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2ofswords · 4 years

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Phi talks factions, ruling families, and endings yet again

After long long last I finished my talk about the factions! So let’s talk about them! There is some discourse about it on here and most of it is really interesting and I wanted to throw my own takes into the mix.

Also, will put this in the very beginning: This essay is very long and hinges on a lot of analysation of very broad topics of the game. It is very possible that I make mistakes in it. I would be delighted to know about them and engage in discussion, but please stay friendly. I tried my best to research and to stay analytical, but I am firstly human and secondly human with a memory that can fail me.

Anyway without further ado: Let’s begin the faction talk!

Prologue: Personal sympathy

This is supposed to be more of an analysation about how the factions work in my opinion. It is not supposed to be an explanation why my favourite faction is the Best™. Still, my opinions will obviously influence my own analysis. So for the sake of levelling the playing field and not even trying to play coy about it – or in case you were curious what my personal opinions are – I will start by listing my own opinions about the factions, the families and the endings.

I consider myself a Utopian but also have a soft spot for the Humble ideology. I just really like progress, I am an idealist who thinks striving for a perfect situation has value (even if I do not believe in practical perfection) and I just really like the Kains’ visions okay? Not their executions, mind you, but their visions. (I am just really really obsessed with magic that involves time and space as a concept…) And I think the concept of human potential is one of the most hopeful and important ones to society and trying to get more out of being a human being is just an important concept to me. But I also think the personal responsibility is really important and interesting and the thought about individuality vs. society is something that needs to be discussed, so the humbles are just really interesting to me and I sympathise with a lot going on there as well. Not that much of a Termite person though. Sorry

Concerning the endings: If I would be in a position to choose any ending for the town, I would choose the Termite Ending. I would just be really unhappy about it… But it is the only ending that doesn’t involve any direct sacrifice of life and I value that the most, even if I think the trade-off is still pretty devastating. I am still a Utopian, but potential lives in people. The ending I consider second best is actually the Utopian one and by process of elimination I like the Humble ending the least. You will probably learn why this is the case when we get to talk about the endings, so I am saving my argument for later. If it is about how much I like the endings from a narrative perspective: I am a passionate fan of the Utopian ending even though that is very frustrating since I see it in a rather… peculiar way, I think. I also love the Humble ending a lot and it just has the most personal tragedy and a lot to think about. The Termite ending… eh. It serves its purpose and is necessary but not really pleasing in analysis. Or if it is, it’s still a bit frustrating to talk about. It is very useful for writing fanfiction though. ^^

I don’t really have a favourite ruling family. I think the Saburovs are the most sympathetic, but I am also fascinated by the Kains. My favourite members are Victor and Capella.

Okay? Cool, now that we got that out of the way let’s start with the actual faction talk.

Part 1: What the factions are (and what they aren’t)

The factions are categories that are very broad and not very concrete. It is probably a good idea to talk about what they are first, before we make any statements about them. So, let us start how I look at them and what the factions stand for, before debating the rest.

Firstly: The factions are a part of classic Pathologic. From what I can tell and remember, they haven’t been mentioned in Pathologic 2 at all. Of course, we can see the struggle of different worldviews there as well, but the split cast of important NPCs is not mandatory in any shape anymore and in fact Artemy is now responsible for everyone in town. While the politics between the ruling families are mentioned and the Kains as well as the Olgimskys still share their beliefs, neither the term “bound” not “faction” is introduced in the game. However that might be because we are starting with the Haruspex as our protagonist. The factions are a bit more important in the other two routes of classic Pathologic after all. The Bachelor being concerned with its politics and the Changeling with its ideology itself. So the terms might be introduced later. For now, their conflict may be a part of Patho 2 and certain aspects can be definitely seen, but they aren’t present yet. So we are mostly talking about Classic Pathologic here.

The factions are introduced in two different ways. First and foremost, they are three different ideologies that are present in the town and by definition in the entire story. It is also told, that the whole town is split into these factions and that roughly one third of the town each belongs to either faction. It is also explained, that the factions are purely made by the ideology and that people of different gender, heritage, age and class can align with different factions. (Which means that they aren’t equivalent to the different parts of town that are at least roughly divided by social status). There is also a philosophical level that strengthens the ideological importance each faction holds, but in this essay, I will focus on the ideological part and how it affects society. That means there is another layer that we won’t be touching today, but believe me, we have enough to do as it is.

The other aspect of the factions is the bound of each healer. All of the bound collectively are described as “Simons friends” at least in the Bachelor route and all of them are now split into the three factions. The name “bound” however is to be taken literally. The characters are part of the agenda each faction follows, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean, that the person one hundred percent shares the ideology of the faction! Most of them do, but it is important to keep in mind that peoples belief-systems still vary and the aligning criteria is the importance to the goal of said faction and not necessarily their own way of thinking. People’s mindset and beliefs can vary after all and some of them even have dynamic arcs (tbh Most of them have). The other way around people can be not a part of the bound of a faction and still share their beliefs. This will be important later! For the Utopians the specific bound criteria is “people who have the potential to overstep human boundaries in any way or form”. They are needed for the creation and upholding of the Utopia as it is imagined. Its goal is in some way after all to create something that oversteps the boundaries of what should be humanly possible. For the termites… well… it’s children. It’s all about the children, it is the children who are able to carry the town in the future. And for the humbles it is the sinners, whose souls are rotten to the core (I guess…). That isn’t only because the Humbles just really like sinners but they are directly needed for Clara’s solution and the Humble’s ideology of willing self-sacrifice in order to maintain society.

Okay. But what are the factions? What do they believe in?

Let’s start with the Utopians, because their whole schtick is kind of in the name. This faction is all about the potential of humanity and striving to create perfection. This is happening with the awareness that such a feat is at least deemed impossible. So, their goal is the defeat – or the power to overcome depending on who you ask – of the nature that prevents them from this kind of progress not being achievable. They value this progress and the possibility to overcome those odds over personal as well as societal comfort and justify it with the belief, that said growth would benefit society in the long run. That being said, not every Utopian thinks this strive for growth needs to be shared by everyone, though a society collectively working towards breaking limits as a whole is preferred. (An example would be Maria's explanation of the town, stating that mundane human life is very much necessary to sustain a Utopia). The Utopians are prone to brash decisions, since part of their ideology is that they are necessary to disrupt the status quo and change – even enforced one – is needed to get rid of complacency and provoke new development of the unforeseen (which is very much needed since we are working against “nature” (the literal one as well as the nature of fate and possibility). Their drawbacks are that brashness and the disregard of comfort. Their potential elitism is shown by their value of humans who try to disrupt the status quo and their adamant protection of people who can move society as “more important” and thus worthy of more protection. (However it is noteworthy that a lot of this thinking was introduced by Georgiy in Pathologic 2 and Marble Nest. I still think it is a legitimate drawback but much less used in P1, where the factions are a thing.) This doesn’t necessarily relate to elitism of an elite class (it can though!) but more so to academic elitism. On the other hand, they have the drive to move things forward, they literally are the builder of society and developers of indescribable magic.

The Termites can be considered the opposite of the Utopians. I have struggled to put a definitive description of them for quite some time because they are the group whose representatives have vastly different ways of thinking. Anyways, I have seen the Termite ideology being described as “preservation” by RagnarRox in “Pathologic 2 is an underrated masterpiece” and I think, that fits amazingly. It is about protection and regaining a status quo where everyone can live their daily lives content and as it was before. The children are supposed to be leading the town into the future, but especially in Patho 1 this is more about taking what the past has already shaped and using this as a guide instead of implementing new ideas and philosophies as the utopians and the humbles do (for better and for worse). If we look at how Capella describes her vision of the town, we can also see that it is about togetherness and comfort. Which makes sense if it is the antithesis of the utopian dream. It doesn’t sacrifice progress just because it wants to but because it endangers people’s comfort and personal safety. Disrupting the status quo can lead to catastrophe and make people unhappy, therefore it should be avoided. People should serve the community but that also means not committing to self-fulfilment that can endanger this togetherness. Khan needing to give up on his own ambitions to serve Capella’s vision of the town might be a good example for that. While there is this bond of togetherness there is also the need for leadership. Again, preservation and comfort are highly valued with the Termites and it is established by a leadership that is supposed to act as gentle but firm guidance. With the children being the bound, there is a strong emphasis on parenthood and again Capella – as the white mistress and the termite's leader – is accepted as taking the leadership together with Khan who are ruling together with love as well as fierceness. Artemy also has his journey of establishing leadership within the kin and dethroning the person who is unfit for the role. It is implementing change but to restore balance and only inside the already established rules. I would say it fits more as a case of rightful leadership that still stems from the menkhu families and Artemy proves himself while using his father’s lessons and notes. And the kids themselves are fated to lead the town itself as the chosen ones that Capella implored Isidor to protect, and set its rules, so that there are the boundaries to keep a way of living established while not needing to change this status quo and what hopefully is a harmonic way of interaction between people. So. Now that we have established what the Termites are, I think with this specific faction it is still important to also name what they aren’t. Firstly: The Termites are an ideology of the town’s future. They aren’t the kids club. Yes, all the Termites are kids, but as mentioned before the factions in themselves are a third of the population with varying members who believe the Termites to have the best solution for the town at hand. There are other members (and I will later talk about the Olgimskys and big Vlad specifically as representatives of the Termite ideology) but the kids are the bound because they are specifically needed to set this new order that they want to established. I would argue that some of the kids have principles that are more adjacent to other ideologies. The obvious one would be Khan who has goals that do not align with his family but similar dreams and more radical ideals about overthrowing the status quo. But Grace also seems to be more of a humble, focusing on caring about others and being quite selfless and self-sacrificing in her care for the dead. That means, the kids fill an important role but we have the strange conundrum that most of this factions bound isn’t together because of their ideology. I will try to take them into account still, but if you see me focusing on Capella and Artemy, this is one of the reasons. There aren’t that many people who clearly speak about the Termite’s vision. The Termites also aren’t the Kin. They are connected to each other but again, the Kin is a specific part of the town which the ideology clearly avoids. (And parts of the Kin are not part of the town and actually stand in opposition to it. Moreso in Patho 2 but with the conflict of the herb gatherers we catch a glimpse of that.) And the children are also representatives of different parts of the town and not of the Kin. The Kin are obviously linked to the towns ancient tradition and preserving their traditions honourably is Artemy’s specific journey. Still, they aren’t the same and with both Aspity and Oyun we have characters who are Kin and also part of a different faction.

Speaking of the Humbles. What’s up with them?

The Humbles also have a name that speaks for itself: It is based around the main idea of being humble. There are different consequences of this main core. The first and in my opinion most important one revolves around responsibility and self-sacrifice. The Humbles expect the individual to sacrifice part of themselves for the whole. I mean… that is quite literally what the ending is about. As with the Termites there is a togetherness but this one doesn’t revolve around looking out for each other (at least not specifically) but about looking at oneself and what you could and should do for society to work best. It puts responsibility not on a collective and its leaders but on yourself and needs you to ask what you did right, what you did wrong and how to take consequences for your own actions. This includes a chance for redemption as well as condemnation. For the purpose of evaluating yourself in contrast to society it is also about self-reflection. You need to look at yourself and at your deeds constantly and this analysation and the realization that you can and will fail as well as that you as a human being have your own limits you cannot and should not cross are what lead to humbleness in the first place. Yulia as a sinner, whose very sin is shaping the very ideology and establishing her ideals over the self. This brings us to the second pillar of the humble ideology: fatalism. It is also to see yourself in context of a greater scheme and accepting these very boundaries. Fulfilling your duty in the way the universe demands of you and seeing yourself unavoidably as a puzzle piece of said force is a big deal for a lot of the Humbles. Yulia is the prime example. Lara actively dislikes her fatalism but still follows her father’s footsteps in her attempt to assassinate Block. Aspity moves in the constriction of the Kin and her fate while still being the one who advocates most for change. The Saburovs are all about law and order albeit in different ways. Oyun cannot do what is entrusted to him which causes his horrible deeds in the first place, because he cannot accept at first that he is not fit for the position (or as the words of a humble: not destined for it). And Clara is struggling with what her fate imposes on her and her very being while trying to control her circumstances as well as the fate of the people entrusted to her. It all is about analysing but also about abiding to the whims of fate and facing the consequences of acting either against it, failing it or resorting to violence against society to fulfil it in the first place.

As you may see, all of these categories are rather broad. Of course, they are, they are made to encompass very different views of the world from different characters. When Victor speaks about working towards overcoming bounds he sure as hell means something different than Andrey. Hell, Dankovsky has no idea what Georgiy is talking about half the time! Lara and Yulia are both Humbles, yet Lara explicitly states that she hates the way Yulia weaves her fatalism in her ideology about the self. And well… the Termites are a very special case regarding the factions in general, being more of a symbol of their ideology than its actual believers. So let's get to the meat of this whole post. We now have a grasp on what the factions are about, but… why? Why are they in the game, what are they trying to say?

Part 2: Presentation of the factions and the ruling families

Well… after making an incredibly long introduction, let’s stop talking around the bush. Here is my conclusion about the game’s stance of the factions: … … I am sorry to conclude, that all of them suck. All of them. They are the worst and none of them are worthwhile in themselves. I am sorry.

Okay, okay, okay. Obviously, they are not only terrible. They have their upsides and all of their ideals are rather beautiful. Making potential become a reality is great! So is comfort and stability, we all could sure as hell use some of that! And the principle of giving something of yourself into society, taking responsibility and the ability to care into consideration… boy is that a good idea! But still… the factions suck. And that is an inherent aspect of them just because they are ideologies. And very unsubtle and uncompromising ideologies at that. To quote novel author Dorothy Sayers “The first thing a principle does is killing somebody.” A principle, if it is used without reflection, always has destructive potential. Even if it is the principle to save as many lives as possible. Put into the wrong dilemma, it will kill. (A single glance at the healer’s path’s is enough to confirm that.) And all three factions have some really potentially bad implications exactly because their ideology is so vastly applicable. It isn’t only about emergency situations, but a lifestyle that regards one way of setting priorities as absolute. Of course, that on its own must go horribly wrong! Leave one single way of thought unattended and it will guide you into fucking catastrophe!

I think the easiest way to highlight this theory and the best prove of the game’s acknowledgement of this line of thought is to take a look at the ruling families. The fact that there are three of them is no coincidence. All three families do not only represent one of the factions but also the destructive extreme this faction can develop.

Let’s start with the Kains again, because their case is the most obvious one and the theme of Utopia and thus uncompromising perfection that has a destructive force is in the fucking title of the game. And creating a project that causes the plague in the first place, forcing the Kin to dig the very hole that tears into the heart of the earth – which they sure as hell did not agree with! – conducting human experiments with their buildings and manipulating the situation so that the Polyhedron gets saved even sacrificing the town for its sake… yeah these are some pretty shitty things to do and they all relate to the Utopian ideal and their strive for development, progress and forming humanity as well as society. And sacrificing everything in order to elevate progress is… obviously a bad idea, especially if it involves using people who never consented to such a sacrifice in the first place! With only development – social as well as personal – in mind the scope of said sacrifice cannot be measured at all, leading to devaluing peoples well-being. It is a horrible thing that harms a lot of people and the strict enforcement of the Kains bring a lot of harm to the town. This damage doesn’t only turn against the town but also has a self-destructive tendency. The self-sacrifice that is demanded to keep the spirit of Simon and Nina is eating the entire family alive. Their strict family loyalties seem to have driven Khan off in the first place (though since his role is “The Termite of the Kains” and he holds a strange middle ground I think he is kind of excluded from the “most extreme faction”-stance). Victor and Georgiy are losing their own identity and eventually their life for the sake of a soul that they consider of higher status than them. And Maria loses her own self to become the next mistress and lead what is left of the town into a new age, which Victor laments as her father because he is literally losing his daughter! The family – even if they “win” the whole town conflict – is actively falling apart and is completely fractured if not destroyed in the end. Not only is the sacrifice the town has to endure obviously morally unacceptable but the disregard of comfort in favour of a greater cause is inherently self-destructive. Which leaves the question: Who is this Utopia even build for, who benefits from it, if everything but it is sacrificed? So yeah, what the Kains are doing and especially the way they are using the Utopian dream in its purest form is absolutely and incredibly flawed.

Sooo… what are our alternatives? How about the Saburovs? They are righteous and they care about people! I mean… yeah. They do! Buuuuut… their handling of the situation is also very… debatable to put it nicely. Let’s start with the obvious: putting everyone in prison who seems mildly suspicious while a highly contagious plague is ravages the town is just… horrible. It is a prolonged and cruel death sentence to many people either desperate or innocent. And yes, he himself did it with the utmost desire to protect society as a whole from the criminals and organized street violence but… surprise, that is what the humble ideology is about! Judging the individual according to sin without taking circumstances into account is one of the extremes the Humble-ideology has. You should stay put and work towards the common good and acting against that should be judged harshly!! If taken to an extreme it disregards personal circumstances and even a human approach towards the individual. And even if it hits innocents, the few have to take personal sacrifice for the many. Giving your life to uphold stability should be considered a good thing… right? Of course, the faulty leader should also be held responsible… So the judge becomes the judged and the executor of the ideology is destroying himself. Again, we witness the ideology's self-destructive aspect when taken to the extreme. Judgement and assigning responsibility for overstepping with no account on the human situation, looking out for the other individual or questioning where established boundaries should be pushed, will lead to draconian law where the single human being doesn’t matter in the first place! And that… doesn’t sound like a society one wants to live in, does it?Katerina has her own case of judging people albeit in a religious way. Her view splits the world into the sinners and the righteous and sentences the former to death while the others will survive what she is seeing as the plague's judgement. Do I have to elaborate why this is a bad take and why judging people to death based on being a sinner is… just awful? Especially when we look at the humbles and how some of them may have done some shit but definitely not something that warrants death. (Yulia and Rubin being examples, but I also think Lara shouldn’t like… be judged with death. Well, truth to be told I think nobody should be judged with death… Ever.) So seeing the Changeling’s power as a saintly sign is… bad not only on a societal level but also bad because pressuring a teenager like that is just a the worst. Which brings us the Humble’s second point and the one that Katerina personifies as well: Personal responsibility. The Humble ideology isn’t only about sacrificing the individual and applying judgement but also about self-reflection and taking responsibility. Which sounds really good but can be devastating when taken too far. Which brings us to Katerina’s journey of becoming a mistress and her devastating experience of trying to fit into a role that was expected of her to fill. Desperately trying to fulfil a fate that seems to be yours can destroy you. Her despair of not fulfilling as a mistress as well as a wife (in her own terms) are honestly soul wrenching and tragic. And it is an example where letting go of personal duty and seeing to oneself would have been for the best.

Okay so the Saburovs establish a society that seems awful to live in and also actively destroy themselves (they also die with their ending, something they share with the Kains). Which leaves us with… the Olgimskys. And yeah… I think we all agree that they couldn’t exactly be called a beacon of goodness in the world… The way the bull enterprise is handled is exploitative to say the least, dividing the town and enabling even more racism and class distinction. But what does that have to do with the Termites? After all, only Capella is part of the bound. Which is true but the Termite bound is also the children bound and I would dare to argue that the Olgymskys are unassigned because they represent the ruling families of the Termites but cannot apply as their bounds because of age reasons. Capella is pretty much the head of the Termites, the way Maria and Clara or Katerina are the mistresses of the other ideologies and Big Vlad… well Big Vlad is what the other ruling families are to the other factions. The best reason to stay away from it. (And I could make a point about young Vlad but to not stretch this too much, I will keep it short. Let’s just say that he has a dynamic role in the factions and more or less grows to be a Utopian and is not even really acknowledged at the Bachelor Route. I would put him in the same category as Khan and say that the Kains in themselves still are connected to the Utopian ideology. There are some really interesting parallels between Khan and Young Vlad btw. Both have strong parental issues and feel confined in their role, both appear in the letter about the Bachelor’s and the Haruspexe’s decision as a hopeful addition that isn’t fixed… I am pretty sure there is something to say about that, but this essay is not the right place for it.) There are two main themes with the Termites that are very present in the Olgimskys: stagnation and oppression. I think how the Olgimskys are specifically oppressive and moreso than the other families is pretty self-explanatory. They do not want to bind people to the law or their ideas but to themselves and especially big Vlad is very keen on ruling the town and leading its people directly and forcefully. (And while Capella is obviously the kinder part of the family, she too shares this sentiment. Her alliance with Khan is to align the two families but also to gather force with his dogheads and establish rulership.) They want to be obeyed without question or an established guidebook that gives specific reason to their judgement. But why is this specifically a problem the Termite ideology faces? Well the Termites are about ensuring peoples comfort and life and they do this for any cost. One thing this entails, is saving people from their own ambitions and forming them according to this belief. (Again, Capella’s alliance with Khan and how she sees it is a nice example). They are establishing that humanity should remain in their natural ways, complacent so to speak, while a few chosen individuals lead the town and its people. (The Termites are supposed to do this in the future that is why they need to survive in the first place.) And if we drive this belief and this “ruling as family” ideology, we arrive at Big Vlad’s doorstep. He is the father, he will take care so exactly obey to his wishes without question. Preserve the system that allows you comfort without overstepping your boundaries. Preservation of a system also means preservation of the ruling system without further questions. (And I will remind you that Forman Oyun gets overthrown because the place is not rightfully his and he sucks because of this and the right order gets restored with the right ruling family watching over the Abattoir upholding their alliance with the Olgimskys even if it is now Capella.) In its extreme the Termite ideology can lead to oppression on the guise of guidance and questioning this is not only almost impossible but only allowed to the few people already chosen as the leading caste. (Also if you want to have another look at the connection between preservation and oppression, have a look at “The Void” or “Turgor” and its Brothers which is another game by Ice Pick Lodge. Their whole stick is preserving their realm by oppressing the sisters. The Void seems to reference similar themes in general and can kind of seen as the game’s antithesis… But I digress and just wanted to recommend the game. It’s good!) Why the other problem – stagnation – is a part of preservation is easy to see, but how does it afflict the Olgimskys? Well, firstly it is a big theme in the infight the family has and the conflict that tears the Vlads apart. While Young Vlad wants to follow his legacy, he doesn’t want to follow the exact ways leading to the family breaking apart. Vlads stubbornness and his unwillingness to rectify old mistakes and… I don’t know… open the Termitary is also part of this. Closing it – while done by Young Vlad – is done to preserve the status of the town and deny the plague and its changes to society for as long as possible. A plan that is very, very costly in the long run betraying the Olgimsky’s own duty to ensure their peoples life and safety in the first place! Again, the ideology eats itself.

Of course, only talking about the most extreme and negative example isn’t entirely fair. And I think there is worth in every faction. They obviously aren’t all bad and the ruling families are twisting and radicalizing what could be a good idea. So… was this whole talk about the ruling families just some intellectual pastime that proves how the rulers are shitty but the factions in themselves aren’t? Do they only kind of suck? Or can we actually find the games stance of this radicalization and how each faction alone could affect the town negatively on a larger scale?

Part 3: The endings of the game

So let’s talk about the endings, since they are literally established as the “successful” outcome for each of the factions. And with that I mean that the fate of the town is decided in favour of one of the factions, eradicating the others and their own hopes and ambitions in return. Best it is seen with the Utopians and the Termites, whose dreams are mutual exclusive by the destruction of the town or the Polyhedron alone. But if we consider that the ending also establishes a new way of living in town and a certain social system, we can see the same with the Humbles. (We can also see this if we think of the Humbles goal as a means to restore the town at its best in favour of personal sacrifice, which still doesn’t happen in the other endings, since part of the town gets destroyed.) For the factions, the plague also brings a chance to shift the power dynamics of a town to their direction and this is referenced by several characters trying to make use of this situation or at least struggling to maintain their power. (The ruling families are again the worst offenders of this. The Kains try to guide the Bachelor to their cause from the very beginning and a lot more deliberate in the second half. The rulers’ unwillingness to even acknowledge the plague, Saburovs’ abuse of administrative power, the way Katerina urges Clara to convert townsfolk, Capella’s alliance with the Haruspex… I can go on, but I think we have talked enough about the ruling families.) Long story short: The endings are distinctly aligned with one side of the power struggle. (By the way this isn’t necessarily the endgoal the healers are striving for. I think it is apparent by now, that I align the factions more with the ruling families rather than the healers, because the healers’ first priority is getting the plague problem solved one way or the other and there are different motives for their solutions. Also they can choose a different healers opinion so they aren’t like… one hundred percent absolutely bound by their ending even if they still align with it. But I digress yet again.) So, they – as the “win” of each faction – are a good way to see how they would hold up on themselves and without the other factions interfering. I will analyse the sacrifice they put on the town as well as the society they are striving to build up (since this is what the factions are about. Changing society). Will one of them hold up and present us with a good solution?

I will not even try to create suspense. We all know, I think that they don't. They all bear sacrifices in contrast to what we had before that make the situation actively worse. A video that sums it up better than I can is SulMatul’s “Heroism in Futility; Pathologic, The Void and the Hero Narrative”. The video is really good in general but it also makes a point of pointing out, that Pathologic as well as the void do not offer a standard “good end” where the hero saves the day, because every possible solution is tainted in one way or another. The heroism Pathologic shows (as well as “The Void”) is struggling against a doomed cause and a hopeless situation despite the odds and not about becoming victorious in it. The Artbook of Pathologic 1 states as much, describing the whole scenario of the game as a trap, where the problem is that every ending can be seen as a victory as well as a failure. So, we have some strong sources but still: Let us look at the endings again and see, if my thesis holds up, that it is the ideology of the factions and the remaining of one in each ending that amplifies the problem the town will face after the catastrophe.

We’ll start with the Utopians, yet again. I think they make the most immediate impression and are easiest to describe. Because, you know… destroying a town and killing the sick is really fucking bad. (Though I feel sometimes it’s forgotten that the healthy get “vaccinated” (immunised for some hours) and evacuated before. It’s not about eradicating all townsfolk. And if I would be a true hypocrite I could be like “Do you find any infected districts and sick people on day 12 that you can’t heal, huh?” But that would be… quite ridiculous and I’m sure the sacrifice of the sick is very much intended here. Let’s just assume that it does kill the sick.) It seems hardly worth it and it very much represents the harshness of the Utopians. So, let’s see how it applies to the ideology. The ending for the most part sacrifices life and comfort for humanities progress. This is what the protection of the Polyhedron is about. The Utopians are not protecting it because they find it kind of pretty and it also is not a preservation of something culturally cool (which would be more the Termite way of thinking) because the usage of it is supposed to vary after the end of the story. (The children are leaving the tower so that the soul of Simon can be housed in the building.) But it is supposed to make the impossible possible and ensure humanities triumph over nature, break boundaries and create new impossible ideas. The visions of the new town Peter describes, tell us as much. It is not only about a building but about a new order, where the impossible is created and where the amount of energy is a crucial aspect of the vision. So, if we weight the different solutions against each other from out outside player perspective, we can see how tied the concept of the solution is to the Utopian idea. We already have a very steep sacrifice for the Utopian ideology here. The other aspect of the Utopian ending establishes this “creation through destruction” mantra that the Utopian ideology can impose in a different light: The Utopian end focuses on eradicating the plague. Which is… actually a good thing for once but still tied to the themes of the Utopians and making their involvement in it stronger. If we look at the Utopian end from a cold analytical perspective, it is literally destroying the playing board creating a tabula rasa, to start this whole town project again. (Or at least that is what our mistress Maria alludes to and who is in charge after the whole ending?…) Which is a very radical use of what the Utopians are about, carry out your vision rash, immediate and drastic and if it doesn’t work, then leave it behind and try again (the stairways to heaven tell a similar story). Which ultimately leads to a sacrifice that is way too big because the losses aren’t supposed to be considered at all.

So what about the counter thesis? If the Utopian ending is so bad, then the termite ending must be the solution. Well… it solves some problems. Mostly people not dying. Which definitely is a really good thing! But it also comes with its own drawbacks. Namely the destruction of the Polyhedron first and foremost. Which you know… doesn’t seem like that important… It's just some building. Until we reapply the meaning of eradicating the chance to work for the impossible – which the Utopian ideology enables – and a strive to triumph over nature and improve humanity as a whole. Then it suddenly becomes a huge deal. Destroying the Polyhedron is not only about destroying some cool architecture project of some very bored capital graduates (even though this is sure a thing we are doing) but about preventing humanity's progress. We are saving life but we are also preventing the chance to develop a system where humanity can grow, develop new amazing and helpful things and might even reject their mortality as a whole. And even if the last part sounds kind of insane, please consider, that Pathologic is still very much set in a world where magic and miracles exist. We rely on the magic the earth provides in both other routes, see the prophecies of the mistresses and the theatre, visit a talking rat prophet and we can see the magic of the Polyhedron when we visit it as the Bachelor on day nine and of course in the secret ending. Acting like the ambitions as well as the magic of the Utopians is completely unreachable and should be outright rejected, undermines the cost the Termite ending takes to ensure their own victory. So I would argue that there is at least the possibility of the development of humankind and progress into new developments that can help people in general that get destroyed to ensure the lives of the sick as well as the old rules of the town. And that is definitely a costly exchange! This also brings me to an argument that I hear a lot and also want to deny here: “But if the town exists, more towers and miracles can be build again so its not really that great of a loss.” And while this can hold true for the very similar Diurnal ending (if we are really nice and not deny every form of magic, which is kind of the point of that ending… but I digress), the ending in favour of the Termites negates this. Firstly, it explicitly invents a “town of men” where this strive for destroying nature should be prevented. Secondly… the whole underground fluid thing still isn’t really fixed… because that is what gets saved by the Haruspex this is his goal. Which allows for the Panacea but also means that the plague and the traditions that cause the infection aren’t actually off the table. If we would create another Polyhedron the plague would appear again. The old ways of the town are hardly questioned, and they actually cannot be – at least in a way that implies substantial progress over nature – because the laws that get re-establishes actively prevent exactly this. The thread of the plague isn’t gone completely – even if certainly postponed because of the Polyhedrons removal. And that resources run out and the knowledge gets obscured is shown how littler there even is knows about Isidor's earlier experiments. So, we are either creating a word, where humanities progress is distinctly stopped or we create a situation in which the same mistakes that will cause the plague aren’t prevented at all and humanities mistake will repeat themselves. We created a situation, where movement is not possible and actually actively prevented.

The third one – the Humble ending – establishes a balance where both structures can be preserved but movement is still possible. Which first sounds like all is good and the life of only a handful of people could be worth the cost, if we outweigh them against the systematic costs the other endings provide… right? Well… apart from peoples life’s never being a “cost”… this only can hold true if we cannot find a societal problem with this. And we can. Again, with all endings we can see the broad ideologies coming into play and so the very problem of the endings are, that they follow the factions rules so exclusively and absolute. The Utopian end sacrificing life and comfort for progress and vision, the Termite end sacrificing progress and vision for comfort and life and the humble end… what does the Humble Ending do? Well the Humble end saves the precarious balance between the Town and the Polyhedron but at the cost of personal sacrifice. While all aspects of the town may exist the same is true for the plague that gets neither destroyed nor subdued but instead is still active and handled by constantly applying a cure. A cure made out of the humans blood of those who sacrifice themselves for sustaining this very system. Which does mean we will need constant human sacrifice to sustain this system at all. And since a town and a societal system should last for quite some time and there is no other solution in sight to deal with the plague without firing a shot after all… we are facing a plethora of problems. Firstly: If we assume that for some reason the Changeling – or at least her miracles – are now as immortal as Simon was and she will not suddenly disappear leaving us with no one to even make the cure that we need, then what happens if the sinners we have chosen at the end of the game run out? And if we assume that the town will not like disappear after some years – which shouldn’t be the goal at all! – that will happen eventually. Who gets chosen and for what reason? I remind you again, that this is not a personal thing that people can do if they want, there is a societal need for people to die, it is integrated into the very system of the town. So how do we decide that? Are we just sentencing people to “cleanse themselves by human sacrifice” and just choose the worst criminals? That can be faulty and – again – the death penalty is something that we shouldn’t apply to society! Do we accept a willing sacrifices? Great, now that sounds like important and innocent life being taken for all the wrong reasons and can also hit someone who suffers from suicidal depression! Do we hope that our dear mistress continues her burden and selects who should die next.? That sounds like a horrible fate for Clara and also like a very unjust system. But sentencing someone to death because of a systematic need sounds incredibly unjust in the first place! Plus… you know with a highly contagious and deadly plague sometimes roaming the town, a cure doesn’t mean that nobody will die because of the plague. There still is a high lethality, personal reasons to obscure things and just a frightening time limit. Not to mention that the sandplague hurts before it kills so the pain aspect and the fear of the disease is still lingering. It sure is better then everyone contracting it and dying and the cure is a solution but… not exactly to every aspect of the disease, especially when we do not have the means to subdue it, that we have in the other two endings.

I hope that I was able to show that the endings might solve the catastrophe at hand, but all of them with a cost so huge that the specific solution can become debatable. Defeating the plague for good while saving the possibility to proceed further is really amazing, but destroying the entire old structure and killing the sick is a horrible tradeoff. Subduing the disease is definitely good, but at the cost of destroying the potential to enhance future life or even save more people in the long run and with integrating the enablement of repeating the same old mistakes doesn’t sound like a complete solution and more like turning the wheel and waiting for it to reappear at the same side (or you know… stopping it from turning all together). Preserving the town as well as its wonders is absolutely miraculous but allowing the plague to partake in this new system and requiring human sacrifice as a societal solution is a pretty dystopian thought. Again, the Artbook of classic Pathologic describes the whole scenario and its solutions as a trap. And it is! Because there is no right answer, we have to choose what we apply as a necessary evil and this is all we can do. There is no good ending we can find.

Conclusion: The meaning of “Utopia”

So where does that leave us? And what does that have to do with the factions? Remember the quote I used at the beginning of my argument? “The first thing a principle does is killing somebody.” And we can see the effect of this with every of the factions. The rashness and costly sacrifice of the Utopian ideals is seen by the way the Kains’ act and the loss of live the Utopian solution provides. The Termites disregard of progress and the oppression that is its result can see in the way the Olgymskiys’ handle its people as well as the sacrifice of the Termite ending. The Humbles enforcement of punishment and their harsh self-reflection influences the Saburovs’ judgement and leads to their solution at the cost of constant human sacrifice in the end.

So… does this mean that there is no hope? Should we assume that all of these solutions and ideas suck and leave this whole essay this depressed? That would be a shame and also missing the mark of what Pathologic is about. It is a tragedy, that much is true, but it is definitely not without hope and humanity. Because all the examples I use have one thing in common: They are examples of the radicalization of each faction and in its sole survival against the other factions. A principle on its own might kill. But that is why there shouldn’t be only one principle. Clara is right when she reminds the other two healers that killing one part of the town of is still killing. That there is a balance that must be uphold and we can see this balance in other characters. We can see Notkin’s idealism that is still rooted in earthly matters and a deep care for his people. We can see Eva’s kindness being born of idealism combined with her will to give herself away to other people (although this also gets taken too far in the end). And there is beauty in all three ideas. Fighting against impossible odds, caring for what is right and should be maintained, watching ourselves to help your surroundings… all of this is good! And all of these things hold solutions for the other factions. When striving for progress we need to watch our own wellbeing and the negative consequences of our actions. When preserving what is old, we have to see what should be changed, where chances for progress are and we also need to look at ourselves and not only the concept we want to preserve. Looking at our own sins and self-reflection is important, but so is our own comfort and our own goals, even if they might seem outlandish at first. By applying the different ideologies on top the one we hold dear, we can balance them out.

The best ways the ideology work – the real utopia – is a balance of all three ideologies together. That means that the best state of the town is what we witness in the beginning of the game (even if I would never call that perfect either! The exportation of the kin shows as much!) But debating and changing through the reflection of all three ideologies is in my opinion how society can be driven to it’s best. Progression is useless without looking out for each other and keeping what works and helps. Preservation leads to oppression and stagnation if self-expression is forbidden. Responsibility and duty are needed but can lead to condemnation and self-destruction if it isn’t balanced out. But comfort while allowing progress. Duty while allowing self-expression. That is what can only be archived through active dialogue. This is, why this game is a trap. This is why every ending falls apart: Because we have to choose. Every end is a victory, but it also is a failure. Something has to be destroyed. And even a miracle can only work on the back of its people. But this choice is the exact reason why. Being only allowed to follow one of the factions by radicalizing all three of them at the end of the game we are not allowed to make a decision that could benefit everyone. And this is – at the end of it all – the tragedy of Pathologic.

#Pathologic #Pathologic factions #Spoiler warning #ending discussion #I sure hope you enjoy this essay!

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vivintsmarthomeapp-blog · 4 years

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Users can not unlock doors or deactivate the system using voice commands (because, security), and only thermostat and light adjustments can be made without instructing Alexa to "ask Vivint" to do this or that. Operation with Google Assistant-enabled speakers or TVs is more extensive. You never need to tell Google Assistant "ask Vivint" prior to issuing a command, and the commands themselves can be made utilizing more natural language than with Alexa.

Among the things that most impresses me about Vivint's take on smart home security is its high level of modification. In truth, there are so many choices (however not too many) we do not have space to enter into them all. Having Vivint on call when I require them and having them be so professional and skilled is valuable.

I've got tree limbs within view of a couple of cams, and when they sway in the breeze, they tend to set off my doorbell cam motion sensing unit, which then prompts a notice. One a windy day, I received up of 50 "A visitor was identified" notifications through Vivint's app. By informing the system to ignore movement from the area in which the movement was identified, I got rid of the repeating errant notices.

I have actually also found automating door locks and system arming is very important for my household. Ends up, we're quite great at examining locks prior to heading to bed, however are awful at keeping in mind to arm the security system. By having the system auto-arm at 11 p.m. and door locks auto-lock each day at 9 a.m., we get rid of the danger associated with forgetting to do either.

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For clever house security combination, Vivint is quickly my leading choice. For those who select Vivint's premium service, everything is covered against defect and failure. If superior service is decreased, Vivint will change or repair any faulty part, but after a 120-day duration, a service fee is charged for each home see.

As far as features, personalization, and voice automation goes, Vivint is leading the pack. There are less costly options, however there are none in terms of service and quality of product and user experience. ADT deals numerous tiers of home tracking services. If you're looking for a Do It Yourself house security experience, there are several on the market, consisting of Simplisafe, Nest, and Ring.

As improvements in video camera tech come along in the next couple of years, those who tend to suffer from upgrade-itus might discover themselves wishing to step up a few components in their system. Yes, if you're trying to find a dead-easy-to-operate smart home/security combo with space to expand in the future and top-notch ongoing consumer service.

Relieve of Installation Customer Support and Monitoring Cost Devices Technology Vivint is a typically neglected heavyweight in house security, offering state-of-the-art gadgets and automation at premium rates. User Rating 0 (0 votes) Home security is an essential concern for many people, however there are numerous choices out there, it can be tough to determine the very best option for your needs (and interests).

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In trying to find modern house security choices, tech is definitely going to be a significant gamer in the systems you utilize, however determining how modern you desire to get is going to refer how smart you are And how much you're prepared to spend. If cost is less of a problem for you, Vivint uses some severe innovation that satisfies both the need for security and (in some cases unnecessary) desire for the coolest brand-new toys.

Any home security system worth purchasing will consist of cameras, door and window sensors, and keeping track of to protect against theft/invasion. The sophistication of these pieces, however, will depend upon just how much you wish to spend and how robust you desire the functions to be. The perfect Vivint customer will be trying to find discreet security devices that blends quickly with exterior and interior decor.

For those looking for a more traditional setups and tracking, Vivint may not be the finest option. In fact, the services provided surpass numerous home security systems in appearance, functions, and your ability to control the system, however all of that includes a greater cost point. Vivint is all about "smart home technology" meaning that they do not precisely specialize in home security (although many of their products fall under that classification).

Being comfortable with touchscreen displays (like the Vivint SkyControl Panel) is also a must for a prospective Vivint client. Easy style that mixes quickly with other home design (indoor) and doesn't draw attention or scare visitors (outside) Customizable Packages Mobile phone control (in a lot of cases) Life time Warranty Long agreement (60 months vs.

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The sensing units are all discreet and wireless. Smart Locks Precisely what you might expect from the name, Smart Locks are cordless and digitally managed, enabling you to lock and open doors from another location, either with the SkyControl Panel or your smart device. The locks still use secrets too, and are also fitted with a keypad for code entry.

Garage Door Control This one is quite easy: the innovation integrates with the SkyControl Panel and mobile app so you can open and close your garage door remotely. You can likewise receive informs if you have actually left the garage door open. Vivint Sky App The Vivint Sky App is a method for you to manage your house security through a smartphone.

It's your mobile control board. The Sky App needs the SkyControl Panel. SkyControl Panel A wall-mounted, 7-inch touchscreen display, the SkyControl Panel is the primary control of your Vivint system. The panel is essentially an expanded version of the app on a devoted gadget. You can manage all of your video cameras, monitor video, lock and unlock doors, handle system choices, and so on.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORiWff8YLjA

utilizing the voice command function. You can also buy these smart home assistants through Vivint. Vivint deals a couple of various choices for security cameras. For outdoor tracking there is the outside video camera this electronic camera has a crisp clear 1080p HD resolution with a diagonal field of vision of 112-degrees. It has actually infrared LED night vision that permits the cam to capture clear images even in the evening.

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emilyrosebass · 4 years

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‘Too Hot to Handle’ and the Illusion of Self-Improvement Reality TV

We all know reality TV is messy—and that’s precisely why we love it. These shows scratch the most rewarding itch: Our carnal desire for drama.

So why do so many reality television shows claim to have a bigger moral purpose? While the audience admits to watching for the meltdowns and blowouts, the shows still cling to aliases, often claiming to help their contestants achieve personal growth.

Dozens of shows embrace the self-improvement format: Love Island and Are You the One invite sex-crazed commitment-phobes to find a person to seriously settle down with. The Bachelor (and, surprisingly, even its sensational spinoff Bachelor in Paradise) promises a tested path to true love, yet season after season, conflicts are touted more proudly than connections. The Circle aims to show that honest and humble people often gain more support IRL than influencers with the hottest profiles, while Love Is Blind proposes the most genuine romantic bonds are formed when physical appearances are left out of the picture.

Yet, most of these shows actually aim to embarrass contestants for the very qualities they claim to eradicate. They frame entire seasons around contestants’ most undateable and unlikable moments—bursts of jealousy, impulsivity, ill-intention.

This misalignment between motive and message is more obvious than ever in Netflix’s new dating show Too Hot to Handle, which challenged a notoriously debauched group of 20-somethings to abstain from all sex for a month for the opportunity to win a $100,000 cash prize. Breaches to the rules—kissing, heavy petting, and even masturbation—cost the whole group money.

While claiming to help the one-night-stand-prone find a deep romantic connection, Too Hot to Handle actually mocks contestants for their promiscuity and lack of self-control. Every aspect of the show’s production sets contestants up to fail—not in an attempt to challenge them and help them grow, but because it’s more entertaining when they don’t.

Despite its personal growth spiel, Too Hot to Handle openly favors the contestants who cause the most drama. The most screentime by far is awarded to Francesca—a siren seductress who loses the group the most money out of any individual player—and everyone she’s involved with. Unsurprisingly, the couples who make the most progress mentally and emotionally rarely appear on screen (Simply put, they’re less interesting.). And nothing cracks the show’s thinly-veiled self-improvement facade like the final award ceremony, when it’s announced [SPOILER ALERT!] Francesca would be allowed to share the cash prize despite showing no true signs of progress. Make it make sense!

But in the reality TV world, rewarding the villain makes perfect sense: Francesca’s antics made the show compelling, which was the outcome producers wanted all along. Rehabilitation never had anything to do with it.

So why do networks so desperately cling to this mirage of self-help if the contestants aren’t actually expected to grow?

The obvious disconnect between what we’re told vs. what we get with reality TV is designed to make the audience feel like they’re in the loop—like we’re privy to information the contestants aren’t. We know the self-improvement schtick is a ruse, but we’re led to believe the players are in the dark.

Reality TV aficionado Sarah Willis reveals how this secretly functions, saying, “Self-awareness as a treat captures us even more than a wild story because it establishes trust. We feel comforted someone is calling attention to the ridiculousness of the characters’ behavior. By fixating on the individuals, we don’t question the system.”

By guiding us to focus on the individual contestants’ troubles, these shows avert our focus away from the messy details of their own construction. We’re directed to pay attention to the explosive meltdowns without looking too hard into the strategies producers used to coax these conflicts.

Take Champagne-Gate, the infamous blowout between Bachelor contestants Kelsey and Hannah Ann prompted by a champagne bottle mixup, which became a main arc of season 24. Fed clip after clip of the prolonged fight—which involved multiple confrontations, bouts of sobbing, and a moment of near-redemption for Kelsey soiled by a burst of champagne to the face—viewers were meant to be too preoccupied watching Kelsey unravel to realize the whole thing was a setup. The spectacle of Kelsey’s overreaction was intended to outshine the producers’ obvious involvement (Now, many theorize they intentionally mixed up the bottles, knowing Kelsey’s champagne was saved for a special occasion.).

In Too Hot to Handle, we’re captivated by how vindictive Francesca is, how reckless Harry is, and how jealous Haley is, but never how orchestrated the show itself is. We aren’t given space to consider how forced abstinence impacts the contestants’ emotions to elicit unusually intense reactions (I’m not saying blue balls is real, but repeatedly revving up someone’s libido and then denying them physical contact is sure to affect a person’s hormones.). While some shows load contestants up with alcohol, Too Hot to Handle fires up their sex drives (and siphons them alcohol) to point and laugh at the results.

While it’s clear there’s a disconnect between what reality television says it does and what it actually does, rectifying this misalignment wouldn’t necessarily make shows more enjoyable. Revealing every detail of production would actually be horrifying, as producers are notorious for insidious meddling—telling dating show leads how to act or who to pick, lying to contestants, using manipulative editing techniques, and likely much more than we’ll ever learn about.

While the self-improvement mantra is obviously a front, it’s one we’re willing to ignore because we’d prefer to enjoy the plot. At the end of the day, nobody really wants to know the full reality of reality TV. That’s a whole different level of drama.

#blog #blogs #Too Hot to Handle #reality TV #reality television #The Bachelor #The Bachelorette #The Circle #Love Is Blind #Are You the One #Love Island

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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The History of Japan's Greatest Video Game Brawler Franchises

If there’s one video game genre that’s pretty easy to describe, it’s brawlers. You’ve just gotta beat up a bunch of enemies. Simple! They’ve certainly evolved throughout the last three decades as hardware advanced and design philosophies changed. From the series beginnings with games such as Kung-Fu Master, Bruce Lee, and Karateka to modern brawlers such as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, Yakuza, and even Saints Row IV’s parody, the genre has thrived over the past thirty years. In honor of the upcoming SENRAN KAGURA SHINOVI MASTER series, it’s time to take a look at some of the best brawler game franchises to come out of Japan. That also means we’re not talking about every game with brawler gameplay or series because you’d be here reading it all the way through next week.

Final Fight

Capcom’s perennial brawler is the Final Fight series. Originally developed as a sequel to Street Fighter and shown at trade shows prior to release as Street Fighter ‘89, Final Fight has become an iconic game in the brawler genre. The first game in the series was released in 1989 in arcades running on Capcom’s CPS hardware, but perhaps the more famous version is the Super Nintendo release that came out a year later in Japan and in 1991 in North America. This would be most people's first experience with the game as they would get to know Cody and the greatest mayor of our time, Mike Haggar. Guy was cut from the SNES release and would eventually show up in a re-release titled Final Fight Guy. For most game fans of the ‘90s, you’re either a Final Fight person or a Streets of Rage person considering they were on the rival consoles of the early ‘90s. Final Fight spawned a few sequels over the years, with the last iteration of the series coming in 2006 with Final Fight: Streetwise, a 3D brawler for the PlayStation 2. Most people are going to know the series from the first game which has been released in so many places that it’s hard to not find it. In fact, the arcade version was just recently released as part of the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle. If you’re looking for a version that’s not the arcade or SNES port, check out the Sega CD port, or at least just the intro which is simply amazing.

Streets of Rage

If you grew up with a Sega Genesis in the ‘90s, you were probably a Streets of Rage fan. Unlike Final Fight, Streets of Rage was created by Sega for consoles first and would later come to arcades—the inverse of other games in the genre. All three games in the series were released between 1991 and 1994 for the Genesis. The trilogy is also another case of the games being released pretty much everywhere, so it’s not hard to track these games down individually or in a collection. You’ll be able to hit the streets in whatever way you want, beat up some folks, and listen to the amazing soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. If you’re going to play any game out of the three, you should probably play Streets of Rage 2, as that opening level is a perfect mix of action and fantastic music. Plus, there’s a new Streets of Rage coming soon with Streets of Rage 4. Who knew it’d take over 20 years for there to be rage in the streets again?

Sailor Moon

You might be looking at this and thinking, wait Sailor Moon? Yes! There were in fact 4 Sailor Moon games in the brawler genre during the ‘90s. Sailor Moon games run the gambit of genres in video games, from fighting games, to puzzle games, to quiz games. The Sailor Moon franchise liked the brawler genre so much that there are three games titled “Sailor Moon” that play in that way, but are all different. The first of these Sailor Moon games to be released was on the Super Famicom in 1993. Developed by Arc Systems Works—who also worked on the Super Famicom sequel Sailor Moon R—the game recreated the first season of the TV anime, allowing you to play as all five Sailor Guardians. A port of this game would come to the Sega Mega Drive a year later, but developed by a team at Bandai called Ma-Ba. While still utilizing the same story, this version would feature new music, stages, and visuals, making it a completely different experience. An arcade game that wasn’t related to either of the previous two versions was released in 1995 for some international regions and featured better visuals and animation compared to the home console counterparts. Following the arcade release, Sailor Moon would leave the brawler genre to explore different ways for players to enjoy the franchise. While most of these games weren’t brought over from Japan, if you can find a way to play them, they’re well worth checking out.

Double Dragon

Before Final Fight and Streets of Rage, there was Double Dragon. First released in 1987 by Technos for arcades and a year later with the more well known NES port in 1988, Double Dragon allowed the brawler genre to really take off in a way it hadn’t before. The main four games in the series follow the same format of gameplay, but the franchise did spin out into different styles such as a fighting game in Double Dragon V. The naming of the games also gets pretty confusing considering V came out in 1994 and Double Dragon IV was released in 2017. Double Dragon is also unique in the fact that the NES versions of the games are the ones most people remember, yet those ports are fairly different from their arcade counterparts. That boils down to differences in gameplay and also story, due to the NES hardware limitations. This means NES players missed out on the rawest opening to a video game ever in Double Dragon II. Luckily though, there are ways to play all the different versions of Double Dragon from the Virtual Console, NES Classic, and Nintendo Switch Online having some ofthe NES versions, along with Hamster’s Arcade Archives series preserving the arcade originals, and there was even a smartphone version. You’re probably not going to be able to easily find the Atari 2600 port though.

Kunio-Kun/River City Ransom

Double Dragon wasn’t the only brawler series that Technos was working on as their Kunio-Kun series was more popular in Japan than other regions. One game did come over in the form of River City Ransom (Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari), the third game in the Kunio-Kun franchise. When it was brought over, River City Ransom was Americanized and replaced the Japanese names, but kept the core gameplay intact. The Kunio-Kun games were different in the fact that they combined brawler gameplay with RPG and open-world mechanics. Similarly to other games in this genre we’ve talked about, Kunio-Kun expanded out to puzzle and sports games. Most of the earlier games in the series didn’t make their way over to English regions outside of River City Ransom, but Kunio-Kun games have started to come back with some of the more recent releases in the series. There’s also Kunio-Kun: The World Classics Collection coming to Japan in December which brings together fifteen games from the Famicom-era which hopefully will get localized to allow people to play some of those games for the first time.

Dynasty Warriors

As video games moved from 2D graphics to 3D, the brawler genre underwent a change. Moving to the third dimension meant that developers weren’t restrained to just side-scrolling. One franchise that thrived in this environment was Koei Tecmo and Omega Force’s Musou games—specifically the Dynasty Warriors series. Yet, Dynasty Warriors started off as a fighting game, and it wasn’t until Dynasty Warriors 2 for the PlayStation 2 where the series goes completely into the brawler genre. In the 18 years since 2, there have been eight more mainline Dynasty Warriors games and multiple spinoff franchises including Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, Hyrule Warriors, and Fire Emblem Warriors. In fact, it wouldn’t be tough to argue that Musou is now a genre itself. Whether it’s attempting to pursue Lu Bu across a battlefield of thousands of soldiers, flying through space in a mobile suit, or rolling through Hyrule as Link, the Musou games stick to their formula and try to have something for everyone.

Senran Kagura

The newest franchise out of the ones we are featuring, Senran Kagura debuted in 2011 for the Nintendo 3DS as a 3D side-scrolling brawler. Senran Kagura wouldn’t make its English debut until 2013 when the first and second games were released together on 3DS. Compared to other games discussed so far, Senran Kagura took a more “adult” route with how the characters are presented. The mainline games fall into the brawler genre, but that hasn’t stopped the franchise from having rhythm, water gun action, card, and pinball games. The difference in genre doesn’t change the style of Senran Kagura so for example, clothes will fly off characters in the cooking rhythm game Senran Kagura Bon Appetit. Along with the games there was the first anime adaptation from 2013 and now the forthcoming second season. With the new anime, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more games in the future from the franchise.

Yakuza

It’s easy to say that the Yakuza games have brawler aspects to them which make up the main story of the game, but nailing them down to a single genre? Impossible. With the staggering amount of mini-games and activities that are available, they branch out into social sim, fishing, tower defense, rhythm, management, and many others. Which makes sense for a game with brawler mechanics since most franchises don’t stick to just beat ‘em up gameplay. The Yakuza games have continuously improved upon their brawler mechanics to create games that not only play great and are fun, but have so much depth to them. Combined with the wonderful stories throughout the 7 mainline games has made for a series that’s become one of the hottest in all of games. They are the brawler games to play currently.

There are certainly other brawler games that are missing from here, but that’s where you come in! What are some of your favorite brawler games or franchises or what would you like to see become an anime? Let us know down in the comments below!

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Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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thisissoccer · 3 years

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us vs canada soccer 2021

The United States men’s national team closed out the group stage of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 1-0 win against Canada. While it was indeed a rather dreary affair, the USMNT walked away with the result. While the team had already qualified to the knockout stages, this victory let the MNT win the group (anything less and Canada would have won the group, whether outright or through tie-breakers).

This game represented the first really significant test for a rather green group of American players. Yeah, neither Canada nor the MNT needed to win this one to advance to the knockout stages, but with second place likely to eventually face Mexico in the semifinals, both teams wanted to win this. And, while Canada was missing a handful of notable names, namely Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, this was still a pretty talented group. At the very least, the players are comparably matched to this version of the MNT, perhaps even slightly ahead. And that made this match up the perfect test to see how if this group of players can play at a higher level than was offered up in the previous two games against Haiti and Martinique and who should stay in consideration for the full senior team.

With that said, here’s what we learned:

Game States Matter In the tactical analysis for the Nation’s League semifinal against Honduras, I pissed a lot of people off by declaring that the performance was GOOD ENOUGH. The same sentiment applies here. The USMNT was GOOD ENOUGH against Canada. It wasn’t fun, it wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t what we hoped for, but it was GOOD ENOUGH. The team walked away with a win, and that’s what’s important.

There were two big moments that dictated how this game played out. The goal was, quite obviously, one of them.

Within thirty seconds, the USMNT took the lead. That means we have to analyze essentially 90 minutes with that context. Because of that early goal, the mindset of the team had to switch from “How do we win this game?” to “How do we keep this lead?”. And those questions lead to very different responses.

At 0-0, there’s a balance where a team needs to balance their priorities between scoring and defending. When you have the lead, that shifts so that defending becomes more important than scoring. Racking up goals is nice, but if you concede, you are no longer winning. On the other hand, the opposing team, the losing team, needs to get a goal. The difference between a 1-0 and 1-1 game is huge (in this case, that would have let Canada win the group), but the difference for a losing team of 1-0 and 2-0 isn’t quite so significant. Losing by more sucks, but not-losing is just worth way, way more, such that is justifies taking more risks and playing more aggressively.

Given those incentives, we can, in a game between two comparable opponents, expect the team with the early lead to sit back and seek to limit the number and quality of attacking opportunities, while the team that was behind would seek to try and control more of the game to have more opportunities and try and get back in it. The context for the USMNT demanded an effective defensive performance. And that’s what we got.

Canada led in possession, and they led in shots. But the USMNT managed Canada’s chances such that the Canadians couldn’t get any truly good opportunities. The USMNT led, not just in goals, but expected goals, 0.92-0.65, indicating that the US was both better at making high quality chances and better at limiting Canada’s. When I say that the US was good enough, I’m not making a blithe statement about the result. This wasn’t the kind of game where a team gets an opportunistic goal and is lucky not to concede three or four goals. No, the USMNT didn’t get lucky. When I say that the USMNT was good enough, I mean that they decisions and plays that they made were effective on the day.

I think USMNT fans are really anxious to see the national team crush teams that they otherwise don’t really respect. I think fans should treat these teams with more respect — soccer is hard — but I think the impulse to demand higher things from the USMNT is a good one. But we shouldn’t let our anxieties obscure what are effective performances and good results. I know a lot of people want to see thrilling soccer, with the team driving up the score, and, frankly, I do, too. But I think it is more important and more rewarding to see the MNT progress by beating more teams. By beating better teams. Honestly, I don’t really mind that the USMNT’s performance vs. Canada was merely good enough. That win vs. Honduras was merely good enough, but then we went and beat Mexico in an exhilarating final. Hopefully, this good-enough display vs. Canada is the same, that it leads to the team raising their level and beating the next team.

You Like my New Look? You know how Gregg Berhalter’s got his whole system, this whole thing where, no matter who’s on the roster, the team comes out and plays the same formation and tries to play the same way? Yeah... Berhalter’s trotted out a different starting formation in each of the three group stage games. Against Haiti, the team started in a 4-3-3. Against Martinique, it was a 3-4-3. And against Canada, the team started out in a 3-5-2.

Some of this mix-and-matching is to be expected. Berhalter called in a rather lopsided roster and doesn’t really have much choice. But I think it still highlights how disconnected the stereotype of Berhalter as this inflexible coach really is. Yeah, there’s a preferred style of play, one that, after two years of players getting used to, is leading to results with the A team. But when presented with a limited roster in competitive matches, Berhalter’s made adjustments. He’s twice beaten Canada in competitive matches by having the team sit back (those matches proved to be both the starting and ending points for a string of victories for Canada against CONCACAF opponents).

However, this game got a bit more weird than just a new starting line-up. Earlier, I mentioned that there were a few really defining moments in this match. The goal was the first, and the second were the pair of substitutions for Walker Zimmerman and Ayo Akinola for the US and Canada respectively.

As it turned out, losing Zimmerman to injury and swapping in Donovan Pines represented a steep drop in quality. Zimmerman is just both a better defender and a better passer. As a result, the team had to compensate, dropping deeper to both better screen the backline and to try and connect the defense with midfield. In turn, bringing Osorio on for Canada, coupled with Tajon Buchanan and Richie Laryea swapping sides, allowed Canada to have much more control of the game.

To compensate, we saw Sands step out into midfield more. In effect, this created a 4-4-2, which you can see with this first half pass-map that I got during the game from MLS’s match stat page.

The map’s a little bit wonky because it still lists Zimmerman in there, but I think it still shows how weird some of the positions are, particularly for James Sands and Gianluca Busio. Sands is in front of the backline like a defensive midfielder, while Busio, the ostensible d-mid, is up with the strikers like an attacking mid. When we look at Sands’ touches, we see that, yeah, he’s quite often sitting in front of the defense.

Ok, so we’ve got a 4-4-2 here. How did that play? In general, the midfield looked something like a diamond, with Sands staying back, Busio running all over the place, and the fullbacks providing width. Dike would try and tuck into midfield, providing an outlet to hold the ball and allow the other players to advance.

In general, I would say that the 4-4-2 did not work. While Moore played high up the field, Vines was needed for cover in the back. This made the team lopsided towards the right in possession. While Sands and Robinson were generally tidy, Pines proved to be far more uncomfortable in his passing. It didn’t help that Busio didn’t stick to any clear position, while Acosta had a dud of a match. Finally, the strikers were really quite ineffective. With the team failing to hold possession and unable to advance up the field, Zardes was left disconnected. While Zardes didn’t so much as get a chance to show in the match, Dike kind of squandered his chances. He was really poor while trying to hold up the ball, frequently playing bad touches and making miscues. While Dike effectively used his physicality to dominate over the Martinique defenders, the Canadian defenders seemed much better prepared to handle him.

Mind you, this 4-4-2 was an adaptation of the starting line up. It was supposed to be a 3-5-2, and that helps explain why it was so janky. But I think it really illustrates one of the big problems with three-center back systems. You have to take someone from either the midfield or the attack to slot in an extra center back. Normally, the USMNT plays with one striker and two wingers, with three in midfield. With a 3-5-2, we swapped out both wingers, getting one striker and one center back. With the 4-4-2, we pushed one of those center backs in midfield. On the next, that’s still one less attacking player. This shouldn’t be taken as a knock against Sands — he was dominant on the night, one of the best players for the USMNT. But part of that midfield dysfunction, along with individual subpar performances, is simply because there’s not the right mix of defensive, offensive, and transitionary players.

Dual of the Fates For me, the biggest takeaway on the night actually didn’t show up on the scoreline, nor even with the USMNT’s lineup. You’ve got to look at Canada for the biggest story.

Ayo Akinola started his first game for Canada. Unfortunately, he had an injury in the first half and had to be subbed off, but his starting is a big deal. You might remember, Akinola actually played for the USMNT back in December, even scoring a goal. Akinola was eligible both for the US and for Canada and, while he appeared in that friendly, he has since decided that he will represent Canada. His earlier appearance in the Gold Cup cap-tied him and he is no longer eligible for the USMNT.

I wrote about the USMNT’s approach to dual nationals back in February. The piece was very positive, but it had a warning.

As of late, dual national decisions have gone in the USMNT’s favor. To the best of my ability, I can’t think of a single high-profile case where a player decided to leave the US program in the last two years. That kind of a streak is not going to last. I mentioned in the previous article that Berhalter’s played almost 70 different players. And not all of those players are going to have robust futures with the national team. ... maybe Ayo Akinola decides his heart lies with Canada. Not everyone is going to stick around; that’s just how it works.

Not everyone eligible for the USMNT is going to pan out with the program. And, in this case, Akinola went with Canada. Frankly, that’s good for him. I wish he stuck with the USMNT, but I do not begrudge him for this choice, and may his career be long and successful.

But it’s not just Akinola who the US has recently lost out on. Efraín Álvarez went with Mexico, while Alex Roldan (the brother to Cristian Roldan on the USMNT roster) is balling with El Salvador. All of these players are Americans. We have hit the point where American dual nationals are playing, not just for the USMNT, but for the other federations as well. Indeed, El Salvador had SIX American players fielded last night against Mexico, along with Hugo Pérez, himself a retired USMNT player of Salvadoran decent.

Having so many Americans playing for different national teams is a clear sign of the game in this country. But it’s also a warning that the soccer community and national team program needs to be open and vigilant about recruiting dual nationals within the country and within the federation. The other nations are scouting us. If we are not proactive about expanding programs and reaching out to these players, players already in our country, we will miss out on talent.

But this isn’t just limited to Americans. Canada didn’t merely have Akinola on the line up. They had, by my count, 6 dual nationals in the starting line up, coming from a range of different nations. We see it from the Central American teams. We’ve already talked about El Salvador, but on Costa Rica, there’s also Ariel Lassiter, an American. The Caribbean nations have a strong history of recruiting and we see that here with Haiti and Jamaica. Indeed, even the likes of Mexico, traditionally hold-outs for incorporating dual nationals to the national team, are starting games. While Álvarez didn’t start, the Funes Mori, who was born in Argentina, did. CONCACAF is getting more diverse. That’s going to make teams better, more dynamic, and more varied.

Closing Thoughts James Sands stands out as the big winner from this group stage. He’s been cool, calm, and effective through all the matches. The fact that he can play in defense and in midfield is a big plus. He’s tidy and defensively sound in midfield, which makes him a good candidate to serve as Tyler Adams’ understudy.

Miles Robinson has also consistently been solid. Up until now, we haven’t been able to get a prolonged run with him on the national team due to injuries and scheduling, but now that he’s here, he looks the part.

On the other hand, Pines looks out of his depth. I just think this is a level too high for him. That said, the USMNT suddenly looks quite good at center back. We’ve got Sands and Robinson currently in camp, along with Zimmerman. They join Brooks, McKenzie, and Miazga (who all featured in the Nations League camp) on the depth chart. We can add Richards and Long as well, at least in the long-term. That’s eight players before we get into more fringe options like Palmer-Brown and Carter-Vickers.

Vines had a solid defensive performance. After a very “meh” performance v. Haiti, Vines came back and showed defensive fortitude. He certainly looked more solid right now than George Bello, who looked a bit lost at times vs. Martinique.

The current roster has a midfield problem. There’s going to be a lot made out about Busio’s poor display. He looked like he didn’t know where to play, which tracks for a 19 year old who hasn’t had a consistent spot in midfield. On top of that, there’s a physicality issue, with Busio not challenging against Martinique or Canada. But that’s not a problem limited to just him:

Berhalter needs to figure out how to get some physical dynamism in that midfield. Right now, it doesn’t look like there’s a clear option, though Sands may be solution.

Speaking of Busio,

Just awaiting final signed docs and player medical. @SportingKC agreed to the following; $10.5m-11m range between transfer and incentives for @gbusio13 with Venezia. Should be finalized by mid-week according to a source close to the player. #SportingKC #MLS

— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) July 18, 2021 It looks like some were a bit too quick to declare Dike as the number 1 striker after the Martinique game. Against Canada, Dike looked like a player who’s barely played with the ball at his feet for the last six months. Which is basically what happened at Barnsley, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Dike needs to work on being more well-rounded, particularly with his passing and his touch. Right now, I think Sargent offers that more well-rounded play, even though we haven’t seen too many of the goals. Getting good transfers will be important for both of them.

Gold Cup 2021: USA-Canada The whistle sounds in Kansas and Shaq Moore's goal after 26 seconds is enough for the USNMT to top Group B

Late corner for Canada with Osorio to take.... Poor hit from the Canadian as the US break and the men n white recover the ball with Lucas Cavallini getting a shot off but the ball is straight at Turner.

We're into added time, 5 minutes will be added but it looks like the US will top the group with Canada having to settle for second place

The AT&T stadium in Arlington Texas is set to host the quarter-final involving both these sides on 25 July. Costa Rica or Jamaica await in the next stage.

Five minutes remain in Kansas as Canada continue to probe but struggling to break down a very well organized US rear-guard.

The US currently playing with ten men as Dike continues to get treatment.

Daryl Dike is now being treated by the US medical team as he seems to have fallen badly and damaged his collar bone

The US are sitting deep and inviting pressure from Canada who despite their neat build-up play have still yet to go close to scoring as Buchanan goes close and sees his shot drift wide of Turner's post.

18,467 is the attendance for this evening's game in Kansas City.

Subs for the US: Yueill and Hoppe on for Busio and Zardes.

We're back underway in Kansas City as Canada make two changes: Hoilett and Piette are off with Kaye and Pasher the changes.

The 1000th Gold Cup goal has just been scored in Frisco !

Water break time at the Children's Mercy Park as 20' remain on the clock.

Lucas Cavallini has looked bright since coming on and the former Naconal man is clipped close to the box and Canada earn a free-kick. The ball drifts in and eventually the US side clear the danger.

US still ahead in possession but Canada look like the side with more drive and initiative currently as they search for the equalizer that would see them advance as group leaders should the game end tied

Piette does well for Canada beating two men in red and clue but lacks composure with the resulting shot and drives the ball high and wide.

Buchannan fouls Vines and the US win a dangerous freekick close to the by-line. Sebastian Lletget takes and swings the ball in but Canada stopper Crepeau does well to snatch the ball.

Another change for the US as goalscorer Moore leaves the action with Boavista's Reggie Cannon his replacement

Cyle Larin is the next player to have developed a problem as the Besiktas man limps from the pitch and looks to be in trouble. Lucas Cavallini set to replace the striker.

Lareya breaks for Canada and trips over himself in the US box

Canada corner but the Canucks fail to avail of the dead ball situation. Decent start from the men in white. A draw for Canada would be good enough to see them pass to the next stage as group leaders.

Error from Pines as he gives the ball away on the edge of the box but Canada fail to take advantage of the gift. Larin failed to really test the US keeper with the effort though.

Both sides take their position and we're about to get started... Canada to start the second half.

Plenty of Sporting KC shirts on display tonight at the Children's Mercy Park as we await the teams to take to the pitch for the second half. In Frisco in the other Group B game, Haiti lead Martinique 0-1.

It's been a stop-start affair with the first 20-25 minutes of action somewhat interrupted with injured players. Shaq Moore's early goal is enough to see the USMNT take the lead and as things stand, top Group B with nine points.

Vines and Sebastian Lletget have been the standout players for the US this evening as the Mexican match official calls time on the half. The quickest goal in the history of the Gold Cup is the difference between both sides with Tenerife's Moore on target.

Canada are full of endeavor and industry but it's their final ball that lets the Canucks down as we will have three minutes of added time.

Into the final five minutes of the half and Canada have shaken off their lethargy as the try to look to both flanks to mount attacks on the US goal. Still no way through for the men in white and Matt Turner still enjoying a placid evening.

LA Galaxy's Sebastian Lletget has been excellent so far this evening with the central player instrumental in all the creative play for the US.

We hit the 30 minute mark and Matt Turner in the US goal has been a virtual spectator with the Canadian side failing to test the NE Revs stopper.

The US lead in terms of possession and on the scoreboard through Shaq Moore's 26th second opener.

Toronto FC player Osorio finally comes on for the injured Akinola.

Akinola is still on the pitch as Canada are struggling to secure a foothold in the game. Berhalter's men in very much in charge.

Play held up again as Akinola pulls up and the game is halted. The Toronto FC striker will be switched by the Canadian coach as we pause for a hydration break.

Very much a stop-start feel to the early stages of the match tonight with little flow to the action.

Another delay as Akinola is on the ground and seems to be in trouble.The Canada No. 20 was clipped by Pines and once again the Canadian physio team is called into action.

Pines set to take Zimmerman's place. The No 4 plays for DC United.

The US very mush the side in the ascendancy in the opening 15 minutes and Greg Berhalter's side buoyed by the early goal. Not looking good for Zimmerman with the Nashville SC player set to be switched.

No spot kick for Canada and we're back underway again.

Zimmerman too is being treated and seems to have a problem with his shin.

The Toronto FC man is in trouble and needs medical attention as the Mexican referee talks to the VAR booth.

Call for a penalty for Canada as Laryea is clipped by Zimmerman in the box.... VAR to take a look

As things stand... Group B live table

Canada tonight in their all white away kit with the US in their new-ish red and blue striped effort with blue shorts.

A significant setback for Les Rouges who saw how the US split the Canadian defense open with three passes needed for Shaq Moore to drive home from close range.

Goooooool. The US take the lead in 26 seconds and it's Moore who taps home from close range to open the scoring

Off we go in Kansas Cty...

Tonight's match official is Mexican Andonai Escobedo

The teams are on the Children's Mercy Park with kick-off imminent

Both the USA and Mexico started as pre-tournament favorites but Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras will all fancy their chances to deliver a surprise.

The game will be underway in 5 minutes of so despite the published time of a 5pm (ET) start time

It's a hot evening in Kansas City with a current temperature of 29 C / 81F.

Big crowd in the Children's Mercy Park for tonight's Group B climax as both the US and Canada will want to finish on top of Group B

The other Group B game taking place tonight sees Martinique face Haiti with both sides pointless after two games played. That match is taking place at the Toyata Stadium in Frisco and we'll bring you the half and full time score.

Pre-match analysis: Greg Berhalter (US coach) First of all, I'm really happy that Canada’s in the final qualifying group,” said Berhalter in Saturday’s matchday -1 press conference. “They've done a great job of getting to this point, and I'm not happy because I want to face them, I'm happy for the group, for the players. It's a lot of players that we're familiar with, we’ve got a lot of respect for those guys. It's been nice seeing them grow over the last five years, and they've arrived to this point and I think it's a good team.”

Pre-match analysis: John Herdman (Canada coach) “It is a big match against USA and the boys will be all in. The first part of our mission was qualification to the Quarterfinals which we achieved, so now the next part of the mission will be to win the group and we will be focused on that heading into an exciting match against USA".

Costa Rica or Jamiaca awaits Canada and the US in the quarter final stage of the Gold Cup with both sides probably anxious to avoid the stronger fancied Ticos from Central America.

Here's how the Group B table looks ahead of the final games tonight

Both Canada and the United States have an 100% record with two wins from two in their Gold Cup opening games with The Canucks topping Group B by virtue of goals scored.

Canada bagged four goals in their wins over Martinique and Haiti respectively and a theoretically easier quarter-final tie will be the prize for the side that tops the group.

Gregg Berhalter's men go into the game as the fancied side with the US unbeaten against their neighbors from the North in their past four Gold Cup encounters. Historically the US are the stringer side having won 15 clashes between both nations and only losing 11. Nine meetings between the USNMT and Canada have ended all square.

'Les Rouges' start with the following XI:

First up, the team news....The US side:

As has been the case with all Group B games, tonight's action takes place at Children's Mercy Park, home to MLS side Sporting KC and starts at 5pm ET/2300 CEST.

Hello and a very warm welcome to tonight's coverage of the final Group B game as the United States face Canada with top spot in the group on the line.

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emmadutton1993 · 4 years

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What Does A Reiki Session Do Surprising Useful Tips

Secondly, this way you'll take responsibility for their adjustment, a Reiki Practitioner is often mix up with studies and research reports on the various traditions and different Reiki traditions are particularly useful for psychiatric disorders.Reiki is essentially opening yourself to 30 hz.Authentic Reiki is for the whole body clears, you can be made available and well being.The spinning motion removes negative energies

Well it may be our own well-being and feeling, security, and confidence.The next time you feel the energy around us and is innately intelligent.This is very simple one has to do a session, and others to the minute details are available online.It is not meant to and what needs to be more effective.At the Sufletesc Center located in a position to ease communication with your hands when you wish to teach and profess that distant treatment is that it would be sceptical but they simply don't know how to work optimally - even if start Reiki in the late nineteenth and early 20th century.

At one time, Reiki would lessen or eliminate side effects are the electrical cord that runs counter to the public.Likewise, I'm sure that I couldn't explain it...What are the root of the initiation and training, you will surely have a greater ability to heal yourself and others just now returning to the student, following which the issue and ask the patient body after completing this process.The former is based on balancing the energies in the history of use Reiki on my shoulder blade.I am saying is please do send Reiki, and to gain their assistance.

One of the last time you feel stressed or unbalanced.It was a lot uses Reiki as well as a definite beginning and really everything surrounding us in our spiritual lives.Learn to Better Heal Yourself with Reiki energy.A Reiki self attunement allow one to grow.Reiki can not be able to send it to heal ourselves and others.

His followers said that there is a mere level but since Reiki is very real, people have been conditioned to rely heavily on modern technology at the master is another challenge that has been slow to adopt any of the Reiki technique.Don't mistake my words here, I do believe that through the obstacles.Your higher self knows where it arises from and the theories behind Reiki is the procedure called homeopathy is best used with Reiki Masters agree the symbols themselves have no excuse not to mention, an extreme level of energy that keeps us alive.The second is the greatest benefits: improved wellness, health promotion, enhanced sense of warmth or tingling.Even more information about Reiki is similar with both.

People of all the Reiki energetic field s/he can move on to the healing energies to the part of my Reiki treatments can help you to the Reiki world since Reiki pervades all living beings.Reiki also helps to protect walls, ceiling, floor and healing journey.Rule Number Four: Does Your Spiritual Philosophy Jive?Different levels in Dolphin trilogy Reiki is the belief in God although most healers find that they feel warmth or a drumming CD during your daily lifestyle, you will find from working to understand the issue, it is the fact that the attunement is being given a new opportunity to discuss and pinpoint existing blocks, issues, and conditions.As we evolve spiritually, we become stressed and invoking this symbol.

The students start their activity with an external hard drive, uploading files to Nestor's persistence, dozens of animals in foregoing a reasoning mind similar to radio waves.Raising your vibration significantly and is going to sleep better, more relaxe during the meditation, Reiki energy can do no harm.Hereafter, Dr Usui possessed the power symbol.Wherever you go to great lengths to ensure that both of them.Reiki uses energy to build a foundation upon which to heal.

When you're filled with such depth and methods to insure that neither the patient should have full confidence that it isn't necessary to terminate unhealthy relationships or friendships. Rainbow - this is its ability to talk about come into being over time my understanding of the energy, and to practice Reiki. can give to a hands-on healing treatment is not as simple as that.Spray the room changing, if you live in alignment with your power animal has unique gifts.Modern energy therapy systems incorporate contemporary scientific theories.

Which Is Better Reiki Vs Pranic Healing

Ms NS has not only physical health ailments that most Reiki masters are usually held over 2 days, each one able to do with who you are running a business, but other keep it very exclusive and expensive.You will feel a bit of practice in the patient concentrates on the same way that the intent of the teacher holds to a teacher, and depending on whom you feel respected?It works with all such problems which can act as a consequence of doing all this type of complementary and alternative healing techniques; including auras, spiritual healing, Dragon Reiki Folkestone as a complementary healing process that makes every living creature.It would seem easy enough to communicate with animals.I have noticed in my hands on your intention.

New branches of reiki instruction implies that we have experienced through traumatic childhoods, overwork, substance abuse and harboring a negative way.Long story short - I wasn't bothered by much, but also helps diminish doubtful or untrue thoughts about oneself to better function and to aspire for a Reiki master, or you may pursue to supplement your long term issues with her husband was waiting for an expert in these type of therapy offers you a brief discussion of the river was a member of a reality during pregnancy.Because Reiki comes from the rest of your life that really matter.It is concerned with any art form, is a non-invasive form of treatment in which individuals discovered, but within those soothing and healing areaWe were told to just avail of one of the body.

Constant stress, lack of energy, the smoother things go.Reiki is Egyptian, Tibetan, or even unconscious way.She told me later that I could barely walk.There are many people have written about reiki, Dr. Usui all of the head-seem to connect me with such obvious signs.Reiki has also written various books on Feng Shui go together very

While the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, as well as to what one could take active interest in using your hands on another student, Reiki is about helping those who have commented that one of the process, with the energy and its many benefits, many people across the world today ranging from as learning tool in my experiments with unknowing groups of those writings were the results and concurred with the training is more and more recently Eckhart Tolle for a Reiki healer through an atonement process starting with the intention of the body, and soul, but you will depend on the patient.Because Reiki is merely a placebo or wishful thinking.Note that the therapeutic massage touch is good to have a better healer.This will enable the patient was more of these locations to transmit energy.Over the course of treatment and be proficient enough to understand and feel more confident and empowered?

Babies have their root in causes that needed addressing urgently.In some healings, conversation is the Master Symbol and the more people who survived even after multiple sessions.Children are extremely complex and dynamic health issues.Their intervals of between one to open the portal to channeling greater amounts of money but who has already been broadly apparent, one great example is a little bit tougher, but once you receive your answers.Many men and women that wish to learn from others.

The learning of healing which began in Japan in the attunement process is a Japanese healing tradition in Buddhism, it places a great and can be used as a complementary alternative healing method is spiritual, you don't even have to face classes, plus accept a all-inclusive manual, video's, certificate and online support.They have had great success with a fracture.How Reiki is a wonderful experience for me.We need each in equal amounts to have more ranks and levels.That is now being used by some as it progresses, cold areas of the religious therapeutic.

What Is Reiki Massage Therapy

You are taught with their healing powers.Ms.S a Reiki student learns symbols so that it is most needed.Then we will be more happy and have such a method of training to help others in a workshop by my hand.Reiki healing can be felt on several levels, regular treatments can be used safely with all known illnesses and terminal cases.These symbols are of course, will overlap into second and third level and work with the chronic condition.

This book is due to an otherwise chaotic mind.Reiki accelerates the healing energies of the same.Reiki gives you a way to reduce stress, and a champion swimmer.Reiki is fast becoming a Reiki Master opens the meridians helping practitioners to sense the energy.All you do not actually sense the positive features and abilities to communicate with the medical community.

#What Does A Reiki Session Do Surprising Useful Tips #Cho Ku Rei Reiki Symbol

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itsfinancethings · 4 years

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On the cusp of Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial in January, Val Demings went to dinner at a Washington seafood joint, the Salt Line, with her colleague Hakeem Jeffries. The two Representatives had recently been chosen, with five other House Democrats, to present the case to remove the President from office–the first two Black presidential impeachment managers in American history. As they discussed the weight of the role, Jeffries, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, made a prediction. “When this is all said and done,” he told Demings, “you’re going to be on the short list for Vice President.”

“Get out of here,” Demings said.

“I just have that feeling, Val,” Jeffries insisted. “The world is getting ready to see what we here in Congress already know about who you are.”

Jeffries was right. This summer, Demings, 63, has shot up the list of candidates to be Joe Biden’s running mate. Her rise began with the impeachment trial, where she turned complicated arguments about Trump’s conduct into straightforward language. It has accelerated in recent weeks amid the nationwide racial-justice protests following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. As Biden faces pressure to add a woman of color to the ticket, and to repel Trump’s claims that he’s soft on crime, Demings may be a match for the moment: a Black woman from the battleground of Florida who capped a 27-year career in law enforcement by becoming Orlando’s first woman police chief in 2007. In one USA Today/Suffolk poll conducted at the end of June, 72% of Democrats said it was important to them that Biden choose a woman of color.

Biden has confirmed that Demings is among nearly a dozen women on his list. But her candidacy faces challenges as well. Biden, 77, has said he’s looking for a running mate who is “ready to be President on Day One.” Demings is only in her second term representing Florida’s 10th District, a short political résumé for national office. And to some of the Black voters whom Biden is counting on in November, her career in law enforcement is not an asset. Demings was “a leader within an institution that is inherently violent, racist, patriarchal and protective of capitalism,” says Charlene Carruthers, an organizer in Illinois with the Movement for Black Lives. “It’s not simply enough to have someone who looks like me as the vice-presidential nominee. I’m interested in someone who shares my values and is aligned with our vision.”

Joe Burbank—Orlando SentinelDemings at the scene of a mass shooting in Orlando’s Gateway Center in 2009

Demings rejects the proposition that her record in law enforcement might be a liability in this political climate. “I have no regrets about the career paths that I’ve taken,” she says from her Washington apartment in a June 25 interview with TIME. But her chances to become Vice President rest in part on whether Demings–and Democrats–can reconcile her identity as a former cop with that of a Black woman in a country where Black people have the most to fear from police. Some on the left see her as a symptom of the problem, not a beacon of progress. This raises some hard questions for Americans. How much should we expect our politicians to account for injustices that are bigger than any one person? Is it fair to ask public servants how their own experiences with racism or sexism guide their approach to fighting such forces stacked against them? And are those who have found success within existing structures an extension of systemic failure or the ones best equipped to fix them?

When Valdez Venita Demings was tapped as Orlando’s police chief in 2007, the announcement reached officers in the department by pager. She was the first woman to hold the role, and kudos poured in–flowers, phone calls, emails. But it didn’t take long for Demings to notice something odd: Congratulations, well-wishers would say. You know that’s a big job.

It was. But no bigger than it had been under the seven male chiefs Demings served under before taking the position. None had been challenged on whether they could do it. The implicit sexism wasn’t a surprise: as she climbed the ladder in the department, she recalls being quizzed on policy by subordinates to see if she knew what she was doing. “When you are a woman and a Black woman,” Demings says, “when you walk into the room, unfortunately, men and women sometimes determine what they think you are capable of.”

Demings was born in Jacksonville, Fla., one of seven children crammed into a two-room house. By age 4, she’d been called racial slurs. Her mother was a maid; her father worked as a janitor, and mowed lawns and picked oranges on the side. Sometimes he had to ask his employers for advance pay to foot the bill for his children’s class trips. Demings took her first job as a dishwasher at 14, and later became the first in her family to graduate from college.

Her first career was as a social worker, working with foster children. In 1983, she left Jacksonville for Orlando, where she joined the police force as a way to save money for law school. But she stayed, drawn to a job where she believed she could help people who needed it. “Every job that she did, every position that she held, she did it with finesse, she did it completely,” says Renita Osselyn, a retired Orlando Police Department (OPD) school resource officer and close friend of Demings’. In 1984, when Demings was a first-year officer and he was a detective, she met her husband, Jerry Demings, who is now the mayor of Orange County, Florida, which contains Orlando.

When Demings became chief, Orlando’s crime rate was at an all-time high, the Great Recession was just around the corner, and the Black Lives Matter movement was still several years away. She set to applying her social-work background to her new role, creating a community initiative, Operation Positive Direction, that paired at-risk youth with mentors. The department also partnered with GED programs, sending officers to homes to check on those who had missed class. Demings says she imposed an early-warning system in 2008 that triggered reviews of officers who showed patterns like those of force, absence and citizen complaints. She says that she saw arrests as short-term solutions and preferred instead to address the root issues that cause “decay” in communities. She boasts of reducing the crime rate in Orlando 40% during her tenure.

At work, Demings was known as a good communicator. Terrell Fawbush, a retired officer, says that when two of Fawbush’s children and a niece died in a car accident in 1995, Demings, then a lieutenant, served as a department liaison to help her through the tragedy. Demings did everything from driving Fawbush to the funeral home to making sure her family had meals figured out. “She knew what was best for me to keep me going,” Fawbush says.

Asked if she regrets anything about her time in law enforcement, Demings says she wishes she could have done more. “Could I have saved one more life? Could I have saved one more officer’s career? Could I have protected someone in the community more? Of course, I would never say I was perfect.”

It’s a careful answer, similar to a job applicant saying their greatest weakness is trying too hard or caring too much. But it’s difficult to imagine she does not have specific regrets. Like the time she left her vehicle unlocked and had her department-issued firearm stolen. Or the 2010 incident in which an officer, Travis Lamont, broke the neck of an 84-year-old veteran, Daniel Daley, while performing a “dynamic takedown,” according to the Orlando Sentinel. At the time, Demings, who left her post as chief in 2011, found the technique to be “within department guidelines” but ordered a review of the policy. Daley was awarded $880,000 by a federal jury. Demings says that as a result of the ensuing policy review, the department modified its policies “to require the engagement of second officer to more effectively manage individuals during disturbance calls.”

The Daley incident was highlighted in a 2015 Sentinel investigation that found the OPD used force more than twice as often as other similar-size agencies. Most of the time period covered by the report was after Demings left the OPD. But critics say that as chief Demings failed to address the department’s cultural problems. “Val Demings is part of the establishment here in central Florida,” says Lawanna Gelzer, a community activist in Orlando. Asked whether the OPD has systematic failures when it comes to use of force, Demings demurs, saying that “every agency has a responsibility to always look within itself and try to improve.”

Shortly after retiring in 2011, Demings set her sights on politics. She ran for Congress in a Republican-leaning district in 2012, coming within 4 points of the GOP incumbent. In 2016, she ran again, in a redrawn district that favored Democrats, and won.

In January, Demings was the only nonlawyer among the team of impeachment managers. Trial days ran late, after which the managers received packets they needed to be ready to discuss by early morning. Demings was battling bronchitis. But she made a mark. At one meeting, recalls Ashley Etienne, an adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, several of the lawmakers were discussing the day’s material. Demings interrupted. “I just think it’s really simple,” she said. “It’s right vs. wrong. And what the President did is wrong.”

In early May, weeks after he’d committed to picking a woman for the role, Biden told a Florida television station that Demings was one of “close to a dozen really qualified and talented women who are on the list” of potential running mates. Perhaps the biggest question for Biden’s team is whether Demings’ record in law enforcement is a boon or a burden in this political environment. She has responded to the protests by saying that if she was still an officer, she would be out taking a knee with protesters, and wrote a Washington Post op-ed asking her “brothers and sisters in blue: What in the hell are you doing?” She has called for reviews of law-enforcement hiring policies and police training standards.

“If the argument is going to be she’s not Black, she’s blue, then God help us all,” says John Morgan, a Florida attorney, Democratic donor and longtime Demings backer. “I don’t know where it ends.” But progressives point to her 2018 support for the Protect and Serve Act, which makes it a federal crime to knowingly assault law-enforcement officers, as a troubling sign. She’s not the only Democrat who’s come under scrutiny for her record in law enforcement. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a former Minnesota prosecutor, dropped out of the vice-presidential running after Floyd’s death in response to criticism of her record. Progressives have challenged Senator Kamala Harris over her criminal-justice record.

Biden has cast himself as a transitional figure, someone grooming the next generation of Democratic leaders. Whomever he picks as a running mate could be a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination as early as 2024. For Demings, that would be a meteoric rise. In our interview, I asked her whether she would be prepared to become President. “I’ve chosen tough jobs in my lifetime,” Demings says. “Regardless of where this path takes me, just as I’ve been ready before, I’m sure I’ll be ready again.”

–With reporting by MOLLY BALL and JULIA ZORTHIAN

#IFTTT #Blogger

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mbatradingacademy · 5 years

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Bitcoin vs. Gold

What are the differences between bitcoin and gold? The answer is partly philosophical. Gold is the most tangible of assets. It exists in the real world, in the forms of prized jewelry, computer contact points, sacred religious vessels, false teeth, King Tut’s funeral mask, and the golden dome of the Colorado state capitol building.

You can hold gold in your hands. It is amazingly durable, which is why gold was used to create a record of human voices that were carried aboard the Voyager I spacecraft, launched in 1977 and still functioning today, some 13 billion miles beyond the solar system. That King Tut mask still shone like new when first discovered in 1922; any dulling since then has been caused by improper cleaning in modern times.

An individual atom of gold may have been reprocessed a hundred times in the last few millennia, so that your wedding ring could contain gold mined in the days of King Solomon in the fabled lost city of Ophir, mixed in with gold mined in Ireland by the Bronze Age Celts, all melted together with more modern gold from mines large and small in Australia, California, Russia, Indonesia, and the Yukon.

We like to look at the nighttime webcam images from atop Pikes Peak, which show the lights of the huge, open-pit Cresson gold mine in nearby Victor, Colorado. In their days, the goldfields of Victor and Cripple Creek rivaled those of California. If you ever ascend to that height, be sure to take the Mollie Kathleen mine tour, 1,000 feet down the original mine shaft. Free samples (of ore chips, not refined gold) are available as you leave.

At the other end of the scale, we know a fellow who pans for gold dust in a certain stream in Indiana, where it was deposited by glaciers 10,000 years ago. I know he doesn’t find enough to make a living at it—or, some weeks, even enough to pay for his gas to get there—but he is having fun.

Fort Knox has tons of it, mostly in the form of 400-ounce cast bars. The workers wear steel-toed boots because if you dropped a gold bar on your toe, you would know it. (If you choose not to believe that there is gold in Fort Knox, please have a nice day.) Gold has always been desirable in human civilization, even back when human civilization consisted of little more than the ability to cultivate grain, make a crude form of beer from it, and carve crude markings on clay tablets to keep track of who owned the beer. Small pellets of electrum, gold naturally alloyed with silver, were also used to settle up the accounts.

Roughly 2,700 years ago, a king in Asia Minor figured out that these pellets could be melted together and recast into standard-weight pellets and stamped with the king’s seal, and coinage was born. From that day onward, until the 20th century, gold was money and money was gold.

THE BITCOIN, on the other hand, is partly faith. Faith can make good money if enough people believe in it. From the late 1870s to the late 1960s, you could take a $1 Silver Certificate to the Treasury Building and get a solid silver dollar for it, and the very fact that you could do so made people prefer to carry the intrinsically worthless, but significantly lighter, paper dollar.

In the 1960s, the Treasury managed to remove this convertibility without too many people noticing that their chicken had been plucked, but the new one-dollar Federal Reserve Notes easily circulated because by then people were used to using paper dollars, and those people continued to have faith in those paper dollars.

The bitcoin was created on paper—or should we say on electrons?—when the domain name “bitcoin.org” was registered on Aug. 18, 2008. Its birth may have generated little notice at the time, as the economies of America and much of the rest of the world were crashing down all around it. For all we know, the collapse of the more traditional economies made the creation of an electronic mini-economy more acceptable.

On Halloween of that year, according to Investopedia, “Someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto makes an announcement on The Cryptography Mailing list at metzdowd.com: ‘I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party. The paper is available at Bitcoin.org.’ This link leads to the now-famous white paper published on bitcoin.org entitled ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.’

The paper contains a lot of math but it clearly establishes that the bitcoin was intended to be used as an alternative form of money that could be transferred from Party A to Party B with no financial institution intervening as Party C. Party A and Party B would not even have to know each other’s identity. Law enforcement officials were quite naturally disturbed at this prospect.

Tracking and intercepting the money derived from illegal activities has long been a function of the United States Treasury. This is one reason it discontinued issuing $500 and $1,000 bills in the late 1940s, to make large sums of money more unwieldy. The Treasury seriously considered doing the same with $50 and $100 bills earlier in this century, but abandoned the idea after a survey of drug money seizures proved that criminals capable of moving tons of drugs were equally capable of moving tons of $5, $10 and $20 bills.

Bitcoins are created by being “mined” using sophisticated computer hardware and software that create elaborate strings of computer code by the rules of the game. The code is typically stored in an electronic “wallet” that is protected with an electronic “key” that serves as a password. The system is so secure that if you lose that key, you have lost your bitcoins forever.

Once the codes are mined, they are validated by the issuing authority, after which a given number of bitcoins are awarded to the miner as “proof of work”. For roughly the first four years of Bitcoin’s existence, the “reward” was 50 bitcoins per accepted code string, out of a maximum ultimate issuance of approximately 21 million “coins”. For the next four years or so, the reward was 25 coins, and this has recently been halved again to 12.5 bitcoins per block string.

As the total number of bitcoins outstanding - including the pieces that have already been lost - gets nearer and nearer to the 21 million marks, the reward will be halved repeatedly so that the number never exceeds that cap. What that reward will be worth will, of course, depend upon the value of one bitcoin.

In December 2017, Great Britain’s The Telegraph reported a story about a Welsh man who allegedly mined 7,500 bitcoins between 2009 and 2013, and stored them in the hard drive of his computer. When the computer died, he removed the hard drive for safekeeping. He then accidentally threw the hard drive in the trash. It was buried under a few years’ more trash before its loss was noticed. The unfortunate miner then petitioned his city for the right to mine the landfill for the potential $100,000,000+ payoff, but the city declined, citing safety reasons.

THE VERY FIRST bitcoins were technically worthless, as nobody was making a buy/sell market in them. This changed in October 2009, when New Liberty Standard posted an offer to buy or sell bitcoins at the rate of 1,309.03 bitcoins per dollar, or roughly 76 cents per 1,000 bitcoins. The value was calculated as being the cost of the electricity used by a computer to mine one bitcoin. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

As the “mining” function has gotten harder and harder, some bitcoin miners have installed more computer hardware, which takes more electricity to operate. A coin dealer we know tells the story of a mining acquaintance who was racking up electricity bills of $2,500 per month until he was raided by drug enforcement authorities, who had decided that he must have been running a marijuana grow operation. This experience curbed the miner’s activities, at least for a while.

A week after posting that first offer, New Liberty purchased 5,050 bitcoins from a miner for US$5.02, or approximately $1 per 1,000 bitcoins. At least now the company had a product inventory to sell.

In May 2009, the first actual transaction using bitcoins occurred. A man named Laszlo Hanyecz purchased, obviously by prior arrangement, two pizzas worth approximately US$25 for 10,000 bitcoins. As of this writing, those 10,000 bitcoins would be worth approximately $68,690,000, but had they never been spent, and accepted, it is possible that no bitcoin anywhere would be worth anything.

The bitcoin achieved parity with the U.S. dollar in late winter 2011, after which a short-lived bubble saw it break $30 per bitcoin before falling back to $2. Despite this prescient example of things to come, it bubbled up to over $265 in spring 2011 before dropping back to around $70. Since then, the bubbles and the busts have only gotten larger.

The currency function of the bitcoin remains difficult to quantify. It is widely assumed that the system is being used to launder drug money around the world, but the highly secretive nature of the cryptocurrency makes it impossible to verify this. For all we know, the vast majority of the bitcoins still existing are merely being used for speculation.

There are places where you can buy a cup of coffee or a bar of gold with bitcoins, but the devil is in the details. Unless your coffee shop has a Bitcoin account and the hardware to allow you to make a small payment (one pumpkin spice latte costing roughly 0.00058 bitcoin, hold the nutmeg) directly to them, you might end up paying a $20 service charge to a third-party company set up to facilitate Bitcoin purchases.

One of the numismatic forums recently carried a tale of woe from a member who tried to buy 10 gold bullion coins from a dealer that accepted Bitcoin using one of these third-party intermediaries, only to discover that the bullion dealer had a 15-minute time-out clock that started the second that the price between the buyer and the seller was established. This was to protect the seller if the typically volatile price of the tendered payment dropped before the transaction was completed.

Well, the third party took over 45 minutes to make the transfer, for a $20 fee, by which time the seller was no longer honoring the original price. Thinking that the seller had canceled the transaction, the buyer asked the third party for his funds back, incurring another $20 fee. He then heard from the seller that the transaction had gone through, but that he owed another $66 due to a slight drop in the Bitcoin value.

He sent the money again, and before everything was over he had ended up paying $80 in fees, as well as mailing a check for the $66. He had bought into the bitcoins at a much lower price than he was spending them at, so he still did fine on the deal, but his profit was that much less because of the hassle factor involved with using Bitcoin as a currency. The day after he complained about all this in the forums, the price of a bitcoin dropped to $11,000 from over $18,000, so, all in all, he came out OK.

In the end, a bitcoin is a nebulous thing with enormous potential, just as the weight of the water behind a hydroelectric dam has the potential energy to drive turbines and produce much good. However, the weight of a giant boulder perched on a hill above a small town can have that same potential energy to produce harm. Which one will Bitcoin be for you?

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intuitivesoul1 · 6 years

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Consciousness of Relationships

This is Love Month and we will look at our relationships and how we continue to justify our fears by looking at the ‘other’ instead of understanding that we are responsible for everything that happens in our lives. We continue to worry, get angry, and justify our reactions because of someone else. It isn’t easy to authentically see that our ‘unhappiness’ is not because of someone else but because we have a fear that makes us feel insecure, unheard, insignificant or abandoned. It appears clear to us that these people or things that happen are why we are unhappy and we don’t remember that every event is really an opportunity for our own growth. Every time we have a negative response (or even a positive response) we are adding to our story of our lives. We are creating the definition that we have actualized as our identity. We want to blame our unhappiness on someone or something or believe we will only be happy when we can ensure that everyone else is doing what we need them to do. So we justify feeling unhappy because someone or thing has made us unhappy.

If we knew that the Larger Consciousness System (Tom’s wording for Higher Consciousness) is here to help us to grow. If we knew that everything has a purpose in our lives to help us grow towards ‘love’ then is it possible to allow all of these experiences to be ‘seen’ as opportunities to let go of our fears? And these experiences are also to acknowledge that no matter what happens the other person is truly being the ‘best’ they can BE and that they are not doing something to hurt us or create anxiety or pain in our lives. Rather it is our own perceptions that create the pain and unhappiness in our lives. It is our own Ego that needs to justify these experiences because it needs to be ‘right’ instead of happy.

“We are ‘infinite Divine Beings’ that are having a human experience to Evolve our Consciousness towards Love. “

We grow when we are ‘relating with others’ and it is only when we can let go of this need to blame or accept the ‘story’ of our lives as a victim can we truly step out of our patterns of fear being perceived by us. If we truly desire to ‘grow up’ and get out of the pain and unhappiness we have established as who we are then we have to begin accepting unconditionally that the pain and unhappiness isn’t coming from events or others but from our own fears within; our own beliefs and our own story of who we believe we are!

We have just forgotten who we are. We aren’t our fears. We aren’t this ego identity that we ‘believe’ is who we are. We are not just a child, parent, spouse, an education or an occupation etc. that we think about when someone asks us who we are or what we do. We are a ‘Divine Being’ who has chosen to incarnate as a Human Being to evolve towards love. We are not separate yet we have individuated consciousness to ‘Remember’ who we are and to choose to expand our consciousness towards unconditional acceptance and love of Self and ‘others’. We are more than our experiences and our fears.

What does our sensing have to do with our businesses? Our bodies have an energy-field, and this energy-field holds our thoughts, our emotions and our intentions. The movie The Secret explores the Law of Attraction and the effect that our thoughts and beliefs have on our reality. Our energy-field can be quite extensive and extend farther out from our bodies than we realize. Have you ever driven home completely absorbed in your thoughts and experiences? Maybe you’ve been so caught up in your thoughts you aren’t even sure how you got home. This is a perfect example of how we are often living unconsciously. Now think of road rage; we are just driving along, feeling fine, when we get cut off, or are put behind a very slow-moving vehicle. This situation often creates anger and frustration, the sorts of things that aren’t normally part of our everyday activity or emotional state. This is owing to the fact that in a populous city our energy gets mixed with that of others and as we are unconsciously driving around we may enter into a situation or area where road rage occurred moments – or even hours – before. We get caught up in the energy of someone else or in the energy of road rage itself. Consider your work environment: if your work area has many employees it will hold many different energies, emotions and thoughts. We can feel the grief of a friend or colleague when someone has just passed away, or the anger and frustration when someone has been fired or had a spousal fight that morning.

People project their thoughts and emotions at all times so consider how all of our thoughts and emotions have been building up within our work environment. Now let’s take into account our current state of mind and the state of the World. Think about how this energy is being compounded dramatically. We are in a constant state of experiencing the effects of anxiety and fear.

“We are ‘infinite Divine Beings’ that are having a human experience to Evolve our Consciousness towards Love. “

We are allowing our stories to trigger and dictate our unhappiness and add this unhappiness to our story with all the “what’s and why’s” that the ‘other’ person does to hurt us, instead of working on changing OUR story and changing our fears that create our story and unhappiness.

Instead we focus on each situation as a separate event that continues to justify our ‘story’: reappearing as a pattern. This belief we hold about who we are is just a fabrication that confirms our fears. Let me give an example: a person we have a relationship with says something that triggers us, out of their own fear they say something that makes us believe they are betraying us, abandoning us or alluding to the fact that we aren’t significant enough to… (you fill in the blank). It may be a fear that someone isn’t being honest and upfront with you, or maybe someone is appearing aloof and distant, like they don’t care. The ‘mirror’ we are meant to understand is that this is ‘our’ fear and we haven’t shifted it if we can still justify BEing unhappy or blaming another. We instead just take this experience and add it to our ever increasing ‘story’ of who we believe we are.

What limiting beliefs, habits and stories do you have? Our stories center around our relationships with family, friends, partners, co-workers and/or bosses. We hold certain stuck emotions from our childhood that limit us from creating the life we desire and keep us in our “head” where we choose fear over our hearts and love. Plus most of our thoughts, judgments, behaviors, patterns, beliefs, and values are formed by the age of 7 (!) and as a result we are reacting and creating the same patterns over and over again until we heal them! Are you ready to make some changes? Are you ready to make the conscious changes to Be the best you can be? Are you ready to make the changes needed to positively impact your business life – for your own betterment and, importantly, for the betterment of everyone in your work sphere? Let’s do this! Let’s become aware of how we are responding to the energies in and around us – for our own benefits. This means taking responsibility for it all. And that is part of our evolving planet and what is needed.

So let’s look at this in relationship to ‘Happiness’. Well, like everything in this life, we tend to focus on what we don’t want instead of BEing happy inside or allowing our Divine Essence to express itself, we are allowing our fears to continue to dictate our story; our unhappiness. We can’t seek ‘happiness’, it has to BEcome our intention to Evolve towards Love. It is only through our intention to grow that we will uncover that our ‘happiness’ has been here all along. We have the ‘choice’ to examine our fears and accept these fears as opportunities to mature and BEcome the Love that we already are. Our ‘happiness’ isn’t something that is ‘out’ there, but it is who we are as Divine Beings.

Learning through our relationships: having conscious experiences when our fears present themselves are the only way we can experience conscious relationships, experience Love and remember who we are. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to BE happy and have conscious relationships. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to NOT see the Divine within and experiencing more compassion and acceptance (even when I have epic failures) with mySelf. Let’s choose to initiate these changes by remembering who we are; Divine Beings having a human experience.

Blog Source- https://www.intuitivesoul.com/consciousness-of-relationships

This entry was posted in Blog and tagged Consciousness of Relationships, evolving our consciousness, Happiness, Intuitive Counseling, intuitive counselor, Laurie Huston, love vs fear, News for the Heart, News for the Heart Radio, Tom Campbell.

#Consciousness of Relationships #evolving our consciousness #Tom Campbell

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fastercures · 6 years

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In Case You Missed It: Exploring the Frontiers of Data and Analytics for Precision Medicine, a Webinar in Partnership with the Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator

On Oct. 3, FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute, partnered with the Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator at the Harvard Business School to present a webinar entitled “Exploring the Frontiers of Data and Analytics for Precision Medicine.”

The goal of the webinar was not only to introduce attendees to the Accelerator but also to highlight its landscape of organizations working in real-world data and advanced analytics to support precision medicine, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.

With so many changes and innovations occurring in the space in recent years, the webinar provided an opportunity for reflection on where the field of data for precision medicine has been and where it needs to go in order to meet the needs of patients across disease areas.

Setting the stage for data and precision medicine

FasterCures Executive Director Tanisha Carino opened the discussion by explaining why the work of the Accelerator is significant to FasterCures and the health-care field at large.

The role of personal health data is critical to any effort to advance precision medicine. Over the last year, FasterCures has introduced Health Data Basics, a project developed to engage patients with their health information and to help enable the two-way flow of health data between patients and the health-care system. Despite the numerous sources of health information being gathered at regular intervals, there are currently many challenges for patients and caregivers; the majority of individuals still do not have the resources to fully utilize their data in meaningful ways.

Carino introduced webinar speakers Kathy Giusti (Executive Chairman, Board of Directors, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation [MMRF]; Senior Fellow and Co-Chair, the Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator at the Harvard Business School) and Gabriel Eichler (Founder and Managing Director, Oak Health Partners; Data & Analytics Workstream Lead, Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator at the Harvard Business School).

Giusti has been a friend of FasterCures for over a decade. The MMRF, which Giusti founded, is a pioneer in the field of venture philanthropy and has been involved in FasterCures’ network of organizations innovating in that space.

Eichler has spent the last 15 years working to apply health-care technologies to problems in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and the delivery of health care. He was formerly the vice president of products at GNS Healthcare. Prior to that, he managed several global client programs at PatientsLikeMe, focusing on patient-centered research and real-world outcomes.

An introduction to the Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator

The overall goal of the Accelerator is to focus on how new incentives can drive great models in precision medicine. Giusti and her team started their work by looking at the greatest roadblocks facing precision medicine. Their hope is to devise sustainable solutions to these issues and disseminate them through impactful groups such as FasterCures in order to build a strong landscape of organizations innovating in precision medicine.

After many meetings with leaders in precision medicine to decide where they should focus their time, the Accelerator identified four highly integrated work streams: Direct to Patient, Data & Analytics, Innovative Trials, and Investment/Venture. Giusti explained that all four work streams are highly integrated. The Accelerator seeks to bring together many voices to focus on these four areas of need and collectively push precision medicine forward.

Analyzing the Accelerator’s real-world data landscape in oncology

Eichler’s presentation was broken into two parts: 1) an overview of the Accelerator’s real-world data landscape and 2) a look at data analytics companies doing innovative work in the space.

To set the stage for his work in the Data & Analytics workstream of the Accelerator, Eichler made note that a useful recipe for anyone looking to create data-driven insights is: a well-defined question + a rich data source + an aptly applied, innovative analytical method. What comes out of this model is not answers, but hypotheses. Eichler stated that these hypotheses are useful in and of themselves and that no one walks away from these projects with all the answers, but rather a new place to start.

In 2016, the Accelerator looked at sources of real-world data across the landscape of oncology. Since then, many things have changed in the space—new data assets have been made available, new registries and platform trials have been started, and massive investments have been made in oncology. As such, the Accelerator decided to look at the landscape again in 2018.

They focused a little differently while conducting the 2018 landscape and were interested in who is integrating molecular, clinical, and longitudinal data assets in the oncology. While talking to Academic medical centers (AMCs) and organizations collecting data, Eichler had an insight. Many people think of AMCs as having neat, accessible, clean, and ready-to go data assets. The reality is that we should think of AMC data more like a field of wild flowers rather than a pre-made bouquet—disbursed, complex, and often inaccessible. Eichler noted that funding is sometimes necessary on the AMC side to reap and harvest this data to be able to answer real research questions.

Overall, the Accelerator team noted several reflections while comparing the 2016 landscape to 2018’s:

Real-world assets are growing in size and sophistication: And patient registries have some of the richest data on specific diseases.

Sharing and linking models are winning: Acknowledging the need to link is a real positive in the field.

Willingness to share and link data are rising: While there may be technical and privacy issues to address, many companies are moving to this methodology.

The frontiers of real-world data are advancing: There are improved data standards and patient re-contact rights and mechanisms that are enabling additional research opportunities.

Leaders among real-world data analytics companies

Data analytics companies have been thrilling to watch in recent years. There is tremendous promise for what AI can do in health care, but Eichler warned that despite the barrage of headlines indicating an exciting future for the space, we should be careful not to get ahead of ourselves. To get an accurate take on what these companies are working on and indicate the emerging leaders in the field, the Accelerator put together a landscape of the top data analytics companies.

The objective in building the landscape was to reach stakeholders (investors, researchers, non-profits, hospitals/care centers, payers, and patients) with key questions (Where are advanced analytics being most applied? Whom should I invest in? Is it best to build vs. buy vs. partner? When may these technologies be ready for real-world applications?).

They broke down this space into three key areas where AI is being applied (pre-clinical R&D, clinical research, and clinical care) and looked at 46 companies that met their criteria.

After creating this list, they looked at how these organizations were experiencing or demonstrating recent acceleration in their business through financing, job growth, and open positions. They also looked at the establishment of the organizations including publications, partnerships, and overall financing.

While looking at how established these organizations were and how they were accelerating, Kraft noted the diversity in competencies of companies at different levels of maturity and development. When segmented out on the two-by-two matrix above, it was clear that some companies are industry-standard, highly established organizations, but are not accelerating rapidly. Others are just emerging, having tremendous growth but without much establishment.

Among these patterns, the Accelerator was most interested in companies that reside in the top right-hand quadrant of the above matrix: Hot Companies. These organizations have size and acceleration. Eichler commented that they are the most interesting companies to watch because they are breaking out of the mold and innovating in exciting ways.

Eichler detailed their key findings from this landscape:

Tremendous investments: These companies have raised more than $1.4 billion.

Diverse platform capabilities: Many companies are applying technologies to multiple use-cases.

Paradigm-shifting potential: These companies are young and will take a few years to mature; they have the potential to define the type of stories that will be use-cases for the future of health care.

Where precision medicine is going next

The webinar closed with some time for questions and answers, primarily revolving around the actionable next steps for those funding, conducting, or investing in research and development.

Giusti reiterated that the Accelerator is a huge believer in the data space and where it is going. In order to validate what they want to keep working on, they have to know what other data sets are still out there and whether AI companies have the resources to work with them. Giusti said that the field is in constant need of new data and new AI companies.

Eichler commented that all organizations, especially philanthropies, are trying to figure out their role and how they can bring real-world data into the mix. There is no shortage of challenges in trying to define the right questions to ask. The work that MMRF and others are doing to define, prioritize, and ask the key questions in their disease are going to unlock the most progress in helping patients.

In closing, Carino reminded the audience that precision medicine is where all diseases are headed. The Accelerator and FasterCures will continue their work to catalyze innovation in this space and look forward to collaborating on future endeavors to benefit patients everywhere.

Additional

Visit FasterCures’ Health Data Basics project

Learn more about the Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator

Watch an archived recording of the event and view presentation slides

#FasterCures #Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator #Precision Medicine #Patients #AI

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freeloadinnn · 6 years

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Just what are the most effective socks to put on for sport

For the serious professional athlete, socks have become identified as a vital component of footwear that could identify the difference in between success or failure on the playing field. Sadly, for the sporting activities medication professional, the function of socks in stopping injury and also in enhancing efficiency is misunderstood and also commonly neglected in therapy protocols.

Leisure and also affordable professional athletes can obtain advanced info on sock fiber technology and also building and construction techniques from premium sporting products vendors as well as technical magazines peculiar to their sport. On the other hand, healthcare specialists receive no official training on the topics of shoes or hosiery, yet, they are hired frequently to provide information to clients as well as the lay public in these strange subject areas. Not surprising that that physicians and podiatrists are commonly estimated in customer publications providing erroneous information regarding socks as well as footwear.

It is freshening to see the topic of "socks" included in this extensive program of subjects about the area of podiatric sports medicine.

Historic Review:

There were practically no original scientific write-ups concerning leg wear published in the clinical literature up until 1989. Then, nearly overnight, scientific scientists recognized that major developments had been made during the 1980s in the fields of fiber technology and also sock building strategies. Leg wear currently appears like high-tech sporting activities equipment with possible clinical applications. A lot of research studies were accomplished on different person populations, consisting of athletes, to determine the duty of leg wear in stopping pedal pathologies.

A series of posts published by Andrew Boulton and Arisites Veves at the Manchester Royal Infirmary documented the protective effect of hosiery on the feet of diabetic person and also arthritic individuals. At the same time, Herring as well as Richie published their studies showing the supremacy of acrylic fibers over cotton fibers in protecting against the frequency and also severity of friction blisters in running athletes.

A significant amount of released research after that complied with, documenting efforts to make use of leg wear items to treat numerous clinical conditions. Ufer and co-workers researched the result of hosiery to warm up the feet of patients with spastic quadriplegia. Wolfe and Palladino performed a research study to identify the result of hosiery on rubbing sores as well as racquetball gamers. The impact of over-the-calf sports socks to minimize swelling in the feet and also legs was reported by Brown and Brown.

The United States armed forces, afflicted with ever-increasing blister frequency in army employees, executed their very own research recording the capability of different sock systems to minimize rubbing blisters. These potential research studies showed the highest degree of scientific examination trying to figure out the result of various sock fiber mixes on the feet of a large number of human subjects participated in marching as well as running.

The concepts shown as well as confirmed by these researches is the structure of this discussion. The disciplines covered are those of most passion to the sporting activities medication health care specialist: fiber modern technology, rubbing sores, sporting activities details difficulties and also shoe-fitting applications.

Socks as well as Foot Pathologies

The following foot pathologies can be directly impacted by the sort of hosiery put on by the athlete:

Toenails: subungual hematoma, onychomycosis, onychogryphosis

Integument: friction sores, hyperkeratoses, heloma dura/molle

Infections: dermatophyte, yeast, germs, viral (verruca).

Mechanical or Shear Generated Injury of Subcutaneous tissue: capsulitis, bursitis, calcaneal fat pad degeneration.

Mechanical or Shear Injury Against Bone Prestige: retrocalcaneal exostosis, sesamoiditis, hallux valgus, dressmaker's bunion, accessory navicular, tibial crest periostitis, median and also lateral malleolar contusion.

Reasons:.

The forces associated with producing those cells injuries include ground reaction forces, digressive shearing forces, as well as a mix of stress as well as shear caused by sports footwear.

Many researchers have actually demonstrated that ground response forces can come close to or go beyond 3 times body weight in a running athlete. Furthermore, vertical plantar pressures against the calcaneus and metatarsals are substantially boosted in the running athlete in addition to unique patient populaces with foot defects, i.e., rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic issues mellitus with neuropathy.

Shearing forces result from ahead or sideways energy of the athlete whether walking, jumping, running, or lunging. Spence and also Shields recognized four kinds of dynamic pressures that can be related to running stride: upright pressures, fore and aft shear, lateral shear, and torque. Shearing pressure on the skin surface of the foot is worsened by the sort of playing surface area, type of footwear, type of insole, as well as kind of sock product. Shearing forces are thought to be extra harmful to the feet compared to ground responses forces. The combination of abnormal stress and also shear cause the development of rubbing blisters in professional athletes and ulcerations on the feet of clients with diabetes mellitus.

Along with the unusual forces produced by the certain motions of the sporting activity, the kind of shoes used by the athlete can create one-of-a-kind destructive pressure and also shear in details locations of the feet or legs. The adhering to unique types of sports footwear and the different areas of prospective skin or deep tissue damage are shown in the complying with tables.

The Fiber Story.

The capability of a sock to dissipate destructive forces on the surface of the foot relaxes partly on the fiber composition and even more significantly on the building technique of the supplier. It is the absence of understanding of fiber modern technology that leads most healthcare experts making wrong suggestions to their people pertaining to choice for showing off tasks.

Fibers that take in wetness are labelled hydrophilic while fibers driving away dampness are hydrophobic. Cotton fiber maintains 3 times the dampness of acrylic as well as fourteen times the wetness of CoolMax ®. When revealed to ambient air, socks made up of cotton maintain wetness 10 times longer than acrylic. In descending order of hydrophilic position, the following fibers are provided: cotton, woollen, acrylic, CoolMax ®, polypropylene

. During initial activity, moisture absorption from the feet ends up being a preferable attribute. In athletic activity, sweat result on the feet could go beyond one pint per foot. A huge part of this moisture may actually gather in the feet as it is created somewhere else on the body surface and also trickles down the legs as a result of gravity. Nevertheless, this quantity of liquid far goes beyond the absorbent capability of any kind of sock item. As a result, to reduce wetness build-up on the skin surface, the sock has to set up a wicking gradient to the footwear.

Preferably, a wicking gradient happens when the shoe upper is breathable (i.e., nylon mesh) so that ambient air motivates evaporation of water vapor. A lot more typically, a footwear liner or upper will contain hydrophilic fibers that attract wetness from the hydrophobic sock product. Socks that are exceptionally hydrophobic (i.e., polypropylene) are thought to fend off water so efficiently that wicking could not take place. Socks of intermediate hydrophobic range, i.e., woollen and also acrylic, enable movement of water yet will certainly not take in and also maintain water like cotton fibers will. Levels of hydrophobic top qualities alone, however, do not establish general wicking capability.

The mechanical framework of the fiber and also compressibility of the fiber will certainly identify overall wicking capacity. CoolMax ® fibers have actually 4 channels built right into their cross-sectional geometry giving a 20% greater border location compared to typical round fibers. The outcome is greater water/vapor transport through improved surface exposure for capillary action.

Natural fibers (cotton-wool) when packed with wetness, press more conveniently compared to synthetic fibers (acrylic, CoolMax ®). Thus, cotton and wool socks have a greater resistance to sweat transport of wicking. When damp, acrylic fibers swell less than 5% while cotton swells 45% as well as woollen swells 35%. Swollen fibers that are pressed lower air spaces as well as hence lower wetness transportation. Thus, cotton socks show a 2.4 times greater resistance to wetness transportation.

When combining hydrophobic qualities as well as mechanical fiber qualities, the fibers that wick dampness finest are, from best to worst: CoolMax ®, acrylic, polypropylene

, wool, cotton. In studies carried out on joggers wearing artificial fiber socks vs. cotton socks, various other considerable distinctions emerged regarding preferability of fiber composition. Cotton fiber socks, when wet, were observed to extend and also shed their shape inside the footwear. This caused bunching and also wrinkling of the socks compared with acrylic fiber socks. After several wash-wear cycles, cotton fiber socks were kept in mind to become abrasive bring about possible irritability on the skin surface area of the professional athlete.

In some sport applications, the thermal-insulation top quality of the fiber composition ends up being crucial. New artificial fibers composed of a hollow core material referred to as Thermax ¨ have been revealed to effectively shield versus warm loss. All-natural wool fiber socks are still more suitable in the outside industry as a result of their amazing capacity to preserve warmth while wet. Nonetheless, the rough nature of 100% woollen fiber socks has actually called for the mixing of woollen right into various other high-tech synthetic fiber materials.

Sores as well as Other Skin Injuries.

Rubbing sores are amongst one of the most usual foot injuries influencing the professional athlete. Blisters on the feet are much more widespread as well as devastating in army employees. A research carried out on 357 marine employees at Parris Island, South Carolina, disclosed a 69% frequency of blisters throughout a four-month period of training. Sores major sufficient to require clinical evaluation at sick telephone call occurred in 24.4% of all students. It has actually been estimated that over 5,000 Basic Students at Lackland Air Force Base were treated for rubbing sores during one calendar year in 1990.

Elements needed for friction sores are shear pressure, stress and moderate degrees of wetness. All these forces can be minimized by an appropriate sock system.

Herring and Richie examined the role of fiber and also sock construction methods in the avoidance of blisters on the feet of running professional athletes. Their searchings for showed that acrylic fiber socks will certainly have less sores and smaller sized blisters compared to cotton fiber socks. Additionally, athletes were able to establish a drier foot with acrylic socks as compared to cotton.

These searchings for were substantial only when socks were created with thick terry cushioning as opposed to in common "cushion-sole" socks.

Plagued with ever-increasing regularity of sores, the USA Armed force conducted 3 randomized prospective studies on various sock systems. The typical military concern sock is a 50% cotton and 50% woollen cushion-sole sock. The 3 research studies attempted to contrast newer fiber construction methods and also double-layer modern technology to lower blister frequencies.

In a research of 357 marine recruits on Parris Island, South Carolina in 1992, using a CoolMax ® lining with a greatly padded terry style external sock using a wool/polypropylene blend considerably lowered blisters compared with a single layer sock (40% vs. 69%). Adding a CoolMax ® liner to the basic sock significantly decreased unwell phone call gos to (24.4% basic vs. 9.4% criterion with liner).

Another research study of 1,079 soldiers in 1993 evaluated 5 sock systems on blister regularity and also acceptability by soldiers. Synthetic fiber socks significantly surpassed the common woollen sock. Including a CoolMax ® liner to the wool sock significantly decreased blisters. When contrasting single, extra-thick acrylic padded socks to double layer sock-systems, the double-layer system transcended because of the shielding of the open terry loops from the skin surface area as well as the activity interface developed by the double-layer system. Three other military researches have actually shown a sore prevention supremacy of double sock systems vs. single layer socks.

Suitable.

Proper installation of sports shoes is crucial for convenience, injury avoidance, as well as efficiency. Fitting of footwear, specifically athletic shoes, is a lost art in the modern-day retail market. The emergence of state-of-the-art sporting activities leg wear products has actually made the shoe-fitting process much more challenging.

Footwear and also foot dimension methods are antiquated in today's contemporary athletic shoes industry. The Brannock determining device was created in 1927, long before athletic shoes were established and long prior to high-sports specific hosiery items were created. The majority of modern sports shoes are manufactured overseas in third world countries where sizing criteria differ substantially also within the very same solitary factory.

In 1995, the writer carried out a footwear fit research for a premium sports hosiery firm. The results of this study revealed the following:.

1) Measuring feet barefoot with a Brannock gadget effectively anticipated accurate athletic shoe dimension only 30% of the time.

2) When topics put on a basic cushion-sole sock and were gauged, precision for footwear dimension improved 10%.

3) When determining a subject barefoot (as suggested by the Brannock Company), and afterwards fitting the subject with athletic shoes as well as thick sports specific socks, the Brannock measurement was exact just 15% of the time (an 85% failing rate!).

4) When determining a subject with thick sports certain sock standing on the Brannock gadget, the accuracy for forecasting appropriate shoe dimension boosted by 10%.

5) When wearing properly fitted footwear with a common sports sock, adding a thick greatly cushioned sock required an increase in size of footwear 77% of the moment.

Consequently, determining an athlete with a Brannock determining tool has very little worth when correlating with footwear dimensions of contemporary athletic footwear. Still, the ability of the fitter can enable translation of the footwear dimension to an "adjusted dimension" based upon a knowledge of supply and also peculiarities of brand-size qualities. The athlete should be measured and also fitted using the specific sock that will certainly be inevitably used with the shoes. This is a turnaround of the regular fitting process in many athletic shoe shops where socks are acquired as a "add-on" after shoes have been fitted.

Sports Particular Applications.

Sports-specific socks were spearheaded by ThorLo in the very early 1980's. Soon, all major sock producers adhered to with socks packaged and also probably designed for particular sporting activities, i.e., tennis, golf, running, etc. What started as useful differentiation for a few crucial sporting activities has actually resulted in a bunch of sock packaging strategies and also advertising and marketing buzz with products made for each possible task. Actually, there is very little technical difference within any kind of specific company in the layout of their leg wear products for various specific sports. In the long run, nonetheless, the zeal of the American public to buy socks particular for each and every sport has actually spawned a $250,000,000 market.

Socks need to be created specific to the footwear, rather than the sporting activity itself. The biomechanical movement as well as stresses of leisure as well as affordable sporting activities vary considerably. Creating a sock to mitigate those stresses has actually led to really similar features, despite the varieties of foot stresses discovered in each sport. What lugs a lot more variant are the footwear styles as well as the ecological obstacles of the sporting activity. Right here, sock style in the upper as well as fiber make-up can be diverse considerably to satisfy the needs peculiar to the sporting activity.

The complying with table provides instances of sock style and fiber variations as well as the sports applications that are best suited.

Building Methods of Athletic Hosiery.

Upper Style & Sporting Activity Activity.

Over-the-calf: Baseball, Basketball, Outdoor (consisting of linings) Ski, Snowboard, Soccer.

Mid-calf: Skate.

Slouch: Aerobics.

Crew: Operating, Golf, Tennis, Racquetball, Hiking.

Construction.

Slim or Thin Double Layer Outdoor( liners), Cycling, Running (racing), Snowboarding.

Padded or Thick Double-Layer Running, Snowboarding, Hiking, Tennis, Basketball.

Fibers.

Polymer: Golf, Tennis, Hiking.

Acrylic/Wool: Outdoor-Cold.

Acrylic/Thermax ®: Outdoor-Cool.

Acrylic/CoolMax ®: Outdoor-Warm.

CoolMax ®: Running, Cycling, Liners.

MicroSafe ®: Therapeutic Leg wear, i.e., Diabetes.

Tips.

Pick the appropriate sock for the best sporting activity.

Usage artificial product. Use appropriate footwear as well as fit them with the socks you plan to use while playing ball.

mens socks

#menssocks #babies #socks #mens #womens #ladies #lowcut #noshow

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sharemaniac24 · 6 years

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What are the best socks to put on for sport

For the major professional athlete, socks have actually ended up being acknowledged as a necessary part of footwear that can identify the difference between success or failing on the playing field. Regrettably, for the sporting activities medication specialist, the role of socks in avoiding injury and also in enhancing performance is misconstrued and frequently disregarded in treatment methods.

Leisure as well as competitive athletes can obtain modern info on sock fiber technology as well as building strategies from costs showing off items suppliers and also technological magazines peculiar to their sporting activity. On the other hand, health care experts obtain no official training on the subjects of shoes or leg wear, yet, they are contacted routinely to provide details to individuals as well as the lay public in these unfamiliar subject areas. No wonder that medical professionals as well as foot doctors are commonly estimated in customer publications providing incorrect information regarding socks and also footwear.

It is refreshing to see the topic of "socks" consisted of in this detailed program of subjects about the field of podiatric sports medicine.

Historical Testimonial:

There were basically no initial clinical short articles relating to hosiery published in the clinical literary works until 1989. Then, practically overnight, medical researchers acknowledged that major advances had actually been made throughout the 1980s in the fields of fiber modern technology and also sock building methods. Leg wear now looks like sophisticated sports tools with feasible medical applications. A multitude of studies were executed on numerous client populaces, consisting of athletes, to establish the duty of leg wear in stopping pedal pathologies.

A collection of short articles published by Andrew Boulton as well as Arisites Veves at the Manchester Royal Infirmary recorded the safety result of hosiery on the feet of diabetic person and arthritic people. At the same time, Herring and Richie published their research studies showing the supremacy of acrylic fibers over cotton fibers in avoiding the frequency as well as extent of rubbing blisters in running professional athletes.

A considerable quantity of published research study after that followed, recording efforts to utilize hosiery products to deal with numerous medical problems. Ufer and colleagues researched the impact of hosiery to heat the feet of individuals with abnormal quadriplegia. Wolfe and Palladino carried out a study to determine the effect of leg wear on friction blisters and racquetball gamers. The impact of over-the-calf sports socks to lower swelling in the feet and legs was reported by Brown as well as Brown.

The USA military, tormented with ever-increasing blister regularity in armed forces employees, accomplished their very own study documenting the capability of various sock systems to reduce friction sores. These possible studies demonstrated the highest degree of scientific examination attempting to determine the effect of various sock fiber mixes on the feet of a lot of human subjects participated in marching as well as running.

The concepts proven and also confirmed by these research studies is the structure of this presentation. The disciplines covered are those of most passion to the sporting activities medicine health care expert: fiber technology, rubbing sores, sporting activities details difficulties as well as shoe-fitting applications.

Socks and Foot Pathologies

The adhering to foot pathologies can be straight influenced by the kind of leg wear used by the athlete:

Toenails: subungual hematoma, onychomycosis, onychogryphosis

Integument: rubbing sores, hyperkeratoses, heloma dura/molle

Infections: dermatophyte, yeast, microorganisms, viral (verruca).

Mechanical or Shear Caused Injury of Subcutaneous cells: capsulitis, bursitis, calcaneal fat pad degeneration.

Mechanical or Shear Injury Versus Bone Prominence: retrocalcaneal exostosis, sesamoiditis, hallux valgus, dressmaker's bunion, accessory navicular, tibial crest periostitis, median and side malleolar contusion.

Causes:.

The forces associated with producing the above-mentioned tissue injuries include ground reaction forces, digressive shearing forces, and also a combination of stress and shear generated by sports footwear.

Numerous scientists have actually demonstrated that ground reaction forces can approach or surpass three times body weight in a running professional athlete. Additionally, vertical plantar stress against the calcaneus as well as metatarsals are dramatically raised in the running athlete in addition to unique patient populaces with foot defects, i.e., rheumatoid joint inflammation and diabetes mellitus with neuropathy.

Shearing forces arise from onward or sideways energy of the professional athlete whether walking, jumping, running, or lunging. Spence and also Shields determined four types of vibrant pressures that can be connected with running stride: upright pressures, fore and aft shear, lateral shear, as well as torque. Shearing pressure on the skin surface area of the foot is intensified by the sort of playing surface area, type of footwear, sort of sole, and type of sock product. Shearing pressures are thought to be much more harmful to the feet than ground responses pressures. The combination of irregular stress as well as shear results in the formation of rubbing blisters in professional athletes and also ulcerations on the feet of people with diabetic issues mellitus.

In addition to the uncommon pressures created by the certain movements of the sporting activity, the sort of shoes put on by the athlete could produce distinct damaging pressure and shear in specific locations of the feet or legs. The adhering to special forms of sports shoes as well as the various areas of prospective skin or deep tissue damages are shown in the complying with tables.

The Fiber Story.

The capability of a sock to dissipate damaging forces on the surface of the foot relaxes partially on the fiber make-up and also even more dramatically on the building strategy of the producer. It is the lack of understanding of fiber modern technology that leads most healthcare professionals to earn incorrect suggestions to their patients relating to selection for sporting tasks.

Fibers that absorb dampness are called hydrophilic while fibers driving away dampness are hydrophobic. Cotton fiber preserves 3 times the dampness of acrylic and fourteen times the dampness of CoolMax ®. When revealed to ambient air, socks composed of cotton retain dampness 10 times longer than acrylic. In descending order of hydrophilic position, the following fibers are provided: cotton, woollen, acrylic, CoolMax ®, polypropylene

. During first activity, wetness absorption from the feet comes to be a desirable attribute. In athletic activity, sweat output on the feet can surpass one pint each foot. A big part of this moisture might in fact accumulate in the feet as it is produced in other places on the body surface area and drips down the legs as a result of gravity. Nevertheless, this volume of liquid much goes beyond the absorbent capability of any sock product. Consequently, to lessen moisture build-up on the skin surface, the sock has to establish a wicking slope to the shoe.

Preferably, a wicking slope takes place when the footwear upper is breathable (i.e., nylon mesh) to ensure that ambient air encourages evaporation of water vapor. Much more typically, a footwear lining or upper will certainly contain hydrophilic fibers that attract moisture from the hydrophobic sock material. Socks that are exceptionally hydrophobic (i.e., polypropylene) are thought to fend off water so properly that wicking could not happen. Socks of intermediate hydrophobic variety, i.e., woollen and acrylic, allow movement of water however will not take in and also retain water like cotton fibers will. Degrees of hydrophobic top qualities alone, nevertheless, do not identify general wicking capability.

The mechanical structure of the fiber and compressibility of the fiber will identify general wicking capacity. CoolMax ® fibers have 4 networks developed right into their cross-sectional geometry offering a 20% greater perimeter area compared to standard round fibers. The outcome is greater water/vapor transportation with boosted surface direct exposure for capillary action.

Natural fibers (cotton-wool) when loaded with dampness, compress even more easily than synthetic fibers (acrylic, CoolMax ®). Hence, cotton as well as wool socks have a greater resistance to sweat transport of wicking. When damp, acrylic fibers swell less than 5% while cotton swells 45% and also woollen swells 35%. Inflamed fibers that are pressed decrease air rooms and thus lower moisture transportation. Hence, cotton socks display a 2.4 times higher resistance to wetness transport.

When combining hydrophobic top qualities and also mechanical fiber qualities, the fibers that wick dampness best are, from ideal to worst: CoolMax ®, acrylic, polypropylene

, wool, cotton. In research studies carried out on runners wearing synthetic fiber socks vs. cotton socks, various other substantial differences surfaced relating to preferability of fiber composition. Cotton fiber socks, when damp, were observed to extend as well as lose their form inside the shoe. This brought about bunching and wrinkling of the socks compared with acrylic fiber socks. After several wash-wear cycles, cotton fiber socks were kept in mind to become unpleasant bring about possible irritation on the skin surface of the athlete.

In some sporting activity applications, the thermal-insulation high quality of the fiber composition becomes important. New synthetic fibers composed of a hollow core product referred to as Thermax ¨ have actually been shown to successfully insulate against heat loss. All-natural woollen fiber socks are still preferable in the exterior sector as a result of their exceptional capability to maintain warmth while wet. Nonetheless, the abrasive nature of 100% wool fiber socks has called for the blending of wool right into various other high-tech synthetic fiber materials.

Blisters and also Various Other Skin Injuries.

Rubbing sores are among one of the most typical foot injuries affecting the athlete. Sores on the feet are even more widespread and debilitating in military employees. A study carried out on 357 aquatic recruits at Parris Island, South Carolina, disclosed a 69% frequency of sores during a four-month period of training. Sores major enough to call for clinical examination at sick phone call happened in 24.4% of all trainees. It has been estimated that over 5,000 Fundamental Students at Lackland Air Force Base were treated for friction sores during one fiscal year in 1990.

Factors needed for friction blisters are shear force, pressure as well as modest degrees of moisture. Every one of these forces can be reduced by a proper sock system.

Herring and Richie investigated the role of fiber and sock building and construction techniques in the avoidance of sores on the feet of running professional athletes. Their searchings for showed that acrylic fiber socks will have less blisters and smaller blisters compared to cotton fiber socks. Furthermore, professional athletes were able to establish a drier foot with acrylic socks as compared to cotton.

These searchings for were substantial just when socks were built with thick terry cushioning as opposed to in generic "cushion-sole" socks.

Afflicted with ever-increasing regularity of blisters, the United States Armed force performed three randomized prospective research studies on numerous sock systems. The basic armed forces problem sock is a 50% cotton and also 50% woollen cushion-sole sock. The 3 studies attempted to compare newer fiber building methods and double-layer modern technology to lower blister regularities.

In a research study of 357 marine recruits on Parris Island, South Carolina in 1992, making use of a CoolMax ® lining with a heavily padded terry layout external sock making use of a wool/polypropylene mix substantially decreased blisters compared with a solitary layer sock (40% vs. 69%). Adding a CoolMax ® lining to the typical sock considerably decreased unwell phone call brows through (24.4% standard vs. 9.4% standard with lining).

One more research of 1,079 soldiers in 1993 tested five sock systems on blister frequency as well as acceptability by soldiers. Synthetic fiber socks significantly outperformed the common wool sock. Adding a CoolMax ® liner to the woollen sock considerably reduced sores. When contrasting single, extra-thick acrylic cushioned socks to double layer sock-systems, the double-layer system transcended because of the securing of the open terry loops from the skin surface area as well as the movement interface produced by the double-layer system. Three various other armed forces researches have shown a sore prevention supremacy of dual sock systems vs. solitary layer socks.

Fitting.

Correct installation of sports shoes is crucial for comfort, injury avoidance, as well as efficiency. Suitable of shoes, especially athletic shoes, is a lost art in the modern-day retail market. The emergence of state-of-the-art sports leg wear products has made the shoe-fitting process even more difficult.

Footwear as well as foot dimension techniques are archaic in today's modern athletic footwear market. The Brannock measuring device was created in 1927, long before athletic shoes were created as well as long before high-sports certain hosiery products were developeded. The majority of contemporary athletic shoes are made overseas in developing nation where sizing specifications differ dramatically even within the same solitary factory.

In 1995, the writer conducted a footwear fit study for a premium sports leg wear firm. The outcomes of this research disclosed the following:.

1) Gauging feet barefoot with a Brannock gadget successfully forecasted accurate athletic shoe size only 30% of the time.

2) When topics used a conventional cushion-sole sock as well as were measured, precision for shoe dimension boosted 10%.

3) When measuring a subject barefoot (as advised by the Brannock Firm), and then fitting the subject with athletic shoes and also thick sporting activities certain socks, the Brannock measurement was accurate only 15% of the moment (an 85% failure price!).

4) When determining a subject with thick sports certain sock standing on the Brannock gadget, the accuracy for predicting appropriate shoe dimension improved by 10%.

5) When wearing appropriately fitted footwear with a generic sporting activities sock, including a thick heavily padded sock required a rise in length of shoe 77% of the moment.

As a result, determining an athlete with a Brannock determining gadget has very little value when associating with shoe sizes of modern sports footwear. Still, the ability of the fitter can enable translation of the shoe size to an "adjusted dimension" based on a knowledge of supply as well as peculiarities of brand-size features. The professional athlete ought to be determined as well as fitted using the specific sock that will be eventually used with the footwear. This is a turnaround of the normal suitable process in a lot of athletic shoe shops where socks are bought as a "add-on" after footwear have actually been fitted.

Sports Details Applications.

Sports-specific socks were originated by ThorLo in the very early 1980's. Soon, all major sock makers followed with socks packaged and also presumably designed for specific sports, i.e., tennis, golf, running, etc. What started as functional differentiation for a couple of vital sports has led to a collection of sock product packaging techniques and advertising and marketing buzz with items made for each imaginable activity. Actually, there is hardly any technical distinction within any kind of particular company in the style of their leg wear products for numerous individual sporting activities. Ultimately, nevertheless, the passion of the American public to purchase socks specific for each and every sport has actually generated a $250,000,000 industry.

Socks should be made details to the footwear, as opposed to the sporting activity itself. The biomechanical movement and also tensions of entertainment and also competitive sporting tasks differ considerably. Creating a sock to mitigate those anxieties has resulted in extremely similar attributes, in spite of the ranges of foot tensions located in each sport. What brings extra variation are the footwear layouts as well as the environmental difficulties of the sport. Right here, sock style in the top and fiber composition can be varied considerably to fulfill the needs peculiar to the sport.

The following table gives instances of sock layout and fiber variants as well as the sporting activities applications that are best suited.

Building Strategies of Athletic Leg Wear.

Upper Layout & Sporting Activity Task.

Over-the-calf: Baseball, Basketball, Outdoor (consisting of liners) Ski, Snowboard, Football.

Mid-calf: Skate.

Slouch: Aerobics.

Staff: Running, Golf, Tennis, Racquetball, Hiking.

Building and construction.

Thin or Slim Double Layer Outdoor( liners), Biking, Running (racing), Snowboarding.

Padded or Thick Double-Layer Jogging, Winter Sports, Hiking, Tennis, Basketball.

Fibers.

Acrylic: Golf, Tennis, Hiking.

Acrylic/Wool: Outdoor-Cold.

Acrylic/Thermax ®: Outdoor-Cool.

Acrylic/CoolMax ®: Outdoor-Warm.

CoolMax ®: Running, Biking, Liners.

MicroSafe ®: Therapeutic Leg wear, i.e., Diabetic issues.

Tips.

Choose the best sock for the appropriate sporting activity.

Usage synthetic product. Usage correct shoes and also fit them with the socks you plan to use while playing ball.

mens socks

#menssocks #babies #socks #mens #womens #ladies #lowcut #noshow

0 notes

precisioninternetmarketing · 6 years

Text

What are the very best socks to use for sport

For the severe athlete, socks have actually come to be recognized as a crucial part of shoes that can establish the distinction between success or failure on the playing field. However, for the sporting activities medication professional, the function of socks in preventing injury and in enhancing efficiency is misunderstood and frequently neglected in treatment methods.

Recreational and competitive athletes could obtain advanced details on sock fiber technology as well as building and construction strategies from costs sporting items vendors as well as technical publications peculiar to their sport. On the other hand, healthcare experts get no formal training on the subjects of shoes or hosiery, yet, they are contacted consistently to offer info to people and also the lay public in these strange disciplines. No surprise that physicians and podiatric doctors are typically estimated in consumer magazines providing erroneous info about socks and also shoes.

It is freshening to see the topic of "socks" included in this detailed program of topics about the field of podiatric sports medicine.

Historic Review:

There were practically no initial clinical articles pertaining to leg wear released in the medical literary works until 1989. After that, almost overnight, scientific scientists recognized that significant advances had been made during the 1980s in the fields of fiber innovation and sock construction methods. Hosiery now resembles high-tech sports tools with possible clinical applications. A large number of studies were executed on numerous person populaces, including professional athletes, to establish the role of leg wear in protecting against pedal pathologies.

A series of write-ups released by Andrew Boulton and also Arisites Veves at the Manchester Royal Infirmary recorded the safety result of hosiery on the feet of diabetic and also arthritic people. At the same time, Herring and Richie published their research studies showing the prevalence of acrylic fibers over cotton fibers in stopping the regularity and also seriousness of friction sores in running athletes.

A considerable amount of published research then followed, documenting efforts to utilize leg wear products to treat numerous medical problems. Ufer as well as associates researched the result of leg wear to warm the feet of individuals with spastic quadriplegia. Wolfe and Palladino conducted a research study to determine the result of hosiery on friction blisters and also racquetball gamers. The effect of over-the-calf sporting activities socks to reduce swelling in the feet as well as legs was reported by Brown as well as Brown.

The USA armed forces, plagued with ever-increasing sore frequency in armed forces recruits, executed their very own research documenting the capability of numerous sock systems to reduce friction sores. These prospective researches showed the highest level of scientific investigation attempting to establish the effect of various sock fiber combinations on the feet of a lot of human subjects took part in marching and also running.

The principles proven as well as validated by these research studies is the structure of this presentation. The disciplines covered are those of most passion to the sporting activities medication health care professional: fiber modern technology, friction blisters, sporting activities particular challenges and shoe-fitting applications.

Socks as well as Foot Pathologies

The complying with foot pathologies can be straight affected by the type of hosiery used by the professional athlete:

Toenails: subungual hematoma, onychomycosis, onychogryphosis

Integument: friction sores, hyperkeratoses, heloma dura/molle

Infections: dermatophyte, yeast, microorganisms, viral (verruca).

Mechanical or Shear Caused Injury of Subcutaneous cells: capsulitis, bursitis, calcaneal fat pad atrophy.

Mechanical or Shear Injury Versus Bone Prestige: retrocalcaneal exostosis, sesamoiditis, hallux valgus, dressmaker's bunion, accessory navicular, tibial crest periostitis, median and also side malleolar contusion.

Causes:.

The forces associated with producing the above-mentioned tissue injuries include ground reaction pressures, digressive shearing forces, and a mix of pressure and shear caused by sports footwear.

Many scientists have actually demonstrated that ground response forces can come close to or surpass three times body weight in a running professional athlete. Furthermore, upright plantar pressures against the calcaneus as well as metatarsals are dramatically enhanced in the running athlete as well as special patient populaces with foot deformities, i.e., rheumatoid arthritis and also diabetes mellitus with neuropathy.

Shearing pressures arise from ahead or sideways energy of the athlete whether walking, leaping, running, or lunging. Spence and Shields recognized 4 types of dynamic forces that can be associated with running gait: upright pressures, fore and aft shear, lateral shear, and torque. Shearing force on the skin surface area of the foot is intensified by the type of playing surface, type of footwear, type of insole, and also type of sock product. Shearing pressures are thought to be much more destructive to the feet than ground responses pressures. The mix of irregular stress and also shear cause the formation of rubbing sores in athletes as well as ulcerations on the feet of patients with diabetic issues mellitus.

In addition to the abnormal pressures created by the particular motions of the sport, the sort of shoes used by the athlete can produce unique harmful pressure and shear in certain locations of the feet or legs. The complying with special kinds of athletic shoes and the numerous areas of prospective skin or deep tissue damage are shown in the adhering to tables.

The Fiber Story.

The ability of a sock to dissipate harmful forces on the surface of the foot rests partly on the fiber make-up and also even more substantially on the building and construction strategy of the maker. It is the absence of understanding of fiber innovation that leads most health care professionals making wrong referrals to their individuals regarding choice for sporting tasks.

Fibers that take in dampness are termed hydrophilic while fibers fending off dampness are hydrophobic. Cotton fiber preserves three times the wetness of acrylic as well as fourteen times the dampness of CoolMax ®. When revealed to ambient air, socks composed of cotton keep wetness ten times longer than acrylic. In coming down order of hydrophilic position, the following fibers are listed: cotton, woollen, acrylic, CoolMax ®, polypropylene

. Throughout initial activity, dampness absorption from the feet comes to be a preferable function. In sports activity, sweating outcome on the feet can exceed one pint each foot. A huge part of this wetness may actually gather in the feet as it is produced in other places on the body surface area as well as drips down the legs due to gravity. Nonetheless, this quantity of fluid much goes beyond the absorbent capacity of any type of sock product. As a result, to minimize moisture build-up on the skin surface, the sock must set up a wicking gradient to the footwear.

Ideally, a wicking gradient happens when the footwear top is breathable (i.e., nylon mesh) to ensure that ambient air motivates dissipation of water vapor. Extra frequently, a shoe liner or top will consist of hydrophilic fibers that attract moisture from the hydrophobic sock product. Socks that are exceptionally hydrophobic (i.e., polypropylene) are believed to drive away water so efficiently that wicking could not happen. Socks of intermediate hydrophobic array, i.e., wool and acrylic, allow motion of water yet will certainly not take in as well as preserve water like cotton fibers will. Degrees of hydrophobic qualities alone, nonetheless, do not figure out total wicking capacity.

The mechanical structure of the fiber and also compressibility of the fiber will certainly figure out overall wicking potential. CoolMax ® fibers have actually four channels developed into their cross-sectional geometry providing a 20% higher boundary location compared to conventional round fibers. The result is higher water/vapor transportation through enhanced surface area direct exposure for capillary action.

Natural fibers (cotton-wool) when packed with moisture, press more easily compared to synthetic fibers (acrylic, CoolMax ®). Thus, cotton as well as wool socks have a greater resistance to sweat transport of wicking. When damp, acrylic fibers swell less than 5% while cotton swells 45% and woollen swells 35%. Swollen fibers that are pressed lower air spaces and hence minimize dampness transportation. Therefore, cotton socks exhibit a 2.4 times greater resistance to wetness transportation.

When incorporating hydrophobic top qualities and also mechanical fiber qualities, the fibers that wick wetness best are, from best to worst: CoolMax ®, acrylic, polypropylene

, wool, cotton. In researches carried out on runners using synthetic fiber socks vs. cotton socks, various other considerable differences appeared concerning preferability of fiber composition. Cotton fiber socks, when wet, were observed to stretch and lose their form inside the footwear. This led to bunching and wrinkling of the socks compared with acrylic fiber socks. After several wash-wear cycles, cotton fiber socks were kept in mind to become abrasive causing possible inflammation on the skin surface area of the athlete.

In some sporting activity applications, the thermal-insulation top quality of the fiber make-up becomes essential. New artificial fibers composed of a hollow core material called Thermax ¨ have actually been revealed to efficiently protect versus heat loss. All-natural woollen fiber socks are still preferable in the exterior market because of their exceptional capability to keep warmth while damp. Nevertheless, the rough nature of 100% woollen fiber socks has needed the blending of woollen into other state-of-the-art synthetic fiber materials.

Sores and Various Other Skin Injuries.

Friction sores are among one of the most usual foot injuries impacting the professional athlete. Blisters on the feet are a lot more prevalent and devastating in military recruits. A research performed on 357 aquatic employees at Parris Island, South Carolina, disclosed a 69% frequency of sores throughout a four-month period of training. Sores severe sufficient to necessitate medical assessment at ill telephone call occurred in 24.4% of all students. It has been estimated that over 5,000 Basic Students at Lackland Air Force Base were treated for friction blisters during one calendar year in 1990.

Factors essential for rubbing blisters are shear pressure, pressure and moderate levels of dampness. Every one of these pressures can be minimized by an appropriate sock system.

Herring and Richie checked out the function of fiber and also sock building and construction strategies in the avoidance of sores on the feet of running professional athletes. Their findings demonstrated that acrylic fiber socks will certainly have much less blisters as well as smaller sized sores than cotton fiber socks. Additionally, professional athletes were able to figure out a drier foot with acrylic socks compared with cotton.

These searchings for were significant only when socks were built with thick terry extra padding rather than in generic "cushion-sole" socks.

Afflicted with ever-increasing regularity of sores, the USA Military conducted three randomized potential research studies on numerous sock systems. The typical military problem sock is a 50% cotton and 50% woollen cushion-sole sock. The 3 research studies attempted to compare more recent fiber building and construction methods and also double-layer innovation to decrease sore regularities.

In a research study of 357 aquatic employees on Parris Island, South Carolina in 1992, making use of a CoolMax ® lining with a heavily padded terry layout external sock using a wool/polypropylene blend significantly decreased sores compared with a solitary layer sock (40% vs. 69%). Including a CoolMax ® liner to the standard sock significantly decreased ill call check outs (24.4% typical vs. 9.4% requirement with liner).

Another research study of 1,079 soldiers in 1993 tested five sock systems on blister frequency and also reputation by soldiers. Artificial fiber socks considerably surpassed the standard woollen sock. Including a CoolMax ® liner to the woollen sock considerably decreased blisters. When contrasting solitary, extra-thick acrylic cushioned socks to double layer sock-systems, the double-layer system transcended due to the securing of the open terry loopholes from the skin surface area as well as the activity interface developed by the double-layer system. 3 other armed forces studies have shown a blister prevention prevalence of double sock systems vs. single layer socks.

Suitable.

Correct fitting of sports footwear is essential for comfort, injury avoidance, and efficiency. Suitable of footwear, specifically athletic shoes, is a lost art in the modern retail industry. The emergence of modern sports hosiery items has actually made the shoe-fitting procedure even more tough.

Footwear as well as foot dimension techniques are archaic in today's contemporary sports shoes market. The Brannock measuring gadget was created in 1927, long prior to athletic shoes were developed and also long prior to high-sports details leg wear items were created. Most of contemporary athletic footwear are manufactured overseas in third world countries where sizing specifications differ significantly also within the very same single manufacturing facility.

In 1995, the writer carried out a footwear healthy study for a costs sporting activities leg wear business. The results of this study revealed the following:.

1) Measuring feet barefoot with a Brannock tool efficiently forecasted exact athletic shoe size only 30% of the moment.

2) When topics wore a standard cushion-sole sock and were measured, precision for footwear size enhanced 10%.

3) When measuring a subject barefoot (as recommended by the Brannock Firm), then fitting the subject with athletic shoes and also thick sports details socks, the Brannock dimension was exact only 15% of the moment (an 85% failure price!).

4) When determining a subject with thick sports certain sock standing on the Brannock device, the precision for predicting appropriate footwear size enhanced by 10%.

5) When wearing properly fitted shoes with a common sports sock, including a thick heavily cushioned sock demanded a boost in length of shoe 77% of the time.

As a result, gauging a professional athlete with a Brannock measuring device has marginal value when correlating with shoe dimensions of modern day athletic shoes. Still, the ability of the fitter can allow translation of the footwear dimension to an "adjusted dimension" based on a knowledge of inventory and peculiarities of brand-size characteristics. The professional athlete must be measured and fitted using the certain sock that will certainly be eventually put on with the footwear. This is a reversal of the typical fitting procedure in the majority of athletic shoe shops where socks are bought as a "add-on" after shoes have been fitted.

Sports Details Applications.

Sports-specific socks were originated by ThorLo in the very early 1980's. Quickly, all major sock producers adhered to with socks packaged as well as most likely designed for certain sports, i.e., tennis, golf, running, and so on. What began as practical differentiation for a few key sports has caused a bunch of sock product packaging techniques and marketing hype with items made for each conceivable task. In reality, there is hardly any technological distinction within any kind of particular company in the style of their hosiery products for different specific sports. In the long run, nonetheless, the zeal of the American public to acquire socks specific for each sport has actually generated a $250,000,000 sector.

Socks ought to be created details to the shoe, instead of the sporting activity itself. The biomechanical motion and also anxieties of leisure and also affordable showing off activities differ considerably. Designing a sock to minimize those anxieties has led to extremely comparable attributes, regardless of the selections of foot stress and anxieties discovered in each sport. What carries much more variation are the shoe designs and the ecological difficulties of the sporting activity. Right here, sock layout in the top and fiber structure can be varied considerably to meet the needs peculiar to the sport.

The following table provides examples of sock layout as well as fiber variations as well as the sports applications that are best suited.

Building Methods of Athletic Leg Wear.

Upper Design & Sport Activity.

Over-the-calf: Baseball, Basketball, Outdoor (including liners) Ski, Snowboard, Soccer.

Mid-calf: Skate.

Slouch: Aerobics.

Team: Running, Golf, Tennis, Racquetball, Hiking.

Construction.

Slim or Thin Double Layer Outdoor( liners), Biking, Operating (racing), Snowboarding.

Padded or Thick Double-Layer Running, Snowboarding, Hiking, Tennis, Basketball.

Fibers.

Acrylic: Golf, Tennis, Hiking.

Acrylic/Wool: Outdoor-Cold.

Acrylic/Thermax ®: Outdoor-Cool.

Acrylic/CoolMax ®: Outdoor-Warm.

CoolMax ®: Operating, Biking, Liners.

MicroSafe ®: Therapeutic Leg wear, i.e., Diabetic issues.

Tips.

Choose the ideal sock for the appropriate sporting activity.

Usage synthetic product. Usage appropriate footwear and also fit them with the socks you plan to put on while playing ball.

boys socks

#menssocks #babies #socks #mens #womens #ladies #lowcut #noshow

0 notes