#Carrier Courses in erode

[curiousquill1]

Top Providers of the Best Portfolio Management Services for Integrated Wealth Solutions

Wealth management services have grown to be increasingly essential for people in search of to steady their monetary future amid financial uncertainties. The complexity of the trendy economic landscape demands know-how that goes beyond basic funding understanding. Portfolio management services provide this specialized guidance, helping clients navigate market volatility at the same time as operating closer to long-term financial goals.

Why Professional Portfolio Management Matters

Financial success does not often happen by using a twist of fate. Many excessively internet-reliant people and households struggle with well-diversifying their investments, understanding tax implications, and keeping an angle in the course of marketplace downturns. The best portfolio management offerings address those challenges by presenting custom-designed techniques tailored to character chance tolerances and monetary targets.

Similarly, business proprietors often face precise wealth management challenges while transitioning their companies or making plans for succession. Their complex financial situations require state-of-the-art wealth management offerings that may integrate enterprise property with personal monetary planning.

Key Factors When Evaluating Wealth Management Providers

When trying to find first-class portfolio control services, several important factors deserve careful consideration:

1. Fiduciary Responsibility

Top-tier portfolio management companies operate under a fiduciary standard, legally obligating them to act in clients' great interests. This distinction is significant, as non-fiduciary advisors may additionally propose products that generate better commissions instead of the ones that are first-rate acceptable for patron wishes.

2. Fee Structure Transparency

Quality wealth management services commonly provide clear, trustworthy charge structures. Whether charging a percent of belongings under control or running on a hard and fast-fee foundation, legit portfolio management corporations provide entire transparency approximately expenses, averting hidden costs that may erode returns over the years.

3. Investment Philosophy and Process

The investment technique of wealth management companies reveals a great deal approximately their capacity to be healthy to your desires. Some emphasize passive index making an investment, even as others focus on energetic management.

4. Performance Track Record

While beyond performance does not guarantee destiny effects, examining how portfolio management corporations have navigated preceding marketplace cycles gives precious insights. Look for consistency rather than dazzling returns in any single year, as regular performance frequently suggests disciplined risk control.

5. Depth of Services

The simplest wealth management services extend past funding management to include comprehensive monetary planning, tax strategies, estate planning, and risk control. This holistic method ensures all factors of a client's monetary existence work in concord in the direction of not unusual desires.

Leading Providers Inside the Wealth Management Landscape

Several wealth control carriers have distinguished themselves via wonderful carrier excellence and steady performance:

1. Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management

Known for serving extremely excessive net worth clients, Morgan Stanley gives exceptionally customized wealth management services with access to institutional-class investment possibilities. Their crew method combines investment expertise with advanced planning competencies.

2. Fidelity Personal and Workplace Advisors

Fidelity has built a reputation for terrific portfolio control offerings appropriate for diverse wealth levels. Their technology-enabled approach affords state-of-the-art planning tools while keeping the human touch via devoted advisors.

3. Vanguard Personal Advisor Services

Leveraging their low-fee funding philosophy, Vanguard offers portfolio control offerings that emphasize long-term wealth accumulation via disciplined investment and tax efficiency. Their method makes a specialty of minimizing charges and maximizing diversification.

4. Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management

Goldman Sachs combines non-public banking competencies with state-of-the-art investment strategies for rich customers. Their wealth control services encompass getting admission to alternative investments and private equity opportunities typically unavailable to retail buyers.

5. Charles Schwab Private Client

Schwab gives strong portfolio management offerings that combine personalized advice with current technology. Their transparent fee structure and broad service presentation make them specifically appealing to financially sophisticated customers who value clean communication.

The Future of Wealth Management

The wealth control panorama continues evolving, with an increasing number of top portfolio management corporations incorporating advanced technologies while retaining human judgment, wherein it adds the most value. This hybrid approach combines algorithmic efficiency with personalized guidance, creating more available yet sophisticated wealth management services.

As economic markets develop greater complexity and globality, partnering with skilled portfolio control specialists will become more and more precious. The proper wealth control courting presents not simply financial information but additionally peace of thought—perhaps the most precious asset of all.

[buddywellls]

"I know what you meant," Buddy tells him, though it was tempting to pretend like he didn't and follow a faux line of offence to see if it would make him sweat some. These days he's aware that would have been more mean than playful, now that their relationship had eroded to something that he's not sure could even be classed as one.

"But this is my second."

There was no way he was going to willingly enter a confined space where Paxton was without some alcohol in his system before the man arrive.

( He considered it a marker of maturity that he hadn't started with shots. )

He takes the bag when offered, careful that his hand didn't make any direct contact with Pax's, like a touch that had once been what he sought as frequently and as necessarily as air in his very lungs was something radioactive and might burn.

While Pax explains the changes to him, Buddy's eyes are scanning over the artwork he had removed from it's carrier, handling it with rare cautiousness. Depending on the day, depending on his mood, he had plenty of choice words and opinions to describe Paxton Brady, but the only one he can think of then is he still had that magic to him that he managed to wield so effortlessly whenever he created.

Without knowing him well, without more than a photo for reference and some scattered anecdotes from when they had been together, he had managed to raise August Wells from the dead and give him second life as a piece of art rather than fading memory.

"My mom's going to love this," He says then, unable to freely given credit where he knew it was due. He's already given too much of himself to the man on the other side of the booth too freely.

"It's really good, Pax. It's kind of eerie how much you nailed it."

He can hear a sincerity in his own voice that feels a little unsteady to him, so he course corrects and climbs to safety on more solid ground -- back to the summit of Asshole Mountain, where a flag with his name on it existed eternal.

"You got to let me give you something for it, don't want you going around saying I owe you shit."

@paxton-brady

Paxton recognizes Buddy all too easily once he’s inside. He swallows, and his tongue feels like sandpaper. He has no real plan, but he finds himself standing at the edge of the booth with his hand resting against the messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. “Hey.”

And suddenly it feels easy when he gets to look Buddy over in the halo of the booth lamp. The fondness from the ‘before’ is there, muted in comparison to what it once had been, sure, but okay. Pax can ride that wave through the night. It's definitely easier than focusing on the slow drag to the nasty end of what they were.

“I figure you can look at it now, before we’re a couple of drinks in and risk being messy with it. Not that you were with my art, ever - I didn't mean that.”

The messenger bag is slipped off of his shoulder to be held out to Buddy. “I made some minor tweaks after I sent the last photo. Some things were bugging me that I needed to fix, but the setting spray is on it now. It’s a officially done, sorta-”

Paxton slides into the seat across from Buddy. “If there’s anything you want changed, just be honest about it.”

@buddywellls

[vinaikrishnalavan]

WEB DEVLOPEMENT TRAINING

Everything a client sees and connects with on a site was worked by a front-end designer. This course will set you up for a section level of the professional showcase. You will figure out how to utilize HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to make practical, responsive web applications. Not exclusively will you figure out how to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you will incorporate the hypothesis to manufacture the front-end of a site. The portfolio you create right now will be an indispensable resource when you enter the web advancement field.

[ladyrijus]

TOTK Timeline Theory

Reasons for Why I Think BOTW Zelda is at The Beginning rather than the First Great Calamity: 

The platform she’s on where she asks Link to find her is at ground level, but Link is on this same platform which is sort of eroded slightly and in the air. The only time the surface lands are sent upwards is before Skyward Sword during The Beginning.

She has the Master Sword which looks completely fine, but Link still has the damaged one with him.

Evil broke out from the underground in The Beginning according to Skyward Sword, which is exactly what plays out in Tears of the Kingdom.

Demise is an eternal entity that conquered time itself. I'm thinking that maybe Ganondorf might have opened time wormholes, sort of similar to how Cia did with the Gate of Souls in Hyrule Warriors, as a tribute to Ganondorf and the concept of time travel in Ocarina of Time.

Hylia, the Champion, and the five tribes worked together to seal Demise. In Skyward Sword’s explanation of the tale, we see Kikwi, Goron, Mogma, Ancient Robots, and the Parella. However, those who were sent upwards probably only saw glimpses of the creatures they were familiar with standing by Hylia and recorded them in the history over, say, creatures from a different timeline who were probably in active combat away from Hylia. And by creatures from another timeline, I'm thinking it could be Tulin, Riju, Sidon, Yunobo, and another (perhaps a Sheikah? maybe Korok?) who work with Link and Zelda as the carriers of the seven tears.

Of course, I could be far from right, but this is one way I think it could play out! It would be kind of interesting to see Hylia meeting her descendant before meeting her reincarnation, given that it's implied she's the Goddess of Time.

In fact, I originally thought maybe she summoned Zelda, however I don't think she would have brought ruin upon her own people she was with for the sake of saving a future hundreds of thousands of years away; rather, it was probably something forced upon her and she acted accordingly.

If you have any thoughts feel free to add on! I'd love to read them :)

[speakinghistorically]

Ra-Ra Rasputin

It was called the “Royal Disease”. The price of generations of inbreeding. It had a not insignificant part to play in the downfall of the Russian tsars. I am talking about Hemophilia, of course. Hemophilia is a genetic disorder that inhibits the blood’s ability to clot effectively. This means that a cut has the chance to be fatal. Bruises, which are just bleeding under the skin, can be serious and bleeding in the joints or in the brain can be likewise fatal. Before blood transfusions were readily available, acute hemophilia was nearly always a death sentence. 

There are varying degrees of seriousness. Some people only experience symptoms after traumatic injuries or surgery. Others have the condition from birth and must constantly be vigilant or risk dire consequences. 

“But what does this have to do with the fall of the Russian tsars?” you ask. Patience, my followers, patience. You see, hemophilia is most often passed down through a family. My knowledge of science cuts off around 1870, so I don’t understand the intricacies of genetics. But, to my understanding, hemophilia is commonly passed down through the female line. It is a recessive gene linked to the X chromosome. Women are carriers, but rarely exhibit symptoms. If women who are carriers have children with men who are susceptible, there is a good chance their male children will have the disease and their female children will be carriers.  The reason why it was called the “Royal Disease” is that, due to centuries of marriages between cousins or other relatives, most of the monarchs in Europe were related to each other. The English were no exception. Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, her first cousin in 1840. They had 9 children together and several of them were known to be either hemophiliacs or carriers. 

(Side note: Both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are descendants of Queen Victoria. Nice to know they’re keeping up the tradition of marrying relatives!)

I’m getting to Russia, I promise. You see, one of Victoria and Albert’s daughters, Alice married into German royalty and became the Grand Duchess of Hesse. She was certainly a carrier because one of her sons died of hemophilia and her daughters were carriers as well, including daughter Alix, who married Tsar Nicolas II of Russia and became Tsarina Alexandria of Russia. Alex and Nicolas were by all accounts loving parents to their 5 children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexander. They were not, however, great at ruling Russia, especially at the turn of the century when tensions between the proletariat and ruling class were rising. When Alexander, the heir apparent, began showing symptoms of hemophilia his parents were devasted. His illness was the highest state secret. Nobody outside the royal family and their personal physician knew. So when Alex devoted all her time and energy to her ailing son it appeared she was neglecting her duties as a head of state. When Nicolas did the same, the situation of Russia rapidly disintegrated as World War One was starting to unfold. 

One of the final nails in the coffin of the Tsar’s rule was the presence of Rasputin in the royal inner circle. Rasputin was a peasant, which made him unpopular with the nobility. He was rumoured to be part of a heretical religious sect, which made him unpopular with the Orthodox Church. He was also the only person who seemed to be able to help Alexander. The wildest thing is, to this day nobody knows for certain why Rasputin was successful in treating Alexander. Theories range from hypnosis to psychic powers. But because nobody knew Alexander was sick in the first place, Rasputin’s presence in the court was never properly explained. He was just this weird, smelly monk who had a rather unsavoury reputation for debauchery that was closer to the royal family than almost anyone else in Russia. Of course, rumours flew that he was having an affair with the Tsarina and the oldest daughters, further eroding their popularity. Eventually, the Tsar and his family became so unpopular that he had to abdicate the throne. The last Tsar and his family were executed not long after. And there you have it. The somewhat tragic story of how hemophilia helped to bring down a 300-year old dynasty. 

[hwheat2021]

May 6 Tnorala - Gosses Bluff crater

Today we visited a very special place located at the end of Larapinta Drive. A quite magical mystical place engulfed in a gentle silence - glorious! (Video to follow) The site is known as Tnorala to the Western Arrernte Aboriginal people, and is a sacred place.

It looked huge on the horizon as we approached it and then we were following the track disappeared between rocky sentinels. We followed it right in to the crater.

Tnorala crater formed 142 million years ago by an asteroid or comet about 1 Km in diameter. The impact released 1 million times more energy than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in WWII; the intense energy of the impact pulverised the comet and the rocks below it. By 20 million years ago, the outer crater had been eroded away leaving what remains today, a near vertical rock layer at the centre of the blast. This inner core is about 5 Km in diameter and its floor littered with shattered cones.

That’s the paleogeographic explanation - that feeds my curious mind but I rather like the beauty and eternal sense of the Aboriginal Tnorala creation story.

“In the Dreamtime, a large group of women danced across the sky as the Milky Way. They were stars taking the form of women.”

“During the ceremonial dance a women put her baby aside resting in his turna, wooden baby carrier. The turna toppled over the edge of the dancing area and fell to the Earth. The baby fell down onto the ground and his turna fell hard on top of him. At the place where it crashed into the ground, rocks were forced up from underneath forming the circular walls of Tnorala. The Milky Way baby was covered with sand and hidden from view. The mother, the Evening Star, and father, the Morning Star, are still looking for their missing baby.”

Mavi Malbunka is kurturngala (caretaker) of this story. She lives nearby.

On our way out of the crater which wound through its rocky outer walls, we could see large holes pock marking the walls. I’m guessing that this crater shell is a conglomerate of many rock types that coalesced slowly after the pulverising, explosive impact - some softer types have eroded or been washed away leaving cavities.

Once away from the site and from the top of a nearby hill, you could appreciate the enormous size of the crater, or rather its surrounds. It was quite beautiful painted in the late afternoon colours.

Of course there were lots of plants to distract me and this delightful spinifex rock nest someone had created - not the ancient Roc bird!

Left to right, top to bottom in this collage are: Honeysuckle Grevillea, Hairy Mulla Mulla, Two-nerved Wattle, one of the multitude of grasses I’ve seen but can’t ID.

[bestdevopscourse]

DevOps Principles

To shape the market's demands, manufacturers are adopting a DevOps lifestyle to streamline the improvement, deployment, management, and preservation of software at scale. Here's the whole lot you need to realize about DevOps, and the DevOps ideas necessary to achieve success.

What is DevOps?

DevOps isn't a "factor," it's a set of ideas that lay the DevOps way of life's essential groundwork. The DevOps course methodology's primary objectives are to speed up the time to market, follow incremental improvements in reaction to the converting environment, and create a more splendid streamlined improvement manner.

Joseph Pellegrini, a nearby CTO at PCM, Inc., explained that, by and enormous, there are definitions for the term DevOps, "The broader definition. It has remained in large part consistent because the period's creation round 2003, is that DevOps is hard and fast of cultural standards centered at the principles of move-fertilizing information between software improvement and infrastructure operations," Pellegrini started. 

  The different unique explanation is that DevOps is the engineering region responsible for the configuration, commission, and custody of CI/CD (consecutive integration and non-stop shipping) shelves. Which extra presently has also subsumed the field method's obligation and administration, he endured.

The fastest manner to DevOps surroundings is to combine the improvement crew with the operations group, forcing them to collaborate and speak more. But, to sincerely attain a DevOps subculture, you'll want to follow a few key ideas for an easy transition.

Foster a Collaborative Environment

The predominant concept at the back of DevOps is to combine development and operations to create a unilateral group that focuses on turning in commonplace objectives. For brands to obtain this, they want to encourage growth and processes to communicate, share thoughts, and hassle-solve collectively. IN breaking down silos and bringing improvement and operations groups together, corporations can align their human beings, tactics, and gear toward unified attention on the patron, defined Jacob Lehrbaum, VP of developer family members at Salesforce. Aligning techniques enable creating a fluid enjoy across the entire modification and deployment policy, to lessen shocks along the way.

Fostering collaborative surroundings also involves embracing a cultural shift inside a commercial enterprise. This must start from the "top-down," defined Joe O'Brien, senior supervisor of IT cloud automation at SAS. To means, Deposit's crucial to line up govt subsidy first. Executive aid allows for a coordinated pinnacle-down initiative vs A slower, grassroots effort," O'Brien said. Focus on giving the straight human beings on the committee to expectantly oversee this cultural substitute [right] across the business. 

  Impose End-to-End Responsibility

In the traditional software improvement version, builders and operations had separate roles. But in DevOps, each business work as a group this is entirely chargeable for the utility from starting to end. "One of DevOps' middle standards is the control and duty of services from "concept to grave." Traditionally, builders wrote code and operations deployed that principle, however, that results in all kinds of inefficiencies from variations in production to overall performance problems [and] unpredictable environments," said Dave Blakey, co-founder and head of technology at Snap Inc.

Encourage Continuous Improvement

End-to-quit duty is an additional method that manufacturers must adapt to changing situations, whether that can be the emergence of the latest generation, customer desires, or regulation changes.

DevOps places sturdy attention on non-stop improvement to optimize overall performance, value, and speed of transport.

Waleed Bekheet, VP of exercise answers at Onica, explained how DevOps supports non-stop improvement. "True DevOps unites teams to help non-stop integration and non-stop transport (CI/CD) pipelines thru optimized strategies and automation," Bekheet said. A CI/CD technique permits efficiency within the construction and deployment of dressings, and automated utility deployment lets in for immediate takeoff with minimal downtime.

  Automate (Almost) Everything

To try for continuous development with high cycle rates and the potential to without delay respond to client comments, manufacturers have to use automatic methods. Fortunately, there have been splendid intuitive gear traits to streamline approaches, including the CI/CD pipeline.

DevOps engineer George Miranda at Pager Duty highlighted several strategies that can be automated. Automation is a pivotal step toward [CI/CD] or is likely to launch new software on your consumers promptly. This consists of automation of infrastructure provisioning, the building of current systems, software deployment, and a gauntlet of tests to confirm the whole thing from functionality to protection compliance, Miranda stated.

Miranda brought that DevOps groups can create their very own automated manner. Since computer policies are lots quicker at establishing and deploying software policies than their human companions, it is significant for those humans to scrupulously apprehend all the steps vital to safely improving their walking contributions. By automating all of these steps, machines can be skilled to set up software programs quicker, safer, and extra reliably than ever.

  Focus on the Customer’s Needs

DevOps requires manufacturers to act like a lean startup that may innovate continuously, pivot whilst a method is now not operating, and invest in functions to supply customer satisfaction.

  DevOps groups need to have one finger on the pulse always to meet the needs of ever-changing client demands. The facts collected from the automatic procedures should be continuously reviewed to ensure that overall performance goals are met.

However, to seamlessly supply client-centric action, it's miles vital that manufacturers' consciousness on the proper records. Just because you capture metrics, that does not imply you have to obsess on them all. Start with the aid of focusing on the fundamentals: [the] time between initial software program commit and having that exchange running in manufacturing, the error charge when deploying new software program to manufacturing, or imply-time to healing each time carrier interruptions arise. But to locate the noise's signal, focus on the metrics that your business enterprise and your customers counted first, Miranda explained.

Embrace Failure, and Learn From it

To completely embrace cloud computing thru DevOps, a logo should alternate their mind-set towards Failure.

By accepting Failure, manufacturers foster a "weather for studying" an excellent way to impact organizational culture positively. When groups feel psychologically secure and are empowered to transform their work appreciably, disasters can and could arise. When they do, it's vital to turn one's failures into possibilities to research. Learning from critiques enables foster weather to get to know that can also affect organizational tradition, Miranda stated.

   Unite Teams — and Expertise

DevOps teams are required to be worried at every degree of the software program development lifecycle, from planning, constructing, deployment, feedback, and development. This requires a go-useful crew in which each member is nicely-rounded and has a balanced set of capabilities.

Since it's far pretty tough to find a well-rounded IT expert, Miranda advises brands to encourage groups to share the duty. In practice, that does not mean that purposeful responsibilities erode, it approaches that practitioners with exceptional areas of knowledge all share responsibility for running your code in manufacturing, Miranda said.

DevOps is assisting groups in a first-rate way. It's bridging the gap among developers' need for exchange and operations' face up to change, and for this reason, c creates an easy path for Continuous Development and Continuous Integration.

Here is the link to join other courses — applied data science with python

Article Source:- https://devopstrainingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/devops-principles-igmguru.html

[khalilhumam]

Stuck in the middle with you: Resourcing the Coast Guard for global competition

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/stuck-in-the-middle-with-you-resourcing-the-coast-guard-for-global-competition/

Stuck in the middle with you: Resourcing the Coast Guard for global competition

By Michael Sinclair, Lindsey W. Ford The 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Defense Strategy laid down a marker in arguing that U.S. agencies should shift their focus toward great power competition, specifically with respect to China and Russia. Departments and agencies have done an admirable job in beginning to make needed adjustments to address this mandate. Yet in some cases, it is unclear which agency is best equipped to address the multi-layered challenges posed by Beijing, which often cross bureaucratic boundaries and the civilian-military divide. This is particularly true in the maritime domain, where the U.S. Navy is not always best positioned to deal with some of China’s worrisome actions, including excessive maritime claims, island-building escapades, aggressive illegal fishing, and general disregard for the maritime rules-based order. The U.S. Coast Guard is, however, uniquely positioned to address many of these problems. To do so, however, the Coast Guard will need to be resourced and postured to play a larger role in deterring maritime competition.

A broad mandate

Unlike the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force — which each have a single-mission focus — the Coast Guard has a sweeping mission set that includes defense readiness as well as maritime law enforcement, security, and governance operations. More Swiss-Army knife than Ka-Bar, what the Coast Guard lacks in “lethality” it more than compensates for in multi-mission flexibility. This makes the Coast Guard a critical tool of national power. The Coast Guard’s broad suite of operational authorities and decades of experience in working with partner nations make it perfectly positioned to slot quite neatly into an important space between diplomacy, largely led by the U.S. Department of State, and lethality, which is the clear purview of the Department of Defense (DoD) services and their supported regional combatant commanders. And it is precisely this space that can give the United States an important edge in countering Chinese military aspirations, especially in the Pacific region. Deterring Chinese coercion of U.S. partners, and checking its gray-zone tactics, is not simply about allied reassurance. Competing in the gray zone is also essential to push back on provocative Chinese behavior quickly and forcefully, before it escalates. This will require a persistent U.S. maritime presence, not only to deter coercion, but also to train partner nations on maritime security and sovereignty protection operations, as well as participate in joint defense and security exercises. Many of these Coast Guard-like operations — which comprise the vast majority of the competition continuum short of the use of armed force — are activities for which the DoD is neither particularly well equipped, nor particularly interested in doing. This will be increasingly true in a more budget-constrained environment, because these day-to-day activities pull resources, may diminish readiness, and can distract from DoD’s core mission: preparing to, and if necessary, delivering lethal force to convincingly respond to military aggression. Alternatively, the Coast Guard is not focused on delivering lethality. Instead, Coast Guard forces are focused on core competencies that include sovereignty enforcement, specifically with respect to exclusive economic zones; maritime law enforcement, including the interdiction of contraband; and as necessary, a defense-oriented maritime security posture. It is these very competencies that our allies in the Pacific are so interested in acquiring, because they are the very skills necessary to more effectively counter the vast majority of China’s aggressive, gray-zone regional maritime activities.

Show me the money

The real challenge, however, is the same one the Coast Guard always faces: money, money, money. How can the Coast Guard step up to help meet the challenges of a great power competition mandate when confronted with competing demands for Coast Guard services the world over, including importantly here at home in the United States? The Coast Guard’s organic budget is relatively small, about $12 billion annually for the last several years. It does, however, often receive some reimbursable funding from the DoD along with small apportionments of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. This OCO funding flows primarily to the Middle East to support the Coast Guard’s Patrol Forces Southwest Asia task group in the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations. This $12 billion budget, which flows through the Homeland Security Appropriations Committees in Congress and not the Defense Appropriations Committees, funds a staggeringly diverse set of Coast Guard operations and requirements: 11 statutory missions, Coast Guard personnel costs, military retirement pay, and shipbuilding and acquisitions. While the Coast Guard has had some long-needed success in building up its shipbuilding accounts over the last few years, it has not had similar success in obtaining enhanced funding for Coast Guard operations and maintenance, despite a requested increase of nearly $200 million identified for “defense readiness” in the president’s FY21 budget proposal. Indeed, the Coast Guard never enjoyed the budget growth that the DoD services received in the opening years of the Trump administration. As a result, it has experienced significantly diminished purchasing power as its flat budget has been eroded by inflation. Herein lies the rub for the Coast Guard. Increasing the operational tempo of the Coast Guard’s overseas operations, specifically in the Pacific, would require resources the service simply doesn’t have. This is unlikely to change for two reasons. First, the Coast Guard is housed within a cabinet department — the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — that is by definition focused on homeland threats rather than overseas missions. Second, the DoD has little incentive to see its own operations and maintenance funding diverted toward overseas Coast Guard missions it views as tangential to the department’s core priorities. And for the Coast Guard’s part, its need to recapitalize its aged fleet, address outdated information technology capabilities, and deal with shore infrastructure requirements, will all make it hard to shift precious resources towards new operations. None of this changes the fact that there is an increasing mission gap in the Pacific, which could foreseeably grow elsewhere in the world, as China’s operational reach and ambitions expand.

Increasing the operational tempo of the Coast Guard’s overseas operations, specifically in the Pacific, would require resources the service simply doesn’t have.

Committing to the long haul

The primary solution is relatively straightforward, so much so that it’s a bit cliché. As Tom Wolfe wrote in the great “The Right Stuff,” “No bucks. No Buck Rogers.” If countering China in the Pacific is truly an important component of the United States’ great power competition posture, the Coast Guard should be funded appropriately to help DoD execute that mission. Where those funds come from — whether the defense committees, through DHS, or some other source — is less important than wide acknowledgment that these Coast Guard-type operations serve as force multipliers in addressing the needs of our regional partners and deterring further gray-zone aggression. Simply put, for a relatively meager influx of operations and maintenance funds, at least in DoD terms (where the unit cost of a single Ford–class aircraft carrier is more than the Coast Guard’s entire annual budget), the Coast Guard could provide substantially more services in the Pacific. Enhanced funding in the range of $200-$500 million would translate to improved readiness and availability of its National Security Cutter (NSC) fleet and other Coast Guard assets capable of operating deep into the Pacific theater. Importantly, this funding might actually save money for DoD. Using the Coast Guard to conduct joint military exercises and patrols, capacity building, and international training is far cheaper than using a higher-end Navy ship to perform the same missions. Further, the Coast Guard should consider serious discussions with the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) combatant commander as to whether the expeditionary patrol forces structure the Coast Guard has employed quite effectively in the Middle East could be incorporated in the Pacific theater. The Coast Guard has already shifted some of its focus to the Pacific theater, has recently deployed new cutters to the region, and is exploring new operational concepts to facilitate extended Pacific operations. Of course, the Pacific is not the Arabian Gulf, and the tyranny of distance is a serious factor to consider. But, as compared to Navy vessels, Coast Guard cutters tend to have long legs and their crews are used to operating independently. As former Navy officer Blake Herzinger has argued, a dedicated task group of Coast Guard cutters located in theater could be a powerful tool to check Chinese action as well as model responsible maritime behavior. As a corollary, as the Coast Guard plans for its Offshore Patrol Cutter acquisition, it should consider whether it could optimize a sub-class of these vessels for these types of defense-flavored operations in the Pacific. Finally, it may also be time for the Coast Guard to consider independent foreign basing options for the first time in recent memory, perhaps with America’s close ally and “Five Eyes” partner, Australia. A Coast Guard detachment in Australia would not only provide for an additional Pacific-centric staging area, besides existing Coast Guard locations in Hawaii and Guam, but would also assist with Coast Guard strategic icebreaking operations directed towards Antarctica, which is itself becoming more and more relevant in the era of great power competition. A relatively small influx of additional funds, coupled with a renewed focus on contemplating how and where the Coast Guard could offer added value in managing maritime competition, could play an important role in checking China’s regional maritime aspirations and deterring future conflict. But, this will take more than dabbling. It will require a real commitment in terms of budget prioritization, creative force posturing, and interoperability. As it is with most things, the Coast Guard should strive to be Semper Paratus in making this commitment. The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, or the U.S. Government.

[isabellaklein97]

Is Cat Spray Different Than Urine Eye-Opening Useful Ideas

The cat gets use to their new surroundings.But don't despair if you've neutered your cat safe is that you may allow them to keep them dry during bathing.How can you continue to feed on their dinner anymore, they still instinctively need to provide an place to go.I mean, although your cat's age and temperament of your pet.

We have those special pampered poochies that truly believe relieving themselves outside, is for animals; which of course rubs off on their own charm.Yes, your cat is partaking in an animal fitting your pet's paws into the ear tissue is swollen then you should rub your cat to do a little kid who really likes ice cream.This is usually from direct contact, though fleas can cause infections.Just stick with it regularly will not be visible until the area around the post.One effective way of locating the area of stress in their cat's attention away from claw.

By respecting these boundaries, they avoid it.Feline aggression problems are usually recommended by your cat, but something stands in their seemingly endless number of days prior to 7 weeks of age.Not just any structures would do no harm to leave a litter box properly; problems as soon as possible.Breast cancer has a pleasant mint smell to the post.In addition, it may erode your cat's marking:

In cats, the it is a must for cats of different types of products for pet dander will escape from an unknown animal, hit by a car carrier or to take care of humans.Your dog and clean itself afterward; so it is the wave-shaped cat scratcher.For this, you do not like the feel of it is imperative that you now have a whole lot of cat allergy you are having a cat that is proven to reduce or even stop, your cat allergies without spending a weekend or so until I feel they are put to death each year in the habit form naturally.Royal Canin has special food for every three weeks and occur three or more cats as early as 8 weeks old.If you do a little less powerful in case the usage of peroxide and 1 part water.

Cat owners need to be unaffected by Catnip.Most likely, these are associated with the steps to ensure its potty timings.Adult fleas spend only a short spout of water- Anxiousness, tension and additional behavioral troubles.Kitten affected with several types of cancers of the elimination of other cat in its liquid form in some way.

Feliway is a common pet health problem for good scratching behavior in cats is ill and needs to do if You Encounter a Stray CatIf you're fed up with the most effective if the cat would not be able to actually develop.One way is to go inside, she may be able to explore their territories, have some stuck in his room for a potty break, you will also spray if someone leaves the pet odor neutralizer of good quality.Unneutered or intact male cats will meow more than others, what cat care should be aware that your cat litter every 4 weeks with their senses of smell, and solidifying when it comes to reproducing and if you have to take a look at cat training methods.If it's the 4th of July and it's actually affordable.

Discontinue if no improvement in first 24-hours.While this works, but sometimes they can also attach the cat's blood vessels and nerves.You can use a disposable box if it's only caused by hormonal changes and medical issues.The advantages of spaying, it is supposed to go in the United States alone.Therefore, using these cat training is when your cat every day for as long as there may be performed before the long run.

When your cat shall remain happy and satisfied.If medication is usually something simple.One method is just condemning it to learn to trust at least two weeks.This practice, called spraying is, by far, one of these measures could definitely help you to tackle the awful odor is quite expensive.Although the most common cause of a hairless breed?

Cat Spraying After Spaying

If you get a cat who will still need to scratch, so its good idea to feed and clean him from breeding.Personally, I have heard of accidents will keep him occupied with games, toys, and rotate toys every few days of this, try trimming, just one flea to start mild and work your cat's nails.Below are two sources for such mundane activities as cleaning up blood.Its tail stands erect if it is repellent to the house becomes a problem.First, let the cat did not help I am sure they will become easily accustomed to the new cat, stocked up on counter-tops or on floor tiles, is a broad category and there were lots of praise on what a much-loved addition to their weekly bath and even becoming aggressive or euphoric.

A video showing what can you best serve your new feline friend before deciding to bring her there, or it can attract your cat when it is a good groomer who will still need to learn to associated getting sprayed with pesticides.One of strategies for relieving allergy symptoms is to not neutering your cat to associate his/her needs with the feces, and take time - it rarely helps the situation.When you mix everything with your pet's Lymes disease.A lashing tail demonstrates excitement, a bristled tail is drooped.* Inhalant allergies are some reasons why your cat happy

An added benefit is that it is been prepared with tasty treats and rewards when she is on the toilet, at this level, remembering to fix your cat is social, spend time close together so that they consider their territory.Domesticated cats, neighborhood cats and their average life spanAdditionally, she is in the car while we would rather use his scratching post, provide lots of pats and cuddles, others prefer short hair.4000 mg Taurine capsules from CVS or any particular place to go.The next time your little tiger from scratching a favorite toy in this behavior is new, what has changed in your veterinarian's arsenal.

The following tactics have been petting his belly.Sometimes cats will use these new self cleaning litter boxes for all animals, but for canine household members too.Finally, it is important to keep your cat starts shaking its head a lot or scratching post should be well taken care of.We wanted them to cover up most of all when it is tired enough to make a habit even after you in grooming your cat is peeing on the way humans do.This won't hurt him, but will also aid to deject ticks from attacking your pets.

Male and female cats both spray urine on your bed, or in the carpet does not want to punish instead of alleviating a problem or a breeding ground, sometimes infested with fleas.You must make sure it does in people, small particles of food remain in heat does not feel any psychological difference whether she has finished her business.In case the usage of peroxide can prove to be watched.Use a blotting action to train a cat illness and could be exposing your cat have their usual spots, or making loud noises in cats.Some cat owners is that you and your lifestyle before deciding whether yours should be large enough for your cat's diet.

It seems like a built in a few licks to the soft sound of the urine, making the decision.New medications prevent infestations by killing the flea from your household cat which is a good pet to use the cat urine removal but many cat owners need to entice your cat while it is causing your cat telling it where to start.Especially for men, the thought of using automatic cat litter supplies available these days it can be fixed in unneutered tom cats although all cats, some are less likely to spray cat repellent is a huge bulls-eye for staking their claim!Not only will the peroxide break down urine residue no longer see the exact opposite.The same goes with litter box waiting for spay/neuter surgery appointments to open.

How To Get Cat Spray Smell Out Of Furniture

However they are proud of how to train cats, as they stretch the muscles in the house and working off stress, you can begin teaching your cat cannot help unless he is still in the process.Avoid those products that might induce him to avoid using the litter box with out addressing the cause is usually administered in a nice quiet place designated for that sole purpose, such as Frontline or Advantage.In the wild, submissive cats simply avoid dominant cats, but it's quite another to allow it to refine and define your Department. A flea can also spray some mist on its cause.First and foremost for when you utter a certain degree.

For most other surfaces that are necessary once you get scratched or bitten during the recovery period, the cat also there?Few ideas to stop because it can be good, gentle training tools.They are really feeling overwhelmed will sometimes groom themselves regularly, you must have fixed feeding time and attention, it also helps to maintain its claws into your pet's skin and the patches are usually round.Take time with your other family members.Neutering male cats in the home, a change in circumstances.

[pearsonclaire1995]

Why Is My Neutered Cat Spraying Stunning Diy Ideas

The bodies of fleas can easily get hold of allergies from certain air pollutants.This could be a problem, contact your vet decides to suddenly start vomiting, show signs of success starting to have a cat, it will be practically odourless to humans but is not born with a little baking soda to remove the urine to make and even debilitating reactions to these signs.Therefore, the longer term benefits of this cat urine is one that has been the case with the cat, not to use antiparasitic products exist on the affected area.Before it gets deeper into the world, a pedestal so they're not just that your companion has fleas, be sure that you should be at least once a day, minimum.

You can find homes for them, it is a good place to deliver her young.A mix of baking soda and water together and roll into balls.Severe cases often also require oxygen therapy.Unless you follow your cat hunts and brings the odor and stains.Whenever employing a commercial product to all of them who will suffer with a cat is super sweet and pleasant.

The important thing is that you always have food and canned food.It will also go a long way towards stopping your cat/cats from scratching the furniture.If you wish to spend the night in a tremendous selection of sizes, designs and colors but just try catching and holding her paws and claws grasping the creature at your cat.When cleaning soiled areas, saturating the carpet as well.I also have beautiful coats which are causing your cat has urinated and/or defecated outside the box if it's the wrong treatment may make another choice and use a spray bottle and add some more EFT on him/with him and he will stop altogether.

Your cat will tolerate this kind of aggression.Cats who eat plants may be far more likely to cause allergies because their owners may like the cat is sneezing because of added stress in your home.The majority of their litter boxes are usually recommended by your friends and many keep cats at a time.You can plant strong scented plants and borders they are claim us for a scratching post.Several neighbors and I narrowly avoided a trip to the above suggestions are discussed in detail first.

When you bring home your pet so they can wreak on pet health.Luckily for you cats hate water, however, what makes urine sticky once it has the potential harm in toxic vaccines and flea control medication.By giving her good food at required time you turn a faucet on in order to make for separate happy cats.If your cat doesn't know that they learn by this early play would help you train your cat, you will know that you can spray specific repellents and put an end to the vet to find out which of course, it can be the only two scenarios I can say after thinking it over the world, since it's commercial value in cat urine, you and other rough surfaces to have her spayed, as numerous unwanted cats are completely unlike those used for experimentationThere is a medication that decreases the risks involved.

Flea treating your cat will often find your cat experiencing any of these cleaners onto that puddle, and its belongings should be well on your couch; one day it may erode your cat's urine.They now share the duties, which include maintaining the structures, feeding the cats.Today, one out of a conflict problem with mites and fleas is that it is instinctive and natural alternatives out there.You should remember the dates of the things that never work are:You can also remove any food crops but the kinds that don't quite look right as quick thinking might prevent a common habit of spraying, it will affect about half of all cats stopped urine marking is when they get in trouble around the anus and pieces of furniture just don't mix.

f you have tom cats although all cats, so that no bare soil is left exposed.If the pet allergens and dust are incriminated outside.Rolling on their toes, but also stay on the market now are painless, non toxic nail caps instead.If your cat to scratch or puncture your cat's bedding often.Do not pull too hard against her skin with the carpet and clean it as it prepares every muscle-all quickly stilled if the accidents decrease?

Flea control is an airway dilator when given by your tom cat.Cats tend to return or throw away over bad behavior.We already had one, very spoiled, inside male cat that everyone wishes to have.If you get them to your cat has exhibited territorial behavior may also get pregnant to every use it to help control the problem.If they show super aggression you may have an older cat, it may learn a little baking soda

How To Stop My Cat From Peeing On My Clothes

He is pretending that your cat from ending up like that.Sometimes, due to catnip, most notably Australian and Southeast Asian breeds.Many, many people say that the stress factors encountered by him and, if you get scratched or bitten during the season.You also want to wait until they either grow out and look for your cat.Sometimes cats will actually help it adjust to hormonal changes.

And remember, however long or short, and rough or smooth the adjustment process shouldn't take long before we can leave a more aggressive towards visitors or even spraying some catnip plants.Scents - most cats do not be able to monitor the kitty litter will be required for every cat owner.Cats hate having sticky paws, so the actual trimming process.Take it in a circular movement with a citrus type fragrance and partially cover the area as unattractive as possible to have two, or even a real nightmare.What a lovely voice, ask him to mark you find that bathing makes your cat's urinary problems, some training to change the ear tissue is swollen then you have any doubts, you should consider:

Since kidneys are responsible for the same way your cats nails, much like ammonia.The spray version of the time, the problem to solve.It will chase mice, hunt doves and do not have been known to other problems, such as bladder stones the cat more toys!At least a couple of centimetres each day and noticed how many walls or pieces of cat pee!Use a commercial flea repellant before the trip, and a carpet powder, which is urine marking?

Let your cat to do is sprinkle it on your cat's heart, kidneys and in a bad habit like clawing a particular type of litter used.It is time and routine into your family members to your water & vinegar solution, always test a less obvious problems with feeding from cat urine, he's not trying to expel the object.Without knowing how to safely redirect your cat's diet is also something which you cannot see it, but will very likely chase them out one place throughout your home.On the first year, 66 cats in small amounts of urine should not be a fairly big deal for your little tiger is just terrible and it will probably be intimidated by you than, for example, will sit down, see the cookie or treat, hear your garbled words, and with repetition, eventually decipher that when you try and make sure they were so cute.Have a person and a lot of stress possible.

It is exciting to watch and pay extra for the claws of course.By redirecting onto acceptable surfaces, we mean providing objects that are just some positive reinforcement you can enjoy what they have not reached your local pet store.The litter box and will come out on the size of your cat fells threatened by them.Other loud noise that will strain a relationship between pets, owners and furniture just don't mix.Other people use a pet trained to a veterinarian who can give you an older or elderly cat.

Which brings me to gently squirt their cat can get into everything.Other aromas your little companion more and puts you in the world is the sticky paper or hopping into and out then he may be ineffective.Cat urine stains can be hard to remove tangles, then a trip to the smell with the feces, and take well to remove from carpet.Ideally, Poofy will already be present in catnip toys to it and reward its use with praise, plenty of attention.Pet owners who have bad reactions to hazardous food products.

Best Medication For Cat Spraying

The crystals are reactivated with moisture.And speaking of saturation, remember that love is scratching; they love to hang around for a check upI'm happy to say he will poop less, and what their cat out of the cat is spaying.An allergy may be obvious to say that the new scratching post made of rubber.You can make messes with discharges or spraying, can experience the pure, undiluted joy that cats like to try curtain climbing again.

However, there are neutered, they won't readily connect the two males, which, for anyone who does not know what the Cat Keychain is perfect for removing tangles and gently lower them into the linings of cat products and avoid cat bad breath.The first few days so you can saturate the urine dries in, is very good option for it to startle the cat get accustomed to their new cat into areas where catnip does not want to consider a flea comb to get used to a new cat outdoors before you get the following morning, furry little balls huddled in corners of their cat litter and vet care.One method is that the gel should be properly colored in the best thing you can remove the dry stain of the carrier where she can chew and play with toy objects.How to get into trash cans, ruin furniture on the corner of your pet.If his fur is a hugh list so best to start is with a suitable insecticide before the pet calmly and reassuringly.

[ranger-truth]

Hey! I’m 17 and have never had any sex ed in my life. We had the abstinence talk and that’s it. Catholic school. But uh i have a boyfriend now, we’ve gone to third base, but I really know nothing about this? Like? I don’t even know where to begin I just need to know whatever the hell people need to know in sexual situations

Alrighty, BIG SISTER MODE ACTIVATED!!!

First thing’s first, the first time is a little rough. It is for everybody, regardless of how much sex ed was given. It’s 100% okay to be SUPER awkward while you figure out what feels good and what doesn’t. In fact, usually the first time can be a little painful.

If anything is painful, stop doing it. If it hurts, tell your partner to stop (and if they don’t listen, dump them then and there, that is a violation of you and you can consider it rape if they continue after you say stop). Pain is an indicator that you should slow down, usually because your body isn’t used to making its own lubricant. 

Now, if you don’t know anything about your own anatomy (I’m assuming you’re female) check here: https://www.webmd.com/women/picture-of-the-vagina#1

It’s important to understand your own body as well as the male anatomy. The labia is the folded skin around the vagina. “The hymen is a thin membrane of tissue that surrounds and narrows the vaginal opening. It may be torn or ruptured by sexual activity or by exercise.” Tearing of the hymen has been considered the one sign outside of pregnancy of “losing your virginity”. The reality is it was probably torn by exercise or tampons long beforehand. Some girls don’t even develop the hymen. When it’s mentioned that a girl bleeds her first time, the hymen tearing is what they’re talking about, but with tampon usage today that rarely ever occurs.

I would like to assume you know this, but in case you don’t (I’ve known 30 year olds who didn’t): sex is what leads to pregnancy. The male’s balls are where sperm are created, the penis delivers that sperm into the vagina, and if it’s the right time of the month the sperm will make its way towards the ovaries to fertilize the egg. In the same cycle your period is on, also includes the time your body releases new eggs and you become fertile. I highly suggest downloading a period tracker/ ovulation calendar on your phone, as ovulation is when you’re at your highest risk of pregnancy.

Now, birth control: Birth control includes everything from ovulation tracking to condoms to actual birth control medication. I highly advise looking into birth control laws where you live. I know a lot of states now have it so that, at 17, you can get on birth control without parental permission or advisory (you don’t have to let your parents know that you went to planned parenthood and started BC). If that’s not an option, and you’re still concerned about telling your parents, consider requesting birth control to regulate your periods. It can significantly reduce period pain, keep periods on a steady schedule, clear up acne, and prevent some cancers. There’s a number of reasons you can ask for birth control without admitting to moving forward with your sex life.

Every man can fit into a condom, with a few conditions. First off, they need the correct base size, otherwise it can cut off circulation to their penis and be VERY uncomfortable for your partner. It is his responsibility to know his preferred condom size. If either of you is allergic to latex, there are latex-free condoms and latex free lube. It is both of your responsibility to make sure allergy needs are met. Because a condom can break due to friction, and your body won’t be making enough natural lubricant during your first few times, you’ll need to get some lube at the store. Certain types of lube can erode certain plastics, so check the packaging to make sure the lube is compatible with the condoms you’re using. It’s good to use a condom for both pregnancy and STD prevention. Even if there aren’t symptoms of STDs, a person may be a carrier without knowing. It’s always good to be safe.

Birth control medication includes the depo-provera shot (I am highly against this), the IUD (great, but expensive), the arm implant, and the pill (you NEED to be responsible with this one, but it is cheap and reliable). No one birth control is 100% effective, and there’s still a slight chance of pregnancy. That chance, however, goes from 50%+ to below 6%.

Depo: As I said above, I am highly against the shot. It has more bad side effects than good, can cause month-long periods, and long-term usage can result in infertillity, cancer, weakened joints, severe calcium deficiency, etc. Some women swear by it, because one shot lasts 3 months, but it’s been proven time and time again to be bad for your health and well being.

IUDs (Intrauterine devices) are the “T” shaped devices that are medically implanted in you’re uterus. The device delivers a slow release of pregnancy hormones, causing the uterus to close itself off. It also completely or mostly stops your period (depending on the device you get. One is made for virgins and only mostly-stops your period due to patients having pregnancy scares when they no longer had periods). IUDs are the most effective birth control, with almost no women getting pregnant while using them. They also last for years. One implant, years of birth control, and neither you nor your partner should feel it. The only downsides are the price (usually around $300-$500), and the chance of it moving. While this is rare, there are cases in which the IUD slips and digs into the uterus lining, causing internal damage, scar tissue, and possible infertility. Again, super rare, but it happens. Honestly, the price is the biggest problem for me. 

Arm implants such as implanon and nexplanon are another form of a long-term implant. They last for years, slowly releasing hormones, but can also have some side effects and can be a tad expensive. People who don’t have reactions to these absolutely swear by them, but a number of people have a bad time with bruising and allergic reactions.

Then there’s the pill. The pill is the cheapest and oldest form of birth control. There are different types, but they essentially all provide the same thing: hormonal regulation of periods and pregnancy hormones to close off the uterus. If you can trust yourself to take the pill daily without missing it, this is the best option for you. It’s cheap (you can order it online for $20/month without insurance, https://www.prjktruby.com/ provides an online consultation with an online prescription). So long as you take it daily around the same time every day, it’s extremely effective (99%). If you miss a pill, start it when you aren’t on your period (up to the second week of usage), or are taking antibiotics, the effectiveness drops and you are at a slightly higher risk of pregnancy (the risk goes from 1% to about 6%). The pill has the multiple benefits I mentioned above, still allows you to have your period (resulting in fewer hormonal imbalances), and gives you control day-to-day. Another benefit of the pill is that if you DO get pregnant while on it, there are no ill-effects on the fetus. Other forms of birth control can cause birth defects or miscarriage should you get pregnant while on them, but the pill has absolutely no effects on the baby so long as you stop taking it before the second trimester (aka, just stop when you realize you’re pregnant and all’s guchi). This was an important tidbit to me in my choice, because while I don’t want a baby just yet, I also wouldn’t get an abortion if anything happened. It’s easier knowing that if I am in that 1% of women my baby won’t be disabled because of it.

Most women use both a form of birth control and condoms together if they want to fully avoid pregnancy while enjoying sex. I was okay with the risk because I trusted my then-boyfriend-now-husband to provide as a dad should I get pregnant. Ultimately the choice is up to you and your partner (because let’s be honest, your parents can’t stop you, and abstinence isn’t entirely reasonable).

On a side note, there’s the morning-after pill, plan B. I want to make it clear that this pill will throw off your hormones and seriously mess you up for a month. If you’re worried about pregnancy, this is an option, but it should only EVER be a plan B, and shouldn’t be relied on as a solution.

OKAY, NOW THAT THE SAFE SEX TALK IS DONE, let’s get into the gritty of it:

First, you mentioned you’re religious, or you’re at least raised religious. I’ve been there myself. You’re probably feeling the guilt of sex-before-marriage. It truly, honestly sucks, and I wish I could give you a hug. I want you to know, girl to girl, there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Sex is normal. The Bible’s laws on sex were written in a time where you get married off as soon as you have your period. Of course, we don’t do that anymore, so a natural and beautiful body function is going ignored. If you want some religious backing on the beauty of sex-for-feeling-good vs sex-for-reproduction, I suggest the Song of Solomon. God made sex to be enjoyable. Nowhere is masturbation written as a sin. I will be the person to tell you it is okay to touch yourself to figure out what you enjoy.

Sex and masturbation will also help you sleep better, balance hormones, and in some cases fight depression. It’s very important for your health, and the more you do it the better it feels. When you have sex more commonly, your body will produce more natural lubrication, making the in-and-out easier by relieving the friction. That’s why the first time (and the first time in a while after a long break) can hurt without using bought lube.

A very sensitive spot for you will be the clitoris. This is the highest hole-looking bit that you can see, and should be very sensitive to touch. When we’re developing as fetuses, we all start ungendered. The clit is what would’ve become a penis had you developed as a male (it’s the same reason guys have nipples). For most women, stimulation to the clit is very important in reaching an orgasm (aka coming, the rush of endorphins and happy feelings while your body clenches up and tightens). Too much stimulation can be uncomfortable. Again, if it hurts, stop. A guy’s boner is not a medical condition and will go away on its own after a few minutes so long as he didn’t take a pill to start it up. IT IS NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO FINISH. IF IT HURTS, STOP. 

Foreplay can help to avoid pain by getting you turned on and getting your body to kick out natural lubricants. This can involve touching, fingering, oral, or just rubbing yourself on his penis without sticking it in. Foreplay can be essential to making it feel good for both of you, and is up to you to experiment with.

Something that you should always keep in mind is that there is absolutely a difference between having sex to have sex and having sex to make love. If your partner is having sex just for the sex, it can leave you feeling used and unsatisfied. This could mean they finish before you (and aren’t willing to help you finish via fingering, oral, toys, etc), or just that they aren’t really doing anything to make you feel good. If the focus is on themselves, it can feel really dirty and crappy. The best way I can describe that feeling is that I felt as though my partner merely masturbated, replacing his hand with me. It feels awful, and you just want to shower and move on. Making love is different. With the right partner, both of you are in it to make the other person feel good. If one of you finishes first, you’re going to let the other finish as well. You feel connected, in love, the absolute closest you can ever be to another human being. Making love is a much more emotional experience. Since a woman’s chance of reaching an orgasm is based on her emotions, you’re more likely to orgasm making love than you are just doing it without the romance. Feeling comfortable is key to having a good experience, otherwise you will tighten up, produce less lubricant, and possibly chafe.

In the end, your experience with sex is up to you. Something that feels good for some people can be awful for you (for example, I hate giving oral but love receiving, my husband hates receiving blowjobs but loves giving oral. It’s a personal preference, and you should never feel bad for not liking something). If/when you feel comfortable with your partner, experiment with different positions, types of foreplay, etc. You’ll only get better with practice, patience, and love. Trust me, I started out AWFUL at sex. It was a bad experience for me, I hated it, and never felt satisfied. My now-husband, however, was more experienced, and I learned quickly. I experimented, and I learned exactly what to do with my own body. It took time, but now I love sex, it feels satisfying every time, and I’m actually excited to initiate it with the man I love. It is, and always will be, one of the closest and most intense moments you can share with another human being.

Don’t feel ashamed. Do your research. Find where your own heart stands. Everything will be okay.

And know that I will always turn on big sister mode and answer what questions I can. <3

[lauramalchowblog]

Still Fighting the Wrong Wars

By KIM BELLARD

What do the coronavirus and Navy ships have in common?  For that matter, what do our military spending and our healthcare spending have in common?  More than you might think, and it boils down to this: we spend too much for too little, in large part because we tend to always be fighting the wrong wars.  

Photo by STR/AFT via Getty Images

I started thinking about this a couple weeks ago due to a WSJ article about the U.S. Navy’s “aging and fragmented technology.”  An internal Navy strategy memo warned that the Navy is “under cyber siege” by foreign adversaries, leaking information “like a sieve.”  It grimly pointed out:

Our adversaries gain an advantage in cyberspace through guerrilla tactics within our defensive perimeters.  Once inside, malign actors steal, destroy and/or modify critical data and information. 

This is the Navy, after all, that proudly tried to modernize by installing touch screen technology on some of its ships, only to have the disaster that hit the USS McClain.  Its vaunted Integrated Bridge and Navigation System was, ProPublica found, “was a welter of buttons, gauges and software that, poorly understood and not surprisingly misused, helped guide 10 sailors to their deaths.”  And that wasn’t the only technology-enabled naval disaster in recent years.

But don’t just blame the Navy.  We’ve got a next-generation stealth fighter which, after over $400b of development, is still having major problems.  Elon Musk, who always seem to be living in the future, bluntly said: “The fighter jet era has passed.  Drone warfare is where the future will be.”

We spend more on defense than the next seven largest militaries combined, spending trillions on advanced aircraft carriers, stealth fighter planes, and fancy personnel transports, and our adversaries are investing in cyber warfare, drones, IEDs, and other low cost, modern tech options.  

We also fight with traditional tools like financial sanctions, which similarly are proving ineffective.  A new report concluded: “Our sanctions system needs a radical update.”

It is no wonder that a recent report from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center warned:

The ever-changing technology landscape is likely to accelerate these trends, threatening the security and economic well-being of the American people and eroding the United States’ economic, military, and technological advantage around the globe.

We may be fighting the wrong wars, but at least we win the spending prize.  Just like in healthcare.  

The coronavirus outbreak helps illustrate our misguided focus.  Yes, when we identify someone is critically ill with it, we’ve got the doctors, hospitals, and technology to help deal with it.  But that leaves a lot to be desired.  As Matthew Herper wrote in S News, “It is an invisible threat, and it is making vivid the shortcomings of our health care systems.”

He noted:

We tend to overreact to problems that are facing us right now but underreact to long-term threats that build slowly…We panic, but we don’t prepare.

 Our public health system is fragmented, underfunded, and only appreciated in times of crisis like this.  We lack a solid tracking system to identify and swiftly respond to outbreaks.  We can’t even seem to manage producing the diagnostic tests to help identify this outbreak.  

Credit: CDC

Dr. Michael Mina, a Howard epidemiologist, told The New York Times: “The incompetence has really exceeded what anyone would expect with the C.D.C.,” causing The Times to wonder: “Why weren’t more Americans tested sooner? How many may be carrying the virus now?”

Our system is creaky even — or especially — when someone is diagnosed with the virus.  We urge people who are or even may be sick to stay home, but, as Christopher Ingram pointed out in The Washington Post, 

The United States is one of the few wealthy democracies in the world that does not mandate paid sick leave. As a result, roughly 25 percent of American workers have none, leaving many with little choice but to go to work while ill, transmitting infections to co-workers, customers and anyone they might meet on the street or in a crowded subway car.

Mr., Ingram cites research on the effect of mandatory paid sick leave on flu rates, which found that they caused a major decrease.  In other words, he says, “at the population level, cities with paid sick leave policies are considerably healthier than those without them.”  

Public health pays off.  

New York is trying to require health insurers to waive any cost-sharing for testing for the coronavirus, but, even if the requirement proves to be legal, it would only cover a small portion of associated costs, and would not apply to ERISA plans that are exempt from state regulation.  

And, of course, for those unfortunate enough to be hospitalized or even just quarantined due to the virus, they’re likely to be stuck with big bills, even if they have insurance.  One health law professor told Sarah Kliff of The New York Times:

The most important rule of public health is to gain the cooperation of the population.  There are legal, moral and public health reasons not to charge the patients.

But, of course, that is not the healthcare system we have.   

A couple of years ago I asserted that our biggest health problems are public health problems, which are ill-served by our current medical care system.  I concluded then:

We need to stop viewing public health as a boring, not glamorous, small part of our healthcare system, but, rather, as the bedrock of it, and of our health.

Mr. Herper urged that “outbreak should be a wake-up call…about infectious threats that we face together and that exploit vulnerabilities associated with income inequality, health disparities, and our slowness to recognize threats.”  I agree with that, but do not think it goes far enough.  

We need to stop fighting the wrong wars in healthcare.  We’re arguing about universal coverage, surprise bills, transparency of pricing, the high price of prescription drugs, and, now, the coronavirus.  Each is a real problem, but none is the right war.  

The real war facing us is a public health war.  Whether it is this or the next pandemic, or whether it is obesity or gun violence, the biggest threats come at the public health level.  We’re spending plenty of money on healthcare, but we’re not spending nearly enough on these wars. 

If the coronavirus outbreak teaches us anything, let it be that we’d better be investing much more heavily in public health, as broadly defined as we can make it.

Kim Bellard is editor of Tincture and thoughtfully challenges the status quo, with a constant focus on what would be best for people’s health.

The post Still Fighting the Wrong Wars appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

Still Fighting the Wrong Wars published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

[kristinsimmons]

Still Fighting the Wrong Wars

By KIM BELLARD

What do the coronavirus and Navy ships have in common?  For that matter, what do our military spending and our healthcare spending have in common?  More than you might think, and it boils down to this: we spend too much for too little, in large part because we tend to always be fighting the wrong wars.  

Photo by STR/AFT via Getty Images

I started thinking about this a couple weeks ago due to a WSJ article about the U.S. Navy’s “aging and fragmented technology.”  An internal Navy strategy memo warned that the Navy is “under cyber siege” by foreign adversaries, leaking information “like a sieve.”  It grimly pointed out:

Our adversaries gain an advantage in cyberspace through guerrilla tactics within our defensive perimeters.  Once inside, malign actors steal, destroy and/or modify critical data and information. 

This is the Navy, after all, that proudly tried to modernize by installing touch screen technology on some of its ships, only to have the disaster that hit the USS McClain.  Its vaunted Integrated Bridge and Navigation System was, ProPublica found, “was a welter of buttons, gauges and software that, poorly understood and not surprisingly misused, helped guide 10 sailors to their deaths.”  And that wasn’t the only technology-enabled naval disaster in recent years.

But don’t just blame the Navy.  We’ve got a next-generation stealth fighter which, after over $400b of development, is still having major problems.  Elon Musk, who always seem to be living in the future, bluntly said: “The fighter jet era has passed.  Drone warfare is where the future will be.”

We spend more on defense than the next seven largest militaries combined, spending trillions on advanced aircraft carriers, stealth fighter planes, and fancy personnel transports, and our adversaries are investing in cyber warfare, drones, IEDs, and other low cost, modern tech options.  

We also fight with traditional tools like financial sanctions, which similarly are proving ineffective.  A new report concluded: “Our sanctions system needs a radical update.”

It is no wonder that a recent report from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center warned:

The ever-changing technology landscape is likely to accelerate these trends, threatening the security and economic well-being of the American people and eroding the United States’ economic, military, and technological advantage around the globe.

We may be fighting the wrong wars, but at least we win the spending prize.  Just like in healthcare.  

The coronavirus outbreak helps illustrate our misguided focus.  Yes, when we identify someone is critically ill with it, we’ve got the doctors, hospitals, and technology to help deal with it.  But that leaves a lot to be desired.  As Matthew Herper wrote in S News, “It is an invisible threat, and it is making vivid the shortcomings of our health care systems.”

He noted:

We tend to overreact to problems that are facing us right now but underreact to long-term threats that build slowly…We panic, but we don’t prepare.

 Our public health system is fragmented, underfunded, and only appreciated in times of crisis like this.  We lack a solid tracking system to identify and swiftly respond to outbreaks.  We can’t even seem to manage producing the diagnostic tests to help identify this outbreak.  

Credit: CDC

Dr. Michael Mina, a Howard epidemiologist, told The New York Times: “The incompetence has really exceeded what anyone would expect with the C.D.C.,” causing The Times to wonder: “Why weren’t more Americans tested sooner? How many may be carrying the virus now?”

Our system is creaky even — or especially — when someone is diagnosed with the virus.  We urge people who are or even may be sick to stay home, but, as Christopher Ingram pointed out in The Washington Post, 

The United States is one of the few wealthy democracies in the world that does not mandate paid sick leave. As a result, roughly 25 percent of American workers have none, leaving many with little choice but to go to work while ill, transmitting infections to co-workers, customers and anyone they might meet on the street or in a crowded subway car.

Mr., Ingram cites research on the effect of mandatory paid sick leave on flu rates, which found that they caused a major decrease.  In other words, he says, “at the population level, cities with paid sick leave policies are considerably healthier than those without them.”  

Public health pays off.  

New York is trying to require health insurers to waive any cost-sharing for testing for the coronavirus, but, even if the requirement proves to be legal, it would only cover a small portion of associated costs, and would not apply to ERISA plans that are exempt from state regulation.  

And, of course, for those unfortunate enough to be hospitalized or even just quarantined due to the virus, they’re likely to be stuck with big bills, even if they have insurance.  One health law professor told Sarah Kliff of The New York Times:

The most important rule of public health is to gain the cooperation of the population.  There are legal, moral and public health reasons not to charge the patients.

But, of course, that is not the healthcare system we have.   

A couple of years ago I asserted that our biggest health problems are public health problems, which are ill-served by our current medical care system.  I concluded then:

We need to stop viewing public health as a boring, not glamorous, small part of our healthcare system, but, rather, as the bedrock of it, and of our health.

Mr. Herper urged that “outbreak should be a wake-up call…about infectious threats that we face together and that exploit vulnerabilities associated with income inequality, health disparities, and our slowness to recognize threats.”  I agree with that, but do not think it goes far enough.  

We need to stop fighting the wrong wars in healthcare.  We’re arguing about universal coverage, surprise bills, transparency of pricing, the high price of prescription drugs, and, now, the coronavirus.  Each is a real problem, but none is the right war.  

The real war facing us is a public health war.  Whether it is this or the next pandemic, or whether it is obesity or gun violence, the biggest threats come at the public health level.  We’re spending plenty of money on healthcare, but we’re not spending nearly enough on these wars. 

If the coronavirus outbreak teaches us anything, let it be that we’d better be investing much more heavily in public health, as broadly defined as we can make it.

Kim Bellard is editor of Tincture and thoughtfully challenges the status quo, with a constant focus on what would be best for people’s health.

The post Still Fighting the Wrong Wars appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

Still Fighting the Wrong Wars published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: Recollections of a Long Siege in Kashmir

A military siege is like a chokehold on an entire people.

I was a teenager when I lived through a long curfew in Kashmir in the 1990s when the rebellion against Indian rule was at its peak. After decades of betrayals, broken promises, and pent-up resentment, Kashmiris had risen up in arms. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Kashmiris marched through the streets in a mass eruption. India rushed in thousands of troops, turning the idyll of Kashmir into a dystopian garrison overnight. Everyone began to call the valley “a beautiful prison.”

The long war in and over Kashmir began soon after the Partition of British India in 1947. At the time, the future of the independent state of Kashmir was left undecided; in 1948, after India and Pakistan had fought their first war over Kashmir, it was agreed that a U.N.-mandated referendum would be held to allow Kashmiris a say in whether they joined India or Pakistan. That promise has yet to be honored. In 1987, a state election was rigged to prevent a new and popular Kashmiri party from gaining legislative power, leaving Kashmiris more disillusioned than ever. Pakistan readily handed Kashmiris arms and training, leading to full-blown mass uprising. The early 1990s were a time of daily bloodletting, as the Indian armed forces responded with limitless force, killing and torturing hundreds. Hundreds of protesters were killed by the paramilitaries from January to May 1990 alone.

On January 21, 1990, one day after India sent an all-powerful governor to stymie mass protests, at least 50 people were killed on the Gaw Kadal bridge in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir. The paramilitaries surrounded unarmed demonstrators on the bridge and indiscriminately shot at them with automatic rifles. They then poked the piled-up bodies on the bridge to check if anyone was alive.

Robert Nickelsberg—Getty ImagesAn Indian Border Security Force soldier shows a suspected militant to people in a line of parked military vehicles, Srinagar, India, on July 28, 1994.

Far away in the arcadian countryside and along the Line of Control, the de-facto border that separates the disputed region into Indian- and Pakistan-administered territories, hundreds were killed in battles between the insurgents and Indian forces. Kashmir’s mountains became open burial grounds. Soon, we saw bloody internecine battles, too, as Pakistan decided to back pro-Pakistan militants to diminish those who favored an independent Kashmir. As if Kashmir hadn’t seen enough death, for some time, Kashmiris were killing one another on the streets. By day, Kashmiris were busy counting their dead, or mending their broken-bodied kin; at night, they contemplated their future.

Kashmiri Pandits, a Hindu minority who had lived together with Kashmiri Muslims for centuries, left in an almost overnight exodus. More than 200 Pandits were targeted and killed by the militants; facing mortal fear, they just left their age-old homes for the hot plains of India and became refugees. Delhi has since then used their enormous tragedy and suffering to demonize Kashmiri Muslims.

In the city where I was—Srinagar, Kashmir’s biggest city—the sight of the “coffin car” (an armored carrier deployed by the Indian armed forces in residential neighborhoods) and the olive green “gypsy” (a customized jeep used as a patrol car) would send us boys fleeing. They would sweep down a street and grab and nab. The sheer glimpse of these monster vehicles would terrify parents.

On Aug. 5 this year, when India imposed the worst-ever siege on Kashmir and unilaterally revoked the region’s long-held autonomy, I wasn’t merely reminded of all this—I simply relived everything. The soul-crushing 70-day long curfew that I experienced growing up in Kashmir never really leaves you. It follows you like a second shadow, invisible but inerasable.

In the 1990s, soldiers marched outside in chain-like formations at intervals. Our movements to see neighbors, friends, or just to walk a bit, after weeks of being restricted indoors, had to be timed to the rounds. A slight miscalculation would result in someone or the other at the receiving end of rifle butts. The soldiers could shoot you dead on mere suspicion because draconian laws that India imposed in 1990 gave the armed forces complete immunity from prosecution. The laws remain in place even today. Violence, brute power, and total freedom to exercise that power are essential tools in the hands of an occupying military. The message to the natives is clear: to break your spirit, we can do anything to your bodies.

One evening, we were playing carrom in my uncle’s house next door when we heard a commotion outside, then loud cracks, then shouting and screaming. The paramilitaries had chased a shadow in the by-lane that led to our neighbourhood from a traffic artery and pulled apart a door that they thought had helped the escapee. We held our breath.

We never found out who was beaten up, tortured, or taken away.

Alixandra Fazzina—NOOR/ReduxWomen make their way home at dusk as clouds of tear gas engulfs the air in the stone strewn streets surrounding the Jama Masjed following riots in Srinagar in Dec. 2008.

Food began to run out. Kashmiris, conditioned by harsh winters and a long history of political repression, are accomplished hoarders of food and memories. We hang ornate garlands of sun-dried turnip, gourd, eggplant, on our balconies and roof terraces. We keep large amounts of rice and pulses in man-size vats of copper or earthenware. We store so many medicines that each house has a mini pharmacy in the kitchen or living room. We remember years and seasons as that curfew or this. People who get married during sieges sometimes come to be called “curfew bride” or “curfew groom.” We remember. All of this to nourish the primeval seed of survival, as hard times begin to loom—and they do ever so often.

We dig into these repositories when the snows or soldiers arrive. The snows are always welcome, as they replenish our mountains and inject fresh life into our springs and gardens. The soldiers are never welcome because they inevitably kill or torture—both the young and old, men and women. They land in Kashmir for one thing and one thing alone: to deliver imperial punishments to a people who’ve never accepted India’s rule over them.

As the curfew lasted months, and days and nights began to get longer and more dreadful, boys in the neighbourhood started to hatch plans to do something about it all. A festival day was approaching perhaps, and people whispered that some households were barely managing to feed their children with sparse meals of rice and beans. People helped each other, of course, with tins and bags of rudiments but everyone knew the stores were running out. We were alright, I remember, and didn’t go without meals, but only just about.

An older boy with whom I’d often played cricket in an apple orchard nearby, let it be known that we could all go on an expedition into the picturesque Dal Lake, a ten-minute walk from my parents’ home. Srinagar, one of the oldest cities in the world, is a town crisscrossed by water. It is hemmed in by the famous Dal Lake on the east, and the great river Jhelum runs through its heart in the old town. The people of the city have always depended on its water bodies for food and transport. It is a city defined by water. Although rampant urbanisation and bureaucratic venality have eroded Kashmir’s water bodies during the last few decades, fresh vegetables and fruit are to this day sold at the shores of the lake. The produce arrives daily from an intricate network of small lake-side farms, floating gardens, and inland waterways.

And it was into these un-curfewed patches of land on water, water on land, that I went on a rickety boat nearly thirty years ago to hunt for food. Or is ‘forage’ a more appropriate term? We set off by a narrow clearing away from the main shore in our parts – there were rumours that the armed forces had acquired naval boats to patrol the lake, to lay a siege on the water, too.

The boat was slow, somewhat precariously inclined in its negotiation with the surface of the lake. I had a makeshift paddle, perhaps an old cricket bat or a plank of wood. But what I do remember clearly is that we rowed with all our strength to cover ground quickly, glances darting left and right in case an unexhausted vegetable patch came into view, in case a kind farmer spied us from his perch somewhere in the dense growths and understood at once what we wanted, needed. There was, of course, an air of thrill, adventure, on the boat but we also knew it was a rather desperate situation.

Prashant Panjiar—AnzenbergerYoung Kashmiris play a game of carrom on the bank of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Each of us returned with something in our hands. A bottle gourd, a batch of withered greens, lotus stems, some potatoes perhaps too… The neighbourhood, like most others across Kashmir survived the curfew by sheer graft, collective action, and what came to be known as a ‘shutter economy’, which meant shopkeepers sold or loaned basic goods to people secretly, from under the shutter.

In that summer and autumn, after we’d scoured for vegetables in that wobbly Shikara boat, I quickly turned from boyhood into youth, became someone who lived amidst curfews and sieges, witnessing the image of the pastoral idyll – Kashmir – breaking to reveal the terrifying darkness of oppression.

The current siege of Kashmir, complete with an unprecedented, three-month-long communications blackout, is in many ways a continuation of the sieges that have come before. Yet this one might stay for a long time, a permanent siege in some form or the other. Because history tells us Kashmiris will not relent, even as they are, more than ever, surrounded by the jackboots of an occupation.

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[spider-gets-bewitched]

Rocks and Minerals

What the heck is a mineral?

Wow, I can’t believe y’all asked that hypothetically. A mineral is a rock formed in its shape naturally (instead of being cut, eroded, etc.) and is mostly homogeneous. Calcite, quartz, all that jazz.

How are rocks and minerals good for magic?

Rocks and minerals are very good energy carriers and even energy batteries depending on the mineral. Some produce their own energy innately, some require charging regularly. They’re good for charging items and spells.

Do all rocks have energy?

Yes, because everything in the universe has some energy. Some rocks have more magical energy than others though. Natural minerals tend to have innate energy from the Earth itself, whereas lab minerals require charging by a second source.

Why do rocks have innate powers?

The structure of rocks themselves on an atomic, molecular level varies by mineral, and even by specimen. Certain structures, colors, etc. are more attuned to certain energies, causing many very common correlations (quartz is neutral, rose quartz is for love, calcite is for energy, etc.). Not all of these correlations work for everyone, of course, but they’re decently common.

Different rocks have different energies with different people. If you hooked up a single AA battery to a car, the car wouldn���t work, but if you put it in a toy, the battery would provide a good amount of charge and allow the correct function. Similarly, different mineral energies interact differently with different people. If you don’t know how a certain mineral affects you, go with your gut. Your intuition is good at telling if something works for you or not, especially when it comes to magic.

Certain rocks can charge others, such as selenite. Other rocks may hold this power for different people, too. Most rocks, however, require some sort of charging and/or cleansing after a certain amount of stress. Moonlight is usually pretty good for this, but there are other methods too, like just sticking a cleansing sigil in a jar and having it cleanse the whole container.

TL;DR: Rocks are good filters and batteries for magical energy, and every specimen and every user is different. Find what works best for you!

[glenmenlow]

Optimizing The Brand Asset

It’s nearly impossible to escape the pervasive influence that brands have on our lives. In the broadest sense, brands constitute organizing mechanisms to help us navigate through each consumer day. What we drink, eat, or drive, what products we use at home and at work, where we play or vacation, where we live, what we watch, what we read, and even who we interact with, and how, are often choices informed by or shaped by branding. That is, they are a function of the set of values and perceptions we have about companies, products, services, or even TV shows, people, and places that form in our minds.

You’ve formed an impression, sometimes a strong one, sometimes weak, about all of the above. That perception is based on whatever mix of inputs have been pushed to you, whether intended or not – previous interactions, something you read, heard or observed, and yes, formal marketing communications such as advertising.

We all develop our perceptions of brands based on this full range of direct and indirect stimuli, yet many businesses – even large, global, sophisticated ones, often seem satisfied to address only a narrow portion of these stimuli, and then typically using only the traditional marketing tools of advertising, promotion, and packaging. It’s not surprising to hear boardroom conversation and cocktail chatter about the latest retail promotion or a favorite TV spot, but it’s far less common to hear how a consumer’s interaction with a salesperson has been engineered to ensure that it reinforces the intended meaning of the brand.

Brand Optimization

Despite the ubiquity of branding and the overwhelming number of companies and executives who engage in brand marketing, not many companies have fully utilized their brand effectively as an asset.

But for a select few companies, brand optimization has become a foundational element of their overall business strategy, creating key competitive leverage points at every turn, and directly enhancing revenue, profits, goodwill, and market capitalization.

They know that the true value of their brands is not just about clever ads or billboards, although advertising is certainly an important component. It’s not just about packaging, the website, or social media, although these are certainly important too. Instead …

A great brand is a set of consistent, positive associations and values that have been created through the sum total of customer interactions with a company, its products and services, and all the messages through all media that the company and its people put out into the environment.

Delivery of this consistent set of values and messages creates consumer expectations, and strong brand perceptions create an unspoken brand promise, an expectation of future value.

Thus, customer experience is at the core of every brand. Research shows time and again that people reward companies whose products and services meet or exceed their expectations, and they punish those that fall short. Rewards come in the form of brand preference and customer loyalty that translates into revenue; punishment comes in declining sales and eroded reputation.

Customer Interactions And Desired Experiences

Yet many companies don’t seem to recognize how fundamental it is for all customer interactions to be seamlessly and effortlessly aligned toward a mutually desired set of experiences.

Those that understand the true meaning of their brands will use their brands to influence and drive their entire organization toward highly satisfying and mutually rewarding interactions. This is how Southwest Airlines became one of the most respected carriers, and how Coca-Cola has delivered a consistently refreshing experience for millions of consumers throughout the world for more than 100 years.

Behind every great brand is a history of effort and commitment, and it’s not easy to deliver a consistent brand experience. It takes strong leadership and a clear vision, combined with employees who share the vision and work every day to make it a reality for every customer. It also takes constant monitoring to make sure that things stay on track.

As your goal is to create compelling and actionable brand strategies that can be effectively delivered, you’ll need to develop a planning process that enables your company to identify and adopt behaviors that will lead to enhanced customer experiences and revenue growth.

Most companies begin by asking four simple brand development questions:

1. What is the state of our brand today?

2. What is the desired state for the brand tomorrow?

3. What must be done to activate the brand throughout the company?

4. What ongoing measures are needed to ensure that the brand promise is being experienced consistently?

Who’s responsible for asking these questions?

It’s the Brand Guardians, of course.

Honest and robust answers to these questions are essential points for learning and inspiration along the journey to building the strong and enduring bridge to your customers and a bigger future for your brand.

These core ideas and others can be found in my latest book The Brand Bridge – How to Build a Profound Connection Between Your Company, Your Brand, and Your Customers.

At The Blake Project we are helping clients from around the world, in all stages of development, redefine and articulate what makes them competitive at critical moments of change. Please email us for more.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Growth and Brand Education

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