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No photos or art work today, just a straight up rant…..
Something has been irking me lately and it's exactly what I coin "The Pussification of America."
On the flip side, I'm sure this article will get me in a lot of heat, mainly by those who are contributing to the weakness.
There is a rare breed of people out there who are also ranting about this and will understand where I am coming from, regardless of being male or female. I have a funny feeling it's on the minds of many and I do not stand alone.
Not sure what's going on in other countries, but in the states we've got one too many strained hamstrings, too much "I'm tired", too much "I just gotta get my mind into it" B.S. floating around.
Weak Bodies have become common place and the age range is REALLY starting to stretch. Did you ever think there would come a day when a 6 year old would say he / she doesn't want to play? Did you ever think that running 2 minutes would exhaust someone? I NEVER imagined such days would come, but they have come and they are HERE.
Physical Education is getting crushed in the states, especially in the middle and high school level where one too many PE Teachers (I should not even call them Physical Education teachers) are allowing students the option to walk on the track and consider this exercise.
If the teacher is allowed to describe such slow movement as "walking", which is actually slower than a 8 month old baby crawling, then guess who allowed this lackluster effort to be accepted as "Physical Education"? Look at the top.
The Administration gave the OK to allow the teachers to give options for those who are motivated to move and for those who are unmotivated to move.
Guess what happens to the Teacher or Athletic Coach for creating a challenging Physical Education environment? He / She will be reprimanded by the Administration.
Challenge the students enough (i.e. make them work outside their comfort zone) and the student tells Mommy & Daddy he doesn't like you. Next in line? Mommy and Daddy call the school and complain about the teacher and get little Johnny transferred into a different class.
Lesson learned? Push beyond mediocrity and you get reprimanded or perhaps fired. My High School Wrestling Coach took a position at a different high school this past season and in the first week nearly 10 kids quit.
Maybe they said he was too mean, but the translation, which is clear as day, is that it was too hard. These kids will fit perfectly fine into the gyms that have dumbbells no heavier than 50 lbs and 95% of the exercises allow them to sit down, lie down or push and pull on a time wasting machine.
Then again, these kids will NOT be entering any gym as they have proven they are against hard work, or any work at all for that matter.
Teachers and Coaches are becoming the enemy to those who are expected to work hard or earn their way on to the starting line up. Many Administrators allow the parents to complain or cry about the required work of their child and then the Coach is reprimanded and asked to lessen the expectations.
This sends the WRONG message and a poor lesson is learned. Complain enough and you get your way is what they learn.
What happens when they grow up and become part of a large company / business, or even a small company / business?
Does the conversation now look like this:
Employee: "Hey Boss, I don't really like to work, can I take it nice and easy today, tomorrow and the rest of the year?"
Boss: "Oh sure, as long as you're doing just enough to get by we should be good."
For the parents and administrators who are supporting the requirement of hard work, dedication commitment and consistency I salute you and thank you. You are a rare breed, unfortunately.
For the parents who are interfering because they have become experts at the sport by watching the sport and never having participated in the actual sport, you are screwing up the future of this country.
This shit is spiraling out of control and if you try to become part of the solution your co workers and the Administration will hate you for trying to rock the boat. For those supporting the new path of mediocrity, you are screwing things up across the country now AND for the future.
By the way, "rocking the boat" means you are trying to be progressive and stretch beyond the poor standards that have been set so low and are being accepted. Don't rock the boat, because then you'll be forcing other people to do that strange thing called WORK!
Take a look at what society has done to the large number of gyms popping up around the states. Dumbbells are not allowed heavier than 50 lbs and how dare you grunt or use chalk or break a sweat because some ridiculous alarm will go off and you will be removed from the gym. This sounds like insanity to me.
The person who created such a philosophy can not truly go to sleep at night knowing he has done wrong for so many and is now creating a society of straight up weaklings.
Punishment for hard work, that's the lesson here.
Little do "They" know, that being removed from such a lame ass gym, and I dare stretch my vocabulary and call such a place a "gym", this is the BEST gift one can get from these places. Removal from a place that supports mediocrity and lackluster effort. In a nut shell, they want you to be weak.
Now this individual will have to hide in his basement, garage or backyard with a 300 lb weight set pieced together from E Bay or Craigs List. He has no bench, no leg extension, no squat rack….. just a raw barbell.
Boo Hoo.
Thank You, Sir, May I have another!?!?
Do we need to have required military service from age 18-21 as they do in Israel and other countries?
This could be the trick we need and the younger generation can no longer tell you, "I'm not going to school yet until I figure out what I wanna do."
Response: No problem, Dude, you're going to the Army so you have the next 3 years to learn discipline, responsibility, accountability AND your future aspirations.
My Grandfather was in the Russian Army, then the Polish Army and then the Israeli Army. No wonder why he was so damn tough. He never owned a car, instead, he rode his bike, walked and chased buses to make his travels.
I remember my Grandfather in Israel jogging with my brother and I or riding our bikes over 1 mile to the pool to get us swim lessons where my older brother usually attempted to drown me on a daily basis. After swim lessons we would jog or ride our bikes back home.
He didn't tell us to take it easy, have a nap, stay inside, it's too hot outside to play. And mid summer in Israel at 1 or 2 PM the heat climbs near 100 degrees.
We played street soccer with other kids in the neighborhood on a cement playground and falling on the cement was NOT fun. But we got up every time we fell. I still remember the best goalie was playing in his flip flops! I know of elementary schools that have disallowed running during recess due to some kids falling.
The next step is to tell them to crawl….. where do we go after that? Lay down and wait to die? Perhaps Lunch Aides will have taser guns and start zapping kids who dare to run.
This teaches the young kids to NOT get up after they fall down. This lesson carries over in life. Forever. The kids grow up and become adults, who fear trying new things or taking adventures and they live a boring, safe life. They view running as evil and they view action as evil.
What happens to these kids as they near the end of high school? Are they motivated to study harder to get into that school they always dreamed of? Or, do they lack the mental toughness to wake up early or stay up late so they can do the necessary studying and make better grades?
5 years later you run into Johnny or Susie and they're still trying to figure out what to do, and they have a kid, but they're a single parent because being a parent and married at age 19 isn't what they wanted to do.
They were never encouraged or taught to handle adversity, accountability, responsibility or decision making skills.
Ask most high school kids why they don't eat breakfast. They're answer will more often than not be, "I woke up late."
Translation: I'm too lazy….. I lack the mental toughness, discipline and dedication to wake up 20, 15 or even 10 minutes early and make my own breakfast.
Boo Hoo
Let us raise the bar for life.
Expectations have dropped so low and excuses are common place for why we can not achieve excellence. We have young kids with high blood pressure and signs of early heart disease. We have varsity athletes who don't know how to perform push ups (and are also too weak) and adults who prefer pills over exercise.
Will Physical Education transition into something that challenges all and moves away from accepting mediocrity? Exercise is what my Dad was doing when he was a young kid in Romania, which was the REAL PE back in the early 60's.
Here's a taste of the required "Physical Education" my Dad & each kid had to perform before being allowed to organize a game. And YES, they organized games on their OWN!
– Sprints on the track
– Hurdle Jumps on Track
– Throwing of small shot puts
– Gymnastics Movements: tumbling, jumping on, over and off of objects such as benches, boxes and gymnastics equipment
– Crawling on hands
– Climbing Rope
After the required 30 minutes of challenging activity, a large field was available with various sport activities for the kids to organize on their own. This taught them responsibility AND accountability. Problems with the score? Figure it out on your own and learn to settle differences without calling for a mediator.
Some of the games played were:
– Hand Ball
– Soccer
– Basketball
– Track & Field Races
Some kids continued to practice gymnastics, others ran the hurdles and others rotated to and from the various sports games on their own.
Why has Physical Education become less physical, less challenging and basically less of EVERYTHING compared to 50 years ago? Doesn't this strike anyone as being strange?
Donald Trump said that all the "feel good" lessons kids have learned through school has produced less business men / women who can succeed in tough times, or succeed at all.
Why do we have Varsity high school athletes unable to perform 10 pull ups, 25 push ups or even ONE freaking full range of motion bodyweight squat?
I left my teaching job behind, and now, with my own business and my own gym, I can create a TRUE Physical Education program through my gym, also known as Physical Culture.
Our athletes run, jump, climb, use Kettlebells, perform Gymanstics drills, etc.
There comes a time in life where you must stop allowing society to do a shitty job and cheat the health and future life success of our kids. This means you will have to go against the norm and rage against the accepted mediocrity.
I hope it's not this embarrassing outside the states.
Lead from the Front, Advance & Conquer, Live The Code!
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Category: Announcements, Articles, Kick Ass Business, Kick Ass Life, Live The Code, mental toughness, old school strength, Success, Zach's Workouts Tags: donald trump, israel, mental toughness, military, physical culture, physical education, physical strength, pussification of america, raise the bar, rant, the pussification of america.
28 Responses to The Pussification of America
I was about to take down the weights and body compositons of my high school weightlifting class. One of the girls refused, saying she was uncomfortable with her weight and that by finding out how much she weighed would damage her self-esteem. She said her parents didn't want her to damage her self-esteem. Maybe if she would come to the realization that nobody but her parents gives a damn about her self-esteem she could actually move forward and do something about it!
its starting to get like that over here (uk) so i have just brought a copy of your ebook and so i will man up and train at home
It's quite the same here in Germany.
Sports in School mostly suck – because even the fattest and slowest "athletes" can get quite good marks.
There were guys und girls in my class in 2009 who ran the 5k in much over 30 minutes and clearly couldn't do a single pull-up (we also never had to – "yeah lets do a circle: 5 push ups, rest, 5 lunges, rest, 10 sit-ups, rest,….") and still got average marks.
After school i began training with my federal states law enforcement agency. And it's also the same here.
In a period of half a year we had 3x90min of different sports per week.
Which meant: 90 min of self defense training & boxing (which was hard but okay), 90 min of either idiotic circletraining ("i don't know what to do today, lets fuck up our trainees or bore them to hell") or swimming, or 90 minutes of running with the "the slower you run the more you run"-method.
All in all i have to say: there is no "physical culture" here in germany.
In school all the guys were talking shit about how much to bench and how much to curl, the girls all talking shit about being vegetarian and the benefits of sitting on an ergometer on lowest setting while reading a book.
Here in the law enforcement agency its not much different.
We have sport-teachers here, that are proven marathoners or triathlethes, who don't know shit, but they studied "sports and physical training" and are therefore qualified to train all of us – not.
In our weight room at our barracks here, there are tons of useless equipment.
literally: few machines, many cable-turrets, several benches, lots of dumbbells and curl equipment and no (yes! not a single!) squat rack or anything like that.
And so you can see the young and old officers benching and curling like there is no tomorrow, doing lat pulls for fun and in between some sit-ups.
Nobody cares about squatting, because there is a leg press. No one cares about pull-ups, because there is the lat-pulldown and so on.
It sucks.
And those are the reasons i train underground style.
I love bodyweight-training and currently i'm going from pr to pr.
Today i tested myself and did 250 bodyweight-squats in a row – because fuck you you sucking bench&curl bodybuilders.
i rely on a mix of bodyweight training "convict conditioning" style with crossfit and underground strength style workouts and i love it.
I will close now:
you Americans are not the only people who have to deal with the pussification.
Greetings from germany
I and some others are trying to start a web-based exercise program based on bodyweight and kettlebell training. I decided to contact the local Army recruiter to see whether he'd be willing to recommend our site to kids who wanted to enlist, but were worried about their ability to handle the physical training. I was in the Army from '85 to '80, and we got to talking about the changes in kids and in the Army. He informed me that drill sergeants were not allowed to yell at trainees, and could punish them with no more than 10 pushups nowadays! Heaven help us…..
Keep on ranting, Zach! Some of us are listening, and doing our part to spread the word.
Shit doesnt just hit the fan, it comes in tonnes
oh damn, i didnt realise that my comment was "The comment:. i thought i was registering. well anyways. bro, keep rantin (if THAT is called rantin nowadays). you have inspired ME of all people to get me arse back in shape. granted i was never "overweight" or… ah screw the crap we americans throw around. thanks to your so called "rant" thats more of a scientific research (take a look at the research bein conducted by the "non-governmental" non-thinking, all inclusive, humanist, sensitive … dolts… apparently we are to be content by their approach. ya know what? i feel like i was a lost sheep. questions kept comin but answers were few and unfulfilling (that should be a word). power to you bro. and best yet power to all those who cherish discipline, respect (for those that deserve it) and bootstrap approach (copyright by me right now at this moment) >XD
I totally agree with 90% of what your saying. I just wish you had not mentioned the army as an alternative to the laziness of our kids. I find guys like you who are passionate about good health and hard work are what our youngsters need. I'm sure the army has a way of making large groups of people follow discipline and yes probably, while keeping them in relatively good physical health. But it's certainly not the place to encourage how to handle adversity, accountability, responsibility and especially not decision making skills. Most of them learn to follow, not to lead. So, while strengthening the body the army is weakening the critical mind. If we wan't our children to make a real difference in the future, yes they need to learn hard work and the unlimited benefits of a real effort mentally and physically but they also have to be thought self motivation and leadership. That's how all your teachings will become contagious Zach.
By the way, i didn't know you were Romanian, i love that country.
peace !
Marc, I think had you ever served in the army, or any of the armed services, you'd understand that critical thinking, decision making, risk evaluation, how to endure hardship, and leadership. They actually go about training people to be leaders.
It produces people who know they can do hard things when they must, who have pushed their limits, and who have lead, and been held accountable for the results of that leadership. No military wants a herd of sheep – you need a long line of leaders, one after the other, so that as groups become smaller the next man (or woman) in line takes over.
In the end, it's all about leadership, and the physical is just a side benefit!
I enjoyed your article the last time it was posted and it still rings true. I remember Air Force boot camp. At the end of the 30th day of training, one of the requirements was a 1.5 mile under 35 minutes. Yes, you read that right. An entire 35 minutes to run far less than two miles. (Really wish I had become a Marine instead.) As a nation we have allowed the mediocre and the lackadaisical to set the pace.
We live in an era of the excuse. Don't give anyone the appearance of fitness, you must be doing steroids. Here, eat, you can afford it. Discipline and consistency are words of the past. Now it has become give in, succumb to your urges. Get abs in four minutes while you inhale your favorite junk foods.
I once visited a gym where deadlifts were outlawed, squat racks were non-existent, and heavy lifting was banned. Intimidates and scares the hell out of the other members – not allowed. But, boy, they had the most modern sit down equipment, complete with TV's, small personal fans installed to keep you from sweating, magazines to read while you have a leisure, stress free workout.
Until the pendulum swings in the other direction, weakness will only drive the will to exert one's self further down in darkness, while the strong willed, disciplined individuals become a faint memory and a small minority, still holding on to what made civilization great in the first place.
It's hard to follow your rant, though I might agree with it, when you call it the 'pussification' of america. I'm assuming you're insinuating that American is becoming like a vagina? Likening someone who is weak to a woman is extremely degrading. Use your words wisely.
This is all true !!!!
People want results without work.
Nothing in this world is free – that is what I teach my son.
You just said what all old school think discipline is the key does not exist in the fake gyms and PT classes are getting cut in schools
It's got to the stage here in Australia where to join one of our state police forces, one of the physical requirements is to perform five push ups. That's right, five push ups! Good times ahead.
I've followed your stuff for a while now but this is the first time I've felt the need to comment. I've been ranting about this exact thing for a while now. Coaching rugby in the UK at ages ranging from Under 16 to Under 7s I see exactly this sort of thing going on weekly. We have parents feeding kids sweets on the side lines (Under 7's) to give them "Energy" to get though a 2 minute game of tig WTF??? (My type 1 diabetic son sometimes requires a banana part way through but hey he DOES need it)
Also working as an IT manager after putting my self through courses and re-training to get out of my stuffy factory job. I see so many weak people in the office that think they are owed a job and a living. They use sick days as extra holidays WTF!!! We take the competition out of so many aspects in schools and it is like you described it starting to show in business and will only get worse while we live in pampered, nanny states. Hell we have no swings or climbing frames near our house due to a kid falling off and the parents suing??? WTF!!! Also if a kid gets wrong at school the parents og in and have goes at the teacher I'd have got a hiding for getting wrong never mind whether I was in the right or wrong..
Dude this article is so on the money for me and has hit home to stuff that I'm really passionate about. I am the guy working out in the back yard with a barbell and dumbbells from ebay a pull up bar and any heavy shit I can find 😉 The "Gyms" around me are the ones you mention where actually sweating and pushing to the point of wanting to hurl is frowned upon. Doing intervals on a treadmill was seen as abuse of the equipment MAN WTF have we become???
Keep up the great work man!!!!!
Dude I know what you feel bro. At my high school, they shutdown the gym a couple of years ago. A while before I. Now there are just a bunch of weights sitting around all dusty. Also, it is only when I read your article that I realised how true it is what physical education classes do. In Canada, here, it's the same damn thing. You can walk if your too tired to run and most of the classes is free time doing frisbee,soccer,basketball. 1/3 of the class just sits thought it, it's pathetic!
Zach, thanks for bringing so much truth! I am a PE teacher and there is so much I see on a daily basis that just disgusts me. Kids who despise any type of physical activity, if it's not a video game, they have no interest. I have parents who send their kids with excuse notes explaining why they are not allowed to participate in PE for the lamest reasons. I even had a parent call me to complain that they didn't appreciate me working their children so hard because they woke up sore the day after we did a fitness activity. Then perhaps the most infuriating thing is my fellow PE teachers that are out of shape and have the worst diets. They only became PE teachers for the wrong reasons. So much for setting a good example and living what you teach. No leading from the front here. This is just the fire I needed to get me jacked for the upcoming year. I plan on hanging this article above my desk to get me amped every time I need some fire. Like I always say "What would John Wayne do"!
I agree with most of these comments and especially when the children can't be children and raised pansy ass good for nothings. What most of these kids need is to stop playing these fake video games and get off thier ass. Then join the infantry or Rangers and be a real man that can take what ever life has to throw at them. I remember when i was young riding a bike and skateboarding with out a helmet, drinking out of a hose on a hot day. Now adays people look at things like this in horror and i smile because they are pussified. The person i really look up to in this area is George Carlin the comedian.
• I promise you, my dad NEVER changed a diaper
• My dad NEVER cooked
• My dad NEVER took anyone to a little league game (of course my mom did not either, we rode our bikes or walked)
• My dad NEVER did any of these chores
On the other hand………..
• My dad provided….we always had food on the table, we NEVER worried that we would be warm in the winter….his job was to PROVIDE…and he did and he would have held his head in shame if he did not.
Tonight on TV, I learned that in 40% of American households, women are the primary bread winners….and men are staying at home talking care of the children.
On the same TV I see all kinds of ads on ED….sooo, my conclusion is:
If you can get a hard on you no longer have to provide for your family….just be able to service that woman you live with and take care of the children you father and you will be ok…you will be provided for….and you can look forward to your wife coming home from work and hope she doesn't find some other guy with a bigger dick.
Thank you for commenting. I am a high school teacher and all I hear is "I'm tired"; "What do I do now" or "Do we have to do the reading?" My favorite: "Can I get some ice?" My daughter had a problem with her dance teacher. I told her: "YOU talk to her yourself and YOU deal with the consequences." Failure builds resiliency- or at least it did before everyone became a shining star at everything. I blame the F-ing internet.
Reading this i guess im lucky as my highschool weightroom has everything you said many gyms dont have
It's funny because I have been saying the exact same phrase to my fellows and family. It's the pussifacation of America. You could go so far as get into the homosexual aspects and how that's rampant, but I tend to just dwell on sports in the USA. Football and Basketball. These guys can barely come in contact with each other, in football it's sad because that's supposed to be the only outlet for men who really need to beat the shit out of each other or someone. The basketball is way overboard too. In hoops you would be taught when a guy comes across the key you give him a forearm to the chest and walk him across. That was called good defense. Now you have to wait till he gets on the block and then the kids can hump each other on the block nice and easy. The major contact sports in this country have just lost. It's almost getting dumb to watch. On a different take I have always complained you can't even smack a guy up side his head if he mouths off or says something rude to your girl. This country is way in the dull drums of a "Pussification of America", I had to google this phrase and your site was the first that popped up. Thanks Just would be nice if all men were allowed to be men, and women were ok with being a "woman"
One time, when I was a senior in HS, a gym teacher threatened students with detention for trying to climb a rope in the wrestling room. I was born in 1990 and graduated in '08. At my HS, students and teachers would probably have needed signed parental and administrative permission to let students climb a net; I'm not even joking. About the only things we did in gym were play with soft kick balls, we did occasionally get "tested" on things like running the mile, how much you could stretch, how many pull ups you could do, etc.
There are social dynamics at work here that could be studied till the end of time. I believe changing this attitude starts at home, and studies seem to indicate that children of single parents tend to be more obese/lazy. My opinion (which matters to few) is that technology/social media has had a much higher impact than anything on children especially. And that's where it starts. But all great empires rise and then fall. Ours will one day.
Dear friends-
Today I was laying in bed thinking, what happened to America. It's like we are becoming pussies. Then I wondered: is there a pussification of America? I googled it and got your webpage.
I just want ya'll to know that pussification isn't just happening in the gym or the classroom. It's everywhere. It's getting a trophy for just showing up for soccer even though your team came in last. It's sensitivity education where "parental status" has become the new no no. Now we have to be sensitive to people's needs for "diversity" for anything you can think of. This has gone too far. We have 15 an hour minimum wage where people get paid 15 an hour to sit around and flip burgers. Are you f'in kidding me? Minimum wage jobs are suppose to pay low so that you have a desire to actually improve your lot in life instead of expect people to hand you a pay increase. We've got a generation of idiots known as mellinials who think that I as heir employer should be bending over to make their employment a pleasant experience. These days people are addicted to their smartphone. They check their phone, Twitter account, email, and Facebook account 227 times a day. And they wonder why they got passed up for that promotion?!? Soon we will have anti fat people discrimination. It will become illegal to call someone fat. We will have to say they are physically challenged. Then we will have the government telling us that we can't call people pretty or others ugly else we offend someone so the government will make that illegal too. I'm sorry so how is the government going to convince my dick (or penis for you sensitivity people) up for a 200 lb ugly fat woman? Is that going to be a civil rights violaion subjecting me to damages?
Take me back to the day when Americans had balls and weren't pussies. If you are offended by his statement go f yourself. We are on a gradual decline to a second rate county and the reason is that individualism, initiative, and self discipline has been replaced with diversification training, lawsuits galore, and a need for someone else to take care of you while you play on your smartphone.


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August 2, 2015
NAVASOTA, GRIMES COUNTY From Navasota ISD's Facebook Page:
"FURTHER UPDATE: According to local law enforcement and federal ATF officials, Navasota High School has been given the "all-clear" after a bomb threat was reported earlier day. Students will now be moved back to the High School. School will be operating on a normal schedule for the rest of the day."
Navasota ISD Superintendent Rory Gesch said student safety is the district's top concern. He said he was proud to see how well the students handled themselves during this threat and how hard the entire staff worked to follow procedures.
Navasota High School has been evacuated due to a bomb threat.
The school district posted to their Facebook page that Navasota High School students are currently being evacuated from campus after a bomb threat.
Students have been moved to the Jr. High School which is currently on lock-down.
The district said they are working with Navasota Police and Fire Department to secure the high school and Junior high campus. They ask that parents do not try to access the Junior high or high school campus at this time.
The message continued to say when we have all clear from law enforcement, they will notify parents that they may have access to their student.
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Video:What Is a Guitar Chordwith Christopher Pennington
Guitar chord are a series of notes played at the same time. Most songs are built on chord sequences. Learn how to read and play guitar chords with this helpful tutorial.See Transcript
Transcript:What Is a Guitar Chord
Hi, my name is Christopher Pennington and today I'm going to explain to you what a guitar chord is.
Root Notes Name Guitar Chords
A chord is simply a group of 3 or more notes which are played at the same time. A chord's name is derived from the name of it's root note. Now that might sound confusing, but it's actually quite simple. For instance, this a C chord because the root note is a C . Here's a G chord. We call it a G chord, because it's root note is a G note. And here's an D chord, and it's called a D because. You guessed it, the root note is a D.
Read Chords on a Guitar Diagram
Now let me show you how to read a chord diagram. Here's one of the most common guitar chords; a C chord. In the chord diagram, the vertical lines represent the six strings of the guitar, and the horizontal lines represent the frets. And the dots show you where to place your fingers. In this particular chord, you place your first finger on the 2nd string just behind first fret, your 2nd finger on the 4th string behind the 2nd fret, and your 3rd finger on the 5th string behind the 3rd fret.
Songs are Built on Chord Sequences
Chords are the building blocks of what we know as modern music. A song is made up of a combination of chords played in a sequence to accompany a melody. Songs can be made up of a dozen or more chords, or in the case of a lot of folk and country music, there can be as few as only 1 or 2. For more helpful tips like this on how to play the guitar, please join us on the web at About.com. Thanks for watching!


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"Dick Cheney watches television": The four previously unseen 9/11 photos that will make you hate the evil VP all over again
Topics: Movies, Entertainment News
Walking out of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love" I was certain of only two things: that I had no idea what I'd just seen, and that I wanted to see it again right away. By turns irritating, strange, and finally entrancing, "Punch-Drunk Love" is something we haven't seen before: a manic-depressive romantic comedy that aspires to the soul of a musical. It's a new-fashioned love song.
It's also Anderson's attempt to work on a smaller, less defined scale than he did in his multi-character epics "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." The inspiration and touchstone for those films was the '70s work of Robert Altman, particularly "Nashville." Anderson's movies had the same huge appetite for character and incident, the need to keep encompassing more, to keep bringing new people into the party. But where Altman has always had a gambler's faith in chance, Anderson, the most ambitious young filmmaker in contemporary American movies, works in a precise, controlled manner.
Anderson may believe in chance, but until now he has never left much to it. You could see that in his debut, the marvelous neo-noir "Hard Eight." It was, for a first movie, almost frighteningly disciplined. And you could see it even amid the sprawl of the movies that followed. The extended tracking shot that opened "Boogie Nights," introducing almost all of the major characters in the process, was a wonderful contradiction, bravura filmmaking that orchestrated each flourish, each swoop and glide of the camera.
Anderson must have realized there was nowhere to go from "Magnolia" but into gigantism. So how does a filmmaker with his degree of ambition and need for control scale things down and free himself up? That seems to be the question that Anderson is asking himself throughout "Punch-Drunk Love," and part of the excitement of the movie comes from the way he wrestles with it. In some ways, he hasn't changed. Though the film is essentially a modest two-hander with a running time of 89 minutes, it's shot in widescreen Panavision, and the framing of each shot, the hard-edged yet diffuse light of the San Fernando Valley as captured in Robert Elswit's cinematography, is as meticulous as anything Anderson has done.
So is Christopher Scarabosio's sound design, which veers on a dime from silence to bursts of chaotic noise. Jon Brion's score, dominated by a wheezing harmonium, is layered under the action so that it swells like a wave slowly gathering devastating force. Because of the small scale of the story Anderson is telling here, the control he exerts is even more apparent.
What gives "Punch-Drunk Love" its thrilling and often unsettling aura of uncertainty is that from moment to moment there's no telling what will happen. Befitting the true spirit of romantic comedy, it's a movie where the characters teeter right on the edge of disaster. Even when they find their footing, there's no assurance that the ground beneath their feet will remain stable.
Right from the start the opportunity exists here for both discord and harmony. In the opening sequence, a car driving down a Valley street flips over for no apparent reason, and seconds later a taxi deposits a battered harmonium at the curb. (A harmonium is that rinky-dink little second cousin of the piano and the organ, and indeed nobody in the movie is ever quite sure what to call it.) As the movie's hero, Barry Egan, Adam Sandler carries the expectation of impending disaster in every inch of his lanky, lumbering frame.
A wholesaler of novelty bathroom supplies working out of a cavernous Valley warehouse, Barry exists in a nearly mute state of perpetual tentativeness. He has only the most minimal exchanges with his business partner Lance (Luis Guzmán), and when he has to make a sales pitch to a couple of prospective clients, you feel as if it's taking every ounce of his energy to keep up the patter. Making a call to a phone-sex line, Barry answers the operator's provocations with single syllables and yawning silences.
He's not much more comfortable at a family party for the birthday of one of his seven sisters. With aggression that they try to pass off as kidding affection, the sisters use Barry as their whipping boy while he stands around awkwardly, taking their teasing. (This sequence is remarkable. No previous movie has ever captured in quite this way how the controlled chaos of family gatherings can make you feel like everyone is claiming a piece of you.) Barry doesn't even seem at ease when he's alone, obsessively clipping bar codes from pudding containers to cash in for frequent-flyer miles, even though he has no intention of traveling anywhere.
Sandler's performance has already been talked about as if it were a turn in a silent comedy. But the great silent comics didn't have the expectation of speech; their faces and bodies were their means of expression. Sandler's performance is instead about the agony of Barry's inarticulateness, his stunted desire to connect and communicate, and his inability to define his free-floating pain. In one scene Barry approaches his brother-in-law, the only medical professional he knows, for help. "I don't like myself very much," he says. "Can you help me?"
It's a piercing scene, on the surface a comic moment (his brother-in-law is a dentist) — but only on the surface. There is a raw helplessness in Sandler that lifts this big child-man above being a figure of fun. The impact of the scene depends entirely on our ability to believe in Sandler as a soul in torment, and he pulls it off smashingly. It's an amazing performance.
And it draws on what Anderson must have sensed in Sandler's screen persona. At times he has seemed like a gargantuan gnome, specializing in the mumbling misfits and arrested dimwits who were Jerry Lewis' stock in trade. But Lewis, courting the audience's sympathy, played sweet. And Sandler has always carried the threat of sudden, bellowing, red-faced rage. (Think of the moment in "The Wedding Singer" when he harangues a marriage reception with a screaming, hoarse-voiced cover of "Love Stinks.") Those moments come in "Punch-Drunk Love" as well, and they're the most startling, disturbing and, finally, in Barry's ultimate outburst, the most elating in the movie. There's no phony Chaplin pathos in Sandler's performance, none of the self-love or elfin dearness that comics in dramatic roles often resort to in order to manipulate an audience's affections.
Essentially, Sandler is giving the kind of performance that won praise for Björk's masochistic pixie routine in "Dancer in the Dark" and for Emmanuel Schotté's ludicrous nonperformance in "Humanité." Unlike those, Sandler's performance isn't a stunt. He does something very difficult, working as an actor to articulate Barry's painful lack of articulation. Sandler never sentimentalizes Barry, even when the character finally has something to lose.
That something is Lena Leonard (Emily Watson), a young woman who works with one of Barry's sisters and who has fallen in love with him. Anderson doesn't explain why, but he doesn't treat Lena's feelings for Barry as a conceit, either. "Punch-Drunk Love" is about the inexplicable, life-changing nature of unexpected connections, and Anderson doesn't try to shortchange the power of romance by offering an explanation for it. (Bertrand Blier never did that in his romantic comedies, either.) In both execution and subject, "Punch-Drunk Love" speaks to Anderson's faith in the way odd matches can make perfect sense, not just in terms of the collaboration between him and Sandler but of the onscreen collaboration between Sandler and Watson as well.
Watching the two leads connect here is like watching milk make its way through the loopy course of a Silly Straw. Watson isn't just Barry's ray of sunshine, she's the movie's. Her role and her whole demeanor — those kewpie-doll eyes and the sweetheart face that carries its own romantic comedy lineage — suggest the sylph-like lovelies of 1930s musicals. When she's onscreen you half expect a baritone to break into "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?"
But Watson doesn't have the breathless girlishness you associate with those roles. She combines a bright-eyed expectation with the sureness of a woman who knows what she wants. Unlike Barry, Lena isn't desperate. But, like him, she's looking to carve a place for herself amidst the anonymity of the movie's workplaces and apartments, and even the anonymity of the never-changing Los Angeles blue skies. In the movie's dreamy midsection, when Barry follows Lena to Hawaii, Watson and Sandler, along with the whole movie, seem to be swaying to a lazy, love-drenched rhythm.
Even amid the threat of violence and the movie's riffs on urban alienation, Anderson gives "Punch-Drunk Love" something of the idealization of musical comedy. It proceeds more by poetic than narrative logic. That's a problem in one of the movie's subplots, in which Barry is being blackmailed by an unscrupulous phone-sex mogul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and is chased by the mogul's goons, four hulking brothers (played by four real-life brothers, David, Jimmy, Nathan and Mike Stevens); no actual criminal could be as dumb as Hoffman's character is. But that part of the story also functions as the sort of threat that, in idealized comedies and musicals, can make the possibility of loss even more acute. (There's a heart-stopping moment when you fear Lena may be in danger.)
The electric blue suit that Sandler wears throughout the film was, according to Anderson, inspired by a similar suit in Vincente Minnelli's great movie musical "The Band Wagon." But there's an association with another famous movie suit: the dark blue one worn by Cary Grant in "North by Northwest." As Grant runs for his life across the country that suit becomes his armor, a merit badge for remaining dapper under stress. As "Punch-Drunk Love" moves from L.A. to Oahu to Utah and then back where it began, Barry's suit functions in the same way for Sandler. Like it, he's true blue. Like the interpolated montages of swirling color by the artist Jeremy Blake, the neon blue of that suit stands for Barry's emotional blossoming. He earns the right to wear it, and so does Sandler.
Appearing at a press conference after a New York Film Festival showing of "Punch-Drunk Love," Anderson told the assembled press that he wanted to treat the process of making the movie as if he were making an album. I think what he meant is that he didn't want to be afraid to wing it, and certainly this movie feels less fussed over, less written, than any of his previous films. Anderson, who loves actors as much as any director working, trusts his two leads to get into the movie's emotional groove and carry it forward; he trusts their silences and glances to speak as much as their words.
This step downward in scale is a step forward for Anderson in intuitiveness. How it will play with audiences is another question. The movie is likely to disgruntle those who go in expecting another Adam Sandler comedy, and it may be prejudged by critics and other moviegoers who can't stand Sandler. (Nothing like giving a guy a chance, eh?) There has always been a streak of resentment in some of the reactions to Anderson's movies. It could be due to the bigness of his work in an age of diminished expectations. Some older critics may regard Anderson's naked desire to achieve the heights of '70s American filmmaking — an era they feel proprietary about — as the mark of an upstart.
Perversely, it's Anderson's emotional openness that has fired up some of his loudest detractors. The idea that Anderson could portray a group of porn stars and filmmakers as a loving, dysfunctional family sent some critics into a hissy fit over "Boogie Nights" (even though many of the veterans of the golden age of porn talk about their experiences in just those terms). Perhaps the way that Anderson most resembles Altman is that his empathy and compassion are sometimes reduced by an affinity for sarcasm that borders on crassness, and there are moments when "Punch-Drunk Love" toys with that.
But Anderson's movies, whatever their flaws, are never underfelt. He is a filmmaker who can have his hero say, as Barry says of Lena, "I have a love in my life now, and it gives me more strength than you could ever understand" without feeling the need to parody it or couch it in irony. The spirit of the classic American romantic comedies is far from the spirit of today's prefab movie romances. Where today's romantic comedies end on an assurance that everything will be fine from now on, the great romantic comedies were dedicated to taking risks. The lovers often felt more punch drunk than happy, but that was part of the deal. "Punch-Drunk Love" ends on a moment of quiet contentment, though it offers no guarantees for what lies ahead. And that may be the most heartening thing about it.
Dick Cheney watches television


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25 Results
- 24 Jun 2015
- Working Papers
Accounting Data, Market Values, and the Cross Section of Expected Returns World
Over the past 30 years, the central question in asset pricing is understanding what drives the variation in expected returns. Despite its importance, empirical research in this area has remained problematic because the key variable, expected returns, is not observable. This paper promotes an accounting-fundamentals-based approach to estimating expected returns. It contributes to the stream of empirical studies devoted to developing the estimation of, and understanding the behavior of, expected returns. It also provides a practical tool that can be used to analyze investment choices in international equity contexts. Read More
- 13 Apr 2015
- Working Papers
Implied Materiality and Material Disclosures of Credit Ratings
Materiality—a concept at the core of financial, sustainability, and integrated reporting—means the "reportability" of economic, environmental, social, and governance (risk) issues. Using the lens of materiality, the authors of this paper examine principles underlying the methodologies and business models of credit reporting agencies (CRAs), finding that CRAs have potential governance shortcomings that need to be addressed by the boards of the CRAs themselves. The governance remedies recommended here aim to restore credit rating institutions to their historic role in the proper functioning of the global capital markets. Read More
- 12 Feb 2015
- Working Papers
Auditor Lobbying on Accounting Standards
Understanding the political process that leads to accounting standards may provide insights into both their procedural legitimacy and how they will eventually be used. In a study of the role of major auditors in the accounting standard-setting process, the authors provide a systematic characterization of auditors' changing incentives. They also examine how those incentives influence auditor lobbying across nearly every financial reporting standard issued from 1973 through 2006. Overall, results suggest that the auditors' own incentives play a prominent role in their lobbying activities for the rules of U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Read More
- 24 Feb 2014
- Working Papers
Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele
As a relatively new phenomenon in the world of corporate reporting, integrated reporting (IR) has gained traction across both the corporate and investor community in the last 10 years. A recent pilot program of the International Integrated Reporting Council, for example, included more than 100 large multinational companies supported by an investor network with more than 40 members. Although IR has the potential to fundamentally change corporate reporting, we still know relatively little about its causes and consequences. Proponents of IR argue that the attraction of long-term investors is a benefit of adopting IR. While anecdotal evidence has suggested the presence of a link, no empirical evidence to date has been provided to establish such a relation. In this paper, the author examines how the practice of IR affects the investor base of the firm. Specifically, analyzing data on more than 1,000 firms between 2002 and 2010, he finds that firms practicing IR have a more long-term investor base and fewer transient investors. In addition, evidence supports a causal mechanism from IR to the investor base of a firm. Investor activism on sustainability issues is shown to be effective in improving IR, but such investor-induced changes in IR do not affect the composition of the investor base. Overall, the paper contributes to emerging scholarship that seeks to understand the causes and consequences of sustainability and integrated reporting. It also contributes to studies examining how companies cater to different types of investors. Read More
- 16 Apr 2013
- Working Papers
The Auditing Oligopoly and Lobbying on Accounting Standards
The US auditing industry has been characterized as an oligopoly, which has successively tightened from eight key players to four over the last 25 years. This tightening is likely to change the incentives of the surviving big auditors, with implications for their role in our market economy. Motivated by the economic and public policy implications of the tightening audit oligopoly, the authors of this paper investigate the changing relation between the big firms and accounting standards. Accounting standards are a key input in the audit process and, through their effects on financial reporting, can impact capital allocation decisions in the economy. Results show that the big auditors are more likely to identify decreased reliability in proposed standards as the auditing oligopoly has tightened: This suggests that big auditors perceive higher litigation and political costs from the increased visibility that accompanies tighter oligopoly. The findings are also consistent with tighter oligopoly decreasing competition among the surviving firms to satisfy client preferences in accounting standards. The findings do not support the concern that tightening oligopoly has rendered the surviving big firms "too big to fail." Read More
- 07 Nov 2012
- Working Papers
Causes and Consequences of Linguistic Complexity in Non-US Firm Conference Calls
Does the form in which financial information is presented have consequences for the capital markets? The authors examine the level of linguistic complexity of more than 11,000 conference call transcripts from non-US firms between 2002 and 2010. Findings show that the linguistic complexity of calls varies with country-level factors such as language barriers, but also with firm characteristics. Firms with more linguistic complexity in their conference calls show less trading volume and price movement following the information releases. Overall, these results may be useful to foreign firms that wish to communicate with investors globally. Analysts and investors around the world may also find the results helpful since they might be able to push managers to speak in a less complex manner. This study is the first to analyze conference calls in a cross-country setting. Read More
- 14 Nov 2011
- Working Papers
The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Process and Performance
Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou, and George Serafeim compared a matched sample of 180 companies, 90 of which they classify as High Sustainability firms and 90 as Low Sustainability firms, in order to examine issues of governance, culture, and performance. Findings for an 18-year period show that High Sustainability firms dramatically outperformed the Low Sustainability ones in terms of both stock market and accounting measures. However, the results suggest that this outperformance occurs only in the long term. Managers and investors who are hoping to gain a competitive advantage in the short term are unlikely to succeed by embedding sustainability in their organization's strategy. Overall, the authors argue that High Sustainability company policies reflect the underlying culture of the organization, where environmental and social performance, in addition to financial performance, are important, but these policies also forge a strong culture by making explicit the values and beliefs that underlie the mission of the organization. Read More
- 18 Aug 2011
- Working Papers
Non-Audit Services and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from 1978-1980
What are the costs and benefits of auditors providing non-audit services? In this paper, the authors investigate whether high non-audit services (NAS) fees relative to audit fees are associated with poor quality financial reporting. Associate Professor Suraj Srinivasan and colleagues look specifically at a sample of S&P 500 firms during the years 1978-80. The authors thus provide an early history analysis of a long-standing regulatory concern that NAS fees create an economic dependence that causes the auditor to acquiesce to the client's wishes in financial reporting, reducing the quality of the audit. This concern led the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to prohibit auditors from providing most consulting services. The authors find that, contrary to regulatory concerns, NAS are associated with better quality financial reporting: lower earnings management and higher earnings informativeness. Conclusions rely on the specific institutional features of the years 1978-80. Read More
- 16 Aug 2011
- Working Papers
The International Politics of IFRS Harmonization
Contrary to its staid image in popular culture, accounting has reigned at the forefront of globalization over the last decade. As of 2010, about 100 countries, including all of the world's major economies, either have adopted a common set of accounting principles known as International Financial Reporting Standards, have initiated an IFRS harmonization program, or have in place a national strategy to respond to IFRS. In fact, the proliferation of IFRS worldwide is one of the most important developments in corporate governance today. Through a series of case studies on Canada, China, and India, Assistant Professor Karthik Ramanna analyzes key similarities and differences in the international political dynamics that contribute to countries' responses to IFRS. His framework helps explain and predict countries' decisions on IFRS harmonization, as well as the potential structure and impact of IFRS in the future. Read More
- 19 Apr 2011
- Working Papers
Top Executive Background and Financial Reporting Choice: The Case of Goodwill Impairment
In the management literature, some theories hold that corporate actions and strategic choices can be partially predicted by knowing the functional background of executives. The authors provide evidence on how CEOs and CFOs who were former investment bankers, auditors, and private equity/venture capital executives managed decisions around goodwill impairments (essentially goodwill charge-offs)—a complex accounting choice involving a high degree of managerial discretion. Research by HBS professor Francois Brochet and doctoral candidate Kyle Welch. Read More
- 07 Dec 2010
- Working Papers
Towards an Understanding of the Role of Standard Setters in Standard Setting
Accounting standards promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) play an important role in the development and maintenance of capital markets worldwide, so it is important to understand how these standards come to be. Prior research has focused on the effect of corporate lobbying on the development of FASB standards, but has largely overlooked the role of the FASB members themselves. Looking at these individuals between 1973 and 2007, Harvard Business School doctoral candidate Abigail M. Allen and professor Karthik Ramanna examine how board members' professional experience, length of service on the board, and political leanings influenced accounting standards. Read More
- 25 Jun 2009
- Working Papers
Why Do Countries Adopt International Financial Reporting Standards?
Why do some countries adopt the European Union (EU)-based International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) when others do not? To expand our understanding of the determinants and consequences of IFRS adoption on a global sample, HBS professor Karthik Ramanna and MIT Sloan School of Management coauthor Ewa Sletten studied variations over time in the decision to adopt these standards in more than a hundred non-EU countries. Understanding countries' adoption decisions can provide insights into the benefits and costs of IFRS adoption. Read More
- 19 Jun 2008
- Working Papers
Accounting Information as Political Currency
The study of accounting and the political process has long been viewed through the political cost hypothesis, the basic premise of which is that firms manage earnings in order to extract first-order benefits (or avoid first-order costs) from regulators. This paper develops and tests a distinct, yet likely, complementary hypothesis: Firms manage reported earnings in order to supply first-order benefits to regulators. Focusing on Democratic and Republican candidates in congressional races in 2004, Ramanna and Roychowdhury test whether the management of accounting information is in some circumstances akin to a political contribution from firms to politicians: in other words, whether accounting information can be used as political currency. The authors predict and find that identified corporate donors to candidates in closely watched races in 2004 managed information related to outsourcing, a hot-button issue in those races. Read More
- 26 Jun 2007
- Working Papers
Contracting in the Self-reporting Economy
Intellectual property can be used by its owner directly, licensed to a third party for a fixed royalty, or licensed to a third party for a variable royalty. The variable royalty arrangement depends on self-reporting by the licensee, which in turn induces demand for auditing by the licensor. This research studies a setting with the following features: a production cost advantage on the part of the outside party that creates gains from licensing; a limited liability constraint that prevents the licensee from owing more royalties than the gross profits of licensing the intellectual property and prevents the licensor from capturing all of the economic surplus via a fixed royalty agreement; and accounting and auditing costs that reduce the benefits of a variable royalty agreement. Read More
- 23 Jan 2006
- Research & Ideas
Financial Reporting Goes Global
Globalization is the key issue in determining the future of financial accounting, says professor Gregory S. Miller. And as more countries consider adopting an international accounting standard, India is positioned to be a strong leader. Read More


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Learn about the privacy issues facing users of Facebook Messenger, and how to adjust the privacy settings in the iOS and Android versions of the app.
Get on Facebook quickly and safely. Find out what your friends and family are up to, and share pictures and news with them—all without compromising your privacy.
Set up a Facebook page separate from your personal one, promote your albums and gigs, and grow your fan base online.
Increase brand visibility and take advantage of the free features in Facebook to communicate and advertise your photography or videos.
Shows how to use social media to its full potential and leverage the unique benefits it offers photographers and filmmakers.
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CRM 2013 New Client API MethodsPosted by Blake Scarlavai on September 23, 2013 | Comments (4)
With CRM 2013, Microsoft is providing some exciting new methods we can use with the JavaScript SDK on the entity forms. Some highlights are an easier way to set the form dirty, custom lookup filters, and a supported way to display form notifications as well as field specific notifications. See below for a full comprehensive list with details.
- Xrm.Page.context.client.getClient()
- Returns "Outlook", "Web", or "Mobile"
- Xrm.Page.context.client.getClientState()
- Returns "Online" or "Offline"
- Xrm.Page.context.isOutlookOnline and isOutlookClient are now deprecated
- Xrm.Page.data.refresh()
- Asynchronously refresh data on form without reloading the page
- Can pass in a callback to execute on error or success
- Xrm.Page.data.save()
- Asynchronously save the form
- Can pass in a callback to execute on error or success
- Xrm.Page.data.getIsValid()
- Returns a boolean telling whether the form can be saved or not
- Xrm.Page.data.setFormDirty()
- Sets the form as dirty
- Xrm.Page.data.entity.getPrimaryAttributeValue()
- Returns a string value of the primary attribute for the entity
- Xrm.Page.ui.setFormNotification()
- Takes in a string value to set a form notification with the passed in string
- Pass in "ERROR", "INFORMATION" or "WARNING" to dictate the type of notification
- Xrm.Page.ui.clearFormNotification()
- Clears the form notification
All Controls
- Xrm.Page.getControl("new_name").setNotification("Field specific notification")
- Sets a notification specific to the field
- Xrm.Page.getControl("new_name").clearNotification()
- Clears the field specific notification
Number Fields
- Xrm.Page.getAttribute("new_precision").setPrecision(2)
- Override field's precision
Date Fields
- Xrm.Page.getControl("createdon").setShowTime(true)
- Controls whether to show the time for a date field
Lookup Fields
- Xrm.Page.getControl("ownerid").addCustomFilter(fetchFilter, entityType)
- Applies a custom filter to the lookup view
- entityType is optional and if it is not passed it will default to all entity views
- Xrm.Page.getControl("ownerid").addPreSearch(handler)
- triggers right before a lookup dialog pops open
- Xrm.Page.getControl("ownerid").removePreSearch(handler)
- removes event handler set from the addPreSearch method
- Xrm.Utility.openWebResourceDialog(webResourceName, webResourceData, width, height)
- opens a specified HTML web resource as a dialog
Thanks for the article. It's worth pointing out that the 'openWebResourceDialog' has been postponed until a later release.
There are also Xrm.Utility functions for alertDialog and confirmDialog that replace the window.alert and window.confirm methods so that these dialogs can be supported on a tablet/mobile device. Code that uses window.alert and window.confirm today will be mapped to the new functions, but in the future support for the window methods will be dropped making it important to start using the new methods.
Posted by: Scott Durow | Sep 24, 2013 2:36:28 AM
Thanks for the update Scott!
Posted by: Blake Scarlavai | Sep 24, 2013 8:39:40 AM
I have an issue with my fields that are not set as visible by default on the form. But in JavaScript when I call:
it returns true. The call is expected to return 'false' because my my_field is not visible by default on the form.
any suggestions?
Posted by: Javid | Mar 19, 2015 5:41:31 AM
Post a Comment
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Below is the poem entitled Dying which was written by poet
stefan. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.
Read Poems by
Catalin Stefan
Lifeless thoughts stream to me
Maybe I keep bad company
Maybe it's just that I'm growing old
Maybe it's something that's never been told
Memories of you are haunting me
I want to forget, but they want me to see
Our whispers of love, the stars and the sea
Mysteries of life, mysteries of you
Timeless nights, lonely paces
We always die alone
We always die alone
Godless days will follow
Dusks and dawns
Springs and summers
The world's lost its meaning
And now you are only a word.
Silence would do, but then silence is death
I still love you, but this does not mean a thing
I don't know where to go
I really know nothing
Sometimes we do try and we do fight
Sometimes we think it is worth a while
But we always lose and we always get lost
No lighthouse
Just the remote skies and the dying birds


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Our family takes great pride in the comforting atmosphere and decor of our funeral homes. In these relaxed surroundings, you'll find caring and dedication from people who are here for you when you need us the most. We have two locations in the Oshkosh area to better serve you. Poklasny building at 870 W. South Park Avenue and the newest funeral home in the City of Oshkosh, the relocated Fiss & Bills-Poklasny Funeral Home, 865 S. Westhaven Drive. The latter location has a new "state of art" crematory on site which is located in the main building.
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Site designed and developed by Aurora Casket Company


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According to New Yorker contributor and best selling author Malcolm Gladwell, Asian kids have a distinct advantage over the rest of the world when it comes to maths. Whereas some have purported the theory that there is an IQ differential along racial and ethnic lines, Gladwell claims that it has more to do with structure and methodology than anything else. His theory is based around the much simpler concept that Asian names for numbers are shorter than their English equivalent - meaning it is easier for them to remember more. Going down those lines, it's pretty easy to see that ... Read more
The world is not a very happy place right now. Just look at the news. There's trouble in the Middle East and Europe, and Africa is a minefield just waiting to explode. The fact is, as individuals, we can't really have much control over what's happening in the word. We can have some control in our own individual happiness, however. MyHappiness is a social self-help application for iOS and Android that can be used as a personal happiness trainer as well as a platform to keep a record of your happy times and your not-so-happy times. This fun set of ... Read more
Music is a strange thing. We are all affected by it in different ways and have different expectations when we listen to it. Some of us want to know everything about our favorite artists including their inside leg measurement while others aren't quite so fussy and just want to have some decent and familiar music to while away the hours and hum along to. Music streaming apps have latched onto this and there are now a squillion different places to access the music that you love. Pandora is probably the oldest of the free internet music streaming services and likes ... Read more
When Apple handed over US$3 billion to rapper Dr. Dre and producer Jimmy Iovine for their Beats Electronics headphones business recently it signalled a probable change in the way that we will listen to music in the future. With technology moving at such a rapid pace it was only a matter of time before our music listening habits would be put to the test once again.It all began, of course, with vinyl records and the radio being our main sources of listening pleasure. It wasn't until the 70's that the cassette and the much-loved 8 -track were introduced to the ... Read more
The inference from Apple forking out US$3 million for Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine's Beats headphones and the music streaming service Beats Music is that it's only a matter of time before iTunes and the concept of 'owning music' bites the dust. The way we listen to music is changing. According to recent figures released by Digital Music News, digital downloads are down by around 14% this year alone and the trend seems to be drifting towards radio streaming as a way of accessing music. The concept behind streaming radio is that, when you select an artist or a song, ... Read more
Don't panic, MinaGrey is not the follow up to Fifty Shades of Grey! It's far more worthy to me than that poorly written piece of fluff. Let me just say from the outset here. This free, art and writing application is unlike any other app that we've seen before here at the FeedMyApp offices. I guess the best way to describe it is would be as a non-commercial artistic and creative community where musicians, artists, writers and scientists can freely share ideas, concepts and their artistic skills with the rest of the world. It's a social network - run by ... Read more
If there is one form of music that you could nail to a specific city it is probably Hip-hop and New York. There is a fair bit of Caribbean influence in there too, of course, but it's origins lie in NYC with Grandmaster Flash, the Sugarhill Gang and Africa Bambaataa. Back then it was known as Disco Rap while today it takes on many forms including Rapping and even MC-ing and is one of the most popular forms of music on the planet. These days, the genre is played all over the world by people of all kinds and with ... Read more
I guess the best way to describe a heat map is probably to think of it as a table or a spreadsheet. Rather than detailing information with numbers, however, heat maps highlight the same information but use colors instead. This makes it clearer and easier for experienced users to analyze certain aspects of information. Read Heat is an education application that uses this technology to better analyze students to see how they react and respond to questions posed in the new Common Core standards testing. It aims to find out more about how students respond to the latest formats of ... Read more
I really don't wanna appear to be some crazed grammar and spelling freak here but, I have to admit, there's little that get's my goat up more than poor spelling and grammar on the Internet. I'm sure we've all seen memes on our Facebook feed begging people to acknowledge the difference between there, their and they're. That's just the half of it. The thing is, standards in spelling have dropped over the years - probably because of a change in scholastic emphasis and, let's face it, bad Internet habits. Many would rather play a mindless online game than spend some ... Read more
valuable painting in the world a few years ago, it turned the art world on it's head. The reason for this was that it wasn't painted by Van Gogh, Picasso, Rembrandt or even Bacon. It was a painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and it catapulted this lesser known artist into the big league. However, his work is still not appreciated anywhere near enough outside the critics and his loyal fans. My Guide to Gustav Klimt is a beautiful looking Android art application that offers an appreciation of this great artist's work that has been put together by long ... Read more


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4/16/2013 (2 years ago)
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
Catholics should live a way of life which understands our place with one another in the world which God created for all of us to care for, steward and share. We need a human ecology, a relational environmentalism, a Catholic way of being green. The most recent debate concerning global warming invites us to continue to develop such an approach, together. It also calls for the charity in truth and respect which should characterize healthy debate between Catholics and other Christians.
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
4/16/2013 (2 years ago)
Published in Green
Keywords: Green, global warming, climate change, environmentalism, human ecology, ecology, Benedict XVI, stewardship, Deacon Keith Fournier
CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic online) - We recently published a series of articles which offered a point/counterpoint on the controversial topic of climate change or global warming. I did not write any of them. As the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online, I allowed a robust debate to ensue in our comment section.
However, what is called global warming or climate change is one of those areas where the exercise of prudential judgment can find good Catholics and other Christians differing with one another. When we do, we should do so with charity.
The responses have now prompted me to address the subject of Catholics and environmental concerns in general. This is not the first time I have written on the issue. The Catholic Church has been green for a lot longer than any modern environmental movement.
We are called to what I call a relational environmentalism; one of stewardship with the earth which God has made and entrusted to us to care for and to share. For those eager to understand Catholic teaching on this vital topic, we should always begin with scripture and tradition.
We have a well of teaching in the Church on our relationship to the gift of God's creation. The concern I have about some of the arguments concerning global warming is that they promote one more charged right vs. left political food fight. Sadly, they too often use sometimes conflicting scientific data as fodder for the fight. We are not first political conservatives or liberals, we are first, last and all in between, Catholic.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a structure for the study of our obligation to be good stewards of the gift of creation under the theme of Creation in its Index. Every Catholic who writes on this subject should be familiar with these sections, along with other Church documents. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops recently released a helpful document entitled Building a New Culture - Central Themes in Recent Church Teaching on the Environment.
The St Kateri Teckawitha Conservation Center is an excellent virtual clearing house of solid magisterial teaching concerning our obligations as stewards of the gift of creation. The body of Catholic social teaching concerning this topic is catalogued in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church
In addition to affirming our obligations as stewards of the gift of creation, the Compendium also issues cautions about a misguided approach. For example in paragraph # 463 we read, 'A correct understanding of the environment prevents the utilitarian reduction of nature to a mere object to be manipulated and exploited.'
'At the same time, it must not absolutize nature and place it above the dignity of the human person himself. In this latter case, one can go so far as to divinize nature or the earth, as can readily be seen in certain ecological movements that seek to gain an internationally guaranteed institutional status for their beliefs.'
'The Magisterium finds the motivation for its opposition to a concept of the environment based on ecocentrism and on biocentrism in the fact that "it is being proposed that the ontological and axiological difference between men and other living beings be eliminated, since the biosphere is considered a biotic unity of undifferentiated value. Thus man's superior responsibility can be eliminated in favor of an egalitarian consideration of the 'dignity' of all living beings'.
Some in the current green movement have lost their way. The most obvious example is the inherent contradiction of worrying about polluting the atmosphere with toxic chemicals while at the same time supporting making toxic chemicals available to be ingested by mothers, including girls, in order to kill the children in their womb. We need a new way of being green, a Catholic way.
On June 9, 2011, then Pope Benedict XVI received the credential letters of six new ambassadors to the Holy See. He gave a speech addressing them. In his speech the Pope sounded a theme which is common in his locutions and writings; he spoke of a Human Ecology.
He recalled the 'innumerable tragedies that have affected nature, technology, and the peoples" that year and suggested that "the States should reflect together on the short term future of the planet, on our responsibilities regarding our life and technology'.
He said 'Human ecology is an imperative. Adopting a lifestyle that respects our environment and supports the research and use of clean energies that preserve the patrimony of creation and that are safe for human beings should be given political and economic priority'.
He called for a 'change in mentality' in order to 'quickly arrive at a global lifestyle that respects the covenant between humanity and nature, without which the human family risks disappearing.' He said that 'every government must commit themselves to protecting nature and assisting it to carry out its essential role in the survival of humanity.'
Then, he addressed technology saying, 'It is also helpful to ask ourselves about the appropriate role of technology because believing it is the exclusive agent of progress or happiness carries a reification of humanity that leads to blindness and misery. ... Technology that dominates human beings deprives them of their humanity. The pride that it generates has created an impossible economism in our societies as well as a hedonism that subjectively and selfishly regulates behavior. The debilitation of the primacy of the human person provokes a loss of the meaning of life'.
The Pope Emeritus noted 'it is urgent that we match technology with a strong ethical dimension. ... Technology should help nature develop along the lines envisioned by the Creator. In working together, the researcher and the scientist adhere to God's plan that desired humanity as the apex and the administrator of creation. Solutions based on this principle will protect human life and its vulnerability, as well as the rights of the present and future generations'.
There was nothing new in his words. They comported with what he had written and said since he assuming his office. However, some Press reports focused on his encouragement of clean energy. In some instances the reports implied the Pope had somehow joined the Green movement. I thought back to 2009 when he sent a letter to participants in the World Day of Peace entitled If You Want to Cultivate Peace, protect creation.
In fact, he referred to that 2009 letter in his 2011 address. However, the Press explicitly reported the address as some kind of papal conversion to a green ideology. A Reuters report bore the headline Pope Goes Green. Benedict simply reaffirmed the Catholic understanding of our relationship with the goods of the earth and our call to stewardship of the planet which has been given to us by the Creator as a gift. Here are some salient excerpts from that 2009 letter:
'Without belief in the true God our efforts are in ultimately fruitless, in fact not only fruitless, but they bear poisonous fruit if the Church's magisterium expresses grave misgivings about notions of the environment inspired by ecocentrism and biocentrism, it is because such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human person and other living things.'
'In the name of a supposedly egalitarian vision of the dignity of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness and superior role of human beings. They also open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms.'
The media reports tried to fit the Pope's letter into a simplistic green template. They also demonstrated the reporters had not read the actual letter. In that letter, and in his address to those ambassadors, the Pope repeated themes developed in his Encyclical Letter entitled Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). Those themes are a part of Catholic Social teaching. They are found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and have their roots in the Bible and the Christian Tradition.
His Holiness Benedict XVI called for an integral human development which recognizes the centrality of the human person and the primacy of our relationships with one another in family and society. He underscored the truth that creation is a gift, given to human persons by a God of love who entrusts us with responsibility for one another - and therefore for the goods which promote our human flourishing. We all have a responsibility for one another. We need to live together as good stewards of creation, recognizing the need first for a human ecology.
Here is another excerpt from the 2009 letter: 'The Church has a responsibility towards creation, and she considers it her duty to exercise that responsibility in public life, in order to protect earth, water and air as gifts of God the Creator meant for everyone, and above all to save mankind from the danger of self-destruction. The degradation of nature is closely linked to the cultural models shaping human coexistence: consequently, when 'human ecology' is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits'.
'Young people cannot be asked to respect the environment if they are not helped, within families and society as a whole, to respect themselves. The book of nature is one and indivisible; it includes not only the environment but also individual, family and social ethics. Our duties towards the environment flow from our duties towards the person, considered both individually and in relation to others.'
'Hence I readily encourage efforts to promote a greater sense of ecological responsibility which, as I indicated in my Encyclical Caritas in Veritate,(Charity in Truth) would safeguard an authentic human ecology and thus forcefully reaffirm the inviolability of human life at every stage and in every condition, the dignity of the person and the unique mission of the family, where one is trained in love of neighbor and respect for nature. There is a need to safeguard the human patrimony of society. This patrimony of values originates in and is part of the natural moral law, which is the foundation of respect for the human person and creation.'
Benedict XVI presented a Catholic Environmental vision; one which is pro-life, pro-family, pro-poor, pro-peace and fundamentally relational. That is what we should present, build upon and espouse as well. We are to receive one another as gifts. We must never use human persons as objects. We should receive creation as a gift, our common home, to be shared with one another, and not as an object of use. He articulated a vision for a human ecology which can promote a path to authentic peace.
He concluded his 2009 letter with these words, 'The Church, for her part, is concerned that the question be approached in a balanced way, with respect for the "grammar" which the Creator has inscribed in his handiwork by giving man the role of a steward and administrator with responsibility over creation, a role which man must certainly not abuse, but also one which he may not abdicate. In the same way, the opposite position, which would absolutize technology and human power, results in a grave assault not only on nature, but also on human dignity itself.
'If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. The quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation. In the light of divine Revelation and in fidelity to the Church's Tradition, Christians have their own contribution to make.'
'They contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ, who by his death and resurrection has reconciled with God "all things, whether on earth or in heaven" (Col 1:20). Christ, crucified and risen, has bestowed his Spirit of holiness upon mankind, to guide the course of history in anticipation of that day when, with the glorious return of the Savior, there will be "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Pet 3:13), in which justice and peace will dwell forever'.
'Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all.'
'May this be clear to world leaders and to those at every level who are concerned for the future of humanity: the protection of creation and peacemaking are profoundly linked! For this reason, I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation'
One of the accurate reports on the Pope's 2009 letter came from Giuliano Ferrara, the director of the Italian daily Il Foglio who wrote 'The Pope denounces the ecological crisis but does not belong to the church of Al Gore. Benedict XVI in no way denies human abuse of nature. He notes that he does not share the 'the environmentalist religion or environmentalism as a religion'. The Pope has another faith, based on the transcendence of a God that creates man in his image and likeness to entrust nature to him. He has, evidently, no need for replacement beliefs, of ideologies feigned as science.'
Catholics should live a way of life which understands our place with one another in the world which God created for all of us to care for, steward and share. We need a human ecology, a relational environmentalism, a Catholic way of being green. The most recent debate concerning global warming invites us to continue to develop such an approach, together. It also calls for the charity in truth and respect which should characterize healthy debate between Catholics and other Christians.
St Patrick Rosary
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Can anyone help me out with a great recipe? I have a veg friend who is pp, and I'll be making 2 batches of chili this week for myself and another friend, and figure I might as well just make up another batch. But I've never made veg chili. In fact my personal recipe doesn't even use beans, it's just meat and spices. So what do you put in your (veg) chili so that it's not just a pot of beans with spices? I'm thinking veggies, since buying a meat sub isn't an option.
Cristeen ~ Always remembering our warrior ~ Our is 3, how'd that happen?!?!
We welcomed another warrior in May 2012!!
2012 Decluttering challenge - 575/2012
This one. Hands down! I make it and then freeze individual portions.
Sometimes I'll overload the rice and use it for tacos or burritos.
I actually got the recipe from this board many moons ago.
Vegetarian, Montessori-loving, Blogging, Doula in Training, Student Midwife Mama to A 10/17/09
Aww! *blush* I was about to post my recipe.
I like this one:
The beer and mustard powder sounds weird, but it's so good. You can use dried beans, too, or fewer varieties as long as the total amount is about the same.
Mom "D" to DD1 "Z" (15) and DD2 "I" (12) DH "M"
Seriously! I haven't even felt the need to try another recipe since this one. Plus, it's been my go to potluck/ bring a meal to a family dish all winter.
Vegetarian, Montessori-loving, Blogging, Doula in Training, Student Midwife Mama to A 10/17/09
The above recipes sound good. I always kinda make mine up as I go along. . .
Veg-wise, I usually use 1-2 peppers, large onion, 2-3 carrots, 2-3 celery stalks. Sometimes I add corn (usually frozen, especially if using black beans), sometimes cubed sweet potato. I usually like a variety of beans in my chili (so black, kidney, and garbanzo most often). And in with all that there's canned tomatoes/sauce and spices. Then I spice it until it tastes good.
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 onion
1 jar of sliced jalepenos
1 can of tomato sauce
2 cans of kidney beans
1 jar of salsa
throw it in the crockpot and it's sooo yummy
mama to and and
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Cue outrage in The Guardian today as the financially illiterate realise that Amazon isn't paying very much corporation tax in the UK despite their selling quite a lot in the UK. What they seem not to realise is that the entire European corporate taxation system is set up to actually encourage companies to do this. This is actually the point of the tax system as designed:
Amazon.co.uk, Britain's biggest online retailer, generated sales of more than £3.3bn in the country last year but paid no corporation tax on any of the profits from that income – and is under investigation by the UK tax authorities.
Regulatory filings by parent company Amazon.com with the US securities and exchange commission (SEC) show the tax inquiry into the UK operation, which sells nearly one in four books sold in Britain, focuses on a period when ownership of the British business was transferred to a Luxembourg company.
It's that last which is the operative bit. The way Amazon is organised inside the European Union is that there is one company which does all of the sales. All of the sales for all of the 27 countries inside the EU: you buy from Amazon in the EU and you are buying the whatever it is from that one company in Luxembourg.
Well, given that you're buying something from a company in Luxembourg, which pays corporate taxation in Luxembourg, then why on Earth should that company now be paying corporation tax in the UK?
There are other parts of Amazon, of course, they own a large packaging operation in the UK for example. That company does pay UK corporation tax on its (small, admittedly) profits.
There's two things that we need to point out about this structure. The first is that European Union law is deliberately set up to make it easy for a company to do this. Indeed, it's set up in the hope that companies will do this. For while I may despise all that the EU stands for I will admit that occasionally some of the things they do are quite clever: and this is one of them.
The aim, the intermediate one on the road to the grand aim of full European political unity, is that we create a Single Market. Where all goods, wherever produced, can be sold on equal terms right across the 27 countries. Vast libraries full of laws are passed to make this possible: everything from defining carrots as fruit (so that jam can be made from them….no really, that is part of the Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and Sweet Chestnut Purees regulations) through to insisting that a company need have only one base to trade anywhere within the EU. It isn't just the use of some loophole in the law: this is the intended aim of the structure of the laws. That a company needs to only register with one government, only have one domicile for corporate purposes, only needs to deal with one set of taxmen, is not just allowed but positively encouraged to fill out the paperwork in only one of the 27 jurisdictions but is then able to sell in all 27 of them.
So attacking Amazon for doing precisely what the whole structure of EU law encourages them to do seems really rather silly.
The second point is slightly more subtle but one that shows that these complainers are even more ignorant than we at first thought. This is the list of the companies in the FTSE100, roughly the equivalent of something in between the Dow Jones 30 and the S&P 500. The vast majority of those companies are UK domiciled (you don't have to be UK domiciled to float on the London market but with a few exceptions almost all of them are). Further, the majority of the business that those companies do is not UK based (this effect is stronger the larger the company: of the top 10 companies there's at least three which have almost no domestic to UK business at all and it most certainly wouldn't be a majority of their business for any of them). Yet, for those companies that are domiciled in the UK the UK taxman most definitely looks to get a chunk of their profits.
Which leaves us with something of a conundrum for there are two basic ways in which you can tax corporate profits. The first is, you do business here and we'll have some money thank you very much. The second is that you're domiciled here and we'll have the cash wherever you do business. But you cannot have both systems: for if a company is domiciled elsewhere then it will be taxed that elsewhere and so you can't have a slice of the business they do in the UK. Or if you only tax the business that is done in the UK then you can't claim UK taxes on the business that UK domiciled companies have done elsewhere.
You've got to choose between one of the two systems and the EU has already chosen. And do note that on such matters EU law over rides UK law: that's what being in the European Union means.
Amazon isn't dodging UK tax, it's most certainly not using tax evasion, it's not even tax avoidance. It's doing exactly and precisely what EU law encourages all companies to do. Treat the EU as a single market and set up just the one company in just the one country to sell to all 27.
That's not going to stop The Guardian having hysterics of course but then when did any facts of the law, reality or business manage to do that?