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Joined: 02 Mar 2009
Posts: 10080
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Location: Ontario
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:18 am
Post subject: German post election Coalition talks break down
( they appear unable to agree on a new government in Germany plunging the government into a crisis )
Majority of Germans think Merkel is finished, poll shows: Chancellor battles for political survival after coalition talks collapse leaving country facing snap election
Christian Democrat Union, Greens and Free Democrats had been in talks
Parties were already way past initial deadline set after September vote
Christian Social Union want refugee cap while Greens want coal crackdown
But the FDP walked out of talks overnight, plunging Germany into crisis
By Lara Keay and Alan Hall and Keiran Southern For Mailonline
Published: 21:29 GMT, 19 November 2017 | Updated: 12:57 GMT, 20 November 2017
Angela Merkel's future is in jeopardy after the collapse of talks to form a new government.
A poll by the Die Welt newspaper found 61.4 percent saying the failure of talks would mean an end to Merkel as chancellor.
Only 31.5 percent thought otherwise.
The woman who has led the economic powerhouse of Europe for 12 years has little time on her side to form an administration after the negotiations on Sunday ended in failure.
Germany could be facing a snap election in the new year after the pro-business liberal Free Democratic Party walked out on the meeting with Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and The Green Party.
Germany could be facing a snap election as Angela Merkel's Conservative union failed to form a coalition with another two parties, clashing on migration and climate change
The collapse of talks has thrown Merkel's future into doubt and a poll in one German newspaper found 61.4 percent saying the failure of talks would mean an end to Merkel as chancellor
The collapse of talks has thrown Merkel's future into doubt and a poll in one German newspaper found 61.4 percent saying the failure of talks would mean an end to Merkel as chancellor
FDP leader Christian Lindner said there was no 'basis of trust' to forge a government, adding: 'It is better not to govern than to govern badly. The parties do not share a common vision on modernizing Germany.'
News magazine Der Spiegel called the breakdown in negotiations a 'catastrophe' for Merkel and said Germany was having its 'Brexit moment, its Trump moment'.
Top-selling newspaper Bild said a failure to forge a coalition put 'her chancellorship in danger'.
Eight weeks ago Merkel's CDU conservatives emerged as the winner of the general election - but only just.
Her former partners in power, the centre left SPD, said it would not form a new administration with her. That left her seeking to build a coalition with the Green Party and the FDP.
But on Sunday night this so called 'Jamaica coalition' - named after the party colours which feature on the flag of the Caribbean nation - seemed doomed after the FDP walked out on the negotiations after weeks of wrangling.
Merkel may attempt to woo the centre left SPD party back but it is unlikely to acquiesce, seeing its role now in opposition to her.
The party's general secretary, Hubertus Heil, said Monday that the party's position 'is known' and said party leaders will now consider how to proceed.
He didn't elaborate ahead of a planned appearance by party leader Martin Schulz Monday afternoon.
One main sticking point in the negotiations was immigration. Merkel's decision to allow unlimited access to Germany by refugees fleeing war and terror helped slash her party's majority and propel the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) into parliament.
The CDU, and it's sister party in Bavaria the CSU, agreed on a cap of around 200,000 a year.
But The Greens reject such a limit and are pushing for a resumption of family reunions for those who have been granted temporary refuge in Germany - meaning tens of thousands more asylum seekers would arrive annually.
They also reject a demand from the other parties to declare the North African nations of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia 'safe countries of origin', and effectively stop all asylum applications from them.
The Greens also want more coal power plants shut down and more money invested in renewable energy along with a commitment to entirely phase out internal combustion cars altogether.
There are divisions too about the EU, financing it and reforming it. The FDP opposes any measures that would lead to the pooling of debt or the transfer of German cash to other troubled economies, like Greece or Italy.
The FDP also wants to end the 'temporary' Solidarity Tax brought in after the collapse of the Iron Curtain to build up decrepit East Germany which is still being gathered. The Greens want to keep it.
With such sticking points observers believe Merkel has little choice but to go to the polls again.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has failed to reach an agreement with the Free Democrat Party and the German Greens. Her Christian Democrat Union alliance with the Christian Social Union is trying to reach out to the other two parties to make a four-party coalition. She is pictured with Volker Kauder, leader of CDU/CSU faction
Mrs Merkel is pictured arriving at talks with the Free Democrat and Green Party in Berlin yesterday
SPD vice-president Ralf Stegner made it clear via Twitter: 'The situation for the SPD will not change as a result of the collapse of the coalition talks.' And she has vowed not to do any deals with the AfD.
A possible coalition between the CDU, with Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union, and the FDP would lack 29 seats for a majority in parliament, and a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the Greens would lack 42 seats.
Merkel will meet President Frank-Walter Steinmeier later today to brief him on the negotiations and discuss what comes next.
Meanwhile, Germany's main business group is calling on the country's mainstream political parties to show responsibility and make compromises after the failure of coalition talks.
The head of the Federation of German Industries, or BDI, said Monday that 'economic stability needs political stability.'
Chairman of the Free Democrat Party Christian Lindner (pictured) is concerned what Green Party plans to end coal use would do the country's economy. He also wants a cap on the number of refugees allowed into Germany
Chairman of the Free Democrat Party Christian Lindner (pictured) is concerned what Green Party plans to end coal use would do the country's economy. He also wants a cap on the number of refugees allowed into Germany
Dieter Kempf said that German industry faces 'enormous challenges' despite the country's good current economic situation.
European leaders have reacted to the news of the collapsed talks.
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed concerns about the collapse of negotiations to form a coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany.
Speaking in Paris on Monday, Macron said 'it's not in our interest for it to get tense.'
Macron said he had spoken to Merkel Sunday night and believed that the declarations of pro-business FDP President Christian Lindner 'were quite hard.'
The Netherlands' foreign minister says new elections in Germany, the European Union's most populous member, would be 'the worst scenario.'
Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said in Brussels Monday that 'Germany is a very important country in Europe and thus it will become difficult to take important decisions in Brussels.'
Zijlstra noted that it took the Netherlands seven months to form a new government after an election earlier this year. Coalition talks in Germany collapsed on Sunday night, nearly two months after elections.
Zijlstra said: 'So I'd say, think about it again, and maybe it is better to talk again than to have elections again.
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Joined: 02 Mar 2009
Posts: 10080
: 3
Location: Ontario
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:21 am
Post subject:
German coalition: are new elections on the cards?
The possible scenarios as the parties fail to overcome their differences
Merkel faces worst political crisis of her career
2 hours ago
Coalition breakdown: Angela Merkel, centre, Greens leader Cem Ozdemir, left, and Christian Lindner of the FDP © FT montage; AFP/Getty/Reuters
Germany faces a long period of uncertainty after talks on forming a new government broke down late on Sunday night. Angela Merkel, chancellor, was trying to form a coalition between her conservative bloc, the liberal Free Democratic party and the environmental Greens.
But the parties were deeply divided over issues ranging from how to tackle climate change to refugee policy. After exploratory talks dragged on for more than a month the FDP quit, saying the sides had failed to overcome their differences. What happens now? Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, will play a crucial role and will meet Ms Merkel later on Monday. Under the constitution, the head of state is the person who ultimately decides whether Germany should hold new elections, which may be the only option available.
The decision on whether Germany should hold new elections ultimately resides in German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier © GettyWhat are the options?There are basically three. Ms Merkel can change tack and seek instead to continue the "grand coalition" between her conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD), which held power until September's election. Failing that, she could try to run a minority government, which might have support from one smaller party but would not command a majority in the Bundestag.
And if neither of those scenarios is possible or palatable, Germany could be heading for fresh elections. How likely is a 'grand coalition'?A grand coalition would easily command a parliamentary majority, even after both the SPD and the CDU lost ground in the September election. But the election was viewed by the SPD as a disaster — it won barely one-fifth of the national vote, its worst result since 1949 — and the party, run by Martin Schulz, has categorically ruled out going into government again.
The pressure might now grow on it to change its mind, but it is unlikely to do so — although one senior SPD figure, Thomas Oppermann, said after the elections in September that a grand coalition would only work if Ms Merkel stepped down. In such a scenario, a key question would be who from the Christian Democrats the SPD might be prepared to work with.
The Social Democratic party, headed by Martin Schulz, has ruled out going into a coalition governmentCould a minority government work?Technically yes, although few parties like the idea. Thomas Kreuzer of the CSU, part of Ms Merkel's conservative bloc and one of the negotiators in the coalition talks, said a minority government would lack the authority that Germany and the EU badly need at the present time.
Ms Merkel said on the night of the election that she would not favour such an option, and the SPD also made clear it would not "tolerate" a Merkel-led minority government. How could we get to new elections?The path to a new election is not straightforward, and first of all requires voting by the members of the Bundestag elected in September.Germany's chancellor is not directly elected in a national vote.
Instead under Article 63 of Germany's basic law the president nominates the chancellor, usually the candidate of the strongest group in parliament. He or she is then elected to office upon winning a majority of members of the Bundestag, the German parliament. All of Germany's postwar chancellors attained office in this way, supported of course by having held successful coalition talks.
Now we are in a position where Ms Merkel cannot guarantee that support. In such a situation the constitution would require further votes. The first, within 14 days, would allow a candidate to become chancellor with a majority of votes in parliament. Failing that, a third vote would be held in which the candidate with the most votes could become chancellor. The president must then decide whether to appoint this person — potentially leaving them to try to run a minority government — or to dissolve the Bundestag.
What will happen if new elections are held?Many commentators say they could easily play into the hands of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a rightwing populist party that won 13 per cent in the Bundestag election and has thrived on popular dissatisfaction with the established parties.
The breakdown of the coalition talks will vindicate the AfD's claim that Germany's political system is broken and needs radical solutions to fix it.The FDP, led by Christian Lindner, considers it has least to fear from new elections, and that it could pick up support from disgruntled conservative and AfD voters.
But some commentators have suggested that this could backfire against the FDP, which might be blamed by many voters for the breakdown of the "Jamaica" talks — so called because the parties' colours match those of the Caribbean nation's flag. Jürgen Trittin, a Green leader, said the FDP's calculation could turn out to be a "cruel mistake".
Joined: 16 Dec 2009
Posts: 6559
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Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:44 am
Post subject:
This is an illustration of what is wrong with schemes of proportional representation. Her previous coalition, which had an overwhelming majority -- something like 70% or more of the seats -- and now that coalition is in tatters, and the political future is uncertain.
In other words, there was a electoral tsunami last September which ran against her, and she's still in power. She wouldn't even have a problem if her coalition partner had remained loyal. It looks like she is going to have to step back and let someone else try to form a coalition.
If they used our system, the government would have been changed from top to bottom. And all the parties would know -- we gotta stop this Moslem immigration. Politically correct or not, they would know that.
Joined: 02 Mar 2009
Posts: 10080
: 3
Location: Ontario
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:02 pm
Post subject:
Germany's Merkel signals readiness for new election after coalition talks collapse
German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves the presidential residence Bellevue Castle in Berlin where she met the German President on Nov. 20, 2017 after coalition talks failed overnight.
ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images
Paul Carrel and Gernot Heller
3 hours ago
November 20, 2017
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but Germany's president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a government.
The major obstacle to a three-way deal was immigration, according to Merkel, who was forced into negotiations after bleeding support in the Sept. 24 election to the far right in a backlash at her 2015 decision to let in over 1 million migrants.
The failure of exploratory coalition talks involving her conservative bloc, the liberal pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and environmentalist Greens raises the prospect of a new election and casts doubt about her future after 12 years in power.
Merkel, 63, said she was skeptical about ruling in a minority government, telling ARD television: "My point of view is that new elections would be the better path." Her plans did not include being chancellor in a minority government, she said after meeting President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Steinmeier said Germany was facing the worst governing crisis in the 68-year history of its post-World War Two democracy and pressed all parties in parliament "to serve our country" and try to form a government.
Merkel's role in doubt as German coalition talks fail (Reuters)
His remarks appeared aimed at the FDP and the Social Democrats (SPD), who on Monday ruled out renewing their "grand coalition" with the conservatives.
"Inside our country, but also outside, in particular in our European neighborhood, there would be concern and a lack of understanding if politicians in the biggest and economically strongest country (in Europe) did not live up to their responsibilities," read a statement from Steinmeier, a former foreign minister who has been thrust center-stage after taking on the usually largely ceremonial head of state role in March.
Steinmeier's intervention suggests he regards a new election - desired by half of Germany's voters according to a poll - as a last resort. The SPD has so far stuck to a pledge after heavy losses in the September election not to go back into a Merkel-led broad coalition of center-left and center-right.
Merkel urged the SPD to reconsider. "I would hope that they consider very intensively if they should take on the responsibility" of governing, she told broadcaster ZDF, adding she saw no reason to resign and her conservative bloc would enter any new election more unified than before.
"If new elections happened, then ... we have to accept that. I'm afraid of nothing," she said.
Business leaders also called for a swift return to talks.
With German leadership seen as crucial for a European Union grappling with governance reform and Britain's impending exit, FDP leader Christian Lindner's announcement that he was pulling out spooked investors and sent the euro falling in the morning.
Both the euro and European shares later recovered from early selling, while German bond yields steadied near 1-1/2 week lows, as confidence about the outlook for the euro zone economy helped investors brush off worries about the risk of Germany going to the polls again soon.
Earlier, Merkel got the strong backing of her CDU leadership.
Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of Germany weekly Die Zeit said she could rely on CDU support for now, but added: "I will not bet on her serving out her entire four-year term."
The main parties fear another election so soon would let the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party add to the 13 percent of votes it secured in September, when it entered parliament for the first time. Polls suggest a repeat election would return a similarly fragmented parliament.
A poll published on Monday showed a new election would bring roughly the same result as the September election, with the Greens set to see the biggest gains.
If Germans voted next Sunday, Merkel's conservatives would get 31 percent, the SPD 21 percent, the Greens and the AfD both 12 percent, the FDP 10 percent and the Left party 9 percent, the Forsa survey for RTL television showed.
This compares with the election result of 32.9 percent for the conservatives, 20.5 percent for the SPD, 12.6 percent for AfD, 10.7 percent for FDP, 9.2 percent for the Left party and 8.9 percent for the Greens.
The failure of coalition talks is unprecedented in Germany's post-war history, and was likened by newsmagazine Der Spiegel to the shock election of U.S. President Donald Trump or Britain's referendum vote to leave the EU - moments when countries cast aside reputations for stability built up over decades.
Any outcome in Germany is, however, likely to be more consensus driven. "The problem is stagnation and immobility, not instability as in Italy," said Joffe.
The unraveling of the German talks came as a surprise since the main sticking points - immigration and climate policy - were not seen as FDP signature issues.
Responding to criticism from the Greens, FDP vice chairman Wolfgang Kubicki said a tie-up would have been short-lived. "Nothing would be worse than to get into a relationship about which we know that it will end in a dirty divorce," he said.
Even if the SPD or the FDP revisit their decisions, the price for either party to change its mind could be the departure of Merkel, who since 2005 has been a symbol of German stability, leading Europe through the euro zone crisis.
The inability to form a government caused disquiet elsewhere in Europe, not least because of the implications for the euro zone reforms championed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Germany's political impasse could also complicate and potentially delay the Brexit negotiations - Britain has just over a year to strike a divorce deal with the EU ahead of an exit planned for March 29, 2019.
"It's not in our interests that the process freezes up," Macron told reporters in Paris, adding he had spoken with Merkel shortly after the failure of talks.
Joined: 16 Dec 2009
Posts: 6559
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:10 pm
Post subject:
Good, this is what should happen. Not because she isn't conservative enough, but because she blew the immigration issue, and it's so important, the best thing for everybody is for her gang to turn the reins over to someone else.
This will be an election where the last results re-contextualize the political situation. Whether she realizes it or not, this is very likely the end of her chapter.
She had a long and successful career. In most of that time, she managed to find the 'sweet spot' of German politics, and was hugely popular, as politicians go. But the immigration decision was so wrong, and handled so badly that she should acknowledge that by retiring with honour.
I think she is doing the right thing in calling the election. She will likely suffer further losses. In a way it's sad, because she is certainly one of the great figures of European politics, ranking up there with statemen of the past. But this will fester and grow as long as it goes on.
Joined: 04 Oct 2006
Posts: 8196
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Location: The World
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:54 pm
Post subject:
The election talk is an effective threat.
The CDUs polling numbers are up slightly even in the wake of the collapse discussions;
But the two potential coalition partners are down or are static
The FDP was kicked to the curb in 2013 with zero seats and returned fairly strong in this post recent election with 80 seats, which leads me to believe that Christian Lindner isn't exactly aiming for a new election where his seat total will potentially decrease.
The CDU and Greens in theory are the two parties that would benefit the most from a new election and Merkel is certainly aware of that.
The second challenge is that there is limited alternative with none of the parties being willing to work with the AfD and their 94 seats and you need to get to 355 with the CDU holding 246 seats
You would require a SPD, FDP, Left, and Greens formed mega opposition coalition they would be @ 369 and I am not entirely sure the Left and the FDP could work together.
All roads to government likely lead through the CDU and Merkel is acting as such.
Joined: 16 Dec 2009
Posts: 6559
: 8
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 4:31 pm
Post subject:
So, you say this is less a step to an election than a threat of what will happen if the minor parties don't support her? A way of putting their feet into the fire? It really sounds right.
It occurs to me that if you are right, she is offering her prospective coalition partners a way of surrendering under the assumption that not surrendering would be worse, because an election will be a setback for them. She's the rock, the other choice is the hard place.
I like it. It seems to fit. It might be one last shot at keeping the anti-immigrant people out. But I don't see how it stands a snowball's chance of working.
I still feel that Merkel should retire while she's at the top of her game. The German people don't want this. As long as it goes on, it will inflame the issue. That simple. Continued immigration at this scale, and from present sources, will encourage one side (at least) to become more radical, and the other more obdurate.
The time to compromise socially is now.
If she were not in the picture, everything would be more fluid. Her party could back down a bit, a process of compromise might set in. One or two rallies back and forth like that, and the complexion of things can change. Particularly if the immigration were limited and controlled.
There may be other ways it can work out, but the Germans have already been loaded up with racial guilt over Hitler, and stifle their national feelings for fear of rousing the ghosts of the past. 0K, but this is different There's no reason for Germans to take on racial guilt so far as the Arabs are concerned, never mind Somalis. Something has to snap.
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German post election Coalition talks break down
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All the stars aligned this morning and I finally had a great run! I am so happy because I felt very beaten down from a week of bad runs. I guess it happens. I have said in the past that all the stars have to align in order for me to have a good run since I'm not "made" to be a runner. So, I need the perfect weather, rest, fuel, shoes, etc – in order for me to do just okay!
15 great miles today!
Before I left I had one of these english muffins. People have commented that I don't eat enough before my runs, but I usually start running within a half an hour of getting up so I'm not hungry yet. And I eat pretty late before going to sleep – which I am working on so I will wake up with hungry instead of going to bed FULL. Trust me, I make up for it later in the day.
Here is me when I got back. I wanted to show off my new fuel belt. A review is coming soon!
It makes me feel like I'm wearing a gun holster.
After the run I had yogurt/cereal/naner/other good stuff.
My middle toe nail is fading fast here folks 😦 This blog has really turned into a creepy freak show where I show you my gross toe nails…Sorry. My pedicure lady actually told me I need to quit running as that's the only way my toe nails will get better. I guess I'm gonna live with tragic nails, too bad…
I am way late, so I'll see ya later!
Oh, and I was a guest blogger over at For The Love of Oats today! Check it out 🙂
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Breakfast, Half Marathon Training, Runs, Toes |

subset: commoncrawl


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Hello everyone!
As you know, each month we try to have a Badge Testing night and we have a wonderful dedicated Badge Tester who we appreciate very much!
Check the newsletters - or the dates on this blog - to see when the next Badge Testing is!
Hm, what badge to work on??
Oh dear! and you can't find your Guides book??
Well, the badges are on the Girl Guides of Canada website!!
Just click here and you can look through and decide which badge to earn!!


text:
It was only yesterday, well Wednesday actually, I remember it well. I was a happy but serious gardener, a good husband, an obedient son. I was a good law biding citizen too, paid my bills and my taxes, didn't drink really, no drugs anymore, I'd given up playing stud poker up in the mountains years ago. I stay close to home now most of the time, piddling in my garden, reading a good book every now and then.
I also read 2 Israeli newspapers online everyday to keep up with what's going on in the Middle East. I keep up with the news over there cause I keep waiting on peace to break out and I wait and I wait and I wait and, well I'm still waiting…. I read the New York Times online so I know what the folks in middle America think, what they're reading, the average American, you know folks who live on Long Island whose average income is around $2,000,000 a year and who pay less taxes than I do….:-)
I read the Washington Post online cause ever since their reporters broke the Watergate story and got the best of "Tricky" Dick Nixon, well let's just say that anybody who could get the best of Nixon must be doing something right, I mean the didn't call Nixon "Tricky" for nothing…..;-)
I also enjoy reading several technology websites so as to keep up with the latest in high tech. The latest electronic toys that are always making our lives better and easier and happier. Happier, like when I read that the new computer I bought just last week is already out of date and useless and won't run any of the "new" software that was just released yesterday…..:-)
I read the Anniston Star so I know what's happening state wide and locally. If any law maker is taking bribes from gambling interests I want to be the first to know about it. And when our law makers actually do something that is actually for the public good, I want to be the first to know about that too…..:-) When many our area civic organizations and charities do something to help others in need I like to read about that, it always restores my faith in human nature. In Alabama we got a lot of civic organizations and charities that do a whole lot of good….
And I like to keep up with what's going on with the Anniston City Council, cause all the Saturday Night Live episodes are reruns now and I've seen them all before but the Anniston City Council meetings are always new, always different and always funnier than anything on Saturday Night Live since John Belushi died….
Myself , I'm a blogger of little stories about gardening and small town life. My little stories aren't great literature by any means but I enjoy writing them. And they're posted here on my self published blog, where if folks want to read them they can. And it always makes me happy to know someone, anyone has taken the time to read one and if they didn't want to read them, well they wouldn't have to even know I had written them if they didn't visit my blog online.
I guess you're wondering why I haven't mentioned the Piedmont Journal yet. My hometown newspaper, the newspaper I've read faithfully and always enjoyed for over 50 years now and always encouraged others to read too….You see like I said up until Wednesday I was a happy person. Piddling in my garden, always planning something new for our garden with my wife Linda, writing goofy little stories here on my blog everyday for my friends. You see my readers are my friends or at least I like to think of them as such….Yes I had a good life till Wednesday, but now, now all of that is over, KAPUT…. And just let me tell you why, why that is…..Let me tell you here and now…..:-)
That little sneak Eddie Burkhalter, who I always thought was a really talented as well as ethical writer/ journalist for the Piedmont Journal. Ethical that is till yesterday's Piedmont Journal came out. Eddie Burkhalter who was supposed to be my "friend". My friend till yesterday's Piedmont Journal came out. Yes fellow gardeners, THAT Eddie Burkhalter. The guy who published one of my little stories in the Piedmont Journal yesterday and that for all intents and purposes will end my simple but happy life FOREVER….:-)…..I just know it…..
They'll be no more staying close to home. I can see it now, I'll be away from home almost all the time, constantly doing speaking engagements. Reading excerpts of my little stories for all the adoring fans I'll have now all across Calhoun County. Autographing the article that folks have torn out of the Piedmont Journal for me to sign…:-)
And before you know it the Anniston Star will start publishing my little stories too. My little stories will be published right next to what happened at the last Anniston City Council meeting, nobody will think my little stories are that funny anymore compared to what's going on with the Anniston City Council….:-)
Then the New York Times will start publishing my little stories. They'll want me to compile all my little stories into a book. I'll have to go up there for book signings, more speaking engagements. I'll probably end up reciting some of my little stories at Carnegie Hall… I'll for sure win this years Pulitzer Prize….:-)
And then, then at some trendy little bookstore in New York City's Lower East Side I'll probably meet a rich good looking 30 year old woman who's already been married 4 times and I'll probably end up having an affair with her. I'll end up losing my wife and my garden too…Lord I'll lose all my coneflowers and my old fashioned climbing roses. My wife will marry again and some other man, a total stranger will be deadheading my roses before the ink is even dry on my divorce papers…:-)
I'll start drinking heavily. I probably wreck my car on the way to receive an award from the Washington Post for having the most popular column in their newspaper since the days Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward wrote about the Watergate Break In…:-) I'll be known as that "drunken Jewish redneck writer from Piedmont, Alabama"……The New York Times and the Washington Post will both drop my columns, no more little stories published. They'll take back my Pulitzer Prize like they took away the Presidency from Nixon…I'll be ruined. I'll be finished. I'll be the most unhappy person in America. My lovely wife gone, my garden gone, some nitwit stranger taking care of my roses and my wife….:-) My friends won't talk to me anymore, nobody will want to read my little stories about gardening and small town life….And why?
I'll tell you why fellow gardeners….All because of that sneaky Eddie Burkhalter. He's the one who asked me if it was alright to publish my little story about the Mill Village Reunion in yesterday's Piedmont Journal. If I'd only known last week what I know now about what being a REAL WRITER is, well I'd have never let him publish my little story in the Piedmont Journal. I'd have never told him, "yea sure Eddie, thanks so much, I really appreciate it. I'm sure tickled you're going to publish my little story in the Piedmont Journal. I don't even know what to say"…..
Well fellow gardeners I'll tell you now what I'd say…..I'd have looked that sneaky Eddie Burkhalter right in the eye and said, "Write your own little story Eddie Burhalter!!! Write you own little story about the Mill Village Reunion and have it published in the Piedmont Journal. You lose your wife and family. You get arrested for drunk driving on the way to get your Pulitzer Prize…..Not me, no way, I'm a happily married man, a good son, a good citizen, I don't drink, I don't gamble and there ain't no way I'm letting some nitwit stranger deadhead my roses……..:-) You wanna be a REAL WRITER? Then you write your own little story…..:-)
Paul From Alabama
Of course most everything I wrote above is big lie. Well most everything……:-) I do read all them newspapers online and I do subscribe and read the Piedmont Journal and the Anniston Star and have ever since I can remember…..The lying part is about me being anything but grateful to Eddle Burkhalter of the Piedmont Journal. He was nice enough to read and then publish my little story about attending the Mill Village Reunion and I sure appreciate it and want to thank him from both Linda and myself….While I'm at it I wanted to thank Bob and Diane Murphy for inviting Linda and me to the reunion in the first place. It was an honor to attend with all the folks I met there. The usual folks you meet at things like that. The folks that do so much for our community all the time. The ones who when asked to do something always volunteer. The ones who like I said who were and are the "heart" of our town….
One little aside before I go. When I walked into the room upstairs at the "Y" and saw all them people from the Mill or Mill Village I thought to myself, "I reckon these folks are wondering just what I'm doing here at a reunion for the Mill Villiage. Lord have mercy what am I going to say when someone asks me what I had to do with the Mill or the Mill Village" and then it hit me. I decided to go all the way. I just walked to the first group of folks I saw talking together when I got inside and said without even saying hello first, "its so nice to be here, you know I was one of the big bosses at the Mill for a good many years." and for one second nobody said a word and then everyone just burst out laughing and I felt much easier and right at home, just like I really had been a big boss at the Mill. Good Lord fellow gardeners, I'm such a liar……:-)
Paul From Alabama


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About The Autistic Global Initiative:
The Autistic Global Initiative, a program of the Autism Research Institute, is comprised of a team of adults diagnosed with autism spectrum conditions. Our members hail from all regions of the United States, representing the broad life span of autistic experience and expression. We are active as professionals and consultants in many fields within the autism community, including education, social work, medicine, employment, fitness and wellness, rehabilitation counseling and the visual and graphic arts.
AGI employs individuals on the autism spectrum as consultants to its special initiatives, which are determined annually by an executive advisory committee to the program. Consultants are matched to project-based activities based upon their skill sets, sensory and social accommodations, and areas of new learning they wish to pursue. In this way, AGI consultants mentor and train one another, while implementing national level initiatives and providing technical assistance to disability organizations.
AGI provides technical assistance to disability organizations and agencies so that they may improve upon or refine best practices with regard to employment, support and representation of people with autism within their organizations, in their programs, research or fundraising efforts.
About The Young Leaders Division:
The Young Leaders Division (YLD) is a program of the Autistic Global Initiative that focuses on young adult life on the spectrum. The purpose of the Youth Division is to empower our youth and young adults with autism spectrum disorders through a multi-disciplinary approach.
Youth Division Goals and Objectives:
Employment and Self-Employment
Identify, Research, and Establish Models for Education
Peer-to-Peer Mentoring
Voicing Out for the More Involved Persons of Autism


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How do moral systems evolve? The common view, rooted in game theory (see box, overleaf), is that cooperation and mutual aid require tight partnerships among individuals, or close kinship. But this dogma is now being shaken and, on page 573 of this issue, Nowak and Sigmund report a new mathematical model to show that cooperation can become established even if recipients have no chance to return the help to their helper. This is because helping improves reputation, which in turn makes one more likely to be helped.
Nowak and Sigmund's stance differs radically from classical approaches, because they assume that any two organisms are unlikely to interact twice. This excludes any direct reciprocity, meaning that you should not expect your assistance to be returned by somebody you helped on a previous encounter, but by somebody else. For such indirect reciprocity to work, individuals must assess others in their group by watching their games from the sidelines and assigning 'image scores' to them. If you watch one individual helping another, you can allot him or her one point of image score; but if you witness the individual refusing to help, withdraw one point. Then, when you are asked to help, you will cooperate if your partner's score is high — otherwise, you defect (that is, you don't cooperate). Strategies can be more or less discriminating according to their 'score cut'. For example, a 'cooperative' strategy has a score cut of zero or less, meaning that the individual then cooperates with other individuals on their first interaction.
This yields a new dilemma. When cooperating, your only reward is a score rise, at the cost of helping. You bet that the benefit of helping will be returned by someone who acknowledges your good reputation. This works, like an insurance principle, as soon as enough clients subscribe to it. On the other hand, if you punish a low scorer by defecting, this blemishes your own reputation. The punishment is possibly unfair — if the partner is a discriminator who had the bad luck to encounter low-score players, you will not help him. (This is in contrast to strategies based on reputation, where a defection provoked by the co-player's misbehaviour inflicts no black mark.)
To probe the success of discriminating strategies, Nowak and Sigmund have simulated the effect of natural selection on a population that includes various levels of discrimination. These range from blind cooperation (where every co-player receives help, no matter what his score) to unconditional defection (where no co-player is ever considered worthy of help). In every generation, there is a given — usually low — number of pair-wise interactions, and the frequency of a strategy increases in proportion to its pay-off. From their simulations, the authors show that the winner is often the cooperative strategy that discriminates the most, the one whose score cut equals zero. That way, cooperation is established even though repeated encounters almost never occur.
The dynamics of the game become more complicated if reproduction is not quite faithful (there may be mutations in the offspring's score cut). Then, the regime of cooperation is occasionally punctuated by bursts of defection, and the underlying mechanism is always the same. Unconditional cooperators spread by drift, and then defectors who can exploit them invade. In most cases, the discriminators return and re-establish cooperation. Surprisingly enough, a simplified model shows that the only way defectors can achieve a lasting triumph is by invading very rarely, because this provides time for stochastic fluctuations to eliminate almost all discriminators. A population must be challenged often if it is to remain immune to defection.
Individuals may not be able to keep track of all scores. Discriminators will spread provided the amount of information that they have about co-players exceeds some threshold. In Nowak and Sigmund's model, this amount is externally imposed. But it should reflect individual features such as the players' cognitive abilities, their propensity to move and the cost incurred for monitoring others. Spatial models could assess the effect of such traits. For example, reduced mobility might be detrimental, unless it is compensated for by an exchange of information, such as through gossip (the speed of rumours is proverbial).
The discriminator strategy has an antecedent — the 'observer tit for tat' (OTFT), developed in the context of an iterated prisoner's dilemma. The OTFT strategy prescribes defection in the first round if the opponent was seen defecting in his last interaction, and thereafter the standard tit for tat. OTFT can hold its own against defectors when the likelihood of repeated interactions decreases. This suggests that a gradual transition from direct to indirect reciprocation may occur as partnerships become looser.
Richard Alexander pioneered the concept of indirect reciprocity to deal with moral systems in human societies. But what about other species? The Arabian babbler, Turdoides squamiceps, a gregarious kind of bird, seems to enjoy helping other babblers. More than that, the babblers actually compete for the position of the donor. Obviously the increase in status compensates for the cost of cooperating. Also, a discriminating choice of partner is sometimes involved in the associations of plants and bird pollinators. There might not be much morality in birds or plants, yet indirect reciprocity based on image scoring is a tempting explanation for some of their mutualistic inclinations.


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What keeps me awake at night
Posted in Uncategorized
So I went! While almost all parts of my body and brain where holding a 'noAvatar' position, the social moviegoer in me was surprised when someone asked 'We are going to watch Avatar, do you want to join us?'.
And it was better then expected. But that's not the point.
And the 3D animations where almost credible. But that's not the point.
And the fact that the story was the same of 'Dance with wolves' and 'Pocahontas' (see here, I'm not lying) was not so disturbing. But that's not the point.
And the Stereoscopic 3D interfaces of control panels, computers, tablets etc are in line with some concept video seen in the past (e.g. Office 2019), and they are more credible than those movies from the '80s and '90s (although, I guess, after Minority Report the attention to this aspect is much more). But that's not the point.
What's the point then?
The point is that – while watching the movie – I was drinking from a plastic bottle of beer. And munching tasteless popcorns. And wearing 3D plastic goggles.
WTF?!? You may ask.
Think about it: I'm watching a movie that would like to make us more aware of the potential and beauties of nature; a movie that opens to the interconnectedness of what we find in our ecosystem. And then the cinema is full of things that (to my knowledge) are going against what the story of the movie say. It's a matter of credibility. It's a matter of delivering the message in a clear way, avoiding all possible contradictions. Ultimately, it's a matter of designing as much as possible of the experience, from the point of view of those who sit and watch the movie. Including multiple touchpoints. It's service design, someone would say. Or experience design. Or design.
I can hear you say: "Yes, but this was just a movie!"
Yes, Avatar is just a movie, and it's been designed to be as credible as possible. To generate that suspension of disbelief typical of a very engaging film. Everything has been conceived and planned for making a spectator feel part of it. Given what I assume is a pretty strong negotiation power, the production could have extended the 'designed components'' to other parts of the experience to make it even more credible. To differentiate the movie brand. What if they would ask cinemas to sell organic, locally produce food. Or not to use plastic bottles. Or at the bare minimum, offset their carbon emissions and then tell the story to everyone.
This thing makes me think about the Toyota Prius. It is a technological revolution. It benefits the environment. But it fails when it's time to take the core proposition and create a system around it. How does the Prius get produced? What is the impact of shipping it? And why aren't the colours chosen to reduce the albedo as much as possible? As metacool say:
"What if Toyota could make the entire Prius brand cradle-to-cradle by maintaining it and taking it back in a completely holistic way?" (see more here: http://metacool.typepad.com/metacool/2007/06/rewarding_brand.html)
And the same is valid for Avatar: what if Avatar would have been designed in a holistic way. Not just the message, not simply the interface and interactions with the main touchpoint. But the whole experience.
This is what I think design should do. Interaction design it's great. But too many times it becomes too obsessed in polishing few details, rather than considering what other elements haven't been even painted.
Posted in interaction design, service design
Tagged avatar, brand, design, differentiation, environment, experience, experience design, holistic, prius, service design


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xen - a hypervisor who is one of many hardware virtualization techniques which allows running concurrently guests on a host system. One of the special key features of xen is vga passthrough which allows a guest to have full access to a pci device.
When i bought my new PC i wanted to use that feature because i missed gaming on the PC and since i don't wanted to reboot every time i decided to setup a windows 7 guest with a passthroughed graphic card.
In this post i'll gonna explain my setup and show what i have done to get it work.
My problem was easy to describe. I wanted gaming. Wine was an opinion, but i don't wanted to "frikle" around to get games working and multiboot was a no-go. Even though boot times are already pretty fast i wanted to have linux running all the time. This brought me to xen...
|linux and windows side by side
1) Setup
First, my hardware setup and how it should work.
I have a an 8core amd processor with 16GB ram and two graphic cards. 4cores, 8GB ram and the high end graphic card is solely for the virtualized windows. That's enough power to run most new games without problems. (aside of linux)
Both graphic cards are connected to my 30" monitor and with the input key on the monitor i can switch between windows and linux.
The linux graphic card has two more 22" screens on the left and right of the 30".
2) Installation
2.1 System:
First i made a typical gentoo installation. It's ~amd64 keyworded, means it's more or less bloody edge. I even have a few 9999 packages installed like mesa, libdrm, xorg-server, etc but that shouldn't have any influence on xen.
CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -mcx16 -msahf -maes -mpclmul -mpopcnt -mabm -mlwp -mavx -march=native"
With gcc-4.6 i'll add "-march=bdver1 -mtune=bdver1" to CFLAGS for enabling all possible features of the new bulldozer cpu.
Another change was to create a second runlevel especially for xen. I already bloged about it so you can read the small howto here: Link
2.2 Network:
I created a bridge so that xen can create tap devices for the virtual guest. A good howto for creating bridges can be found here: Link
The installation of xen was really smooth. I enabled following flags, where at least the "hvm" flag is really important.
xen flags:
pp-emulation/xen-tools hvm qemu screen
I also tried out xen from git because it has lots of vga passthrough patches, but since i couldn't start any virtual machine with the git version, i switched back to the latest version in portage. The git version of xen can be found in the virtualization overlay.
2.4 Kernel:
On the kernel side i compiled almost everything which has to do with xen directly into the kernel. I choose to use the latest git-sources so that i have all the latest features. I'll provide my configuration here for those who are interested: Download
2.5 Grub:
Grub also needed a new entry for xen which looks like this:
title Gentoo Linux XEN
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/xen.gz dom0_mem=8192M,max:8192M iommu=1 xsave=1 dom0_max_vcpus=4 dom0_vcpus_pin
module /boot/gentoo-3.4.0-rc6 root=/dev/md3 softlevel=xen xen-pciback.permissive xen-pciback.hide=(01:00.0)(01:00.1)(00:12.0)(00:12.2) pci=resource_aligment=01:00.0,01:00.1,00:12.0,00:12.2
Below the descriptions about this configuration. Dom0 is the host system, all systems which are virtualized are domU's
dom0_mem=8192M = the host system get's 8GB Ram...
3) Windows 7
3.1 Installation:
The installation of Windows 7 went really smooth. First i've created an 30GB empty image with dd:
dd if=/dev/zero of=win7_64 bs=1M count=30000
Then i've wrote a config file for xen:
Download this config: Download
The last line is important, because this one says which pci buses are gonna be passthroughed to the guest. I also enabled vnc, so that i can connect to the system with krdc which was important while installing windows.
"disk" is the option where you point to the image and also to the iso of the windows7 dvd. A better explanation of all options can be found here: Link and as PDF
It's important not to turn on gfx_passthru, because with xen-4.1.2 vga passthrough isn't supported at boot time on ati devices. First you have to install windows and than the driver for you're gpu. Afterwards windows want to restart the system to enable the new gpu - do that and you'll have you graphical output on your second gpu :)
As long as you don't want to try out xen-unstable that's the way to go, which means as for now you don't need the gfx_passthru option.
To start xen you just have to type following into a console (as root):
xl create /path/to/the/win7-config.cfg
Next you start your favorite vnc viewer and connect to localhost and install windows. Afterwards you'll have to download the windows ati driver and install them. But be sure to install just the drivers without the ati ccc. It's known that the ati ccc makes troubles with xen. Don't install it.
I think it's the best way is to extract them and let windows install the drivers over the device manager.
3.2 Audio:
I've choose to create a Windows 7 64Bit Version. Actually, when i started to though about xen my biggest worries where everywhere except audio. I actually though it's pretty easy to get audio to work, but actually it's almost impossible.
Why? Well, xen doesn't have any emulated audio cards which work with windows7 64bit. I really searched long for a solution and the final one is more or less a workaround.
I bought a new external USB audio card for about 20€ and connected it on the windows usb bus where windows immediately installed the driver.
The usb audio card has one output and one input. From the output of the usb audio card i go into the input of my onboard audio card on linux. Now i can easy turn on/turn off the sound in windows over linux. Crazy - isn't it? :)
And the cool thing is i can run music on linux while playing on windows at the same time since the virtualized windows is just one more input for linux.
This is the audio card which i bought:
|USB Audio Card
3.3 Input:
Input was also a important topic. With pci passthrough input devices are also handled different. The problem is that the monitor output is not on the host system thus you also can't move with the mouse from the hostsystem like in qemu or virtualbox.
That's why, besides the graphic card, i also passthrough an complete usb bus. So i had 4 usb slot solely for windows. I already needed one usb slot for the external audio card. Now i needed two other for the mouse and keyboard.
Furthermore i don't wanted to have 2 mice and 2 keyboard for technically one system and so i searched for a switcher like a kvm switch but just for usb. I found this one. It works just for one device so i had to buy it two times.
|Delock USB Switcher
3.4 Harddisks:
Besides the 30GB harddrive for the windows7 system i also created a 300GB harddrive just for data. There i store all my games. In case something goes wrong with windows i still have all my games one separate (virtual) partition.
4) Problems
So far everything works really flawless, but there are still some problems.
- I wouldn't count the audio devices as problem, because it works really good but it's sad that xen still can't emulate any modern audio cards.
- It was also a pain for me when i found out that xen supports passthrough first after you installed windows and installed the ati driver. I tried alot after i found that out. Anyway, this will come with xen-4.2.
- Another problem right now is actually the usb switcher - and that one is also just a minor one.It works, but mostly just from windows to linux. Linux actually never want to release the keyboard/mouse and so i always have to unplug the devices first. It's annoying, but its ok :)
- My biggest problem right now is that once you shut down the virtualized windows you cannot start windows again. I have to restart the whole linux system too, otherwise it won't work. A bit annoying but i hope that will be fixed with xen 4.2.
Btw, sorry for the bad quality - it's my first video on youtube.
That's all for now. Next step will be xen unstable, kernel 3.5 with latest gcc xD


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Kudos to the bishops of the
They've just sponsored a two-day symposium in Washington D.C. on the Holy Father's ecological thoughts. It was a much needed gathering to exchange insights on an under-appreciated but vital topic.
The symposium, "A Catholic Consultation on Environmental Justice and Climate Change: Assessing Pope Benedict XVI's Ecological Vision for the Catholic Church in the United States" was also sponsored by the Catholic University of America's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change.
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of
California, chairman of the United State'sConference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and HumanDevelopment says that "we have seen the destructive impact of climate
change and environmental degradation both around the world and at home. These
impacts often multiply the hardship experienced by the most vulnerable people
in the world. Pope Benedict has consistently drawn attention to these issues
and urges all to take moral responsibility to reduce our environmental impact
and our carbon footprint. This symposium is an important step in guiding our
Catholic response to these challenges."
Bishop Bernard Unabali from Papau New
Guinea will
deliver the symposium's opening address on Thursday evening. Bishop Unabali
assisted with the relocation of many residents of the
to his diocese. These residents, among the world's first "climate
refugees," were forced to abandon their islands due to the impacts of
climate change. Carteret Islands
Scholars presenting on the moral and theological dimensions of ecology and climate change will come from the following colleges and universities: CUA, Fordham,
St. Louis, Graduate Theological
Union, Notre Dame, Duke, Marquette, Xavier,
Duquesne, Santa Clara, Mount St. Mary's and Georgetown.
With an eye towards the New Evangelization, Dan Misleh, Executive Director of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change hopes that the ideas presented by those present will be shared with a greater audience so that more people will appreciate the words of Pope Benedict XVI and the place of Catholic thought and spirituality in matters of ecology.
The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change is a consortium of national Catholic organizations including the USCCB, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, the National Catholic Education Association, the Franciscan Action Network, the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, among others.
Other bishops in attendance will include Bishop Jaime Soto of
Sacramento, California;
Bishop Donald Kettler of Fairbanks, Alaska; Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice,
Florida; Bishop John Ricard, retired bishop of
Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida;
and Bishop William Skylstad, retired bishop of . Spokane, Washington
Stay tuned for more information on the conference presentations as it becomes available.


text: Do you you have a great idea about renewables and energy efficiency we should consider? You can fill out our form below and know someone will review it. Please be aware that we receive a large volume of suggestions and ideas, and are unable to answer each one individually. If we're interested in discussing your idea further, we'll be in touch!


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In my first blog I explained how we think the Internet of Things (IoT), the on-demand supply chain and built to order will be 3 important trends in manufacturing this year.
So how can manufacturers cost-efficiently embrace these trends?
We advise using a combination of item labelling and stage and gates. Labels such as RFID and barcodes can be attached to items – be it materials, components, or finished assemblies. The labels can be read by handheld scanners or computers and also, in the case of RFID, by fixed readers (e.g. to 'batch-record' deliveries as they arrive at goods-in). Stage and gates divide the production process into different areas. As an assembly moves through them, checks and label reads can be carried out (e.g. to verify the right components have been added to the build manifest). The more the labels are read, the more visibility you have over the production process. I look below in a bit more detail about the role this track and trace technology can play in my 3 trends for 2016.
Much of the excitement around IoT is the potential of humans, machines, robots and computers to talk to one another. Taking this to the ultimate extreme, it's possible in future that factories could become virtually autonomous, with small teams on site, or even remote teams, monitoring and overseeing the production line.
Right now, building such plants is hugely expensive. However, by using stage and gates you can start to integrate IoT into your processes in a modular way. Using fixed RFID readers and handheld scanners or computers to capture barcode and RFID labels throughout your plant, you can send a continuous stream of data across Wi-Fi to your back office ERP and planning systems and your industrial control applications. This data will help you to create a smarter production line with much greater visibility over its status and progress. Improving visibility over the line is also important in the move towards built to order.
The move to built to order
Built to order is no longer a specialism. Many consumers expect to be able to tailor designs and order online – from cars, to furniture and clothes. They also want to be able to trace the progress of their goods. Visibility over production is, of course, key to this and data collected from stage and gates across your production line can be processed by your back office systems and made available over the internet to customers. For example, car manufacturers can allow people to view the progress of their car from order to production and through to delivery.
From the supply chain to the on-demand chain
Tier one manufacturers are increasingly requesting that suppliers deliver to their lines to match their sequencing. What's more, they also expect parts, materials and goods to be labelled with their choice of track and trace technology. We can help with this. Our wide range of RFID and barcode printing solutions make it simple to comply with any label expectations so that your goods can be easily tracked in, through and out of your customers' production lines.
At Zebra we're always looking for new ways to help customers increase agility, reduce costs and accelerate processes. As part of this drive we've recently launched a new mobile computer, the TC8000.
This rugged device invents a new, more efficient way to scan, and, in scan intensive areas of your business – from the warehouse to the production line – it can increase per user productivity by up to 14%. Across a team of eight people, that are continually picking and scanning, they can each gain an hour back per shift in efficiency gains with the TC8000. That's like adding another person to the team.
We've created a video experience here that talks you through the TC8000 and its various applications across your business. The experience also looks at our complete range of industrial mobility solutions – including enterprise-grade printers and Wi-Fi networks and how our ready-to-go apps and utilities make it easier to deploy manage and maintain mobile devices whether you're running a handful or thousands of devices.
Explore how operational visibility can help make smarter manufacturing a reality with our future manufacturing track and trace solutions.
Topics: Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Internet of Things, EMEA


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Yesterday I was lucky enough to catch a webcast of Kate DiCamillo and Jon Scieszka talking about their new books and writing in general. Kate's new book is Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, illustrated by K.G. Campbell (published by … Continue reading
Category Archives: Bottom of the Bin
Today we're going to investigate the different types of writing used in children's nonfiction books. Do you remember the different types of essays you wrote in college? Remember sweating over expository, descriptive, narrative and persuasive (also called argumentative) essays? If … Continue reading
Have you attended a Booklist Webinar yet? Talk about a gold mine for writers! For example, I watched Back to School With Common Core. At first it looked like it might be sales reps from various book companies hawking their … Continue reading
How else are children's books grouped? Children's books are often categorized by the age levels of the children who read them. From a writer's perspective, age categories are often fairly well defined, but still can vary from publisher to publisher, … Continue reading