#sociology optional free lectures

[itsbansheebitch]

Fanfiction as a Learning Tool

Imagine if we were able to use fanfic as a learning tool. You could get people interested in topics they would otherwise hate (or think they'd hate) or you could inform people on topics that could effect the plot.

You wouldn't have to simplify it or water it down much because the reader is already interested. You could get people informed, and it's not like writers are strangers to research. There are literal memes about it.

Just to clarify, here's some examples:

DC X DP crossover: Bruce adopts Danny and thinks he's vaping (ghost sense) and gives him a lecture while Danny has to find a way to explain that he's never vaped in his life lmao

Undertale (Horrortale AU): Human falls into the Underground and had a hyperfixation/special interest in cannibalism. This allows them to remember the the Harris Benedict Equation, and other options for food (leather, bark, etc). You could get into misinformation about nutrition, the importance of rest in the human body, etc. Not to mention the psychological and sociological coping mechanisms that come with survival cannibalism.

Supernatural: You could teach the history of cryptozoology and ghost hunting

These are just some examples, but hopefully this is getting your gears turning. I genuinely think that this could help young people practice their media literacy skills, reading more, and staying informed.

Reading fanfic is actually a great tool when it comes to practicing reading, finding what you like, and learning new things.

I know we all meme on fanfic sometimes (My Immortal) but fanfiction could actually be used this way, and just because it's not a published work, doesn't mean it's not as good as books. Also, it being free to read fanfic means people from all walks of life can read it and learn. It could be very helpful to see how different people live.

I swear I've learned more about Romani culture from Romani people writing DC fanfic than I've ever learned in my whole life lol.

I wouldn't recommend it in schools (due to grey area legality and censorship), but I think it could be a new form of informal learning. What do ya'll think?

[kitonmitons]

imagine y’all are in my position. you are in a sociology class that is based entirely on a video game your teacher made. it was released in 2016 and is still on version 1.8. it is riddled with spelling errors and crashes every ten minutes. the only female sociologist mentioned in the entire game grabs her tits and shakes them around in her introductory cutscene. the textbook is a free open-resource textbook that is 8 years old. the video lectures the professor includes are 7 years old. the pandemic hadn’t even happened yet. the game costs $90 and the profits go to the professor. the game is a prototype and it literally says so. do you kill yourself first or rip the head off your professor bc those are my only options

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Harvard grad escapes Moonie indoctrination after two weeks. Threat to “break both my legs” was wake up call.

▲ Singing at the Hearst Avenue house, Berkeley, before catching the bus to the farm up north.

A couple of Summers

I Was Brainwashed by the Followers of Rev. Sun Myung Moon (But I Wised Up)

By Eric E. Rofes

The Harvard Crimson       pages 3-4 September 30, 1975

Last January I decided I would spend my summer vacation on the Pacific coast pursuing the California Dream. My plans were far from concrete—maybe I would take a course at Berkeley, or write poetry, or just hang out in the East Bay with my buddy Buster, listening to Tower of Power and walking the streets. On June 3, my papers finished, my exams over, I packed up my Long Island-Middle Class-California Dream and hit the road west.

I made my way to San Francisco, checked into the Youth Hostel and went looking for work. I had read my Kerouac. I knew what one did in California, and I was determined to get a piece of the West Coast action. I was on my own, meeting people on Telegraph Avenue and going to wild Berkeley bashes and digging the time away, but despite my dreams and my intentions. I soon realized that I was all partied out. This was not Cambridge, this wasn’t my home turf, and my doubts were reinforced nightly when I made collect phone calls back to Sue in Boston and she told me I miss you, come back home. Money was getting low, jobs were scarce, and I was lonely. I promised Sue I’d take the next bus back east. I didn’t.

Instead I went to the Berkeley Student Union to ponder my predicament. I sat there, confused, a little depressed, considering my options. A smiling, humming, attractive Jewish-looking woman walked in. Eye contact. The ethnicity clicked. She came over, friendly, talkative, from Long Island originally. Small talk, poetry, politics, time passes. Then I received an invitation to dinner—“I live with this big family and we always have lots of people over to dinner...how about it.”

Her “house” was the old Hearst Mansion—huge, beautiful and filled with smiling young people. What kind of family is this? I said to myself. Everyone was friendly, talkative, young and beautiful. We ate a great meal, sang some folk songs, and then someone announced that there would be a “lecture” to explain the principles that bind the family together. Again my mind was speeding—could this be a political group? Religious? Drug commune? No. no. I told myself, stop being so doubtful, keep an open mind.

▲ Mose Durst

The lecture was given by “Doctor D”, a professor of English Literature at a nearby college. He explained that the family was unified by a common goal; to help and care for all people. His lecture was not as straight forward: he filled it with psychology and sociology and threw in some Wordsworth and Eliot quotes that I remembered from English 10. He seemed to be a nice guy and since I had read a little psych, it seemed sound to me. Yeah, these were the people I’d been looking for—intelligent, personal, and liberal.

I could not have been more mistaken.

Next there was a slide show of their scenic farm up north in Mendocino. It looked exciting, full of young people communing with nature: my middle-class paradise. We were ail invited up for the weekend and, keeping an open mind, I jumped at the opportunity.

Two busloads of young people headed up to Mendocino that night, including seventy new “brothers and sisters.” I stayed on the farm for almost two weeks and I came up against the greatest challenge to my life and my values that I have ever faced. I was confronted with a lifestyle and a system of beliefs that robbed me of my rationale and free will. I had walked head on into Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s indoctrination center.

I don’t believe myself to be unusually susceptible to political or spiritual causes but the propaganda system set up at this center was infallible. Each day was organized with two things in mind: everyone has a good, fun time, and no one has a free minute to think. The entire day is programmed, everyone wakes up at the same time in the morning, washes, goes to exercises, eats breakfast, cleans up, and off to morning lecture. At these lectures new members are slowly instructed on the beliefs of the family. Gradually, carefully, one is indoctrinated into the religion. Through Moon’s interpretation of the Bible, we were made to understand that there is a God, an afterlife, and a spirit world. The religion is primarily Christian, stressing the power of Christ and the imminent second coming of the messiah. Moon’s followers believe, through their understanding of Revelation and the cycles of human history, that the new messiah has arrived and though he is never mentioned in lectures, that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is that new messiah.

The cause for the fall of man, according to Moon’s interpretation of the Bible, was Eve’s fornication with Satan (the snake and the fruit are seen as symbols). We are, therefore, the children of Satan, rather than the children of God, and we require purification and repentance to bring us back to our intended state. Moon people use no drugs or alcohol, and sex is not permitted until forty days after marriage. After that time the woman becomes a baby machine; there is no concern for overpopulation in the heavenly kingdom.

In retrospect, I wonder why so many people would give up their wild times for these beliefs. Moon requires his followers to sacrifice everything for the cause. All possessions and monies are given to the church and one’s family, friends and future plans are all forsaken. In exchange for these sacrifices Moon provides a strong, supportive community, a powerful father figure, the basic necessities of life and eternal salvation. With these assets, the movement is growing at a tremendous rate.

The lectures, though presented by intelligent, clean-cut demagogues, were laced with analogies, passages removed from context, and impassioned cheers, all things that three years at Harvard had taught me to question. Somehow, however, I didn’t question them at all; no one did. We were all having such a great time, enjoying the activities and the farm, that we wanted to believe that Moon was the answer to all our questions.

My experience on the farm cannot be sufficiently captured in writing. After a week there I thought I was ready to join the family. I was believing all the lectures, singing my heart out and having a great, happy time. I was ready to give up the complexities of Harvard, my thesis and my Gen. Ed. requirements and live this life of righteousness, direction and meaning. Of the seventy people who went up to the farm with me, two weeks later I was the only one to leave. Many are still there and will become part of Reverend Moon’s family, walking through Berkeley or Boston or Paris, bringing in new blood or selling flowers on the street. I left while others couldn’t and only through an understanding of my own motivation to leave have I begun to understand the full power of this movement.

The people in the family are not the hallelujah holy-rollers I would imagine them to be. They are all young, middle-class, well-educated people. Many are Ivy-leaguers, many M.A.’s and PhD’s were amongst the family. Despite their education, however, these people were drawn together by factors quite common in young people—dissatisfaction with their lives and a search for truth and direction. The movement fulfills these needs: it fells you what you want to hear and “proves” that there is a God, there is meaning in this crazy life, there is heaven, there is love. All that’s required of you is the belief, simple faith.

When I announced that I was determined to leave and they shouldn’t try to stop me, my “spiritual brother,” the guy assigned to look after me and support me in my learning, told me that if he thought it would win me over to the family he would break both my legs. That clinched it for me—I was going to get out of there if I had to fight my way out. I had to talk to all the lecturers, all the leaders, explain why I was leaving and where I was going (which I did not know). I was told that the devil was in me and I was forsaking Jesus and damning myself and my ancestors. It all sounds crazy to me now, but while they were telling me this, I believed it and felt ashamed. Still, my gut said to go, and after a great display of determination I was driven down to Berkeley.

When I got back to the city I called my friend Buster, who thought I’d vanished for two weeks. I told him to pick me up (I was at the Hearst house again) and not ask any questions. In twenty minutes he drove up in his V.W. and a meek, frightened sinner crawled into the front seat. I tried to explain my story to him but I was undergoing culture shock and was virtually incomprehensible. When we went out with his friends later I winced at four letter words and sexual allusions, couldn’t converse sensibly, and was basically a zombie. In two weeks I had been programmed into not thinking, just believing.

When we went into the city the next day I ran into Moon people all over. They were all so friendly, so warm, and I was being tempted back to the farm. They made Buster and me promise to come to dinner at the Hearst House that evening. I was weak and confused; Buster was wise. He put me on the next bus heading east.

Eric Rofes was a senior in Leverett House in 1975.

________________________________

UC leaders stole passports from guests at California workshops

Creative Community Project brochure

Moonie Recruitment Techniques
 by David Frank Taylor, M.A., July 1978, Sociology

Disciplining the Mind – North Korean style

Onni Durst – The Dragon Lady of the Oakland UC

[perenial]

what's your favorite class you've ever taken? what song have you been playing the most often recently? if you had a free trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

so the answer to the first one is part of a longer story i'll put under the cut, but for the other two: we have it all by pim stones and probably the netherlands?? idk i want to visit the hague at some point

OKAY SO in the third year of my undergrad i'd finished all the required courses for my english major and my film minor but i still had all these elective credits to fill, so i was like fuck it, i'll do this history course on 60s america bc that sounds sick as hell and i was always good at history in high school, so why not extend that to uni? except it turns out the lecturer is a total asshole who spent half of the first seminar talking shit abt every other humanities discipline and how being a student in his course meant being a "real academic", which turned me off so much that i literally unenrolled as i sat there in the auditorium and then i just. left.

but then i was without an elective and it was already thursday in the first week of semester so options were limited, so on a whim i signed up for this sociology course about addiction, which wasn't remotely what i was interested in at the time but hey i recognised the name of the convenor from an earlier course and she was a great teacher, so this should be okay too i guess?

AND THEN it turned out i fucking adored the course. it was a mixed sociology/gender studies class exploring the social life of drugs in ways i'd never even thought to consider, and i remember writing an essay on marijuana and the role of pleasure in health feeling genuinely excited about it, and i guess that enthusiasm translated into my writing bc the convenor asked in the feedback if i've ever considered doing sociology honours, which?? i hadn't?? bc this was my first sociology course???

anyway long story short: i did rly well in the course, went on to add a sociology minor to my degree in the last year of my undergrad, ended up getting straight HDs in it which got me into the socy honours program without having done it as a major, graduated with first class honours which then got me into my phd program, and uhhh now im here??

so to answer ur question my favourite class was fuckin weed lol

[mypaperwritingservicefan]

ASS072-1 Introduction To Health And Social Care Essay-Bedfordshire University UK.

This course will give you a general understanding of health and social care and their relevance in wider social, policy and legal environments as well as organizational settings, both in the UK and abroad.

Study areas include sociology, public and private health, law, and health inequalities. You can choose optional units that are relevant to your interests in your second and third year. These include mental health, disability and safeguarding, addictions and human rights, as well as care for older people. You can choose to do an independent academic project or a project focused on action within an organization in your final year with the help of our academic team.

ASS072-1 Introduction To Health And Social Care Essay-Bedfordshire University UK.

There is a strong vocational focus, ensuring you develop transferable, employability-enhancing skills. This course is available over four years, and includes a free one-year industry placement*. You will gain valuable experience and build your CV while meeting potential employers.

Why do you choose this course?

Understanding and applying evidence-based theories to practice with confidence, providing excellent health and care outcomes for all who access these services

You can study with a team of academics who are active in social and health care research and have a wide range of experience.

Health and Social Care Workers can be trained and recruited by the University of Bedfordshire in partnership with local councils, NHS Trusts and other organizations.

You can benefit from our many placements, including research assistance, community advocacy and social media as well as internships.

Start with the Foundation Year (see above) to guarantee entry into the undergraduate program.

The assignment is designed to help you develop your reflective skills, demonstrate your learning and awareness and to show that you have a good grasp of your own learning.

You will need to consider your own values and attitudes when working in the social and health care sector. This part links to the teaching

The lectures will focus on the one-to-one skills. You will be able to use your communication and reflective skills by connecting.

You are learning from your reading. You will have a seminar time set aside to work on your role-play.

* You may need to work outside the seminar time. In seminars, you will receive more information on the role play and the assignment task.

It is intended to help you develop your reflection skills, demonstrate your learning, and to show that you are aware of your values and attitudes when it comes to working and working with other people in the sector of health and social care. This assignment is linked to part two of the lecture program on one-to-1 working skills. You will be able to use your communication and reflective skills to link your lectures with your reading.

[wiseedition]

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[96thdayofrage]

ProPublica gained access to the group after Lang sent an invitation to a reporter’s social media account. It’s unclear whether Lang knew he had invited a reporter, and the reporter joined but did not participate in the chats.

The group, created two days after the Jan. 6 attack, grew from a few dozen members to nearly 200 in just a week. There, safe from the deplatforming spree of mainstream social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, Lang set out to recruit “normies” and radicalize them to the point that they joined regional militia groups.

Lang’s conversations offer a window into how some of President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters — still simmering over baseless allegations of election fraud — are finding new connections on messaging platforms that are largely hidden from public scrutiny. Unlike sites such as Facebook, Telegram is a messaging app where users can create large, invitation-only and encrypted chat groups, and it allows users to remain anonymous by hiding their phone numbers from one another. Within days of the riots, more than 25 million users globally joined Telegram, the company’s CEO said, although the U.S. accounts for a fraction of its user base. A company spokesman did not respond to questions from ProPublica.

The chats also make clear that at least some of those involved in the Capitol insurrection, despite a sweeping crackdown by U.S. law enforcement that has resulted in more than 160 cases, appear dedicated to planning and participating in further violence.

“This has been one of my concerns shorter-term: That folks who are more fervent are seeking each other out in a way that can lead to some short-term, violent outbursts,” said Amy Cooter, a senior lecturer of sociology at Vanderbilt University who has studied militia activity for more than a decade. Homeland Security officials on Wednesday warned of heightened threats of violence across the country from domestic extremists who felt emboldened by the Jan. 6 attack.

The FBI referred questions of whether the government was aware of Lang’s activities to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, which did not immediately return an inquiry seeking comment Wednesday. 

ProPublica sifted through thousands of videos taken by Parler users to create an immersive, first-person view of the Capitol riot. 

A lawyer for Lang, Steven Metcalf, said he was not aware of his client’s private social media messages, including the Telegram group. Metcalf said he planned to enter a not-guilty plea and to contend that Lang was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech on Jan. 6.

After Lang’s arrest, his father, Ned Lang, told the local newspaper, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, New York, that his son had struggled with substance abuse. “As a result, he has had numerous issues with law enforcement over the past 11 years and it has only gotten worse, as is evidenced by his most recent arrest and actions at our nation’s Capitol!” Ned Lang said in an emailed statement to the newspaper. “We are praying for my son that he conquers his addictions and finds a new path forward in his life!” Ned Lang did not respond to messages from ProPublica seeking comment.

Jake Lang’s public social media accounts depict him as an internet-savvy serial entrepreneur, with one now-defunct Instagram account, @jakevape, chronicling hashtagged trips to Coachella, California, and to Art Basel in Miami. Public records show he had moved through various business ventures, from one selling vaporizers to another selling custom baseball hats. For a time, he ran Social Model Management, which promised to help prospective models get “social media famous” by unlocking “industry secrets” that would triple their Instagram followers.

More recent social media posts by Lang acknowledged his struggle to stay sober and a deepening interest in religion. In an Instagram post from last year, tagged “#ChristEnergy,” Lang set goals for himself to memorize the Hebrew alphabet and stay kosher.

After his participation in the Capitol insurrection, Lang seemingly turned his online audience-building skills to a new mission: On the evening of Jan. 8, he turned to Instagram to send a round of invitations to join his private Telegram group, appealing to “patriots” willing to act locally and nationally as an armed paramilitary.

When new members joined the group, he emphasized they should remain anonymous by hiding their phone numbers and changing their usernames to “@Patriot[name].” He urged members to avoid chitchat and any specifics about future actions. Some floated gatherings on Inauguration Day or a few days before in state capitals, although others warned that protests on those days could be a trap. Participants were told they’d be vetted “to make sure they are who they claim to be,” wrote user Silence DoGood, before they were added to their local group chats by regional leaders.

Lang repeatedly used photos and videos of himself from the Capitol insurrection to stress the importance of military-style organization in future attacks.

“A woman just died in this video being trampled by DC police because we aren’t organized as patriots,” Lang posted on Jan. 10, an apparent reference to Rosanne Boyland, who died in a stampede at the Capitol. “This was my carnal cry for the real men to step up and help.”

Replied one member, who went by the username Tony Bologna: “Damn brother! Amen.”

“It was the first battle of the Second American Revolution- make no mistakes,” Lang continued. “This is WAR.” He posted a code of conduct in the group, as well as a set of meme-like instructions for members to prepare for a national “blackout,” buying long-range walkie-talkies and stocking up on guns, ammo and food.

“It’s really happening huh?” asked another user, Alastair. Lang replied with a video attachment, again of himself outside of the Capitol: “Do not be afraid of these tyrants.”

Some of the chat’s new recruits referred to Lang in language borrowed from the military. When one new member asked who the group’s leader was, another replied: “GENERAL JAKE😈😈😈 Your soldiers are reporting for duty.”

One user, dubbed Nomad, appointed himself a regional organizer in western Michigan, while another volunteered to boost the group’s ranks in central Florida. 

“This is grass roots,” wrote Patriot Captain RedorDead, who claimed to invite 20 prospective recruits from a local gym. “This is real.” Lang also encouraged recruiting at local gun shops.

He chastised members who veered into more social territory. “Guys please this is a MILITIA group to defend our country from communism - private message each other if you want to flirt. Only warning.”

While the idea was to organize a coherent strategy ahead of Jan. 20, when President Joe Biden would be sworn in, the group didn’t appear to coalesce around one. Lang offered few details: “The plan for now is to Martin Luther king style March on 17th and 20th, exercising our Rights (that means armed),” he wrote on Jan. 13. “Peace and God be the forefront of all of what we do. But we cannot not show up and appear weak! That is not an option.”

There’s no sign those in the chats took action on those days, but experts like Cooter warn against writing off their intentions as chatroom bluster. While most new online militia groups “are probably keyboard warriors and nothing more,” she cautioned, “we don't know that for sure, and I don’t think we can be complacent about a real risk from even a small minority of such groups.”

Experts have warned about the dangers of online echo chambers for years, but deplatforming may bring other risks, said Josh Pasek, a political science and communication and media professor at the University of Michigan. “The concern is much larger if the selection of which platforms people are using in the first place is itself more polarized. The chance that they make themselves far more extreme is high.”

He added: “The Capitol riot isn’t the end of much. What happens online can move offline. We’ve seen way too many examples of that to ignore it at this point.” 

By Jan. 18, word of Lang’s arrest reached the Telegram group users. 

“Seems as though the FEDs aren’t fucking around…” wrote one member. 

“Omg @patriotjake !!!” Patriot Jetaime wrote.

Some members left, but others vowed to stick around. “I’m still going to stay in the group in case he comes back, which is unlikely, but we may have to continue where he left off,” Patriot Zoomer said.

“The group is still here,” added PatriotLos. “Being patriotic is a lifestyle. Everyone has the capability to lead so don’t get lost.”

ProPublica gained access to the group after Lang sent an invitation to a reporter’s social media account. It’s unclear whether Lang knew he had invited a reporter, and the reporter joined but did not participate in the chats.

The group, created two days after the Jan. 6 attack, grew from a few dozen members to nearly 200 in just a week. There, safe from the deplatforming spree of mainstream social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, Lang set out to recruit “normies” and radicalize them to the point that they joined regional militia groups.

Lang’s conversations offer a window into how some of President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters — still simmering over baseless allegations of election fraud — are finding new connections on messaging platforms that are largely hidden from public scrutiny. Unlike sites such as Facebook, Telegram is a messaging app where users can create large, invitation-only and encrypted chat groups, and it allows users to remain anonymous by hiding their phone numbers from one another. Within days of the riots, more than 25 million users globally joined Telegram, the company’s CEO said, although the U.S. accounts for a fraction of its user base. A company spokesman did not respond to questions from ProPublica.

The chats also make clear that at least some of those involved in the Capitol insurrection, despite a sweeping crackdown by U.S. law enforcement that has resulted in more than 160 cases, appear dedicated to planning and participating in further violence.

“This has been one of my concerns shorter-term: That folks who are more fervent are seeking each other out in a way that can lead to some short-term, violent outbursts,” said Amy Cooter, a senior lecturer of sociology at Vanderbilt University who has studied militia activity for more than a decade. Homeland Security officials on Wednesday warned of heightened threats of violence across the country from domestic extremists who felt emboldened by the Jan. 6 attack.

The FBI referred questions of whether the government was aware of Lang’s activities to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, which did not immediately return an inquiry seeking comment Wednesday.

ProPublica sifted through thousands of videos taken by Parler users to create an immersive, first-person view of the Capitol riot. 

A lawyer for Lang, Steven Metcalf, said he was not aware of his client’s private social media messages, including the Telegram group. Metcalf said he planned to enter a not-guilty plea and to contend that Lang was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech on Jan. 6.

After Lang’s arrest, his father, Ned Lang, told the local newspaper, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, New York, that his son had struggled with substance abuse. “As a result, he has had numerous issues with law enforcement over the past 11 years and it has only gotten worse, as is evidenced by his most recent arrest and actions at our nation’s Capitol!” Ned Lang said in an emailed statement to the newspaper. “We are praying for my son that he conquers his addictions and finds a new path forward in his life!” Ned Lang did not respond to messages from ProPublica seeking comment.

Jake Lang’s public social media accounts depict him as an internet-savvy serial entrepreneur, with one now-defunct Instagram account, @jakevape, chronicling hashtagged trips to Coachella, California, and to Art Basel in Miami. Public records show he had moved through various business ventures, from one selling vaporizers to another selling custom baseball hats. For a time, he ran Social Model Management, which promised to help prospective models get “social media famous” by unlocking “industry secrets” that would triple their Instagram followers.

More recent social media posts by Lang acknowledged his struggle to stay sober and a deepening interest in religion. In an Instagram post from last year, tagged “#ChristEnergy,” Lang set goals for himself to memorize the Hebrew alphabet and stay kosher.

After his participation in the Capitol insurrection, Lang seemingly turned his online audience-building skills to a new mission: On the evening of Jan. 8, he turned to Instagram to send a round of invitations to join his private Telegram group, appealing to “patriots” willing to act locally and nationally as an armed paramilitary.

When new members joined the group, he emphasized they should remain anonymous by hiding their phone numbers and changing their usernames to “@Patriot[name].” He urged members to avoid chitchat and any specifics about future actions. Some floated gatherings on Inauguration Day or a few days before in state capitals, although others warned that protests on those days could be a trap. Participants were told they’d be vetted “to make sure they are who they claim to be,” wrote user Silence DoGood, before they were added to their local group chats by regional leaders.

Lang repeatedly used photos and videos of himself from the Capitol insurrection to stress the importance of military-style organization in future attacks.

“A woman just died in this video being trampled by DC police because we aren’t organized as patriots,” Lang posted on Jan. 10, an apparent reference to Rosanne Boyland, who died in a stampede at the Capitol. “This was my carnal cry for the real men to step up and help.”

Replied one member, who went by the username Tony Bologna: “Damn brother! Amen.”

“It was the first battle of the Second American Revolution- make no mistakes,” Lang continued. “This is WAR.” He posted a code of conduct in the group, as well as a set of meme-like instructions for members to prepare for a national “blackout,” buying long-range walkie-talkies and stocking up on guns, ammo and food.

“It’s really happening huh?” asked another user, Alastair. Lang replied with a video attachment, again of himself outside of the Capitol: “Do not be afraid of these tyrants.”

Some of the chat’s new recruits referred to Lang in language borrowed from the military. When one new member asked who the group’s leader was, another replied: “GENERAL JAKE😈😈😈 Your soldiers are reporting for duty.”

One user, dubbed Nomad, appointed himself a regional organizer in western Michigan, while another volunteered to boost the group’s ranks in central Florida. 

“This is grass roots,” wrote Patriot Captain RedorDead, who claimed to invite 20 prospective recruits from a local gym. “This is real.” Lang also encouraged recruiting at local gun shops.

He chastised members who veered into more social territory. “Guys please this is a MILITIA group to defend our country from communism - private message each other if you want to flirt. Only warning.”

While the idea was to organize a coherent strategy ahead of Jan. 20, when President Joe Biden would be sworn in, the group didn’t appear to coalesce around one. Lang offered few details: “The plan for now is to Martin Luther king style March on 17th and 20th, exercising our Rights (that means armed),” he wrote on Jan. 13. “Peace and God be the forefront of all of what we do. But we cannot not show up and appear weak! That is not an option.”

There’s no sign those in the chats took action on those days, but experts like Cooter warn against writing off their intentions as chatroom bluster. While most new online militia groups “are probably keyboard warriors and nothing more,” she cautioned, “we don't know that for sure, and I don’t think we can be complacent about a real risk from even a small minority of such groups.”

Experts have warned about the dangers of online echo chambers for years, but deplatforming may bring other risks, said Josh Pasek, a political science and communication and media professor at the University of Michigan. “The concern is much larger if the selection of which platforms people are using in the first place is itself more polarized. The chance that they make themselves far more extreme is high.”

He added: “The Capitol riot isn’t the end of much. What happens online can move offline. We’ve seen way too many examples of that to ignore it at this point.” 

By Jan. 18, word of Lang’s arrest reached the Telegram group users. 

“Seems as though the FEDs aren’t fucking around…” wrote one member. 

“Omg @patriotjake !!!” Patriot Jetaime wrote.

Some members left, but others vowed to stick around. “I’m still going to stay in the group in case he comes back, which is unlikely, but we may have to continue where he left off,” Patriot Zoomer said.

“The group is still here,” added PatriotLos. “Being patriotic is a lifestyle. Everyone has the capability to lead so don’t get lost.”

[chrismalcolmhnd2c]

White shirts

©Alex Franco

©The cloth project

“What lies behind appearance is usually another appearance” Mason Cooley

Research the Narrative

Within your blog/workbook – research Social Portraiture. There will be more task and support within the Contextual Studies Class.

Tell the Story

This brief will form your introduction to the new Covid 19 rules within the studios and the store at COGC and will help you get to know your research/studio group.

Re - familiarise yourself with the equipment available to you in the studio and store. Take note of any new procedures required to keep you and your group safe whilst in the studio.

Make a portrait of one or more of your group.

Demonstrate your understanding of metering within the studio.

The theme for this shoot is very simple. Your sitter/s should wear plain white shirt/s.  

Make sure all equipment is cleaned down as per requirements from the store.

Edit and refine: Complete worksheet

Professional practice – Health and safety considerations when working with others.

market awareness – workflow – presentation options.

Colour correction and image optimisation.

Maintaining clean white through white balance.

Submission: 1 Final A3 300ppi jpeg folio ready image. Upload to my city.

Social Portraiture Research

The term “social portraiture”, references the art of capturing a social moment, with careful attention paid to elements such as emotion, personality, as well as a possible representation of the events that led up to that particular moment.

Portraits are effective when they speak to both the informational and the social—showing, telling and inviting the imagination.

A posed or contrived portrait inevitably results in conceptual shallowness. To understand social portraiture, one also has to understand the context (personal, social, political) which led to a particular moment being captured.

Inspirational photographers are largely the ones who mastered the careful balancing act of emotion and information to create portraits which strike a chord with the viewer: Richard Avedon, William Eggleston, Nadav Kander, Milton Rogovin, and Les Krims as examples.

Source: http://jeffemtman.com/jeff-emtman-concentration.pdf

The word “portrait” comes from the Latin “portrahere,” translated as “to drag out, reveal, expose.” (Walker, 16). Wikipedia provides a good example of the common understanding to which these roots have developed. “A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even mood of the person.” The more rigorous Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives several distinct definitions for “Portrait,” each with its own variants. The first, and most common, echoes Wikipedia: “A drawing or painting of a person, often mounted and framed for display, esp. one of the face or head and shoulders. Also, an engraving, photograph, etc., in a similar style.” A variant for sculpture also appears: “A statue (full size or as a bust), an effigy.

Source: https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/portrait/

An important area of "contact" between photography and sociological research, in terms of subject matter, and to some degree, intent (e.g. charting societal change and raising social issues) is "social documentary photography". Current researchers in visual anthropology/sociology are well aware of social documentary photography and the use of the combination of photographs and text in the "documentary photo book”. There is growing interest, at least in Britain, in the history and recent development of forms of social documentary photography, by photographers, cultural critics and galleries, as indicated by publication of both newer and older work. Prominent recent photographic issues have been focused around the connections between photography, surveillance and voyeurism, etc. and the possibilities of street photography in current socio-political contexts. This tradition of social investigation and documentary reportage (PRICE, 2004) can be traced back to RIIS's photographs of the poor in New York in the late 19th century; HINE's images of work people and social conditions (c.f. with the Pittsburgh Survey) in the early 20th century; and the famous work of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the US and other documentary in the 1930s, depicting the lives of farm workers and others.

A related documentary form is the "photo-essay" found in the photo-magazine in the inter-war years up to the early 1950s. The "pinnacle" of the "photo-book", which also broke "beyond" the "genre", was AGEE and EVANS's "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (originally to be an article for Fortune) based on the lives of three farming families. It is a poetical, biblical, factual, descriptive, radically auto-ethnographic script which veers from the smallest aspects of the life of poor tenant farmers to profound questions of human existence. One very striking feature of the work requires comment: EVANS's photographs (including individual and group portraits) are displayed uncaptioned at the very start of the book. Another "tradition" of the "photo-book" can be identified, leading back (in particular) to the work of BRASSAI on Paris, and BRANDT on the "English", in the 1930s (BROOKMAN, 2007; CAMPANY, 2006; DELANY, 2004; POIRIER, 2005) and surrounded by a broader current of "humanistic realism". This was followed during the mid 1950s, when an ambivalent, alienated, or ironic view of social life (often transgressing photographic conventions) was offered in Robert FRANK's "travelogue" across the U.S. and William KLEIN's view of New York. This work not only pointed to social division and the gap between reality and illusion, it was also a personal account of creativity and experience. It was influential on the growth of "street photography" (with its mix of the "quirky" and "mundane") depicting urban lives, during the 1960s and 1970s. Roy E. STRYKER, who directed the photographic work of the FSA (Farm Security Administration) from 1935, was an economist who had previously made extensive use of photographs.

The work and life of Dorothea LANGE, in particular, is undergoing renewed attention and reassessment—in terms of the "aesthetics" of her photographs (i.e. according to her "realism" and "humanism"), and the "politics" of her photographs and photographic practice. Her "classic" photo-book, "An American Exodus" (1939) (with Paul TAYLOR), and her "reports from the field" are still of interest for social documentarians (e.g. the relation between photographs, and also between photographs and types of text, including quotes, description, and background or "found" materials).

The above areas of photography (social documentary, photo book, street photography, and related areas) are important sources of portraiture since they show people situated within their everyday social situations. To these "genres" can be added, for research purposes, "found" sources such as professional portraiture (in the studio and elsewhere) and informal picture-taking (by friends, families, etc). Finally, at least some mention should be made regarding the "documentary" work oral historians who have long used portrait and other photographs in the study of working lives, communities, health, migration and other areas and more recently have pioneered Web based resources.

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277219754_Photographic_Portraits_Narrative_and_Memory#pf8

Editing workbook: WHITE SHIRT. 

STUDIO CHECKLIST: Health and safety in the studio due to covid 19

Please refer to this before and after all shoots

Activity: White Shirts

Does this activity require the use of a photographic studio?

Y

Lighting, backdrop and flags req.

Are you free of all symptoms attributed to covid – 19?

Y

Are you wearing a face mask? (unless exempt)

Y

Apart from when being the model.

Are you able to maintain a safe social distance of 2m?

Y

Have you made sure it is only you and your studio partner that are in your studio space?

Y

Our group is 3.

Have you access to hand sanitizer?

Y

Is your equipment clean?

Y

If borrowing or lending equipment have you used hand sanitizer before and after use?

Y

PC cord.

If working with studio equipment have you cleaned the work area and kit before and after use?

Y

Have you read the most recent government and college guidelines on social distancing?

Y

Have you effectively pre planned your shoot?

Y

Have you effectively planned your time in the studio, to make the most of your studio day?

Y

NB: If you come across a studio that has been left untidy or see other students not following guidelines, please report immediately and confidentially to your lecturer or guidance tutor.

The “white” part of this brief is vital in the success of the image, consider the ways in which control the white balance of the image, both in shooting and editing to obtain the crispest white you can for the shoot.

White balance

Find a diagram that explains colour temperature, in relation to photography

Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/color-temperature-3-point-lighting-basics

Explain or show diagram of how you correct white balance using your camera.

The best way to obtain the correct white balance is through the “Preset (PRE)” setting. Simply hold a white card in front of the camera lens and press the shutter button. The camera will then read the correct colour temperature of the light that gets reflected from the white card and will use it instead.

The process of changing white balance in a digital camera varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. For example, most Nikon professional cameras such as Nikon D300s/D700/D3s have a dedicated “WB” button on the top dial, while cameras such as Nikon D90 have a “WB” button on the back of the camera close to the LCD screen. So, in order to change it, all I need to do is hold the WB button with one hand, then rotate the rear dial counter-clockwise. All current Nikon DSLRs also allow you to change white balance through a menu setting.

Source: https://photographylife.com/what-is-white-balance

Explain the difference between colour correction and colour grading.

Colour correction is a technical process that fixes colour issues and makes images appear as natural as possible. The idea is for colours to look clean and real, as human eyes would see them in the real world.

Colour grading is also technical, but it's more of a creative process. The colour grading process adds atmosphere and emotion to shots by colouring images in new, often unnatural ways.

Source: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/color-grading-vs-color-correction-process/

Explain your editing workflow to correct colour casts.

Method 1

The “Levels Adjustment Layer” tool in Photoshop that can be used to remove and neutralise colour cast.

Method 2

When a colour cast is dominant, the “Match Colour” technique will make the biggest difference and it requires only one click.

·       Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Match Colour

·       In the window that appears, check the box for Neutralise

·       Click OK

Method 3

Use the “Temp” and “Tint” sliders

To remove a colour cast manually, drag the “Temp” slider to the left to cool your photo or drag it to the right to warm it.

If you have a green or magenta tint, use the “Tint” slider to offset it. Drag the tint slider to the left to add green or drag it to the right to add magenta.

Method 4

Use the “White Balance Selector”

·       The White Balance Selector, often called the eyedropper tool, can remove a colour cast with one click. Click the eyedropper icon to select the tool. Then click an area in your photo that you think should be neutral grey.

Your own shoot.

Lighting diagram: showing how you set up your studio for the shoot.

For these shots, we first set up a black backdrop with strobes set up as per the diagram above and used an LED ring light positioned first centre and straight on to the model. We also used flags to reduce the light spill from the strobes onto our subject.

For the second half of our shoot, we used a white backdrop and swapped the ring light for a soft box, positioned centre, then left then right.

Four best images

What do you like about this image?

I think this image works well as it has good catchlights (we used a ring light) and I like the defining shadows on the right-hand side of the models face.

What do you like about this image?

I like the viewpoint of this image as it portrays the model in a position of dominance and power. I also think the low-key lighting on the left of the subject’s face works well and adds drama to the shot.

What do you like about this image?

I like the natural pose and composition of this shot. I also think the catchlights work well to engage the viewer.

What do you like about this image?

This shot works well as the focus is sharp on the model’s face, while sightly soft on her hair which helps convey the motion in the image.

BEST IMAGE EDIT: Before

What edits would best optimise this image?

This image would benefit from being colour corrected in Photoshop (I feel it is slightly warm and has too much red, so would reduce the colour temperature to make the image cooler) I would also crop the shot to cut out the small section of hand showing on the right, along with using the “Spot Heal” tool to smooth out some areas around the face and “Dodge” and “Burn” tools to lighten the teeth to make them more white and reduce some of the slightly blown out highlights on the model’s nose and chin. I also plan on adding a very small amount of “Clarity” and increasing the contrast slightly.

BEST IMAGE EDIT: After.

How have your edits improved the whiteness of your shirt?

Yes, I feel the colour of the shirt is a lot more natural looking now and closer to how it appears to the naked eye. I think the other edits, as described above, also enhance and improve the image.

[kayr0ss]

Appointments Chapter 1

[LWA, Diakko, Small Town AU, Fluff and Slow Romance, Pining(TM) lol]

Summary: Diana has her life down pat. She's a doctor in a small, quiet town with two friends and her books. She doesn't expect everything to change when a girl literally rams into her life (on the crosswalk), gets into multiple accidents which require medical attention, and somehow is always at the right place and time.

And... surely those red eyes weren't real?

 Chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] AO3

Diana was out by two-thirty in the afternoon.

It was a surprise to have so few patients, but it meant that their community was getting healthier and that no children with allergies were gifted stuffed animals by well-meaning but misinformed uncles and aunts that day. She stepped out of her office, keys jingling, to find Barbara flipping through a novel behind the small front desk.

“Slow day, huh?”

“It’s a welcome change,” Diana agreed softly.

“I’ll stay a while in case there are any emergencies,” the other woman smiled at her. “Now go! You’ve actually got a free afternoon.”

Diana bid her farewell, thankful that she would be able to indulge in her novels in peace. Barbara worked as nurse at their clinic and very capable one, at that. She’d be able to manage anything immediately life threatening, at least until Diana arrived.

Diana walked home in a steady pace. Blytonbury wasn’t a big town, her clinic was a manageable distance away from her apartment, and all of this was no lucky coincidence. Diana’s decision to move to Blytonbury was the result of careful planning and consideration. The town was adjacent to Luna Nova University, one of the county’s more prominent institutions. She wanted to keep her options for educational advancement open and LNU’s Faculty of Medicine & Surgery was housed within the famed St. Bellatrix Memorial Medical Center. It was painfully cliché, but everyone was right when they said ‘learning never stops’—especially for doctors.

But she supposed the best part was that it was a small, quiet town. People were civil, but not nosy. Shops were close enough to walk to, travelling farther distances was easy and traffic-free. Moving here was one of her better life decisions in life, and she relished  the thought with a comfortable sense of satisfaction.

She paused at a traffic light, watching the red pedestrian crosswalk numbers count downwards. The local bakery and cafe was across the street, and Diana entertained the idea of treating herself to some cheesecake. She could see Jasminka, the owner, chatting with a little girl while seated on one of the outdoor tables. Diana didn’t know much about Jasminka other than that she came from a wealthy Russian family, baked wonderful pastries, and had never been drunk on vodka even after drinking liters of it. That last snippet of information was entirely unsolicited, but Barbara told her over a cup of tea anyway.

Right. Cheesecake it is.

The light flickered green, and Diana stepped into the crosswalk with her usual grace, wondering if she should buy another slice for later that evening. Just when she began wondering about dinner, she was quite rudely shoved aside and—

“Sorry!”

Diana frowned, regaining her footing and nearly dropping her purse. She was thankful that her heels were a reasonable height; falling on asphalt would have been damper on a good day. She caught a glimpse of a foreign face and a lot of brown, but not much else. Straightening out her clothes and hurrying to the other side of the street, she shook her head and hoped that the girl—woman?—was running for good reason.

“English Breakfast, Dr. Cavendish?”

Jasminka’s kindly voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she felt a warm appreciation that the cafe owner could remember her tea of choice. Then again, she was a woman of habit; she doesn’t recall having ordered anything else.

“I’d prefer the cheesecake for today,” Diana politely replied, mumbling a small ‘thank you’ while she was led through the cafe’s doors and embraced by the delectable aroma of coffee and baked goods. It was her first free afternoon in quite some time; she realized that she hasn’t really stayed within the cafe for much longer than it took to get tea for take-out. It was a quaint, cozy place. She wistfully entertained the idea of tucking herself into a corner seat and writing her days away.

“Cheesecake for the good doctor,” Jasminka chimed, and Diana smoothly handed over her bills—exact amount and tip prepared beforehand because that’s just how she was—before waving goodbye and going on her way. She noticed that Jasminka returned to her table outside; the little girl had dutifully waited for her to finish work. It seemed quite nice, sharing a coffee with a friend on a lazy afternoon. Perhaps someday she should invite Hannah and Barbara. Contrary to popular belief, Diana wasn’t quite as severe as everyone thought she was—the medical profession was simply rigid by nature.

It didn’t help that the townsfolk tended to put her on a pedestal, either. She appreciated the town’s small community and tight-knit efficiency, but sometimes, despite having stayed for quite a while, she felt that the warmth and closeness was something she only saw from the outside looking in.

Diana caught sight of the imposing Oak tree adjacent to her apartment, and she effortlessly found her keys, sliding the appropriate one into her lock once she arrived at her doorstep.

Maybe she’ll think about socializing another day; her books were waiting.

  Oh crap, oh crap, oh shit!

Being late for your first lecture, on your first day of classes was definitely not the impression Atsuko Kagari wanted to leave. Especially if classes started at two-forty-five in the afternoon. Who the hell had classes at two forty-five?! Would it kill them to move it down to three? She grit her teeth, falling into a controlled sprint while avoiding a fire hydrant, narrowly missing a small child (“Watch it, kid!”), and finally skidding to a halt because her sides were starting to ache. She paused, catching her breath while she darted a look to her watch.

14:32

Acceptance was the first step, she supposed. She had thirteen minutes to get to class and groaning wasn’t going to change that.

A bike, she bitterly thought to herself, trying not to spill her belongings while she sped back up into a run and vaulted over a cart full of computers (pushed by a weird-looking lady). She hit the pavement running, you need to get yourself a goddamn bike. The run itself was exhilarating, but her first class was Sociology and this ‘Professor du Nord’ sounded like a serious big-shot.

Perhaps she should have been more careful, she’s heard stories that graduate school classes and professors didn’t really care all that much about attendance and punctuality, but it was a bit too late to be careful at this point. She was approaching a pedestrian crosswalk and could not afford the sixty-second countdown if she missed it. So she strained her legs, feeling them burn, mildly forgetting about the threat of on-coming traffic and feeling a surge of victory when she made in just in time. But then—

She had been so distracted by beating the countdown that she didn’t notice the other person crossing the road. It was a mild collision, and Akko was going too fast to slow down so she looked over her shoulder for a second while she ran, and yelled out an apologetic, “Sorry!”

Come in late for her first afternoon class, cause nearly three road accidents, and shove a pretty, blonde girl all within the same hour. Typical Akko.

14:48

Akko barged into the classroom, panting and genuinely proud that she was only three minutes late. She expected the room to be nearly-empty, but she was instead greeted by about twenty kids who looked about sixteen to eighteen years old. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and noted that Professor du Nord was not yet in. Taking a hold of her breathing, she observed her surroundings. The architecture was old-fashioned and European, with a high ceiling and several lamps hanging overhead. The room was a small lecture hall, with each row climbing upwards towards the back, and the main pedestal at the lowest level towards the front.

“Are you our professor?” one of them tilted her head, and Akko groaned, realizing that she would be taking core subjects with undergraduates before moving on to post-grad units.

“No,” she took a deep breath, wiping the sweat off her brow.

“Oh!” the student’s eyes glazed over at her in wonder, “you did look too cool to be a professor!”

Akko laughed, feeling herself fall at ease when the awkward quietness returned to the excited chatter of the first day of school. She looked towards the back of the hall, hoping that there was still somewhere to sit that was a respectable distance from the pedestal when she saw a small, orange-haired woman with an empty seat beside her.

Akko shuffled up the steps of the auditorium, dramatically sinking into the seat beside the bespectacled woman before shooting her with a determined look.

"H-Hi?" the woman said meekly.

“I'm Akko!” Akko grinned, eager to make her first friend. She didn’t look like a freshman, so maybe a senior? "Be my friend!"

The other woman blinked, completely caught off-guard, but then she seemed to nod and took Akko's hand in what looked like mild apprehension.

"I'm... Lotte Jansson."

The lecture transpired without further incident. It was what she’d expected: a quick introduction, a rundown of what was to be expected, and an early dismissal after a whole fifteen minutes in class. Akko had quickly warmed up to Lotte, and while she was a lot more subdued than Akko, she seemed to take to Akko quite quickly herself. She was apparently finishing a master’s degree in creative writing, taking up units in Humanities that she felt would contribute to her craft. They had a trinket shop back home. She loved books. It was all-in-all a charming life story.

“And you?” her new friend tilted her head in inquiry.

“Oh!” Akko grinned, “I’m a violinist.”

Lotte blinked at her, curious, and she couldn’t help but ask—“what are you doing taking up Sociology?”

“I needed more Humanities units,” Akko shrugged. Lotte looked like she was going to ask a bit more, but apparently left the rest for another conversation. Akko didn’t mind, and was all but happy to find out that her new friend was staying near her apartment in town. “You’ve been staying here a while?”

“Ever since I started further studies, yeah,” Lotte looked around the streets, “it’s a nice place for a writer.”

Akko nodded, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. They walked briskly, but in no particular hurry, and the brunette appreciated the slower pace. Making friends with Lotte put her at ease; she didn’t feel so alone anymore.

She was a new girl in a foreign town, after all.

Lotte had sputtered into laughter when Akko told her about how she nearly missed the bus stop when she first came here, and she was given a quick overview of how commuting and transportation typically worked within the village.

“There’s a shuttle that usually travels to the University and back.  It leaves the center of town—near the clinic—at regular intervals,” Lotte supplied.

“It isn’t that far though,” Akko pouted, crossing her arms. An earlier idea wormed it’s way back to her mind.

“Hey, Lotte!”

The other woman looked at her curiously.

“Is there a bike shop somewhere nearby?”

OKAY! Holy shyeeet this is my first multi-chap attempt at LWA and I am honestly hoping for the best. I've also like, never really done AUs before, so this is a whole new adventure for me and I hope that you guys enjoy it along the way!

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Stuff of Legends

Summary: Stretch  wants to hit up the thrift stores, but if anyone sings Macklemore, Jeff is going home. Seriously. 

Notes: I swear, I am getting back to the point. Kind of. Does this series actually have a point, I’m asking for a friend. 

Also on AO3 (whoops, fixed it.)

By Any Other Name masterlist

~~*~~

u home?

Jeff paused his show on Netflix and looked at the text curiously. Thomas had closed the store down for the day for renovations, since no one wanted to shop at a book store with hammers banging. An extra day off was bad for his paycheck but good for his stress, and Jeff hadn’t planned on anything more strenuous than taking advantage of the larger television in the living room.  

Yeah, he replied. He had no idea what Stretch had planned, but it was bound to be more interesting.

great am on your porch buzz me up

Yep, looked like his Wednesday was about to get more interesting. He stood and stretched before wandering over to hit the buzzer, and opened the door to watch Stretch mosey up the stairs. “Couldn’t you just teleport in?” Jeff asked curiously.

Stretch shook his head. It must’ve been chilly out because he had the hood pulled up on his sweatshirt. With his hands in his pockets and his hood up, he could’ve been mistaken for any student, until you saw the boney knees poking out from the holes in his jeans. “can’t teleport where i haven’t been. see, it has to do with…” he stopped and gave Jeff a narrow look. “what did you say your degree is in?”

“Sociology,” he admitted

Stretch grimaced. “Well, unless you want to add on a minor in physics, let’s just stick with ‘because magic’, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” Jeff grinned, “come on in.”

All his roommates were at their own jobs but at least the place was reasonable clean, with only a scattering of this morning’s dishes on the coffee table. The sofa was sagging in the middle and had been scrounged from the side of the road and the only thing on the walls were speakers. The living room wasn’t exactly personalized.

Stretch only glanced around curiously. “nice place.”

“It’s the size of a postage stamp and smells like 4 guys live here,” Jeff said wryly, “but it’s home. What brings you over to this side of town?”

Stretch stuck his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and rocked on his heels. “wanted to see if you wanted to come thrifting with me.”

“Thrifting,” Jeff repeated, “Like thrift stores?

Stretch grinned. “yeah, i love it. we used to go down to the garbage dump back home and find stuff. this is sorta like that only less wet and it mostly smells better. mostly.”

“Okay, but if you start singing Macklemore at any point, I'm going home.

Stretch laughed, “deal.”

“Let me grab my shoes,” Jeff said, almost embarrassed at how eager he was. Most of his friends from college had moved away after graduation, either finding better jobs or moving back in with their parents. Jeff hadn’t had either option and he didn’t mind his roommates, but all of them were more like acquaintances he shared a living space with, not friends. Funny to think that Stretch had been hopeful to have him for a friend, when he had needed one just as much. Besides, Stretch was fun and hilarious and generous and…eh, fuck it, he sounded like he had a crush, but it wasn’t like that, not even a little.

He liked the guy and fuck anyone who had a problem with it.

It took Jeff longer than he meant, one of his shoes had nearly been consumed by the space under his bed. By the time he came back out, he stopped in surprise to see Stretch was backed into the wall by the door, his eye lights wide. By his feet was Ella, his roommate’s cat. She was only sitting there, licking at one paw but Stretch was staring at her warily. The cat looked up at him and meowed, and he actually flickered, like he’d nearly teleported the hell out.

Jeff didn’t have a clue what that was about, but he could get the long version later, right now all he knew was his friend was not cool with this. “Hey, hold on.” Jeff picked up the cat and shut her into his roommate’s room.

Stretch relaxed the moment the door closed, a trickle of sweat running down his skull. “thanks…uh… sorry i don’t like temmies. cats,” he corrected, “i don’t like cats.”

“No problem,” Jeff said, lightly. Stretch seemed embarrassed, so maybe it would be better to ask later.  “Let’s head out, you can catch a smoke outside.”

“yeah, thanks,” Stretch nodded and followed Jeff out the door, waiting while he locked it. “we can walk to the thrift store if you don’t mind. it’s close enough that taking the bus would probably be slower.”

“You’re willing to walk?” Jeff teased.

“we are on a quest!” Stretch said loftily. “sacrifices must be made. besides, we can hit up someplace for coffee on the way.” He lit a cigarette the moment they stepped outside, exhaling a relieved cloud of smoke. “c’mon, galahad, let’s find some grails and shit.”

They walked in silence for a while and Jeff waited until Stretch finished his cigarette before he asked, “So are we looking for anything specific?”

Stretch shrugged. “a few things. sometimes i use some odd stuff for experiments. i like to keep my eyes peeled for any of the toys the edgelord collects, too.”

“Action figures.”

“yeah, those. plus, anything else fun for him. like clothes.”

“Clothes?” Jeff asked skeptically. “Edge doesn’t strike me as a thrift store sort of guy.” He wouldn’t have been surprised to find out his t-shirts were custom-made. 

“depends on what you find. one time, i found this sweater with a huge clown on it, right? looked like it had been knitted by a serial killer.”

“He wore that?” Jeff said, disbelieving.

“fuck, no!” Stretch laughed. “he threatened to burn it, said it would be in the best interest of humanity to kill it before it tormented anyone else. anyway, i told him if he wouldn’t wear it, i would, so i wore nothing but that for two days.” He sighed happily, lost in memory. “it didn’t survive the second night.”

They passed a coffee shop on the way, and Stretch bought them both drinks. Jeff didn’t bother to protest; he’d tried before and Stretch either became selectively deaf or would talk louder until he was shouting over Jeff’s attempts, so Jeff stuck with his normal form of revenge and left a great tip. Baristas probably loved them.

Stretch fidgeted with his cup, stirring the massive dollop of whipped cream into his frappuccino as they walked. There were plenty of other people out walking, college students and joggers, the occasional person with their dog. They seemed to either be carefully ignoring them, like a celebrity, or sparing them only the occasional stare. They weren’t far from the college and Monsters were common enough on campus. Dogs always seemed pleased to meet Stretch no matter what their Human masters thought, and Jeff wondered guilty if it was for his personality or his bone structure. To his amusement, Stretch had dog treats with him and, once permission was granted, was always happy to offer one to his canine admirers.

He exchanged twitter handles with three different dog owners before they made it to the thrift store.

They hovered outside, finishing their drinks. “You really like dogs, huh?”

Stretch smiled wryly, “they like me, for sure. it’s probably all the excitement of finding a walking, talking version of their favorite snack.”

“But not cats?” Jeff asked, cautiously.

“not cats,” he agreed with a wince. He shifted on his feet awkwardly, tossing his empty cup into the trash can. “hey, listen, you keep hanging out in new new home, you might run into the temmies. they usually keep to themselves, but they’re okay in this universe. i usually remember but i didn’t know you had a cat, it took me off guard.”

“You guys have said that before, this universe.”

Stretch scratched at the back of his skull. “um, yeah, it’s a long story.”

“does involve a long physics lecture?” Jeff asked, swallowing down the last of his own coffee.

“maybe?” Stretch tried. Jeff looked at him. “probably not,” he admitted

“Okay, I’m letting you off the hook this time but you’re going to explain someday.

“i promise,” Stretch said, low.

The words were more solemn than he was used to hearing from Stretch and it made him remember what Antwan had said, the first time they’d had dinner together. That he shouldn’t break a promise that he made to Stretch. Good to know at least that he was serious about telling him.

The first thing he did when they walked into the thrift store was persuade Stretch that he couldn’t ride in the cart. “You’ll get us kicked out before we can even look at the goods,” Jeff warned.

Stretch raised a brow bone at him. “are we speaking from experience?”

“I admit nothing.”

Even without a free ride, Jeff had to admit, it was fun to poke through the shelves and piles of this and that, and soon their cart was piled with a mishmash of bizarreness.

A pen holder that had a pair of monkeys fighting on it that had ‘karate punch!’ on the side, a velociraptor coffee mug where the handle was the dinosaur’s tongue, a picture frame that was pink with glittery hearts that Jeff suspected had once belonged in a teenage girls bedroom from the 80s that Stretch declared would be perfect for their wedding photo. He also had three toasters that were in various stages of broken and Jeff wasn’t sure to be excited or wary to see what became of those.

“someday, i’ll find another clown sweater,” Stretch mourned, “that was some of the best sex of my life. but this will do for now!” He held up a crisply ironed button up shirt that was cheerily emblazoned with pictures of bacon, coffee mugs, and pancakes dripping with syrup.

“It’s perfect,” Jeff assured him. He was fussing with his own haul, which included a book on the best mugshots of all time.

None of the clerks gave them more than a smile; probably they were used to Stretch coming in to rummage. When they went back outside, bags in hand, Edge was waiting in the parking lot, leaning against his car.

“babe, what are you doing here?” Stretch seemed startled, but not particularly upset.

“I bribe the clerks to let me know when you’re here so that I can be assured they’ve hidden the worst of their wares,” Edge said dryly. Stretch rolled his eye lights and Edge’s mouth twitched in a grin. “How do you think I know? You posted on your twitter.”

“oh, i did, didn’t i. i didn’t say which store,” Stretch said suspiciously.

“Process of elimination, you mentioned your partner in crime.  What sort of atrocities did you find this time?” Edge reached for the bag and Stretch held it out of reach.

“nuh uh, you can’t look! you have to wait for the wedding.”

“Love, I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say if you got me a wedding present at the thrift store, you will be sleeping in the chicken coop.” It didn’t stop him from sliding an arm around Stretch and pulling him in for a soft kiss.

Jeff pointedly looked away. Yeah, he shipped it, but there was no need to be a creeper about it.

“don’t be such a killjoy,” Stretch snickered. He gave him a smacking kiss back and squirmed away. “but i did find you some of your toys that you can part out and rebuild.”

“At least you found something useful,” he slanted a glance at Jeff. “And you?”

“I found Antwan a throw pillow with Darth Vader on it that says ‘free throat hugs’,” Jeff admitted.

That earned him a faint grin, “So you both found something useful. Wonderful. Get in the car.”

Stretch scowled, “i’m not done, i want to hit up the thrift store over on baldwin.”

“And so we will. Would you rather take the bus or my car?”

He hesitated, and Jeff gave him a beseeching look because seriously, Edge had an awesome car.

“you don’t get to come in,” Stretch muttered. “you’re no fun. you say things are ‘distasteful’ and ‘atrocities to Monsters and Humans alike’.”

“And I will continue my pledge to destroy anything you bring home with clowns on it,” Edge assured him. He popped the trunk so that Jeff and Stretch could squeeze their bags in. “That said, on my honor, I will allow you two to continue your rampage unhindered. I’ll only drop you off, agreed?”

“deal,” Stretch decided.

Jeff scrambled into the backseat, “Onward, my king, in our noble steed! The grail awaits!”

Stretch laughed and even Edge grinned, though he shook his head.

“You’re more like Don Quixote and Sancho than Arthur and Lancelot,” Edge chuckled, climbing into the driver’s seat, “but you’ll do.”

“drive, rocinante,” Stretch commanded, “behave, and later i’ll give you a ride instead.”

“Giddyap,” Edge murmured and pulled out onto the main road. Jeff pretended not to hear him, grateful for the wind on his face and the presence of friends.

 -finis-

[ayittey1]

Why the Asian Tiger Model Will Never Work In Africa

"We want to learn a lot from Singapore that has been very successful, that has turned a lot of challenges historically into a lot of opportunities," Kagame told National Public Radio’s correspondent, Frank Langfitt, on September 16, 2012.[i] While Rwanda has done well economically, the Asian Tiger Model -- development under authoritarianism – is not one African countries should emulate. As Chu (2009) explains,

 “In 2007, Kagame took a team to Singapore to study how the country turned itself from a regional trading post into a global business capital. But while there are parallels between the two nations — both are run by strong, postcolonial governments whose democratic credentials are widely questioned — Singapore has advantages that Rwanda does not, from its outstanding education system to its geography to its fastidious reputation. (It annoys President Kagame that foreigners often don’t know that Rwanda, too, is tidy. At a speech in Boston last year [2008], an American rose during the Q&A time and praised Kigali for being surprisingly safe and clean. Those in the audience recall that the president called the guy out. “What did you expect?” he said. “Did you expect us to be violent and dirty?”)”

 Nevertheless, this Asian Tiger model has never worked in postcolonial Africa. In fact, no dictator has brought lasting prosperity to any African country because the situations of the two continents are vastly different. First, the Asian Tigers have relatively more ethnically homogeneous populations than in Africa. Nigeria for example has more than 250 ethnic groups; Congo DR has over 400. Economic prosperity that benefits one group at the expense of the others is a recipe for social unrest and political upheaval. Even Somalia which is ethnically homogeneous imploded into chaos and has been without a government since 1991. The politics of exclusion was largely responsible for the implosion of Rwanda in 1994.

 Second, most of the Asian Tigers are insular. Those unwilling to tolerate authoritarian rule had few options but to grin and bear it in the 1970s. By contrast, borders are porous in Africa and those unwilling to live under authoritarian rule will always vote with their feet to go and settle somewhere else. In fact, the continent is crawling with economic and political refugees, as well as those fleeing wars and humanitarian catastrophes. As pointed out earlier, Africans from Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia and South Sudan were among those who perished in vain attempts to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe in 2015.Third, several Asian Tigers - Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea in particular -- faced an external communist threat and, as a result, their people were willing to accept curbs on their civil liberties to fight that external enemy. Africa has had no such enemy after the 1960s. In fact, for most Africans, the enemy has been within – the state.

  “Most African regimes have been so alienated and so violently repressive that their citizens see the state and its development agents as enemies to be evaded, cheated and defeated if possible, but never as partners. The leaders have been so engrossed in coping with the hostilities which their misrule and repression has unleashed that they are unable to take much interest in anything else including the pursuit of development.” Ake (1991).

Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria dismissed Nigeria’s National Assembly as “a den of thieves and looters.”[ii]

 Fourth, because of the external communist threat, the Asian Tigers received large amounts of Western aid, something Africa cannot count on. Even then, Africa really does not need foreign aid since the aid resources it desperately needs can be found in Africa itself. Each year, Africa receives about $35 billion in foreign aid from all sources but corruption alone costs Africa $150 billion a year.[iii] Obviously Africa would not need any foreign aid if it is half as successful in stanching out corruption. Fifth, and more importantly, Africa needs to devise its own economic development model. For much of the postcolonial period, Africa leaders copied many foreign models, system and paraphernalia, transplanting them into Africa. Virtually every foreign model has and some meretricious replica somewhere in Africa. Rome has a Basilica, so one was built in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast. France once had an emperor; so in 1975, President Jean-Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic spent $25 million crown himself one.[iv] The US has a space center; so Nigeria spent $89 million to build the Obasanjo Space Center in 2010 at the time when Nigeria cannot feed itself. The list of such unimaginative copying is endless. The continent is littered with the rancid carcasses of failed imported systems. It would be the height of insanity to suggest that Africa needs yet another foreign model to copy -- from Singapore.

 The economic model that Rwanda and other African countries need to copy can be found in Africa itself – in Botswana. It is black Africa’s best-kept secret.  It has consistently averaged an economic rate of growth above 7% since the 1980s. Although various analysts have attributed its success to mineral wealth in diamonds, a combination of factors have contributed immensely. Foremost has been the absence of civil war and political strife in its postcolonial history.  Second, Botswana enjoys political stability – not engineered by some dictator declaring the country a one-party state. Botswana is a parliamentary democracy. Third, the government has pursued strikingly prudent economic policies, allowing pragmatism, rather than emotional rhetoric, to prevail. It did not squander export windfall from diamonds like Nigeria did of its oil boom.  Fourth, Botswana has a lively free press and freedom of expression.   Commenting on the political process in Botswana, Professor Patrick Mulotsi, a lecturer in sociology at the University of Botswana, was quite pithy:

 “If you look at the prerequisites of liberal democracy, the rule of law has been highly respected. A lot of people can say a lot of things with relatively little fear. There has been a lot of response by the ruling party to debates with the opposition.”[v]

  Botswana can find solutions to its economic problems because it permits free debate and freedom of expression. By contrast, much of black Africa is mired in intellectual darkness and economic quagmire, for want of ideas and solutions to extricate itself. Intellectual repression prevents those with ideas from coming forward, even though Article 9 of the African Union’s Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights guarantees freedom of expression.. As we shall see below, intellectual freedom does not exist in Rwanda.  Fifth, Botswana did not ignore its indigenous roots. It built upon its native system of kgotlas, whereby chiefs and councilors meet “under a tree” to reach a consensus on important matters. In fact, cabinet ministers are required to attend weekly kgotla meetings. As Fred Dira, an African journalist, explained:

 “When they were initiated, kgotla meetings were meant to be totally apolitical.  They were to be meetings at which government ministers and members of parliament would brief local communities about official policies and programs, or about issues discussed or to be discussed in parliament. It was also part of the tradition of kgotla meetings that if they were convened by the president or any of his ministers, the respective members of parliament would not only be present, but would also be given some role to play at the meeting. This was in recognition of the fact that at such meetings, MPs shared the role of host with the chiefs.”[vi]

  Such was the case in 1991, when the government tried to explain a $25 million Okavango River irrigation project to the villagers at a kgotla in the northern town of Maun. Irate villagers let loose their opposition: “You will dry the delta! We will have no more fish to eat! No more reeds to build our houses!” a village elder screamed.”[vii] For six hours, they excoriated government officials for conceiving of such a dastardly project. Buckling under the wrath of the people, the government quietly canceled the project. Only in Botswana could this happen, giving true meaning to such terms as “participatory development," “bottom-up development approach,” "grassroots development,” and "popular participation in development.” One cannot envisage this happening in Kagame’s Rwanda. Furthermore, in Botswana, "Chiefs still exercise considerable local authority and influence which can act as a check on too precipitate action by the government and can even swing local elections” (Colclough and McCarthy, 1980; p.38). Asked why Botswana has had better leaders than the rest of Africa, Zibani Maundeni of the University of Botswana replied that indigenous Tswana culture has helped: “Before any big decision [Tswana leaders] consulted the general population. There was a strong culture of hearing the views of ordinary people.”[viii] In much of black Africa, including pre-and post-1994 genocide Rwanda, chiefs saw their powers and authority stripped: The indigenous system of participatory democracy and the tradition of reaching a consensus “under a tree” were spurned, and, in their place, African elites and intellectuals erected alien systems (one-man dictatorships and de facto apartheid regimes).

 Of course, Botswana has had its share of problems with income distribution and AIDS. But its economic success demonstrates that Africa does not have to reject its indigenous culture to advance economically. The Japanese did not. “Japan’s postwar success has demonstrated that modernization does not mean Westernization. Japan has modernized spectacularly, yet remains utterly different from the West. Economic success in Japan has nothing to do with individualism. It is the fruit of sheer discipline --the ability to work in groups and to conform.”[ix]

Africa's salvation does not lie in blindly copying foreign systems but in returning to its own roots and heritage and building upon them. As Williams (1987) advised: "When, if ever, black people actually organize as a race in their various population centers, they will find that the basic and guiding ideology they now seek and so much need is embedded in their own traditional philosophy and constitutional system, simply waiting to be extracted and set forth" (p.161). Says Robert Guest, editor of the Africa region for The Economist magazine,

 “When Japan’s rulers decided in the nineteenth-century, that they had to modernize to avoid being colonized they sent their brightest officials to Germany, Britain and America to find out how industrial societies worked. They then copied the ideas that seemed most useful, rejected the Western habits that seemed unhelpful or distasteful, and within a few decades Japan advanced enough to win a war with Russia – the first non-white nation to defeat a European power in modern times.

Japan’s example should be important for Africa, because it shows that modernization need not mean Westernization. Developing countries need to learn from developed ones, but they do not have to abandon their culture and traditions in the process. Africans face the same challenge now that Japan faced in the nineteenth century: how to harness other people’s ideas and technology to help them build the kind of society that they, the Africans, want” (Guest, 2004; p.23).

 After a long series of experiments with or blind imitation of foreign models and ideologies – such as socialism – it is beginning to dawn on Africa’s elites that they do not have to reject their traditional heritage in order for Africa to develop. The Swahili word for this concept is majimbo. It stands for the idea of local initiative and trust in traditional wisdoms. The same idea is conveyed by the mantra, African renaissance.

 In the late 1990s, stymied by the dizzying economic growth of China, economists were at a loss groping for an explanation.  It was a communist dictatorship and the standard tenets of economic development theory were of little help. It increasingly dawned on economists the critical importance of the role of institutions in providing the correct incentives for economic growth. Nobel laureate, Douglass North, noted that there are many paths to development and institutions are important but not just any institutions. According to North, “the key is creating an institutional structure from your particular cultural institutions that provide the proper incentives – not slavishly imitating Western institutions” (The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2005; p.A14). In addition, the institutional structure must readily adapt to changing circumstances in the global economy. He noted that:

 “After a disastrous era of promoting collective organization, in which approximately 40 million people died of starvation, China gradually fumbled its way out of the economic disaster it had created by instituting the Household Responsibility System, which provided peasants with incentives to produce more. This system in turn led to the TVEs (town-village enterprises) and sequential development build on their cultural background” (The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2005; p.A14).

 Institutions are established rules, codes and norms by which human behavior or interaction (political, economic and social) are governed, as well as the incentive structure of society. They are made up of formal rules, (constitutions, laws, and rules), informal constraints (norms, conventions and codes of conduct), and their enforcement characteristics. Together, they define the way the game is played, whether as a society or an athletic game. Take professional football. They are formal rules defining the way the game is supposed to be played; informal norms – such as not deliberately injuring the quarterback of the opposing team; and enforcement characteristics –umpires, referees – designed to see that the game is played according to the intentions underlying the rules. But enforcement is always imperfect and it frequently pays for a team to violate rules. Therefore the way a game is actually played is a function of the underlying intentions embodied in the rules, the strength of informal codes of conduct, the perception of the umpires, and the severity of punishment for violating rules.

 It is the same way with societies. Poorly performing societies have rules that do not provide the proper incentives, lack effective informal norms that would encourage productivity, and/or have poor enforcement. Underlying institutions are belief systems that provide our understanding of the world around us and, therefore, the incentives that we face. Creating institutions that will perform effectively, is thus, a difficult task” (The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2005; p.A14).

 So the big question is why Rwanda copying a foreign economic model and not modernizing its own indigenous system, like Botswana?

 References

 Ake, Claude (1991). "How Politics Underdevelops Africa," in The Challenge of African Economic

Recovery and Development, ed. Adebayo Adedeji, Owodumi Teriba, and Patrick Bugembe. Portland, OR: Cass, 1991.

 Chu, Jeff, 2009, “‘Rwanda Rising: A New Model of Economic Development, "Fast Company,

April 1, 2009 https://www.fastcompany.com/1208900/rwanda-rising-new-model-economic-development giving me some biscuits please

 Colclough, C. and McCarthy, S., 1980. The political economy of Botswana.

                                   Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980, 298 pp.

 Guest, Robert (2004). The Shackled Continent. London: MacMillan.

 Williams, Chancellor (1987). The Destruction of Black Civilization. Chicago: Third World Press.

 [i] Morning Edition (Web http://www.npr.org/2012/09/17/161222794/rwandan-economy-makes-unlikely-climb-in-rank)

[ii] See Premiere Times, Josh – -- Nov 24, 2014.

[iii] See BBC News, Sept 18, 2002.

[iv] It did not help any. He was overthrown in a coup and chased out of the country 1979. Successive military regimes were no better, plunging the country into civil war, pitting Christians against Muslims beginning in 2012. So total has been the devastation that a country must be rebuilt from scratch, meaning 50 years of independence wasted.

[v] See The New York Times, May 16, 1990; p.A6.

[vi] See Mmegi/The Reporter, May 12-18, 1995; p.7.

[vii] See The Washington Post, Mar 21, 1991; p.A3.

[viii][viii] See The Economist, Nov 6, 2004; p.50.

[ix] See Editorial in the Bangkok Post quoted in The Washington Times, Nov 9, 1996; p.A8.

[personalcoachingcenter]

LEADER DEVELOPMENT: This Is What Business Professionals Do

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/leader-development-this-is-what-business-professionals-do/

LEADER DEVELOPMENT: This Is What Business Professionals Do

Leader development efforts in business has progressed through a series of stages from the trait theory of the early 20th century, to the behaviorists of the 1950s, to the systems analysts of the 1960s. The 1980s brought the influence of Total Quality, the focus of the 1990s was Principle Centered Leadership.

Over the past few years the focus on many businesses has been on continuous process improvement strategies including Lean Six Sigma and Competency Based Models. Combining these continuous improvement strategies and leadership development programs can help businesses grow and pivot for success.

The current operating environment demands we combine the best aspects of each with new and evolving approaches. Tomorrow’s leader development efforts should include:

Rapid decision making

Adaptability and flexibility enhancement

Servant and trans-formative leadership

Continuous learning

It’s difficult to generalize business leadership as an activity, it must be tailored to an organization’s context, culture, climate, and character. Leadership in the private sector differs from that in the public sector, and even in the public sector, it varies according to the objectives of the business.

Leadership is different than management. While there are many ways to define both, my personal view leads me to define leadership as the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding, and moral character that enables a person to inspire and to control a group of people successfully. Leadership focuses on interpersonal interactions with a purpose of increasing organizational effectiveness.

This added emphasis on organizational effectiveness is by way of individual effectiveness.

Management, on the other hand, is a process that results in getting other people to execute prescribed duties for organizational goal attainment. As a process, it is focused primarily on efficiency. Both leadership and management are critical organizational functions, and some mistakenly believe that management is somehow inferior to leadership. While these competencies are complementary, our focus is leadership.

Many theorists recognize three domains of leadership.

Physical; This aspect of leadership is the most visible and varies by context of service or function. One must possess certain physical attributes, such as endurance to be successful. There are other physical attributes, like appearance and presence, that have traditionally been considered essential as well.

Moral; Without question, this aspect is the most critical in developing leaders. Character and morality is one of the most important facet of leadership.

Intellectual; Many businesses spends the lion’s share of their leader development resources on this training and education, and therefore, it will be the focus here.

Assessment for the Future

With all of that as historical backdrop on leader development in business, it’s possible to assess the current landscape and future direction. Much of the leader development program from entry level through the strategic level within business is based on the traits and behavior/style approaches popular during the last century with continuous process improvement strategies added for good measure.

However, many programs are beginning to focus more squarely on the context of the current operating environment; an environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, and chaos.

Really effective leader development programs focus on full-spectrum operations that reflect unconventional and conventional environments. Dynamic leadership skills are demanded in such environments. Dynamic leader development programs must be perfected to meet such challenges.

Issue #1 Decision Making: The “Coin of the Realm” in Leader Development much attention has been paid lately to the development of intuitive decision making or rapid cognition. Malcolm Gladwell’s wildly popular book “Blink” has direct reference to its application in the business. Rapid cognition, however, relies heavily on instantaneous pattern recognition. Much of a employee’s time is spent attempting to discern patterns in interpersonal interaction, technical functioning, and interplay.

At the entry level, students are only introduced to the rules and standards upon which patterns are established. There can be no realistic hope, except for a particularly talented few, to bypass the stages of cognitive development. Coming to terms with chaos and complexity takes cognitive and attitudinal adjustment. Many employees simply lack the confidence in their own abilities to make those adjustments quickly. As with all personal development, education and experience combine to create the desired effect.

There can be no educational “silver bullet” to obviate the need for experience. Forethought is the precursor to intuition and was identified by Theodore Roosevelt to be the most important quality in preparation for leadership. Forethought, unlike intuition, can be honed exclusively in the classroom.

Replicate the experience desired as closely as possible. Adding stress to the lesson is critical. Learner confidence rises as hypothetical and real-world scenario simulations are introduced, tested, and debriefed. Actual experience cannot be replaced, but adequate forethought can be established. Intuitive decision making is predominantly the product of experience.

Forethought is, on many levels, a precursor to the skills demanded of leaders to make timely, appropriate decisions. And decision making constitutes a key objective of leader development programs. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that decision making training seminars have had any effect on participants.

Those seminars are typically based around selection strategies for choosing from among multiple courses of action. Such analytical methods miss the point entirely. Research has shown that decision makers, particularly those in business settings, “spend more time sizing up the situation than comparing alternate courses of action.”2 “Sizing up the situation” is only one function of forethought.

Some of the most convincing research assembled to support this “domain expertise” approach has shown that the key is in teaching students to maximize their experiences, rather than provide them with some form of analytical decision-making matrix. Like the case study method recommended earlier, Decision Skills Training experimented with during business training exercises beginning in 1998, provide a generalized template that could be applied across the levels of business education.

Issue #2 Developing Key Traits for Uncertain Environments: Adaptability and Flexibility while it is evident the current operating environment the business finds itself in calls for skill sets more consistent with the leadership of Lewis and Clark than Patton, the business education and training structure that produced Patton remains virtually unchanged.

The first step in inculcating a spirit of adaptability is to change how leadership is taught rather than to simply change what is taught. Training that is based solely upon the traditional task / condition / standard model breeds rote conformity. Education that is based solely upon the objective / lecture / assessment model breeds the same.

Traditional methods encourage analysis of a challenge and selection of standard solutions drawn from anticipated options. Methods that encourage the synthesis of information include reflective journal, the Socratic Method, demonstration assessment, broad skim reading, and the study of the philosophical principles that underlie the immediate challenge.

The second step in developing adaptable leaders is to focus on material that encourages creative thinking. Becoming familiar and comfortable with research in the field is critical. From psychology to sociology to business history to philosophy, all fields that explore human response to complexity must be considered. To make this broad grounding feasible, careful selection of instructional techniques and content must be undertaken by all stakeholders in the leadership development process.

Flexibility is typically defined as a personal quality that allows an individual to alter his or her opinions, practices, beliefs, or approach based on changing demands. Flexibility is absolutely essential on the 21st century battlefield as the environment and mission may change constantly. A precursor to the quality of flexibility is open mindedness. One can not flex to the environment if one is not willing. Many believe it is open-mindedness that is sorely lacking in leaders at every level and in every context. Business is no exception.

Open-mindedness is the personal quality that enables flexibility in the workplace and can be encouraged, if not developed in the classroom environment. This attribute can be developed at the business level in the following ways:

Creating empathy for those who have gone before (case study)

Exploring other world views and debating them fully (Socratic method)

Reviewing credible research in the topic at hand (broad skim reading).

In traditional, structured organizations such as the business, open-mindedness is not often prized as an essential trait. This can be changed by fully debating the position of other, non-traditional, and even non-business viewpoints. Adding culture education to a business system always pays dividends.

All of this empathizing and careful study of other world views need not lead to what is perceived in the business culture as “touchy-feely” or “politically correct” Instruction. Quite the contrary. Exploring alternative world views typically leads Americans to reconfirm their belief in their underlying principles, and the business who service it.

Free market capitalism presents the best hope for opportunity and upward mobility Each human being has fundamental worth, a value that guarantees freedom from physical harm or the harmful interference of government applying the world views of competitors or adversaries against these three factors of American life serves to confirm faith in the system that Americans uphold.

Instructors need only to be guided through its purpose and method. These methods, however, will vary according to the developmental level of the target audience. Leader development programs that ignore this do so at their own peril.

Issue #3 What Really Counts: Inspiring young people to buy into your business, rapid decision making and development of particular competencies is balanced with the timeless approaches that define the practice of business leadership, and those are servant leadership and transformation leadership. Servant leadership, as the name suggests, is an approach that encourages a person vested with authority to approach the task with a desire to serve first.

Although Robert Greenleaf is credited as the modern author of this approach, leadership based on trust, empathy, collaboration, and the ethical use of power is an ancient concept. Ultimately, this approach is tied up in the character trait of selflessness and resists classroom applications. One simply has to want to lead this way and take certain behaviors and attitudes until it becomes natural. It’s more challenging for some than it is for others.

Transformation leadership, a term coined by the famous theorist James MacGregor Burns, seeks to raise the level of motivation and morality in organizations. This is done by appealing to more long-term intrinsic needs and less to short-term extrinsic demands. In business settings, this is often bound up in charismatic leadership but does not depend upon it. It depends more on a high degree of competence in interpersonal communications or emotional intelligence. The younger the workforce, and the business represents a greater demand for a leadership approach based on intrinsic motivation and transformation leadership.

Some organizations get it right, while some have a proven track record of failure. Morale, esprit, and retention rates are typical metrics for measuring success. I think we’re getting better at developing leaders grounded in servant and transformation leadership, and the timing couldn’t be more critical. The Millennial Generation seems to have come to expect such leadership.

In sum, the intellectual component of leadership development in business is an amalgam of process improvement techniques, decision theory, and competency enhancement, but ultimately it’s a matter of leaders committed to selflessly putting the needs and interests of their followers above their own and then effectively communicating that care and concern.

No borrowed leadership techniques are going to replace that fact. No highly theoretical management practices are going to change that fact. As trite and clichéd as those words may be, they still capture the ultimate truth for aspiring and practicing business leaders. Everything else is secondary.

[anthonybialy]

From A to A

Sanctimony comes right to your door. A year of relying on Amazon has shown how dreadful the ether bookseller has become. Distrust goes beyond natural contempt brought by marriage-style familiarity. A heartless amalgamation is unnerving for how invasive it strives to be. Your sole source of sustaining goods treats Rollerball as a documentary. You shouldn't buy DVDs of dystopian warning for their site only in part because you'd be contributing toward making dull paranoid fantasies true.

Wishing it could be avoided is a sure sign a company pleases customers. Virtue signaling is what they sell best. Take commercials which may as well be funded by the Human Rights Campaign. My personal favorite Amazon sales pitch for something other than products is the one featuring the interracial lesbian couple impressed by the site's low prices, as it convinced me such pairs of bathroom-sharers not only exist but are to be celebrated. It turns out tolerance is good. Focusing on purchasing is hard while trying to figure out how the two ended up with mixed-race children. Amazon apparently refuses to sell titles teaching actual biology.

Social media shows how Amazon hates the power they use as much as they love every kind of wedding. Every smarmy tweet churned out by their smug underlings putting their sociology degrees to fine use pimps social justice lunacy that stands in opposition to their outfit's existence.  AOC generates less stridency.

How much value is created? Workers might disagree with their bosses. Calling to pay their people more as they try to pay them as little as possible is Amazon at its best, which is its worst. Just make sure the sum is more than any intended competitor. Salaries smaller outfits can’t absorb are the ideal legal minimum the warehouse aficionado endorses by sheer coincidence.

Amazon's creepy drive toward galaxy domination embodies how being pro-business differs entirely from being, well, pro-business. People can think that one employer features crummy working conditions without wanting the Berlin Wall to be rebuilt by union workers. Amazon should churn out another set of ads with utterly happy workers totally not smiling preposterously only because their family is being held at gunpoint, as that'll convince the public that their detergent delivery monstrosity is kind.

Humanity is controlled by the lamest single entity imaginable. Censoring speech that runs counter to the open principles of a purported bookseller is a nice tough. The government don't need to violate the First Amendment when a quasi-oligarch can decline to sell any title it deems hateful. You're not permitted to acquire literature featuring accurate biology endorsed by think tanks to Hoxha's right.

Insecurity is common among those who control others to compensate. Anyone confident should want their awful hateful foes to keep publishing and thus embarrassing themselves. It's sure sign of open debate when they deem tomes so harmful that they cannot be sold.

Those looking for options wait for Amazon's eternal hold on retail to end in a few weeks. Aspiring monopolies inevitably grow fat and lazy idling while parking free. Those who've struggled to obtain everything that can be sold forget to innovate like they did on their way up. Life becomes static for everyone who tries to corner a market. Woolworth’s thought it’d be selling everything for a couple cents forever, too.

Wanting companies to make as much as possible is frustrating when they call to be taxed for the privilege. Preening isn't convincing when paired with utter hypocrisy. Evading endorsed policies isn't quite honorable. We're trying to advocate for them to sell everything, and they reply by demanding laws intended to ruin foes. When they're this manipulative, the market certainly isn't free.

Amazon displays a principled commitment to any issue that is good for peddling. Take how the retail Godzilla will stop drug testing because they believe deeply in human liberty. Oh, and they'd also happen to be able to deliver your jazz cigarettes. One would also think an online seller would find online taxes objectionable. But anything to discourage shopping at smaller outlets serves their public good.

There's no requirement to buy what's being sold. One can just dislike a company even if it's engaged in robust trade. Subway attempts to call whatever it manufactured in bunker labs meat, and it doesn't mean you must suffer through lunch there. Conservatives who loathe diving to humanity's depths during Walmart outings get the principle.

Warping public policy to advance their own interests doesn't sound very fair. It's fine to advocate with ulterior motives. One should just make sure to be aware of them and don't give into them. Raising taxes because Amazon pretends to be selfless advocates of communal good is the opposite of capitalism in case anyone thought having a seller involved automatically meant we were in a libertarian situation.

Business dominance just happened to coincide with a semi-eternal lockdown if you spent a year in solitary confinement pondering conspiracies. It's uncanny how wrapping homes in plastic helped the smiley arrow logo outfit. Framing themselves as saviors delivering critical goods is part of their messianic narrative. You can buy the old Bible from their site if for nostalgia. Keeping patients sick so they can keep saving with medicinal deliveries is particularly appalling when the cure is jigsaw puzzles.

Just bring my slippers by tomorrow. Contemporary peddlers show how important they are by telling their lunkheaded customers how they're not progressive enough. You thought you could get away with only buying goods?

A lecture from a heartlessly calculating conglomerate is sure to improve morality. Amazon has everything, if you can find it. But sifting through pages of shady affiliates and imprecise results. It's too bad the purported retailer is so focused on presenting self-righteousness, as they might really have something if they could put it on shelves.

Poring through crummy searches might even inspire consumers to pay the dang shipping elsewhere. It's officially a weird world when patronizing the mall is the best way to support small mom and pop shops. The monolith blocking out other options makes the spending decision easier.

[rightsinexile]

Conferences and workshops

International Association for the Study of Forced Migration, 24-27 July 2018, Thessaloniki, Greece

IASFM will hold a conference entitled “Whither Refugees? Restrictionism, Crises, and Precarity Writ Large” at the University of Macedonia at the end of July. The conference will reflect on the variety of predicaments of refugees in the 21st century; the convergence of longer and fragmented routes and multiple modes of travel; the impact of economies of austerities on refugee lives; and the emergence of new responses to these crises. The aim of this conference is to address the changes in global refugee movements, responses and debates and to place them in historical perspectives. More information and how to register can be found here.

International Migration Law Course, 24-28 September 2018, Sanremo, Italy

The five-day Course on International Migration Law (IML) is designed for government officials, academia, representatives of international and non-governmental organisations, as well as members of the civil society. It will focus on the international legal framework governing migration, including the rights and responsibilities of States and migrants. The key objective of this Course is to raise the awareness of government officials and those working in the migration context of the importance of international legal instruments in the management of migration. The Course will be conducted in English. More information and instructions how to register can be found here. The registration deadline is 30 July.

University of Oxford Population, Migration, and Environment Symposium, 2-3 August 2018, Oxford, UK

This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring to the table academics and professionals from the realms of environmental studies, economics, education,  the built environment, sociology, political science, gender equity, ethics and other related fields, to present papers and engage in discourse relevant to global environmental issues and the effects on human welfare and progress. Those wishing to attend the symposium must register by 11 July 2018. Those interested can register here.

Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees, 17-19 September 2018, Gent, Belgium

Conference theme is Needs and Care Practices for Migrants and Refugees, The conference invites “scholars, policy makers and practitioners to discuss their perspectives and experiences on the compelling needs of different groups of refugees, migrants and newcomers in a global perspective and the diverse ways to address these needs.”

Human Rights, Migration, and Global Governance conference, 12-14 July 2018, Rome, Italy

Human Rights, Migration, and Global Governance is the topic of the 2018 annual meetings of the Academic Council On The United Nations System (ACUNS). The registration deadline for Workshop panel paper presenters has passed. However, individuals who wish to attend the conference and not present may register at any time.

Refugee Law Initiative annual conference 18-19 July and workshop 20 July 2018, London, UK

This year’s theme is “Refugee Protection in a Hostile World?”.  The conference “reflects on an apparent strengthening of long-standing currents of anti-refugee feeling and other forms of instability in the world.” The workshop is entitled “Revitalising IDP Research”: 20 Years of the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. There is standard GBP 70 registration fee with discounts for certain individuals (members, students, etc.). More information about the conference and how register can be found here.

Boundary Crossing: An international interdisciplinary conference on immigration and social justice, 3-4 September 2018, Winchester, UK

“[T]he University of Winchester invites proposals for papers, workshops, exhibitions and performances from all academic disciplines to form original judgements on the nature of [the forced migration] crisis and what might be done to address it.” The last booking date for this event is 27 August 2018.

Crisis of Governability? The Politics of Migration Governance in Latin America and Europe conference, 3-4 October 2018, Buenos Aires, Argentina

“The Conference will shed light on the question of how migration governance is shaping and is shaped by politics in Europe and Latin America focusing on macro-level trends and policy outputs.” Participation is free of charge and the conference will be presented in both English and Español. More information can be found here.

2018 Summer Course on Palestinian Refugees, 21-26 July, Cairo, Egypt

The American University in Cairo is hosting a course on Palestinian refugees beginning 21 July. Through lectures, case studies and  small group discussions, course participants will learn about the basic features of international refugee law through the lens of the 1951 Refugee Convention, looking at the elements of the definition(s) of "refugee," who is excluded from the definition, the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the process by which refugee status is determined, the rights of refugees under international law, the ethical and professional obligations of those representing refugees, and other issues of refugee policy. The deadline for registration is 5 July and instructions on how to register can be found here.

Promoting Just and Inclusive Communities in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana: A “Whole of Community” Approach to Immigrants and Refugees, 16-18 July, Cincinnati, US

The Centre for Migration Studies is hosting an event focusing on how diverse groups in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana are working together to meet the needs of immigrant communities. This event will examine “whole of community” responses to welcoming, integrating, and protecting immigrants, lift up models and best practices, and provide opportunities for further community-focused collaborations. It will also help participants identify and bolster their legal support, research, and capacity needs in addressing these issues. The conference schedule includes: optional site visits on July 16; and plenary panels and workshops on July 17 and 18. There is a USD 50 registration fee however discounts are available for those demonstrating financial need. Details on how to register can be found here and those interested in receiving a registration fee discount can send an email to the conference organiser.

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2020/11/23/progressives-elitist-college-debt-plan-and-other-commentary/

Progressives’ elitist college-debt plan and other commentary

Economist: Left’s Elitist College-Debt Plan

“Progressive calls for President-elect Joe Biden to forgive student debt in his first 100 days of office should be ignored in lieu of a more moderate proposal: forgiveness capped at $5,000 of debt,” argues Beth Akers at The Wall Street Journal. The reality is that most college grads with big debt are fine: “Borrowers with the largest balances are the least likely to default . . . because they’ve often invested in professional or graduate degrees that lead to careers with high earning potential.” It’s those with small debts but no degree who are truly stuck. Since “universal student-loan cancellation” would “bleed the working class to alleviate debt for those with more-lucrative career options,” we should call it “what it is: elitist.”

From the right: Anti-racism Icon’s Pay Hypocrisy

The University of Wisconsin featured two keynote speakers at its annual Diversity Forum this year, but “prominent diversity consultant Robin DiAngelo raked in $12,750,” nearly 70 percent more than black female author Austin Channing Brown, reports The Washington Free Beacon’s Charles Fain Lehman. It’s a disparity that “a devoted reader of her work would likely identify as racist.” DiAngelo herself has “called such inequitable treatment the racist heart of capitalism.” The excessive fees for this speaking engagement “are just the latest example of the exorbitant rates DiAngelo charges for public lectures on ‘anti-racism’ and ‘white fragility,’ pop sociological concepts that have taken on new power amid America’s current racial upheaval.” She and other prominent “woke” figures will “continue to reap healthy payouts for years to come.”

Centrist: No Representation for Trumpers?

Progressives this month launched a campaign to demonize and harass lawyers and law firms who would dare represent Team Trump in its various election-related cases — and “New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell expanded that campaign this week with a malicious and frivolous demand for New York and other states to disbar roughly two dozen lawyers for representing Trump,” fumes legal scholar Jonathan Turley at his blog. Yes, many of Team Trump’s claims may not pass muster. But courts have greeted others more warmly, and either way, none of the claims deserves to leave the lawyers disbarred or suspended. “What Pascrell is doing is undermining our legal system by using his office to advance a campaign targeting lawyers and legislators who raise objections to his party prevailing in the presidential election.”

Libertarian: Sidney Powell’s Absurd Claims

Lawyer Sidney Powell says President Trump “is the victim of a vast conspiracy to steal the 2020 election,” notes Reason’s Robby Soave, and has now “accused Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican and key Trump ally, of accepting bribes from Dominion, the voting-software company baselessly accused of switching millions of votes from Trump” to Joe Biden, and ­asserted Hillary Clinton used the same software to defeat Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary. But she has “provided no evidence for any of her claims,” and though she has appeared at press conferences alongside Rudy Giuliani, the Trump campaign distanced itself from her. The “vast conspiracy” she is alleging — which even involves “deceased dictator Hugo Chavez” — “would be the most serious and unprecedented assault on American democracy in living memory.” So to “say that she’s straining credulity would be the understatement of the year.”

Religion beat: Battling for the Mass

At First Things, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone ­recounts that “like most bishops, my first response” to the coronavirus was to cooperate with lockdowns. He suspended public Masses but left churches open for private worship. Meanwhile, he put into place rigorous safety protocols and “pleaded with public officials behind the scenes.” Yet when the reopening order finally came down, it only permitted outdoor worship for 12 people. Meanwhile, a parishioner could “spend three hours in a Nordstrom’s shopping for shoes.” At that point, the bishop ­realized he would have to go to war, launching his “Free the Mass” campaign — and he won: “The city raised the limit on public worship indoors to 100 people.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

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