is expressed as enriching the application scenarios of ZB and supporting the ecological construction of TrueChain. has released TrueChain-based ZB smart contracts with a total of 40 million ZB Tokens and the contract address is 0x25A59078E24f37100D2d617FEE2D12A7729debb8.

The ZB platform will destroy 40 million ZB Tokens corresponding to the original ZB contract address (0xbd0793332e9fb844a52a205a233ef27a5b34b927) and open the ZB deposit and withdrawal business based on TrueChain.

Section 2: Platform Trends

1. On September 16, opened the QC-DeFi mining service, with no restrictions on the total amount, single-person quota and deposit time. Users deposit QC to participate in DeFi mining and can earn DeFi coins daily.

2. On September 17, due to the surge in platform data, carried out database expansion and partition upgrade at 2 am on September 17. Because of the synchronization error during the upgrade of the database, the data was disordered. Subsequently, after about 48 hours of endless struggle, the technicians finally successfully repaired the error and fully restored the platform operation.

During this period, Omar, the CEO of, conducted live broadcasts on multiple platforms many times, answering questions for users, pacifying users’ uneasy emotions, and using practical actions to crush various rumors. Omar even fell asleep during the live broadcast due to a lack of rest for about 48 hours, and was called the most responsible embodiment by the industry.

3. On September 22, launched the user feedback event month, and the first three-link welfare program: DeFi mining airdrop 10,000 QFIL event. took out 10,000 QFIL airdrops for DeFi mining ZB and QC zones from 12:00 on September 22 to 12:00 on September 30. During the event, users can participate in mining by depositing funds in the DeFi mining ZB or QC zone. In addition to daily income of DeFi coins, they can also receive additional QFIL airdrops from At the same time, QFIL is also online trading on

About QFIL

QFIL is a Filecoin token based on the ERC2.0 version launched by QuickCash. The current total supply is 10,000, which can be exchanged for FIL 1:1 after the Filecoin mainnet is launched. QFIL will be traded online on the platform. The initial reference price of QFIL is about twice the price of FIL6Z.

Section 3: Operation Trends

1、 At 14:30 on September 15, the online live broadcast with the theme of “CEX Defense” was successfully launched on the ostrich blockchain. This live event invited CEO Omar, partner Jiu’er, LBank co-founder He Wei, and BKEX partner Bonham to share.

2、 At 15:00 on September 16, the sharing theme “DeFi liquidity mining, is it the future or a short carnival” was successfully launched in the 10,000 hot chat group of the’s APP. This live broadcast invites guests such as VP of Asia Pacific Neaco, Wing project initiator and Ontology DeFi ecological leader Nick Zhang, Bridge Fans promoter and Taiwanese blockchain angel investor Micah and ForTube co-founder Xu Chao shared with Journey,’s group business director

3、 At 20:00 on September 23, the online live broadcast with the theme “Genesis Innovation of DeFi” was successfully launched in the’s APP 10,000 hot chat group. This live broadcast invited Bridge Fans promoter Micah and’s group business director Jessica to share.

4、 At 11:00 on September 28th, the online live broadcast on the topic of “Deipool’s future planning, how to break through from the DeFi industry” was successfully launched on the’s APP 10,000 hot chat group. This live broadcast invites Henry Leung, a Bachelor of Finance from the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Computer from Stanford University, to share with’s group business director Jessica.

5、 At 14:00 on September 30th, the online live broadcast with the theme “Whitecoin’s DeFi Cross-Chain Ecology” was successfully launched on’s APP 10,000 hot chat group. This live broadcast invites Global BD Director Crypto Beast to share with’s group business director Jessica.

6、 According to TokenInsight data, Binance, OKEx and are the top cryptocurrency spot trading platforms in the second quarter of 2020. The result comes from TokenInsight’s analysis of transaction volume, transaction dynamics and user trends.

Leading digital asset service provider. An 8-year history of safe operations.


text:
Massive security arrangements across India for Independence Day celebrations

While Delhi has been given a multi-layered security for Independence Day celebrations, arrangements made elsewhere in the country too are tight to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

Massive security arrangements across India for Independence Day celebrations
IANS Photo

As India gets ready to celebrate its 73rd Independence Day, security arrangements across the country have been tightened to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in anywhere. Security agencies have deployed additional personnel and have also relied on technology to keep a close watch on proceedings.

Delhi and adjoining areas of National Capital Territory have been given multi-layered security with Delhi Police, SPG and NSG commandos, snipers and SWAT teams deputed at different locations. Additionally, Delhi Police stated that facial recognition system with CCTV cameras have been installed at key locations across the capital. "We are fully prepared and ready to meet any kind of exigency. More than 400 CCTV cameras have been installed. Our facial recognition system will alert us if any criminal, who is in our special database, arrives near the venue (Red Fort)," Nupur Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

While Red Fort has been given water-tight security considering Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from here and unfurl the national flag, other parts of Delhi too will be closely monitored. Delhi Police has already issued an advisory for locals. While Delhi Metro will be operational, entry and exit points of some stations in sensitive areas will remain shut till afternoon.

Inputs from intelligence agencies have also been taken and acted upon.

Security in Jammu and Kashmir too remains tight although restrictions have been lifted in Jammu while these are being gradually relaxed in Srinagar. "The overall security situation continues to be calm. There has been no major report of any untoward incident. There will be some restrictions on Thursday,"  Principal Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir administration Rohit Kansal said at a press briefing. He also said that celebrations in the union territory would be grand and that agencies responsible for providing security will continue to remain alert.

The alertness of the forces is indeed visible as Indian Army on Wednesday foiled an infiltration bid in J&K's Uri sector. A number of terrorists tried to cross the Line of Control here, supported by Pakistan Army, but were forced to beat a hasty retreat by Indian Army.

Security arrangements are also expected to be in place in other major parts of the country, including the major cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. Local police departments have been told to maintain vigil. In Kolkata, cops used sniffer dogs and called in bomb squad to ensure key areas where celebrations would take place are under no threat.

Indian Coast Guard too is keeping its eyes peeled, especially in Gujarat as there have been intelligence reports that Pakistan may try to push in terrorists either through the land or sea routes. The Intelligence Bureau has also issued a fresh terror alert to the Gujarat Police. As per the alert, terrorists might make attempts to enter the Indian territory along India-Pakistan border in Kutch region.

The threat from terrorists is quite serious considering Pakistan's current and frantic state since the scrapping of Article 370. Imran Khan previously said that there could be a Pulwama-type attack in India and there have been intelligence inputs that Pakistan is supporting terrorists to carry out attacks either on Independence Day or in the weeks to follow.

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.


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All about tax free threshold in Australia.

By Will Elton, Last updated: 2021-06-03 (originally published on 2019-04-14)

Every Australian resident employees have to pay income tax weather you are part time job holder, full time or causally job holder. In that sense you need to aware about income tax in Australia. Here we cover an important topic about tax free thresholds in Australia.

Do you want to lean about government grants in Australia ?

What is tax free threshold in Australia?

The tax free thresholds refers to amount of dollars one can earn in a year which is not subjected to tax liability. The tax free threshold in Australia is $18,200, up to which your earnings are tax-free. In calculation,The $18,200 tax-free threshold is equivalent to:

  • $350 a week
  • $700 a fortnight
  • $1,517 a month.

If you earn more than this threshold, you need to pay tax on excess income.

Note: Non Australian residents can’t exercise tax free threshold, that means one should pay tax on everything they earn in Australia.

Resident Tax rates in Australia 2018-19

Taxable income

Tax on this income

0 – $18,200

$18,201 – $37,000

19c for each $1 over $18,200

$37,001 – $90,000

$3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000

$90,001 – $180,000

$20,797 plus 37c for each $1 over $90,000

$180,001 and over

$54,097 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

he above rates do not include the Medicare levy of 2%.

The above rates include changes announced in the 2018-19 Federal Budget.

Foreign resident tax rates 2018–19

Taxable income

Tax on this income

0 – $90,000

32.5c for each $1

$90,001 – $180,000

$29,250 plus 37c for each $1 over $90,000

$180,001 and over

$62,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

The above rates include changes implementing changes announced in the 2018-19 Federal Budget.

What you need to know about claiming the tax free threshold?

Tax file Number

Tax file numbers are unique numbers issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to identify individuals, corporations and others who lodge income tax returns with the ATO.

When you start a job, your payer (employer) will give you a Tax file number declaration to complete.

Centrelink is also a payer and they will give you this form if you apply for their payments.

Note : Centerlink: It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carers, parents, people with disabilities, Indigenous Australians, students, apprentices and people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and provides services at times of major change.

You tell your payer you want to claim the tax-free threshold.

What is PAYG in Australia?

Income from two payers

The scenario can be:

  • You have have two jobs
  • You are receiving a taxable pension or government allowance and also have a regular part time job.

In case you have two jobs/ payee then you can opt-out of claiming the tax free threshold. You need to claim the tax-free threshold from the payer who usually pays the highest salary or wage.

Your second payer is required to withhold tax at the higher, ‘no tax-free threshold’ rate. The same applies to any additional payers. This reduces the likelihood of you having a tax debt at the end of the financial year.

Sometimes the total tax withheld from all sources may be less or more than needed to meet your end-of-year tax liability. You won’t be out of pocket because the withheld amounts are credited to you when you lodge your income tax return. But if you want, you can apply to change the amounts withheld to more closely match your end-of-year tax liability:

If you’re certain your total annual income from all payers will be less than $18,200 you can claim the tax-free threshold from each payer.

  • If you do this, and your total income later increases to above $18,200, you’ll need to provide a new Withholding declaration to one of your payers to stop claiming the tax-free threshold from that payer.

If your income is over $18,200 and too much is withheld

You can apply to reduce the amounts withheld from your payments by lodging a PAYG with holding variation application.

When we receive your application, we’ll calculate the varied amount and provide your payers with new instructions for withholding tax. You should only apply for this variation if you’re certain of your income amounts and are disadvantaged by the current withholding rates.

If too little is withheld

Sometimes the total tax withheld from your payments may be too little to cover your likely tax liability.

To avoid an end-of-year tax debt, you can ask one or more of your payers to increase the amount they withhold from your payments. Your request should be in writing, but can be in any format – you can send an email request, or a paper or computer-based form.

What you should know about tax free threshold if you are leaving the country to reside overseas.

In this environment your annual tax free threshold will be less than to resident tax payers.

You are entitled to a tax threshold of $13,464 plus ($4,736 divided by 12 months, multiplied by a number of months you were a resident for tax purposes, including the month you left).

What is Tax-free Threshold in Australia for Newcomers

The new residents who came with in tension of residing in Australia will also have tax free threshold and will be adjusted accordingly , albeit lower than the entire year’s threshold available to resident taxpayers. Your tax-free threshold has two components:

  • Flat $13,464 tax threshold
  • Combined with an additional $4,736 applicable for a number of months residing in the country during the income year.

The financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June, so one should count the months you were residing in Australia within the period.

  • I am not Australian Citizen, Can I claim for tax free thresholds?

No, you can’t, your whole income is taxable. You can’t claim for tax free threshold.

  • I get paid off more than $18,200, but i have not claim tax free thresholds yet.

You can claim and get huge tax payment refunded.

  • My refund is lower than last year.

The tax free threshold is $18,200, you might have paid less tax resulting more money for each payout.

  • I’m currently doing two jobs but the income from both is not fixed. Should I claim the tax-free threshold in this regard?

We recommend opting for tax-free threshold for a job that pays you more than the second job. If the income is less than $18,200 annually, claim a refund. If the amount exceeds $18,200, the due taxes will be lower too.

Tags: Australia | tax | tax threshold | z-syndicate

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Game #18 : Galactic Revolution (1980)

So, President Julien Du Buque, when you started your Revolution, who were you fighting for ?

The military !

But were you not leading a revolution for the people ?

The people ? You mean those peasants ! Ah ! No, no. That’s who Emperor Tawala was fighting for !

The military supports me. The traders also support me, but they prefer Jan Swart, as does Big Capital. The people (“peasant”) and the government really support Tawala.

You asked me about my recollections of this conflict. I do not want to get too much into details. You know the basics : the Revolution was started by Jan Swart and his secret society known as the Broederbund. Jan Swart was hitherto unknown, so few worlds would follow him, but many worlds were also fed up with Tawala’s regime, so they would not join the Emperor either, and they declared themselves independent. Among those independent worlds, my home world Sparta chose me as their leader.

Starting worlds

You have to know that I was in the neutral world of Farside as those early events unfolded. As luck would have it, I had my full personal battlefleet with me ! Why did I have my personal battlefleet with me ? Pure coincidence really ! Nothing planned ! You see, Tawala had tried to get me assassinated, and I had made a small fortune in the trading of Tenibles, so I thought “why not have a battlefleet for self-defense ?”

Farside was a world of traders and bureaucrats, on the verge of supporting Jan Swart. Being present with my army, I had some say in the politics of this world, of course !

I really wanted to alter the local balance of power. More specifically, I wanted the military faction to gain power, and I wanted Jan Swart to lose support. Of course all this without making this world support Tawala either. Therefore, I proposed, nay, demanded that this world enact Universal conscription. This would make the military faction much more powerful, and weaken the peasants and the traders.

This was enough to make Farside loyal to me in the future !

These kinds of local reforms get noticed, of course. Traders’ and the peasants’ support for me waned accross the whole galaxy, whereas the army was confirmed in their belief that I was their man !

But let’s be clear on one thing. At this point of time I needed weapons. To have one legion ready for combat, you need 10 000 men, one unit of arms and one ship. I had the men, I had the ships, but no weapon. I needed them manufactured, and for this I needed worlds where the manufacturers were influential. That’s why I made sure that the rules that would be enacted would not upset the manufacturers, even though I knew that those people’s hearts & minds belonged to Jan Swart.

You need 10 “troops” for every unit so I assume that “troops” is in thousands

Thanks to Eventide, I could have 70 legions ready when I only had 40 initially. I also taxed the two worlds I controlled for 300 credits each. (Note that since my times as a Galactic Trader, Tawala’s Central Bank had returned to its ultra-hawkish restrictive monetary policy and hyper-inflation is now a thing of the past).

This manufacturing problem actually determined my next move. As I just said, Jan Swart had the support of the manufacturers, which means that if I wanted to develop manufacturing in a world, then I was at risk that said world would switch to Jan Swart and his Broederbund. But on the other hand, I needed manufacturing. The solution, of course, was to get rid of Jan Swart as soon as possible. After all, Jan Swart was a plutocrat with neither military nor peasant support. His army was small, and he was vulnerable :

Starting situation of the three factions. With 200 in “troops”, Jan Swart starts with 20 units.

Jan Swart had received support from a new world, Zoe, but I wanted to strike his political base : Yang-tzu.

The battle was one sided :

Jan Swart may have been defeated, but given its political landscape Yang-tzu would have reverted to him the minute I left for another world. I had to do something. I won’t bore you with the details of my politics on Yang-Tzu. I will just say that after enacting Conscription, Passing Safety Laws and Reducing Tariff Yang-tzu was now vouching for me.

Before / After.

My overall reputation with the manufacturers had taken a hit with those policies, but the humiliation of a military defeat had also decreased Jan Swart’s reputation all across the board, so comparatively I was no worse off than before with the manufacturer demographic.

I reinforced my army further :

Eventide appreciated my global policies. They were previously loyal to Tawala, but they defected to me – I didn’t even have to visit them.

I wanted to finish off Jan Swart, and I tracked him to Llythll :

No need to tell you the result of this one.

A few smart policies in Llythll put the right people in power, and just like that Jan Swart was out of support. At that point, Viejo had also understood which direction the wind was blowing.

Jan Swart waited two opuses before appearing in this saga and now he’s out by turn 3.

At this point, I was almost matching Tawala in terms of number of worlds controlled. My army was also powerful, so well, it was time to strike the heart of the empire: Galactica !

This was the only battle for which I was not absolutely sure of the outcome at the beginning – still I won handily :

Once in control of Galactica, I enacted policies whose objective was not to make me popular in Galactica, but to make me popular in the Galaxy as a whole. Consequently, as I left the system, I knew Galactica would revert to Tawala’s side.

It mattered little. Tawala’s reputation had been seriously hit by his defeat, and mine was in every opinion poll higher.

I had no idea where Tawala would flee, but I knew I would just have to tour his soon former Empire to enforce my will. I started with Bok but, surprise, it had already declared itself independent when I arrived there. At this point, very few worlds still followed the so-called Emperor.

After ensuring Bok stayed on my side, I headed back to Galactica once again where I clashed one last time with Tawala

Tawala defeated a second time, most worlds defected to me :

Only Javiny and Utopia remained independant. I spent then next two years visiting them. Galactica used the opportunity to rebel, so I visited it a third time. Finally, the reconquest ended with Novena, which had also rebelled at some point.

Rating & Review

Galactic Revolution by Douglas Carlston and Brøderbund Software, USA
First release : 1980 on TRS-80
Tested on : Apple II
Total Hours Tested : 1 !
Average duration of a campaign: 30 mn- 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy (1/5)
Would recommend to a modern player : No
Would recommend to a designer : No
Final Rating: 17/100

Galactic Revolution is the third episode of Douglas Carlston’s Galactic Saga. Once again, it is a very different game from the previous opus. It shares a bit more with Empire than with Trader : the player needs to build troops with soldiers, ships and – that’s new – weapons, and attack worlds.

The similarities end there. The flow is very different : the game does not use “continuous” time but is fully turn-based. There is no more starmap, it takes exactly one turn to go from one world to another. Even more importantly, it is multiplayer :

Only Du Buque can be played in solitaire

Finally, there is all this layer of “policies” that is absolutely necessary to take control of worlds. I believe it is the first game to have this feature. But does it work ?

A. Immersion (Settings & Aesthetics)

The game feels a lot less immersive than Galactic Empire. The view of the planet the player is orbiting has been removed, and Galactic Revolution‘s main view is no more than a dashboard.

But there are some nice extras ; the game uses different art for the UI of Tawala and of Jan Swart. I assume the main purpose is to allow players to understand who is playing at a given moment, but it really gives a different feel to the three factions. There are also some random sentences which look like Easter Eggs (?) or which at the very least sound mysterious.

Stig ut eft[e]r spil : “Go out after the game/match” in Danish. Why ? Don’t ask me.
No idea what “Ebernecky” is

Score : 4/20

B. UI , Clarity of rules and outcomes

For a game that is a giant dashboard, the UI is not as well-done as it could be. My very first reproach : you need to navigate through the menus to know on which planet you are. There is a lot of unused space that could have been used to tell you where you are, but no, you need to navigate to the Computer and then check your status.

You are not in Novena. The main menu is just telling you what is the political situation in Novena, and shows this way a different world every 4 or 5 seconds. The chart on the right is purely decorative.

It is too common in this game to hide some key information in some menu several steps away from where you need it. Another example : you cannot check quickly your popularity in a world after you have done some administrative actions, you need to leave the “policy” menu and navigate to Computer Central, then the Galaxy Directory, then the planet you are in. At least, all the information you need is somewhere.

Well, almost all information. The game’s key feature are the administrative actions you can do on a planet – but the documentation does not state the effect of each of them. Carlston explains in the manual that he did that on purpose because he did not want it to become a number’s game. I understand his motivations, but in my opinion it is just too important not to know, so the first 30 minutes of my experience with this game was me indexing the effect of every policy.

Score : 3/20

C. Systems

Galactic Revolution is an innovative game, and certainly Carlston tried to do something new in it.

The core of the game is the player’s reputation with the five factions (from -99 to + 99) and the influence of those factions on each planet (from 0 to 6). Multiply your reputation with each faction by the power of that faction in a given system to calculate your popularity in that system. If your popularity is above 400 and higher than the popularity of any other player, this system is under your control. If no one reaches 400, the world is independent.

To improve your popularity, you pass administrative measures on each planet, which will change the influence of each faction on this planet. As I explained, I spent some time initially collecting the impact values for each decision :

Each of those decisions has a broader impact on your general reputation :

Any action that increases/decreases local faction power by 1 impacts global reputation by 3, any action that increases/decreases local faction power by 2 impacts global reputation by 5.

Some decisions are clearly better than others for your global reputation. For instance, no one likes red tape except bureaucrats, so the decision puts you at a solid +10 in global reputation. But keep in mind that because it reinforces manufacturers and traders while weakening bureaucrats, it gives Jan Swart up to 380 popularity points on whichever world you cut red tape, while giving Du Buque at most only 150 popularity points (assuming both characters have their starting reputation).

So, in theory, you are forced to make some decisions that will harm your global reputation because those decisions will shift the local balance of power in a way more favorable to you.

There are a few more subtleties :

  • How many ships & arms you can build every turn depends on the total manufacturers’ faction power in all your systems,
  • How many soldiers you can recruit every turn depends on the total peasant faction power in all your systems,
  • Every time you pass the “lower taxes” decision, the amount of tax EACH world pays you is decreased by 100 (it starts at 300) – it impacts every single world even though the faction power change is only local. By the end of the game, I was not collecting any tax, anywhere.
  • Every time you pass the “higher taxes” decision, the opposite is true, up to a maximum of 1000.

As for attacking a planet – it only allows you to take control over a world for the current turn. Of course, once a world is under your control, you can take administrative actions to lock it to your cause.

In addition, military victories improve your reputation with every faction by 0 to 10 (I believe randomly), and decrease the reputation of the defeated player by the same amount.

The design is interesting, but it collapses due to a few things :

  • You can take as many administrative actions as you wish every turn (with a limit of one of each type of course), so it is easy to take all the actions making you leader of that world, and then take extra actions that make you more popular galaxy-wide – especially if you consider one of non-critical factions (military, traders or bureaucrats) as a dump stat that you will bring to 0 influence every single time – this way you can easily improve your reputation by 10 to 20 each turn with manufacturers and peasants.
  • Military battles have a massive snowball effect with their reputation impact on both the victorious player and the defeated one, and I believe it is impossible to recover from the destruction of one’s army due to the sheer cost of units,

So in theory the manual advises you to only attack if desperate or if you have an overwhelming advantage. My advice : attack as soon as you can.

Or 4. : You want to win.

Overall, I feel like the game would have been more balanced if administrative actions had cost resources (maybe one generated by bureaucrats) and if being warlike harmed your reputation – whether you win or lose.

Final note on the design, in multiplayer there are 3 additional options in the game :

  • You can ally with another player, the most important impact is that your ships, arms and troops are pooled together. The initial situation is that each challenger is only lacking one resource, so the combined army lacks, well, nothing. When the player in an alliance attacks, he does so with the combined force.
  • You can choose not to commit all your forces to defend from an attack. In my opinion, you should either commit everything, or nothing – except rare cases where you want to defend a bit for diplomatic reasons,
  • You can blockade enemy systems without attacking them. Your opponent will have to lose one turn to “free” the blockaded system before they can draw resources from it.

Score : 5/20

D. Scenario design & Balancing

I really like the starting point of the single player campaign: You have only one world, you are popular only with one useless faction (the military) and to a lower extent with another one : the traders – and even then Tawala is also liked by the military faction and Jan Swart is loved by the traders. It looks like it offers an interesting challenge.

All true, but only impactful, maybe, in multiplayer

Unfortunately, the game is just too easy. Growing in popularity with 4 out of 5 factions is trivial, and if you are focused on building an army, Du Buque is in position to be dominant in exactly 3 turns. My After Action Report was my very first game (after indexing the administrative actions), without ever loading the game, and by the end of turn 4 it was clear I was winning and just had to mop-up the last systems. The AI is just not active enough to be a threat.

I regret I cannot play Jan Swart or Tawala in solitaire. Playing Jan Swart in particular I could not have won with a blitzkrieg strategy. On the other hand, I suspect my turn #1 as Tawala would have been a military visit to Du Buque’s homeworld.

In multiplayer, I suspect the alliance rule keeps the game relatively balanced : every time a player has an advantage, the two remaining players ally to placate them – though this is a virtue of any 3 players game, not specific to Galactic Revolution.

Score : 2/20

E. Fun and replayability

I had a lot of fun… for the 30 minutes or so it took me to win. I don’t see myself replaying the game in solitaire.

Score : 3/20

F. Final rating

17/100. I really wish the game had been stronger, because it is very creative, but sadly the design is not balanced.

Contemporary Reviews

As I stated in my review of Galactic Trader, Galactic Trader and Galactic Revolution were usually reviewed together with Galactic Empire, and the latter always received most of the attention – it is therefore quite difficult to know whether or not reviewers were impressed by the innovations found in Galactic Revolution.

This time, I am not even fully saved by the 1982 Book of Apple Computer Software as the reviewer focuses on the multiplayer experience. It claims that the game “has been well thought-out with its check and balances” and concludes : “the avid space strategy fan will enjoy this game“.

  1. Phil B. Phil B.

    Cool idea for a game. It’s basically a trading game, except that you’re trading political capital rather than self-sealing stem bolts and trilithium crystals or whatever. Additional complexities would have been nice–maybe there’s a high-ranking officer of a different faction on each planet you can bribe, with a chance of being discovered?–but: 1980.

    At least they went for something quite different with each title in the series!

  2. Strange Fellow Strange Fellow

    The message on Swart’s dashboard is probably the devs gently reminding you to go outside every once in a while, nerd!! Maybe it’s in Danish because Brøderbund sounds like a Danish word? Who knows. I always thought it was a Danish company, but Google has just informed me that it is not so.

    • That’s actually the most likely. I was looking for some far-fetched explanation, like a reference to the popular Danish song “Der var en skikkelig bondemand” where said bondemand “han skulle ud efter øl“, or maybe a reference to the past as a trainer of a Swedish basketball team of one of the founders of Broderbund, but yeah, it is probably “just go out sometimes, nerd, OK ?”

    • I think Baldur’s Gate II had a loading screen which reminded the player to eat, lest they starve to death. A bit presumptuous on the part of the developers.

      • I don’t think any game made me forgot to eat – but forgot to sleep, yes, it may have happened :).

    • In the TRS-80 version, Du Buque’s console displays “Semper Ubi Sub Ubi,” Tawala’s shows the Broderbund triple crown logo, and Swart’s shows what I assume are clenched fists viewed from the backhand. Or possibly sporks.

      View post on

      • I just realized what “Semper Ubi sub UBi” means :).
        That TRS-80 version looks a lot more rough than the Apple II one. I like the idea that these are sporks, but it is probably clenched fist – which does not go well with a trader. That looks more totalitarian than plutocratic.

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Receiving and storing variables for Admin Boxes

They key of an admin box is an array for storing variables/meta information about your Admin Box.

The id of the item being edited

All Admin Boxes should have an "id" variable in their key, e.g.:

        id: ''

When your Admin Box is first opened, if an administrator is editing an existing item, the CMS put the id of the item being edited into the id variable, which you can then read in your php code using the $box['key']['id'] variable.

If an administrator is creating a new item, the $box['key']['id'] variable will be empty. When you save it in your saveAdminBox() method, you should record the newly inserted id and then place it in the $box['key']['id'] variable to let the CMS know the new id.

Additional Properties

You can define extra properties should you need them. For example, from the categories Admin Box has two entries:

        id: ''
        parent_id: ''

The id variable works as described above. The parent_id variable is custom and stores the id of the parent category.

When editing an existing category, the parent_id variable is not needed, as the category already exists and the correct value can be looked up from the database.

When creating a new category, nothing can be looked up from the database so the parent_id variable is needed to determine where the category should be placed upon creation.

Setting the values of additional properties from buttons in Organizer or the Admin Toolbar

If your Admin Box is opened from a button in Organizer or the Admin Toolbar, you can set variables in the key by defining them against the button. Different buttons can have different variables defined, for example:

        label: Edit meta data
            path: zenario_content
        label: Duplicate
            path: zenario_content
                duplicate: true

The Edit meta data button opens the Admin Box normally. The Duplicate button opens the admin box with the duplicate variable set.

If you were writing the logic for this Admin Box in your php code, you could make it so that it loaded and saved normally when the duplicate variable was not set, but saved a copy of the item when the duplicate variable was set.

Setting the values of properties in your php code

You may change the variables in the key by changing the $box['key'] variable in your php code.

These changes will persist until the Admin Box is close. For example, you can set a variable in your fillAdminBox() method and then read its value in your saveAdminBox() method, even though these take place in different requests to the server.

Reference for key:


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Shipping policy

We are proud to offer FREE international shipping services that currently operate in over 200 countries and islands worldwide. Nothing means more to us than bringing our customers great value and service. We will continue to grow to meet the needs of all our customers, delivering a service beyond all expectations anywhere in the world.

All orders will be dispatched from our warehouse within 1-5 business days. In peak periods please allow for up to 6 business days for dispatch.

  • All shipping times exclude clearance/customs delays.
  • Our beds are manufactured in Shenzen China.
  • All orders are currently being shipped from Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzen.
  • As soon as your product ships, you’ll receive a tracking number that will let you keep tabs of where your order is at all times.

How do you ship packages?

We provide free shipping from our warehouses in Asia.

What are my payment options?

We accept payments by PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

Do you ship worldwide?

Yes. We provide free shipping to over 200 countries around the world. However, there is some location we are unable to ship to. If you happen to be located in one of those countries we will contact you.

What about customs?

We are not responsible for any customs fees once the items have shipped. By purchasing our products, you consent that one or more packages may be shipped to you and may get customs fees when they arrive in your country.

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Estimated shipping time varies by location and can be longer than 10 days due to high demand. These are our estimates:

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Filling Emptiness: On Reading Peter Hessler

By Lou Hsienhua (Tome Loulin)

The title of River Town by Peter Hessler in Chinese translation could very naturally coincide with the nicknames of several cities—in southern China—alongside the Yangtze River such as Wuhan, and Chongqing, to name a few. It can also stir up complicated feelings among the readers familiar with the concept of Shan-shui in China’s cultural imagination. At first glance, it’s relatively easy for the book to be mistaken as a collection of travel writings written by someone native of China. But as we explore further inside the world portrayed by the author, it’s even easier for a reader of Chinese to find out in deep awe that the carefully observed details about China’s southwest appear to have been so resonating that the nationality of the author becomes something we gradually forget. Perhaps, besides providing a different perspective on certain things that natives find uninteresting or unimportant, observations on things related to us from ‘the outside’ offer a rare opportunity for us to see how we are seen critically by those from other cultures. Overall, one may conclude, from the popularity in China of Peter Hessler’s books even in translated versions—mostly sold in the category of travel writing—that there is such a thing universally existed as a desire for critical reflections of oneself from the other side. People in one culture crave diverse views of themselves from outside observers perhaps for criticalness entails a sense of importance that needs to be put on the observed. To be observed in the first place suggests a sense of worthiness, a feeling of being valued at least temporarily.

Hessler’s language in his writings seems like a treasure rarely in lack of a sense of humor, even in his observations about small places in the southwestern part of China whose artistic presence—in creative nonfiction writing—seemed, at that time, in short supply as evident in his recollections of the noises from the retired teachers playing croquet in Fuling’s teachers college, which he found lovely. Lovely also is his choice of words in part because there was not much serious attention, then, being paid on areas where economic development was relatively lagged behind compared to large urban areas in the coastal regions of China.

Reading Hessler, anyone from China born before the year 2000 and perhaps many more born after that time would understand how nostalgic it seems to read and reread his recollections of the days and nights he spent living there in Fuling, a region in southwest China in part because China back in the 1990s is vastly different from where it is now and largely because of a reminiscence of—almost—an era of people—despite relative material and financial restrictions—living their life in simple ways. Certainly people living in the last 90s may not seem to be much different from people living in the current time in terms of humanity. But everyone knows that the social reality at that time is certainly different. The keywords that may be used to describe China in the 90s may be—depending on the personal experiences of the describer—morally harmonious or relatively conservative, socially cohesive or relatively financially stricken to name a few.

Photograph by Lou Hsienhua (Tome Loulin)

Back in the 90s, I was living mostly in rural areas where no one truly owns a colored television until they got married though housing didn’t appear to be such a big issue to many youngsters at that time as is now and I remembered from what my mother talked with her friends, that people desired a bigger size of family which means more children and living with grandparents. And, at that time, people didn’t appear to be so influenced by postmodern dogmas that emphasize the values of individualism that tend to put personal space at the center stage of one’s life. People, it seemed back then, tend to form more lasting friendships than now in part because social media didn’t emerge at that time and when social media did emerge as we came together to the age of information, we see the damaging effects social media could have on our sense of community and selfhood. It’s not considered news to discover that people seem to virtually all communicate online via certain social media rather than in-person means. Thus, the gradual death of letter writing practice becomes the most significant mark of a divide between the past and now. The 90s, many would agree, is already a distant past but how about the 2020s?

Perhaps, one should know very early on that River Town by Peter Hessler is not a book about nostalgia nor is any book by certain similar authors like Fuchsia Dunlop, author of Shark Fin and Sichuan Pepper, in part because time is a theme that we write about all our lives. What the authors who wrote and write about China share is the cherishing attention on the vastness of a artistic territory that was previously uncared for and overlooked by the mainstream and an understanding that artistic valuation doesn’t need to be centered on corners of the world that have already been relatively well explored. Certainly no truthful and visceral observations about anything and anyone like Hemingway writing about his experience of living in Paris or like Victor Serge writing about his participation in and reflection on Soviet revolutions would be considered superfluous instead they are essential to our moral and intellectual becoming.

Though, like many other observers from the West, political and ideological elements certainly —if not centrally—captured the attention of the author of River Town, seeing our world in the lens of ideological preferences is, well, almost inevitable. One without the need to cite George Orwell and Victor Serge could easily demonstrate the difficult relationship between politics and art. It’s something every person who wrote and write has to come across. Reflecting on and contemplating the eventful and significant years of the last 60-70s in the US characterized by the civil rights movements and segregation, Toni Morrison made a point about politics influencing art in her preface to her work Sula, stating that if the novel was good, it was because it was faithful to a certain kind of politics; if it was bad, it was it because it was faithless to them. One could not help but feel serious literary works of art could hardly be free of ideological influences perhaps in part because ideology is itself a central element that influences how we live. To many, politically influenced writing like those pieces appearing on the op-ed sections with hidden agendas is something whose presence gets larger day by day with the help of social media. What this age in which we live lacks is a calmer voice that tells firsthand experiences about certain matters somewhere distant from a readership that has been told different versions of a story far away from truth. Could we state plainly that what is most in lack in this age of social indifference is truth? Perhaps not with much certainty.


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Bugle preps ‘Toxicity’ Album release

Bugle has announced his upcoming album ‘Toxicity’ is set fro release in October.

‘Toxicity’ serves as the followup to the recording artiste’s ‘Picture Perfect’, released in 2019.

While making the announcement, Bugle gave fans a sneak peak, and shared the album’s cover art. He also revealed that ‘Toxicity’ will consist of 19 tracks and will include features from Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, cialis fast Jamiel and others.

Toxicity drops on October 22.


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TEVETA Bemoans Existent Gaps in Tourism Sector

TEVETA says there is a gap in the measurement of productivity in the tourism sector in Malawi which affects profits and change the sector could bring to the economy.

TEVETA Planning and Research Specialist, Felix Nankhuni, says the gaps are a result of failure by accommodation providers to follow indicators in quality service provision on price rate and productivity assessment.

Nankhuni says statistics on the performance of these providers is not appealing to the tourism sector as the quality provided is usually below the required standard.

“What we found out was that 80% of the accommodation providers are not using the 5s and Kaizen Principles, and 70% are not using labor cost ratio and room cost ratio,” he said observing that “if you don’t know how much labor you need to produce, you might be overstaffed. You might achieve profit which is not efficient as you are using too much labor”.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Standard and Safety in the Ministry of Tourism, Alice Magombo, says the tourism sector in the country is doing well but there is room for improvement which calls for effective monitoring.

“We are doing great, we have more units receiving license from us, you don’t get license if you don’t comply with the standards,” Magombo said.

TEVETA is implementing Productivity Enhancement Program which focuses on improving the productivity of public and private companies.

Amongst the principles is the 5s Principle of sorting, Straightening, scrubbing, standardization and sustaining which are supposed to be followed at the workplace to complete a task in a more effective way.

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Commission Cautious on Boundary Demarcations

Commissioner Liwewe - the exercise is sensitive Commissioner Liwewe - the exercise is sensitive - pic by Hezekiah Namonde

The Electoral Commission has cautioned district demarcation committees not to take instructions from any office apart from the Commission on how to conduct the review of constituency and ward boundaries.

The commission has also urged the committees not to keep information from stakeholders to avoid suspicions of foul play and attempts to sabotage the process.

Commissioner Olivia Liwewe said this in Blantyre on Wednesday during training of the committees.

“This exercise is more sensitive than holding the election itself. We want this exercise to be transparent than the one conducted in 1998.

“What we are determined to achieve is to see all constituencies having at least the same number of voters. We know speculations and accusations will be there but we will conduct the exercise in accordance with the law,” she said.

Balaka District Commissioner, Dr. Macloud Kadam’manja, says the last demarcation exercise took place 23 years ago; hence, the need for the training for success of the forthcoming exercise.

“The previous exercise was done in a hurry and we have challenges. You will find that two or three traditional authorities fall within one constituency. The training will therefore equip us with appropriate skills to correct those errors,” he said.

The country is expected to have 35 more constituencies after the exercise, bringing the total number to 228.

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Trading KAT Doesn't Solve the Wolves' Problems

Photo Credit: David Berding (USA TODAY Sports)

A 3-1 start to the season for the Minnesota Timberwolves has quickly morphed into a free fall. They have lost eight of their last nine games, and many are searching for answers now that they’re 4-9. Another disappointing season looks like it’s on the horizon.

There is a contingency of Wolves fans who want to trade Karl-Anthony Towns. That won’t solve the riddle.

The two-time All-Star is in his seventh season in the NBA. He’s a former No. 1 overall pick who is expected to carry this franchise to heights it hasn’t seen in quite some time. We’re talking playoffs — ideally, more than once every 14 years.

Towns has played in the postseason, but it was a first-round exit in the 2017-18 season. Not only were the Wolves bounced from the playoffs in five games, but Jimmy Butler will be remembered for bringing Minnesota to the postseason for the first time since the 2003-04 season. KAT contributed to that team, but conventional wisdom is that they wouldn’t have been a playoff team without Butler. Leading into this season, there was some optimism that they had the roster around KAT for them to sneak into the play-in game.

Anthony Edwards has shown up in a significant way, and with D’Angelo Russell finally being healthy to start the year, there weren’t many excuses left. With Minnesota now sitting at 4-9, some fans have suggested that the time is now for the Wolves trade Towns and get a haul back.

It’s not.

To suggest that trading Towns is a solution is saying that he is either a problem or not an answer for this franchise and that it’s time to move on. There may be some truth in suggesting that it’s getting close to having run its course. However, there is no quick-fix solution for what’s going on in Minnesota.

Towns is averaging 23.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game this year. He’s shooting an absurd 45 percent from downtown. There will be a pod of people who suggest that these are empty numbers. However, who the hell could they get in place of KAT to not only fill the statistical void but help in the wins and losses department?

That’s where the “trade KAT” argument collapses on itself.

It’s easy to sit back and push the general manager buttons from the couch. Now it’s being done out of malice. Everyone who supports this team wants to see tangible results that aren’t ephemeral. With another slow start staring this team dead in the eyes, it’s easy to say “trade Towns.” But what does that solve? Not a whole lot. In fact, it could signal another rebuild.

Minnesota isn’t going to trade Towns and get a player of equal value in return.

Ben Simmons‘ name has hovered around since the summer. However, it’s going to be hard to convince many fans that Simmons could come in and lead the charge in turning things around. Ask the Philadelphia 76ers how the whole leadership thing with Simmons is playing out.

What about Damian Lillard? What if the Wolves send KAT to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Dame? Does Lillard instantly make this team a threat in the Western Conference? The Blazers have been eliminated in the first round in four of the last five years. If the goal is to dip your toes in the water, then sure, Lillard being a primary ball-handler and a proven sniper in crunch time would boost the fortunes of this team compared to what KAT has or hasn’t been able to do. The overall theme remains the same, though. Let’s not act like trading Towns is a panacea.

There will be a lot of big-boy decisions to make if Minnesota doesn’t make the playoffs and ends up under .500 again. If they ultimately decide that things have run their course with KAT and that a fresh start could do wonders for both sides, then so be it. In that instance, cutting ties could be the right decision. Maybe they decide that they believe Towns isn’t an answer to the future of the franchise. Perhaps they are better off by trading him to get proven talent in return that will swiftly change the successes of the organization. Good luck with that.

After the 3-1 start, it looked like Towns, and the Wolves were finally clicking. They were finally healthy and bringing those good vibes onto the court. After this recent debacle, many have sided with the idea of trading KAT.

Maybe it will be time for a new start at the end of the year. But don’t expect winning results to follow just because the superstar player was turned into a pawn on the chessboard.

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Photo Credit: David Berding (USA TODAY Sports)

You can consider many different qualities when trying to pinpoint the core values of each professional basketball franchise. But the word that keeps coming back to me […]

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UpdatedCapitolI’ve been happily married for nearly 33 years. We enjoy each other’s company, root for the same sports teams (Go Nats! Go Redskins! Go Terps!) and easily made the transition to full-time empty nesters nearly four years ago.

But, there’s one season when things can get a little rocky in our home. I’m talking presidential election season. You see, I’m a Democrat. My husband’s a Republican. Normally we spar a little and then agree to disagree. He goes his political way and I go mine. We discuss the elections briefly during dinner before moving on to other topics, like work or the kids.

But this year is different because of just one guy. I can’t even bring myself to type his name, so let’s just refer to him as you know who (YKW). The thought of him winning the nomination, let alone the general election, makes me crazy. I truly believe his presidency would cause a tailspin from which America might never recover.

Unfortunately, my husband seems to like him, although I’m not sure if he voted for him in the Maryland primary. I asked him when he got home from voting, but I cut him off before he could answer.

I don’t usually believe that ignorance is bliss, but I’m making an exception in this case. If I’d actually heard him say the dreaded words—I voted for YKW—I would have run screaming from the house.

I wasn’t thrilled when he voted for John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012. But I accepted it. I can’t accept him voting for YKW. So I’m going to pretend it’s not happening.

YKW may end up ruining America. But he’s not going to ruin my marriage.

  2 comments for “A HOUSE DIVIDED

  1. Laura
    April 28, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    So true, Ellen

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I am pleased to announce that Rodrigo Castro has been appointed Director of Public Services at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, effective December 1st. Rodrigo comes from Boston College’s Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Library, where he served as the Head Librarian for Access Services. Previously, Rodrigo served as Head of Access Services for the University of Miami Libraries and Barry University’s Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library.

Rodrigo has extensive experience in all areas of public services and has served in multiple professional committees and working groups. Most recently, Rodrigo co-chaired the Boston Library Consortium’s Access Services Community of Interest, the Resource Sharing Community of Interest, and the EDI Best Practices Working Group.

Rodrigo holds a BA in English from Florida International University, and a MLIS from the University of South Florida. In his spare time, Rodrigo enjoys reading contemporary Latin-American authors, drawing with pen and ink, and spending time with his family.

We look to welcoming him to Wake Forest!


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Big Lots Shares Up; Retailer Sees Swing to 3rd-Quarter Profit

Big Lots  (BIG) – Get Report shares rose Tuesday after the discount retailer said it expected to post profit for the fiscal third quarter, swinging from a year-earlier loss, on mid-teens-percent higher comparable sales.

The Columbus, Ohio, company, operating more than 1,400 stores in 47 states, projects earnings per share of 50 cents to 70 cents. The figures include expected share-buyback activity in the quarter.

Big Lots reported an adjusted net loss of 18 cents a share for the year-earlier third quarter.

A survey of analysts by FactSet produced consensus estimates of third-quarter profit of 25 cents a share, or an adjusted 21 cents, on revenue of $1.28 billion and same-store sales up 9.7%.

Big Lots’ stock recently traded at $51.03 a share, up 6.9%. It leaped 66% year to date through Monday. The stock is trading at five times its 52-week low above $10, set in mid-March. It traded above $57 in mid-August.

“[Our] continued strong sales performance … puts us on track to deliver another excellent quarter, and gives us strong momentum coming into the critical holiday season,” Big Lots Chief Executive Bruce Thorn said in a statement.

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Western Sierra Resource Corp Announces the Acquisition of Significant Additional Resource Assets

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo., Sept. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Western Sierra Resource Corp (OTC: WSRC) (“WSRC” or the “Company”) is a resource company with a 113-year history of natural resource asset acquisition, development, conservation, and monetization.  The Company presently owns valuable water assets in Northern Colorado.  In keeping with WSRC’s goal of becoming a broad-based resource company, the Company has acquired additional natural resource assets, and is under contract to immediately purchase revenue-producing proprietary conservation technologies which demonstrate the Company’s commitment to responsibly utilize, while also conserving, natural resources to the benefit of the Company’s shareholders.  WSRC will be announcing these acquisitions over the coming weeks and months as they are completed.

The recent upward pressure on the value of precious metals as a hedge against global currency fluctuation and devaluation has prompted WSRC to acquire 100% ownership of LWH, LLC (CO), the owner of a substantial precious metals property.  An NI-43-101 Report on this property, to be authored by a major engineering firm, will be commissioned to further validate existing assays as an immediate priority.  LWH is also evaluating several other precious metals and / or rare earth elements properties for potential acquisition. Separately, a team of professional geologists, engineers and scientists will be retained and directed to provide on-going analyses which detail the potential strategies for monetizing each of the properties / projects.

Forward Looking Statements:

This release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements include any that may predict, forecast, indicate, or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words “estimate”, “project”, “intend”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “planning”, “expect”, “believe”, “likely”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “may” or similar words or expressions. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company’s actual results and financial position to differ materially from those in such statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Company’s ability to grow.  Actual results may differ materially from those predicted and any reported should not be considered an indication of future performance.  Potential risks and uncertainties include the Company’s operating history and resources, together with all usual and common economic, competitive, and equity market conditions / risks.

Western Sierra Resource Corpwesternsierraresource.comTwitter: @wsrcorp

Roger Johnson [email protected]

Dennis Atkins[email protected]

Western Sierra Resource Corporation

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