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In this essay I will argue that the polarity of the global system is heading toward a stable end-state. We are closing in on the end-game of a contest that has lasted for centuries, if not millennia. Within the lifetime of a person born today, the question of who will be the arbiter of world affairs will be settled once and for all.
France, England, Prussia, Austria, Russia, the Ottoman empire, Portugal, Spain, Holland, Sweden, and Poland all appear on the roster of great powers in the European balance of power between the Peace of Westphalia and Waterloo. Portugal, Spain, Holland, Sweden, and Poland were already eclipsed by the end of the eighteenth century. The Austrian and Ottoman empires no longer counted for much after the rise of Germany. After 1871, only the combined strength of Britain, France, and Russia could balance Germany. At the turn of the century, Europe's monopoly on the global balance of power was permanently broken as strong states arose outside the continent. Of the six top ranked powers in 1914—Germany, Russia, Britain, France, Japan, and the United States—all but two had been eliminated by 1945. Henceforth, only continental superstates with enormous war potential could compete at the global level. With the capitulation of the Soviet Union in 1990, the world became unipolar.
America cannot prevent the emergence of strategic rivals; nor can it do much to thwart their rise. All potential great powers—Japan, China, India, Russia, the EU—can easily acquire a second-strike capability. The US can try to economically strangulate emerging powers. But that will not work where it is most needed: against the strongest of the rivals. Against China, it can do nothing but hope that it will be able to balance the colossus.
The United States may not be strongest state in the system in 2040, but it will be a polar state—at least half as strong as the strongest state in the system. Not all of the five potential rivals will be polar states. China will; India, Japan, Germany, and Russia won't. If the Europeans can get their act together, the EU would immediately join the top ranks of global power.
America's GDP in 2014 was about $17 trillion. If it continues to grow at the neoliberal-era rate of 2.5%, its GDP in 2040 will be $32 trillion; if it grows at the New Deal-era rate of 3.5%, it will be $42 trillion. If China grows slowly, say, at 5%, its GDP in 2040 will be $32 trillion; if it grows moderately fast, say, at 6%, it will be $42 trillion; if it grows at a rapid clip, say, at 7.5%, it will be $55 trillion. Thus, US GDP will likely be between two-thirds and at par with China's in 2040.
India cannot catch up. Even if India grows at the rate of 9% over the next quarter century—an achievement surpassing those of Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and China—the size of India's economy would still be only $18 trillion; if it grows by 8% it will be $14 trillion; at 7%, $11 trillion. Even the second scenario may be too rosy. In the rosiest scenario, with India growing twice as fast as China, India will be barely half the size of China in 2040. In the worst case scenario, it'll be a fifth as big. Neither of these two extremes is likely to obtain. By 2040, India's economic size will probably be between a third and a fourth that of China. Of course, India could potentially keep growing much more rapidly than China through 2100. But that is a scenario that is orders of magnitude less likely than a 9% growth rate for 25 years.
Germany, Japan, and Russia are likely to grow even more slowly. Productivity growth cannot stem their long-term decline which is overdetermined by an outright shrinking of their populace. Although dramatic demographic changes may yet yield a surprise, they are extremely unlikely to be polar states. Regional powers like Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, South Africa, and Brazil are extremely unlikely to emerge as first-rank powers do to inherent limits on their war potential. Therefore, the most likely exit from unipolarity is bipolarity.
By 2030, China will certainly be in a position to balance the US in Asia. But it is unlikely to be as strong as the US at that early date. By 2040, it is likely to have greater power resources and be in a position to deal with the United States as an equal. Indeed, it may even be stronger than the US. China's rise may unleash a major confrontation with the United States; perhaps even a hegemonic war. Once China can negotiate from a position of strength, it will demand a rewriting of the international order in its favour. It will certainly force America to surrender naval supremacy in Asian waters. It will likely challenge American military preponderance in the Middle East. No state can secure a co-equal global position without unimpeded military access to both the gulf's energy resources and the circumferential maritime highway along the Eurasian coastline that connects Europe and Asia.
Note that in a hegemonic war between two colossi, either both or neither will be eliminated from the top ranks of global power. Their nuclear deterrents will ensure either that both of their continental homelands will survive with their war potential intact, or that the homelands of both will be obliterated in a global thermonuclear war. The collective-suicide scenario is extremely unlikely for obvious reasons. Later in the twenty-first century, we thus are extremely likely to find both the United States and China as first-rank powers.
In the hegemonic war scenario, Europeans will likely play kingmakers. Europe is extremely unlikely to fight in a polar war; at least until the outcome is clear, when it may wish to join the victor in proclaiming a 'new world order.' The key thing to realize is this: There may or may not be a hegemonic war. But in either case, the world is likely to be tripolar in the long run. Indeed, this is the deep structure of the world. If sooner or later all people can learn to effectively mobilize power, then the real long-term determinant of global power is simply war potential. Most of the war potential of the world—arable land, population, water resources, energy, and industrial raw materials—is concentrated in the northern temperate zone. Had the distribution of land on the globe been symmetric about the equator, the southern temperate zone would've sported a comparable amount of war potential. This is not the case: 80% of the world's landmass and 90% of the world's population is in the northern hemisphere.
More specifically, at least three-quarters of the world's war potential is located in America and the eastern and western extremities of Eurasia. Furthermore, the distribution of war potential between these three natural poles is uniform: the three polar states are likely to be nearly equally strong. As we have seen before, a tripolar configuration is the least stable system structure. And a uniform tripolar world is especially unstable. The problem for every polar state is that an offensive alliance between its rivals is a virtual death sentence. One therefore expects tripolar systems to be extremely unstable. In 1940, the world was tripolar. The war was over when America entered the war alongside the Soviet Union to eliminate Germany.
But what does 'a virtual death sentence' mean in a nuclear world? Let's say the year is 2070 and the scenario I am predicting obtains. We have three polar states of similar strength; all other states are too weak to count in the global balance of power. Suppose Europe and China enter into an offensive alliance against America. They cannot launch a strategic attack on the US homeland because of America's second-strike capability. But that means that the United States cannot be eliminated as a polar state. What these upstarts can do is to destroy America's capacity to project its power across the oceans. Therefore, just like the penultimate hegemonic war that establishes China as a global power of first rank, the final showdown will be over control over the global commons.
America's position on the world stage, like Britain's before it, is based on its 'command of the global commons'—unassailable military dominance over air, sea, and space. Just as America and China cannot share 'command of the global commons,' if Europe and China collaborate to kick America out of Eurasia, they will not be able to agree on the division of the spoils of war. Who will protect the sea lanes, orbital space, and airspace? Who will be preponderant in the Middle East? Who will control access to the vast energy resources of the gulf? There is a reason why these responsibilities have never been shared between two states. The closest that comes to mind in the inter-war period. Even during the twenties and thirties however, Britain alone protected the entire plumbing of Eurasian communication—the American and Japanese fleets were deployed in the Pacific where Britain had already surrendered naval primacy in 1901.
Since they each have secure access to the resources of a whole continent, none of these superstates will lose the capacity to project power across oceans in the long run. A change of alliance partners between polar states upends the international order. For instance, since it is so far away, China does not threaten Europe. An 'Atlantic Alliance' could be thus easily undermined by the Europeans at any second, bringing any Cold War-style containment of China to an end right quick. Were America to be kept out of the global game by a 'Eurasian Alliance,' the Chinese would be tempted to defect to the Americans to gain to upper hand against the Europeans. Similarly, in a 'Pacific Alliance' both partners would be constantly tempted to cheat with the Europeans. Alliances of containment cannot stabilize a tripolar world with any degree of permanence.
The inability to crush any of the three colossi out of existence means that a stable end-state must feature either a permanent domination of eurasia by a single power or a permanent tripolar structure. Eurasia is the seat of a world state. It contains a two-thirds of the world's war potential. If it comes under the dominion of a single power, that power will be the arbiter of world affairs in perpetuity. But we have argued that conquest of polar states is impossible in light of their nuclear arsenals. We are therefore left with the seemingly impossible: a permanently tripolar world. This is the globe's end-state polarity.
While a two-party alliance will not yield stable hegemony, a recognition of the limits of alliance politics might nudge the rivals into a 'Grand Alliance.' World affairs will be settled by tripartite negotiations. Each polar state will have its own sphere of influence. China will be preponderant in the Indo-Pacific and Central Asia, America in the Western Hemisphere, and Europe left to handle the mess in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe. This long-term prediction is the very opposite of Buzan's, who believes that superpowers are going extinct. They are going nowhere. The question of global power is going to be settled in favour of a permanent oligopoly of three superstates. At least one thing is guaranteed. Owing to the inherent instability of the configuration, a tripolar world will be much more interesting than a unipolar one.
The globe's end-state polarity is built on the firmest possible foundations: the nuclear stalemate guarantees that the polar states cannot be eliminated and the distribution of war potential on the planet assures us that there will be no additions to the ranks of polar states. Nothing short of a technological revolution that upends the nuclear stalemate or redefines war potential can undermine this conclusion.


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Review Article: Narratives of Folk England
Stations of the Sun [1]
The New Age Movement [2]
We have never been less interested in the details of history than we are today, and we have never been more committed to a weak and often reductive view of a romanticized past. In different ways, both these books address the fading of historical specificity from consciousness and its consequences, and in different ways both seek to assert the importance of specificity in a world increasingly committed to affective generalities. Yet while Ronald Hutton patiently dismantles the historical narrative which endorsed the creation of the past as a field of pleasurable play, Paul Heelas as carefully shows just how extraordinarily influential those narratives have been in creating lifestyles and attitudes. If Heelas is right, Hutton may be too late to alter this particular historical record. In the minds of many, Deep England is so central that there is now no hope of uprooting it.
Social historians before the great epiphanies of the 1970s used to spend a good deal of time overlapping with folklorists, studying and celebrating the oddities of Folk Custom in order to cry up the glories of Deep England. Maypoles and wassail were indispensable to comprehension of the English Folk, and detailed descriptions of these rituals and their significance was substituted for more mundane knowledges of what the Morris dancers ate for dinner or thought about as they danced. Leaning heavily on literary sources, especially Shakespeare, Jonson, Herrick and that old trickster John Aubrey, this school of thought made few allowances for the specificity of point of view. Oddly, a lot of people were attracted to the study of early modern culture in general (and, before the war, Shakespeare in particular) by these often beautiful lies, thickly coated with the sugar of idealization. This spectacularisation of the People, always looking nervously over its shoulder at the less tractable People of the twentieth century, differed radically from its successor social histories of the 1970s, eager to get to grips with the grim and gritty details of birth, copulation and death while leaving merely decorative dances to the folklorists.
The only problem with their salutary reaction was that it left Morris dancers pretty much where they had always been; vehicles for a rickety ideology of folk continuity. In the final volume of his immensely erudite and important trilogy, Ronald Hutton sets out to tackle calendrical custom, long the linchpin of romantic and Leavisite faith in 'organic culture'. All three books in the now-complete series are judicious and remarkably wide-ranging, drawing on a wealth of evidence in order to rethink the complexities of ritual and the investments people make in it. While The Pagan Religions of Ancient Britain assessed the claims made by Romantics for prehistory and The Rise and Fall of Merry England examined the historical particularity of the calendar and its invention and reinvention, the last volume, Stations of the Sun extends the work of Merry England forward to look at the process by which supposedly immemorial customs are constantly updated, reinvented, re-created and reinterpreted by their practitioners, but also by the small and formidable army of folklorists who are often the causes of the events they purport to describe. Hutton has some hilarious tales o folklorists who urged villagers to incorporate some 'crucial' element into a ritual.. When the obedient villagers complied, the folklorists, nodded, satisfied; now the ritual was 'typical'.
What makes Hutton's book so rewarding is the marvelous stories he has to tell, stories rich in the kind of detail which allow us to understand ritual not as a series of archetypal structures, but as a series of diverse inventions by individuals and communities rather than by the völk or the geist. Hutton's lucid, elegant prose is the ideal vehicle for the unlikeliness of such stories, bringing them close to the reader by establishing just the right amount of distance from them. There is the Norfolk dragon, 'Old Snap', who survived the abolition of St George's Day only because he had somehow sneaked into the mayoral procession; 'Snap' remained lively until 1835, but even then was resurrected by imitators; one such impersonation is in the Castle Museum, a lone survivor of the saint's feasts of medieval England. There is the midsummer wheel, a cartwheel swathed in straw which must contrive to keep alight till it reaches the bottom of the hill, or the harvest will be poor; Hutton himself cautiously concedes that this ritual at least may have some links to a pagan past. There is the long historical story of the transmutation of the sombre Day of the Dead into the modern masquerade of Halloween: where kings and their trains once dressed in purple and black, children now dress as their fears, as ghosts, witches and monsters. As Hutton rightly shows, the opening of the season of darkness and cold is and remains an opportunity to confront fear and death, though the mode of confrontation has changed.
Some of Hutton's stories themselves strongly militate against any nostalgia for the 'organic' society of the past, and indeed refute any notion that it was 'organic' in the sense of being inclusive: there is the intelligent substitution of a daffodil for a leek on St David's Day by Welshmen tired of being beaten up and burned in effigy on 1 March by the xenophobic English, for instance. Shrovetide and Halloween were times when gangs roamed the streets, entertaining themselves with cockfights, violent football matches or by begging money or food with menaces. The wakes, too, were increasingly deplored -and ultimately ended - by the disapproval generated by the feasters' commitment to cruelty. Marveling at the youthful violence Hutton uncovers, one cannot help wanting to relate these calendrical outbursts to the current sporting calendar, equally tyrannical, and equally prodigal of nearly-licensed disorder. Complainants, too, have been with us since the Reformation at least, and attempts to control such disorders using force majeure as likely to backfire then as now. Revellers in Somerset chased away a man bringing the justices' ruling on their activities with cries of 'we will keep revel despite all such tithing calves as thou art'. Ritual could divide communities as well as uniting them, and reinterpretation is not always a seamless and even historical process; sometimes it was imposed from above on an unwilling populace.
By analogy, too, one wonders how far wakes and shrovings were rites of passage for the young men who took part in them, as football violence can be today. Hutton says little about gender, but it is all too evident that the most bloodthirsty and violent rites were almost exclusively male affairs. Thinking of Ladurie's Carnival at Romans, with its violent rape, one wonders whether the rougher, rawer portrayal of medieval and early modern festival that Hutton offers might lead us to rethink the current knee-jerk tendency to follow Bakhtin in endorsing carnival in as a positive image of liberation for all, a dissolution of identity. Rather, it seems that identity goes with us to the party, and inflects what happens there. Hutton's mass of evidence might over time be sifted to this end. We might want to begin to task what the costs of liberation are, just as we might want to ask whether inclusiveness and cohesion can ever really be comprehensive, or must always take as their object that which is not included. Does successful ritual depend on the weary notions of same and other, after all, and is it in that sense no different to the middling sort rituals of today, the dinner in the smart restaurant, the foreign holiday to the 'unspoilt' area devoid of 'package tourists', Modern Times's racist diners? The New Age movement described by Heelas, sprung from a particular set of misapprehensions about the ritual past, certainly depends very strongly on its difference from what it posits as the norm, on it supposedly of being above it all, on a higher plane. As Paul Heelas knows, this pose can easily translate into elitism and outright fascism.
To resolve these doubts, or at least to begin profitable speculation, one sometimes wants to know more than Hutton tells. Wonderful as these stories are, one might sometimes welcome what Clifford Geertz called 'thick' descriptions of these our English equivalents of Balinese cockfights. It may merely be my own ignorance that leads me to ask that an already compendious book look for God in the details; moreover, details are not always available, especially for medieval and early modern rites. Hutton has chosen however to tell the reader about events rather than, as it were, to invite the reader to join him at the hobby horse dances, and occasionally one wonders whether a more immediate and elaborate sense of ritual is required.
Moreover, while disputatious and concurrent views of particular rituals are recorded meticulously for the past, little comparable recording is offered for the modern descendants of those rituals. We hear about Victorian dislike of waits, but not about modern Guardian readers' dislike of Christmas, about the terror of Buzz Lightyear who stalks the nightmares of parents, about the morbid middle-class loathing of festivals of indulgence (even as we indulge). On Halloween, rather surprisingly, we hear little about either fundamentalist Christian objections, or about moral panics over drugs in Halloween candy, which has in the US led to the relocation of trick or treating to guaranteed safety in that modern shrine, the mall. (When you can't trust your neighbours, you can at least pin your faith to J. C. Penney.) Perhaps the mall is an appropriate place to represent the public sphere nowadays, rather than the neighbourhood. Hutton's focus on rituals that descend from early modern equivalents sometimes leads him to neglect rites important in modern Britain: the most obvious is the Notting Hill Carnival, which uncannily reproduces many of the same anxieties which used to be produced about Bartholomew Fair, with the added twist of racial otherness.
Reluctance to think about how customs work and who they work for is another problem here; a reluctance to synthesise, to ask why on earth people bothered and in some cases still bother to get dressed up as horses and go clop-clopping through the streets. A chance to play a starring role? A sense of what Heelas would call perenniality? Nothing good on television? While Hutton reasonably announces that this book is more narrative than analysis, one sometimes feels that the narrative would make more sense, would be less reducible to anecdote, if some analysis were embedded in it. While it's good to see the flawed syntheses of Frazer and the folklorists jettisoned with such exemplary tact and élan, it's occasionally worrying that nothing takes their place. Resistance to Heelas's perenniality sometimes seems to threaten to drown all structure in an avalanche of particularity; while some rituals are allowed their share of continuity and meaning, there is no sustained attempt to talk about ritual itself. Neither psychoanalysis nor economics are invoked, and nor is the kind of empathetic anthropology with which we might approach the rituals of the Nuer or the Trobrianders. In part this may be historical caginess: there is not much of the kind of evidence which would allow such ruminations to rise above speculation, and perhaps the effort of restoring what was once folklore to respectability imposes undue caution. At times, however, one wonders whether the caution is not overdone. Hutton's prose style is not that of an unimaginative man, but at times one might mistake him for one.
There are actually some big and daring ideas here, quite apart from the thorough and painstaking correction of errors, but Hutton seems reluctant to do much with them; they are apologetically stuffed away in the beginning and ending remarks. For this reader, the most striking were Hutton's depiction of a general tendency for festivals that were once public, social or communal to become private, familial, and child-oriented, especially clearly documented in the cases of Christmas and Easter. I don't know how he resisted the temptation to relate these notions to grand theories of the decline of the public sphere, the loss of public identity, and the dereliction of public life. Perhaps he had faith in the reader's ability to do so, but it looks as though he is a little reluctant to spend time trying to account for the alteration of social ritual with reference to social context. (This is the more surprising because The Rise and Fall of Merry England is much richer in contextual observation.) Hutton has another wonderful idea, which has all the surprise value and explosiveness of a pinatà at a Mexican funfair, but he slyly buries it in the conclusion, and refuses it the space it needs to dominate our thinking as it should. Responding to the widely-shared sense that England is a country which lost a crucial explanatory story about itself at some point, Hutton suggest s that this story is not paganism, as many now suppose, but medieval Catholicism, which knitted together a ritual year, including its surviving pagan elements, holding its individual pieces in liquid suspension. Not only does this make miraculous sense of much of Hutton's own material, it means his work dovetails with other, earlier attempts to recover that ritual past: Eamon Duffy's, Christopher Haigh's, and even Keith Thomas's. It perfectly fits many witch-trials, too, where that buried Catholic (not recusant) knowledge was sometimes awkwardly excavated by people already unable to understand or interpret it. It might even explain the sense a few of our more eccentric poets have had reading Shakespeare that he is somehow both a Catholic and pagan author. Dazzling as the idea is, it remains undeveloped here; one can only hope that Hutton's marvelous compendium of stories encourages others to evaluate it, and much else, more fully.
Paul Heelas's work will also encourage some urgent re-evaluation of where we are to go for meaning these days, though historians might well find his work hard going at first. It is stiff with a mixture of New Age and sociological terminology, and the result is to deflate much possibility of storytelling or listening pleasure, as well as much chance that he book will be read by many of its ostensible subjects. Nonetheless, it is worth persevering, because Heelas offers the first full academic study of the New Age movement as a whole. The problem is, as Heelas acknowledges, that the New Age movement is not really a whole at all, but a wide and almost insanely diverse series of practices, preachers and precepts, often in violent disagreement with each other. Frustratingly, the unifying pressure that it is necessary to exert in order to create something resembling a work of scholarship falsifies the picture, or at any rate involves a departure from the way New Agers themselves would represent what they are doing, and Heelas is acutely aware of the problems of answering questions about a movement typified by its diversity and fluidity. If particularity is a problem, so is generality. Some of the features of the New Agers defined in Heelas's introduction - self-actualisation and the self-ethic, for example - are widespread among the undergraduate population at large, including those who intend to go into management consultancy. Others - magical power, for example - arouse less widespread assent. This matters because one question provoked but not answered by Heelas's book is just how influential the ideas he describes are or are likely to become; do we need to concern ourselves with them? Are New Agers heading for the mainstream?
Heelas evidently thinks that they may be; at times he almost hopes so, but his central theme is the tension between the spiritualisation of the self and the self as hedonistic consumer and he is anxious that the latter may oust the former. 'Love children of the New Age/Just a hippie with a weekly wage', said Tim Finn. Unlike Hutton, Heelas is a painstaking contextualiser and theoriser of the movements he describes, and the sees the New Age as a response to the legitimation crises besetting traditional politics and lifestyles. About the latter, Heelas draws heavily on Eugen Weber's theory of modernity as an iron cage, a cage which pins down and controls the individual in ways which make him or her long for escape. The problem with this as an explanation for New Age practices is that New Age beliefs do not necessarily involve giving up the day job. Among the community of modern Pagans, for example, there are many with highly orthodox careers and lifestyles, often in such techno-dominated industries as computing.
This fits perfectly with the much more persuasive thesis of Marvin Harris that the New Age is primarily a response to the financial insecurities of what was at one point optimistically termed late capitalism. Although Heelas is right to assert that Harris overstates his case, ignoring the transformative aspects of est, Heelas in turn neglects the possibility that spiritual transformativity is just as much an attempt to deal with economic uncertainty as cruder attempts to win friends and influence people through TM. Downsizing expectations creates a hole in the ego which can be filled by replacing material with spiritual progress. The emphasis is still on progress, and New Age 'therapies' often involve a reassuring structure of movements through 'levels'; the very notion of self-improvement is shares its vocabulary with the yuppiest of yuppie self-actualisation though Bang and Olufson, as Heelas knows and fears. Similarly, Heelas rightly says that many are drawn to New Age practices through alternative medicine because of the perceived failures of allopathic medicine, but he says little about why allopathic medicine has suddenly been seen as such a failure by so many, or how this might connect with the movement's rejection of every Enlightenment value except individualism. As old ways of coping with uncertainty are discarded, it seems important for both Hutton and Heelas to ask why, to ask how it is that what was once central is shifted to the margins.
The New Age is not concerned with this kind of question, and that is its weakness; it has no idea how it came into being, which makes self-criticism or self-awareness an uphill task. Its forgetting of the past is clearly manifested in the brilliant and disturbing invented past of new Paganisms, which trace their ancestry to a non-existent tradition of witchcraft and through that to ancient Paganisms. This is a pity, because there are many other more convincing reasons for a revival of paganism, even in its current rather ersatz form. Heelas rightly grants Pagans centrality in New Age thought, writing that they are the 'key resource' for those who have counter-cultural concerns. Documenting this, far too briefly, Heelas gives little attention to its whys, wherefores or functions, and although the knows a little about the bewildering variety of paganisms on offer, he has little to say about their diverse appeals. Yet it is these paganisms which spring from precisely the kind of history Hutton is out to undo, the kind which elevates popular ritual into pereniallty,a locaus of reliable permanence in a changing world, and hence an index of spiritual value which also possesses all the charisma of the outsider. Heelas says little about how new Pagans might react to challenges to their views; it will be extremely interesting to see how they react to Hutton. My own limited experience suggests that they are currently reacting with a characteristic mixture of open-minded curiosity and anxious scepticism about the debunking of whatever myths are most important to them, mixed with what Michel de Certeau calls 'poaching', impertinent reading via the reader's agenda and not the author's; no doubt some stories from Hutton's book will find their way into new rituals, and perhaps Snap might get a few more visitors. But the solipsism on which much New Age thought is based is not soluble in reason, even reason as seductive and judicious as Hutton's, because it is produced by the general discourses of society as ineluctably as greenhouse gases are produced by burning fossil fuels. What might help to alter things are New Age involvement in politics - the roadbuilding protests, for instance - which necessarily involve experience of collectivity, even community, in collective action. Eventually this might create a more willingly disciplined, less hedonistic political subject; there is some sign of this in the martyr-cult of Swampy, who at least had to subordinate his body to severe constraint.
It seems important to invoke these 'real' New Agers here, because their voices are hard to hear in Heelas's book and they get surprisingly little attention from Hutton either, in keeping with his occasional inattention to the modern. Both these books raise important historiographical questions about how to deal with popular cultural forms in historical work, questions which interrogate not only the reliability of evidence, but also the extent to which history, like anthropology, can become the dissection of an object of observation carefully and even ritually distanced from the historian-observer. Though neither Hutton nor Heelas is at all hostile to what they describe, neither brings us very close to it either, preferring an analytic framework and a controlling narrative voice respectively to the fragments of microhistory to which we have of late become more accustomed. Heelas in particular offers little in the way of narrative at all, contenting himself with abstract observation. Though narrative has its risks, Hutton demonstrates how vital it is in drawing readers closer to an alien subject. though wildly different in tone and style, both books share a concern with the historiography of the popular, but Hutton approaches a solution much more nearly than Heelas by using the best of traditional methods; the final elegant irony in a book which seeks to overturn so much of what we thought we knew about the past.

subset: commoncrawl


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I recently played through the visual novel Cinders, a project created by the indie game studio MoaCube. To be more accurate, I played through it nine times, partially because I wanted to be a Good Journalist and ensure I'd seen a wide variety of plot lines, but mostly because it was just that fun. So, spoiler alert: I loved it. I loved the hell out of it.
Cinders helpfully opens up with a brief guide that explains what a visual novel is, so even if you've never even heard of a visual novel before you won't be lost. I'll simplify it further: If you can read and click a mouse, you can play Cinders.
As the name implies, Cinders is a retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella. On MoaCube's website, developer Tom Grochowiak states that, "Of all the fairytales, we picked Cinderella because we honestly don't like it." Citing the story's passive protagonist and weak message, they set out to change it. "We want our Cinders to be a clever, active woman who makes her own choices," the website reads. "Even if she goes for the fairytale ending, it should be her decision." It's a distinctly feminist re-telling of the old folk tale – instead of our titular heroine pining helplessly and silently tolerating her abuse, she resolves to change her life through her own actions and choices. The story told in Cinders also focuses almost entirely on the lives of the four women in the story – Cinders, her stepsisters, and her stepmother. While it's entirely possible for Cinders to find the love of her life over the course of the story, the game's focus is not on romance, and the female protagonist is not defined by her love life. Visual novels have a tendency to make female-centric games all about romance, so to see this attitude gone is a breath of fresh air.
It's always difficult for visual novels to make protagonists both relatable and three-dimensional. To an extent, the player is meant to put themselves into the character's shoes, but the protagonist also has to be a distinct, unique character with a personality of their own. Cinders manages to blend these attributes perfectly in order to create a player character who is immensely likable and memorable, while still allowing the player to shape her the way they see fit. Cinders' dialogue and inner thoughts are witty and clever while remaining real enough to be believable. Of course, depending on your choices throughout the game, you can influence her personality. Is the Cinders of this story ruthless and cunning, willing to do anything to ensure her freedom? Does she do what's expected of her, pushing aside her own happiness? No matter which path Cinders heads down, she's always written consistently and brilliantly.
The other characters in the story are just as intriguing. Cinders' stepsisters, Sophia and Gloria, are far from the ugly and evil caricatures so often seen in the traditional story. The interactions with them are some of the most interesting in the story, and reveal a lot about their own distinct personalities. The classic evil stepmother caricature is gone too, replaced with a complex woman named Lady Carmosa. She still makes our heroine's life miserable, but she isn't painted with a broad brush of negative traits. If you take the time, there's a lot more to learn and see about her – I don't want to spoil anything about your interactions with Carmosa or the stepsisters, because those were some of my favorite moments in the game. There are other characters that really stand out as well, such as Madame Ghede, a strong woman who defies the traditional idea of a fairy godmother, and the captain of the guard, a potential friend and love interest for Cinders. Getting to know these characters, and replaying the game to find out more about them, is where so much of the joy lies in experiencing this visual novel.
While the gameplay itself of Cinders (or any visual novel) is simple, Moacube has really gone the extra mile to emphasise player choice. In a lot of visual novels, you might only get to make choices rarely – in the lengthy horror VN Saya no Uta, for example, you're only asked to make a decision twice. Cinders has a whopping 120 decision points, which is pretty staggering. What's more is that every single choice impacts something. Nothing is a pointless decision, no matter how small it may seem initially. The game also does a great job of using intrinsic rewards to drive this point home even further. After every choice is clicked, a small sound effect plays that manages to sound both ominous and exciting at the same time. During some scenes, a small branch will appear in the top right corner of the screen, signifying that there's a different way the scene you're watching could play out. These additions, while small, made me even more excited to replay the game. All these choices will lead you to one of four ending scenarios, but these scenarios all have variables that make sure every playthrough leads to something new. In one of the scenarios alone, there are sixteen possible combinations of ending variants to discover. I haven't even come close to scratching the surface after nine playthroughs, and I fully plan on diving back in again soon.
The writing in a visual novel is always the most important aspect, but Cinders manages to impress graphically as well. Cinders is truly one of the most stunning games I've ever seen, with beautiful art by the absurdly talented Gracjana Zielinska. Every background and character took my breath away – even the menu screen is gorgeous! The artwork is so complex and detailed that sometimes I found myself just staring at my screen long after I'd finished reading the text on screen. Screenshots don't even do it justice. In every background, there are details that make everything all the more pleasing – sunflowers gently swaying in the sunlight, a crackling fireplace, lanterns slowly swinging back and forth. This level of detail is present on all the characters as well. Some of their facial expressions in particular are excellent (Gloria's sad face broke my heart), and the way their eyes slowly shift around is a great touch. This is all topped off by a memorable and mood-setting score that, importantly, never once becomes tiresome.
Cinders is the complete package, and there's something for everyone to enjoy and appreciate. It offers a fresh spin on a fairytale everyone knows, turning a story about silent suffering into a bold tale about a smart young woman taking control of her life. You can purchase Cinders from MoaCube's website for both PC and Mac, or download the demo if you're on the fence. I strongly urge you to at least give the demo a try, even if you've never played a visual novel, or if you don't tend to like VNs. It's a story well worth experiencing.


text:
The Board of Metgasco Limited (Metgasco or the Company) is pleased to advise that in accordance with the terms of the Convertible Note Deed (Deed) between Byron Energy Limited (ASX:BYE) (Byron) and Metgasco dated 22 July 2016, Metgasco has subscribed to and Byron has issued to Metgasco an A$8.0m Convertible Note (Note) on 20 January 2017. The Convertible Note will be repayable over the reminder of the term of the agreement to 21 July 2019.
The relevant details of the Subscription Notice are:
- the subscription date is 20 January 2017;
- the face value of each Note is A$1; and
- the number of issued Notes is 8,000,000.
The Note is secured by a General Deed of Security and Priority (over Byron's assets), a Negative Pledge from Byron and a registered interest over Byron's share of SM 70/71 leases. For further details of the terms of the Deed please refer to Metgasco's ASX release dated 22 July 2016. For an update on the development of the SM 71 project please refer to Byron's announcement dated 23 January 2017.
Commenting on the receipt of the Note, Metgasco's Executive Chairman, Alexander Lang said: "On behalf of the Board, we are very pleased that Byron has elected to fully draw down on the A$8.0m Funding Facility to be primarily used for the development of production assets at SM 71 and associated purposes. The drawdown has further strengthened our relationship with Byron and we look forward to working closely with Byron with respect to the Bivouac Peak project and the opportunity to farm into future Byron projects."
Alexander Lang, Executive Chairman
Phone: +61 02 9923 9100


text:
Check out XenoCorp.Net's FTP site !! Over 10 GB of gaming files for your downloading pleasure: ftp.xenocorp.net
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
A programmer willing to take on the project would be a good start...
I think the idea Exeter had was to basically start from scratch. Use generic models and game engine that wouldnt violate any copyrights and all the end user to add SFC ships upon use. Youd have to go back and read all those threads to get a better idea. There were some pretty good ideas for this project. My idea for a game system I think made things easier.
to create the two fully integrated conquest mods we made (which are basically overlays), required two and a half years to complete.
Quote from: AlDaja on November 18, 2017, 03:38:01 pmto create the two fully integrated conquest mods we made (which are basically overlays), required two and a half years to complete.You are probably one of the few persons that did anything positive in the last years in relation to SFC.
Of course, morphing SFC-like mechanics into such a game engine might be more trouble than it's worth.
We also need a customizable Skirmish/Multiplayer for the coding handicapped. I think Taldren should have converted the SFC1 missions/campaigns to SFC:OP but they didn't and no coder I know of ever did either.
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text:
Beware! CryptoMineHoldings has stopped paying! Do not invest there!
Hi everybody! As the what's officially the last day of the summer is now with us I can honestly say it's been a long time since I remember such a keen sense of anticipation in the HYIP industry for the coming autumn season. In previous years it's often been the case that the autumn saw a revival of fortunes after a summer slump, though this year we already seem to be coming off the back of a relatively successful month or two. As of tomorrow the listing prices on MNO will increase so as to maintain the elite nature of the programs coming here for monitoring. It's long been a policy of MNO to try and keep the worst of the fast scams away from monitor, just make sure they can't afford it and they don't bother asking, which keeps my personal workload to a manageable level and make sure my readers' profits are maximized. In fact in the last few days alone there's been several inquiries and advance bookings as admins look to take advantage. More on that in the news section.
First item of business for today though is another new program, on the Standard List this time called CryptoMineHoldings. This is a medium-term HYIP that launched about a week ago, so we are still waiting for the first investors to profit. So let's take a closer look at CryptoMineHoldings and see how you rate your chances of that actually happening and if it's a program you think you might like in your portfolios for the autumn.
Starting things off as usual then with the investment plans, I have to say this is one area about CryptoMineHoldings that I have some very mixed feelings about. Not that they are bad per se, it's just that one look at the website will show experienced investors that they perhaps haven't been thought out fully. For example, there are three options to choose from, but in your members account area these are named Plan Four, Plan Five, and Plan Six. What happened to numbers one, two, and three? Search me! Anyway, the figures also tend to overlap a bit, making bigger deposits in one plan a bit pointless compared to the same size deposit in the next one. You'll see what I mean as we continue.
So, you will need a $50 minimum to join CryptoMineHoldings, quite a bit more than the industry average so I'm not sure that gets the program off on the strongest possible footing. This, strangely, gets you into Plan Four. The term runs for 30 calendar days, during which investors are offered 5% interest per day. Payments here will factor your principal in already so it won't be returned separately on expiry. That means that CryptoMineHoldings will return 150% in total, or your own money back plus 50% net profit. The break-even point is 20 days into the term, after which everything else you receive is net profit. CryptoMineHoldings have an upper limit of $50,000, though you are strongly advised not to spend more than $99 at the very most on this one.
Why not? Because $100 is the minimum investment for Plan Five, which offers you higher interest for the very same term. It runs for 30 calendar days with CryptoMineHoldings offering members a daily payment of 6% interest. This comes to 180% in total, and with your principal again included there that means you reach the break-even point after 17 days and finish up with 80% net profit. Again CryptoMineHoldings place a maximum limit of $50,000 though you really don't want to go past $499 (assuming you want to spend more that is) for much the same reasons as the last plan.
The opening investment for Plan Six is $500. For a term running for 30 calendar days, CryptoMineHoldings now offer 7% interest per day. This allows members to reach the break-even point 15 days into the term (the half way mark) and finish the term with 210% back on your investment. As with both other plans CryptoMineHoldings are once more counting your principal as part of the payments, so it's your own money back plus 110% net profit. Upper investment limit is capped at $50,000.
If you like any of those enough to sink your own money into then let's see what your payment options are. Room for improvement on all fronts here as well, with just PerfectMoney and Payeer are the only options if you still favour the more conventional style third-party payment handlers, while BitCoin is on hand if you prefer the more direct route of using your own digital e-currency. Despite the FAQ stating that LiteCoin is accepted, no such option exists when you visit your CryptoMineHoldings members account area. One way or another you will definitely need to log into your account with the program and submit a request. Under normal circumstances these payments should be instant, in which case you should have your money in under a minute.
Moving on to some of the more technical aspects of the CryptoMineHoldings website now such as design and security, there's nothing out of the ordinary and all fairly standard. The website is powered off a licensed script from GoldCoders, something a lot you will probably recognise anyway. As usual it's all easy to navigate and user friendly throughout. Hosting is on a dedicated server from a provider called BlueHost who are also providing DDoS protection. For an added layer of security the CryptoMineHoldings website has an SSL secure certificate by Comodo. The advantages of joining CryptoMineHoldings, or at least as explained by the admin anyway, are highlighted in a short video that opens by default when you visit the website's homepage. This has also been embedded on the MNOVision page if you want to watch it there.
For any further questions for the CryptoMineHoldings admin or any account related issues then you can get in touch by filling in your details on the online customer support form and submitting them through the website. Buttons for various social media sites are not live and don't lead you anywhere.
As for the alleged business activities supporting the payouts to investors, it's a largely self-explanatory name. Whether you believe CryptoMineHoldings is really involved in the mining of crypto-currencies or not is entirely up to you, there's just very little to back it up. Experienced readers will already know what I'm going to say next, but it's always worth repeating for the sake of newbies – if your temped to believe there's really a genuine business backing up anything in the HYIP industry, remember there's no guarantee it has to be profitable. So treat it as you would any form of high risk gambling and stay well under a sensible spending limit that you can comfortably afford to lose and easily recoup from other income sources. And of course if joining CryptoMineHoldings then try and keep them as a smaller part of a wider more diverse portfolio.
Before I finish with CryptoMineHoldings and move on to the news for today I'd like to ask you guys for your own opinions on the program. Play or pass, I hope you won't mind sharing them with your fellow readers. It takes literally a second to vote, is totally anonymous, and will make for more interesting reading once we are looking back at the program at the end rather than looking forward at the start. In other words how many people would make a good and bad judgement call looking at the program today. Please answer the following question:
ChainGroupService has a short update on their Twitter feed about the future of the the newly added so-called trading groups. The terms for adding these is about to change in a week from now:
"Since Sep.7, the terms for adding new groups will be changed. A one-time setup fee of $5000 will be added + minimum SF size reduce to $5000."
I remind you that ChainGroupService which was originally reviewed on MNO here officially offers only one investment plan with a fixed return of 0.2% daily paid over a period of 500 calendar days with principal back on expiry. All the other five offers are allegedly from third-party trading groups which have their own rules of early principal withdrawal or the option of compounding and offer highly variable daily returns of 0.1%-3% for 90 days, 0.1%-10% for 120 days, 0.1%-6% for 180 days, 0.1%-3% for 250 days, or 0.1%-1.7% for 300 days. Every group has its own name and a so-called stabilization fund from which members might be partially reimbursed in case something goes wrong. Note that a 0.5% fee is automatically applied to every withdrawal request and that you can request your payment even to other payment processors than the one you joined with. ChainGroupService is currently accepting deposits via PerfectMoney, Payeer, AdvCash, BitCoin, Ethereum and many other crypto-currencies. The program has been on MNO for a full month and withdrawals have been processed quite quickly so far, although I agree the variable returns sometimes drop to 0.1% minimum which might not satisfy many investors looking for stable daily returns.
Since getting listed on MNO from the very beginning almost eight weeks ago no one could even imagine that Ykke (reviewed here)could last this long with the 3% daily forever plan, now almost doubling the money of the first lucky investors. Although exclusively working with BitCoins Ykke doesn't convert deposits into USD and that is why those who invest there could also benefit from the growing BTC exchange rate as well as the interest payments from Ykke. Of course, such a long run would not be possible if the program didn't expand constantly and the admin didn't make any effort to storm international markets such as China looking for a sure-fire deal to expand the Ykke's boundaries and take full advantage of an ever growing HYIP community there. This language version, in addition to a few others already made available was the main subject of the latest update from Ykke re-posted below:
"Conquest of China
Ykke is ready to seize the China's crypto currency market!
The fifth part of the world's population, more than a half of the mining farms and a huge number of bitcoin holders – this is all China! Moreover, a great motivation for us, as for the growing company today, to do our utmost to offer our high-quality services in this market and to secure a foothold in it.
Translation of the site into Chinese is a part of Ykke's strategy of moving eastwards. We are confident that we can be a reliable partner for all the investors from China!"
I must say that I'm always skeptical when it comes to unusually big prizes HYIP admins promise in referral contests. Usually when it comes to announcing the main winner a made up name is invented and he goes on a round-the-world trip or some other imaginative prize. Good thing no one can verify it anyway, lol! The same I fear happened with the lucky winner of the RolyInvestment referral contest with the "winner" getting a Rolex watch, several thousand dollars worth of BitCoins and even an all expenses paid trip to London. There is no danger in exaggerating this stuff, as no one will ever know and the prizes only entice new money. This is what RolyInvestment (reviewed here) has been doing for quite some now, and with one contest having ended another one starts with ten more prizes offered. The London challenge has been replaced by The Manchester challenge and you have an opportunity to test your strength as an affiliate leader to grab one of the prizes. You can read the latest news on the contests below, and I will just remind you RolyInvestment works exclusively with BitCoins and pays instantly to members who join its 21% to 35% monthly plan which is running for a full year and where your account is credited three times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays:
"RolyInvestment – #bestinvest winner London BTC Challenge
Dear Community, investors and partners,
We would like to thank all participants for the last challenge.
All winners have qualified for the event in London and receive a free flight, stay at a luxury hotel and a rental car for your entire visit.
For all who have not occupied the first 10 places, and unfortunately no prizes have been won, there will again be the opportunity to qualify for the event in Manchester in the near future.
The winner #bestinvest achieved an incredible turnover in the first structure of 250,000 USD for the first place in the London Challenge.
For this he received a Rolex Submariner Date, 10 BTC worth 40,000 USD and the flight ticket to with all privileges."
"[NEW] ROLY INVESTMENT – Manchester Challenge
Dear Community, investors and partners, It goes to the next round.
After the last challenge has been successfully completed and the Russian leader #bestinvest has earned the first place with a firstline turnover of 250,000 USD and thus won a Rolex Submariner Date, 40,000 USD and the travel package for London, there is now the possibility to win the flight ticket to Manchester and a lot of good prizes.
Be there when it goes to the next round!
2017/08/30 – 2017/11/06
What is there to win?
#No. 1 10 BTC and a Rolex Daytona, #No. 2 6 BTC, #No. 3 4 BTC, #No. 4 2 BTC, #No. 5 1 BTC, #No. 6 0.7 BTC, #No. 7 0.6 BTC, #No. 8 0.4 BTC, #No. 9 0.2 BTC, #No. 10 0.1 BTC
All winners will get a free flight to Manchester, a rental car and a paid hotel for the entire stay."
It's always admirable when a HYIP admin tries his best to take care of customers by making sure that the website is running in a fully safe and secure environment. This is what CryptoMineHoldings, reviewed above, have been doing today. CryptoMineHoldings had to temporarily disabled instant withdrawals yesterday and fix a loophole in the script but today withdrawals are back to normal and are processed within seconds to all the payment processors – PerfectMoney, Payeer, and BitCoin – while accepting investments into the 5% to 7% for 30 calendar days plan. A newsletter on this was issued as well, so everyone stays in the loop:
"SLOW WITHDRAWALS – Here is Why!
Hello. I hope you are doing well today!
We just needed to update you on whats happening with the slow withdrawals.
The thing is there are too many security concerns out there for CRYPTO based projects for examples recently a lot of ICOs and Exchanges have been getting hacked so we ourself needed to be more careful with protecting the funds of our members.
So when we enable the Instant Withdrawal feature, We always put ourself at risk because the API is vulnerable at that time and if some hacker runs a Ddos attack or a phishing attack with Auto Withdrawals enables, They may get access to our Payment Processors.
So thats why we decided to add some custom features to the script and until that is all done we will process the withdrawals manually.
Keep in mind we are still at early days and we will take all the precautions required to take care of the funds of our members and their privacy. We don't want anything unfortunate to happen, I hope you understand that and support this decision.
Thank You".
Now let's get acquainted with the latest additions to the MNO monitor and first off it's the turn of a program called GideConsulting. It's a very low-ROI HYIP that was launched just recently offering various medium to long-term investment plans that can be joined for quite a hefty minimum of $100 for the shortest plan and even higher minimums for others. This amount will be converted to the crypto-currency of your choice as GideConsulting will take deposits only BitCoin, LiteCoin, or Ethereum with the conversion rate given on funding your account. After funding you have a choice of investing in a few plans all paying you once on expiry although they are deliberately described on the website to mislead you – 0.5% for 30 days, 0.75% for 60 days, 1% for 90 days, or 1.25% for 120 days. In reality you won't get anything back before the expiry date, which means 115% after 30 business days, 145% after 60 business days, 190% after 90 business days, 250% after 120 business days. I'm not sure how many investors will be so patient to wait to see anything back from the program for six weeks, but the admin explains that by his desire to stay online for at least a few years and also that they do real trading, unlike other ponzis. Well, we've been there, done that, so all reasonable level of caution still applies if you wish to join GideConsulting. A full review of the program will be posted on MNO as soon as the first payment is received and the program is moved to Paying status on the my monitor, although it might take quite a few weeks, so stay tuned for that.
The GideConsulting website itself to be a work in progress, honestly. Personally for me promotional materials were not available yet and I had to specifically ask the admin to provide me with banners to advertise it on MNO properly. Although the site is SSL-secured by Comodo I couldn't find any evidence that it's hosted on a dedicated and DDoS protected server, as it's all shown as a shared NameCheap hosting which hopefully the admin will upgrade with time. There is a fair amount of content available on the website though and even a sub-domain used specifically for investment purposes. A video introduction of GideConsulting has been added to the MNOVision page for your reference as well, and some updates available on the site's own blog the first of which I am re-posting below. In the first update the admin welcomes everyone to his website and introduces himself and the company, while the more relevant second newsletter deals with the peculiarities of joining with a step-by-step guide to uses before the full review of GideConsulting is posted on MNO in a few weeks time:
"Welcome to GideConsulting
Hello everyone, this is Fernando CEO and founder of GideConsulting, our investment group is based in the Republic of Panama with three years of experience in Forex and Binary Options markets developed very effective and safe strategies.
Our strategies are based on risk management above all, we believe that it is our secret of success in the markets, we make a conservative management thus have the confidence to start this program for everyone and anyone with the initial forecast three years.
Our priority is to fulfill the responsibilities to our customers."
"Where to start?
Mail client. First of all you need to create an e-mail address through which you'll be interacting with GideConsulting. We strongly recommend creating a Gmail or Yahoo mail account. Please, don't use other email services other than the two to avoid possible confusion and difficulties that may arise while exchanging correspondences with the company online.
Electronic wallet and topping up.After creating an email address, the next step is to register with the electronic payment system you plan to use for investment in our Company. After creating the account, top it up.
To open an e-account, you can register with any of the following electronic processors:
– www.perfectmoney.is (We will only support it in future)
– www.blockchain.info
You can also use other wallets that support Litecoin, Etherum and Bitcoin.
You can register with any of them of your choice or with all of them if you want (recommended). The registration procedure is very simple and will take you little time. Topping up your accounts should also not cause you any trouble. On our site, go to the section "Deposit now" and follow the guidelines that are set out there.
Topping up your account is a very simple process. It is important to follow the particular procedure outlined by any service. To top up your account, you need to have enough amount in your wallet to top it up.
Registering on the Company's website.
To start investing, you must first register on our website www.gide-consulting.com. For details, check our website and twitter/blog.
– To register, click the link "Invest". Another page will open just click on create account and a registration form will open. You are required to complete ALL the fields in this form as follows:
– In the "E-mail" field, enter your email address;
– In the "Login" field, come up with a username and enter it (only Latin letters and numbers);
– In the "Password" field, come up with a password (at least 8 characters) and enter it. The password should be made up of alphabets and numbers. It is recommended to write some characters in capital letters;
– By creating an account you accept the "Agreement" by creating an account at our website so you understand all the risks involved. Then click the "Register" button below.
Investment. You are now ready to invest. You have an email address, you've topped up your electronic account (on settings once logged) and your Account profile on our site is created. Now you can start investing by first studying and selecting the most suitable investment plan.
– Once logged in make a deposit to your wallet account;
– And then in your Account, click "Invest";
– Check out the investment plans. Choose a suitable plan and click "Choose";
– Select an e-payment system from where you want to make a deposit;
– Click "Make a deposit";
– In the window that opens, you'll see a pre-prepared deposit order. Check all the data in it and, if necessary, make corrections by clicking "Cancel". If everything is correct, click "Continue".
Next, the site will redirect you to the website of the electronic processor from where you want to make your deposit. Follow the instructions that are shown on that site. After payment, you'll be redirected back to our website. This means that your deposit has already started working for you and that you are on your way to a new standard of living. Take note that our program only pays you the earnings once your investment period is over, your first profits will be credited to your account earnings everyday.
Regarding to referalls are still a working in progress as we are trying to figure out a way that can make a legit profit from referalls instead of a scammy way that most fake hyip do, we are working on a 0.1 percent interest.
GideConsulting – We invest in you."
FCTAcademy is another program I have the pleasure of introducing today as not only has the admin decided to go with Premium listing, but he has also upgraded his program to the highest possible Sticky listing and purchased the top large banner on the MNO monitor for an entire month. You might remember an amazingly long-running program Edelweiss5 that used to pay only twice per month, but credited members' accounts with daily profits nevertheless. I believe the same thing will apply if you join FCTAcademy which works exclusively with BitCoins and where the minimum investment currently stands at 0.01 BTC which is equivalent at $47 at the time of writing. The monthly profit promised is variable from 15% to 30% per month, it should be credited to your account on a daily basis and is available for withdrawal twice a month – on every 1st and 15th. The investment term is one full calendar year and so by the end you will have received from a 180% to 360% total return on your deposit which is not much compared to others but achievable nevertheless. Once you have made your withdrawal request during the window when it's open you should receive it to your BitCoin account within a 72 hour maximum. There are various available for members with a higher percentage rewarded for an increased turnover of the team that sign up under your link. The training on the subject of crypto-currencies trading which FCTAcademy is allegedly making money from is provided on request as well, hence the name of the program I guess, which stands for Future Crypto Trading Academy. With such a different approach to the payment schedule and deposits themselves it's no wonder that FCTAcademy operates off their own custom-made script, the site is also SSL-secured by Comodo and is hosted on a dedicated server with support and protection provided by CloudFlare. As for the current Waiting status of FCTAcademy on the MNO monitor, I'm not sure when it's going to change to Paying, as I'm not sure if I have enough funds to make a withdrawal tomorrow when the window for requesting profits opens. In any case, I hope that by the 15th of September I will have the first profit paid to my BitCoin account and after that will be able to review FCTAcademy on the MNO blog at the latest. Meanwhile, you can sign up to the website and see everything for yourself what it's all about paying a special attention at the video presentation (you can also find the clip embedded in English on MNOVision page) and the info available in a few different languages, as the site is multi-lingual. I have a very good feeling about FCTAcademy, by the way, and look forward to reviewing it as soon as the status is changed to Paying. Meanwhile here's the welcome message from the admin:
"We opened in the test mode.
Hello dear partners, we opened in beta mode, the site is constantly working on updating the functionality, content and design. All these works do not affect the work of traders.
If you see errors in your office, write directly to the mail email@example.com.
We are in the beginning of the way to create an international educational crypto-exchange platform (Academy)."
After only seven days on MNO Genetix has stopped paying today and has been moved to Problem status on my monitor a few hours ago. I must say that only people who invested in its two- and five-day investment plans saw any profit, but as with any programs of this type it was a high-risk venture to begin with. In the case of Genetix it's fair to say that those who expected reasonable profits and tended not to risk much were the winners, but many others unfortunately lost. I do not think that the admin intended this today, otherwise he would have not have extended his banner spot and Sticky listing on MNO for another week yesterday. But like with all the programs he has probably stopped paying at the time when outflow increased to the point when it was impossible to pay existing members. Overall, 13 days online was not a great result, but as Genetix was overall quite a popular program I guess operating huge amounts were not an easy task. Whatever happened with Genetix it's highly unlikely payments will resume, but I heard that some people are still able to get paid instantly, and if you're one of those people then consider yourself lucky, as for many others the game is over and the admin confirmed it to me on Telegram too. Please do not invest in Genetix anymore, guys! You have been warned!
Here is the list of the programs from my monitor that paid me for the last 48 hours:
From MNO Sticky list: –
From MNO Premium list: LaserOnline, TrafficHeap, Respectativa, FatFunds, BandeiraCorp, AurumBank, ControlFinance, ChainGroupService, RolyInvestment, AlpexTrade.
From MNO Standard list: Ykke, CryptoMineHoldings, MatrixAlliances.
From MNO Basic list: CryptoCenter, Investellect, UKPME, CryptoMaster, AltenergyVenturesGroup (the first payment received).
That's all for today, guys. I hope you enjoy reading MNO and take full advantage of the best investment programs you can find on the monitor. The new HYIP season is officially starts tomorrow, and the listing prices on MNO are going to increase too. So expect some really high quality programs to be added to MNO in September, and throughout the autumn. Of course, not to miss anything important and always be in the loop I encourage readers to follow MNO on Telegram, Facebook, or Twitter, and subscribe to the Daily News to be delivered to your email address here. You can also contact me directly at firstname.lastname@example.com while my contact form is still under maintenance or chat with me on Telegram @mnoblog if you have any questions or suggestions. As direct communication with all the MNO readers is of utmost importance to me so you're welcome to post on the MNO ShoutBox too if you have anything to say about the programs monitored on my site. I'll be back with the latest news and a full review of MatrixAlliances sometime over the weekend, so stay tuned for more and have a nice weekend everyone!
Filed under Daily News, Reviews by on Aug 31st, 2017. Comment.
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Bill Mazeroski, the old Pittsburgh Pirates second-baseman, is generally considered (at least by my generation) to be the best pivot-man in history. But President Obama is closing fast. In addition to his well-publicized "pivot" to Asia on defense policy, we have witnessed at least a dozen pivots to the economy.
But does the public want a president who is constantly "pivoting"? To me it suggests that Obama can't keep his focus. Get this man some Ritalin.
The latest news of a pivot to the economy comes today. The NRCC has compiled a list of 11 predecessor pivots:
"Obama Pivots to Jobs Tour at End of Scandal Filled Week" (ABC News, 5/18/13)
"Obama's Texas Trip An Attempt To Refocus On Jobs, Economy" (Washington Times, 5/8/13)
"Obama: State Of The Union To Focus On Jobs" (USA Today, 2/8/13)
"Obama Turns To Congress For Jobs Help" (The New York Times, 6/1/12)
"Obama Turns Attention To Economy After Fundraising Pitch (Associated Press, 5/11/12)
"Fresh Off Debt-Ceiling Brawl, Dems Pivot To Talk About Jobs" (The Hill, 8/3/11)
"Obama To Focus On Jobs" (San Jose Mercury News, 1/23/11)
"Obama To Focus On Jobs, Spending In State Of The Union Speech (The Tennessean, 1/27/10)
"Hill Democrats Set To Pivot To Job Creation" (Washington Times, 1/25/10)
"Obama Pivots To Jobs As Key Theme" (Politico, 1/8/10)
"Obama Turns Focus To Job Creation" (Associated Press, 12/5/09)
What do these pivots mean? Most of them, including the latest, simply mean that Obama will talk more about the economy — in other words, he will try to change the conversation
It's reasonable for Obama to want to change the conversation to the economy. For although the economy isn't setting the world on fire, it's a bright spot for the administration compared to other matters that have dominated the public discussion recently.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll recently found that 56 percent of Americans believe the economy is improving. That's the highest number since early 2009. And it exceeds, presumably, the percentage of Americans who believe Obamacare implementation is working out well or that the administration is above reproach ethically.
Talking about the economy also enables Obama to play offense against Republicans in ways he cannot do on other major issues. Obama has his theory on the economy; the Republicans have theirs. Obama typically has fared well politically when the two theories have clashed.
Republicans can't successfully be demonized for pointing to various administration scandals or for pointing to problems in the implementation of the perennially unpopular Obamacare. But they can be, and have been, successfully demonized for some of their key economic positions.
Look, then, for Obama to cast his economic message in populist terms. As the Washington Post points out, he will give the first speech in this latest "pivot" at Knox College in Illinois, where in 2005, as a Senator, he attacked Republicans for being Social Darwinists. The White House has posted video of that speech on its website.
I doubt that the Republicans have much to fear from the president's pivot. The economy is the economy; it gets no better or worse by being discussed. And the Republican positions on the economy don't focus right now on tax rates for the well-to-do, but rather mostly on the budget and the debt. Here, Republicans are on decent political footing, especially since the sequester hasn't produced the horrors that Obama predicted.
But if Obama feels the need to be out-and-about talking about something (as surely he does), he's smart to talk about the economy.


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Green Tea, Red Wine Extracts May Help Stop Alzheimer's
Natural chemicals found in green tea and red wine may disrupt a key step in the Alzheimer's disease pathway, according to new research.
Researchers from the University of Leeds said they have identified the process, or disease pathway, that allows harmful clumps of protein to latch on to brain cells, causing them to die. They were then able to interrupt this pathway using the purified extracts of EGCG from green tea and resveratrol from red wine.
"This is an important step in increasing our understanding of the cause and progression of Alzheimer's disease," said lead researcher Professor Nigel Hooper of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences.
"It's a misconception that Alzheimer's is a natural part of aging. It's a disease that we believe can ultimately be cured through finding new opportunities for drug targets like this."
Alzheimer's is characterized by a build-up of amyloid protein in the brain, which clumps together to form toxic, sticky balls of varying shapes.
These balls latch on to the surface of nerve cells in the brain by attaching to proteins on the cell surface called prions, causing the nerve cells to malfunction and eventually die, researchers explain.
"We wanted to investigate whether the precise shape of the amyloid balls is essential for them to attach to the prion receptors, like the way a baseball fits snugly into its glove," said co-author Dr. Jo Rushworth. "And if so, we wanted to see if we could prevent the amyloid balls binding to prion by altering their shape, as this would stop the cells from dying."
The team formed amyloid balls in a test tube and added them to human and animal brain cells.
"When we added the extracts from red wine and green tea, which recent research has shown to re-shape amyloid proteins, the amyloid balls no longer harmed the nerve cells," said Hooper.
"We saw that this was because their shape was distorted, so they could no longer bind to prion and disrupt cell function. We also showed, for the first time, that when amyloid balls stick to prion, it triggers the production of even more amyloid, in a deadly vicious cycle."
The research team's next steps are to understand exactly how the amyloid-prion interaction kills off neurons, according to Hooper.
"I'm certain that this will increase our understanding of Alzheimer's disease even further, with the potential to reveal yet more drug targets," he said.
The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, Alzheimer's Research UK and the Medical Research Council, was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Source: University of Leeds
Wood, J. (2018). Green Tea, Red Wine Extracts May Help Stop Alzheimer's. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 28, 2020, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2013/02/10/green-tea-red-wine-extracts-may-help-stop-alzheimers/51416.html
Last reviewed: By a member of our scientific advisory board on 8 Aug 2018
Published on Psych Central.com. All rights reserved.


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OnBase & The Institute of Financial Operations (IFO) AP Automation Survey
The accounts payable profession is becoming more aware of automation options and what they can mean for cash management, according to results of this annual study by The Institute of Financial Operations.
Although respondents to the survey conducted in mid-2014 show AP departments are still heavily reliant on paper, they are watching a steady stream of developments in existing and emerging technologies.
This year's survey of industry professionals delved deeper to get answers to key questions such as:
- How automated are AP departments?
- Which technologies are seeing the highest adoption rates?
- What are the costs to process paper versus electronic invoices?
The survey also looked ahead, querying participants about their companies' top technology priorities for the coming year as well as the obstacles they anticipate facing.


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Dorset and Williston rd
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- This is a photo of the intersection at Dorset and Williston. Highway signs are visible in the back of the photo, leading to Winooski, Burlington, St. Albans, and Montpelier. Many cars line the streets as this is a high time of traffic, and a comfort inn sign can be seen in the left part of the picture. crosswalks have been added for pedestrian safety, and more road signs have been added to the area.
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- Trees; Transportation; Traffic signs and signals; Time; Streets; Spring; Sidewalks; Shrubs; Season; Roads,Paved; Roads, Paved; Roads; Plants; People; Nature; Living Things; Landscapes; Human Constructs; Human Activity; Forests and Plants; Electric lines--Poles and towers; Deciduous; Culture; Conifers; City trees; Cities and towns; Change; Buildings; Automobiles;
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- Ross Hiatt
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- Ross Hiatt
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- Ross Hiatt
- Submitted On:
- 2013-04-24
- Original Media:
- Digital Photograph
- Times viewed:
- 50494


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Dr. Letitia Wright has a huge heart for entrepreneurs. She loves their energy and the twinkle in the eyes they get when talking about their product. She's passionate about helping them because she has personal experience seeking help for running her own business and coming up empty handed.
Wright started her career as a chiropractor, and while she loved the medical part of her job, she struggled with the business side. There weren't enough clients and she needed a marketing strategy. The lowest point of her journey was when she went to hire a practice management company to help her troubleshoot the business issues and they told her she didn't make enough money to be one of their clients.
She focused on learning about business herself, eventually creating a TV show in 2000 for entrepreneurs called "The Wright Place," which offers advice, resources and growth strategies to small business owners.
"I never wanted anyone to feel the punch in the stomach that I felt," she said.
She stopped seeing patients in 2004 to focus on growing her business career and hasn't looked back. In the past several years she's thrown much of her energy at becoming a go-to source for information on crowdfunding, constantly reading new information, following trends, keeping up to date on SEC best practices and growing her knowledge on what is a relatively new way to raise capital for a project.
Working with private clients as well as running her own successful crowd-funding campaigns to pay for a book and workshop has given her plenty of insight on the ins and outs of open source fundraising.
With the economy still struggling and credit being hard to come by, Wright couldn't have picked a better time to become an expert in alternative methods of paying for an idea.
"You can crowdfund anything," she said. "It's fantastic."
Wright answered questions for Mint about crowdfunding. Here's what we learned:
What's the biggest misinformation about crowdfunding?
People assume that as long as you're on Indiegogo or Kickstarter, the money will start flooding in. But it's not set it and forget it.
"You do have to have a specific plan. You do have to pour energy into it every day," Wright said.
There are more than 500 crowd-funding websites out there, and more coming out every day. If you've only checked two, then you haven't done enough homework. Find the site that best aligns with your tribe, the people you engage with and who support you and who you support in return.
Another misunderstanding is that you can raise millions of dollars for free, but the reality is a good campaign will cost money; you need to research and create and easy-to-understand and high-quality presentation to your potential funders.
What are the advantages of crowdfunding?
There are several advantages to crowdfunding that Wright mentioned. Among them:
- Because it's not a loan, you avoid going into debt.
- If you do it right, you'll get the benefit of extra publicity; you'll often get in front of a market that might not have been aware of you.
- If you do need a loan, you'll have a better chance of getting it because you can demonstrate interest in your product via the amount of money you've raised and the number of presales you have.
"Crowdfunding can take you three steps ahead of the game," Wright said.
Of course, there are still downsides, Wright mentioned, including:
- A lot of people still don't know what crowdfunding is. Wright suggested using the word "fundraising" instead and making sure to explain what you're doing in a way that your "tribe" (or like-minded supporters) will understand.
- If you don't manage it properly, you can look like you're begging; don't tell people about how you're broke or close to eviction. That doesn't inspire confidence.
- If you fail at crowdfunding, you can end up damaging your reputation with your tribe, which will make it difficult to bring them on board next time.
What types of businesses do you think should try crowdfunding?
"I think all kinds of businesses should try crowdfunding," Wright said. "I haven't come across businesses that shouldn't try it."
That said, there are some niches that have a harder time then others raising money this way. Wright said she frequently gets requests from college students seeking advice on crowdfunding their education. Only 30 percent of people who crowdfund are successful at it, Wright said, and students aren't often in the minority.
"It's a really, really tough sell if you don't have a community behind you," she said.
Who has the easiest time raising money?
"Gamers by far," Wright said. "Gamers are killing it in the crowdfunding community."
When video game makers decided to do an end run around the corporations who'd traditionally manufactured them and sell directly to avid players, they brought crowdfunding to the public eye.
"Gamers have easily raised millions and millions of dollars because that's an insatiable tribe," she added.
What are some best practices when trying to raise capital via crowdfunding?
The number one best practice is understanding exactly what your project is, and trying to focus it on one thing rather then trying to do too many things at once.
"You should be able to say it in one sentence," Wright said. "If you have to explain it, it's dead in the water."
In addition, you want to make sure to have your tribe formed ahead of time and be willing to connect with someone else's tribe to help expand yours. Don't assume your tribe will come to you, either. You have to go to them where they are and talk to them in a way they understand.
"My tribe is very internet savvy, so I'm able to reach entrepreneurs and the entertainment industry with electronics," Wright said. But she cautions, "Crowdfunding isn't just online, it's offline." It's important to show up to events held by members of your tribe and to make real connections.
Don't just rely on Twitter and Facebook to get the word out about your efforts; they won't make the sale.
"The whole point of crowdfunding is money, not just to get people to like you on Facebook," Wright said. "I tell people, stop smoking hopium. Money is money and likes are likes."
You only get a chance to get in front of people once or twice, so make sure to ask them to give you money.
What are some no-no's?
- Don't call people donors when you're not a nonprofit.
- Don't call people investors because crowdfunding is not an investment.
- Make sure your rewards are relevant to whatever you're selling.
- Not doing enough updates. Think of crowdfunding as a 90-day cheerleading practice, Wright said.
How long should a campaign run?
While there is no set time limit for a campaign, Wright recommends people use websites where they can go 90 days.
"You have three to six times to get into people's budgets," she said. "They will support you if they can have another 30 days to work you into their budget."
What do you see as the future of crowdfunding?
Wrights predictions for 2014 include:
1. Crowd equity is going to massively change. This is where you'll be able to sell shares of your company online. It's going to be huge; you can raise $1 million you can have actual investors getting actual returns. We're already doing $6 billion-$7 billion; crowd equity is going to double that.
2. A lot of films are using crowdfunding to raise money offering those who contribute money a chance to appear in the film. Wright predicts that there's going to be an actor or some actress who's fed up from trying to get parts the traditional way going and will instead just buy parts via crowdfunding. "I can see TMZ talking about it," she said. "I can see that person turning into a semi-major personality."
3. Finally, she expects to see some kind of scandal that will showcase the seedier side of crowdfunding: People getting ripped off. "Crowdfunding has been a golden child for awhile," she said. "Someone's going to punch it in the eye." This will force the industry to address the lack of oversight and to try to figure out a way to protect crowdfunders.
Follow Wright on Twitter.


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Our Governor talks big, but his words have no meaning.
The state will find the cash to continue a women's health program whose federal funding is threatened because of a decision to keep Planned Parenthood from participating, Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday.
"We're going to fund this program," Perry said. "Listen, we'll find the money. The state is committed to this program … This program is not going away."
Perry didn't specify where the state would get the money for the Medicaid Women's Health Program, which provides health screenings and contraceptive services to low-income women.
In a Thursday letter to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Perry directed Commissioner Tom Suehs to work with legislative leaders to identify funding.
Nearly 130,000 women are enrolled in the program, which in fiscal year 2012 is scheduled to receive $29.8 million in federal funds and $3.3 million in state general-revenue money.
"We've got a multibillion-dollar budget, so we have the ability to be flexible on where monies come from," Perry said.
Funny, but I don't remember any talk about "flexibility" back when billions were being cut from the budget. I also don't recall the Governor objecting when tens of millions were being cut from the Women's Health Program and bills to continue it were being blocked in the Legislature. Where will we find that money, and why couldn't we find money like it when the budget was being written? Who will actually provide the services for 100,000+ women that had been going to Planned Parenthood? Why is it even remotely fiscally responsible to turn down a 9:1 funding match over a ridiculous point of ideology? There are no answers, only questions.
Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston, House Democratic Caucus leader, said of Perry's funding promise, "I'll believe it when I see it," noting cuts approved by lawmakers who crafted the current budget to meet a massive revenue shortfall.
"I don't see how you're going to get blood out of that turnip," Farrar said.
Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said that "the real losers in this battle are limited income women of color who are disproportionately harmed" by the new rule.
"Perry and his free-market cohorts have repeatedly said that Texans should have a choice of health provider. But his insistence on banning certain providers from the program prevents poor Texas women from seeing their provider of choice – and that's just bad medicine," Coleman said.
What did you expect? The Trib, Burka, and BOR have more, and a statement from Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. CEO Melaney Linton is beneath the fold. There will be a rally in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic at 4600 South Freeway on Monday, March 12, at 11:30, as part of PP's statewide bus tour. See here for details.
Melaney A. Linton, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. (PPGC) released the following statement regarding Governor Perry's newfound commitment to the Women's Health Program (WHP).
"Governor Rick Perry's record shows that he can't be trusted when it comes to women's health. He consistently chooses politics over Texas women.
"We all know that Governor Perry has a history of forgetting. But Texas women haven't forgotten the relentless attacks that Governor Perry and his political cronies have launched. We remember well that last year, Governor Perry eliminated two-thirds of the budget for women's preventive health care. As a result, more than 160,000 low-income women have been left without access to lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, prevention and treatment of STDs, and other health exams this year. If the governor has suddenly identified newly available state funding to support women's health and birth control, we urge him to immediately restore the $73 million for breast and cervical cancer screenings, HIV tests, birth control and health exams that was eliminated on September 1, 2011.
"The Women's Health Express bus has been traveling the state all week, and in communities throughout Texas — from McAllen, to Waco, to San Angelo — we've heard from women that Planned Parenthood is their trusted health care provider. They count on Planned Parenthood's nonprofit health centers for lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, and well woman exams.
"On Monday morning the Women's Health Express bus will be met by a throng of women who are fed up with these political attacks on women's health. They will gather for a rally at 11:30am on Monday outside of Planned Parenthood (4600 Gulf Freeway) to urge Governor Perry to stop playing politics with their lives.
"Planned Parenthood statewide cares for more than 40 percent of patients in the Medicaid Women's Health Program. A newly released poll from Public Policy Polling shows that 59 percent of Texas voters oppose Governor Rick Perry's efforts to prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in the Medicaid Women's Health Program.
"There is a resounding message heard across the state: Governor Perry, don't mess with Texas women."


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Oakland, Berkeley, And East Bay News, Events, Restaurants, Music, & Arts
Amy Reed has a knack. The Oakland writer's novels are classified as "Young Adult," but the way she bores into the heart of troubled youth provides a laser-guided trip back in time for any reader who remembers being the kind of adolescent who found pushing the boundaries of the acceptable far more compelling than schoolwork or any more appropriate extracurricular activities. (Full disclosure: I have known Reed for many years, and was an usher in her wedding.) Her first novel, Beautiful, charted the downward spiral of a lonely young woman who finds herself suddenly desirable in the big city. The recent follow-up, Clean, allows Reed to stretch her characterization wings: Its five protagonists are teenagers in rehab, and, as there's a pretty one, a hot guy, an effete home-schooled boy, a wound-up perfect girl, and an arty goth chick, it's a relief when, early on, one of the characters gets the Breakfast Club mention out of the way.
Some of Clean's characters were easier for Reed to get inside than others. The three girls, she said, "are like the holy trinity of my teenage self — the wounded, brooding artist; the obsessive overachiever; the wild girl with poor boundaries," she said. "I have been all of those girls at various times in my life, sometimes all at once. I loved being able to throw them together, watch how they interacted, and see them ultimately become friends." The kind, closeted gay character is a type Reed's known all her life, but the fifth protagonist, Jason, was by far the biggest stretch for her. "I wanted to challenge myself to write the kind of boy I always blindly hated as a teenager — we called them 'white hatters' when I was in high school in Seattle. They were like jocks who didn't actually do sports. But I wanted to get beyond the stereotype to ultimately find compassion and love for him."
Though Reed's characters are primarily middle- and upper-class suburban and urban teens, there are parts of Clean that cut right down to the quick of addiction, no matter what the age or circumstance. Anyone who has battled any kind of substance or behavioral abuse — or who has been close to someone who has — will me moved by one character's wish to one day "be able to concentrate on what I'm doing without having to look around the room every thirty seconds. Someday sitting still and being in my skin won't feel like torture."
While Beautiful wasn't consciously written for young adults, it was classified as such as soon as Reed began shopping it around. Reed, who celebrates the release of Clean on Tuesday, August 9, at Pegasus Books (2349 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley), had a different mindset for this second novel. "Writing has been a pretty selfish act for me for most of my life; it was always about what I wanted to express," she said. "Now I'm also thinking that what I write is going to be read by kids who are still forming their beliefs and values, kids who feel lost and scared, kids who are faced with big decisions, many with very little guidance. I feel an incredible responsibility to offer not only the truth, but also something they can use — wisdom, insight, hope — not just a compelling story. I hope adults are reading my books, too. I hope they are reading them with with their kids." 7:30 p.m., free. 510-649-1320 or PegasusBookstore.com
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Week of October 28


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Pictures from today's rehearsal at the Beijing Dance Academy for an upcoming performance of the Paul Taylor Dance Company classic, Company B. Leading the rehearsal (and doing the staging of the ballet) is Richard Chen See.
The dancers are first and second year students at the academy.
It's been quite a few years since I've done dance photography, something for which I've had a longstanding passion.
btw, I took over 500 shots to get these five; something that I totally expected before shooting the rehearsal.