#even if they themselves dont use the term theyve heard it before

[psychiatricwarfare]

i dont understand why people yell at me when i say im slow (mentally), i mean it. its not derogatory or offensive unless YOU use it that way. i am slow. it takes me longer to understand and process things than most do, thats literally what being mentally slow means

[i-am-the-entertainer]

RevieWBY: Volume 6

This has been stated so many times, but Volume 5 was bad. Okay, it wasn’t terrible, like I don’t feel offended by it being bad (unlike certain folks), but looking back on it I don’t have anything to say to really defend it as something Rooster Teeth should have talked up as much as they did at the time. It had some good things going for it, but the amount of problems it had in terms of animation and writing really put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. So for Volume 6 to deal with all that fallout, it was going to have to do a lot. And to their credit, CRWBY accepted the criticism in stride, and actively worked to make Volume 6 something that people who despised Volume 5 might enjoy.

Still, one had to go into this season with the understanding that some people were never going to be completely satisfied with whatever CRWBY did. Because at the end of the day, the RWBY that Rooster Teeth currently makes is not Monty Oum’s show anymore. No, this isn’t saying CRWBY is in any way disrespecting his legacy, it’s just Monty Oum had a certain method to running the show that only he could really get away with: epic fight scenes, suddenly throwing giant curveballs into the series’ mythology, taking vital time away from storytelling so the fights looked cool. I mean, there are people who criticize the show for doing that now when they didn’t give two shits when Monty did it, because Monty did it in a manner that somehow worked. I don’t know how he did it, but he did, and, well, he’s not here to do it, and there’s no way even a huge animation team can collectively do things like him. And they shouldn’t: if they can use a better industry standard animation engine than Poser, than the fact that Monty Oum didn’t like animating with Maya shouldn’t stop them.

Blah blah blah...this is all about FNDM reception. What did I think of Volume 6?

Well...

Focus

In my mid-volume review I cited this as Volume 6′s strongest aspect, and as far as I can tell this remains the case. By focusing our hero storyline on one group and for the most part the villain storylines on only a few characters who were paired off, Volume 6 effectively told a story that didn’t force the viewers to juggle multiple things and find some semblance of a continuing story. Everything happened linearly and the whole thing made for a more enjoyable watch overall.

Tone

Building off of that renewed focus, this volume felt like it had more of a consistent tone that lasted from beginning to end. RWBY markets itself as an anime show and uses a lot of that anime-style of humor (slapstick and comedically exaggerated emotions), but honestly it’s always played fast and loose with using that humor in a way that doesn’t feel out of place. In this volume it was more consistently used, and that’s largely thanks to the nailed down focus that allowed character interactions to utilize the humor in a natural way. Ruby and Maria Calavera were especially good sources for humor.

Now, things did get a little more screwball when Cordovin came into the mix, but it was interesting seeing CRWBY take that humor to a logical extreme for the first time in a while (not since the Beacon years). It interrupted the tone for a bit, but not in a manner that overall changed the genre this show is going for.

Animation

Beautiful. The improved production pipeline that we’ve heard about really came through. These episodes were the best they’ve ever looked, minus a few errors here and there, showing just how amazing RWBY can look when you give the animators time to add their own touches. There was some really great fight animation to boot: none of the fights this volume felt awkward, and you could tell the animators had a lot of fun.

Worldbuilding/Storytelling

It feels weird saying that Volume 6 did a better job with worldbuilding than Volume 4, which took place on four different continents and traveled across one, and Volume 5, which took place on two different continents and featured the second major skirmish between the villains and the heroes. I think this has to do with just how well it was integrated into the story: insight into the world came at points where the story needed it and when the viewers wanted it. Nothing ever felt like a massive info dump better suited World of Remnant; where there was just too much information delivered that wasn’t relevant to what was happening in the show. Volumes 4 and 5 had this same problem with establishing the world, often telling us too much in a way that just didn’t feel natural to the story. With Volume 6, almost every chapter up until the final Argus arc included some form of that insight:

Chapter 1 showed us how ordinary civilians deal with traveling through Grimm territory––the steps they take to protect themselves

Chapter 2 showed us some aspects of the Mistral criminal underground, not telling us too much about it but suggesting it was much larger than what Cinder encountered.

Chapter 3 showed us...so many things.

Chapter 4 offered a sense of the stakes RWBY faced in relation to all of Remnant.

Chapter 5 and 6 gave us a glimpse at another form of non-city life in Remnant.

Chapter 7 introduced us to Argus, my favorite of all the Remnant cities we’ve seen; plus a glimpse into the life of the silver-eyed warriors; and a more representative depiction of what domestic life is like in Remnant

Chapter 8 told us what Atlas personnel who aren’t Ironwood or Winter are like, plus the long-awaited insight into how the silver eyes work.

Chapter 9 shows something of the effect the Battle of Beacon, and by extension Pyrrha’s death, had outside of our core group.

Things kind of teeter off with the finale arc, but that’s because worldbuilding became a little less important to what was going on. This is kind of a stretch, but the mech fight and the arrival of the Grimm in Argus give us an idea of how large non-capital cities defend themselves without just spelling everything out.

All in all, this volume delivered on some impressive worldbuilding, probably the best the series has had in a while. It wasn’t massive info dumps unless it needed to be (e.g. Chapter 3), and it offered just enough for other important things like the storytelling and the action to still be in the forefront.

Characters

Volume 5, despite the fact it involved the major reunion of Team RWBY after two volumes, felt like it was simply putting the main characters through situations without those situations really doing anything to develop them or define them as anything beyond what we already knew. Some characters fared better on the development front, namely Yang, but others, especially Ruby, just seemed to be along for the ride without us getting any insight into them. This is where the writing issue that came from separating everyone starting with Volume 4 really came to a head: too many different characters with their own story to cover, and sometimes those stories just didn’t do much for the character beyond existing as a situation they were in.

Volume 6 feels like the refutal of that, and that mostly has to do with the fact that we’re not juggling so many storylines anymore. When a major event happens to the heroes, everyone gets affected at the same time. The train crashes? DEVELOPMENT! Jinn’s story? DEVELOPMENT AND INSIGHT! Snowstorm? INSIGHT! The Apathy? DEVELOPMENT! Telling team JNR about Jinn’s story? DEVELOPMENT! Adam ambushes Blake and Yang for the first time since Volume 3? DEVELOPMENT! WITH A HEALTHY DOSAGE OF ANGST!

Surprisingly, the same thing is happening to two of our favorite villains, Mercury and Emerald: even though they only really appeared in three chapters this Volume, we actually got a surprising chance to see how their defeat at the Battle of Haven affected them, and their increasingly strong misgivings about working for Salem. We get more of an idea of them as people rather than Cinder’s blind followers, understanding why they stuck with such an evil person for so long. It’s the most we’ve learned about them since Volume 3, and we didn’t even need lengthy flashbacks.

Even Adam got some more insight. RWBY has been following the path that Adam was an abusive ex-boyfriend for quite a while now, but there was always this underlying thought that he got into the White Fang business for a seemingly noble cause. The problem was the show hadn’t depicted how he got from Point A to Point B. The Adam Character Short offered us some of that much needed insight, putting some of his actions up to this point in a new context, even if it was set-up for clearing up some things so they could get rid of him.

Of course, there are still exceptions to characters getting character development, and honestly they’re kind of glaring ones. Oscar’s development arc, where he came to accept he was his own person, completely happened offscreen (for reasons that I’ve brought up before and will reiterate in the final section), robbing us of really witnessing his growth as a person. I enjoyed some of the stuff Cinder did this volume, especially her escape from the vault and her fight with Neo. But honestly she continues to be a pretty bland villain with little hints at her motivations for being such a terrible person: the Battle of Haven was such an utter defeat for her there needed to be some form of consequence that would’ve affected her character while also telling us more about her. Maybe it would’ve been her strategizing her revenge, which would’ve gotten more insight into how she thinks as a master planner. Instead, we get her leaving the vault, more or less going back to what she used to do but in a more low-key setting, fighting with Neo, plotting with Neo, and leaving with Neo. It felt more like “Hey, she’s alive, and here’s what she’s doing,” which while I appreciate it feels kind of a waste of time if you’re not doing anything with her beyond that. Honestly, a post-credits reveal that she was alive and then a pre-Volume 7 character short detailing how she made it to Atlas that covered her and Neo’s entire storyline this volume would’ve been more helpful.

Before I go on to my most major critique of this volume, I need to address the two Goliaths in the room.

Adam

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: they needed to get rid of Adam. The way things have been going, there was only so much more you could do with his character before he became a nuisance that was overstaying his welcome. I understand people wanted some deeper insight into him, but the fact was he was never introduced to be a major villain to anyone beyond Blake and later Yang. They could’ve had him have a thing against Weiss, but they didn’t, they focused the time that would’ve made him a major villain for everyone else on making people like Roman and Cinder and Salem the big villains. They decided on the path of abusive ex-boyfriend a very long time ago, and if you hadn’t figured that out after the Adam Character Short I honestly think you were being willfully ignorant to what’s been building up.

The best I can say is that Adam and his history is a missed opportunity for some pretty interesting storytelling and worldbuilding, but the fact remains: it is not his story that they want to tell, it is not his show. It may make something interesting to think about, but Adam’s story is supplementary, and works better in supplementary material, a la character shorts and maybe mangas.

Jaune

Y’all need to quit it with the “Hrrr drr Jaune took up time again moan moan Miles Luna is self indulgent” talk, he barely did anything this volume beyond Chapter 9 and having a sister that the whole fandom loved.

Pacing

This...this is where Volume 6 ran into trouble.

Overall, from the season premiere to the finale arc, this was probably the best-paced season of RWBY we’ve ever had. Major story events happened right when we needed them, and for the most part they didn’t drag out story arcs for any longer than they needed to be.

Well...until they reached Argus, that is.

At face value, a lot happened in the final couple of chapters. Chapter 8 gave us Maria explaining the silver eyes, Chapter 9 had the scene with Pyrrha’s statue and the mysterious Red-Haired Woman (I’ll headcanon whatever I want about who she is, Jen Brown) Chapter 10 started the Cordovin fight, Chapter 11 reinforced Blake and Yang’s partnership, Chapter 12 killed Adam, and Chapter 13 had Ruby finally use her silver eye powers to defeat a Grimm and they made it to Atlas. Yeah, it was a pretty eventful set of episodes.

So then why did it feel like it dragged? Here are a couple reasons that I’ve identified.

1. The Cordovin Battle sidelined story arcs for too long

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: the finale arc should not have been split up like that over so many episodes. It afforded us some pretty well-animated fights, some of the best the series has ever had, but the volume hadn’t been relying on that action to keep up the forward momentum, but on actually telling the stories of these characters. I get the need for CRWBY to prove that they can do well-animated fights, but as I’ve come to accept action should never take precedence over storytelling (I know, that’s hard to swallow when parts of the fndm spends hours complaining about how Monty’s not animating the fights anymore). And it’s clear to me in this final arc put emphasis on the action over the momentum of the story, bringing the actually pretty good storytelling the volume had had up to that point to a grinding halt.

Now, historically RWBY fights have delayed telling stories, but it’s never been for too long, at most maybe two chapters? But if you spend three chapters on a single fight, thereby devoting three weeks of your viewers’ time to high-octane action, people are gonna notice that the story is basically going nowhere.

What could’ve made this less of a problem? Well, perhaps establishing Cordovin earlier and making her less of a buffoon would’ve eased my hatred of this arc. Volume 6 lacks a clear antagonist for the story, but the way Cordovin was treated as a big deal in this final battle made it seem like she was taking up that role, except we didn’t even see her until the final half of the volume, and in her debut we couldn’t take her seriously as a villain, much less an antagonist, because of the pure comedy they used in her intro. There needed to be something about her at least a few episodes early––take this with a grain of salt because I think following JNR in Argus would’ve killed the balanced pacing of the first half of the volume (and just made the Jaune haters apoplectic), but maybe a few quick scenes of JNR arriving in Argus and getting rejected by her would’ve been helpful. Or honestly easing off on the comedy of her intro. Such a one-note character who we are primed to not take seriously isn’t interesting as a major force, so identifying her as a more threatening roadblock for the heroes would’ve made the stakes of the final fight a little more...present.

2. Important storylines got trimmed for time’s sake and weren’t addressed properly.

@hypeathon (whose excellent production analyses for this Volume are well worth a read) identified a tweet Miles made back in October, prior to the premiere and most likely when they were finishing storyboards, about “killing your darlings.” For those unaware and who may have severely misinterpreted that comment, “killing your darlings” is when writers have to sacrifice something they love or want to do so that the story works better. The timeliness of this tweet (after they would’ve finished the script but before they’d wrapped on storyboards and voice acting for the final episodes) suggests the writers’ room had to cut a lot of material from Volume 6 (what Miles called a massacre of darlings), most likely due to production limits or not having enough time to cover them.

Think about it: the story from Chapters 1-7 was really good: everything was properly spaced out, the scripts felt polished, there was a balance of action and comedy and legit storytelling, the good pacing lasted longer than it ever has within a single volume.

Then we hit Chapter 8 and suddenly it all changes: storylines don’t get the proper time devoted to them, arcs come to a screeching halt due to the big fight. Unlike previous volumes, where the imbalance was pretty much the entire volume, there’s actually a clear point right in the middle of this volume where things suddenly took a turn for the worse. And the fact is, some of the problems with the story in the final arc suddenly make more sense if you accept that time that would’ve been devoted to it got sidelined in this “purge”: Qrow’s alcoholism suddenly getting brushed aside after Chapter 9 hopefully to be addressed next volume, Oscar disappearing and all his development happening offscreen, Adam’s completely unsubtle return after only a vague hint in Chapter 1 that would’ve been stronger if he’d kept popping up in Argus. I’d even go so far to say the odd pacing of the final few chapters could easily have been the result of the writing team not being able to devote a single chapter to such a grand fight, so they needed to stretch it out so CRWBY could actually animate it within reasonable deadlines, which meant sacrificing time for those arcs that so desperately needed development.

So what overall is gonna fix RWBY’s pacing in the future? Well, I think at the moment the show is too ambitious. If it wants to keep to a reasonable production schedule, they need to control the scale of their finales so that it can be completed without needing to sacrifice other storylines. If it wants to hold onto that ambition and make the finales as grand as they want it to be to do their boy Monty proud, then they absolutely need to delay the actual release of the volume so they can put in the proper amount of time to both the story and animation. And I don’t think anyone would mind waiting a little longer for Volume 7 if it meant this show got the care and attention it needs to tell the story it clearly wants to tell.

Conclusions

Evaluating Volume 6 is impossible without evaluating what came before it. RWBY was never a perfect show, but when you lose someone who was responsible for the show’s popularity in the first place and have to change how it’s made to make up for his absence, there’s going to be backlash. Backlash from the fans, and, uh, backlash from inside the company. The fact is, people are never going to be satisfied with the RWBY that Rooster Teeth makes today, and Rooster Teeth is never going to push out a RWBY that will make everyone happy. All they can really do is keep moving forward.

And move forward they did. Despite my problems with the finale, Volume 6 was good. I’ve always been sort of ambivalent about the show (I was drawn to it by my brother shortly before Monty’s death and have been watching it out of respect for him and the company as creative artists), and even if I thought some of RWBY’s critics were being too harsh (or seriously needed to find something better to do), I didn’t find Volumes 4 and 5 enjoyable enough that I felt like defending them. But guys, Volume 6 did something amazing: it made RWBY fun to watch again. Focused, consistent, and compelling storytelling plus gradually eased-in worldbuilding made for a story that I could follow along without having to juggle so many different plots. Improvements in the overall animation made things nice to look at and when fights happened they were always entertaining, never making me cringe or grimace, always making me think “Hell yeah, beat the shit out of them!” Just like I felt back in the old days of the show.

I feel as though what’s holding RWBY back at this point, however, is adhering to the production schedule that its old vision called for in making its current vision. And it honestly cannot keep doing that. RWBY is a show trying to reach grand heights, and its rushed production timelines and lost story arcs are keeping it tethered to the ground. Yet I can’t help but say: Volume 6 is RWBY at its finest so far. It can’t fix the problems that previous volumes have had, but it builds on the void those problems left to build a story that makes this show feel like something worth following once more.

So, I can safely say I’ll be following along when RWBY returns for Volume 7...hopefully later rather than sooner (again, it needs a better production schedule).

[alexanderpusheen]

so a bunch of people are talking about how the national library, the azhar library, and a cultural center in palestine has been destroyed, and worse, it was deliberately targeted for destruction by israel, and if you cared about the notre dame but not this then youre a piece of shit white supremacist etc etc

....okay.

first of all, i cannot find a single reliable source that the library has been destroyed. i found a tweet from the 6th, but no news articles. and google, as helpful as ever in aiding genocide, really wants me to read what israellycool has to say on the matter, as no matter how many different search terms i use, that shitty blog is either the first or one of the first results. no i will not link it, go find it for yourself if youre that curious, but im sure if you tried to fact check this at all you already saw that childish fascist screed already.

secondly, imperialists have always targeted centers of learning and information storage. massively important cultural artifacts for all of humanity were lost during the iraq war, and they were not ‘lost’ so much as the US deliberately rounded up librarians and intellectuals and murdered them and then bombed museums and libraries, a MASSIVE geneva convention violation. i remember hearing about that growing up just a few miles outside of NYC in a NJ suburb and i remember losing all sympathy for american soldiers who got themselves blown up in a war that was more about forcing a people to submit to US will than anything else. (yes, including oil.)

what is the point of all this?

i had very complicated feelings abt the notre dame fire, mostly because i hate france, i hate europeans, and i hate white people, but notre dame was not built using colonial money, and the very original building was connected to an antisemitic pogram but it had already happened hundreds of years before the present day notre dame construction. i saw some spicy takes like ‘well even if the notre dame wasnt funded by colonialism, everything in europe before the slave trade was made from jewish capital!’ which was like, oh, so we’re all medieval scholars now? bc thats not even a little bit goddamn true. 

and even if it were, there is something that truly angers me about all of these hot takes. because theyre not only false, but they look for some ‘us vs them’ justification for why we deserve to be free. no, mon frère, we deserve liberation simply because we do. it has nothing to do with inherent goodness.

the reason we dont like europe is because imperialism is objectively exploitative of the most vulnerable and marginalized. trying to look for this primordial evil in europe and a primordial good in other populations completely defeats the purpose of examining things through an anticolonial (or marxist) lens. we do not deserve liberation because we are Good, but because, as marx said, systems of oppression are not sustainable in the long term. you cannot fuck over billions of people forever. they will eventually demand something better than what we have. it doesnt mean each and every one of us is a good person, because what is good is highly relative, and denying or granting liberation based on goodness or good deeds is something a religion does, and liberation ideologies are not religions but means to an end.

i dont know if those libraries were destroyed recently. and if they werent, i dont know why people would lie about that. israels relentless campaign of terror over the past few weeks should be enough of a call to action, rather than some weak ‘a building was destroyed in a place no one cares about’ nonsense. i care about palestine because they are all my comrades in arms. they are my comrades, oppressed by the same system of oppression that oppresses millions of brazilians. those systems look different everywhere in order to adapt to the situation, of course, but they are the same, and thus, our struggle is the same. even if the palestinians had no history, had no libraries, had no culture, i would always be on their side because they are my comrades. we are one and the same, together, against imperialism and apartheid.

likewise, making a call to action, appealing to zionists who wept over the notre dame but not this important palestinian cultural landmark....listen. it is not the building itself. it never was. white supremacists latched onto the notre dame fire as a symbol of western civilization being taken over by THE OTHER (which i am very much a fucking part of!) and trying to get them to care about a building theyve never heard of that does not make up the western canon of Important Things is absolutely useless. theyll say ‘well hamas bombs palestinians’ and act like that was the most devastating proof against seeing palestinians are real people who deserve to live outside of an open air prison. is it true? who fucking cares. every palestinian could be a member of hamas, they could all be bomb making experts and love bombs and be really into just bombing everything including their own homes, and they would still deserve to live outside of israels apartheid regime. but you cant explain this to someone who is determined to view you as a Thing. you cannot.

i cried when the notre dame burned. by the logic of a lot of idiots on this site, i must be a white supremacist. sure, whatever. its extremely not true so you can say whatever you want. but the issue is that galvanizing others into action using buildings is never going to work. because it is and isnt about the buildings. i extremely dont care about white french people because like, why do i have to care about them. but i care deeply about palestinians and my solidarity will always lie with them, whether or not they have nice cultural things that i like. it doesnt really matter if i like palestinian culture and hate french culture. thats not the point. one gets to thrive because of the bounties imperialism has given it, while the other rots on the vine as a direct result of imperialism. i care about that.  and we can go into what it means to care and if caring as an individual (esp a colonized individual) matters very much at all in terms of political action but like.....this narrative of ‘you have to care only about the third world’ is funny to me because you guys just dont. you dont do it. youre very eager to use us when convenient, but you dont really. so ultimately, what does that mean? nothing i guess.

[patriotsnet]

How Many Democrats Vs Republicans In America

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-democrats-vs-republicans-in-america/

How Many Democrats Vs Republicans In America

Facts About Us Political Independents

Democrats vs Republicans Explained In 5 Minutes! | US Politics Summary Narrated By Barbara Njau

Partisan divides in the United States are as wide as theyve ever been in the modern political era. But what about the large share of Americans who identify as independents?

A recent Pew Research Center report took a detailed look at these Americans. Among other things, it illustrated that independents have lower levels of political participation and are demographically different from those who affiliate with a party and that their views are often as divided as those of self-identified partisans.

Here are six facts about political independents:

1Nearly four-in-ten U.S. adults identify as politically independent, but most lean toward one of the two major parties. Only 7% of Americans overall dont express a partisan leaning, while 13% lean toward the Republican Party and 17% lean toward the Democratic Party.

2Independents who lean to one of the two parties are often much closer to partisans in their views than they are to independents who lean to the other party. For example, while 34% of independents as a whole said they approved of the way Donald Trump was handling his job as president in a , the gap between independents who lean to the GOP and those who lean to the Democratic Party was nearly as wide as the gap between Republicans and Democrats .

In a survey last fall, clear majorities of Democrats , Democratic-leaning independents and Republican-leaning independents favored marijuana legalization, but Republicans were divided .

Recent Polling From Gallup Finds 50 Percent Of In Addition More Poll Respondents Than Ever Before62 Percentsay That Republicans And Democrats Do There Is No Room In The Us For A Third Party At The National/topdown/mass Level

Noted for expanding the federal government and battling big business, teddy roosevelt was a republican before forming the progressive party later in his career. Also has several smaller political parties known as third parties. Senators should not have term limits. There are more democrats than republicans in congress b. Executives of americas large public companies have long played a role in public policy by advising leaders of both parties but those corporate chieftains themselves are far more likely to be republicans than democrats, a new study shows. Most contentious issues in the united states and thats of abortion a liberal would view this as a the liberal point of view is yes we have a very unequal society theres a lot of discrimination race should be considered military and likewise you could find republicans who similarly have a mix of viewpoints. Even more than their republican counterparts, highly educated democrats tend to live in exclusively democratic enclaves. It said in a statement that once. It was, however, a divided party. The main purpose of this initial analysis will be. Conservative democrats, have more in common with republicans than liberal democrats. Start studying democrat vs republican. Weve heard it over and over:

Red States Outnumber Blue States

In February 2016, Gallup reported that for the first time since Gallup started tracking, red states now outnumber blue states.

In 2008, 35 states leaned Democratic and this number is down to only 14 now. In the same time, the number of Republican leaning states rose from 5 to 20. Gallup determined 16 states to be competitive, i.e., they leaned toward neither party. Wyoming, Idaho and Utah were the most Republican states, while states that leaned the most Democratic were Vermont, Hawaii and Rhode Island.

Don’t Miss: Trump Calls Republicans Idiots

Origins Of The Color Scheme

The colors red and blue are also featured on the United States flag. Traditional political mapmakers, at least throughout the 20th century, had used blue to represent the modern-day Republicans, as well as the earlier Federalist Party. This may have been a holdover from the Civil War, during which the predominantly Republican north was considered “blue”. However, at that time, a maker of widely-sold maps accompanied them with blue pencils in order to mark Confederate force movements, while red was for the union.

Later, in the 1888 presidential election, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison used maps that coded blue for the Republicans, the color perceived to represent the Union and “Lincoln‘s Party”, and red for the Democrats. The parties themselves had no official colors, with candidates variously using either or both of the national color palette of red and blue .

List Of Current United States Governors

e

The following is a list of current governors of U.S. states and territories.

In the United States, a governor is the chief executive officer of a state or a territory. The partisan affiliations of American governors are close to being even among the fifty states. As of January 2021, there are 23 states with Democratic governors and 27 states with Republican governors. Additionally, three U.S. territories have Democratic governors, while one has a Republican governor. Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico is a member of the New Progressive Party, although he is also affiliated with the Democratic Party.

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C Republicans Vs Democrats

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

It seemed like Bill Clinton had everything going for him. He defeated an incumbent President and became the first Democrat to win the White House since Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford. He had a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate to work with him.

One of the first major initiatives he began was health care reform. Many Americans were concerned about spiraling medical costs. Medicare did not cover prescription drugs and only paid a portion of health care costs. Over 20 million Americans had no health insurance whatsoever. Clinton assembled a task force to study the problem and assigned his wife Hillary to head the committee. She became the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eventually Clinton presented a plan to limit costs and insure each American citizen to the Congress. Powerful interest groups representing doctors and insurance companies opposed Clinton. Many in the Congress thought the program too costly. Conservatives compared the plan to socialized medicine. Despite a “friendly” Democratic Congress, the Clintons’ proposal was defeated.

The Democrats had controlled the House of Representatives since 1954. Many Republicans had gotten used to acting like an opposition party. When the votes were counted, Republicans outscored Democrats in House seats 230-205. Gingrich was rewarded for his efforts by being named Speaker of the House.

A Plurality Believe History Will Judge Trump As A The Worst President Ever; Less Than A Quarter Of Young Americans Want Trump To Play A Key Role In The Future Of Republican Politics; Young Republicans Are Divided

Thirty percent of young Americans believe that history will judge Donald Trump as the worst president ever. Overall, 26% give the 45th president positive marks , while 54% give Trump negative marks ; 11% believe he will go down as an average president.

Twenty-two percent of young Americans surveyed agree with the statement, I want Donald Trump to play a key role in the future of Republican politics, 58% disagreed, and 19% neither agreed nor disagreed. Among young Republicans, 56% agreed while 22% disagreed, and 21% were neutral. Only 61% of those who voted for Trump in the 2020 general indicated their desire for him to remain active in the GOP.

If they had to choose, 42% of young Republicans consider themselves supporters of the Republican party, and not Donald Trump. A quarter indicated they are Trump supporters first, 24% said they support both.

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At Least 60 Afghans And 13 Us Service Members Killed By Suicide Bombers And Gunmen Outside Kabul Airport: Us Officials

Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. At least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops were killed, Afghan and U.S. officials said.

What Is The Difference Between Republicans And Democrats

Democrats vs Republicans – Which Brain is Better?

Republicans and Democrats are the two main and historically the largest political parties in the US and, after every election, hold the majority seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the highest number of Governors. Though both the parties mean well for the US citizens, they have distinct differences that manifest in their comments, decisions, and history. These differences are mainly ideological, political, social, and economic paths to making the US successful and the world a better place for all. Differences between the two parties that are covered in this article rely on the majority position though individual politicians may have varied preferences.

Also Check: Who Controls The Senate

Map 1 And Table : Party Registration Totals By State July 2018

Democrats no longer control the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, or for that matter most of the governorships or state legislatures. But they still maintain a toehold in the political process with their edge in the realm of voter registration. At least that is the case in the 31 states and the District of Columbia that register voters by political party. As of this month, 13 of these states boast a Democratic plurality in registered voters, compared to eight states where there is a Republican plurality. In the other 10 states, there are more registered independents than either Democrats or Republicans, with Democrats out-registering the Republicans in six of these states and the GOP with more voters than the Democrats in the other four. They are indicated in the chart as I or I. Nationally, four out of every 10 registered voters in party registration states are Democrats, with slightly less than three out of every 10 registered as Republicans or independents. Overall, the current Democratic advantage over Republicans in the party registration states approaches 12 million.

Recent party registration numbers used here are from state election websites and are based on totals compiled in early July 2018. Registration data are as of the following months: October 2016 ; February 2017 ; November 2017 ; January 2018 ; March 2018 ; April 2018 ; May 2018 ; June 2018 ; and July 2018 .

Where Do Trump And Biden Stand On Key Issues

Reuters: Brian Snyder/AP: Julio Cortez

The key issues grappling the country can be broken down into five main categories: coronavirus, health care, foreign policy, immigration and criminal justice.

This year, a big focus of the election has been the coronavirus pandemic, which could be a deciding factor in how people vote, as the country’s contentious healthcare system struggles to cope.

The average healthcare costs for COVID-19 treatment is up to $US30,000 , an Americas Health Insurance Plans 2020 study has found.

Recommended Reading: Why Are Republicans Wearing Blue Ties

Religious Affiliation And Party Identification

White evangelical Protestants remain one of the most reliably Republican groups of voters, and the GOPs advantage among this segment of the population has continued to grow in recent years: 77% of white evangelical voters lean toward or identify with the Republican Party, while just 18% have a Democratic orientation.

White mainline Protestant voters are more divided in their political identities. As has been the case for the last several years, a narrow majority affiliates with or leans to the GOP, while 41% lean toward or identify with the Democratic Party.

Black Protestant voters remain solidly Democratic in their partisan loyalties. Almost nine-in-ten lean toward or identify with the Democratic Party.

Overall, Catholic voters are roughly evenly split between the share who identify with or lean to the Republican and Democratic parties. But white Catholics and Hispanic Catholics diverge politically.

White Catholic voters now are more Republican than Democratic . While the partisan balance among white Catholic voters is little changed in recent years, this group was more evenly divided in their partisan loyalties about a decade ago.

Hispanic Catholics, who represent a growing share of the Catholic population in the U.S., are substantially more Democratic in their orientation .

While Mormon voters remain a solidly Republican group , in recent years Mormons have been less likely to identify as Republican than in the past.

Poring Over Party Registration

This is not the best of times for the Democratic Party. No White House; no Senate; no House of Representatives; and a clear minority of governorships and state legislatures in their possession. Yet the Democrats approach this falls midterm elections with an advantage in one key aspect of the political process their strength in states where voters register by party.

Altogether, there are 31 states with party registration; in the others, such as Virginia, voters register without reference to party. Among the party registration states are some of the nations most populous: California, New York, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arizona, and Massachusetts.

The basic facts: In 19 states and the District, there are more registered Democrats than Republicans. In 12 states, there are more registered Republicans than Democrats. In aggregate, 40% of all voters in party registration states are Democrats, 29% are Republicans, and 28% are independents. Nationally, the Democratic advantage in the party registration states approaches 12 million.

Still, Republican Donald Trump found a route to victory in 2016 that went through the party registration states. He scored a near sweep of those where there were more Republicans than Democrats, winning 11 of the 12, while also taking six of the 19 states where there were more Democrats than Republicans a group that included the pivotal battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Read Also: 1998 People Magazine Trump Interview

Corruption By The Numbers: Republicans Versus Democrats

Although I often use materials Ive read in journals and other publications as the starting point for blog posts, I rarely reproduce an entire article or commentary. When I received the following analysis in an email, however, I asked for permission to do just that.

There is a widespread impression that Democrats are less upstanding and law-abiding than Republicans. That may be a side effect of the excessive public piety affected by so many Republican officeholders, or the belief that a willingness to compromise on matters of policy signifies a corrupt wheeler/dealer mentality.

Until I read this, my own impression had been that there isnt much difference between the parties when it comes to bad behavior, so I was pretty surprised by this data.

Here it is, unaltered:

Wow. Just wow.

Democratic Drama That Might Matter

Meanwhile, in Washington, there was some drama on Capitol Hill last night.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and centrist House Democrats, locked in a standoff over the order the House should vote on bills, failed to reach a resolution by sundown as the two sides remained at odds over how to proceed after a series of meetings, NBCs Sahil Kapur writes.

The group of centrist Democrats object to Pelosi’s plan to begin work on the budget measure and to wait to pass the infrastructure bill.

But since this infrastructure-reconciliation effort by Democrats is going to continue to play out through the fall, were not getting worked up about a procedural ideological standoff in late August. At least right now.

Its kind of like the equivalent of a preseason NFL game. It could matter. Or it might not.

Its still really early.

Don’t Miss: Did Trump Say Republicans Were Dumb

Which Party Is The Party Of The 1 Percent

First, both parties receive substantial support. Much of it comes from registered voters who make $100K+ annually. However, Democrats actually come out ahead when it comes to fundraising for campaigns. In many cases, Democrats have been able to raise twice as much in private political contributions. But what about outside of politicians? Does that mean Democrats are the wealthier party? Which American families are wealthier? Republicans or Democrats?

Honestly, it is probably Republicans. When it comes down to it, the richest families in America tend to donate to Republican candidates. Forbes reported out of the 50 richest families in the United States, 28 donate to Republican candidates. Another seven donate to Democrats. Additionally, 15 of the richest families in the U.S. donate to both parties.

List Of Presidents Of The United States

Democrats Vs Republicans | What is the difference between Democrats and Republicans?

The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term by the American people through the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

Since the office was established in 1789, 45 people have served in 46 presidencies. The first president, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College; one, Grover Cleveland, served two non-consecutive terms and is therefore counted as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States .

There are five living former presidents. The most recent to die was George H. W. Bush, on November 30, 2018.

The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history. Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, over twelve years, before dying early in his fourth term in 1945. He is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected president more than twice, and no one who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected more than once.

You May Like: How Many Democrats And Republicans Are Currently In The Senate

[mental-health-advice]

(urgent) one of my close friends plans on committing suicide anytime from in a few days to a few months. ive tried so much, even landing them in hospital, which only made them more suicidal. im afraid that putting them there again will solve nothing, esp when idk the date. theyve heard it all- you have so much to live for, you have worth, etc. and they dont care. ive tried talking & they dont listen. im sorry to bother but if you could help i would appreciate it so much. (please tag as neco)

Hi sweetheart!

I’m so sorry to hear that your friend is going through so much, and I’m so sorry to hear that you’re having to cope with this too. You really don’t need to apologise, you’re never bothering us by asking for advice. I really hope this helps and that I’ve been able to answer this on time. Please make sure you’re looking after yourself though lovely, because it can be draining putting other people first constantly no matter how much you care, and your mental and physical wellbeing matter too and should come first.

Okay, so my first recommendation would be to always get in touch with an authority, whether it’s a suicide helpline or an emergency service. It is always the right thing to get in touch with those with the most power to help in the situation, it could save your friend’s life. Secondly, I would recommend writing them a letter. The reason I would recommend this is because it is easier to give a well thought out, eloquent answer in writing as we can organise our thoughts better, especially in such an emotive situation, because talking face to face can make it hard to keep our emotions under control. 

In terms of what to include in the letter and how to help your friend, here are the things I personally think would help the most and would be worth saying: 

“You are valued” Sometimes, reminding somebody who’s suicidal that they are valued, that their life is valuable, can be really powerful. It’s very easy to forget your worth, or not understand your worth in the first place, especially when you experience mental illness. Although this may not improve your friend’s self worth, it sounds like they care more about others than they care about themselves just now, so knowing they’re worth it to others may help. 

“It’s never okay to end your life.” This goes for everyone. No matter how sick you are of fighting, it’s never okay to end your life. It’s not just your own life you’re ending, you’re impacting the lives of everyone who loves you, everyone who has ever loved you. Every single day you have an impact. You may feel like a drop in the ocean, but that drop leads to a ripple, that ripple leads to a current, that current leads to a tidal wave. When you hold a door for somebody, when you smile at people, when you empathise and form human connections, you are having an impact on that person’s day. You have an impact on every single person’s day that you come into contact with, and this then affects their mood and has an impact on every single person they come into contact with, and so on. The entire planet is interconnected like a massive spider’s web, and everything you do has an effect, because it causes a domino effect which can profoundly change more than you’ll ever understand. Removing yourself from that web does not change the impact you have. If you choose to end your life, those ripples turn into ripples of grief, ripples of sadness for a loved one lost in your closest circle, leaving them with memories. Whether it’s your family or the customer assistant you were nice to, and you were the first customer who had been nice that day, you have an impact. And losing you would cause pain, whether you accept it or not. Love is in your life where you least expect it, and there is always somebody who cares. It is not okay to cause that much pain by ending your life, that is never okay. The pain you’re feeling will end, permanently, without the loss of your life.Your life is never, ever completely without hope. The grief of those who love you will never completely go away.

“You say you don’t care. Maybe you really believe that you don’t care anymore. But I don’t believe you. I think you care far more than you’ll ever admit.” You say that no matter what you tell your friend, they don’t seem to care. But I would bet money on that not being true. I’d say they cared so much, for so long, and they’re hurting so hard that it’s too painful to allow themselves to care. They can’t bring themselves to care, even. But they do care. That’s why they wants their life to end, because they care so much that it causes them so much pain that they can’t bare it. And they need you to understand this. Generally when people want to end their lives, it’s because there’s too much pain in it, because depression hurts. And if they can find a way to end that pain, they will do it, and often the only option seems to be suicide in their mind, but there are other ways to numb the pain, to end the pain even. There is always help, there is always solace. 

“Fighting isn’t easy, in fact it will be the hardest battle of your life, but it will be worth it.” Fighting any mental illness is so so tough, and I understand that sometimes it feels too overwhelming and they just want to give up because they can’t do it anymore, but I really believe they can. I know they can. And I know it will be so worth it in the end. Anything telling them it isn’t is disordered thoughts, which never, ever represent the truth. You’re going to have to be there for your friend. Recovery is full of setbacks and turns in the road and dead ends but it is so worth it. It’s about regaining your life, and getting your life back into control. They’re going to have to learn to feel again, feel anything at all. Sometimes this can be done by reading an old favourite book, watching movies, doing something they used to love before depression got this bad, starting a new hobby, speaking to people going through the same and using their experiences to help others. Anything like this is fantastic, but it’s really down to personal choice, those are just a few suggestions. Eventually, they will have to learn to love again. Love the little things, the smell of rain, their old favourite foods, Sunday afternoons spent watching movies, cuddling pets, laughing with friends. This will all come in time and it will be difficult and it will have ups and downs, but my oh my it is worth it, I so promise it is worth it. This life is worth it. 

“You have to choose recovery.”  This is probably the hardest barrier of all to overcome. Deciding recovery is worth it, investing that time and energy into yourself is probably the hardest thing anybody with a mental illness has to do. Because choosing recovery is a commitment that takes time, effort and a lot of introspection. It usually requires the help of a professional, or several professionals, and it’s a long term task. Helping them to do this will most probably involve small, short term goals, even something like getting out of bed 1 day a week and putting on clothes to start off with is a massive achievement. I would really commend encouraging them to seek professional advice. 

If it helps, you can also look at our reasons to stay for more inspiration. I really hope this has helped you understand what your friend is going through and give some ideas on how to help them.

Look after yourself sweetie,Caitlin x

[allofbeercom]

Violence in Capitol Hill: is this the end of the line for Seattle’s gay neighborhood?

In response to the recent spate of LGBT hate crimes, residents are pushing back against the influx of tech bros who are displacing and harming the community

It was barely 10 minutesinto 2014 when smoke began to float towards the ceiling in Neighbors, a Seattle LGBT nightclub where around 750 people partied to welcome the new year. Empty glasses of champagne began to pile in trash cans around the dance floor.

As the stairwell fire started, alcohol-infused club goers continued partying as the music played on. It was at that point that Steve Tracy, the clubs general manager for over 20 years, smelled the smoke.

As the club was evacuated by Tracy and his staff, the party-goers still didnt realize what went on. They were pushed into an alley near the intersection of Pike and Broadway in the traditionally LGBT neighborhood of Capitol Hill. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Musab Masmari, the man who had jumped a fence to enter the club with a gasoline canister to start the fire, now faces 10 years in prison.

This type of incident would become emblematic of a climate change already in progress within the LGBT neighborhood. Since 1 January 2014, there have been more than 200 reported bias incidents in Seattle, including a double homicide involving two gay men and a second fire-attempt at the nightclub all disproportionately targeting LGBT people. The latest report for the first half of 2015 showed a 56% increase compared with 2014, according to the Seattle police department.

Long-term Capitol Hill residents dont know how to stop this influx of violence. But for some, the culprits are easily identifiable: tech bros.

My husband Michael and I were recently out on a Saturday night and were walking around the Pine/Pike Corridor, Mayor Ed Murray, the citys first openly gay mayor, said sitting his office one recent afternoon. And we looked at each other and said: my God, what happened to the gays? Literally, who are all of these straight people in our neighborhood?

These straight people the mayor refers to are part of the influx of tech workers who have flooded the city since the opening of major campuses and offices in the area close to Capitol Hill.

Although Seattle is one of the gayest city in America recently released census data shows the city of Seattle saw a 52% increase in same-sex couples from 2010 to 2012 the Capitol Hill neighborhood saw a 23% decline of LGBT people living there during the same period. Meanwhile, rents have also gone up by more than 33%, according to Zillow.

As new glass and steel condos are sprouting across the skyline, many LGBT people fear to walk down streets they used to call their own. So theyve begun to push back.

John Cristicellos artwork. Photograph: Conor MacBride

The artist John Cristicello, one of the many LGBT people against this dwindling of queer in the area, sits atop a magazine stand outside his art studio, arms covered in tattoos. His artwork is now infamous the area. One of his pieces states: We came here to get away from you. Another shows a tech bro in a hat, holding a beer and stating: No faggots better look at me. Cristicello explained: I saw that guy. I heard him say that. And I was like, why are you even fucking here if you dont want faggots to look at you?

My art is a declaration to interlopers in the neighborhood like, dont fuck with us, Cristicello explains. It wasnt me trying to fix anything, but hold a mirror up.

Above him is a large painting in progress showing the iconic Space Needle on fire.

In fall 2014, openly gay police officer Jim Ritter, the LGBT liaison for Seattle police department, began receiving phone calls asking the same question: Why is there such explosive growth of hate crimes in Seattle?

I [remember pulling] the statistics for the previous year and not seeing any explosive growth, Ritter recalls. But he would then ask: Why do you think there is such explosive growth?

Callers would then spout off names of friends they knew were attacked, or the name of intersections where they knew bias violence had occurred. Ritter quickly realized that none of these had been reported to the police.

Oh, boy, Ritter remembers thinking. We have a problem here.

Victims had compelling reasons for not doing so. I am not out yet. I was intoxicated. I didnt think the police would do anything, Ritters said. A lot of people were listening to the rhetoric around the country at the time to not trust the police, he added, referring to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

To address this issue, Seattles Safe Place program began taking shape and eventually launched in May 2015. The program trains business owners on how to respond to bias incidents specifically LGBT ones if and when they happen around their business. It already includes 1,000 businesses displaying rainbow shields on front doors, including every Starbucks in the city.

Thanks to this gesture, LGBT people in Seattle now know they can enter that business if attacked and that owners will not hold any LGBT bias, allow them to call 911 and use their business as a safe place to hide until emergency responders can arrive.

Ritters feels its working. This past weekend, three people were attacked and reported the LGBT bias incident at a business with the rainbow shield stating Safe Place stuck on the front window.

Shaun Knittel, the founder of Social Outreach Seattle, has been of the most visible leaders in stopping the violence. As Knittel grew concerned about reports of violent assaults after the fire at Neighbors, he decided to launch a shuttle service to help people get home safely after a night out. The shuttle is an old van that he has painted pink and has the number to call for a ride displayed on the sides. Since it launched in March 2015, the shuttle has driven more than 700 people home.

We sometimes beat the police there and have to help the victims, even taking them to the hospital sometimes, Knittel says when discussing the weekends the service is provided. And that gives us a chance to talk to them and get them to report the incident, so its documented by the police.

But even with the success of this service, many still do not report hate crimes targeting the most vulnerable people within Seattles LGBT community.

Most of the people I know who are victims of hate crimes in the past few months are all trans women, says Jackie Sandberg, a hate crimes survivor in the area and leader with a local LGBT homeless group.

Sandberg, who works with many of the transgender and queer homeless people, believes they are probably targeted the most, but will not report to police because they are homeless, have prior arrests or just fear the police.

Sandberg, who has faced homelessness and has once been attacked by a couple who used a skateboard as a weapon, is part of a growing group of LGBT people in Seattle who believe these new efforts only protect well-off Capitol Hill residents.

I dont think queer people feel any more comfortable reporting the hate crimes now, Sandberg said in regards to the shuttle service and the police working intentionally on this issue. I think its more of an attempt by SPD [Seattle police department] to endear themselves to the more privileged white, higher-income queers that are [still] moving into the neighborhood.

So life goes on as usual for many.

A couple weeks ago, one of my trans girlfriends was walking up the Hill with her partner and there was a guy walking down the street, Sandberg said, before resuming passing out condoms on the streets of Capitol Hill. And all of a sudden he punches my girlfriend in the chest and then starts threatening her to come at him.

Sandberg says the friends escaped and didnt engage the man. When asked about the assailants appearance, the response is immediate: He seemed like one of those hip party people. Bro type.

The incident was never reported.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/violence-in-capitol-hill-is-this-the-end-of-the-line-for-seattles-gay-neighborhood/

[topicprinter]

This is more for tech entrepreneurs here. However, the core ideas can be taken out for some other businesses. Let me know if it helps.I was answering the question “What are the strategies to convert a free user to a premium user for a SaaS product?” and the answer became an article in itself. At the same time, it’s yet another one of my core fundamentals which I think can impact someone. Below is my answer.It’s all about intent.If your intent is to make as much money as possible as fast as possible (i.e short term), the answer is not for you. You’ll do things that other guys/gurus mention such as “Provide incentive for prospects to sign up for freemium but do not provide too much value so that free version of the product is enough.” — that’s corny, dull and lacking a long-term vision.Here’s something that I’ve noticed within myself. At a point, I’ve realised I love some companies to the point where I feel like they’re my friend. They’ve done so much good to me and they’ve been “by my side” to a point where I don’t have any problem with parting with my money.There’s an emotional connection between me and them. It may sound dramatic but it’s true. When I pay them I do so happily as I support their cause.Here’s the TLDR answerHelp them grow so you can grow together.By that I mean the freemium model should offer the client the chance to grow — equality of opportunity — and if it does happen that they grow and become profitable, the SaaS starts charging based on that. In a sense, value-based pricing, or at least as much as it could get with a scalable model.In other words, open up the doors for a lot of people and then benefit mutually from the winners.Objection 1But I don’t want to have users on the freemium plan leeching my resourcesNow here’s the catch — I’d say charge the winners enough so that it’ll cover the expenses for those who didn’t get it yet (or leeches, because I know that might be going through your mind, especially if you’re a business person).Charge them enough so that you won’t get mad when you find out about that couple of users that just sucked the benefits of your benevolence and never contributed towards your company.Objection 2I can’t afford to offer the free plan to so many peopleHere’s another magnificent thing that happens when you open the doors for everyone — word of mouth is on steroids. You’re on a fast track to word-of-mouth express. It’s possible you might have heard this comparison before — arguably you can reach 1000 people. And one of these people knows 1000 people. That means you’re a person away from a million. And two people away from a billion.If your intent is to do good and give chances to everyone to prove themselves, within that network of a billion some of the engagements will include how nice it is that your SaaS is doing them good — whether they pay or not.Therefore, I’m pretty confident when I say that the ARR you’ll get to in 1–2 years, given the money you’ll be burning initially because of the free plan (it’s not the case all the time though) will be significantly bigger than the ARR you’d have by implementing the shitty tactic of“Provide incentive for prospects to sign up for freemium but do not provide too much value so that free version of the product is enough.”Give them bloody enough if you can. Because you’ll have a customer for life and some of them will become even friends. And then when they win and scale, they’ll be more than happy to pay you. And I’ll state it again: they’ll be happy to pay you amounts of value that will cover for those on a freemium plan.Why? Simple — you see it everywhere. Millionaires who grew up as orphans donate back to orphanages because without these houses, they couldn’t have won. Most of the time it’s more than just THE orphanage they grew up in. We’re humans and once we accumulate resources, if the intent is good in that person, they want to help the cause. Remember what I wrote above that in my case I wanted to contribute to the company’s cause?Objection 3I really can’t afford it because I don’t have the money right now — I’m bootstrapping it, hence no investmentsFair. Charge for what you do, don’t offer a freemium plan or do so but only as a trial. But as soon as you’re able to do what I said above, please do it.The point is this: the more you’re able to give away for free, the more it will come back to you. It won’t make any sense to you unless you’ve experienced it yourself but maybe one single reader will simply trust it by heart and she or he will be taken far.Here’s another choice of words for sceptics: the more you’re able to give to people, the more you’ll be able to ask from them (eventually). Makes sense?Some practical examplesI’ll give some examples below along with a brief description. Cloud services are more prone to do so given the fact that what they offer is more fungible and is easier to be priced in a “pay as you go” model.Dropbox — 2 GB free for anyone. Moreover, get people onboard and we’ll give you more. All for free. Help me, help you.Spotify — free music, no problem. Just ads. If you mind them (i.e. if your time is more valuable than the monthly $10), we’ve got you as well.GitHub — sure, put your beloved code and creations on our platform. Open to anyone. If you’re looking to do more than just a hobby, only then we’ll charge youFirebase — If your database downloads exceed 10 GB/mo, then you’re pretty serious and most probably you can afford to pay for a solution. If not, however, it’s fine, we’ll take the risk with you. Let’s see if your idea works, no problem if it doesn’t. We’ll swallow it.Cloudflare (which I absolutely love by the way, even though I don’t use their service) — You know what guys, we’ll sell you the domains at wholesale price, we won’t get any commission. And if your website is tiny, it’s just a small personal website or a blog that just started, it’s fine. Stay for free. Only later, when you worry about high-performance and security (which is when you’re at a later stage), we’ll start charging you.MailChimpThe bottom lineOpening up the doors for everyone can go this way. One in 10,000 make it through and have a huge impact on the world, which usually is affiliated with resource gathering.If your intent is to create a win-win environment and give equality of opportunity so that eventually the next Leonardo da Vinci will come from under your rooftop (and he won’t forget that), this is a way to solve the freemium-to-premium user conversion problem.——Originally posted here. I run an experiences design agency that helps SaaS CEOs reduce user churn.

[garkomedia1]

Discover the Advantages and Disadvantages of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) vs Pay Per Click

Stand Out - Be Seen - Be On Google Page 1 Before You Pay For Services - CLICK HERE! We call it RBI Marketing. You have heard of ROI which is Return On Investment and this is RBI which means Return BEFORE Investment! Let's get the ball rolling and you will pay us for our services AFTER you see your site ranked on Google page 1 for your chosen keywords!.CLICK HERE!

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We are always on the lookout to hire quality, professional independent representatives for our local business pay per result search engine optimization services. Just use the form on the home page to contact us!

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You’ve just launched your new website (or launched the redesign) and now you’re sitting back waiting for the orders to roll in. But wait a minute, something’s wrong… there don’t seem to be any. It’s as if your site doesn’t exist.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but unless you have either a well publicised site or many websites linking to yours, you’re going to have to rely on the search engines. And if your site doesn’t rank in the first three result pages, it’s more than likely you won’t be found at all.

So… you know what’s coming next; that’s right, you need a good dose of search engine marketing (SEM) to make sure your site gets listed on the search engines’ results pages. Do this and the traffic to your website will soon follow.

“Right”, I hear you say. “Let’s do some search engine marketing then…”

Well that’s certainly a good start! But first you have to work out your approach to maximise your returns. Let’s call this your search engine marketing strategy. In order to create an effective strategy you need to understand a bit more about how search engine marketing works. Currently, we can roughly-speaking separate search engine marketing into two different approaches:

Organic: including search engine optimisation, links from other websites and offline marketing.

Paid: including pay per click, paid submission and online advertising (banner ads).

So to help you further, I’ve listed below the advantages and disadvantages to each approach to SEM and outlined my recommendations.

Organic: Advantages

The majority of the work behind search engine optimisation (SEO) is a one-off activity, and so is usually charged out at a set upfront fee.

The changes made to your website will probably still be relevant and driving traffic to your site a year from now.

Credibility: most people (research indicates between 60 and 80 percent) will click on the organic results rather than the sponsored (paid) results.

If you rank well in one of the major search engines (Google/Yahoo/MSN), you will most likely show up in the majority of the search engines worldwide.

Organic: Disadvantages

Changes must be made to your website’s code. Normally the changes are invisible to visitors. However, if you have invested heavily in a search engine-unfriendly site, the process can be time-consuming and costly; and occasionally significant changes may need to be made to your site’s copy, navigation or design. Of course ultimately, you’ll see returns if you commit to the necessary changes.

Results (rankings and traffic) start slowly. You will normally see results within 3-4 months.

There can be no guarantee. As the search engines themselves have the final say, you can’t predict how many rankings you’ll get for a particular search term or engine; nor can you predict how much traffic you’ll get to your site.

Paid: Advantages

Pay per click (PPC) advertising programs are fast to implement. It usually takes two to three weeks to set up and run. Google AdWords are up-and-running as soon as you start the campaign, and Overture listings are live within 3-5 business days (after an editor reviews them).

Nothing has to change on your web site, although I would recommend you create targeted landing pages for each advertisement as they’ve been proven to increase conversions (but that’s another subject for another time!).

There is no limit to the number of terms or keyword phases you can bid on.

PPC is good if you intend to run promotions through your site, as you can turn the PPC campaign on and off whenever you choose.

You can dictate where the listing appears on the result’s page (within the sponsors’ ads area) and determine what the ad says.

It’s very easy to test all your different search terms and offers etc, and to measure the results.

Paid: Disadvantages

Clicks can be expensive. Bidding wars often erupt.

You must keep paying for the clicks every month. If your budget is ever cut, your listings will disappear, along with your search engine traffic.

Most people (research indicates between 60 and 80 percent) will click on the organic results rather than the sponsored (paid) results.

It requires a time investment to monitor and adjust listings on a constant basis, or budget to outsource this activity.

Listings are subject to editorial acceptance. With SEO, you can state whatever you like on your website (which is where the search engines pull your page title and description). But with PPC, editors insist that all listings be factual and that you not compare your company with others. This means that even if you are the “largest” provider, you can’t state that.

Now you know a bit about the advantages and disadvantages of both organic and paid search engine marketing, you must decide how to approach your online marketing campaign.

Organic marketing is probably best if:

You want to spend some time on search engine marketing upfront and have it pay off in the future, on conceivably every search engine there is around the world.

You have a budget to do some work now, and want to save money later on.

Your site is fairly simple, without a lot of complicated bells and whistles.

You can afford to wait a month or two for results.

You don’t want to have to manage or maintain anything on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Paid advertising may be for you if:

You want to get up-and-running quickly.

You have a promotion where you want to be able to turn a PPC campaign on and off.

You want to be able to test search terms, products or offers and quickly see results.

Your site is search engine-unfriendly and you don’t want to invest in changing it.

You’re confident you’ll have the budget to spend for the long haul, and you have time to maintain positions on a regular basis.

Of course many companies and businesses tackle both organic and paid SEM at the same time, and this is what I would typically recommend to maximally attract qualified traffic to a website.

If you are currently designing your site, or redesigning an existing one, make sure your developer knows how to create search engine optimised code or is working closely with a SEO consultant. Getting it right from the beginning will save you time and money in the long run. And it needn’t cost a fortune either if you tackle this upfront

If you have an existing site you wish to optimise, you may have a hard decision to make if your current site is not search engine friendly. If your site has been built using extensive use of frames or dynamic pages (your URL may look like: http://www.yoursite.com/page.asp?id=8), the cost to rectify these problems can be discouraging. If this is the case, now may be the time to seriously consider redesigning your site earlier than you’d planned.

Either way, the use of a small paid (pay per click) advertising campaign before optimisation can be a great way to nail down those essential keywords to use throughout your site’s copy by recording which keywords customers respond to the most in your campaign.

Source by David Crowther

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How to Choose the Right MBA Program

Perhaps youre at the beginning stage of the eventful process to identify which MBA designs youll withstand to. Maybe, with multiple acceptances in hand, you shoot the exciting and life-altering t quest of decision making where you ultimately unavoidableness to enroll. In either case, Ann Richards, interim manager of admissions at Cornell Universitys Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate shoal of instruction, has valuable insight to serve well you constrain the close to apprised decision possible.\nThere ar a handful of let protrude elements that ar essential when attempt to choose the right MBA political platform for you, Richards says. Re visualise to, find out and conduct a self-assessment to understand whats important to you, she advises.\n serious as important isavoiding frantic influencers that dissolve detract from your top executive to make a level-headed decision. Just because family members citeed a particular drill for generations does not make it the ri ght discipline for you, for instance. You genuinely call for to hold up yourself and not be influenced by emotional pulls, says Richards.\nSeek Advice from pertly-fashioned MBA Graduates\nBusiness disciplinerankings squeeze out avail you follow a relish for whats out there, nevertheless public lecture to colleagues who put up MBAs set up be even much valuable, Richards advises. stimulate vigorous their experience and what they would do polarly if they were choosing an MBA today.\nLook for more than recent alums if possible, she recommends. Most MBA political chopines moderate changed drastically over the destination 10 years theyve overhauled their curriculums, constructed new buildings and the nature of the c atomic number 18er search has withal changed dramatically. Therefore, someone who sorb a long age ago quartert put out the most current insights.\nYour avow network testament depart possibilities as well. Think approximately people you a ttended college with who fill gone on to get an MBA and r each(prenominal) out to them, or look within your phoner or professional networks, Richards suggests.\n pick up three to four alumni and intercommunicate for five or 10 minutes of their time, says Richards. Go to each one with a amount of five to six questions that atomic number 18 important to you. Were you challenged at your MBA program? Were your crystalizemates intellectually curious? Was it an active learning milieu? What was the subtlety at the tutor? Was it top-notch competitive, team focused, collaborative?\nOf course, you cogency also motive to convey most extra-curricular activities, club activities, trips or treks, leadership opportunities, and access to faculty. divers(prenominal) characteristics whitethorn pick out different meaning for candidates, she points out. Prospective applicants who be ideateing closely prosecute an MBA as part of a c beer change may want to contend about specific reso urces available to befriend with that process, whereas that wont be as important to someone who plans to pass to their employer or arising their throw business.\nDont forget to inquire about a schools community. The ability to move or engage and puzzle an invasion or get off a legacy is important, Richards says.\n cut down aims If Possible\n\nAfter talk with alumni, you should be able to nail the list of schools that interest you. Richards encourages prospective applicants to catch schools whenever possible, ideally when classes argon in session and you can sit in on one. See what the engagement amid faculty and savants is manage, Richard recommends. How involved are the students? Are they participating and tenanted? What are the facilities like? What resources are available to students? How happy do the students seem?\nIf you cant visit, tot with the school. See what happens do you get a response from the school, from the students? Candidates can get a nose out o f how important they are to a school based on how responsive the members of its community are.\nIts not terribly important whether you visit before or after(prenominal) you apply, that definitely visit if you can before you make an enrollment decision, she stresses. I a cracking deal hear people say, Cornell wasnt on my radar until I visited, or I was sure I wanted to attend X school, until I visited.\nIn legal injury of getting a whole step for the culture of the school, your exceed spiel is to meet with current students and ask about their activities and extracurricular interests. If you can, attend a cultural event, perceive to a guest talker or, even better, attend a class or free by a school happy hour. Johnson recently hosted tops(p) Saturday, when dozens of prospective students visited campus to interview. We happened that wickedness to have our Diwali celebration qualifying on, which gave participating prospectives a great opportunity to see for themselves the v ariety of events our students take part in, Richards recalls. Although Diwali is an Indian celebration, it certainly wasnt just Indian students participating. It genuinely gives candidates a finger of what it is like to be a student here.\nIt usually doesnt take long to figure out if you click with a school or not, Richards notes. I dont think a school should have to grow on you. You should do it when you visit that its a confide you can see yourself world happy, she says.\nSize and Location effect\nWhen it puzzles to MBA programs, size does matter since it can impact the network you begin. When you are considering schools, think about whether or not a class is segmented into cohorts, she advises. If you get to roll in the hay 30 people really, really well still dont receipt anyone else that might be a disadvantage to you. It might not, but its something worth thinking about.\nDo you want a metropolis school or a school that is part of a smaller community? Richards conn ect Johnsons cobblers last-knit community to the detail that it is not in a large urban center. E genuinelyone is close to campus a five-minute walk quite of a subway call on the carpet followed by two buses, she notes. Thats confessedly not just for students but also faculty and staff, she continues. Its not uncommon for faculty to say, Im leaving home to have dinner party with my kids but Ill come back and see you in the library at 8:30. That does not happen at all schools.\nAssessing a Schools calling Services\nRecognizing that the success of a locomote function maculation can be influenced greatly by the economy, you can dumb get a timbre for what kind of support youll sustain in a wedded program, as well as how aligned their go services are with your own goals. A school may have tremendous success in placing students who want to go into consulting or finance but really struggle with candidates who want to move marketing, for example.\nAs prospective applicants l ook at a schools career services, they should look not yet at the general berth rate but also at specifics in respectfulness to their individual interests, Richards says. If a school has a lower boilers suit locating rate than other(a) schools, but 25 part of students are interested in entrepreneurial studies and looking to lower their own businesses upon graduation, suddenly that placement rate doesnt look so bad. It is important that students look at the placement statistics through the lense of what they want to do.\nWhat Role Do Students Play on Campus?\nI think as a prospective applicant you want to look for leadership opportunities, potency to have an impact, orchestrating or facilitating change, spearheading an administration or a club, and how spontaneous the school is to support that, Richards continues.\nIf having an impact and getting involved as an MBA student is important to you, ask current students how easy it is to start a club or organize a assembly and what kind of support the school provides if you do. Those kinds of questions get out be very valuable to students, particularly those that like to get involved and aim change. They would be really thwarted if they landed in an environment where their voice wasnt heard or valued.\nKnow Thyself\n\nAs an MBA student you will have the best experience and get the most benefit out of the program that is the best fit for you. That makes well-educated yourself and what you want a decisive part of the decision-making process. Think about whether you want a fine-looking or small program, whether take for granted a leadership character is one of your priorities, and what support you will need in your career search.\nTry not to bond on brand names, Richards offers. You need to look not plainly at the brand but at what the schools benefit is how it will help you achieve your goals, grow, and develop your leadership skills, she says.\nSo, there you have it. With targeted research, campus visits and a thorough self-assessment, you can be well on your way to selecting the perfect MBA program for you.\nRelated articles\nCornell Universitys Johnson School of Management Wins Top Accolades for Diversity (clearadmit.com)\n puniness Tuesday: International Study at Johnson (clearadmit.com)\nCornells Johnson School Unveils Curriculum for newly One-Year MBA Program on NYC Tech Campus (clearadmit.com)\nCornells Johnson Graduate School of Business is an advertiser on the unload Admit site. This darn appears as part of the schools sponsorship package. For more information about sponsorship opportunities with Clear Admit, contact us here.If you want to get a dear essay, order it on our website: Custom essay writing service. Free essay/order revisions. Essays of any complexity! Courseworks, term papers, research papers. 100% confidential!Homework live help. Custom Essay Order is available 24/7!