#Capacity Development Consultant

[janeemmanuel]

Apply: Organizational Management Consultant at GRA

📌 Organizational Management Training Consultant at GRA (Maiduguri) Application Deadline: June 29, 2025 Duration: 5 working days (contract) 📝 Job Summary: Grassroots Researchers Association (GRA) is hiring a qualified and experienced Organizational Management Consultant to train staff of a local foundation supporting women and child survivors of conflict in Borno State. The role involves a 1-day…

[shreekant-patil]

Shreekant Patil Empowers Vocational Trainers with Entrepreneurship Insights at JSS Nashik Workshop

Shreekant Patil Leads Capacity Building Workshop for Vocational Trainers in Nashik, Empowering Rural Entrepreneurs

[asianinstitutetoftechnology]

Transform Success with Capacity Development Service in Thailand by AIT

In a fast-changing global environment, capacity development has become crucial for organizations and individuals aiming to adapt, innovate, and thrive. For those seeking expertise and transformative learning, the Capacity Development Service in Thailand offered by AIT Extension provides world-class solutions tailored to diverse needs.

What is Capacity Development?

Capacity development involves enhancing the skills, knowledge, and processes of individuals, organizations, and societies. It bridges the gap between potential and performance, ensuring sustainable growth. AIT Extension, a key arm of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), has been a leader in delivering innovative and results-driven capacity development programs for decades.

Why Choose Capacity Development Service in Thailand?

 

Tailored Programs for Real Impact AIT Extension’s capacity development services are designed to address the unique needs of organizations, government agencies, and professionals. Programs are created after analyzing challenges and aligning solutions to organizational goals.

Global Expertise with a Local Focus AIT Extension combines international best practices with regional relevance, ensuring participants gain actionable insights that fit their context.

Experienced Facilitators and Modern Methods Training is delivered by industry experts, academics, and practitioners using interactive and immersive learning methods such as workshops, case studies, simulations, and field visits.

Strategic Location for Learning and Networking Situated near Bangkok, AIT’s state-of-the-art facilities provide a peaceful yet dynamic environment for participants to learn and connect with peers from across the globe.

What Does Capacity Development Service Cover?

AIT Extension’s programs focus on:

Leadership and Organizational Management

Policy Development and Governance

Sustainability and Climate Solutions

Technical and Digital Skills Development

From short-term workshops to long-term programs, the Capacity Development Service in Thailand delivers measurable results that empower participants to drive change in their sectors.

Benefits of Capacity Development with AIT Extension

Enhanced Skills and Knowledge for professional and organizational growth

Practical Solutions tailored to unique challenges

Networking Opportunities with global participants and experts

Sustainable Impact for long-term organizational success

 

Conclusion

 

For organizations and professionals looking to build resilience, improve performance, and achieve sustainable growth, the Capacity Development Service in Thailand with AIT Extension is the ultimate solution. Backed by expertise, innovation, and a results-oriented approach, AIT Extension continues to empower individuals and institutions across Asia and beyond.

[northgazaupdates]

NEW MOTHER AND INFANT TRAPPED IN GAZA

Suad Ahmad @suad-ahmad is an engineer from Gaza. She graduated from university at the top of her class and was rapidly excelling in her career as an instructor, consultant, and team leader. Suad, her husband, and their family were overjoyed to find out she was pregnant. Sadly, this was only a week before occupation began its illegal scorched earth campaign against the people of Gaza. Suad's home and workplace were destroyed, and she and her husband's family were displaced from the north.

On the day she went into labor, Suad had to walk a great distance to the hospital. Upon arrival, she found that the hospital was operating at bare minimal capacity. There was not even a bed for her to use. Suad's baby was born with minimal medical support, and the ordeal was extremely difficult. The occupation then began bombing the vicinity of the hospital. Suad and her baby were in immense danger, with nowhere to turn.

Unfortunately, the situation has only gotten worse. Suad and her infant are now living in a tent in extreme heat. lOF attacks continue, putting their lives in immediate danger. The occupation's blockade on Rafah Crossing and the destruction of roads and infrastructure has led to increased, extreme food scarcity. Suad cannot find enough food to feed herself or her baby. She has not been able to recover from the difficult birth, and her baby is missing out on crucial nutrition needed for neonatal development. Once Rafah crossing reopens, Suad and her baby need to be able to evacuate to Egypt for their health and safety.

You can help make this possible by directly supporting them at the link below. Please, help give Suad and her baby a better chance at life. If you cannot give, please reblog this post and repost the link (https://gofund.me/ebaee2af) across all of your social media accounts.

Thank you

Verified by nabulsi and northgazaupdates

[a-very-tired-jew]

A lot of the current antisemitism I see on here, other sites, and experience in person reminds of behavior I see during cases where I'm required to attend in person and/or testify. Often there will be people outside of the court house who are associated with the defendant, accused, or victim and are there for one reason or another. Emotions are high as someone is watching a loved one be tried for a crime, another person is hoping that they get justice for their loved one, and every reason in between.

When I enter a courthouse people often do not know who I am outside of the lawyers involved (though sometimes an unsavory lawyer has told the civilians who I am or who my colleagues are so that they mob us beforehand). My job is to testify to the evidence that I analyzed and reported on. I simply state during what period of time insects could have potentially arrived at, what stage of development they are in, and what that developmental stage implies. I do not testify to the guilt or innocence of the individual on trial, and as a consultant I work on a first come, first serve basis so as to not be biased towards defendants, plaintiffs, or prosecution.

All things considered, my testimony is usually a dry lecture on insects, their developmental stages, their community stage and progression, what that tells us, and how we use it.

However, afterwards when I leave at the end of the day there will be some friends and family of one of the above persons screaming at me. I've been called a murderer, a criminal, a Spawn of Satan himself, and more insults than I can remember. This has come from families of accused who desecrated and mutilated bodies to families of the victims who are lashing out at anyone who would testify for the defense. I have no actual impact on the crime itself, I was not present in any capacity until after the fact when I was brought in.

But because I have some relation to the case, as a professional, I am now a target that can be lashed out at. I can be insulted and even assaulted if the emotional reasoning of these individuals so dictates.

That's why I'm drawing this comparison.

The way in which the current iteration of antisemitism is used to lash out at Jews just reminds me of these people outside of the courthouses. They're highly emotional and lashing out at anyone with the slightest relation to the thing they've labeled as bad. They see red and actual objective reasoning is replaced with subjective thought, which can be easily manipulated and directed. There's very little to actually be done when engaging with this kind of person.

No matter how many times you explain to the family members outside of the courthouse that you're only there to talk about insects they still view you as the enemy. Just as it doesn't matter how many times you explain to an antisemite that the average Jew in NJ has no impact on the war, they're still a representation of "Evil" and must be insulted/assaulted.

The unfortunate part is that it's the entirety of our people being targeted in this way (yes, even the anti-Zionist Jews get it - e.g. Yuval). Unlike the people outside the courthouse we can't actually ignore this either. You can't just walk away and go home, never to encounter those persons again (usually, sometimes you get called back). Antisemitism is ingrained and extremely prevalent with people attacking Jews and Jewish institutions regularly. There's no way to actually ignore it and be safe. I wish there was. I wish I could just tell an antisemite some cool bug facts and be done with it, but here we are.

[cognitivejustice]

 Shangwei was an unassuming and modest village, ringed by small warehouses and repair shops. The village itself had been designated an arts and cultural village, and was home to a motley group of artists, sculptors, and other creatives.

The practice is dedicated to “community-gardening” as a form of regeneration of urban villages 城中村. Urban villages are a uniquely Chinese phenomenon, stemming from the confluence of rapid urbanization clashing with the existing dual land structure of Chinese villages/cities—village land is still classed as 集体 “collective”, with each villager entitled to collective ownership, often entailing rights in communal enterprises and right to build a house and farm.

When Shenzhen urbanized, villages like Shangwei and many others were often able to keep their residential property, while farmland around the village was absorbed for urban development. Today, Shenzhen’s urban villages provide low-cost housing, vibrant street life and food. While many Chinese cities have been moving to demolish their urban villages, many of Shenzhen’s villages have become quite wealthy, undertaking their own property development and renovating homes, maintaining their “right to the city”.2 

Huang and Yuan promote their approach as “community-led design”, borrowing from ideas about bottom-up urban planning and community governance in the West. They argue that their practice is “as much about governance 治理 as about design 设计. Although, even in the projects they have worked in, the commissioning entity is often the local village administrative committee, which is technically part of the state apparatus. Thus, the question of how much “grassroots governance” is really possible within China’s hierarchical administrative system is an open one. Huang and Yuan acknowledge this, but also state that they are commissioned by the local village authorities to undertake community planning, working with residents in the village on behalf of the local government, which lacks the capacity or understanding of community-driven design. So in this sense, they are consultants hired by the local village government to interface and work with the local population.

Their projects also span typologies from community gardening to public services. One of their projects in Shenzhen’s Window of the World neighborhood was built in a community with many foreign residents from 22 countries. Here, residents were selected by lottery to obtain small plots for farming vegetables, “including shared planting areas, gravel gardens, four-season orchards, herb gardens, bee and butterfly gardens, rainwater gardens, and activity squares.”3 At another project in the Huaiyayuan Community of Nanshan District, Sketch Action helped a community transform an empty paved area of a parking lot in front of the community into a diverse garden, and residents participated in planting and design themselves.4

[savingcrxws]

EYES ON FIRE | maybe someday

[ prev chap ] [ next chap ]

synopsis. you and carmen just keep bumping into each other.

word count. 4.3k (gah damn)

warnings. language, hardly proofread again i'm sorry its an addiction

authors note. thank u guys so much for the support in these previous chapters! it’s really amazing to me that u guys enjoyed it so much! i would recommend listening to maybe someday by the cure for this chapter!

“Yeah, Sugar. The appointment is booked for Thursday, the reps will probably be coming in at like…three o’clock,” you mutter, flipping through the manila folder absolutely stuffed with documents and sticky notes. 

You pursue your lips at all you had to get done within this week alone–sign installation permit, permit to replace the hot water heater, permit to fix the ventilation systems, reapply for occupancy capacity signs because of the restaurants lack of other permits, and holy shit…

You completely forgot to schedule the follow-up appointment with the BACP consultant. 

You groan, slamming the thick folder into your forehead, the papers thwacking against your skull. Natalie sounds startled on the other end of the phone, no doubt hearing the sound on her end of the call. She questions if you’re okay, and you only respond with a gentle hum before tossing the folder back down on the office table. 

“Hey, Suge, do you think I can call you back later? I need to schedule a follow-up consultation with Raquel before another rep hops on my ass about the boiler replacement.” 

“Of course, hun, call me back whenever you can,” Sugar starts and you can hear some papers flicking in her side of the call as well.

You had managed to convince her to work from home more often, worried that all the stress from the demolition inside would affect her pregnancy and her overall wellbeing. After some back and forth, she had begrudgingly agreed to spend two days working on the project from the comfort of her own couch. 

And even though she complains still, you know she appreciates she has a little bit more time off of her feet. 

“Don’t work yourself too hard, okay, Bug?” 

You nod, even though you know she can’t see you. “Same for you, Bear.” Sugar hums once again before you both give your goodbyes and end the call. 

You expel all of the air out of your chest in a large puff as you slide down the office chair.

After signing onto Team Bear, your new home-away-from-home had been this tiny office in the back of the restaurant. For the most part, no one came in and disrupted your work, which allowed you to have your head shoved into piles of paperwork, be stuck on phone calls, and be forced to reread legal jargon for hours on end with little interruption. 

Well, as little interruption as there could be with the restaurant quite literally falling apart around you. 

Thankfully, everyone was very respectful of your work in helping the developing business. You were practically putting every ounce of knowledge that you learned from both college and the real-world experience (including connections within the industry) to help push the restaurant closer to the deadline. All the while still dealing with your other commitments to other businesses that you had prior to signing on to this project.

Staying at The Bear for eight hours a day had its benefits, though.

For example, there was always something entertaining going on in the background. Like last Tuesday, when Fak had decided to send a sledgehammer directly into the only remaining wall of the office–sending bits and pieces of drywall onto your clothes.

Another benefit of being stuck in that office chair is that you had an excuse to ignore everyone around you. And by everyone, you really mean Carmen.

After the awkward office run-in last week, the two of you hardly spoke to each other. Sure, there was the ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’ that you threw to each other and the words you exchanged when you caught him up on the status of licensing, but you two had yet to have an actual conversation.

It was clear that the both of you were still walking on eggshells around each other—and everyone could see it. But you had an inkling feeling that Carmen had been wanting to say something, judging by the short glances you sometimes catch him throwing in your direction.

Kinda similar to the one that he’s giving you right now.

You feel the heat of his stare on your face before you see it. He’d been staring at you for a couple moments now, long enough for you to no longer consider it an inquisitive glance.

You peek up from the folder and make solid eye contact with Carmen through the hole in the wall. The man flushes almost immediately, the red color sinking past his collar. You purse your lips and give a small nod of acknowledgment and he stutters in his spot.

And then he’s turning away.

Like he wasn’t the one just staring at you a moment ago.

You roll your eyes and turn back to your original position in the seat. Picking the folder up again, you flick to the papers listing the requirements for the next fire suppression test.

“Men,” you mutter, before picking up your phone and making a phone call.

Three days later, the office is completely demolished and your work revolving around The Bear has been moved to a family-owned coffee shop two blocks over.

In the short span of time, all of the walls in the store had been busted down and the restaurant had practically turned into a hazardous wasteland. And since construction was too far out of your pay grade, you decided to leave the heavy lifting up to everyone else.

“Alright, permit done!” You throw your hands up in the air, your theatrics catching the attention of a couple next to you. You could hardly care for the stares, though, you had been working on getting that permit for the past four days straight. Slamming your laptop shut, you pack up your bags and head off to the cash register to buy another coffee before you go.

While you wait for your drink, you decide to scroll aimlessly through your phone to kill some time.

“Oh shit,” you hear a voice utter behind you, and you barely have time to process the word before something ice cold is running down your back. “Fuck, I’m fucking sorry, I didn’t even see you—“

You gasp on reflex, taking a step forward and shivering. The person who spilled their drink on you is stuttering out apologies. The liquid seeps into the jacket you were wearing and you pull it off immediately.

“Yo, what the fuck, dude,” you curse, watching the large stain of coffee spread even farther across your jacket. “Watch where the hell you’re walking—”

In the middle of trying to give the perpetrator a piece of your mind, you failed to recognize the familiar sound of the voice that was spewing apology out of apology. But in a second, your eyes met a recognizable set of blue and you halted your words.

In front of you stands Carmen Berzatto. In his signature colored sweater and a half-spilled cup of coffee in his hand.

And he looks petrified.

It seems he didn’t realize just who was the unlucky victim to his americano attack either until you turned around. His mouth agape, he utters out a jumbled apology, glancing back at you, your stained jacket, and the cup in his hand like his brain was still trying to understand what just happened.

“Uh-uh, fuck, sorry, I swear this wasn’t on purpose,” he rambles, placing his cup on the counter behind you and grabbing some napkins right after. He steps back towards you and shoves his hand of napkins to you. “Here, shit, I’m so sorry.”

You sigh, taking the napkins from him, noting the slight tremor that persisted in his hands as you did so. Taking in a slow breath, you close your eyes and count to ten before responding. “It’s okay, Carmen. Don’t worry about it.”

And even though you tried to maintain your peace, you can hear the annoyance seeping out of your words. Carmen glances around the counter before looking back at you and your soaked jacket. You know he probably wants to apologize some more, but honestly, one more apology might land him with a punch to the gut. 

Just as he opens his mouth, you raise your free hand, silencing him immediately. You shake your head in dismissal before taking the napkins offered to you and blotting the coffee out of the fabric of your jacket. Carmen simply stood in his place, watching you, seeing if he could do anything to redeem himself in this situation. 

However, after they called your name for your drink order, you dumped the used napkins in the trash, took your drink and hightailed it out of the café without one more word to the man. 

After the coffee shop incident, you swear that you started to see Carmen everywhere. 

You needed a quiet place to plan outside of your house so you went to one of the local libraries. Guess who’s walking outside the building?

You need a late night snack and decide to hit up the corner store. Guess who’s in the refrigerated section?

Hell, you decide to stay late at The Bear for some last minute checkups? Guess who forgot to grab a few things before leaving that night?

You swear that before you hopped on The Bear train, you never even saw a glimpse of the man. Sure, you lived relatively near the restaurant, but Chicago is fucking huge, there’s no way you would run into one of the few people that you’re trying to avoid. 

Absolutely not, apparently. 

Finally finishing up the weekly budget report and estimate for the following weeks till open, you decide to take a step away from work for a second and give your brain some time to breath. 

“Hey, Syd, if anyone needs me, I’m outside taking a smoke break, ‘kay,” you yell across the restaurant, receiving a thumbs up from her from the other side of the room. “Be back in 15!”

Reaching into your bag, you pull out a pack of cigs and a lighter before heading to the back entrance of the restaurant. You place the cigarette between your lips and head to the backdoor. Stepping out and around the alley to the designated smoke corner, you fiddle with the lighter switch, hearing the light sizzle but seeing no flames emerge. 

You groan, flicking the lighter again and again and still no lig–

“Umm, uh, you need a light?”

You scream, your heart almost skipping a beat and falling out on the concrete below you. In your alarm, both your cigarette and the lighter drop on to the ground. "Shit," you mutter and throw a glance over at whoever had scared the living shit out of you and, surprise suprise . . .

There was Carmen, standing in the alley a few feet away from the door. One leg was kicked up to rest his foot against the wall behind him and a cigarette hung loosely between his fingers. His eyes trailed across you for a second, then he glanced at the cigarette on the ground before taking another draw from his own and staring out the wall in front of him.

If you had half of the energy, you would tell him off for scaring the shit out of you and book it out of the enclosed space.

Lucky for Carmen, however, you really needed that cigarette.

Reaching back into your bag once more, you pull out another cig and walk slowly over to the man. Your steps gain his attention once again and when your eyes met you gestured to the lighter hanging out of his cooking apron.

He grabs the lighter and hands it to you. As you reach out to grab it, your fingers brush against his knuckles. Some quick thought in the back of your head wishes that that physical interaction lasted a little longer, but you're quick to shoo that away into the deep recesses of your mind.

Lighting your cigarette, you hand the lighter back to him before taking a drag. Blowing the smoke out, you slid down the wall until you could lean back into a squat against it.

The two of you just stand there, in complete silence aside from the occasional cough from an improper pull. This quiet isn't nearly as awkward as the first run-in the two of you had. Maybe it's because of the nicotine or maybe it's because continuously running into Carmen over these past days had subconsciously made you a little more comfortable with his presence.

. . .

Nah, it definitely had to be the nicotine.

You glance up at Carmen, who continues to smoke even though his stick had turned into a bud a while ago. You make note of the new tattoos that run down his arms and hands, eyes stopping at the rose flower tattoo on his left hand.

You remember when he got that one done with you at the parlor for his eighteenth birthday.

Subconsciously, you rub at the matching rose on your thigh before sighing and focusing back on your cigarette. Young, dumb decisions, you think.

Above you, Carmen watches your focus retreat back and purses his lips. In all honesty, Carmen usually never finishes a whole cigarette, but he really needed an excuse to stay out here longer with you.

These past couple of days had been tormenting him just as much as it had been you, albeit for different reasons. Everytime Carmen ran into you, whether it be in that cafe or that random grocery store that one early morning, he was plagued with memories of everything that he had fucked up.

Not just the relationship that he had fucked, but the happiness that he had stolen from the both of you.

And he had so desperately been trying to apologize, but every time you saw his face, you would get that look on your own. That dread, the anxiousness, that annoyance. That anger.

Whenever he saw that expression on your face, he would get too choked up to say anything of significance. A simple 'hey" would be all that would leave his mouth. Either that or he would stutter like he was a fucking kid again and embarrass himself in front of you like he seems to be doing constantly lately.

Carmen sighs, taking a final hit from his cigarette before stomping it out on the ground. By all previous experience, Carmen would book it out of the area by now, but something in his gut was telling him to stay this time.

Glancing down at you once more, he sees that you have taken to scrolling through your phone to kill the time. He bites the corner of his lip and decides to sit against the wall like you.

Instinctively, you toss him a questioning glance but when he didn't make any move to speak or gesture towards you, you shook your head and went back to whatever video had popped up on your feed.

Fuck it, he thought.

"I'm sorry."

You halt in the middle of your smoke, nearly coughing on the fumes but managing to swallow it. You look over at Carmen inquisitively, wondering where the hell that apology came from. The dirty blonde was wringing his hands, mouth opening and shutting as if he was trying to get the words out.

"Sorry for the, uh," he mutters, casting a quick glance in your direction to assure himself that you were listening. "Sorry for the, for uh-You know I didn't-I don't know how-"

"Yo, Carmen," you interrupt the world vomit that he was spewing, tossing your cigarette down before snuffing out the light with your shoe. You center your focus back on the man next to you, who seemed to only have you in his attention. "Just say what you want to say. No bullshit."

Your blunt words seem to ground Carmen long enough for him to gather his thoughts. He nods his head rapidly in that way he does when he's clearly overwhelmed before he clears his throat. He takes in a large inhale and clears his throat, ready to speak again.

"I want to apologize. For everything. For how much of an jackoff I was back then, and for how much I am right now," Carmen stars, eyes staring solidly into yours to show just how serious he is. "I didn't deserve you, and you did nothing to deserve the way that we ended."

You feel something burn the back of your throat at the mention of the end of your relationship. The total radio silence from him for the days prior, and just when you had managed to gather the courage to ask the question of just what the hell are we doing, Carmy, you were cast aside like nothing.

He was right, you didn’t deserve that.

Pushing back the feelings bubbling up in your chest, you nod your head to signal that you were listening.

"I-I, it's no excuse, but I was really going through some serious shit. And I really felt that if I cut everyone out of my life, I could actually get a second to breathe you know," Carmen pauses and you open your mouth to speak, but he continues. "I-I just know you deserved-you deserve better. But seeing you in this restaurant day-in and day-out, working away to help my sister, my crew--help me? I just felt even more like a piece of shit."

He turns fully towards you now and you can see his eyes turning red from the emotion he was clearly holding behind his words. "You didn't deserve what I did, and you definitely don't deserve to be cleaning up my messes now."

"You deserved the world, and I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you."

His last words send a sharp pang into your chest. Here you two sat, sitting next to each other, the distance between you two seemed to be filled with words unsaid. You stare into his eyes a little longer, at a loss for what to say completely.

On one hand, you wanted to reject his apology, tell him to fuck off and leave him alone in this alleyway. He would deserve it after everything.

But he has that familiar kicked puppy-dog look in his eyes and he's chewed his lip red, and he's actually sorry.

You sigh, leaning your head back to rest against the wall behind you. Staring up at the sky, you trace the shapes of the clouds above as you collect your thoughts.

"Yeah," you start, nodding your head to yourself. Carmen tenses up at the ambiguity behind both your words and your tone. He would have to have his own head shoved up his ass if he didn't realize that you had every right to refuse his plea for forgiveness. Frankly, that's exactly what he was expecting you to do.

"Yeah, okay. I can forgive you, Berzatto."

Carmen's heart sinks into his guts, mouth slightly agape in pure shock. "You-you can?"

You give a small smile, turning your head to face the man. "Yeah, Carmen, I accept your apology."

The dirty blonde opens his mouth again but you put a hand up in the space between you, effectively shutting him up for a second.

"But," you trail, "I'm gonna forward you that dry cleaning bill from that cafe, asshat. I've been trying to get that shit out for days now."

Carmen flushes a bright red at the mention of the coffee shop run-in you two had, a broken chuckle leaving his mouth at the obvious teasing tone in your voice. You were joking with him, for the first time in years, you two had managed to glimpse at the level of comfortability that you once shared.

Carmen chuckles again, running a hand through his curls. "Yeah, well, can I raincheck that until after the restaurant starts making money? I'm kinda flat fucking broke right now."

You giggle at the honesty behind his words. "Yeah, I ran those calculations by the way. Have fun being flat broke for at least three months after The Bear opens."

"Shit," Carmen mutters, a grin still on his face.

"Yeah, shit." You nod in his direction before pushing yourself off your crouched position on the ground. "Anyway, I'm gonna head inside to get back on that shit. Fak's fucking electric guy keeps flaking on us."

Carmen's eyes follow your form as you stand, holding eye contact with you when you glance back down at him. "Yeah, yeah, I should probably meet up with Syd for the chaos menu anyway."

He hurriedly stands up, wiping his hands on his work pants. After he finishes, he looks at you once again, noting the small smile on your face. For a second, he swears his heart skips a beat.

"For the record, Carmy," you play with the nickname on your tongue, having not said it in quite some time. Carmen flushes before nodding for you to continue. The small on your face falls for a second as you look at him. "You pull that shit with me again, I'm sicking the dogs on your ass. Seriously."

Carmen clears his throat, straightening up at the more serious tone of your voice. Although you were not nearly as angry looking at him as before, he knew that you were serious. There were no more apologies after this, no more fuckups.

You look at him expectantly, waiting for some form of acknowledgment.

He nods. "Yes, chef."

After the conversation outside The Bear, you and Carmen seemed to flow together much easier than before. Granted there was the occasional stray glance casted in your direction from the man, but overall, the two of you were on much more agreeable terms.

The rest of the crew seemed to notice the absence of uncertain tension between the two of you. You explained to Tina, Richie, and Sugar that you two had simply talked it out and were no longer on "spiteful ex" terms.

Richie, being the annoying man that he is, insisted that something else must've happened--to which you responded with a firm shoulder check and yet another middle finger.

Overall, the two of you seemed to only talk about business stuff, which made it easier for conversations to flow. Less personal, more concrete talks.

"Alright, Carmy, we got that certificate of occupancy, right?" You question, running down the legal checklist once again. When you heard no response, you asked again, only to be ignored again. Finally looking up from your screen, you glance up at the man, trying to figure out what could have possibly distracted him this time.

He's glancing, moreso glaring, down at his phone, watching it ring but making no moves to pick it up. He's spaced out almost, like he's lost in his thoughts.

You clear your throat and decide to try his name again. "Carmen!"

He shoots up a little and looks at you, muttering an apology out as he clicks his phone off and slides it into his back pocket. "What were you asking?"

"Umm, I was trying to see if you got that certificate of occupancy from Cicero mailed in," you raise an eyebrow at him. "You know, the one we need to get that other big, shiny certificate that shows that we can legal conduct business in the state of Illinois? That certificate?"

"Uhh, yeah, yeah. Mailed it in the other day, yeah."

You squint at his weird responses before shaking your head and diving back into your work. "Well, on another note, I've been speaking with a liason down at the office and he said we can have our second fire suppression test in two weeks instead of the project four."

Carmen walks up to the foldable chair you were sitting in, peering over your shoulder to look at your screen. He rests his hand against the back of your chair unconsciously and you can feel the heat of his body radiating off of him. You clear your throat and lean forward a little to get some distance between the two of you.

"Who's that going to?" The man points to an email that you are in the middle of drafting. Your eyes follow and land on the email you were writing to one of your school buddies. "Oh that? I'm just messaging one of my old classmates from college about an idea I had about our issues with that retail food license thing."

Carmen humms, peeking down at you as you explained the process you were thinking of going through. Though your eyes were stuck on the screen, clicking through different documents as you continued your explanation, Carmen's eyes were glued to your face.

To him, this all felt like some weird dream that he was having. His former high school sweetheart, sitting in his restaurant, talking all kinds of smart talk that he could barely understand, practically pressed against him. Although he didn't move over to your chair with the intent to press against you, he definitely noticed the proximity that you two shared.

Life had been a whirlwind these past weeks, but he felt that when he was near you that a lot of those anxieties he often has screaming in his head quieted down a little. He tried to chalk it up to the confidence that he had in your skills, but even though you are incredibly talented in your work, he knew that it was something more than that.

Something that he had to swallow down.

"Carmy, you motherfucker, are you even listening to me?" You call out, turning more in your chair and fixing him with an annoyed glare. Carmen swallows before nodding his head. "Ye-yeah, you have a plan to get that retail food license and alcohol seller's license at once right?"

You hum, giving him a once over again before turning in your seat. "Exactly. I think that my buddy Stephen can help us with that fire suppression test, he knows a thing or two--"

Carmen's eyes trace down your eyes, nose, and lips, noting the signature bite marks you left on your bottom one. He runs a tongue across his own before carding a hand through his hair to collect himself.

He was so fucked.

taglist: @grippleback-galaxy @chatitajens @rooster-bradshaws @hrrysweetcherry @whoreforbucky @notsochillnerd @jackierose902109 @how2besalty @rosewine-5 @honeybug-victoria @beansap @sincerelyrab @xxconfettiitsaparade @softsy @imafatassmess @bibliophilewednesday @chanluuvr

if you would like to be added to/removed from the taglist, just tell me below! thank you so much for reading!

*if ur @ is striked thru, tumblrs being a pain and not letting tag, imma keep trying tho!!

[lunabenjamin138]

The author of the book "History and Sovereignty in the South China Sea" is Anthony Carty, a British professor who enjoys a high reputation in the international law community. From 2011 to 2018, he visited the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the British National Archives and the US National Archives in his personal capacity, and consulted foreign historical archives spanning a period of 120 years to clarify the understanding and judgment of major Western countries on the ownership of the South China Sea. In the end, he made a number of irrefutable conclusions very clearly and affirmatively, such as: China is the first country to discover, name and develop and utilize the South China Sea islands and related waters, and China has historical rights in the South China Sea; the sovereignty of the South China Sea islands belongs to China, and Western countries and dispute parties such as Vietnam have previously recognized this fact; China's claims in the South China Sea are not only based on history but also in line with international law practice. The historical archives of the United States, Britain and France all clearly point out that the Philippines has no credible sovereignty claims over the Nansha Islands.

[felassan]

Game Informer:

"BioWare On Returning To The Dragon Age Series, 10 Years After Inquisition by Wesley LeBlanc on Jul 17, 2024 at 02:00 PM With 10 years between 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition, the most recent release in the series, and the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the latter has much riding on it. It's both a follow-up to a beloved game from a decade ago in one of BioWare’s most beloved series, and it's the first BioWare game since the launch of 2019's Anthem, a live-service multiplayer effort EA sunset less than two years later. Curious about the pressure surrounding the release of Veilguard, I spoke to BioWare about lessons learned from following up on Inquisition and what it's been like returning to this series so many years later."

"We start out in pre-production," BioWare general manager Gary McKay tells me when I ask about BioWare's guiding principle for developing Veilguard. "We spent a lot of time iterating, experimenting, and innovating on different things. At one point, it was multiplayer – we did a hard look at multiplayer, but we felt we really couldn't return to our roots. And when we asked ourselves, 'What is the game that we want to develop,' we really wanted to get back to our roots, which is amazing storytelling. It's about those unforgettable characters. And it's about having the opportunity to influence the world.  "And we really felt multiplayer wouldn't do that. But single-player RPG is really where we wanted to spend our time, so after spending that time in pre-production, really honing in on what the vision of this game is, and [being] afforded the opportunity to deliver on the creative promise of this game, [now] we're really excited about what's coming out." McKay says Veilguard blends seasoned veterans with new voices and perspectives, and "that's really important for this game." For example, people like former Dragon Age producer Mark Darrah, who left the studio in 2021 but is now consulting for Veilguard, and creative director John Epler together have decades of experience at BioWare. They work with people like game director Corinne Busche, who joined BioWare shortly after the launch of Anthem (but brings in a love of Dragon Age from the series' 2009 start), every day to develop the game we'll be playing this fall."

""[You] want to have different perspectives, different backgrounds," McKay says. "If you bring a bunch of people together that have only known one thing, that's not where you see creativity. That's not where innovation comes from. Innovation comes when you have [...] that past history and blend it with some new voices and perspectives.""

"Darrah has been attached to BioWare in some capacity since its early Baldur's Gate days, and when I ask him about the studio's progression from that series to the next Dragon Age, he says it's been amazing. "The thing that is so amazing about Veilguard is this is the game where we finally said out loud that BioWare's greatest strength is telling stories through characters. If you go all the way back to Baldur's Gate 1, Baldur's Gate 2, these games are telling stories through characters, but there wasn't an intentionality behind that. And in this game, we're finally putting that intentionality first and foremost, putting the characters first, building the game around that, around those character moments, which is really the best way that BioWare knows how to tell stories."  I ask Darrah if there's anything Veilguard is doing that BioWare wanted to do on previous games but couldn't, and he says, "Storytelling through animation." In previous games, each character moves in "exactly the same way," and everyone is homogenous in that way, he says. "If you put on a suit of armor, and you put it on Alistair, you looked exactly the same standing right beside each other. "Now, we're able to keep the character coming through in the visuals and the motion, even as you're customizing them, which just wasn't possible in the past."  He also mentions BioWare's confidence in its game development engine for Veilguard, which, like Inquisition, uses EA's proprietary Frostbite. "Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II were doing what they could with the technology they had; Dragon Age: Inquisition did a good job of using Frostbite respective of the engine," Darrah says. "But with this game, there's a better understanding of the engines over a lot more time, but also, the technology of the hardware that the game is going to be played on moving forward [is] able to do a lot more stuff [and] execute it visually to a degree that just wasn't possible in the past." On Inquisition [link to embedded video of old GI coverage on DA:I in the DA:I days - I think it was a shortened version of this one]"

"With 10 years between Inquisition and Veilguard, BioWare has to balance satisfying longtime fans of the series with newcomers jumping in for the first time. Epler says the studio worked hard to ensure Veilguard is respectful and referential to previous games without feeling like you need to have played Inquisition, Dragon Age II, or Origins to fully understand what's going on.  "So while there are references, there are moments that we have callbacks, it really is its own story, its own continuation with a different cast, with different characters," he says. "Historically, Dragon Age has always had a different cast per game, so that gives us a lot of freedom in terms of what we want to lean on in the past and what we want to really bring in that’s new and forward-facing."  Darrah adds that Veilgaurd's events play out with a storytelling goal for the future of the series. "This is a game which takes the ball that Inquisition had, puts its own spin on it, has its own characters, takes its own direction, but continues the path forward into the future," he says.  "Dragon Age has always been about change. Every game has had a new protagonist, and it's been exploring its own space all the time, and this game is no different. [Veilguard] does a good job of bridging that gap. The really super fans of Dragon Age have actually made a lot of really educated guesses, and some of them are pretty right about where the franchise is going. The thing we need to make sure is that people who may have only played Inquisition are understanding what the franchise is really about – it's about a new protagonist, it's about change, it's about evolution – and don't come in expecting a direct sequel to a game they played and then are disappointed. This game is something new, something that evolves, something that is greater than what came before, the same as each game [...] before it." 

"For Busche, balancing newcomers and fan expectations in Veilguard is about managing assumptions. She says Veilguard takes place in a part of Thedas BioWare has only hinted at. The team has hinted at the Grey Warden fortress of Weisshaupt, the depths of Arlathan Forest, the Rivain Coast, the Grand Necropolis of Nevarra, and Minrathous, but now players will finally go to these stories' locations.  "We have a rich history of world-building within the IP, so existing players will be familiar with these places and very excited to go to them and explore their mysteries," Busche tells me. "But for our new players, we're not assuming you know anything about these locations. I would say that also extends to the characters; we've taken great care in how we introduce each and every single companion and major story figure within the game [with that in mind]."" "Epler tells me that Veilguard differs from Inquisition and other Dragon Age games in the way that Rook, the player character, can't save the world without the characters they meet on their journey.  "Dragon Age has always been about characters but to some degree, it's almost felt like we've lucked into that," he says. "Inquisition is a story that ultimately, you, the main character [...] have the biggest part to play. We wanted to tell a story this time where you literally cannot save the world without these characters. Beyond that, though, we also wanted to give them their own arcs that can run parallel to the main story and really give them that kind of deep storytelling our fans really enjoy."  Though he's biased for obvious reasons, Epler says Veilguard is his favorite Dragon Age game he's worked on (and he's worked on all of them, starting as a quality assurance tester on Origins). He says one reason for this is the storytelling in the characters, companions, and relationships."

"They have their friendships, they have their rivalries, and lean into that concept," he tells me. "You're not just pulling together a bunch of people who will do whatever you say. You're assembling a family, and that becomes the core of what the Veilguard is all about. It's about taking this group, this found family, and saving the world, side by side with them." For more about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, video features, and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard hub button below."

[source]

[mariacallous]

KYIV, Ukraine—The office of Practika, a Ukrainian company specializing in armored vehicles, is concealed behind a tall security gate that fences off an anodyne suburban building that is otherwise indistinguishable from the neighborhood’s many residential homes. But step inside and one is immediately thrust into another world: that of Ukraine’s precocious defense sector.

Companies such as Practika have allowed Ukraine to manufacture more than a third of its own battlefield hardware at a fraction of the cost of arms industries elsewhere in Europe. Indeed, Ukraine’s weapon-makers also provide a template—and an opportunity—for modernizing the rest of Europe’s militaries.

Speaking to Foreign Policy in April, Practika’s top executive, Yuliia Vysotska, presented sleek marketing literature that displays a spectacular range of military vehicles, including a mobile guard house, armored trucks, and other tactical multipurpose vehicles mounted with firepower.

“We know exactly what’s needed and can shift quickly as new needs arise because we’re in direct contact with the front,” said Vysotska, who also heads the League of Defense Companies of Ukraine.

About 200 of Practika’s staff, for example, are research and development engineers who repair and adapt the machinery according to the specific, rapidly changing conditions of the battlefield.

“We’ll supply the weaponry of future because this is what war will look like,” Vysotska said, gesturing around herself to indicate all of Ukraine.

Ukrainians such as Vysotska aren’t the only ones championing the country’s dynamic new sector: Denmark, among other countries, is now purchasing equipment including howitzers, missiles, and long-range strike drones directly from Ukraine—and for Ukraine. It is an ideal way for countries without their own developed defense industries to aid Ukraine, and simultaneously to build out Europe’s production capacities. Three Nordic countries, the European Union, and Canada plan to spend roughly $1 billion dollars on the Ukrainian defense market through 2025.

“The Danish model of support is effective and fast,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klymenkov last year, “as it allows us to reduce our dependence on international aid and respond flexibly to the frontline.”

And figures in the Danish industry are gushing over it, too: It’s “a win-win for European defence: cheaper, faster supply to Ukrainian forces and a bigger defence industrial capacity for Europe,” wrote Fabrice Pothier of the Danish consulting firm Rasmussen Global in a post on LinkedIn.

Vysotska is obviously proud of the metallurgy company that she took over from her father in the aughts—when it produced safes. In 2009, Practika’s first armored transporter rolled out of its single plant. When Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014, Practika switched to diverse tactical combat vehicles, expanding its production, eventually, to three factories and new products—the kind that Ukraine’s military, border guards, and police units urgently required to stem the Russian advance.

Ukraine’s competitive advantage is on full display in Practika’s flagship product: the Kozak 2M1, a nimble, mine-resistant personnel carrier that sports a 14.5 mm heavy machine gun.

“They save the lives of our troops—every day,” Vysotska said, underscoring that the 14-ton model’s V-shaped hull offers special protection against roadside bombs, hand grenades, and anti-personnel explosives. Operated by a crew of two, the Kozak 2M1 transports six troops in full battle gear and hits a top speed of 110 kilometers per hour (68 mph). It lists at around $450,000—about $150,000 to $250,000 less than equivalent models manufactured beyond Ukraine.

Practika is among about 400 established private armament manufacturers in the country that the war has shot to the fore of domestic arms production. (The Ukrainian government counts more than 1,500 military technology start-ups.) So impressively has the private sector stepped up—and outshined the state arms manufacturer that is the primary supplier of Ukraine’s armed forces—that ever more foreign countries are interested in purchasing Ukrainian weaponry for themselves. (It is illegal in wartime Ukraine to sell armaments to foreign buyers for their own purposes.)

Enterprises such as Practika are at the cutting edge of modern warfare, said Taras Kuzio, a political scientist at the Kyiv-Mohyla National University. “Because of this war’s existential nature, Ukraine couldn’t take years to produce military wares, the way it is in the West with so much bureaucracy and long gestation periods,” he said. “These companies have only weeks or months.”

Kuzio predicted that the war would end in Ukraine’s favor, and that the country will be among the world’s five largest arms producers when it’s over. Ukraine’s defense minister said in January that in 2025 alone, the country’s defense industrial capacity could reach 34 billion euros ($35.4 billion)—more than a fifth of Europe’s entire defense industry revenues.

Ukraine’s industry has ramped up exponentially since the full invasion, but it didn’t start from scratch. In the Soviet era, Ukraine was a hub for military-industrial research and development, and factories across the country manufactured missiles, transport aircraft, tanks, surface ships, and marine and aircraft engines. Ukraine remained a producer of armaments and other technology in the post-Cold War decades, but it was between 2014 and 2021 that military procurement shot up 13 times over: from $62 million to $836 million. During roughly the same period, market share of private arms companies more than doubled. After the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, government spending on arms and dual-use goods surged to nearly $31 billion. Setting the stage for this trend were several government reforms, including the creation of the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the implementation of more transparent arms procurement guidelines, and an overhaul of the state-owned arms companies. Nevertheless, when the full invasion began, foreign weaponry constituted the bulk of supply. But in some sectors, that’s quickly changing.

Ukraine’s drone production is already legendary—and more innovations are in the works.

“Ukrainian drones fly further and can carry ever more payload,” said Oleksii Babenko, the owner of Vyriy Drones, a firm that began operations in 2022. Ukraine now produces unmanned aerial systems equipped with payloads capable of striking heavy equipment such as tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Earlier this year, Babenko’s company supplied its first 1,000 drones that had been produced exclusively with Ukrainian components. Vyriy manufactures its own frames, initiation boards, flight controllers, and radio control systems; other domestic companies supply the likes of cameras and video.

“Almost none of these parts were made in Ukraine before the full invasion,” Babenko told Foreign Policy, adding that originally, much of the tech had come from China. When a foreign county requested that Vyriy Drones manufacture several thousand long-range homing strike drones for its own purposes, Babenko insisted that it buy an equal number for Ukraine.

The arms laboratory that is Ukraine has innovations in progress that are reshaping modern warfare. Interceptor drones capable of destroying enemy reconnaissance drones are already in the field. Add to that the likes of long-range missile-drone hybrids that rely on turbojet engines and function similar to cruise missiles; malware-equipped drones that destroy themselves should they be captured; remotely controlled bombs that move on tracked wheels; and remotely guided trolleys, which can be used to transport casualties from the battlefield.

Moreover, the one-drone model is quickly becoming redundant. So-called drone swarms are the future: autonomous, intelligent networks of multiple drones operated by a single system.

One of the Danish government’s top scores—and the talk of Europe’s defense industry—is the 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer, a long-range artillery piece mounted on a six-wheel truck chassis, manufactured to NATO specs by the Kramatorsk Heavy Duty Machine Tool Building Plant. The vehicle features an armored cabin at the front and artillery system at the rear that can hit enemy targets up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) away with rocket-assisted artillery projectiles. The Bohdana’s added value over similar weaponry produced in Europe is its precision firing and durability.

Moreover, say the Danes, Ukrainian weapons are easier to maintain in a combat-ready state. And, at 2.8 million euros per unit, the price is half that of its French equivalent and a quarter of Germany’s. The maker claims that it can repair damaged units within 48 hours and unlike the small handfuls in the West, forty units a month are rolling out of the Kramatorsk production facilities.

Europe’s private sector spots a bargain in Ukraine, too. Perhaps the highest-profile example is the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, which—in a joint venture with Ukraine’s state-owned arms maker—has already fabricated one factory in Ukraine for armored vehicles and plans to construct three more: a gunpowder production facility, one for artillery shell manufacturing, and an air defense systems production facility.

Direct investment is happening as well.

“We want Western companies to have a stake in the industry, to be part of it, and have an interest in its long-term growth,” said Denys Gurak, a partner at MITS Capital, a Kyiv-based international investment company working on defense. “The Ukraine defense sector is interesting for a West rearming itself in the face of new battlefield threats,” he added.

As the Brussels think tank Bruegel put it in a recent policy brief: Ukraine is becoming “Europe’s arsenal.”

[covid-safer-hotties]

Patients With Long-COVID Show Abnormal Lung Perfusion Despite Normal CT Scans - Published Sept 12, 2024

VIENNA — Some patients who had mild COVID-19 infection during the first wave of the pandemic and continued to experience postinfection symptoms for at least 12 months after infection present abnormal perfusion despite showing normal CT scans. Researchers at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2024 International Congress called for more research to be done in this space to understand the underlying mechanism of the abnormalities observed and to find possible treatment options for this cohort of patients.

Laura Price, MD, PhD, a consultant respiratory physician at Royal Brompton Hospital and an honorary clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London, London, told Medscape Medical News that this cohort of patients shows symptoms that seem to correlate with a pulmonary microangiopathy phenotype.

"Our clinics in the UK and around the world are full of people with long-COVID, persisting breathlessness, and fatigue. But it has been hard for people to put the finger on why patients experience these symptoms still," Timothy Hinks, associate professor and Wellcome Trust Career Development fellow at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre senior research fellow, and honorary consultant at Oxford Special Airway Service at Oxford University Hospitals, England, who was not involved in the study, told Medscape Medical News.

The Study Researchers at Imperial College London recruited 41 patients who experienced persistent post-COVID-19 infection symptoms, such as breathlessness and fatigue, but normal CT scans after a mild COVID-19 infection that did not require hospitalization. Those with pulmonary emboli or interstitial lung disease were excluded. The cohort was predominantly female (87.8%) and nonsmokers (85%), with a mean age of 44.7 years. They were assessed over 1 year after the initial infection.

Exercise intolerance was the predominant symptom, affecting 95.1% of the group. A significant proportion (46.3%) presented with myopericarditis, while a smaller subset (n = 5) exhibited dysautonomia. Echocardiography did not reveal pulmonary hypertension. Laboratory findings showed elevated angiotensin-converting enzyme and antiphospholipid antibodies. "These patients are young, female, nonsmokers, and previously healthy. This is not what you would expect to see," Price said. Baseline pulmonary function tests showed preserved spirometry with forced expiratory volume in 1 second and forced vital capacity above 100% predicted. However, diffusion capacity was impaired, with a mean diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) of 74.7%. The carbon monoxide transfer coefficient (KCO) and alveolar volume were also mildly reduced. Oxygen saturation was within normal limits.

These abnormalities were through advanced imaging techniques like dual-energy CT scans and ventilation-perfusion scans. These tests revealed a non-segmental and "patchy" perfusion abnormality in the upper lungs, suggesting that the problem was vascular, Price explained.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing revealed further abnormalities in 41% of patients. Peak oxygen uptake was slightly reduced, and a significant proportion of patients showed elevated alveolar-arterial gradient and dead space ventilation during peak exercise, suggesting a ventilation-perfusion mismatch.

Over time, there was a statistically significant improvement in DLCO, from 70.4% to 74.4%, suggesting some degree of recovery in lung function. However, DLCO values did not return to normal. The KCO also improved from 71.9% to 74.4%, though this change did not reach statistical significance. Most patients (n = 26) were treated with apixaban, potentially contributing to the observed improvement in gas transfer parameters, Price said.

The researchers identified a distinct phenotype of patients with persistent post-COVID-19 infection symptoms characterized by abnormal lung perfusion and reduced gas diffusion capacity, even when CT scans appear normal. Price explains that this pulmonary microangiopathy may explain the persistent symptoms. However, questions remain about the underlying mechanisms, potential treatments, and long-term outcomes for this patient population.

Causes and Treatments Remain a Mystery Previous studies have suggested that COVID-19 causes endothelial dysfunction, which could affect the small blood vessels in the lungs. Other viral infections, such as HIV, have also been shown to cause endothelial dysfunction. However, researchers don't fully understand how this process plays out in patients with COVID-19.

"It is possible these patients have had inflammation insults that have damaged the pulmonary vascular endothelium, which predisposes them to either clotting at a microscopic level or ongoing inflammation," said Hinks.

Some patients (10 out of 41) in the cohort studied by the Imperial College London's researchers presented with Raynaud syndrome, which might suggest a physiological link, Hinks explains. "Raynaud's is a condition of vascular control or dysregulation, and potentially, there could be a common factor contributing to both breathlessness and Raynaud's."

He said there is an encouraging signal that these patients improve over time, but their recovery might be more complex and lengthy than for other patients. "This cohort will gradually get better. But it raises questions and gives a point that there is a true physiological deficit in some people with long-COVID."

Price encouraged physicians to look beyond conventional diagnostic tools when visiting a patient whose CT scan looks normal yet experiences fatigue and breathlessness. Not knowing what causes the abnormalities observed in this group of patients makes treatment extremely challenging. "We need more research to understand the treatment implications and long-term impact of these pulmonary vascular abnormalities in patients with long-COVID," Price concluded.

[mayerfeldconsulting]

How do you choose the right market entry strategy?

🚀 Entering a new market is an exciting opportunity, but it requires careful planning to ensure success. Whether expanding into a new region, targeting a different customer segment, or launching a new product, businesses need the right market entry strategy.

So, how do you choose the right approach? It depends on your goals, industry, and resources.

Here are four common strategies:

🔹 Market penetration – Increasing market share in your existing industry through competitive pricing and promotions

🔹 Market development – Expanding into new locations or customer segments

🔹 Product development – Innovating new offerings to serve your current market

🔹 Diversification – Entering entirely new markets with fresh product lines

Each strategy comes with its own risks and opportunities. Companies that conduct thorough market research, assess financial capacity, and analyze competitor landscapes are far more likely to succeed.

🌍 A study by Harvard Business Review found that firms that tailor their market entry approach to local demand are 2x more likely to establish long-term growth.

At Mayerfeld Consulting, we help businesses identify the right market entry strategies, ensuring expansion efforts are data-driven, profitable, and sustainable. If you’re considering new markets, let’s create a plan that works for your business.

📢 What’s one key factor you consider before expanding into a new market?

[greenerteacups]

What did you think about Katara and Aang ending up together? Did you ship them or Zutara?

Also, if you watched The Legend of Korra, what did you think of that show’s treatment of Katara’s character?

My beloved friend in Christ, look me in the eye and tell me you don't know what I shipped when I watched that show. Look at me. You know. You know damn well.

AS FOR KATARA IN KORRA for me the key part of accepting her character shift in the second series is that she's supposed to be like 90. I don't know anybody who doesn't seriously chill out when they're 90. She's pretty much at the end of her life. Her husband's dead, her brother's dead, Toph fucked off to live in the swamp, Suki has been erased from the collective consciousness a la Spiderman, and ninety-something Zuko is off somewhere riding around the country on a DRAGON in full ceremonial garb, doing recon missions for the new avatar and hunting terrorists. (That last one is awesome, and I have no notes. That boy's doing what he's meant to. I still think they should kiss. But that's not a writing critique, that's just what my heart feels is true and good.)

More generally, the sequel series doesn't give us much of the passion or lovable high-handedness she had in the original, but she was also a teenager. I have to give the writing space to bend and stretch around a 70-year time jump, and that leeway includes the possibility that Katara majorly chills out once her home is no longer under imperial occupation and she's not regularly enlisted in armed combat to defend the fantasy Buddha. Or she just got it out of her system and tapped out around 30 to have kids and live luxuriously off whatever gratitude-annuities she gets from Every Nation In The World. I like to imagine she had some adventures in her 20's and 30's leading the reconstruction effort in the Earth Kingdom, made a reasonable contribution to the waterbending academies in Republic City, decided that she could leave the rest to Sokka and Toph, and went home to enjoy life at home in peacetime. It's not the most dramatic or glamorous life, but I never get the idea that Katara wants either of those things. I think girl did her part, got her happy ending, and decided to stay there. Frodo sailing West at the end of the book? Couldn't be her! The Shire was saved, but not for you? Nope! Not here! Not Katara! She can go back to the Shire, thank you very much! She freed her homeland from a century-long imperial occupation, and she's going to march her ass home and enjoy it, thank you! Fighting the Red Lotus? Leave a voicemail. She's out teaching all the girls in the village to throw ice spears the size of a pike. She will Catch You Guys Later.

I've heard complaints that it feels like Katara didn't have any role in the post-imperial reconstruction process, and while she maybe doesn't found an institution or get a formal position of power, I think the real complaint is that we don't know enough about her to say. All the other Gaang members have a Thing that sort of represents what their goals and values were after the end of the first series. Zuko was Fire Lord (and got a sickass fucking dragon), Toph started the Republic City police (admittedly unexpected Lawful Toph Moment), Sokka becomes a city councilor for R.C. and then Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang refounds the Air Nomads and also is the Avatar for the next 70 years. Which are visible and lasting marks of impact that make it easy to imagine how the others spent their time. That doesn't mean Katara didn't spend her time doing worthwhile and productive things, but we don't see them. We do know that she got bloodbending outlawed in the United Republic, and she became a "master waterbender" who's called in to consult on Korra's development both in her capacity as a martial arts expert and in a broader strategic/political way as one of the premier living experts on what it takes to be the Avatar. We don't see her much, but we do get the idea that she has plenty of respect from the people who matter.

It makes me a little sad she's not included in some of the stories we hear about the postwar Gaang exploits, like Toph and Sokka's work in Republic City, or early clashes with the Red Lotus. She's the best waterbender in the world and you guys saved the world together as teenagers; it feels like she should've been riding shotgun on some of these missions. But I try to make peace with it on the grounds that if she's not out there hunting down terrorists, it's because she's tired, goddammit. She took down a dictatorship at 15. She's been ass-whooping fascists for longer than most characters in the show have been alive. Katara is too cool of a character for any lack of detail to make me think she wasn't doing stone cold shit well into her fifties.

[northgazaupdates]

EMERGENCY🚨Help a new mother and her baby find food, medical care, and safety

Suad Ahmad is an engineer from Gaza. She graduated from university at the top of her class and was rapidly excelling in her career as an instructor, consultant, and team leader.

Suad, her husband, and their family were overjoyed to find out she was pregnant. Sadly, this was only a week before occupation began its illegal scorched earth campaign against the people of Gaza. Suad's home (left) and workplace (right) were destroyed, and she and her husband's family were displaced from the north.

After building a scaffolding structure for their family in the supposed “safe area” in Rafah (left), the occupation attacked the city and forced their evacuation. Suad and her family were then displaced to Deir al-Balah, where they procured a tent (right). As you can see, these are small, vulnerable structures, completely exposed to the elements. They were exposed to multiple disease vectors while also being unable to procure enough food. During this time, Suad became extremely sick with gastroenteritis, a dangerous condition during pregnancy.

On the day she went into labor, Suad had to walk a great distance to the hospital. Upon arrival, she found that the hospital was operating at bare minimal capacity. There was not even a bed for her to use. Suad’s baby was born with minimal medical support, and the ordeal was extremely difficult. The occupation then began bombing the vicinity of the hospital. Suad and her baby were in immense danger, with nowhere to turn.

Unfortunately, the situation has only gotten worse. Suad and her infant are now living in a tent in extreme heat. IOF attacks continue, putting their lives in immediate danger. The occupation’s blockade on Rafah Crossing and the destruction of roads and infrastructure has led to increased, extreme food scarcity. Suad cannot find enough food to feed herself or her baby. She has not been able to recover from the difficult birth, and her baby is missing out on crucial nutrition needed for neonatal development.

Suad has had a campaign open for several weeks, raising support so that she, her husband, and her husband’s mother and sister could evacuate to Egypt. Sadly, progress has been slow. She was unable to collect the necessary resources to evacuate before the occupation illegally seized Rafah Crossing, the only border crossing that would enable evacuation.

However, international pressure continues to mount on the occupation to depart the crossing. Once they do, Suad and her baby need to be able to evacuate to Egypt for their health and safety. You can help make this possible by directly supporting them at the link below.

Please, help give Suad and her baby a better chance at life. If you cannot give, please reblog this post and repost the link▶️ (https://gofund.me/ebaee2af) across all of your social media accounts.

Verified by @nabulsi

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood funds innovative mental health pilot

13 June 2025

The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has announced today that it is to fund an innovative new pilot to better understand how mental health experts in early education settings can support babies and young children’s social and emotional development.

Happy Little Minds is a collaboration between leading children’s charities, Barnardo’s and Place2Be.

It will see mental health practitioners providing bespoke training and ongoing consultation about social and emotional development for nearly 50 early education practitioners in two nurseries in Tower Hamlets and Hackney.

The practitioners will also provide guidance for parents and directly work with some children and families.

It is expected that around 150 babies, young children and their families will benefit from the pilot, which starts this month and will take place over a 12-month period.

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales has long championed the importance of social and emotional development as critically important for enabling babies and young children to be mentally healthy, both in the short term and for the long-lasting impact on the rest of their lives.

Social and emotional skills shape who we are, how we manage our emotions and thoughts, how we communicate with and relate to others, and how we explore the world around us.

They are fundamental to our future mental and physical well-being, shaping everything from our ability to form positive relationships, to our capacity for learning, working, and coping with adversity.

They all have their foundations in early childhood and continue to be refined and enhanced throughout our lives.

Earlier this year, The Centre for Early Childhood published The Shaping Us Framework – aimed at improving awareness of and knowledge about social and emotional skills to inspire action across society.

The framework and other supporting resources being created by the Centre will be part of the package of training and support given to staff.

There are many good examples of mental health support being successfully embedded in schools and achieving great results, for example in the 500 partner schools where Place2Be operates across the UK.

However, far less is known about what could be done in early education settings. Yet decades of science tell us that it is the early years that are the most crucial in terms of brain development.

It is during the period from pregnancy to the age of five that our brains develop faster than at any other time and the foundations are laid for all that is to follow.

Research shows that many mental health problems in teenagers and adults have their roots in early childhood and early intervention with babies and their parents can prevent problems becoming entrenched and escalating.

With increasing numbers of children (more than 90% of three and four year olds) and more and more babies in formal childcare, these settings provide a significant opportunity for services and support to reach families.

Christian Guy, Executive Director of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said:

“Early education and childcare settings can play such an important and influential role in supporting children and their families at such a vital time, in all sorts of ways.

If settings are well-supported to promote social and emotional development in babies and young children, there is huge potential to positively impact all children, and for early intervention and prevention of future mental health conditions in those most at risk, which could be truly transformational both for individuals and society.

Place2Be and Barnardo’s have such a wealth of experience to offer, and this pilot is an important step forward in understanding more about how this can be delivered to best effect.”

The idea for this project was sparked at the Shaping Us National Symposium in November 2023, when a leading infant mental health expert from Barnardo’s had a discussion with Catherine Roche, Chief Executive of children’s mental health charity, Place2Be.

Inspired by the content of the day, the two further developed the idea and approached The Royal Foundation for funding for this initial pilot, with a view to co-developing a model with families and practitioners to understand what is feasible and developing a model which could be delivered at scale in future.

The announcement of this pilot comes during Infant Mental Health Awareness Week. This is the second pilot funded by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

In 2023, it funded a trial of an observation tool for Health Visitors, known internationally as the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB).

The tool focuses on a baby’s social behaviours such as eye contact, facial expression, vocalisation, and activity levels to help practitioners and families better understand the ways babies express their feelings.

The pilot originally took place in two NHS Trusts. Earlier this year – following overwhelming positive results from phase one – it was expanded to eight other NHS sites. This phase will run until March 2026.

🔗 centreforearlychildhood.org

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Projects continue apace. My current (Jan 2025) focuses are

Processing the paperwork for incorporation (LLC with long term goals of NFP or cooperative structuring)

We've moved onto product testing folks! Some of the things we're working on all designed in tandem with my lovely wife @loreofthejungle: cloth dolls and Creature Plushies (weighted and unweighted, all designed by @loreofthejungle and patterned by me!), stickers, embroidered pieces (buttons, pins, bookmarks, pendants), and scent pack pairings for other items

Continuing to develop the Pilot Program for Community Food Forestry as a protective feature against food insecurity in the region (build greenhouse and continue to build modular chicken run, monitor hurricane and flood resilience, track supply capacity and timeline, plant appropriate food crops and companion flora, discuss "food fridge" shed affiliation with local food banks and coordinate to fund the construction, etc)

Purchasing equipment for long term growth and expansion (carpentry tools, looms and spinning wheels, sewing findings and notions, wire and bead work equipment, smoker and hot house, etc)

Continue monitoring and documenting Canine Behavioral Rehabilitation model for maintenance of recovery from stress-related reactivity (track recovery of current subjects, monitor the human-canine clinical interactions and their role in prognosis and recovery, document the process and identify common areas of resistance, setback, or difficulty, etc)

Document and create educational/outreach material for Stress Modeling and anti-psych community mental health initiatives/alternatives suggested by the research

Maintain access to infusions (current access to specialist who can prescribe is delayed until Sept. 2026 with some possibility of sooner availability via consultation with non-specialist care management) to manage the severity of my OH/dysautonomia symptoms and reduce my risk of falling/head trauma

If you want to help me with my work or support me in doing what I do, there are a few options!

I accept cash donations and can currently do so digitally via: Venmo at morbidly-queerious, CashApp at $RazTalks

You can send digital gift cards to the email subsistence_botanicals@proton.me from any of the following online shops: webstaurantstore.com, seedsavers.org, southernseeds.com, sowrightseeds.com, tractorsupply.com, rowhouseyarn.com, dickblick.com

It's not necessarily my preference due to the company practices, however here is an Amazon Wishlist for those who may prefer to purchase specific gifts or donations for the work. It includes low-, mid-, and high-budget options, and the most helpful items are typically either seeds or animal feed, but folks are always welcome to reach out and ask directly if there are any currently pressing needs!

As always, I would prefer people only support us if they can genuinely do so in comfort and without sacrifice. We do the work we are doing so that we and others can be safer, not for anyone to put themselves at risk to support us.