#CIVIL LABOUR SUPPLY

[lagoontechnologies]

Civil Labour Supply: Professional Civil Manpower Labour Supply Services in UAE

The construction and civil engineering sectors in the UAE are thriving, fueled by ambitious projects and a robust economy. As these industries flourish, the demand for skilled labor rises, making professional civil manpower supply services an indispensable part of the workforce ecosystem. World Star Manpower Solution Company stands out as a premier provider of civil labor, ensuring that companies in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and across the UAE have access to the best talent available.

Why Choose Civil Labour Supply Companies?

Civil labor supply companies like World Star Manpower Solution offer several advantages. They provide access to a pool of skilled and semi-skilled workers, reducing the time and effort companies spend on recruitment. These agencies are adept at understanding the specific needs of the construction sector, ensuring that the manpower they supply meets the required standards of expertise and reliability.

Benefits of Civil Manpower Supply

Expertise and Specialization: World Star Manpower Solution specializes in civil manpower supply, meaning they have a deep understanding of the skills and qualifications needed in the construction industry. This specialization ensures that companies get workers who are well-versed in their roles.

Flexibility: Projects in the construction industry often have fluctuating manpower needs. A professional manpower supply company provides the flexibility to scale the workforce up or down as required, ensuring that project timelines and budgets are adhered to.

Cost-Effective: By outsourcing labor supply, companies can save on the costs associated with hiring, training, and retaining permanent employees. This approach also mitigates the risks of overstaffing or understaffing.

Compliance and Efficiency: Reputable civil labor supply companies ensure that all workers are compliant with local labor laws and regulations. They also handle administrative tasks such as payroll, benefits, and worker accommodation, allowing construction firms to focus on core business activities.

World Star Manpower Solution Company: Your Partner in Excellence

World Star Manpower Solution Company is a trusted name in the UAE’s labor supply industry. Their comprehensive services cover all aspects of civil manpower supply, from initial recruitment to ongoing support. Here’s why they are the preferred choice for many leading construction firms:

Vast Talent Pool: World Star maintains a large and diverse database of skilled laborers, including Civil Foremen, Masons, Carpenters, Painters, Steelfixers, Scaffolders, Riggers, Cleaners, and Civil Helpers. Whether a project requires specialized skills or general labor, they have the right people for the job.

Quality Assurance: Every worker supplied by World Star undergoes a rigorous vetting process. This ensures that they possess the necessary skills, experience, and work ethic to contribute positively to any project.

Tailored Solutions: Understanding that every project is unique, World Star offers customized manpower solutions. They take the time to understand the specific requirements of each client, providing tailored staffing solutions that align with project goals.

Local and International Recruitment: In addition to sourcing local talent, World Star also recruits internationally, bringing in skilled workers from various countries. This ensures a steady supply of labor, even for large-scale projects with extensive manpower needs.

Key Roles Supplied by World Star Manpower Solution

Civil Foreman: Ensures that construction projects are completed on time and within budget while maintaining quality and safety standards.

Mason: Skilled in bricklaying, stonework, and various other types of masonry work. Carpenter: Specializes in constructing, installing, and repairing structures and fixtures made from wood and other materials.

Painter: Expert in applying paint, varnish, and other finishes to buildings and other structures. Steelfixer: Responsible for positioning and securing steel bars and mesh used to reinforce concrete structures.

Scaffolder: Erects and dismantles scaffolding structures for construction projects.

Rigger: Skilled in setting up and operating rigging equipment for lifting and moving heavy objects.

Cleaner: Ensures construction sites are kept clean and free of debris, contributing to a safe working environment.

Civil Helper: Assists skilled workers by performing a variety of duties, ensuring the smooth operation of construction activities.

Civil Manpower Supply in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the epicenters of construction activities in the UAE. With iconic projects and rapid urban development, the demand for reliable civil manpower supply services in these cities is ever-increasing. World Star Manpower Solution Company has a strong presence in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, offering unparalleled service quality.

In Abu Dhabi, World Star provides civil manpower supply services tailored to the unique needs of the capital’s construction projects. Their extensive local knowledge and network make them a key player in the region’s manpower supply sector.

In Dubai, where the skyline is continuously evolving, World Star’s manpower supply services are crucial for maintaining the pace of development. They cater to both small-scale and mega projects, ensuring that all manpower needs are met with efficiency and professionalism.

Conclusion

Choosing the right civil labor supply company is vital for the success of any construction project. World Star Manpower Solution Company stands out as a leader in the UAE’s manpower supply industry, offering expert, flexible, and cost-effective solutions. With their extensive experience and commitment to quality, World Star is the partner of choice for construction firms in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and beyond.

For construction companies looking to streamline their manpower needs and ensure project success, partnering with World Star Manpower Solution Company is a strategic decision that promises reliability and excellence in every aspect of civil manpower supply.

[novella-november]

Fantasy Discrimination, and The Implications

A post on my dash reminded me to share some more writing advice, so here is a very good article by @mythcreantsblog , about how to make sure you're not dehumanizing a species or culture in your writing, which is a good guide on how to avoid accidentally writing racist or ableist tropes:

In particular, I want to talk about the ever-present racist trope in a lot of fantasy and scifi fiction, and that is the decision a lot of creators make where the villains are not just a single person, a faction, or a kingdom -- *its an entire species* who is not only the villain, but are outright, inherently *evil*.

To start out, here's a political cartoon by Tom Gauld you've probably seen all around tumblr with the name cropped out:

[ID: a political cartoon by Tom Gauld, showing two identical cities and boats mirrored on a river, each with a purple or yellow flag; one side is labled "Our Blessed Homeland, Our Glorious Leader, Our Great Religion, Our Noble Populace, Our Heroic Adventuerers", The other side is labled "Their Barbarous Wastes, Their Wicked Despot, Their Primitive Superstition, Their Backwards Savages, Their Brutish Invaders. End ID]

This political cartoon is a very good tool for testing your writing for the trope of demonizing/glorifying your fantasy/scifi species.

Let's use a classic example: your fantasy setting is made up of the following species: Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and Orcs.

Your Elves are a long-lived, ethereal people who live in secluded, perfect cities, all of them tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, who are extremely wise and making plans that can stretch out over dozens of human generations, and they're the deciders of 90% of politics in your world. Your Dwarves are a short, squat, species who spend their lives working in forges, mines, and laboratories, tirelessly toiling (because they enjoy the hard work, of course!) and selling their products to the Elves who are their largest and wealthiest customer base; Dwarves work hard and studiously for decades at a a time to complete a piece of work in order to fufill the intricate orders from their Elven customers, which is how the majority of them provide for their families, working 16 hour shifts each day for decades per order. Your Humans are far more seperated, and often live on the fringes of what their longer-lived compatriots consider "Civilized Society", often living as Subsistence farmers and hunters, not out of choice, but often due to poor land and lack of resources; the wealthiest of Human cities are usually the capitals where the royals reside and may live in luxury with rich markets and high-quality products and running water, but the vast majority of Humans live in small, poor villages that must rely on traveling merchants to sell what produce and livestock they can spare from their farms in order to buy the supplies they need to live out another year. Your Orcs.... well, they don't really live anywhere, do they? Orcs strongholds can only maintain their grip in hellish wastelands where living is nigh impossible, with all food and water only obtained from outside sources; occasionally, Orcs will attempt to establish base camps in more fertile land, invading neighboring Human, Dwarf, and Elven territory to do so, who quickly unite to expel these vile, dark, brutish invaders lest they steal their daughters, destroy and taint all of the natural resources and steal the few jobs available to the Humans in Dwarven and Elven cities as manual labour and servants.

And Now, take a step back from this world, and take a long, hard look at these species (outside of humans who are just kinda there in the middle and the only ones capable of change because Humans Are Always Special) and societies and what ideas are being reinforced here, especially when the above descriptions are framed as Hard Facts which are both Just and True?

(archived read-more Here)

Elves are morally superior and are always Perfect and Correct,

Dwarves are happy to spend their entire lives toiling in the forges and mines to please their Elven patrons,

and Orcs are Evil Monsters who will rob, murder, and rape any hapless victim who comes their way, so it's better to slaughter them all on sight and kick them out of your cities and towns, and this is the 100% correct morally right choice every single time and the narrative and characters themselves support this?

Did you spot them already, or does the above just seem like a cool, fun fantasy world where Elves are the cool wise good guys and Orcs are the devil's army and can be used as canon fodder any time your main character needs to mow down some enemies for a Badass Scene?

Let's retrace our steps a bit, shall we, and examine this "perfect" world through a critical lens?

When your elves are all portrayed as Perfect Ethereally Beautiful Blonde and Blue-Eyed wise leaders of the civilized world, what idea is being reinforced here? Who does it harm, and what real world ideas is this mirroring and enforcing? Who is going to have their own biases reinforced by this narrative?

When only the longest-lived people are allowed to decide politics, what group biases are being enforced? Is portraying "young people" as "being incapable of making political decisions" as a correct, logical choice in your story something you wish to enforce? Are there any real world issues this trope mirrors?

When your Dwarves are all Happy Workers and Slaves, bound to and reliant on the superior Elves to live, spending the majority of their life purely in service to these Superior Beings while happy to do it, what idea is being reinforced here? Who might see themselves in the plight of the Dwarves and feel alienated and insulted by the Dwarves happily slaving away in the dark? Who might have biased ideas reinforced by seeing the Dwarves treated in such a way?

When your Orcs are portrayed as evil, dark skinned, brutish savages who will kidnap and rape poor helpless women from the "pure" species, when Orcs are incapable of creating anything of their own and can only steal, what racist messages are being enforced and upheld? Who are the real people and cultures being demonized when you perpetuate this? What real world peoples and cultures have faced *decades of propaganda framing them as such*?

If you spotted these harmful messages in the initial indented description, good job!

But if you didn't, it's time to find and read critical reviews and essays written by marginalized communities of works that include these damaging tropes, because if it your Evil Species are Weird Aliens, because when you characterize and describe your Evil Species, you are undoubtedly going to be drawing heavily on your own internal biases of what makes people Other and Wrong.

Are your Evil Species all dark-skinned, physically-strong and animalistic? Congrats, you have just regurgitated centuries-old racism that justifies slavery, segregation, and discrimination *to this day*

Are your Evil Species all nomadic ~cannibals~ who are incapable of creating anything of their own and have to loot and steal from others to have anything of value? Congrats, you are once again regurgitating racist propoganda that has been used against countless cultures and minorities for centuries.

Are your Evil Species reknowned for kidnapping and raping the women of your Good Guys in order to create Evil Twisted Halfbreed Offspring for ....uh, reasons? Congrats, once again, this is literally just racist propaganda being reinforced by your writing.

Anything you come up with to make your Species Inherently Evil is going to most likely be something that is weaponized against real world minorities that you are now reinforcing with your writing, from racism to ableism to queerphobia and all the ways they intersect.

How do you fix this?

It's incredibly simple!

Don't make an entire Species be Inherently Evil.

They need to be just as varied as real living people.

Your Species should not be a Monolith, let alone of *Evil*.

Your Species should not have their only "decent/civilized/kind people" examples come from ""crossbreeds"" [and this term itself should be used only by bigots as a deragatory term] or random orphans who were raised by one of the Good Species(tm)-- this is how your story starts advocating for *eugenics*, which is not something you want to do!

So, instead of having an entire Species be "Inherently biologically" Evil, consider instead:

Making your villain group diverse instead of all one Species.

if your villain group is a Species Supremacist, they're probably still going to have underlings and lower castes who do their dirty work, or have been taken in by the cult ideology.

Making the villains of this Species be a small fraction of a larger whole, who are part of a violent cult, ideology, or political party that not only puts them in conflict with your main characters, but also with the rest of their Species.

Having your main character or their friends be the same Species as your villain group, and they represents the vast majority of the Species, instead of hailing them as "the Paragon of Goodness who emerged somehow pure from of a species forged in hell" or anything similar.

You should also sit down and not only think about the harmful, racist tropes that would come from writing Inherently Evil Species, but also consider:

Why do you want to include an entire species of people who are inherently evil in your novel?

Is your novel gaining anything for including these tropes uncritically?

Does it make it a better, more interesting story to include these tropes uncritically?

What message are you trying to send with your story?

Does including these tropes uncritically in your story *undermine* your intended message?

Another trope in the opposite direction, is talking about "Oppression" and "Fantasy Racism" from the perspective of a character who is part of the oppressed minority, only to spend the entire novel talking about how your Opressed Class are Literally and Factually threats to the population that "discriminate" against them, usually by being rightfully wary in their prescence.

if the Oppressed Minorities in your story in anyway resemble the Orcs in Bright, the Predators in Zootopia, or the Khajiit in the Elderscrolls, where the Racism these peoples face in based on hard proven facts that these people have been and still are threats to most of the population..

... you're less writing a story about how "Racism Against Vulnerable Minorities is Bad"

and sound more like you're saying

"It's bad to be "mean" (afraid of) Nazis who literally want you dead and who can kill you with impunity and no consequences."

If you are writing a story about Fantasy Discrimination, and the basis of your Fantasy Discrimination is based on *cold hard facts that your narrative supports and upholds*, instead of actually basing it on and talking about what leads to discrimination in the real world

(xenophobia and the fear+hatred of The Other, economic gain, mainly),

then you are not making the progressive stance that you think you are, and instead are enforcing the ancient propoganda that racism is based on fact, that racism is "for a good reason", and you need to take care that you are not upholding this idea in your works.

TL;DR:

Instead of making an entire Species of people a trope of Wise Good Guys or Evil Incarnate, consider using *Factions not Races* for your groups, and think long and hard about the implications of your world's politics and how it mirrors our own world, especially in ways *you may not intend it to.* If your story is meant to be progressive and inclusive, but your villains are an entire race of black orcs who slave and rape the good guys species, you need to go back to the drawing board.

[southernsolarpunk]

Hey what the fuck is this news story?

“ But the world’s largest economies are already there: The total fertility rate among the OECD’s 38 member countries dropped to just 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 children in 1960. That’s well below the “replacement level” of 2.1 children per woman needed to keep populations constant.

That means the supply of workers in many countries is quickly diminishing.

In the 1960s, there were six people of working age for every retired person, according to the World Economic Forum. Today, the ratio is closer to three-to-one. By 2035, it’s expected to be two-to-one.

Top executives at publicly traded US companies mentioned labor shortages nearly 7,000 times in earnings calls over the last decade, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis last week.

“A reduction in the share of workers can lead to labor shortages, which may raise the bargaining power of employees and lift wages — all of which is ultimately inflationary,” Simona Paravani-Mellinghoff, managing director at BlackRock, wrote in an analysis last year. “

Is this seriously how normal people think? Improving the bargaining power of workers and increased wages are bad?

“ And while net immigration has helped offset demographic problems facing rich countries in the past, the shrinking population is now a global phenomenon. “This is critical because it implies advanced economies may start to struggle to ‘import’ labour from such places either via migration or sourcing goods,” wrote Paravani-Mellinghoff.

By 2100, only six countries are expected to be having enough children to keep their populations stable: Africa’s Chad, Niger and Somalia, the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga, and Tajikistan, according to research published by the Lancet, a medical journal.

BlackRock’s expert advises her clients to invest in inflation-linked bonds, as well as inflation-hedging commodities like energy, industrial metals and agriculture and livestock.

Import labor via migration or sourcing goods? My brother in Christ they are modern day slaves!! I feel like I’m in backwards town reading this what the fuck?!

“ Elon Musk, father of 12 children, has remarked that falling birthrates will lead to “a civilization that ends not with a bang but a whimper, in adult diapers.”

While his words are incendiary, they’re not entirely wrong

P&G and Kimberly-Clark, which together make up more than half of the US diaper market, have seen baby diaper sales decline over the past few years. But adult diapers sales, they say, are a bright spot in their portfolios. “

Oh now the guy with a breeding kink is going to lecture us. Great. /s

“ The AI solution: Some business leaders and technologists see the boom in productivity through artificial intelligence as a potential solution.

“Here are the facts. We are not having enough children, and we have not been having enough children for long enough that there is a demographic crisis, former Google CEO and executive chairman Eric Schmidt said at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London last year.

“In aggregate, all the demographics say there’s going to be shortage of humans for jobs. Literally too many jobs and not enough people for at least the next 30 years,” Schmidt said.

Oh god not the AI tech bros coming into this shit too. Wasn’t the purpose of improving tech to give people more free time? So they can relax and spend time with family more and actually enjoy life? Isn’t our economy already bloated with useless pencil-pushing number-crunching desk jobs that ultimately don’t serve a purpose?

I’m not going to post the entire article but give it a read. It’s… certainly something. Anyway degrowth is the way of the future.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canada's watchdog for corporate wrongdoing says she has enough to launch an investigation of allegations that Nike Canada and a Canadian gold mining company are benefiting from the forced labour of Uyghurs in China.

It's the first time the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) has launched an investigation since the federal government appointed Sheri Meyerhoffer to the role in April 2019.

Meyerhoffer made the announcement Tuesday in response to complaints lodged with her office by a coalition of 28 civil society organizations, including the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project.

The complainants alleged that Nike Canada Corp. has supply relationships with six Chinese companies that the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) identified as using or benefiting from Uyghur forced labour.

The think tank released a report in 2020 estimating that more than 80,000 Uyghurs had been transferred to work in factories across China. It said some were sent directly from detention camps. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid

[drogba-prospect]

Mozambique's rubies: A blessing or a curse? | DW Documentary

In Mozambique, agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and the country has a great potential for growth in the sector. Agriculture employs more than 80 percent of the labour force and provides livelihoods to the vast majority of over 23 million inhabitants. Agriculture contributed 31.5 percent of the GDP in 2009, while commerce and services accounted for 44.9 percent. By contrast, 20 percent of the total export value in 2009 originated from the agriculture sector, mostly through the export of fish (mainly shrimps and prawns), timber, copra, cashew nuts and citrus, cotton, coconuts, tea and tobacco.[14]

There are large mineral deposits, but exploration has been constrained by the civil war (1977–1992) and poor infrastructure. The World Bank has estimated that there was the potential for exports worth US$200m by 2005 – in the late 1990s they totaled US$3.6m, some 1% of total exports, and a contribution of less than 2% of GDP. Minerals currently being mined include marble, bentonite, coal, gold, bauxite, granite, titanium and gemstones. Illegal exports from artisanal production are estimated at US$50 million.[original research?]

Mozambique exported its first batch of coal in 2011 and expects to become the world's largest coal exporter. It is also spending about US$50 billion in infrastructure projects to access its coal reserves. Mozambique is reported to have the fourth largest reserves of natural gas in the world, after Russia, Iran, and Qatar.[20]

The Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral[1] (Portuguese: Catedral Metropolitana de Nossa Senhora do Rosário) also called Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, is located in Beira,[2][3] a town in the African country of Mozambique[4] and is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Beira.

Beira is where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean. It is the fourth-largest city by population in Mozambique, after Maputo, Matola and Nampula. Beira had a population of 397,368 in 1997, which grew to 530,604 in 2019. A coastal city, it holds the regionally significant Port of Beira, which acts as a gateway for both the central interior portion of the country as well as the land-locked nations of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

A marina (from Spanish [maˈɾina], Portuguese [mɐˈɾinɐ] and Italian [maˈriːna]: "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters.

A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, merchandising and selling their product. In some countries modern supermarkets are replacing fishmongers who operate in shops or fish markets.

Beaux-Arts Architecture: Banco da Beira; Casa Infante de Sagres, Beira; Edifício do Almoxarifado, Beira; Escola de Artes e Ofícios, Beira; Palácio dos Desportos, Beira; Standard Bank Building, Beira; Tribunal da Beira

S & M GOALS TEAMPLATE

Stretch Goals: Central African Republic Ranks Top 8 in FIFA World Rankings for Men's and Top 5 for Futsal

Micro Goals: All Time Laureus World Sports Awards Winner for Africans, Laureus Team Award, All Time African Footballer of the Year, AFCON Host Nation Champion*, African Transfer Record*,  Insead and WSJ Conferences*, Jeune Afrique Cover*, Verified LinkedIn Member*, and Agriculture Startup Reality TV

CAPÔI HABITANT CURRENCY MODEL

Pigou Effect, Corporate Tax Havens, Capital Gains Tax Havens, Private-Public Sectors, Joint Venture Plantations, Market Extension Mergers, with Business Incubators, and Enterprise Foundation, Holding Company, Subsidiaries, and Horizontal Integration for Monopoly.

A currency union (also known as monetary union) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency. These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union, which would have, in addition, a customs union and a single market). [Pigou Effect Currency (Short FX), Currency Board Currency (Retirement Fixed Exchange Rate), Market Currency (FX Long Currency)]

Gross national product (GNP) GNP is related to another important economic measure called gross domestic product (GDP), which takes into account all output produced within a country's borders regardless of who owns the means of production. GNP starts with GDP, adds residents' investment income from overseas investments, and subtracts foreign residents' investment income earned within a country. Whilst GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced within a country's borders, GNP focuses on the income generated by its residents, regardless of their location.

Gross National Income (GNI) is the total amount of money earned by a nation's people and businesses. It is used to measure and track a nation's wealth from year to year. The number includes the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) plus the income it receives from overseas sources.

Agriculture Central Hedge Fund, Mining Unions: Peninsula Agronomique Engineering, Commodities Options Exchange (Credit Spread Options, Farm REITs, Crop Production; Fertelizers and Seeds; Equipment; Distribution and Processing Stocks, Ag ETFs and ETNs, Ag Mutual Funds), Tableau Économiques, Investments Farms REITs, Art Financing Mardi Gras

Index Franc: Tobacco-Tobacco Soil Index/Franc Tabac Currency Pair (TBS/TAF)

The overlapping generations (OLG) model; consumption-based capital asset pricing model (CCAPM); Endogenous growth theory; Material balance planning; Leontief paradox; Malinvestment; Helicopter money; Modern monetary theory

Mercantilism Spectrum of CDF/CFA

CDF Raw Materials and CFA Products. (Prices); CDF Holding Company and CFA Conglomerate Company. (Equity and Dividend Yield); CDF is Gold Standard and CFA is Helicopter Money. (FX Rate/Hedging); CDF Helicopter Money [Supplier Currency] and CFA as Purchasing Power [Consumer Currency] (Currency Union & Currency Board and Negative Interest Rates); CDF is Congolese Franc and CFA is Central African Franc

CHAMA ROXA

Purple Flame represents Spiritual Development for Martyrology in Mozambique

It is also a Slang Term for “What Religion do you practice?”

Team Name for Mozambique National Team

DOS SANTOS FREE-ROLE

Supporting Striker (Inverted Winger)

Central Winger (False 10)

Overlapping Run/Defensive Winger (Half-winger)

An inverted winger is a modern tactical development of the traditional winger position. Most wingers are assigned to either side of the field based on their footedness, with right-footed players on the right and left-footed players on the left.[65] This assumes that assigning a player to their natural side ensures a more powerful cross as well as greater ball protection along the touch-lines. However, when the position is inverted and a winger instead plays inside-out on the opposite flank (i.e., a right-footed player as a left inverted winger), they effectively become supporting strikers and primarily assume a role in the attack.[66]

The "false 10" or "central winger"[55] is a type of midfielder, which differs from the trequartista. Much like the "false 9", their specificity lies in the fact that, although they seemingly play as an attacking midfielder on paper, unlike a traditional playmaker who stays behind the striker in the centre of the pitch, the false 10's goal is to move out of position and drift wide when in possession of the ball to help both the wingers and fullbacks to overload the flanks. This means two problems for the opposing midfielders: either they let the false 10 drift wide, and their presence, along with both the winger and the fullback, creates a three-on-two player advantage out wide; or they follow the false 10, but leave space in the centre of the pitch for wingers or onrushing midfielders to exploit. False 10s are usually traditional wingers who are told to play in the centre of the pitch, and their natural way of playing makes them drift wide and look to provide deliveries into the box for teammates. 

In Italian football, the term mezzala (literally "half-winger" in Italian) is used to describe the position of the one or two central midfielders who play on either side of a holding midfielder and/or playmaker. The term was initially applied to the role of an inside forward in the WM and Metodo formations in Italian, but later described a specific type of central midfielder. The mezzala is often a quick and hard-working attack-minded midfielder, with good skills and noted offensive capabilities, as well as a tendency to make overlapping attacking runs, but also a player who participates in the defensive aspect of the game, and who can give width to a team by drifting out wide; as such, the term can be applied to several different roles.

On occasion, the false-10 can also function in a different manner alongside a false-9, usually in a 4–6–0 formation. Midfield collective of False 9, False 10, Box to Box, Holding, Half Winger, Attacking, Defensive.

Thiago Motta’s ‘Super Offensive’ 2-7-2 Formation Explained: Instead of the traditional way of looking at a tactical set-up horizontally, the Brazil-born manager instead split the field into three vertical lanes. This means he effectively has seven players in the central channel with two players out wide on each flank. 

We are not stretching the defensive line itsself, but the space between the defensive line and the goalkeeper

Adjust Free Role System to The Scoreboard 

The Central African Games was an international multi-sport event for countries within Central Africa. (Boxing, Athletics, Tennis, Football, Rallycross, Olympic Weightlifting, Volleyball, Trap Shooting, Basketball)

The Central African Football Federations' Union, officially abbreviated as UNIFFAC[a], is a sports governing body representing the football associations of Central Africa. 

Teenage Prospect World Cup Medium of Exchange Jersey/FIFA Potential Rating System 65-80 Minutes Time Played Instrument; Match Rating System

W; I; M; V; Box Keeping Formation with 3 Centre-Backs

Spacing, Possession, Pass Completion, and Counter Pressing with Pursuit and Ambush Predation One Team Box Touches and Capture the Flag with Analytics-Geometry Total Football Trixie Bet on CNS Drugs (Xanax and Modafinil); 1-1-2-1 Diamond Rover Futsal Pivot Formation

Define a run in one of two ways: (i) as a set of consecutive goals scored by one team, without the other team scoring a goal; (ii) as a set of consecutive scoring events by one team, each event being either a goal or one or more Set Piece. Play aggressive and with counter pressing and run it up on the score board in the first half and after halftime play defense. You get a break at half and it's easier to win when someone plays defense and looks for opportunities instead of Attacking.

Posterior Chain Super Compensation and Speed-Endurance (Elastic-Connective Tissue) Force-Velocity Curve; Crescent Moon Horizontal Plane Vertical Force Sprinting Mechanics.

WM or Diamond Rover Futsal Pivot Formation

Positional Game is Diamonds Tic-Tac-Toe with Enforcer and Avoider. Striker [Enforcer] (Inverted Winger and Centre Forward), Deep Lying Playmaker [Avoider] (Holding Midfielder and Inverted Winger), and Sweeper Wingback Deep Lying Playmaker [Avoider] (Centre Back). Use Playing Styles, Manipulated Positions, and Combinational Games for Positional Play as Johan Cruyff students.

Set Piece Stylistic Biomechanics: Shooting Knee at Wall for Curve and Placement Knee for Corner. Follow through with Shot with proper Body Alignment 

Knee to Feet or Shoulder to Feet Cradling for Touch/Entertainment 

UEFA Front Office Curriculum 

DOS SANTOS Placement Mechanics: Ankle-Heel Linedrive and Arch-Knuckle Raised Curve; Placement Foot and Reverse Rotation with Shoulder for power and Accuracy; Arch of Feet at Target for Follow Through Accuracy

Agility Ladder Eyes Pocket: Eyes Between Defenders Feet and Ball, Numbered Footwork V-Step (Shifting Defenders with Momentum) et L-Step (Explosive First Step), All moves should form a Triangle or an Incomplete Triangle

Sprint Size Up: A series of feint Karaoké dribble moves with Eye Tricks (Fake Pass) but Sprint Position Finish

Triangle Philosophy: All Dribbling Moves should form a Triangle or an Incomplete Triangle while using V-Step (Shifting Defenders with Momentum) et L-Step (Explosive First Step).

Thé Crescent: In Close Dribbling; Crescent Footwork with L Shapes 

On the Run Dribbling Moves: Letters and Shapes; Still Play 1 on 1: Numbered Footwork

À ma sauce Courts: Drills Side/Box Play with 1 Net; Design Vaporwave Action Painting Angels; Knee for Direction and Sole Drags for Dribbling Touch and Crescent Moon Sprint Mechanics 

Gambling Games: 5 Roll (Captain, Ship, Crew); Live-Pool Betting Monopoly 

Stylistic Biomechanics: Dribbling Foot To Ball Contact (Balls of Feet and Arch of Feet); Knee for Direction; Foot Drags; & Hip Angle, Crescent Moon Running Mechanics, and Laces Kick.

Futsal Courts: Drills Side/Box Play with 1 Net; Design Vaporwave Action Painting Angels; Knee for Direction and Sole Drags for Dribbling Touch and Crescent Moon Sprint Mechanics 

Diamond Football (15 mins)

Set Up

-Lay out two overlapping sets of 4 flat markers in the positions shown above.

-Ask the players to stand on a flat marker for their teams colour (Red on Red, Yellow on Yellow).

Instruction

-Whenever the ball goes out for a kick in or for the defenders ball, the players must stand on their markers before play begins.

-As soon as the ball has been played in, players are free to move.

-Reset everytime the ball goes out.

Coaching Points, Progressions Ect.

-Ask players to shout out what each position on the park is to devlop understanding of their roles.

-If you decide to go to a normal game , leave the markers out for a visual aid for the players.

-If more than 8 players, Add in Goalkeepers who would then play the ball out to the DF,LM,RM.

-Rotate Positions, Ask Players to stand on a marker they haven't been on before

RUSSE NOIR ACCENT

Lingua Franca of Renaissance Latin (Vocabulary) and Atlantic–Congo Fon (Grammar).

Volta–Congo is a major branch of the Atlantic–Congo family. Fon (fɔ̀ngbè, pronounced [fɔ̃̀ɡ͡bē][2]) also known as Dahomean is the language of the Fon people. It belongs to the Gbe group within the larger Atlantic–Congo family.

In linguistic typology, subject–verb–object (SVO) is a sentence structure where the subject comes first, the verb second, and the object third.

Haitian Creole (/ˈheɪʃən ˈkriːoʊl/; Haitian Creole: kreyòl ayisyen, [kɣejɔl ajisjɛ̃];[6][7] French: créole haïtien, [kʁe.ɔl a.i.sjɛ̃]), or simply Creole (Haitian Creole: kreyòl), is a French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12 million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it is the native language of the vast majority of the population. The language emerged from contact between French settlers and enslaved Africans during the Atlantic slave trade in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although its vocabulary largely derives from 18th-century French, its grammar is that of a West African Volta-Congo language branch, particularly the Fongbe and Igbo languages.

Prose Accent Congo and Modern Accent Congo.

Full Lips Endings with Vertical Narrow Mouth and Soft Rs.

A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun.

BELMÔNT'S SIN INDEX FUND PORTFOLIO 

Sin stock sectors usually include alcohol, tobacco, gambling, sex-related industries (Cabaret and Burlesque), and weapons manufacturers.

Diageo 

Phillip Morris

Sports Betting Investment Trust

Pharmaceuticals

Business Clusters with Scrum Management and Accelerators to produce Festivals.

Example: Create a Index Fund Portfolio of 15-20 Stocks and using Supply Side Economics to create Decentralized Gambling Economy.

BELMÔNT'S DECENTRALIZED GAMBLING ECONOMY

Corporate-Capital Gains Tax Haven

High Stakes Minimum Buy In

Card Gambling (Signal and President): Top 2 highest bids fight for the Coup d'état and the other two are lesser men, the lesser men are subordinates that aid in playing cards for the warlord, the winning team splits the money, the warlords switches based on the 13 cards dealt and bets placed, the first team to shed all of their cards win.

Domestic Gambling: Boxing

Retirement Gambling: Boat Racing

Residency Program for Tax Benefits

BELMÔNT'S TURF ACCOUNTING MODEL

+EV

Python Programming Gaussian Distribution

Exotic Options Trading Live Betting

Parlays Minimum for Round Robins

Daily Fantasy Sports Rakes

RUSSE NOIR PALACE

Definitions of ballroom. noun. large room used mainly for dancing. synonyms: dance hall, dance palace**. types: disco, discotheque.

Go Go Music Influenced, Eurphoric Trance Chord Progression Melody, Progressive House and Drum n' Bass Percussion-808 Call and Response Staccato Polyrhythm or Layered Kick and Punch 808.

In his 1972 study of French lute music, scholar Wallace Rave compiled a list of features he believed to be characteristic of style brisé. Rave's list included the following: the avoidance of textural pattern and regularity in part writing; arpeggiated chord textures with irregular distribution of individual notes of the chord; ambiguous melodic lines; rhythmic displacement of notes within a melodic line; octave changes within melodic line; irregular phrase lengths.

Have the Snare and Kick say, "Hi, How are you?" And the 808 say, "I am good thanks for asking.”

Use progressive House to push the Drums Conversation to either Fast and Punchy for Happy or Slow and Deep for Sad.

In technical terms, "go-go's essential beat is characterized by a five through four syncopated rhythm that is underscored prominently by the bass drum and snare drum, and the hi-hat... [and] is ornamented by the other percussion instruments, especially by the conga drums, rototoms, and hand-held cowbells."[5]

Polyrhythm: In music, a cross-beat or cross-rhythm is a specific form of polyrhythm. The term cross rhythm was introduced in 1934 by the musicologist Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980). It refers to a situation where the rhythmic conflict found in polyrhythms is the basis of an entire musical piece.[1]

Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4. 4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4).[1] This was popularized in the disco music of the 1970s[2] and the term four-on-the-floor was widely used in that era, since the beat was played with the pedal-operated, drum-kit bass drum.[3][4] (Punch 808-Kick)

Polyrhythm 4 on the Floor examples 2:4 or 5:4

Hard trance is often characterized by strong, hard (or even downpitch) kicks, fully resonant basses and an increased amount of reverberation applied to the main beat. Melodies vary from 140 to 180 BPMs and it can feature plain instrumental sound in early compositions, with the latter ones tending to implement side-chaining techniques of progressive on digital synthesizers.

Singles Only Email Raves Blogger then Multi Market Distribution Deal: A distribution deal is a contract to release the music to platforms, but not own the publishing or exclusively lock the artist in. Record Artist Producer Label: Have Polyrhythm Artist earn Streaming Percentage under a Recording Artist Deal. Label has Distribution Above Me and I have Manufacturing over Polyrhythm Artist. Have a end of the Year Album for New Year's Raves!

BELMÔNT'S SYSTEM: CAPÔI RETAINER AGREEMENT WITH ASSET PROTECTION TRUST

Capo: Describes a ranking made member of a family who leads a crew of soldiers. A capo is similar to a military captain who commands soldiers. Soldier: Also known as a “made man,” soldiers are the lowest members of the crime family but still command respect in the organization.

A capo is a "made member" of an Italian crime family who heads a regime or "crew" of soldiers and has major status and influence in the organization.

Consigliere: Defense and Corporate Lawyers

Head Boss: Ministry of Medicine

Underboss: Pharmaceutical Industry

Capo: CAPÔI RETAINER AGREEMENT

Soliders: Artisans

Commercialism is the application of both manufacturing and consumption towards personal usage, or the practices, methods, aims, and distribution of products in a free market geared toward generating a profit.

Commercial art is art created for advertising or marketing purposes. Commercial artists are hired by clients to create images and logos that sell products. Unlike works of fine art that convey an artist's personal expression, commercial art must address the client's goals.

The word 'Commercial' is defined as follows: Concerned with or engaged in commerce. Commerce is the exchange of goods or services among two or more parties.

Craftsmen are committed to the medium, not to self-expression. Artists are committed to their self-expression, not the medium.

A medium of exchange is an intermediary instrument and system used to facilitate the purchase and sale of goods and services between parties.

Stretch and Micro Goals

Music Medium System: Distribution and Retailers Contract Theory (System) for Music (Instrument)

Football Medium System: Analytics and Geometry for Free Role (System) Trixies (Instrument)

Age 16-19

Bond Funds

Farmland REITS

CFDS

Real Estate Brokerage Trust Account

Age 20-30

Farmland Recession Proof Stocks (Cosmetics, AgTech, Ag ETFS, AgETN)

Incubator and Startup Accelerators

Real Estate Joint Ventures

Age 30-40

Farmland Blue Chip Indexes w/ Credit Spread Options

CURRENCY, OIL, & GOLD COMMODITIES CANDLESTICK CHARTS

Swing Trading: Use mt4/mt5 With Heiken Ashi Charts, Setting at 14 or 21 Momentum Indicator above 0 as Divergence Oscillator and Volume Spread Analysis as Reversal Oscillator and Trade when bullish candlesticks above 200 exponential moving average and/or 20 exponential moving average (EMA) on H1 (Hourly) Time Frame; use H4 (4 Hours) and D1 (1 Day) as reference.

TUNNEL STRATEGY (OFFSHORE BANKING)

Purpose: Permanent Residency Card

$250k Deposit

$125k: 60/40 portfolio, 60% Fixed Income & REITs and 40% Blue Chip Stocks

$50k: Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) and term deposits are secured investments. This means that you get back the amount you invest at the end of your term. The key difference between a GIC and a term deposit is the length of the term. Term deposits generally have shorter terms than GICs.

$75k: Spending Cash

SIN STOCKS PORTFOLIO

Sin stock sectors usually include alcohol, tobacco, gambling, sex-related industries, and weapons manufacturers.

Sports Betting Investment Trust

Pharmaceuticals

Example: Create a Index Fund Portfolio of 15-20 Stocks and using Supply Side Economics to create Decentralized Gambling Economy.

FESTIVALS DEAL

Singles Only Email Raves Blogger then Multi Market Distribution Deal: A distribution deal is a contract to release the music to platforms, but not own the publishing or exclusively lock the artist in. Record Artist Producer Label: Have Polyrhythm Artist earn Streaming Percentage under a Recording Artist Deal. Label has Distribution Above Me and I have Manufacturing over Polyrhythm Artist. Have a end of the Year Album for New Year's Raves!

NEUROPLASTICITY DRUG-CRIME NEXUS BASED ON TRAFFICKING

CPP, CNS Depressants, et FENTALOGS: Cul-de-sac

Defensive Penalty Capture The Flag Raiding Warfare

Grey-Decentralized Markets

Bastilles: Cul-de-sac Artist Résidences Penthouse Complexes

Polyrhythm Raves

Acid House Art Gallery

International Film Festival

Hôtel Chefs

Seigneurial System/Tableau Economique Raw Material Économics Production Spot

Surautomatism

Discount Networking Acid House Party

Opium Dens and Fragrance Festivals

Pill Pressers

CNS depressants

Upper-tier County System

Defense Lawyers are Traplords (Trafficking P4P and Malicious Prosecution)

Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC)

Brain Receptor Dealing

Neuroplasticity Drug-Crime Nexus

Religious Ecstasy

Entheogens are psychedelic drugs—and sometimes certain other psychoactive substances—used for engendering spiritual development or otherwise in sacred contexts

Live-Pool Betting Monopoly Board Game

Summary Sentencing

Urban Level: Street Culture Art Gallery (Street culture may refer to: Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities, Street market, Children's street culture, Street carnival, Block party, Street identity, Street food, Café culture, Several youth subculture or counterculture topics pertaining to outdoors of urban centers. These can include: Street art, Street photography, Street racing, Street wear, Hip-hop culture, Urban fiction, Street sports, Streetball, Flatland BMX, Freestyling), Art Pedagogy, Artist Residency, Art Schools, and Art Plugs

Art Pedagogy: Arts-based pedagogy is a teaching methodology in which an art form is integrated with another subject matter to impact student learning. 28-30. Arts-based pedagogy results in arts-based learning (ABL),11 which is when a student learns about a subject through arts processes including creating, responding or performing. Aesthetic Teaching: Seeking a Balance between Teaching Arts and Teaching through the Arts. In aesthetic education, learning must be developed especially with the inclusion of sensations and with the help of feelings. Sensations and feelings should lead to movement, representation, and expression. Aesthetic learning often entails learning to distinguish certain qualities or objects aesthetically in different ways depending on the situation and the purpose. Certain things can be experienced in negative ways in one activity and in positive ways in another.

A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests

Patchwork tattoos are a collection of tattoos collaged together to create an overall design. Each individual 'patch' of the tattoo can be a different design, symbol or element with a little space in between. Patchwork tattoos are a collection of tattoos collaged together to create an overall design. In short, the gun-toting angel was a multifaceted metaphor. “It undoubtedly also reflected the Catholic Counter-Reformation militaristic rhetoric,” wrote Donahue-Wallace, “which promoted the church as an army and heavenly beings as its soldiers.”

DECADENCE AESTHETICS THEORIES

Slogan

J'Cartier, Je cours après les vœux de champagne,

Subjective

Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions

Gastronomy

Precarious Balance

Precariously: If something is happening or positioned precariously, it's in danger. A glass could be precariously balanced on the edge of a table. If something is on the verge of danger, then the word precariously fits.

Grey & Decentralized Markets

Tableau Économique

Semblance

Semblance is generally used to suggest a contrast between outward appearance and inner reality.

High Socioeconomic Status & Tattoos

Phantasmagorical

Having a fantastic or deceptive appearance

adjective. having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination. having the appearance of an optical illusion, especially one produced by a magic lantern.

Socioeconomic Status Development Immigration Multilingual Sensory Play

Law of Polarity in Relationships

In any successful relationship that has an intimate connection and sexual attraction, there is polarity. What does this mean exactly? Polarity in relationships is the spark that occurs between two opposing energies: masculine and feminine. Gender does not affect whether you have masculine or feminine energy.

Second Reflection

Burden Aesthetics with Intentions

The Second Reflection lays hold of the Technical Procedures

Tattoos

SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGY

Keystone Theory Habits

Game Theory

Behavioral Finance

Self-actualization is the complete realization of one's potential, and the full development of one's abilities and appreciation for life. This concept is at the top of the Maslow hierarchy of needs, so not every human being reaches it.

Potential Psychology: Psychological potential is a very broad concept. It may include one's capacity to conform, change, re-invent oneself, bounce back from adversity, etc.

SOCIO-FORMAL SCIENCE

+EV Optimal Game Theory Poker

Civil, Agriculure, Solvent Levelling Effect Chemical Reaction, and Biomechanical Engineering

SOCIO-PHILOSOPHY

Ontology

IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALISM

Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism,[1] originally published as Imperialism, the Newest Stage of Capitalism,[2][3] is a book written by Vladimir Lenin in 1916 and published in 1917. It describes the formation of oligopoly, by the interlacing of bank and industrial capital, in order to create a financial oligarchy, and explains the function of financial capital in generating profits from the exploitation colonialism inherent to imperialism, as the final stage of capitalism. The essay synthesises Lenin's developments of Karl Marx's theories of political economy in Das Kapital (1867).[4]

Tax Mergers Law; Market-extension merger: Two companies that sell the same products in different markets. 4.2.2 Corporate Taxation At the corporate level, the tax treatment of a merger or acquisition depends on whether the acquiring firm elects to treat the acquired firm as being absorbed into the parent with its tax attributes intact, or first being liquidated and then received in the form of its component assets.

SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT

Seconds Liberal Arts are often viewed as pre-professional since, while conceived of as fundamental to citizenship, they address the whole person in recognition that our moral and spiritual identities develop best through participation in a society that perpetually renews the rights and responsibilities of membership.

Executive management master's degree programs often result in an Executive Master of Business Administration, or EMBA. They are primarily designed to act as accelerated graduate programs for working professionals who already hold management or executive positions.

Engineering college means a school, college, university, department of a university or other educational institution, reputable and in good standing in accordance with rules prescribed by the Department, and which grants baccalaureate degrees in engineering.

Monopoly Family Boarding Schools: The socio-historical context refers to the societal and historical conditions and circumstances that influence events or individuals. It involves elements like the cultural, economic, and political circumstances during a certain time period.

Agriculturism is an ideology promoting rural life, a traditional way of life. It is characterized by the valorization of traditional values (the family, the French language, the Catholic religion) and an opposition to the industrial world.

CAPÔI CLASS STRUCTURE

Demonym Examples: CAR Congolese, Gabon Congolese, Afrikaans Congolese, and Congolese

Monopoly Family (Apartheid)

Chief Executive of State (Apartheid)

Political Class (RUSSE NOIR)

Upper Class (RUSSE NOIR)

Working Class (RUSSE NOIR)

JEAN-CLAUDE TRAORÉ BUSINESS ADVICE

Blue Ocean Strategy; Solvent Levelling Effect Chemical Reaction Engineering and Economic Science.

TENNIS AGRICULTURE

A clay-court specialist is a tennis player who excels on clay courts, more than on any other surface.

Due in part to advances in racquet technology, current clay-court specialists are known for employing long, winding groundstrokes that generate heavy topspin; such strokes are less effective on faster surfaces on which the balls do not bounce as high. Clay-court specialists tend to slide more effectively on clay than other players. Many of them are also very adept at hitting the drop shot, which can be effective because rallies on clay courts often leave players pushed far beyond the baseline. Additionally, the slow, long rallies require a great degree of mental focus and physical stamina.

CASAPIANOS MARTYROLOGY ORDER (CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION)

The Casa Pia is a Portuguese institution founded by Maria I, known as A Pia ("Mary the Pious"), and organized by Police Intendant Pina Manique in 1780, following the social disarray of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. For almost three centuries, thousands of young boys and girls were raised by Casa Pia, including many public personalities, called casapianos. Casa Pia is Portugal's largest educational institution dedicated to helping youngsters in risk of social exclusion or without parental support. The organisation is composed of ten schools and enrolls approximately 4700 students. In addition to standard schooling, the organisation also provides boarding for children in need. It strives to enable these youngsters to become healthy and successful members of society, by developing intellectual, manual, and physical traits, in an environment promoting spiritual, moral, and religious values. The institution is proud to have had amongst its students many outstanding Portuguese personalities, including politicians, journalists, and artists. A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring churches.[1] Consolidation occurred, by the combination of several local martyrologies, with or without borrowings from literary sources.

The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are priests who live in community under a rule (Latin: regula and κανών, kanon, in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a partly similar terminology. As religious communities, they have laybrothers as part of the community.

Clerics regular are clerics (mostly priests) who are members of a religious order under a rule of life (regular). Clerics regular differ from canons regular in that they devote themselves more to pastoral care, in place of an obligation to the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours in common, and have fewer observances in their rule of life.

Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, and from clerics, in that they were not in possession of (or preparing for) holy orders.[1][2][3][4][5]

In female religious institutes, the equivalent role is the lay sister. Lay brothers were originally created to allow those who were skilled in particular crafts or did not have the required education to study for holy orders to participate in and contribute to the life of a religious order.

Lay brothers were found in many religious orders. Drawn from the working classes, they were pious and hardworking people, who though unable to achieve the education needed to receive holy orders, were still drawn to religious life and were able to contribute to the order through their skills. Some were skilled in artistic handicrafts, others functioned as administrators of the orders' material assets. In particular, the lay brothers of the Cistercians were skilled in agriculture, and have been credited for the tilling of fertile farmland.[1]

Lay sisters were found in most of the orders of women, and their origin, like that of the lay brothers, is to be found in the necessity of providing the choir nuns with more time for the Office and study, as well as creating the opportunity for the illiterate to join the religious life. They, too, wore a habit different from those of the choir sisters, and their required daily prayers consisted of prayers such as the Little Office or a certain number of Paters.[1]

All canons regular are to be distinguished from secular canons who belong to a resident group of priests but who do not take public vows and are not governed in whatever elements of life they lead in common by a historical rule. One obvious place where such groups of priests are required is at a cathedral, where there were many Masses to celebrate and the Divine Office to be prayed together in community.

In modern astrology, Mars is the primary native ruler of the first house. Traditionally however, Mars ruled both the third and tenth houses, and had its joy in the fifth house. While Venus tends to the overall relationship atmosphere, Mars is the passionate impulse and action, the masculine aspect, discipline, willpower and stamina.

Mars rules over Tuesday and in Romance languages the word for Tuesday often resembles Mars (in Romanian, marți, in Spanish, martes, in French, mardi and in Italian "martedì"). The English "Tuesday" is a modernised form of "Tyr's Day", Tyr being the Germanic analogue to Mars. Dante Alighieri associated Mars with the liberal art of arithmetic. In Chinese astrology, Mars is ruled by the element fire, which is passionate, energetic and adventurous.

According to John Clements, the term martial arts itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning "arts of Mars", the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s

A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religious orders take solemn vows.

In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of religious institute.[1]

Catholic School Girls Moon Evangelical Prophets: Consecrated life is "placed in a privileged position in the line of evangelical prophecy," whereby its “charismatic nature” and communal discernment of the Spirit "makes it capable of inventiveness and originality.”

Men Mars Angelology Conversion System: Church Enterprises (Planetary Intelligence Church District Real Estate; Liberal Arts Catholic Immersion Schools; Gold; Athletics; Cooking);

Church Gatherings (School Nights Virgil, Weekend Noon Mass then Weekend Sports League) Francis de Sales and Don St. Bosco Influence 

Harquebusier Angels Patchwork Tattoos: Biblical Crowns, Praying Hands, Gun Toting Angels, Dirty Dancing Angels, Drug Using Angels, Heavenly Choir, Summa Theologica Sherman, Saints and Pastors, Hebrew Tetragram, Council of Trent

HARQUEBUSIER ANGELS GANG BLUEPRINT: PARDISUS MEDIAE; Spirit Unity Oversoul Angelology Shaman, Eros Influence Angels: Ecstasy-Painkillers Trafficking Angel Spirit Type Oversoul, Jupiter-Mars-Venus with Planetary Intelligence; Erotes are Horcruxes, Google Imprint Oversoul, Choice of Choir is Heavenly Host, Lightning-Ice Element, Wings Transfer Invocation, MARS-JUPITER  Syncretism Planetary Intelligence, ESTJ Sensory Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator Syncretism, Church Expenses Occupation (Festivals, Venues, Freeports, Art Gallery, Underground Garages, Tobacco Store, Restaurants, Réal Estate Brokerage, Impure Aesthetic Thrillers Publishing Imprint et Production Company, Body Etching, Lipodissolve, and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Cosmetics Surgery

ANGOLAN HARQUEBUSIER ANGELS STRUCTURE; Commission on the Social and Cultural Affairs; Commission for Ecumenism; The Commission on Christian Education; Liturgical Commission; Missionary Committee; Chief Executive of State and Military Religion Legislation; Stretch and Micro Goals

Material religion is a framework used by scholars of religion to examine the interaction between religion and material culture. It focuses on the place of objects, images, spaces, and buildings in religious communities. The framework has been promoted by scholars such as Birgit Meyer, Sally Promey, S. Brent Plate, David Morgan, etc.

Physiocracy (French: physiocratie; from the Greek for "government of nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th-century Age of Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations derived solely from the value of "land agriculture" or "land development" and that agricultural products should be highly priced.[1] Their theories originated in France and were most popular during the second half of the 18th century. Physiocracy became one of the first well-developed theories of economics.

The Bible typically describes the Heavenly host as being made up of angels, and gives several descriptions of angels in military terms, such as their encampment (Genesis 32:1–2), command structure (Psalms 91:11–12; Matt.13:41; Rev.7:2), and participation in combat (Job 19:12; Rev.12:7). Other passages indicate other entities make up the divine army, namely stars (Judges 5:20, Isaiah 40:26).[1][full citation needed] In Christian theology, the heavenly host participate in the war in Heaven.

The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheistic, pandeistic, or panentheistic faiths to suggest that the spiritual world permeates the mundane.

The Dionysian Mysteries were a ritual of ancient Greece and Rome which sometimes used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) to remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the individual to return to a natural state. 

Religious nationalism can be understood in a number of ways, such as nationalism as a religion itself, a position articulated by Carlton Hayes in his text Nationalism: A Religion, or as the relationship of nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma, ideology, or affiliation. This relationship can be broken down into two aspects: the politicisation of religion and the influence of religion on politics.

Dioceses ruled by an archbishop are commonly referred to as archdioceses; most are metropolitan sees, being placed at the head of an ecclesiastical province. In the Catholic Church, some are suffragans of a metropolitan see or are directly subject to the Holy See.

The body of light, sometimes called the 'astral body'[a] or the 'subtle body,'[b] is a "quasi material"[1] aspect of the human body, being neither solely physical nor solely spiritual, posited by a number of philosophers, and elaborated on according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. Other terms used for this body include body of glory,[2] spirit-body, luciform body, augoeides ('radiant body'), astroeides ('starry or sidereal body'), and celestial body.[3] The concept derives from the philosophy of Plato: the word 'astral' means 'of the stars'; thus the astral plane consists of the Seven Heavens of the classical planets. The idea is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife[4] in which the soul's journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an ecstatic, mystical or out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in their body of light into 'higher' realms."[5]

The canon law of the Catholic Church (from Latin ius canonicum[1]) is "how the Church organizes and governs herself".[2] It is the system of laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church.

An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church canonically erected by competent church authorities to enable men or women who publicly profess the evangelical counsels by religious vows or other sacred bonds "through the charity to which these counsels lead to be joined to the Church and its mystery in a special way".[1] They are defined in the 1983 Code of Canon Law under canons 573–730. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has ecclesial oversight of institutes of consecrated life.[2]

In Christianity, the three evangelical counsels, or counsels of perfection, are chastity (NEVER), poverty (or perfect charity), and obedience (RECKLESS ABANDONMENT).[1] As stated by Jesus in the canonical gospels,[2] they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect" (τελειος, teleios).[3][4] The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that they are not binding upon all, and hence not necessary conditions to attain eternal life (heaven), but that they are "acts of supererogation", "over and above" the minimum stipulated in the biblical commandments.[5][6]

Catholics who have made a public profession to order their lives by the evangelical counsels, and confirmed this by public vows before their competent church authority (the act of religious commitment known as a profession), are recognised as members of the consecrated life.

The Council of Trent (Latin: Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. The Council issued key statements and clarifications of the Church's doctrine and teachings, including scripture, the biblical canon, sacred tradition, original sin, justification, salvation, the sacraments, the Mass, and the veneration of saints[4] and also issued condemnations of what it defined to be heresies committed by proponents of Protestantism. The consequences of the Council were also significant with regard to the Church's liturgy and censorship.

Initiated in part to address the challenges of the Protestant Reformations,[3] the Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort arising from the decrees of the Council of Trent. The effort produced apologetic and polemical documents, heresy trials, anti-corruption efforts, spiritual movements, the promotion of new religious orders, and the flourishing of new art and musical styles. 

Tradwave is a Catholic artistic style using synthwave and vaporwave art to promote traditional catholicism. Tradwave usually uses traditional catholic paintings, sculptures, or photographs of saints, given with vaporwave effects, often with a bible verse or quote about catholicism. The art usually tries to convey a resurrection of catholic spirituality in the modern atheist world. Figures often depicted in Tradwave art include Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, Ven. Fulton Sheen, Cardinal Robert Sarah, and Mother Angelica.

Tradwave music often takes the form of two main styles. One of them is catholic hymns with vaporwave effects and traditional Vaporwave/Lo-Fi music. It can also have quotes from modern prolific Catholic figures, such as Ven. The other theme is Fulton Sheen and Cardinal Robert Sarah.

Heavenly Virtues: Another phrase to describe this obedience to the voice is “reckless abandon.” It simply means that we let God do what God wants to do through us. It means if He tells us to do something or say something—we do it.

Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying to a deity on behalf of others, or asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. Intercession of the Saints is a Christian doctrine that maintains that saints can intercede for others. To intercede is to go or come between two parties, to plead before one of them on behalf of the other. In ecclesiastical usage both words are taken in the sense of the intervention primarily of Christ, and secondarily of the Blessed Virgin and the angels and saints, on behalf of men.[2] The doctrine is held by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox churches , and some Lutherans and Anglicans (chiefly those of Evangelical Catholic or Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, respectively).[3] The practice of asking saints for their intercession can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century onwards.[4][5][6] Catholic doctrine supports intercessory prayer to saints. This practice is an application of the doctrine of the Communion of saints. Some of the early basis for this was the belief that martyrs passed immediately into the presence of God and could obtain graces and blessings for others, which naturally and immediately led to their direct invocation. A further reinforcement was derived from the cult of the angels which, while pre-Christian in its origin, was heartily embraced by the faithful of the sub-Apostolic age. The doctrine of intercession and invocation was set forth by the Council of Trent, which teaches that "... the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God for men. It is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid, and help for obtaining benefits from God, through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who alone is our Redeemer and Saviour".[10] Intercessory prayer to saintly persons who have not yet been beatified can also practiced by individuals, and evidence of miracles produced as a result of such prayer is very commonly produced during the formal process of beatification and canonization.

In short, the gun-toting angel was a multifaceted metaphor. “It undoubtedly also reflected the Catholic Counter-Reformation militaristic rhetoric,” wrote Donahue-Wallace, “which promoted the church as an army and heavenly beings as its soldiers.” These "Harquebusier Angels" or "Arcabuceros" are full-length depictions of winged angels, elaborately dressed, and carrying matchlock guns (harquebuses).

The related term astrolatry usually implies polytheism. In anthropological literature these systems of practice may be referred to as astral cults.

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Roman Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the older monastic orders' allegiance to a single monastery formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in holy orders or be a non-ordained brother. The most significant orders of friars are the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, and Carmelites.[1]

Romans 8:31; Exploring Biblical Imagery is one of the most important keys to interpreting and gaining a deeper understanding of the Bible. The Bible often communicates truth to us through images and patterns.

Throughout history, armed priests or soldier priests have been recorded. Distinguished from military chaplains, who are non-combatants that provided spiritual guidance to service personnel and associated civilians, these priests took up arms and fought in conflicts as combatants. The term warrior priests or war priests is usually used for armed priests in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and of historical tribes.

Slang: In Romans 8:5-8, Paul presents a compelling contrast between living according to the flesh and living according to the Spirit. The flesh, with its disordered desires and rebellion against God, leads only to spiritual desolation. Martyr, one who voluntarily suffers death rather than deny their religion by words or deeds; such action is afforded special, institutionalized recognition in most major religions of the world. The term may also refer to anyone who sacrifices their life or something of great value for the sake of principle. A religious allusion is a brief reference to a person, event, place, or phrase from religious texts or traditions, without describing them in detail. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Martyr/Romans 8 Allusion Slang.

The Roman Martyrology is an official liturgical book of the Catholic Church, with ancient origins, that lists the martyrs, confessors, virgins, and other saints, each on his or her dies natalis, or birthday into eternal life, as well as major feasts of Our Lord and Our Lady.

The Roman Martyrology is also central to the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours—a daily set of prayers marking the hours of each day and sanctifying it with worship. During the Office of Readings, specific entries from the martyrology are recited to inform and inspire those in prayer.

Romeu e Julieta (Casapianos Order 1996 Adaptation 18+ Romance Thriller)

While it retains the original Shakespearean dialogue, the film represents the Montagues and the Capulets as warring mafia empires (with legitimate business fronts) and the Capulets were "a Latin family, sort of,"[15] played by Latin-American and Italian actors.[16] It is set in contemporary United States, where swords are replaced by guns[17] (with model names such as "Dagger", "Sword", and "Rapier"), and with a FedEx-style overnight delivery service called "Post Haste".[18] Shakespeare and Impure Aesthetics explores ideas about art implicit in Shakespeare's plays and defines specific Shakespearean aesthetic practices in his use of desire, death and mourning as resources for art. In fiction, a subplot or side story is a secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist. Subplots may also intertwine with the main plot at some point in a story.[1]

THE ENCYCLICAL PASSIONARIES ABOUT YHVH CASAPIANOS (MARTYROLOGY BIBLE)

Specifically, the royal psalms deal with the spiritual role of kings in the worship of Yahweh. Aside from that single qualification, there is nothing else which specifically links the ten psalms. Each of the psalms make explicit references to their subject, the king. Royal (messianic) psalms deal with the king as God's anointed or chosen one. Many are prayers for the wisdom of the king, his long life or success in battle. Some are prophetic in nature in that they also point to the ideal future king, the Messiah or the King of kings. A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring churches.[1] Consolidation occurred, by the combination of several local martyrologies, with or without borrowings from literary sources. Simple martyrologies only enumerate names. Historical martyrologies, also sometimes called passionaries, also include stories or biographical details. (Reckless Abandonment; Mars Shamanism and Casa Pia Wing Transfer Invocation)

The term "revolutionary martyr" usually relates to those dying in revolutionary struggle.[50][51] During the 20th century, the concept was developed in particular in the culture and propaganda of communist or socialist revolutions, although it was and is also used in relation to nationalist revolutions. In the martyrdom narrative of the remembering community, this refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of an individual by an oppressor. Accordingly, the status of the 'martyr' can be considered a posthumous title as a reward for those who are considered worthy of the concept of martyrdom by the living, regardless of any attempts by the deceased to control how they will be remembered in advance.[1] Insofar, the martyr is a relational figure of a society's boundary work that is produced by collective memory.[2] Originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term has come to be used in connection with people killed for a political cause. (Armed Friars and The War for Central Africa between Casapianos and The French; The Fall of Yoruba for Bembé; Arcubusier Angels in Africa)

The Metal Ages is a term for the period of human civilization beginning about 6,000 years ago during which metallurgy rapidly advanced, and human populations started using metals such as copper, tin, bronze and finally iron to make tools and weapons. By heating and shaping metals in hot furnaces, humanity also learned to use precious metals such as gold and silver to make intricate ornaments.[1][2] With these technological adaptions, human society became more productive and human settlements became larger and more prosperous, but also more violent.[3] The Metal Ages are divided into three stages: the Copper Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.[1][2] (Calcium Age of Mozambique)

Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been questioned as anachronistic.[1] The ancient Greeks did not have a word for 'religion' in the modern sense. Likewise, no Greek writer known to us classifies either the gods or the cult practices into separate 'religions'.[2] Instead, for example, Herodotus speaks of the Hellenes as having "common shrines of the gods and sacrifices, and the same kinds of customs."[3] Various religious festivals were held in ancient Greece. Many were specific only to a particular deity or city-state. Altogether the year in Athens included some 140 days that were religious festivals of some sort, though they varied greatly in importance. (Festival Martyrology)

Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the biblical deity Yahweh)[1] who is responsible for creating the material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment.[2] Gnostic writings flourished among certain Christian groups in the Mediterranean world around the second century, when the Fathers of the early Church denounced them as heresy.[3]

The original sense of apotheosis relates to religion and is the subject of many works of art. Figuratively "apotheosis" may be used in almost any context for "the deification, glorification, or exaltation of a principle, practice, etc.", so normally attached to an abstraction of some sort.[1] In religion, apotheosis was a feature of many religions in the ancient world, and some that are active today. It requires a belief that there is a possibility of newly-created gods, so a polytheistic belief system. The major modern religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism do not allow for this, though many recognise minor sacred categories such as saints (created by a process called canonization). A mural crown (Latin: corona muralis) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration. Later the mural crown developed into a symbol of European heraldry, mostly for cities and towns, and in the 19th and 20th centuries was used in some republican heraldry. (Mural Crown Wing Transfer)

In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with notions of heredity and a particular ethnic group. (CHAMA ROXA)

An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.[1] (Sensory Process Sensitivity)

Capricornus is one of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Claudius Ptolemy. Its old astronomical symbol is  (♑︎). Under its modern boundaries it is bordered by Aquila, Sagittarius, Microscopium, Piscis Austrinus, and Aquarius. The constellation is located in an area of sky called the Sea or the Water, consisting of many water-related constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus. It is the smallest constellation in the zodiac. (Men)

Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the smaller lion", in contrast to Leo, the larger lion. It lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes Hevelius in 1687.[2] (Women)

Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s.[4][5] Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.[6][7] In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall (or "ragga") becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms. Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of Jamaican Patois rather than Jamaican standard English and a focus on the track instrumentals (or "riddims"). Dancehall saw initial mainstream success in Jamaica in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, it became increasingly popular in Jamaican diaspora communities. In the 2000s, dancehall experienced worldwide mainstream success, and by the 2010s, it began to heavily influence the work of established Western artists and producers, which has helped to further bring the genre into the Western music mainstream.[8][9][10] (DOS SANTOS was this first generation of Dancehall Consumers)

5 SENSES CITY MARTYROLOGY BIBLE: LIGA CASAPIANOS (GOVERNMENT)

A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups.[1] The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of adversaries) during battle, from the Latin congressus.

A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, is constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision, neither by the component states nor the federal political body without constitutional amendment.

The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (Greek: κοινὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, koinòn tõn Hellḗnōn;[a] or simply οἱ Ἕλληνες, the Héllēnes),[3] was a federation of Greek states created by Philip II[4] in 338–337 BC. The League was created in order to unify Greek military forces under Macedonian leadership (hegemony) in their combined conquest of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.[5][6][7]

The League was governed by the Hegemon (leader)[21][22][23] (strategos autokrator[24][25] in a military context),[26] the council (Synedrion),[27] and the judges (Dikastai). Delegates of the member-states (Synedroi) were responsible for administering the common affairs of the League. They were summoned and presided over by a committee of presiding officers (Proedroi), chosen by lot in time of peace, and by the Hegemon in time of war.[19] Decrees of the league were issued in Corinth, Athens, Delphi, Olympia and Pydna.[28] The League maintained an army levied from member states in approximate proportion to their size, while Philip established Hellenic garrisons (commanded by phrourarchs, or garrison commanders) in Corinth, Thebes, Pydna[29] and Ambracia.

Heortology or eortology is a science that deals with the origin and development of religious festivals,[1] and more specifically the study of the history and criticism of liturgical calendars and martyrologies*.

Religious Ecstacy Entheogens are psychedelic drugs—and sometimes certain other psychoactive substances—used for engendering spiritual development or otherwise in sacred contexts (Birth as a Festival Capital)

Taste: Lamb and Wool

Touch: Tomato Food Fight

Scent: Overnight Fragrance Festivals

Sight: Fireworks on the Waterfront

Sound: Bassline Genres

ANGELOLOGY GANG BLUEPRINT: CHAMA ROXA (MARS ANGELS MARTYROLOGY BIBLE)

Spirit Unity Oversoul Angelology Shaman

Eros Influence Angels: Ecstasy-Painkillers Trafficking Angel Spirit Type Oversoul, Neptune-Jupiter-Mars-Mercurcy with Planetary Intelligence; Erotes are Horcruxes

Google Imprint Oversoul

Choice of Choir is Principality Heavenly Host

Lightning-Ice Element

Wings Transfer Invocation

ESTJ Sensory Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator Syncretism

Church Expenses Occupation (Festivals, Venues, Freeports, Art Gallery, Underground Garages, Tobacco Store, Restaurants, Réal Estate Brokerage, Impure Aesthetic Thrillers Publishing Imprint et Production Company

Body Etching, Lipodissolve, and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers Cosmetics Surgery

CASA PIA FEDERATION

🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿🇲🇿

[olympic-paris]

STORY: Story: Bill, Smith, Mobile-01

MOBILE, ALABAMA: 2005 A.D. [PART 1 of 2] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- [Slavery had existed in Alabama since it was first settled in the early 1700s although it was limited initially to African imports, some Native Americans owned by rival tribes and sold to the new settlers as a gesture of goodwill, and so-called "indentured servants," mainly white Irish and down-and-out British who were different only in that their contracted slavery was not lifelong. Although the American Civil War abolished slavery on the surface at At least temporarily, the 13th Amendment proved economically disastrous and socially untenable and it was rescinded by 1870, only five years after General Lee's surrender from the Confederacy. The immediate the effect was placing four million blacks back into full lifelong bondage, an event not as difficult as it might seem in that most of the slaves involved had never really experienced any form of freedom anyway in that brief five-year period. Indeed, the so- called the "freedom period" was a time of unparalleled hardship for the former slaves marked by starvation, devastating illnesses due to malnutrition, the inability to trade their labour and/or even their bodies for even the most basic needs, and society's refusal to allow them civil rights of any type. When slavery was reintroduced, former bondsmen welcomed the opportunity to once again be assured a modicum of food, shelter, and medical care and the concept of "freedom," never really experienced anyway, took on bitter overtones based on devastating memories. Almost overnight, blacks became the most militant anti-abolitionists fearing the consequences of freedom - a almost religious belief system carefully passed on from one generation of slaves to the next. With the re-establishment of slavery, the concept was broadened to its original American concept, mainly for its obvious economic and social advantages: not just blacks but all races were now subject to lifelong bondage for any number of reasons including penury, inability to support family, any and all criminal acts, vagrancy, and long-term unemployment. This government action quickly added to the number of available slaves while emptying prisons, drastically reducing welfare rolls, and solving the unemployment problems. Despite this broadening of slave availability, the largest number of slaves continued to be American blacks, simply born into the institution like they generally had been before the Civil War. Blacks continued to be viewed as more suited for the demands of slavery than other races, despite some evidence to the contrary, and selective breeding of black slaves in the first half of the 19th century had already led to a greater preponderance of better physiques, more musculature, more disease resistance, and larger, easier-aroused sexual organs than was generally seen in other types of available slaves. With the quick abolition of the 13th Amendment, however, venture capitalists took a more focused view of the venerable institution of slavery and there was the immediate establishment of devoted breeding farms to drastically expand the number of slaves available on the open market as well as allow specialized pedigree breeds of slaves to be marketed in the long term. "Improve the breed" became the mantra of all serious slave husbandry, beginning of course, with the large number of black slaves but quickly spreading to other racial and ethnic groupings of slaves.]

"I want to thank you, Mr. Soames, for this great opportunity," the well-built 19-year-old redhead said sincerely to his new employer as he stood before him, dressed in the uniform supplied him: with black knickers so tight they revealed every aspect of his lower body, high laced black boots, a bright red vest cut so small it revealed all of his chest, upper arms, and abdomen, a red hat modelled after the berets of the French Foreign Legion, and a stun gun and slave whip fastened to the thick belt wrapped around his lower torso, fitted into the belt loops of the extremely low- rise knickers, designed not only to show off his well-defined ass and bulging manhood but also his lower abdominal development. The young boy felt half-naked dressed in the new uniform but knew the the uniform was standard equipment for handlers in the best stables so felt pride more than any embarrassment in the new garb.

"An opportunity it is," Mr. Soames shot back. "Wear the uniform with pride, boy. Not just anyone gets a job with Soames & Clark - just those with a lot of promise ineffective slave handling and those loyal to the mission of Soames & Clark - `improving the breed for a greater society.' We only hire those with a good solid build on them so you aren't intimidated by the stock, those with an eagerness to get our slaves off on a good footing with their new owners, and, frankly, those who enjoy showing the slaves they're just slaves. In addition," he laughed, "it helps if you enjoy fucking the stock when it's instructive, and understand that fine line between the constant need of bondsmen for strong discipline and damaging the stock. Here at Soames & Clark, we have some of the best handlers in the business - learn from them, boy, and maybe someday you'll end up as good as they are and enjoy all those bonuses and fringe benefits Soames & Clark employees tend to enjoy continued loyalty and skills honed to perfection."

"I certainly want to take full advantage of this opportunity, Mr. Soames, sir," the young man said, shuffling his feet as he smiled appreciatively at the highly respected businessman. "I intend to make you proud of me," he added hopefully, tensing his muscles unconsciously. "It's not every day a young man like me, what with just a high school education and average grades at that, and gets to work at one of the most respected slave houses in the American South."

"No, it isn't....er.... Dirk, isn't it?" Mr Soames replied rather seriously. "There's a lot of young men, just starting their careers in slave handling, who would give their eye teeth to work at Soames & Clark. And most of them have considerably more than a high school degree. You have, I take it, at least completed courses in Slave Management and Slave Husbandry at the local technical school?"

Dirk's eyes shot down to the floor as he blushed deeply. "No sir, Mr. Soames, I'm afraid I haven't. I only got through the first two courses offered at the high school: Slave Discipline I & II. I haven't had a chance to get into the more advanced courses yet, but if it's necessary for this job, I'll take it the next time it's offered, sir."

"Well, Dirk, I think every handler employed here has at least completely the Slave Management course and a good half of them have earned a decent grade in Slave Husbandry. Just what do you know about Soames & Clark anyway, Dirk?"

Dirk looked up, still embarrassed, but managed to sound hopeful. "Well, sir, I've known since I was 13 or so you're the top slave house in the whole state of Alabama and that you've developed several exclusive breeds of slaves that practically set the standards for slave breeding - the Mandingo Brown Tawny and the Birmingham Ivory. My old man told me those two breeds bring top dollar at every auction he's ever been at and he tells me there's a rumour out that Soames and Clark are about to announce another new breed shortly - the Nubian Gold. He told me if I could get a job here, I'd probably learn how to produce some of those top breeds myself given time and trust."

"Your father sounds like a wise man. It's good you listened to him. How many slaves does he own?"

"We've fallen on hard times, I'm afraid, Mr. Soames," Dirk said as his shoulders slumped and he again stared at his feet. "He used to own a dozen or so in better times - pretty good-looking animals they were, sir - but we've had to sell them off one by one just to feed our face."

"What happened?" Mr. Soames with little sympathy in his voice. "Selling off your slaves is usually the last thing a self- respecting man does - you must have been desperate."

"Yes sir, Mr. Soames. I guess Desperate does describe it pretty well. My daddy shot himself after the money from the last slave ran out. He got liver cancer when he was only 45 and died last year at 46, penniless and without even one slave to his name. Left me and my momma alone without a pot to pee in. That's why, Mr. Soames, I need this job badly and promise you I'll do anything to get it and then keep it. Anything!"

"Well, son, that's just what I expect - any and everything. If it all worked out well, what position would you like to end up in here at Soames & Clark, Dirk?"

The eager boy's face lighted up and he looked directly at Mr. Soames. "I'd like nothing better than being the chief slave breeder, Mr. Soames. My dad told me that's considered the most prestigious job at any slave house and, besides, you'd learn the secrets of successful slave breeding."

"Well, your dad was certainly right on that. After all, we've had eight generations of highly selective breeding over the past 145 years to hone our house brands now. And we are going to start marketing a new breed next year just as your Dad had heard somewhere - the Nubian Gold."

"Mr. Soames, sir, you won't be sorry you hired me and, God willing, 20 or 30 years down the line and after proving myself to you, I intend to be your chief slave breeder," Dirk said confidently as he again offered a big smile to his well-known employer.

"That's the spirit, Dirk. We'll start you out as an assistant slave handler for the first year. That will give you time to complete the Slave Management and Slave Breeding courses down at the college in your off hours where we will reimburse you for the tuition if you obtain a grade of at least "B" in the courses - otherwise, the tuition will not be reimbursed and any future assignments within the firm would have to be seriously reviewed. We're going to assign you to work with one of our best and most experienced slave handlers to start with. Study his every move and watch how he handles the slaves - that's the best way of learning your job. But before we assign you to him, we'll have our company's tour guide give you a complete tour of the entire house today, so you can get a good overview of our operations. It's the same tour we give visiting dignitaries as well as all new employees. If you were a tourist visiting Mobile, that same tour would cost you $50," Mr. Soames laughed. "So already you're getting some fringe benefits."

"Yes sir," Dirk almost bowed before the imminent businessman. "Thank you, sir," he said again.

"When you leave my office, go to the tour office on the first floor and tell the tour guide you are a new employee. After the tour is over, report to Dick Lawson in CageHouse #4 and tell him you're his new assistant. He'll take it from there. Dick and Dirk - let's hope they make a great pair. Now skedaddle and start learning the ropes around here," Mr Soames waved his arm in dismissal as he turned to some paperwork on his desk.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Soames," Dirk replied smartly as he turned and left the palatial office, only to have the door quietly opened upon his approach by a slave, he hadn't even noticed when he and Mr. Soames had entered the office. The slave was stark nude, of course, but was startlingly handsome with shiny, jet-black skin, a magnificent physique, an unbelievably handsome face, a long thick circumcised prick projecting out as it rested on a huge swollen black balls, and, most unusual, golden-coloured eyes that sparkled under long thick lashes that matched his thick gold collar and nipple rings. As Dirk's eyes swept over the phenomenal slave, he audibly sucked in his breath and momentarily halted without realizing it.

"Like the looks of the slaveboy?" Mr. Soames gently laughed as he looked up from his desk. "You're looking at a Nubian Gold that goes on sale starting next year. What do you think of the new product, Dirk? We hope it's going to bring top dollar at auction."

Dirk allowed himself to study the slave's body before answering. Finally, finding his voice, he turned back to Mr. Soames. "That's the best-looking slave I've ever seen, Mr. Soames - even better than the Mandingo Tawny Brown my Dad showed me once that was being resold at a public auction. I'm sure a slave like that is going to sell like hotcakes, no matter what the price. Of course, a person like me could never afford quality fresh like that."

"Probably not, Dirk. Few people will be able to afford a Nubian Gold. It's going to be a prestige item as much as anything - sort of like owning a Lamborghini or the best Rolex. I imagine most of them will end up being paraded around for show as much as anything. They're relatively hard to produce so the supply will always be limited. In a year, the first crop will be 18 years old and offered at a special venue. This boy here is part of that first group so he won't be opening my office door too much longer - more likely he'll be paraded around on a leash during the day and warming his owner's bed at night. We think we're going to sell as many Nubian Golds to women as to men, but it doesn't matter - they're trained, of course, to please anyone that buys them."

Dirk continued to stare at the slave, trained to display his body at all times. Almost to himself, he said, "How do you make anything that beautiful?"

"Well, it isn't easy and that's one of Soames & Clark's trade secrets at this point," Mr. Soames laughed. "When you become our chief slave breeder, maybe we'll let you in on the secret."

"Yes sir," Dirk said, almost in awe, but remembered he had been ordered to leave and get on with the tour. "Excuse me, sir," he said as he quickly took one last look at the gorgeous slave, now fully erect just from having someone look at him, and then exited.

****************

There were 30 people in the tour group: four new employees like himself; seven visiting dignitaries from Germany sent over by the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, five locals who said their friends had recommended the tour and who had paid the stiff tour fee just to satisfy their curiosity, twelve tourists off of the cruise ships, and two rich women in their sixties who said they took the tour daily because they said it beat going to the movies and didn't cost that much more.

"Welcome to Soames & Clark, the handsome guide said as he climbed up on a small podium, speaking through a portable loudspeaker. I'm Jeremy Smith and I'll be your host for your visit today to one of the American South's most noted and prestigious slave houses. Our tour today will take us to two of the 24 cage houses making up the Soames & Clark operations, a peek at the physique development facility, and, time allowing, a brief visit to the slave breeding operations that Soames & Clark are so famous for. At the end of our tour, and as a special treat for our visitors today, we'll have a display of three of our most famous slave breeds: the Mandingo Tawny Brown, the Birmingham Ivory, and our low-cost best seller: the Black Drafts, which will be available for a complete body inspection at your pleasure. Of course, along the way you're probably going to see a lot of our other familiar breeds, but only from a distance. These will include easily aroused red-headed Smart Irish, the beautiful Quadroon Qualities, the ever-popular blooded Slavic Blondies, the tall, aloof Scandinavian Sorties, the small but glorious House Niggers, the Arab- blooded Desert Kings, the best-selling Mulatto Beauties, and, if we're lucky, the prototypes of our brand new breed: the Nubian Gold that will be marketed starting next year."

There was a murmur of appreciation from the group after which the host asked, "Any questions?"

"Are we going to see any Alabama Aces today?" one of the cruise passengers asked.

"I hope not," Jeremy Smith laughed. "That's a breed developed by one of our competitors across town. Nice to look at if you're into high yellers, but a disappointment in bed I've heard.." This was followed by considerable laughter.

"Any chance of checking out one of the prototypes of the new breed?" one of the visiting dignitaries asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but the prototypes aren't of selling age yet and haven't reached their full potential. But in a year, you can handle one all you want, rest assured. I'm sorry, sir, but we'll all have to have a little patience when it comes to a new breed like this. Breeding slaves, unfortunately, takes a lot of patience for the crop to come to fruition."

"That's all right, Jeremy," the dignitary smiled. "I'll just double-check out one of those Birmingham Ivories I've heard so much about. They are octoroons, aren't they, just highly bred to perfection?"

"They're octoroons, all right, but very special octoroons. Better than anything you've ever seen along those lines," Jeremy announced. "Check the eagerness as well as the output - you're going to be impressed, I guarantee you." Looking around, he added, "Well, if there are no more questions, we'll get started on our tour today."

With that, he led the group out of the main administration building over to the first cage house they would visit today,

"This is Cagehouse #5," the guide said through the bullhorn as they passed through the heavy iron grate making up the front entrance and took in the smell of well over a thousand bodies sweating, pissing, farting, and leaking cum. "Each of the warehouses contains 1500 cages more or less, each small enough to confine movement of the slave, but large enough to allow them to stretch out and rollover. The slaves are fully shackled with their hands in the back, of course, so they can't play with themselves or with the slave in the next cage. Otherwise, they'd do nothing but play with themselves the entire time, slaves being as lusty as we've bred them to be," he chuckled. "Even as it is, they're always spewing all over themselves when we don't milk them regularly." He stopped at a bank of cells stacked five high and running the length of a long wall. One of the cages was empty. "This slave is probably over being fitted for nipple rings or a thick band around his genitals, so we can look his cage over in his absence. Over some time, a slave learns to think of his cage as his home with its wire mesh floor that allows good drainage, and his drinking bottle attached to the cage wall which, you will notice, allows water only through sucking on the large phallus-shaped nipple you see attached to the bottle, and his eating dish attached to the wall next to the drinking bottle that is filled with slave chow twice a day through this automatic feeder on the side of the cage here. The main feeder bin, located up near the roof, can hold enough food to feed all the slaves caged here twice a day for a full month, so we're not wasting any time feeding slaves around here. The same goes for cleaning the cages. An automatic flush machine sprays the cage and its contents twice a day with warm, antiseptic water that is drained away in that tray under the bottom cages. That way, the slave is spray cleaned, at least, twice a day with no effort on our part and the cage stays reasonably clean and hygienic. Most of their initial training doesn't require internal cleansing so that's enough until we get into sexual training. Wow! The cleaning cycle is starting on this bank of cages right now, so you can watch as the machine does it work. All the slaves in this cagehouse have been permanently depilitated so we don't need to worry about shaving them ever again. But in most of the other cage houses, we have them shave each other every day so their future owners can decide how much hair they will have and where they will have it."

We watched in fascination as each of the tightly caged bodies were completely sprayed with warm water as were the sides of the cage with the water dripping down to the tray beneath the bottom cage which was, of course, the dirtiest due to the fact all of the droppings from the cages above had gathered there. The slaves caged twisted their bodies this way and that to catch the full benefit from the warm spray and murmured in satisfaction as the water pelted their hides, washing the day's dirt, grime, sweat and numerous patches of dried seminal fluids away. The slaves remained silent the entire time, knowing they weren't allowed to ever speak without express permission from their handlers.

"What about the slave out for fitting?" one of the guests asked.

"He'll probably be hosed down by his handler before being caged, or maybe, dependent on time pressures, he'll just have to wait until tomorrow. If he's been pierced for ringing, he'll have a lot of antibiotic cream smeared on him anyway."

"Why aren't they butt-plugged?" one of the locals asked. "I thought slaves were always butt plugged until they were sold, at least. I was especially surprised," the local added, "in that most slaves here in Mobile out in public seem to be butt plugged all the time even after they're sold."

"Very observant, sir," Jeremy smiled. "All the slaves here in the cage, houses are butt-plugged every night so they get used to it, but we don't bother during the day in that we want full access them to them during their waking hours," he winked. "The handlers here exercise their rights with the slaves quite a bit during the day and, frankly, we encourage having the slaves fucked regularly. Helps with discipline and trains them best for future use we feel." With this last comment, the four new employees in the tour group quickly looked at each other and, with a knowing look in their eyes, gave each other the "hi" sign with one hand as they each, almost subconsciously, rearranged their baskets in the tight pants they had on with their other hand.

"Well, you're right about that, Jeremy," the local chuckled. "We here in Mobile take pride in making full use of our slaves. It's good for them too, as I'm sure all of us will agree."

"Hear! Hear!" the rest of the group chimed in, although one of the cruise boat passengers looked shocked.

"You mean you fuck slaves in public here?" she asked.

"When it's convenient, we do. Of course, we do! Don't you?" another local shot back.

"It's not customary where I live," she replied.

"Well, where in the hell do YOU live?" a local lady asked.

"A small town in England," the cruise passenger replied. "I suppose we're rather provincial, but we only use our slaves sexually in private."

"Nineteenth century!" a local responded. "I predict it won't be long until you get your little town thinking straight on the issue. After all, slaves are property to be used, so what's the harm of using them in public? It doesn't bother the slaves, believe me. They're brought up to expect nothing less. Your slaves probably think their owners don't like them or something."

"I'd never looked at it that way. That is, from the slave's viewpoint. They probably do think we find them unsatisfactory or that we're ashamed of them or something. I'll be sure to point that out when I get home. I know my slaves certainly welcome my usage of their bodies whenever I request it and I doubt if it has anything to do with where the usage takes place."

Well, there you have it!" the local lady said with a broad smile toward the cruise passenger.

"We've already learned from the tour, I see. I don't want to hear any complaints about the paltry $50 fee when we're through. You've all got $50 worth of information out of this tour already," he laughed.

Just then a handler appeared leading a strikingly handsome white slave with jet-black hair back to the empty cage. The slave was walking rather strangely over and above his hands shackled in back of him and his swollen nipples, now ringed, were still bleeding a little.

"What's the walk all about?" one of the new employees asked. "He looks to me like he's off balance or something."

"They always walk like that for a while after being banded, or cinched as the English call it, for the first time. Forcing their genitals out front like that changes their centre of gravity and it takes time to get yourself adjusted. He'll be walking like the rest of them in a couple of days - but now, as you can see, his equipment is all on permanent display," the handler said as he took his whip and gently lifted the slave's equipment, now resting on his bound balls, up for all to see. Most owners like their male slaves banded these days. Makes it easier to handle them and they display so much better."

"That slave has nothing to be ashamed of, that's for sure," the new employee said. "He's probably glad to be banded so he can show it off better."

"I'm sure he is," the handler said, "but he sure didn't like getting his tits ringed today. Of course, that hurts some and makes him mighty vulnerable to anyone able to grab one of those rings once they're installed, but you'd think he'd be glad to get it over with. After all, he must know as well as the next slave that almost all male slaves are tit ringed these days. Most owners like the nice look as well as the control they offer. Besides, it ringing does something to a slave's mentality - like good branding, it's a constant reminder that they're just property subject to a master's whims. In my personal opinion, all slaves should be ringed and banded just as soon as possible. Helps them and helps me in training them as well as their future owner. Makes a better slave out of them all the way around."

That said, the handsome slave was quickly hosed down and then, with the prod of the whip handle on his butt, told to wiggle back into his cage which he did, grateful to be "back home." He almost instantly swallowed down the large penis-shaped nipple on the water bottle to quench his thirst and the members of the group noticed the slave had to stretch his mouth wide and swallow the huge nipple at least seven inches down his throat and suck as hard as he could before any water could be obtained. It was obvious quenching his thirst was a great way to train this good-looking white slave to be a great cocksucker for some future owner.

***********

Most of the group were glad when Jeremy announced they would be visiting the physique training centre next where the visitors' observation booth would be air-conditioned. The cage house was interesting, but very hot, humid, and had a distinct animal odour which no flushing machine could get rid of. Jeremy assured the visitors that the slaves quickly acclimated to the cage houses and probably no longer smelled themselves and that the constant sweating in the sauna-like conditions flushed out their pores which gave them those beautiful hides we had all seen for ourselves, no matter what the colour of the slave's skin. "All that sweating also makes them thirsty all the time and you saw for yourselves how they get their water - makes for a well-trained mouth you expect in a good slave."

The physique training centre was huge, but the visitors could see every aspect of it from the cool observation booth located high over the main arena. At this particular time of day, it seemed like two to three thousand slaves were in forced exercises that were carefully designed to bring out the best of their well-sculpted bodies in terms of sexual appeal, strength, display qualities, and flexibility. The exercises have been utilized for generations now and were developed to meet every need of slave marketing, owner satisfaction, and slave durability. No muscle group was overlooked to either enhance the finished product, increase flexibility, or improve raw strength. Even exercises to insure a good tight anus despite repeated ass fucking had been incorporated into the exercise regime. Jeremy told the group that the exercises consumed about three hours every day initially, but fell to about thirty minutes of maintenance exercises after a slave was developed to his full potential.

"How do you get these slaves to work so hard at it?" one of the new employees asked. "Looks to me like they're putting everything they've got into it."

"They better," Jeremy smiled. "See that big plug up their butt? It's radio-controlled. If the trainer feels they're slacking off, he just hits one of the buttons on that control board there and the slave gets fried inside out so to speak. Seriously, the electric jolt is so strong, it burns their insides a little as well as paralyzing them temporarily with more pain than anything they have ever experienced before. After a few `lessons' from the butt plugs deep up their ass, any notion of not putting everything they've got into developing those bodies for a future owner is ancient history. The handlers have nicknamed the electrified butt plugs `The Great Motivator.' Not a bad name."

"Oh," was all the new employee could reply, gazing with renewed respect at the plugs driven deep up the asses of all the slaves below. "I'll remember `The Great Motivator' in future work assignments," he smiled. "Maybe this job won't be as hard as I initially thought it might be."

"We have some little gadgets that will help you," Jeremy smiled back assuredly.

[eaglesnick]

“Leverage is the reason some people become rich and others do not become rich” - Robert T Kiyosaki

The privatised water companies have been demanding price rises of between 24% and 91% over the next five years according to the Consumer Council for Water. The mainly foreign owned "English" water companies want to invest £96bn in water and sewage restructuring between now and 2030. New reservoirs, the first for over 30 years, will be built, leaks will be reduced and less sewage will be pumped into our waterways and seas.

Amen to that! But wait…

“English water firms have handed £57 billion to shareholders in the 30 years after privatisation.” (The London Economic: 28/10/21)

We, the consumer, having generously contributed to foreign share dividends for three decades to the tune of £2 billion per year, are now expected to part with even more money to pay for 30 years of private water company neglect. Meanwhile, the CEO’s of these private companies gave themselves a 20% pay rise for the year 2021-22, pocketing £24.8 million.

None of these facts are particularly new but what really irked me yesterday morning was an interview on BBC’s “Today" programme with David Henderson, CEO of Water UK, the organisation that represents all of the privately owned water companies.

Stressing the country’s need for “economic growth", Henderson said this would not be possible unless the water companies were allowed to drastically raise the price of water to cover the cost of investment needed to upgrade our water infrastructure. Talking of the need to increase water supply he stated:

“We have not built a reservoir in 30 years, even though our population has risen by 20% in that time. And that’s because we have been blocked by regulators and by planning officials around the country.”

The cheek!

According to New Civil Engineer magazine (01/09/22)

“There is a seemingly direct link between the 1989 privatisation of water companies in the UK and the ceasing of new reservoirs being built. While there have been a number of flood alleviation reservoirs built by the Environment Agency in this time, the water companies have not invested in potable drinking reservoirs.”

While I have no doubt that some applications for new reservoirs have been refused by planning authorities the main reason for inadequate reservoir capacity is the reluctance of the privately owned water companies to spend money on investment. Despite what David Henderson said on the Today programme this is a headline from the Express:

“Water firms ‘sold off reservoirs that could have eased drought' - Profit ahead of supply" (10/08.22)

In defending the private water companies Henderson was merely doing his job - after all that is what he is paid to do - but unfortunately their behaviour is indefensible. The reason that our waterway infrastructure is near collapse is not because investment plans have been blocked by “regulators and planning officials" but because of greed.

When Margaret Thatcher privatised the previously publicly owned water companies she sold this national asset for a grand total of £7.6bn. In addition she gave the newly created privately owned water companies a “green dowry" of £1.5bn. At time of purchase the water companies were totally debt free.

Fast-forward and what do we find?

“Water firms’ debts since privatisation hit £54bn as Ofwat refuses to impose limits.” Guardian: 01/12.22)

The water companies have spent the last few decades borrowing money, not to improve the water supply and sewage disposal infrastructure, but to pay dividends to shareholders. According to Ofwat’s own figures the water companies have been running ratios of debt to capital value as high as 80%. Water company share holders (70% owned by foreign investors) have received £65.9bn in dividends and it is calculated that 20% of household water bills go towards paying for the debt that rewards these shareholders.

Rachel Reeves much heralded national wealth fund is supposed to be a central plank of the Labour governments “Green Prosperity Plan” but Labour’s earlier promise to nationalise the dysfunctional private water companies has now been abandoned.

David Henderson has issued what in effect is a blackmail ultimatum to the new Labour Government that without massive price rises in consumer water bills, the Labour Party can kiss their dreams of economic growth goodbye.

Today Ofwat, the water regulator, sanctioned an average increase in water bills of 21%, some companies charging as much as 44% more over a five year period. This is a third less than what the water companies demanded, but even a 21% rise over five years is an increase of 4% a year, twice the inflation rate target of the Bank of England.

An interesting case study will be that of Thames Water which has dire financial problems due to building up a debt of £14bn (while still paying out tens of millions in dividends to its shareholders). It remains to be seen if Thames Water will be allowed to go bust or whether the new Labour Government will step in and bail it out but maybe this headline gives us a clue:

“Labour abstain on bid to criminalize water companies for sewage pollution” (Canary: 17/05/24)

[politics-project]

Hi guys!

I will be discussing the further mistreatment of black people that lead to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Jim Crow Laws

Were local laws meant to segregate black and white people. It marginalised black people by withholding the right to vote, the ability to hold a jobs, to receive an education and other chances.

Brief Background Info:

Jim Crow Laws had it’s beginnings in black codes that started almost immediately following the 13th Amendment. These were strict local and state laws that created a legal way to force black citizens into indentured servitude and to control their lives. They found some freedom in the city’s from these laws in the early 1880’s, which upset white people who then demanded more laws to limit their opportunities. So, Jim Crow laws soon spread across the country with more force than before, depriving black people of what I mentioned earlier.

Pre-Civil Right’s Movement:

The legal system was stacked against Black citizens, with former Confederate soldiers working as police and judges. On top of KKK members being part of the lowest and highest parts of government. This made it hard to fight back against the Black codes which lead to unfair sentences to cruel labour camps. It was not much safer for those who fled the Jim Crow South with police officers being brutal and punitive in Northern cities.

The policing we know today started in 1909. August Vollmer refashioned the American police info the American military. His peers and Vollmer used military tactics, weapons and considered “[…] union organisers, immigrants and black people.”to be their enemies. Go reports in 1911 say that 11% of people arrested were black people but under James Robinson this grew to 14.6% in 1917. By the 1920’s, a quarter of those arrested were black people despite only making up 7.4% of the population.

The National Commission on Law, Observance and Enforcement in their investigation findings from 1931 - 1932, brought to light the realities of police brutality although it did not address racial disparities in it.In the Progressive Era, under Vollmer - style policing criminalised blackness by over policing their neighbourhoods, arresting and convicting them with longer sentences than their white counterparts. Policing grew harsher too. The introduction of State Police Forces and growing number of police during this time did not help the situation.

During the Civil Right’s Movement:

“We can never be satisfied as long as the N#gro is of the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” - Martin Luther King (1963)

The aggressive tactics of using police dogs, fire hoses during peaceful protests such as the sit ins were horrific but it was the everyday violence and brutality of how they policed their communities that grew the rightful distrust of the police. The Freedom Riders also faced violence from the police as well as from civilians. It was only under presidential pressure that they gave them an escort but the police in Mississippi arrested them unfairly in May of 1961.

“The idea of police brutality was very much on people’s minds in 1963, following on the years, decades really, of police abuse of power and then centuries of oppression of African Americans” - William Pretzer (Senior History Curator)

Such as the ‘Bloody Sunday’ that occurred in Alabama in March 1965 where 600 peaceful protesters, protesting the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson by white police officer, were blocked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge by police sent by the governor of Alabama. They were viciously beaten and tear-gas was used by the police, dozens of protesters were hospitalised. Later that year, President Lyndon B Johnson started his ‘War on Crime’, he got congress to pass the Law Enforcement Assistant Act under which he supplied police with military grade which is a further militarisation of the police. It disproportionately targeted back neighbourhoods bringing things to how it was under Vollmer.

The deadliest riot was caused by a police officer harshly beating John Smith, a black taxi driver in Newark in 1967. The riot killed 26 and many others were injured. This is just another instance of the police abusing their power being the reason for retaliation. The commission concluded that “police actions were ‘final’ incidents before the outbreak of violence 12 of the 24 surveyed disorders” In 1968, Johnson got congress to pass the Omnibus Crime, Control, Safe Streets Act which diverted money from social programs and into the police. This of course didn’t do that since social programs are what help prevent crime and increasing the police forces money only served to cause continued discrimination.

Link to Theorist(s):

This links into the theorist Karl Marx because of his view that law enforcement only works in favour of those in power and that crime control & punishment only serve to oppress the oppressed.

[thehopefuljournalist]

In the previous post I introduced Greenpeace. These are some wins from June posted on their website.

- Hyundai Construction Equipment commits to help stopping illegal mining in the Amazon

Greenpeace East Asia released the Stop the Excavators report in April of this year, calling to heavy machinery manufacturers to take measures that prevent their equipment being used illegally, in ways that cause violations of human rights.

This exposé revealed that Hyundai Construction Equipment is apparently the favoured brand used in illegal mining in Indigenous Lands in the Amazon.

Hyundai has now announced a series of measures to protect the forest, and will act to prevent this in the future.

- ReconAfrica suspends oil drilling in Okavango Delta

The Canadian oil company ReconAfrica has stopped drilling in Namibia’s Okavango Delta, after it was faced with lawsuits and environmental concerns. For now, the drillings have only been suspended, but this is a step in the right direction, proving that people power can work wonders.

In 2019, ReconAfrica announced fracking in some of Africa's most sensitive (both in terms of water supplies and as livelihoods for the communities in the area) environmental areas. Namibian youth climate activists, indigenous, environmental and human rights groups have been working since then to prevent this from happening.

- ASEAN steps up commitment to end forced labour and human trafficking practices of migrant fishers

In May 2023, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders officially adopted the first ASEAN Declaration on Migrant Fishers Protection in history. This declaration follows many years of active campaigning by human rights advocates and civil society organizations. The campaign aims to push stronger policies to protect Southeast Asian migrants working in fisheries and their rights.

This declaration emphasised that protecting and fulfilling the rights of migrant fishers is an entire migration cycle (recruitment, placement, and repatriation), and so is a shared responsibility among the ASEAN states.

- Local fishers and civil society join forces to reforest mangroves in Senegal

The local community in the traditional fishing town Joal in Senegal started reforesting mangroves in a show of what direct action is really about.

Joal is located near mangrove forests, that are essential breeding grounds for many fish species, and are vital therefore for the fishing communities in those areas. They also store more carbon than tropical forests, and are capable of curbing climate impacts such as floods.

- Dutch creative agencies choose to no longer work with fossil fuel companies

23+ creative agencies in The Netherlands put together a Fossil No Deal, stating that they will stop working with fossil companies and no longer encourage fossil passenger transport. They call it verdrag verantwoord verleiden, a treaty for responsible seduction.

- Thailand applies new PM2.5 ambient standard

In the beginning of June, the new PM2.5 ambient standard was officially applied in Thailand. 

The new standard is now 15 μg/m3 for the annual standard and 37.5 μg/m3 for 24-hour standard, which is in keeping with the revised WHO air quality guidelines. This is a big step in the right direction to help reduce PM2.5 and solve air pollution in the country.

Greenpeace Thailand is still not at rest, though, and are continuing to fight to get the PM2.5 at its source, that is from the industries.

- In New Zealand, FSC abandons plans for ‘GE learning’ process

Greenpeace Aotearoa and other environmental organizations have been pressuring the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme to abandon its plans for a ‘Genetic Engineering (GE) learning’ process.

The long-standing principle of not certifying GE trees came under threat  after pressure from FSC certified plantation  company Suzano from Brazil that has a subsidiary doing GE eucalyptus tree research trials (for glyphosate resistance). 

- Citizens say yes to net zero emissions in Switzerland

 Swiss citizens have voted in favour of a new law to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The new climate law, which was initiated seven years ago, passed a referendum with about 59% of the voters.

Net zero is now enshrined in the “federal law on climate protection, innovation and strengthening energy security“.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see, news from your own countries, or if you'd like to add anything or share.

I'm also here to listen, my DMs and Asks are always open :)

Love you all, and see you next time, be safe!

[dailyanarchistposts]

Chapter 6: Mutual Aid in the Mediæval City (continued)

Likeness and diversity among the mediæval cities. — The craftguilds: State-attributes in each of them. — Attitude of the city towards the peasants; attempts to free them. — The lords. — Results achieved by the mediæval city: in arts, in learning. — Causes of decay.

The mediæval cities were not organized upon some preconceived plan in obedience to the will of an outside legislator. Each of them was a natural growth in the full sense of the word — an always varying result of struggle between various forces which adjusted and re-adjusted themselves in conformity with their relative energies, the chances of their conflicts, and the support they found in their surroundings. Therefore, there are not two cities whose inner organization and destinies would have been identical. Each one, taken separately, varies from century to century. And yet, when we cast a broad glance upon all the cities of Europe, the local and national unlikenesses disappear, and we are struck to find among all of them a wonderful resemblance, although each has developed for itself, independently from the others, and in different conditions. A small town in the north of Scotland, with its population of coarse labourers and fishermen; a rich city of Flanders, with its world-wide commerce, luxury, love of amusement and animated life; an Italian city enriched by its intercourse with the East, and breeding within its walls a refined artistic taste and civilization; and a poor, chiefly agricultural, city in the marsh and lake district of Russia, seem to have little in common. And nevertheless, the leading lines of their organization, and the spirit which animates them, are imbued with a strong family likeness. Everywhere we see the same federations of small communities and guilds, the same “sub-towns” round the mother city, the same folkmote, and the same insigns of its independence. The defensor of the city, under different names and in different accoutrements, represents the same authority and interests; food supplies, labour and commerce, are organized on closely similar lines; inner and outer struggles are fought with like ambitions; nay, the very formulae used in the struggles, as also in the annals, the ordinances, and the rolls, are identical; and the architectural monuments, whether Gothic, Roman, or Byzantine in style, express the same aspirations and the same ideals; they are conceived and built in the same way. Many dissemblances are mere differences of age, and those disparities between sister cities which are real are repeated in different parts of Europe. The unity of the leading idea and the identity of origin make up for differences of climate, geographical situation, wealth, language and religion. This is why we can speak of the mediæval city as of a well-defined phase of civilization; and while every research insisting upon local and individual differences is most welcome, we may still indicate the chief lines of development which are common to all cities.[210]

There is no doubt that the protection which used to be accorded to the market-place from the earliest barbarian times has played an important, though not an exclusive, part in the emancipation of the mediæval city. The early barbarians knew no trade within their village communities; they traded with strangers only, at certain definite spots, on certain determined days. And, in order that the stranger might come to the barter-place without risk of being slain for some feud which might be running between two kins, the market was always placed under the special protection of all kins. It was inviolable, like the place of worship under the shadow of which it was held. With the Kabyles it is still annaya, like the footpath along which women carry water from the well; neither must be trodden upon in arms, even during inter-tribal wars. In mediæval times the market universally enjoyed the same protection.[211] No feud could be prosecuted on the place whereto people came to trade, nor within a certain radius from it; and if a quarrel arose in the motley crowd of buyers and sellers, it had to be brought before those under whose protection the market stood — the community’s tribunal, or the bishop’s, the lord’s, or the king’s judge. A stranger who came to trade was a guest, and he went on under this very name. Even the lord who had no scruples about robbing a merchant on the high road, respected the Weichbild, that is, the pole which stood in the market-place and bore either the king’s arms, or a glove, or the image of the local saint, or simply a cross, according to whether the market was under the protection of the king, the lord, the local church, or the folkmote — the vyeche.[212]

It is easy to understand how the self-jurisdiction of the city could develop out of the special jurisdiction in the market-place, when this last right was conceded, willingly or not, to the city itself. And such an origin of the city’s liberties, which can be traced in very many cases, necessarily laid a special stamp upon their subsequent development. It gave a predominance to the trading part of the community. The burghers who possessed a house in the city at the time being, and were co-owners in the town-lands, constituted very often a merchant guild which held in its hands the city’s trade; and although at the outset every burgher, rich and poor, could make part of the merchant guild, and the trade itself seems to have been carried on for the entire city by its trustees, the guild gradually became a sort of privileged body. It jealously prevented the outsiders who soon began to flock into the free cities from entering the guild, and kept the advantages resulting from trade for the few “families” which had been burghers at the time of the emancipation. There evidently was a danger of a merchant oligarchy being thus constituted. But already in the tenth, and still more during the two next centuries, the chief crafts, also organized in guilds, were powerful enough to check the oligarchic tendencies of the merchants.

The craft guild was then a common seller of its produce and a common buyer of the raw materials, and its members were merchants and manual workers at the same time. Therefore, the predominance taken by the old craft guilds from the very beginnings of the free city life guaranteed to manual labour the high position which it afterwards occupied in the city.[213] In fact, in a mediæval city manual labour was no token of inferiority; it bore, on the contrary, traces of the high respect it had been kept in in the village community. Manual labour in a “mystery” was considered as a pious duty towards the citizens: a public function (Amt), as honourable as any other. An idea of “justice” to the community, of “right” towards both producer and consumer, which would seem so extravagant now, penetrated production and exchange. The tanner’s, the cooper’s, or the shoemaker’s work must be “just,” fair, they wrote in those times. Wood, leather or thread which are used by the artisan must be “right”; bread must be baked “in justice,” and so on. Transport this language into our present life, and it would seem affected and unnatural; but it was natural and unaffected then, because the mediæval artisan did not produce for an unknown buyer, or to throw his goods into an unknown market. He produced for his guild first; for a brotherhood of men who knew each other, knew the technics of the craft, and, in naming the price of each product, could appreciate the skill displayed in its fabrication or the labour bestowed upon it. Then the guild, not the separate producer, offered the goods for sale in the community, and this last, in its turn, offered to the brotherhood of allied communities those goods which were exported, and assumed responsibility for their quality. With such an organization, it was the ambition of each craft not to offer goods of inferior quality, and technical defects or adulterations became a matter concerning the whole community, because, an ordinance says, “they would destroy public confidence.”[214] Production being thus a social duty, placed under the control of the whole amitas, manual labour could not fall into the degraded condition which it occupies now, so long as the free city was living.

A difference between master and apprentice, or between master and worker (compayne, Geselle), existed but in the mediæval cities from their very beginnings; this was at the outset a mere difference of age and skill, not of wealth and power. After a seven years’ apprenticeship, and after having proved his knowledge and capacities by a work of art, the apprentice became a master himself. And only much later, in the sixteenth century, after the royal power had destroyed the city and the craft organization, was it possible to become master in virtue of simple inheritance or wealth. But this was also the time of a general decay in mediæval industries and art.

There was not much room for hired work in the early flourishing periods of the mediæval cities, still less for individual hirelings. The work of the weavers, the archers, the smiths, the bakers, and so on, was performed for the craft and the city; and when craftsmen were hired in the building trades, they worked as temporary corporations (as they still do in the Russian artéls), whose work was paid en bloc. Work for a master began to multiply only later on; but even in this case the worker was paid better than he is paid now, even in this country, and very much better than he used to be paid all over Europe in the first half of this century. Thorold Rogers has familiarized English readers with this idea; but the same is true for the Continent as well, as is shown by the researches of Falke and Schönberg, and by many occasional indications. Even in the fifteenth century a mason, a carpenter, or a smith worker would be paid at Amiens four sols a day, which corresponded to forty-eight pounds of bread, or to the eighth part of a small ox (bouvard). In Saxony, the salary of the Geselle in the building trade was such that, to put it in Falke’s words, he could buy with his six days’ wages three sheep and one pair of shoes.[215] The donations of workers (Geselle) to cathedrals also bear testimony of their relative well-being, to say nothing of the glorious donations of certain craft guilds nor of what they used to spend in festivities and pageants.[216] In fact, the more we learn about the mediæval city, the more we are convinced that at no time has labour enjoyed such conditions of prosperity and such respect as when city life stood at its highest.

More than that; not only many aspirations of our modern radicals were already realized in the middle ages, but much of what is described now as Utopian was accepted then as a matter of fact. We are laughed at when we say that work must be pleasant, but — “every one must be pleased with his work,” a mediæval Kuttenberg ordinance says, “and no one shall, while doing nothing (mit nichts thun), appropriate for himself what others have produced by application and work, because laws must be a shield for application and work.”[217] And amidst all present talk about an eight hours’ day, it may be well to remember an ordinance of Ferdinand the First relative to the Imperial coal mines, which settled the miner’s day at eight hours, “as it used to be of old” (wie vor Alters herkommen), and work on Saturday afternoon was prohibited. Longer hours were very rare, we are told by Janssen, while shorter hours were of common occurrence. In this country, in the fifteenth century, Rogers says, “the workmen worked only forty-eight hours a week.“[218] The Saturday half-holiday, too, which we consider as a modern conquest, was in reality an old mediæval institution; it was bathing-time for a great part of the community, while Wednesday afternoon was bathing-time for the Geselle.[219] And although school meals did not exist — probably because no children went hungry to school — a distribution of bath-money to the children whose parents found difficulty in providing it was habitual in several places. As to Labour Congresses, they also were a regular feature of the middles ages. In some parts of Germany craftsmen of the same trade, belonging to different communes, used to come together every year to discuss questions relative to their trade, the years of apprenticeship, the wandering years, the wages, and so on; and in 1572, the Hanseatic towns formally recognized the right of the crafts to come together at periodical congresses, and to take any resolutions, so long as they were not contrary to the cities’ rolls, relative to the quality of goods. Such Labour Congresses, partly international like the Hansa itself, are known to have been held by bakers, founders, smiths, tanners, sword-makers and cask-makers.[220]

The craft organization required, of course, a close supervision of the craftsmen by the guild, and special jurates were always nominated for that purpose. But it is most remarkable that, so long as the cities lived their free life, no complaints were heard about the supervision; while, after the State had stepped in, confiscating the property of the guilds and destroying their independence in favour of its own bureaucracy, the complaints became simply countless.[221] On the other hand, the immensity of progress realized in all arts under the mediaeval guild system is the best proof that the system was no hindrance to individual initiative.[222] The fact is, that the mediæval guild, like the mediæval parish, “street,” or “quarter,” was not a body of citizens, placed under the control of State functionaries; it was a union of all men connected with a given trade: jurate buyers of raw produce, sellers of manufactured goods, and artisans — masters, “compaynes,” and apprentices. For the inner organization of the trade its assembly was sovereign, so long as it did not hamper the other guilds, in which case the matter was brought before the guild of the guilds — the city. But there was in it something more than that. It had its own self-jurisdiction, its own military force, its own general assemblies, its own traditions of struggles, glory, and independence, its own relations with other guilds of the same trade in other cities: it had, in a word, a full organic life which could only result from the integrality of the vital functions. When the town was called to arms, the guild appeared as a separate company (Schaar), armed with its own arms (or its own guns, lovingly decorated by the guild, at a subsequent epoch), under its own self-elected commanders. It was, in a word, as independent a unit of the federation as the republic of Uri or Geneva was fifty years ago in the Swiss Confederation. So that, to compare it with a modern trade union, divested of all attributes of State sovereignty, and reduced to a couple of functions of secondary importance, is as unreasonable as to compare Florence or Brügge with a French commune vegetating under the Code Napoléon, or with a Russian town placed under Catherine the Second’s municipal law. Both have elected mayors, and the latter has also its craft corporations; but the difference is — all the difference that exists between Florence and Fontenay-les-Oies or Tsarevokokshaisk, or between a Venetian doge and a modern mayor who lifts his hat before the sous-préfet’s clerk.

The mediæval guilds were capable of maintaining their independence; and, later on, especially in the fourteenth century, when, in consequence of several causes which shall presently be indicated, the old municipal life underwent a deep modification, the younger crafts proved strong enough to conquer their due share in the management of the city affairs. The masses, organized in “minor” arts, rose to wrest the power out of the hands of a growing oligarchy, and mostly succeeded in this task, opening again a new era of prosperity. True, that in some cities the uprising was crushed in blood, and mass decapitations of workers followed, as was the case in Paris in 1306, and in Cologne in 1371. In such cases the city’s liberties rapidly fell into decay, and the city was gradually subdued by the central authority. But the majority of the towns had preserved enough of vitality to come out of the turmoil with a new life and vigour.[223] A new period of rejuvenescence was their reward. New life was infused, and it found its expression in splendid architectural monuments, in a new period of prosperity, in a sudden progress of technics and invention, and in a new intellectual movement leading to the Renaissance and to the Reformation.

The life of a mediaeval city was a succession of hard battles to conquer liberty and to maintain it. True, that a strong and tenacious race of burghers had developed during those fierce contests; true, that love and worship of the mother city had been bred by these struggles, and that the grand things achieved by the mediaeval communes were a direct outcome of that love. But the sacrifices which the communes had to sustain in the battle for freedom were, nevertheless, cruel, and left deep traces of division on their inner life as well. Very few cities had succeeded, under a concurrence of favourable circumstances, in obtaining liberty at one stroke, and these few mostly lost it equally easily; while the great number had to fight fifty or a hundred years in succession, often more, before their rights to free life had been recognized, and another hundred years to found their liberty on a firm basis — the twelfth century charters thus being but one of the stepping-stones to freedom.[224] In reality, the mediaeval city was a fortified oasis amidst a country plunged into feudal submission, and it had to make room for itself by the force of its arms. In consequence of the causes briefly alluded to in the preceding chapter, each village community had gradually fallen under the yoke of some lay or clerical lord. His house had grown to be a castle, and his brothers-in-arms were now the scum of adventurers, always ready to plunder the peasants. In addition to three days a week which the peasants had to work for the lord, they had also to bear all sorts of exactions for the right to sow and to crop, to be gay or sad, to live, to marry, or to die. And, worst of all, they were continually plundered by the armed robbers of some neighbouring lord, who chose to consider them as their master’s kin, and to take upon them, and upon their cattle and crops, the revenge for a feud he was fighting against their owner. Every meadow, every field, every river, and road around the city, and every man upon the land was under some lord.

The hatred of the burghers towards the feudal barons has found a most characteristic expression in the wording of the different charters which they compelled them to sign. Heinrich V. is made to sign in the charter granted to Speier in 1111, that he frees the burghers from “the horrible and execrable law of mortmain, through which the town has been sunk into deepest poverty” (von dem scheusslichen und nichtswürdigen Gesetze, welches gemein Budel genannt wird, Kallsen, i. 307). The coutume of Bayonne, written about 1273, contains such passages as these: “The people is anterior to the lords. It is the people, more numerous than all others, who, desirous of peace, has made the lords for bridling and knocking down the powerful ones, “and so on (Giry, Établissements de Rouen, i. 117, Quoted by Luchaire, p. 24). A charter submitted for King Robert’s signature is equally characteristic. He is made to say in it: “I shall rob no oxen nor other animals. I shall seize no merchants, nor take their moneys, nor impose ransom. From Lady Day to the All Saints’ Day I shall seize no horse, nor mare, nor foals, in the meadows. I shall not burn the mills, nor rob the flour... I shall offer no protection to thieves,” etc. (Pfister has published that document, reproduced by Luchaire). The charter “granted” by the Besançon Archbishop Hugues, in which he has been compelled to enumerate all the mischiefs due to his mortmain rights, is equally characteristic.[225] And so on.

Freedom could not be maintained in such surroundings, and the cities were compelled to carry on the war outside their walls. The burghers sent out emissaries to lead revolt in the villages; they received villages into their corporations, and they waged direct war against the nobles. It Italy, where the land was thickly sprinkled with feudal castles, the war assumed heroic proportions, and was fought with a stern acrimony on both sides. Florence sustained for seventy-seven years a succession of bloody wars, in order to free its contado from the nobles; but when the conquest had been accomplished (in 1181) all had to begin anew. The nobles rallied; they constituted their own leagues in opposition to the leagues of the towns, and, receiving fresh support from either the Emperor or the Pope, they made the war last for another 130 years. The same took place in Rome, in Lombardy, all over Italy.

Prodigies of valour, audacity, and tenaciousness were displayed by the citizens in these wars. But the bows and the hatchets of the arts and crafts had not always the upper hand in their encounters with the armour-clad knights, and many castles withstood the ingenious siege-machinery and the perseverance of the citizens. Some cities, like Florence, Bologna, and many towns in France, Germany, and Bohemia, succeeded in emancipating the surrounding villages, and they were rewarded for their efforts by an extraordinary prosperity and tranquillity. But even here, and still more in the less strong or less impulsive towns, the merchants and artisans, exhausted by war, and misunderstanding their own interests, bargained over the peasants’ heads. They compelled the lord to swear allegiance to the city; his country castle was dismantled, and he agreed to build a house and to reside in the city, of which he became a co-burgher (com-bourgeois, con-cittadino); but he maintained in return most of his rights upon the peasants, who only won a partial relief from their burdens. The burgher could not understand that equal rights of citizenship might be granted to the peasant upon whose food supplies he had to rely, and a deep rent was traced between town and village. In some cases the peasants simply changed owners, the city buying out the barons’ rights and selling them in shares to her own citizens.[226] Serfdom was maintained, and only much later on, towards the end of the thirteenth century, it was the craft revolution which undertook to put an end to it, and abolished personal servitude, but dispossessed at the same time the serfs of the land.[227] It hardly need be added that the fatal results of such policy were soon felt by the cities themselves; the country became the city’s enemy.

The war against the castles had another bad effect. It involved the cities in a long succession of mutual wars, which have given origin to the theory, till lately in vogue, namely, that the towns lost their independence through their own jealousies and mutual fights. The imperialist historians have especially supported this theory, which, however, is very much undermined now by modern research. It is certain that in Italy cities fought each other with a stubborn animosity, but nowhere else did such contests attain the same proportions; and in Italy itself the city wars, especially those of the earlier period, had their special causes. They were (as was already shown by Sismondi and Ferrari) a mere continuation of the war against the castles — the free municipal and federative principle unavoidably entering into a fierce contest with feudalism, imperialism, and papacy. Many towns which had but partially shaken off the yoke of the bishop, the lord, or the Emperor, were simply driven against the free cities by the nobles, the Emperor, and Church, whose policy was to divide the cities and to arm them against each other. These special circumstances (partly reflected on to Germany also) explain why the Italian towns, some of which sought support with the Emperor to combat the Pope, while the others sought support from the Church to resist the Emperor, were soon divided into a Gibelin and a Guelf camp, and why the same division appeared in each separate city.[228]

The immense economical progress realized by most Italian cities just at the time when these wars were hottest,[229] and the alliances so easily concluded between towns, still better characterize those struggles and further undermine the above theory. Already in the years 1130–1150 powerful leagues came into existence; and a few years later, when Frederick Barbarossa invaded Italy and, supported by the nobles and some retardatory cities, marched against Milan, popular enthusiasm was roused in many towns by popular preachers. Crema, Piacenza, Brescia, Tortona, etc., went to the rescue; the banners of the guilds of Verona, Padua, Vicenza, and Trevisa floated side by side in the cities’ camp against the banners of the Emperor and the nobles. Next year the Lombardian League came into existence, and sixty years later we see it reinforced by many other cities, and forming a lasting organization which had half of its federal war-chest in Genoa and the other half in Venice.[230] In Tuscany, Florence headed another powerful league, to which Lucca, Bologna, Pistoia, etc., belonged, and which played an important part in crushing down the nobles in middle Italy, while smaller leagues were of common occurrence. It is thus certain that although petty jealousies undoubtedly existed, and discord could be easily sown, they did not prevent the towns from uniting together for the common defence of liberty. Only later on, when separate cities became little States, wars broke out between them, as always must be the case when States struggle for supremacy or colonies.

Similar leagues were formed in Germany for the same purpose. When, under the successors of Conrad, the land was the prey of interminable feuds between the nobles, the Westphalian towns concluded a league against the knights, one of the clauses of which was never to lend money to a knight who would continue to conceal stolen goods.[231] When “the knights and the nobles lived on plunder, and murdered whom they chose to murder,” as the Wormser Zorn complains, the cities on the Rhine (Mainz, Cologne, Speier, Strasburg, and Basel) took the initiative of a league which soon numbered sixty allied towns, repressed the robbers, and maintained peace. Later on, the league of the towns of Suabia, divided into three “peace districts” (Augsburg, Constance, and Ulm), had the same purpose. And even when such leagues were broken,[232] they lived long enough to show that while the supposed peacemakers — the kings, the emperors, and the Church-fomented discord, and were themselves helpless against the robber knights, it was from the cities that the impulse came for re-establishing peace and union. The cities — not the emperors — were the real makers of the national unity.[233]

Similar federations were organized for the same purpose among small villages, and now that attention has been drawn to this subject by Luchaire we may expect soon to learn much more about them. Villages joined into small federations in the contado of Florence, so also in the dependencies of Novgorod and Pskov. As to France, there is positive evidence of a federation of seventeen peasant villages which has existed in the Laonnais for nearly a hundred years (till 1256), and has fought hard for its independence. Three more peasant republics, which had sworn charters similar to those of Laon and Soissons, existed in the neighbourhood of Laon, and, their territories being contiguous, they supported each other in their liberation wars. Altogether, Luchaire is of the opinion that many such federations must have come into existence in France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but that documents relative to them are mostly lost. Of course, being unprotected by walls, they could easily be crushed down by the kings and the lords; but in certain favourable circumstances, when they found support in a league of towns and protection in their mountains, such peasant republics became independent units of the Swiss Confederation.[234]

As to unions between cities for peaceful purposes, they were of quite common occurrence. The intercourse which had been established during the period of liberation was not interrupted afterwards. Sometimes, when the scabini of a German town, having to pronounce judgment in a new or complicated case, declared that they knew not the sentence (des Urtheiles nicht weise zu sein), they sent delegates to another city to get the sentence. The same happened also in France;[235] while Forli and Ravenna are known to have mutually naturalized their citizens and granted them full rights in both cities. To submit a contest arisen between two towns, or within a city, to another commune which was invited to act as arbiter, was also in the spirit of the times.[236] As to commercial treaties between cities, they were quite habitual.[237] Unions for regulating the production and the sizes of casks which were used for the commerce in wine, “herring unions,” and so on, were mere precursors of the great commercial federations of the Flemish Hansa, and, later on, of the great North German Hansa, the history of which alone might contribute pages and pages to illustrate the federation spirit which permeated men at that time. It hardly need be added, that through the Hanseatic unions the mediæval cities have contributed more to the development of international intercourse, navigation, and maritime discovery than all the States of the first seventeen centuries of our era.

In a word, federations between small territorial units, as well as among men united by common pursuits within their respective guilds, and federations between cities and groups of cities constituted the very essence of life and thought during that period. The first five of the second decade of centuries of our era may thus be described as an immense attempt at securing mutual aid and support on a grand scale, by means of the principles of federation and association carried on through all manifestations of human life and to all possible degrees. This attempt was attended with success to a very great extent. It united men formerly divided; it secured them a very great deal of freedom, and it tenfolded their forces. At a time when particularism was bred by so many agencies, and the causes of discord and jealousy might have been so numerous, it is gratifying to see that cities scattered over a wide continent had so much in common, and were so ready to confederate for the prosecution of so many common aims. They succumbed in the long run before powerful enemies; not having understood the mutual-aid principle widely enough, they themselves committed fatal faults; but they did not perish through their own jealousies, and their errors were not a want of federation spirit among themselves.

The results of that new move which mankind made in the mediæval city were immense. At the beginning of the eleventh century the towns of Europe were small clusters of miserable huts, adorned but with low clumsy churches, the builders of which hardly knew how to make an arch; the arts, mostly consisting of some weaving and forging, were in their infancy; learning was found in but a few monasteries. Three hundred and fifty years later, the very face of Europe had been changed. The land was dotted with rich cities, surrounded by immense thick walls which were embellished by towers and gates, each of them a work of art in itself. The cathedrals, conceived in a grand style and profusely decorated, lifted their bell-towers to the skies, displaying a purity of form and a boldness of imagination which we now vainly strive to attain. The crafts and arts had risen to a degree of perfection which we can hardly boast of having superseded in many directions, if the inventive skill of the worker and the superior finish of his work be appreciated higher than rapidity of fabrication. The navies of the free cities furrowed in all directions the Northern and the Southern Mediterranean; one effort more, and they would cross the oceans. Over large tracts of land well-being had taken the place of misery; learning had grown and spread. The methods of science had been elaborated; the basis of natural philosophy had been laid down; and the way had been paved for all the mechanical inventions of which our own times are so proud. Such were the magic changes accomplished in Europe in less than four hundred years. And the losses which Europe sustained through the loss of its free cities can only be understood when we compare the seventeenth century with the fourteenth or the thirteenth. The prosperity which formerly characterized Scotland, Germany, the plains of Italy, was gone. The roads had fallen into an abject state, the cities were depopulated, labour was brought into slavery, art had vanished, commerce itself was decaying.[238]

If the mediæval cities had bequeathed to us no written documents to testify of their splendour, and left nothing behind but the monuments of building art which we see now all over Europe, from Scotland to Italy, and from Gerona in Spain to Breslau in Slavonian territory, we might yet conclude that the times of independent city life were times of the greatest development of human intellect during the Christian era down to the end of the eighteenth century. On looking, for instance, at a mediæval picture representing Nuremberg with its scores of towers and lofty spires, each of which bore the stamp of free creative art, we can hardly conceive that three hundred years before the town was but a collection of miserable hovels. And our admiration grows when we go into the details of the architecture and decorations of each of the countless churches, bell-towers, gates, and communal houses which are scattered all over Europe as far east as Bohemia and the now dead towns of Polish Galicia. Not only Italy, that mother of art, but all Europe is full of such monuments. The very fact that of all arts architecture — a social art above all — had attained the highest development, is significant in itself. To be what it was, it must have originated from an eminently social life.

Mediæval architecture attained its grandeur — not only because it was a natural development of handicraft; not only because each building, each architectural decoration, had been devised by men who knew through the experience of their own hands what artistic effects can be obtained from stone, iron, bronze, or even from simple logs and mortar; not only because, each monument was a result of collective experience, accumulated in each “mystery” or craft[239] — it was grand because it was born out of a grand idea. Like Greek art, it sprang out of a conception of brotherhood and unity fostered by the city. It had an audacity which could only be won by audacious struggles and victories; it had that expression of vigour, because vigour permeated all the life of the city. A cathedral or a communal house symbolized the grandeur of an organism of which every mason and stone-cutter was the builder, and a mediæval building appears — not as a solitary effort to which thousands of slaves would have contributed the share assigned them by one man’s imagination; all the city contributed to it. The lofty bell-tower rose upon a structure, grand in itself, in which the life of the city was throbbing — not upon a meaningless scaffold like the Paris iron tower, not as a sham structure in stone intended to conceal the ugliness of an iron frame, as has been done in the Tower Bridge. Like the Acropolis of Athens, the cathedral of a mediæval city was intended to glorify the grandeur of the victorious city, to symbolize the union of its crafts, to express the glory of each citizen in a city of his own creation. After having achieved its craft revolution, the city often began a new cathedral in order to express the new, wider, and broader union which had been called into life.

The means at hand for these grand undertakings were disproportionately small. Cologne Cathedral was begun with a yearly outlay of but 500 marks; a gift of 100 marks was inscribed as a grand donation;[240] and even when the work approached completion, and gifts poured in in proportion, the yearly outlay in money stood at about 5,000 marks, and never exceeded 14,000. The cathedral of Basel was built with equally small means. But each corporation contributed its part of stone, work, and decorative genius to their common monument. Each guild expressed in it its political conceptions, telling in stone or in bronze the history of the city, glorifying the principles of “Liberty, equality, and fraternity,”[241] praising the city’s allies, and sending to eternal fire its enemies. And each guild bestowed its love upon the communal monument by richly decorating it with stained windows, paintings, “gates, worthy to be the gates of Paradise,” as Michelangelo said, or stone decorations of each minutest corner of the building.[242] Small cities, even small parishes,[243] vied with the big agglomerations in this work, and the cathedrals of Laon and St. Ouen hardly stand behind that of Rheims, or the Communal House of Bremen, or the folkmote’s bell-tower of Breslau. “No works must be begun by the commune but such as are conceived in response to the grand heart of the commune, composed of the hearts of all citizens, united in one common will” — such were the words of the Council of Florence; and this spirit appears in all communal works of common utility, such as the canals, terraces, vineyards, and fruit gardens around Florence, or the irrigation canals which intersected the plains of Lombardy, or the port and aqueduct of Genoa, or, in fact, any works of the kind which were achieved by almost every city.[244]

All arts had progressed in the same way in the mediæval cities, those of our own days mostly being but a continuation of what had grown at that time. The prosperity of the Flemish cities was based upon the fine woollen cloth they fabricated. Florence, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, before the black death, fabricated from 70,000 to 100,000 panni of woollen stuffs, which were valued at 1,200,000 golden florins.[245] The chiselling of precious metals, the art of casting, the fine forging of iron, were creations of the mediæval “mysteries” which had succeeded in attaining in their own domains all that could be made by the hand, without the use of a powerful prime motor. By the hand and by invention, because, to use Whewell’s words:

“Parchment and paper, printing and engraving, improved glass and steel, gunpowder, clocks, telescopes, the mariner’s compass, the reformed calendar, the decimal notation; algebra, trigonometry, chemistry, counterpoint (an invention equivalent to a new creation of music); these are all possessions which we inherit from that which has so disparagingly been termed the Stationary Period” (History of Inductive Sciences, i. 252).

True that no new principle was illustrated by any of these discoveries, as Whewell said; but mediæval science had done something more than the actual discovery of new principles. It had prepared the discovery of all the new principles which we know at the present time in mechanical sciences: it had accustomed the explorer to observe facts and to reason from them. It was inductive science, even though it had not yet fully grasped the importance and the powers of induction; and it laid the foundations of both mechanics and natural philosophy. Francis Bacon, Galileo, and Copernicus were the direct descendants of a Roger Bacon and a Michael Scot, as the steam engine was a direct product of the researches carried on in the Italian universities on the weight of the atmosphere, and of the mathematical and technical learning which characterized Nuremberg.

But why should one take trouble to insist upon the advance of science and art in the mediæval city? Is it not enough to point to the cathedrals in the domain of skill, and to the Italian language and the poem of Dante in the domain of thought, to give at once the measure of what the mediæval city created during the four centuries it lived?

The mediæval cities have undoubtedly rendered an immense service to European civilization. They have prevented it from being drifted into the theocracies and despotical states of old; they have endowed it with the variety, the self-reliance, the force of initiative, and the immense intellectual and material energies it now possesses, which are the best pledge for its being able to resist any new invasion of the East. But why did these centres of civilization, which attempted to answer to deeply-seated needs of human nature, and were so full of life, not live further on? Why were they seized with senile debility in the sixteenth century? And, after having repulsed so many assaults from without, and only borrowed new vigour from their interior struggles, why did they finally succumb to both?

Various causes contributed to this effect, some of them having their roots in the remote past, while others originated in the mistakes committed by the cities themselves. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, mighty States, reconstructed on the old Roman pattern, were already coming into existence. In each country and each region some feudal lord, more cunning, more given to hoarding, and often less scrupulous than his neighbours, had succeeded in appropriating to himself richer personal domains, more peasants on his lands, more knights in his following, more treasures in his chest. He had chosen for his seat a group of happily-situated villages, not yet trained into free municipal life — Paris, Madrid, or Moscow — and with the labour of his serfs he had made of them royal fortified cities, whereto he attracted war companions by a free distribution of villages, and merchants by the protection he offered to trade. The germ of a future State, which began gradually to absorb other similar centres, was thus laid. Lawyers, versed in the study of Roman law, flocked into such centres; a tenacious and ambitious race of men issued from among the burgesses, who equally hated the naughtiness of the lords and what they called the lawlessness of the peasants. The very forms of the village community, unknown to their code, the very principles of federalism were repulsive to them as “barbarian” inheritances. Cæsarism, supported by the fiction of popular consent and by the force of arms, was their ideal, and they worked hard for those who promised to realize it.[246]

The Christian Church, once a rebel against Roman law and now its ally, worked in the same direction. The attempt at constituting the theocratic Empire of Europe having proved a failure, the more intelligent and ambitious bishops now yielded support to those whom they reckoned upon for reconstituting the power of the Kings of Israel or of the Emperors of Constantinople. The Church bestowed upon the rising rulers her sanctity, she crowned them as God’s representatives on earth, she brought to their service the learning and the statesmanship of her ministers, her blessings and maledictions, her riches, and the sympathies she had retained among the poor. The peasants, whom the cities had failed or refused to free, on seeing the burghers impotent to put an end to the interminable wars between the knights — which wars they had so dearly to pay for — now set their hopes upon the King, the Emperor, or the Great Prince; and while aiding them to crush down the mighty feudal owners, they aided them to constitute the centralized State. And finally, the invasions of the Mongols and the Turks, the holy war against the Maures in Spain, as well as the terrible wars which soon broke out between the growing centres of sovereignty — Île de France and Burgundy, Scotland and England, England and France, Lithuania and Poland, Moscow and Tver, and so on — contributed to the same end. Mighty States made their appearance; and the cities had now to resist not only loose federations of lords, but strongly-organized centres, which had armies of serfs at their disposal.

The worst was, that the growing autocracies found support in the divisions which had grown within the cities themselves. The fundamental idea of the mediæval city was grand, but it was not wide enough. Mutual aid and support cannot be limited to a small association; they must spread to its surroundings, or else the surroundings will absorb the association. And in this respect the mediæval citizen had committed a formidable mistake at the outset. Instead of looking upon the peasants and artisans who gathered under the protection of his walls as upon so many aids who would contribute their part to the making of the city — as they really did — a sharp division was traced between the “families” of old burghers and the newcomers. For the former, all benefits from communal trade and communal lands were reserved, and nothing was left for the latter but the right of freely using the skill of their own hands. The city thus became divided into “the burghers” or “the commonalty,” and “the inhabitants.”[247] The trade, which was formerly communal, now became the privilege of the merchant and artisan “families,” and the next step — that of becoming individual, or the privilege of oppressive trusts — was unavoidable.

The same division took place between the city proper and the surrounding villages. The commune had well tried to free the peasants, but her wars against the lords became, as already mentioned, wars for freeing the city itself from the lords, rather than for freeing the peasants. She left to the lord his rights over the villeins, on condition that he would molest the city no more and would become co-burgher. But the nobles “adopted” by the city, and now residing within its walls, simply carried on the old war within the very precincts of the city. They disliked to submit to a tribunal of simple artisans and merchants, and fought their old feuds in the streets. Each city had now its Colonnas and Orsinis, its Overstolzes and Wises. Drawing large incomes from the estates they had still retained, they surrounded themselves with numerous clients and feudalized the customs and habits of the city itself. And when discontent began to be felt in the artisan classes of the town, they offered their sword and their followers to settle the differences by a free fight, instead of letting the discontent find out the channels which it did not fail to secure itself in olden times.

The greatest and the most fatal error of most cities was to base their wealth upon commerce and industry, to the neglect of agriculture. They thus repeated the error which had once been committed by the cities of antique Greece, and they fell through it into the same crimes.[248] The estrangement of so many cities from the land necessarily drew them into a policy hostile to the land, which became more and more evident in the times of Edward the Third,[249] the French Jacqueries, the Hussite wars, and the Peasant War in Germany. On the other hand, a commercial policy involved them in distant enterprises. Colonies were founded by the Italians in the south-east, by German cities in the east, by Slavonian cities in the far northeast. Mercenary armies began to be kept for colonial wars, and soon for local defence as well. Loans were contacted to such an extent as to totally demoralize the citizens; and internal contests grew worse and worse at each election, during which the colonial politics in the interest of a few families was at stake. The division into rich and poor grew deeper, and in the sixteenth century, in each city, the royal authority found ready allies and support among the poor.

And there is yet another cause of the decay of communal institutions, which stands higher and lies deeper than all the above. The history of the mediæval cities offers one of the most striking illustrations of the power of ideas and principles upon the destinies of mankind, and of the quite opposed results which are obtained when a deep modification of leading ideas has taken place. Self-reliance and federalism, the sovereignty of each group, and the construction of the political body from the simple to the composite, were the leading ideas in the eleventh century. But since that time the conceptions had entirely changed. The students of Roman law and the prelates of the Church, closely bound together since the time of Innocent the Third, had succeeded in paralyzing the idea — the antique Greek idea — which presided at the foundation of the cities. For two or three hundred years they taught from the pulpit, the University chair, and the judges’ bench, that salvation must be sought for in a strongly-centralized State, placed under a semi-divine authority;[250] that one man can and must be the saviour of society, and that in the name of public salvation he can commit any violence: burn men and women at the stake, make them perish under indescribable tortures, plunge whole provinces into the most abject misery. Nor did they fail to give object lessons to this effect on a grand scale, and with an unheard-of cruelty, wherever the king’s sword and the Church’s fire, or both at once, could reach. By these teachings and examples, continually repeated and enforced upon public attention, the very minds of the citizens had been shaped into a new mould. They began to find no authority too extensive, no killing by degrees too cruel, once it was “for public safety.” And, with this new direction of mind and this new belief in one man’s power, the old federalist principle faded away, and the very creative genius of the masses died out. The Roman idea was victorious, and in such circumstances the centralized State had in the cities a ready prey.

Florence in the fifteenth century is typical of this change. Formerly a popular revolution was the signal of a new departure. Now, when the people, brought to despair, insurged, it had constructive ideas no more; no fresh idea came out of the movement. A thousand representatives were put into the Communal Council instead of 400; 100 men entered the signoria instead of 80. But a revolution of figures could be of no avail. The people’s discontent was growing up, and new revolts followed. A saviour — the “tyran” — was appealed to; he massacred the rebels, but the disintegration of the communal body continued worse than ever. And when, after a new revolt, the people of Florence appealed to their most popular man, Gieronimo Savonarola, for advice, the monk’s answer was: — “Oh, people mine, thou knowest that I cannot go into State affairs... purify thy soul, and if in such a disposition of mind thou reformest thy city, then, people of Florence, thou shalt have inaugurated the reform in all Italy!” Carnival masks and vicious books were burned, a law of charity and another against usurers were passed — and the democracy of Florence remained where it was. The old spirit had gone. By too much trusting to government, they had ceased to trust to themselves; they were unable to open new issues. The State had only to step in and to crush down their last liberties.

And yet, the current of mutual aid and support did not die out in the masses, it continued to flow even after that defeat. It rose up again with a formidable force, in answer to the communist appeals of the first propagandists of the reform, and it continued to exist even after the masses, having failed to realize the life which they hoped to inaugurate under the inspiration of a reformed religion, fell under the dominions of an autocratic power. It flows still even now, and it seeks its way to find out a new expression which would not be the State, nor the mediæval city, nor the village community of the barbarians, nor the savage clan, but would proceed from all of them, and yet be superior to them in its wider and more deeply humane conceptions.

[sourcreammachine]

so the party manifestos won’t be published for a few weeks prolly, but the Labour Party policymaking system means they have an internal “policy platform” agreed by the partisan structure that kinda dictates what goes in the manifesto, and a similar partisan structure has the final say on the manifesto itself. the platform is private and internal, but it’s been “seen and summarised”. so heres a couple of interesting bits:

nationalise the rail; allow greater municipal ownership of bus networks; more ev charging stations and increased ev subsidies

“fundamentally reform our system of energy supply, generation and transmission” via public ownership, but without stating whether or not this includes consumer services or if the private wholesale system will continue

abolish the Lords; votes at 16; NO commitment to abolishing FPTP

“support the recognition of” palestine (note wording, and note the fact this was written before 7 october)

ban conversion therapy including for trans people; “modernise the process of gender recognition to remove indignities for trans people, while upholding the Equality Act, its protected characteristics and its provision for single-sex exemptions” (obviously using terf dogwhistles to get out of meaningfully reforming the law, without clarifying their plans)

sewage monitoring and fines for sewage leaks by water companies – water remains private

“land-use framework” to organise farmland with the goal of biodiversity, close hunting loopholes

intellectual property reform, maybe? they’re very vague about that one

one-month waiting time for mental health services

“reform broken tuition fees system” – NO commitment to abolition and debt forgiveness, only this squirmy line

“robust regulation to protect people from online harms” – basically equivocating to allow any possible passage of a bad internet bill :/

£28B green energy investment; double onshore wind, quadruple offshore wind; reinstate fracking ban and stop new oil/gas; “green energy by 2030”, whatever that means. weirdly fetishistic about hydrogen power

VERY, VERY little mention of City oversight and reform. City to remain extremely independent, capital to continue flowing

abolish leaseholds; end ‘arcane’ land laws; end no-fault evictions

football regulator; reform gambling laws

end fire-rehire; more regulation for two-tier employee/contractor workplace inequalities; more statutory workers’ rights; ban zerohours with more than 12h/week, “right to a contract”; change the minimum wage quango to account for cost of living, potentially hiking the minimum wage by several pounds

repeal a number of union-busting acts; regulate gig economies to statutorily allow the right to unionise; increase rights for unions to organise and manage themselves

ethics quango to enforce the ministerial code for the first time in its history; ban second jobs for MPs with very limited exceptions for professionals; ban former ministers from lobbying for five years; political finance reforms to restrict financing by shell companies

certain devolutionary powers for english local authorities on request; shrink whitehall, let the civil service go elsewhere

“respect orders”, ASBOs 2; domestic abuse register; misogyny as a hatecrime; ‘protect the right to protest’, explicitly opposing the public order bill without committing to overturn it

but yeah, the starmer leadership may leave some things on the cutting room floor, and the starmer government may act totally different when it doesn’t have the partisan oversight. in the end, we have to wait until the proper manifesto releases to make real judgements, but looking through this list can set the tone of our expectations: third-way, boring and pathetic

[lagoontechnologies]

Streamlining Projects: The Role of Civil Manpower Supply Services in Construction

Introduction:  

In the fast-paced world of construction, efficiency is paramount. To meet deadlines and deliver quality projects, companies often turn to civil manpower supply services. This blog explores the pivotal role of these services in optimizing construction projects across the UAE, with a special focus on Abu Dhabi and Dubai. 

Civil manpower supply services are the backbone of construction projects. These services encompass sourcing, training, and deploying skilled laborers to construction sites. Whether it’s skilled tradespeople, engineers, or general laborers, these companies ensure that projects have the right talent at the right time. 

Key Factors in Civil Manpower Supply:  

Recruitment and Training: Civil manpower supply companies meticulously recruit and train workers to meet the specific demands of construction projects. This ensures that workers are not only skilled but also safety-conscious and compliant with regulations. 

Flexibility and Scalability: One of the key advantages of outsourcing manpower supply is the ability to scale up or down based on project needs. This flexibility allows construction companies to adapt to changing requirements without the hassle of permanent hiring and layoffs. 

Compliance and Safety: Civil manpower supply services prioritize compliance with labour laws and safety regulations. By adhering to these standards, they create a safer working environment and mitigate risks on construction sites. 

Benefits of Civil Manpower Supply Services:  

Cost-Effectiveness: Outsourcing manpower supply can lead to significant cost savings for construction companies. Instead of bearing the overhead of hiring and managing permanent employees, they can simply pay for the labour they need, when they need it. 

Expertise and Efficiency: Civil manpower supply companies specialize in providing skilled workers who excel in their respective roles. This expertise translates to increased efficiency on construction sites, ultimately leading to faster project completion and higher quality outcomes. 

Focus on Core Competencies: By outsourcing manpower supply, construction companies can focus their resources on their core competencies. Rather than worrying about staffing logistics, they can dedicate their time and energy to project management and execution. 

Civil Manpower Supply in Abu Dhabi and Dubai: The construction industry in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is booming, with a multitude of ambitious projects underway. Civil manpower supply services play a crucial role in supporting this growth by providing the manpower needed to fuel these projects. 

As the construction industry in the UAE continues to evolve, the demand for civil manpower supply services is expected to grow. With advancements in technology and an emphasis on sustainability, these services will play an even more integral role in streamlining projects and driving innovation. 

Conclusion: In the dynamic world of construction, efficiency is key to success. Civil manpower supply services serve as a vital link in the project lifecycle, providing skilled labour when and where it’s needed most. By leveraging these services, construction companies can streamline their projects, meet deadlines, and deliver exceptional results in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and beyond. 

[mariacallous]

The new Labour government in the UK set out its legislative priorities today after winning a landslide election on July 4. At the official state opening of parliament, King Charles III read a speech outlining the bills that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government will attempt to pass over the coming months and years.

There were few surprises in the king’s speech—most of the major bills announced were heavily trailed in Labour’s manifesto and election campaign. Updating planning laws, improving transport infrastructure, and reforming Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, all featured prominently in the speech.

The speech and accompanying briefing document also outlined a few bills aimed at tackling the climate crisis. Here’s what you need to know about the environmental bills just announced.

Great British Energy

Labour’s plan to create a publicly owned clean power company featured prominently in the party’s election campaign. It was one of Labour’s six “steps for change” presented to voters in the run-up to the election, and the only flagship pledge by Labour that directly addressed the climate crisis.

The bill will establish Great British Energy, a taxpayer-owned company that will “develop, own, and operate assets” by investing in partnership with the private sector. The company will be backed with £8.3 billion ($10.8 billion), and will be headquartered in Scotland, which produces a large share of the UK’s renewable electricity.

Labour has already moved quickly on promoting renewable energy in the UK, scrapping a de facto ban on onshore wind farms in the first few days of its government. It has also announced a “mission control” to achieve clean power by 2030, headed up by Chris Stark, the erstwhile most senior climate adviser to the UK government.

The plan is also couched in terms of the UK’s energy security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in gas prices across Europe, and highlighted the UK’s dependence on this fossil fuel. Labour will hope that increasing investment in producing, moving, and storing clean power through Great British Energy will help reduce the reliance on gas, cleaning up the UK’s energy mix and improving its energy security.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Aviation makes up a small but growing portion of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. In 2019, emissions from civil aviation made up 8 percent of the UK’s emissions, and with electric planes still a distant prospect, this sector is generally considered one of the hardest areas to tackle.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) are produced from alternatives to fossil fuels, such as crops or waste oil. These SAFs are attractive to airline operators because they can be mixed with normal jet fuel without requiring significant (and costly) adaptations to planes.

The proposed bill will mandate that fuel supplies mix at least 10 percent of SAFs into their fuel blends and provide support for companies and investors who are looking to scale up SAF production in the UK. The Conservatives also backed SAFs in their manifesto, although it’s worth noting the benefits of SAFs are disputed, and increased demand for air travel will mean rising emissions from this sector.

The Crown Estate

The King—through the Crown Estate—is a major landowner in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its holdings include much of the UK’s seabed, and with it rights to grant permissions to build offshore wind farms, lay pipelines, and store carbon under the seabed. In recent years this marine portfolio has become a lucrative part of the Crown Estate’s holdings.

Labour is seeking to modernize the Crown Estate by giving it the power to borrow money from the treasury, freeing up cash reserves to invest in renewable energy projects in particular. It also wants to widen the Crown Estate’s investment powers so it can support other aspects of green infrastructure, such as digital technology for wind farms and port infrastructure.

The bill would extend only to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as the Crown Estate does not operate in the same way in Scotland.

Water

Water companies in England have rarely been away from the headlines thanks to an ongoing scandal over the discharge of raw sewage into rivers. Despite these illegal discharges, executives at water companies in England and Wales were paid out £9.7 million in bonuses across 2022 and 2023.

The bill seeks to fix the situation by making water bosses criminally liable for lawbreaking, giving the water regulator power to ban bonuses when environmental standards are not met, bringing in new fines, and requiring water companies to install real-time monitors at every sewage outlet.

Transport

The king’s speech includes a handful of bills aimed at reforming the UK’s public transport system. Although these bills aren’t framed in terms of climate change, improving low-carbon transport infrastructure is a major part of decarbonizing the UK.

The Passenger Railway Services Bill and Railways Bill will seek to renationalize rail services and attempt to create a more simplified national rail system. The Better Buses Bill will seek to give local governments more power to run their own bus services, while the High Speed Rail Bill will seek to provide powers to create rail projects that connect places across the north of England.

[tmarshconnors]

“I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.”

John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism. (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873.)

Proponent of Utilitarianism: John Stuart Mill was a leading advocate of utilitarianism, a moral philosophy originally developed by Jeremy Bentham. Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that actions are right if they promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Mill expanded on Bentham's ideas, emphasizing qualitative differences in pleasures.

Author of "On Liberty": Mill's seminal work "On Liberty" (1859) is a cornerstone of liberal political philosophy. In it, he argues for the importance of individual freedom and autonomy, asserting that society should only restrict individual actions if they harm others, encapsulating this idea in what is known as the Harm Principle.

Advocate for Women's Rights: Mill was an early and passionate advocate for gender equality. In his book "The Subjection of Women" (1869), he argued for the legal and social equality of women, making a strong case against the oppression and disenfranchisement of women in Victorian society.

Influence on Political Economy: As a political economist, Mill made significant contributions to economic theory. His "Principles of Political Economy" (1848) was a comprehensive survey of economic thought and policy, covering topics such as supply and demand, labour, and the role of government in the economy. It was a standard textbook for decades.

Early Education and Intellectual Development: Mill had an extraordinary early education, rigorously guided by his father, James Mill. By the age of three, he was reading Greek, and by eight, he was proficient in Latin. His intensive and broad education laid the groundwork for his later intellectual achievements, making him one of the most learned individuals of his time.

[mollieblue]

Hey #labour, you should hire me to talk at you about how to actually fix Britain:

Terfs are the enemy, Trans folx are the people.

Small businesses need support on the ground level in order to foster amazing communities.

Invest in education to the point teachers are as paid well as their private peers or dare I say as well as an MP. I would say that if an MP describes their role as being vital, integral and essential to running the country, who receives a handsome tax paid salary with expenses paid with the public purse, why is it that other public sector roles are paid relatively below minimum wage? This applies to all public sector workers; civil servants, NHS staff, and teachers of all stripes. They are just as vital, integral, and essential to running the country, if not more so, than the openly profiteering geezers in Westminster.

Why is it that the rule makers are more important than those ensuring that the rules work? Those holding up society and holding it together are so sorely underpaid in this country that they are giving their lives to you at pittance so you can be okay. The NHS is a wonderful thing, and it breaks my heart that we don't fully fund it. The same goes for education, social services, community organisations, and libraries. These currently literally keep people existing at the bare minimum, but when fully funded and staffed, they transform lives for the better.

Equal pay for Equal work 》 Equal pay for Equal Importance. Ignore the 'we can't pay them the hundreds of thousands that MPs get' elephant in the room. I want you instead to imagine a world in which all public sector workers are paid the exact same amount regardless of hierarchy or public aspect they interact with. I'm no expert, but I reckon £86,584, the basic annual salary for a UK MP in 2023, would be an absolute god send to a junior doctor on roughly £38k. My partner practically works at minimum wage for 50 hours when you account for the marking, the planning, the organisation of your entire schedule to an impromptu meeting with angry parents and worrying about ofsted. It has worn them down, mostly because we can't have a social life, spending money on the theatre, in shops, on things that make us happy and human. We can't save, and we can't afford nice things. That fucking sucks. It wears a person out and throws them out of the system that's holding up the world.

Everyone I know is feeling like the above, regardless if they're private or public, freelance or salaried. One solution to help is basic universal income. Give everyone over 16 £500 & everyone over 18 £1000 each month for a year and see how awesome it would be in a year's time. I already know how much good that would do to me and everyone I know.

So pay everyone £12,000 a year and then pay all public sector workers the base salary of £86,000 rising in step with inflation. If the private sector can, in theory, pay whatever wages it wants, having a guarantee that your basics are paid will eliminate sooooo much stress. Rich folx can donate theirs, college kids can do interesting work at college because £500 buys a lot of art supplies and travel to museums, exhibitions, and events. Youth would have means to explore the nation before university or set up in an apprenticeship. Our elderly can use it to afford end of life care provisions or enrich their retirement or hell, just keep the lights on. Working folx would undoubtedly benefit the most and would probably like their jobs much more if they know things are covered.

To foot the bill, impose a commons tax on all privately owned land that fairly compensates the commons, ie, the UK public, back.

Make the North part of your game plan, rather than a foot note.

On a serious note; nationalise the railway system and expand the network. It is hell going east to west here, up to 3 hours to go 50 miles west and just 3 to get to London from Selby in North Yorkshire. How is this acceptable?

Invest in working class politicians to bring the reality of Britain back into government. Without our views or experiences on the table, why are we surprised when the Tories fuck us over again? If you want true, enthusiastic support from the British people, do not talk at us as if we're irresponsible children and actually engage with the very liberal and progressive discussions we have daily. Especially people under 40 - the older generation that pulled us out of the EU will be gone soon - you need to court and actually help out.

[grimalkinmessor]

What would be your take on an AU where Yoichi is the elder brother?

Hmmmmmmm I really had to think about this one. It's not as simple as swapping their ages—a lot of little changes lead to a lot of big ones.

(This got long. Again. 🥲)

Let's see, with my own personal headcanons, this means that Yoichi is bilingual, for one. Trilingual, actually, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Six year old Yoichi is probably entirely homeschooled. He and his mother have a tense relationship, but it's not nearly as bad as Takashi's would've been with her—his mother is more affectionate with him, and but there's still the fact that she does nothing about her husband's abuse, and she resents Yoichi for being sickly and "forcing" her to stay with him and protect him. They still love each other, it's just...complicated. So Yoichi is home when his mother goes into labour, and he watches her die right in front of him. Unlike Takashi, Yoichi calls emergency services, meaning that both he and infant Takashi get taken to the hospital and, after thorough examination of their health and home, get placed in the foster care system! :D

Now we all know that infants are far more likely to get adopted than older kids—but after watching their mother die and getting ripped away from his home in quick succession, Yoichi has formed a rapid unhealthy attachment to his new little brother. One (1) couple shows interest in Takashi and then Yoichi refuses to let go of him ever again. Anyone that tries to separate them or even just take Takashi off his hands for a few minutes gets bitten or screeched at. Yoichi takes care of his baby brother all by himself even in a building full of adults. If something needs to be done that Yoichi can't do, he goes to the most trustworthy (weakest) adult and hovers over them while he watches them do it (before subsequently never needing them again because he's a quick learner).

Then, when Yoichi is eight, tensions between metahumans and the government begin to rise, and the orphanage and various foster homes in between are no longer safe for them. So Yoichi packs up their stuff and takes his little two year old brother with him into the streets. He's a crafty little guy, so unlike Takashi who ran them from one shelter to another, Yoichi sets them up like the boxcar children somewhere away from civilization. If people are the problem, then get away from the city.

Yoichi gets into various scraps and has a lot of close calls protecting Takashi and keeping them alive, and even at two/three years old Takashi notices this. He recognizes Yoichi as the sole person who will protect him with everything he has, who will give him everything he needs, and everyone else are apparently violent greedy demons. He adores and idolizes Yoichi something fierce.

But while Yoichi is inventive and bold, he's still sickly :') He doesn't like stealing, so he usually barters for things he needs—but Takashi's needs come before his. If it's a choice between Takashi getting enough food and Yoichi getting a refill on his inhaler, he's getting Takashi his fucking food, you feel me? And Takashi is maybe about five when Yoichi gets really sick, sick enough that he can't even get himself out of bed, much less go get them food and supplies. This has a few consequences: one being that Takashi no longer sees Yoichi as someone invincible, and another being that Takashi now has to venture out on his own to go get Yoichi's medicine. But he doesn't know how to barter, so of course, he steals it. Once Yoichi is better, he's grateful but he still scolds Takashi for it, WHICH of course leads Takashi's low empathy/high intelligence brain to take everything his brother says on the subject on morality from there on out with a grain of salt. Yoichi does teach Takashi how to barter and haggle after that however, which is a step forward in his tiny manipulation tactics :D

Now here comes the fun part. Takashi's increased ventures with Yoichi outside leads a kindly soul to take notice of them, and of course try to pester than about where their parents are. Where do they live? How old are they? Do they need to call someone? This raises Yoichi's hackles something awful. He wants nothing to do with the system anymore, and he knows that even if they get into a good orphanage they'll just try to separate him and Takashi. Especially since Yoichi is now in his teens and Takashi still hasn't hit double digits. Yoichi makes a quick escape when Kindly NPC #1 isn't looking, but Takashi, now at seven, is able to realize that this is an almost entirely selfish move on Yoichi's part. Takashi is quietly delighted by it, but of course this is just another step towards him dismissing anything Yoichi says about morality, because now he's confirmed that Yoichi isn't the saint he likes to appear to be.

Yoichi teaches Takashi a lot of things, how to read and write, how to convince people to give him what he wants without violence, how to read music, and even some French at Takashi's request. But he is no longer going to be able to teach Takashi how to be a good person—just how to look like one :')

Not long after this, the tension between the metahumans and the government crescendos. When it's no longer safe for them to even go to the store without the threat of being killed or shipped off to a camp, Yoichi decides that it's time to go. Now, during his time as a grifting little boxcar kid, Yoichi ran some odd jobs for people here and there. He might have also stopped a few crimes here and there when Takashi wasn't with him and done a few things for people for free. All this to say that Yoichi has a pretty good network of people that owe him favors. He uses a few of those favors to get him and Takashi on a plane out of Japan and on over to a country where things aren't quite so volatile; I'm thinking Australia or America, take your pick. Somewhere that all the English he learned from all those comics and books he saved from various dumpsters and thrift shop bins would come in handy.

Yoichi gets a job under the table, sets them up in an actual apartment, and that's where they live for several years. Takashi finally gets to go to real school! Only to immediately find that, while Yoichi has taught him how to make connections friends, he doesn't like anybody :/ He quickly develops a whole little hoard of friends, but he sees them all as shields and pawns. (A better deal than regular antisocial AFO with no friends, but somehow also more terrifying :D)

Takashi absorbs a lot of Yoichi's influence as the younger brother, I think. If he does still become All For One, he'd go about it differently—more coercion and manipulation and less brute force.

Yoichi still has his little vigilante arc, if only because even in their new place there's still a lot of prejudice and if anyone even looks at Takashi the wrong way they're getting their fucking fingers bitten off. And, if that isn't an option, any evidence of anything they've ever done wrong posted on the internet ^.^ Try getting a job now, motherfucker 💕

I don't really know what would happen after this! They're still incredibly codependent, Takashi is just younger and more socially competent, and Yoichi is just older and slightly quicker to violence and suspicion. Anything that happens after this would be a product of outside factors :3

I don't think Takashi would still force a Quirk on Yoichi—he'd be far more aware of his Yoichi-nii's ability to fight and survive in this AU, and if nothing else he wouldn't want to give Yoichi another tool to put him in time out :/ So no One For All. Probably. And likely also no All For One, because with Yoichi sprinting ahead of Takashi to fix the world's problems first so his little brother doesn't have to deal with them, Takashi's worldly concerns are much more centralized. Maybe he runs for mayor or something, but even after he discovers his Quirk I don't see him becoming a full on supervillain. Takashi would mention his Quirk urges to Yoichi once and Yoichi would immediately find a way to set him up a line of people wanting to get rid of their Quirks.

He'd still be (more mildly) corrupt, and Yoichi would still nag and scold him about it, and it would still strain their relationship a bit, but far far less than in canon.