Monthly Archives: June 2017

Book Review: Harvesting by Lisa Harding (novel) – The London Economic

Posted: June 26, 2017 at 5:48 pm

Let us speak then of victimless crimes, the pretense that somehow by expunging certain acts from the criminal justice system we are in fact advancing civilization, casting aside the repressions, the myths, the lies our churches told us for centuries upon centuries that those acts were evil when of course we the educated sophisticates know ever so much better that they are not evil merely pleasures that do no harm to no one else. If I choose to smoke a little dope, wheres the victim? Well there are one or two or several dozen victims you know, the ones exploited and yes occasionally killed by the higher levels of the drug trade. Then legalize it, you say and I will agree but lets not pretend that getting whacked out of our skulls leaves no fingerprints on anyone elses soul.

Perhaps the word soul makes you uncomfortable, makes you wish that this what is this, a book review or a sermon? piece of writing would just move along and get to the plot and sentence structure, leaving this talk of souls behind. Oh no, I beg your pardon but we cannot speak of this novel Harvesting without a few good words about souls.

I actually believed for a good many years that prostitution was a victimless crime. That position was very much part of the values in the home I grew up in; all other parties being long since dead, I am not causing anyone any blush of embarrassment, no averting of the eyes when the Priest speaks from the pulpit at Sunday Mass. No, both my mother who was a journalist and my grandfather who was a properly progressive MP felt that prostitution fulfilled a need in society. After all, men who were single or men who were (much worse than single) in unhappy marriages or (much worse than unhappy marriages) married to women who because of frailty could no longer satisfy mans need for sexual pleasure, why those men require somewhere to go. Otherwise, just think of what the rape and abuse statistics would be like!

Then of course if one studies enough or actually listens to the women in ones life, the realization dawns finally that if one out of three women and there are higher estimates than that have been or will be sexually assaulted at some time in their lives then how does that justify the supposed noble purpose of prostitution? And there too, why is the focus on the needs of the men? Kingsley Amis might have said that male virility is like being chained to the devil, but hold on a minute. People quit smoking, heroin, drinking and eating meat and they seem to survive. Are you really telling me that a period of abstinence is all that hard (or pardon me, I suppose I might have said difficult)?

What of the women? Ah well, theyre paid for it so thats no bother. Its just business dealings, a commercial transaction, everybody knows what theyre doing so there is no victim there. After all, if we didnt have prostitution we wouldnt have the stage musical Sweet Charity or the movie Pretty Woman. How bad can prostitution be when it inspires romantic comedies?

The Irish novelist Lisa Harding makes an incredibly wise choice in Harvesting. The story of two young girls, one Irish and one Moldovan, thrown together as captives in an under-age sex trade prison, has no description of sex in it whatsoever except for only the most allusive. At first, I thought that Harding had made this choice for literary, character-based reasons; by not including the specifics of what these grotesque clients did to these girls that would so reflect the effects of repressed memory, willed amnesia and so forth. Now while that may have entered into Hardings consideration, I suspect that she had a much, much more chilling reason to leave the sex on the cutting room floor. She did not want this novel to be at all titillating. Think about it. Harding clearly did, and I imagine it was a chilling thought imagining a book about exploitation of children for sexual purpose being passed about with the hot bits dog-eared and highlighted. Well done to the author in avoiding that.

Without ever being pedantic or at all lecturing, Harding builds a case step-by-step against this so-called victimless crime by framing it in the narrative voices of Samantha and Nico. Samantha is the street-wiser or the two, receiving the attention of the older boys at her Dublin school as a pseudo-replacement for an alcoholic mother and an often absent father. Nico is a farm girl, raised in a male-dominant family that betrays her upon reaching puberty by selling her to a sex trader.

It is not just the families that fail the two young women. Time and again, whether it is the drivers who take the victims to their clients, the clients who realize the girls are under-age, the barmen who serve them, the social services who do too little, or the police forces who allow these operations to exist, the systems of civilization fail. At one point Samantha escapes from hospital and when she realizes that she has effectively escaped into captivity she thinks that she must be in the news, the goal of a nationwide search. Of course she isnt. To whatever degree we think about such things as teen prostitutes gone missing, we either shrug it off, ignore it, assume shell grow out of it, or at a darkest level wonder if perhaps shes searchable on Pornhub.

Harvesting is not a light-hearted read, a book to be tossed into the beach bag for a summer weekend day trip. Although, you know, perhaps it should be. There you are with your partner and the kids, the latter playing on the beach, and you lift your eyes from your book and look at the people further down along the sand. What are they looking at through their Ray-Bans? Are they looking at your children? And more what are you looking at and thinking?

The sexual exploitation of women is as old as society itself. It exists in all nations, all cultures, throughout all history. Slavery, which we like to pretend had been eradicated in the nineteenth century, still exists. The rights of children are still ill-defined when it comes to parents custodial rights. True justice will only occur when we face the ills that pervade within our cultures, acknowledge them, yet never accept them. One novel, no matter if it is as well-written and gripping as Harvesting is barely heard as a muted whisper against all the media that assumes girls or women exist purely for sexual pleasure. And yet, Lisa Hardings voice is still a voice, and one whisper joined by the whispers of her readers can in combination become a shout. That, at least, supplies us some hope.

Be seeing you.

Harvesting

Lisa Harding (New Island Books 2017, Trade Paperback) 308 pages

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Book Review: Harvesting by Lisa Harding (novel) - The London Economic

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This Classic Colonial Revival in Westchester Has Impressive Literary Ties – Mansion Global

Posted: at 5:47 pm

Location: Mount Kisco, New York

Price: $1.999 million

Bennett Cerf is best known as the 20th-century powerhouse publisher who co-founded Modern Library and Random House in New York. His authors included William Faulkner, Eugene ONeill, John OHara, Ayn Rand, James Michener and Truman Capote.

Along with a Manhattan apartment, he and his wife, the actress Phyllis Fraser, maintained a 10-acre estate in suburban Westchester County for many years. Their former home, a classic Colonial Revival in Mount Kisco, is now on the market.

Cerf also wrote humor books and had a starring role as one of four panelists on the CBS weekly show Whats My Line? for most of the 1950s and 60s. Fraser was also a journalist and childrens book publisher. So friends and frequent houseguests were often literary or political luminaries or well-known stars from Hollywood and Broadway.

These house guests included the likes of Frank Sinatra, John F. Kennedy and Theodor Seuss Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss), according to Jessica Chan of William Pitt Julia B. Fee Sothebys International Realty.

More:A Seaside Nantucket Compound Moonlights as the Perfect Summer Getaway

Because he was married to an actress, the house was a central location for entertaining some really prominent people, Ms. Chan said. It was the center of the literary and entertainment worlds.

There is still an original brass plate on the front door that reads Cerf. The house is known as The Columns for its two-story columned veranda at the back. Old-timers also know it as the Cerf-Wagner estate because his widow married former New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. after Cerfs death in 1971 and they made it their part-time home until Wagner died in 1991.

The current owners bought the house from the Cerf family in 1993, Ms. Chan said.

Its such a huge house, almost like a compound, she said, mentioning that one Thanksgiving, the current owners had 25 overnight houseguests.

The interior has been renovated throughout, but they kept all of the original period characteristics of the house, Ms. Chan said. Its the best of both worlds.

More:A 19th-Century Princeton Home with Original Details Throughout

Original architectural features of the 1927 house include hardwood floors, high ceilings, a grand center-hall staircase, crown moldings and five working fireplaces.

All of the windows have been replaced, and plumbing and utilities updated, Ms. Chan said. The bathrooms have all been renovated, but they were done to look like the 1920s.

This house is a good balance of modern versus old, but its a move-in-ready house, she said. Some old houses need so much workthis one doesnt.

The Stats

The 5,789-square-foot house has eight bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and one half bath. It sits on 9.63 acres. There are also two guesthouses.

Guest House A is around 800 square feet with one bedroom, two bathrooms and a living room with kitchen, Ms. Chan said. Guest House B is smaller, a studio with a bathroom.

Both have been beautifully renovated, she said. Guest House A is the historical one where people like Frank Sinatra frequently stayed.

More:A Penthouse on Lake Como with A Musical History

Amenities

Amenities include a swimming pool, large flagstone patio, tennis court, two-hole golf course, greenhouse, rolling meadows, two ponds and frontage on the scenic Kisco River. There is also detached three-car garage.

Neighborhood Notes

Orchard Road is a dead-end road, filled with beautiful housesclassic Colonials, Tudorsthat were built in the 1920s, Ms. Chan said.

Its such a safe and quiet neighborhood, she said. This house is set back from the road so no one would even know its there.

More:History Breathes New Life into this Napa Property

Its just a 10-minute walk to the Metro-North train station in downtown Mount Kisco, she said, which has many restaurants and shops.

The property actually straddles two Westchester communities, with 6.1 acres in the town of New Castle and the rest in Mount Kisco. It is in the Chappaqua school district, one of Westchesters best.

Agent Name: Jessica Chan, William Pitt Julia B Fee Sothebys International Realty

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Lowell Thomas, the Original ‘Voice of America’ – The Weekly Standard

Posted: at 5:47 pm

In my time at Jesus College, Oxford (1956-58), I must have passed Eric Kenningtons evocative bust of T.E. Lawrence scores of times. It stood in the college lodge, on Turl Street, and portrayed a famous alumnus who had led an early life as an archaeologist before he became a British officer and legendary leader of the World War I Arab revolt against Turkish rule.

What I knew only dimly was that a much-traveled American journalist named Lowell Thomaswho had briefly taught elocution at Princetonwas often credited with the creation of the Lawrence legend, a legend sensationally magnified a generation later by David Leans magnificent film. As viewers of that vivid movie know, Lawrence assumed the leadership of the Arabs under King Feisal. He affected Bedouin costume, becoming an accomplished desert fighter.

Lowell Thomas, for his part, appears in the movie under a pseudonym as a sassy, cynical reporter named Bentley who appears on the scene after General Sir Edmund Allenbys conquest of Damascus, and follows the Arab host on its primary errand: blowing up railroad tracks and slaughtering Turkish soldiers. Its final scenes show a Lawrence a bit crazed by the experience.

The case can be made, writes Mitchell Stephens here, that no individual before or since has dominated American journalism as did Lowell Thomas in the late 1930s and, in particular, the early 1940s. Thomas brought to his craft a resonant voice and a gift for clear exposition. His breakthrough in audio-visual presentation came after the wars end, in a dramatic magic lantern show that drew thousands in 1919 London, New York, and other cities. Though it originally headlined Allenbys exploits, the once obscure Lawrence was an enormous hit, and the program was retitled With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia.

Thomas and his era were well met. They developed together the first phase of radio news broadcasting, whose dominance was prolonged by the postponement of television manufacture by war priorities in World War II. Apart from voice and diction, it was Thomass lifelong wanderlust that was his trump card; and it is well capturedcaricatured may be the more precise termby the bumptious figure of Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia.

Thomass corporate sponsor on NBC radio was Sun Oil. He was paid directly by the sponsoring company, a journalistic practice that would now be deemed irregular and (according to this biography) exposed him to occasional commercial pressures. The author notes one instance when Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed his Four Freedoms and conservative critics such as Sen. Robert Taft and novelist Ayn Rand complained. In a letter of June 8, 1943, Thomas received a caution from his primary contact at Sun Oil, suggesting that he omit further mention of the Four Freedoms. That caution was reinforced by a friendly letter from J. Howard Pew, president of Sun Oil, congratulating Thomas on the popularity of his broadcasts but advising that Roosevelts Four Freedoms be recast in terms of free-enterprise doctrine.

Thomas also narrated the pioneering Movietone newsreels, a medium whose oratorical voice and noisy nationalism would today ring strange in the age of television, the ultimate cool medium.

But to return to the association that first won him fame, it is, perhaps, a question of who created whomwhether Lowell Thomas created Lawrence of Arabia or Lawrence created Lowell Thomas, the showman and broadcaster. The two chapters about Lawrence of Arabia, though they take up only 33 pages, are certainly the most vivid and interesting and the authors notes indicate that this isnt his first treatment of Lawrence.

Undoubtedly, however, Thomass desert rendezvous in November 1918 struck journalistic gold and established a professional trajectory that made him the voice of Americathe voice of and for the middle class and its developing thirst for a form of news more quickly satisfied than by newspapers and magazines. Stephenss claims for Lowell Thomas are reinforced by his globetrotting and his determination to penetrate exotic landseven Tibet, after the Communist takeover in China, to which he and his son trekked at the price (in Thomass case) of broken bones, to interview the isolated 14-year-old Dalai Lama.

Thomas left broadcasting too early to rival the mega-television successes of Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, Edward R. Murrow, and others. But his memory is not without its nostalgia. One who grew up in the classic age of radiothe era of the University of Chicago Roundtable, Quiz Kids, Kraft Music Hall, and The Bell Telephone Hour, and not least Arturo Toscaninis NBC Symphony, not to mention popular stars such as Jack Bennycannot resist adding that Thomass era was of an excellence no longer heard on commercial radio or television.

But was Lowell Thomas the voice of America? I must admit a failure of auditory memory. The later voices of Cronkite, Brinkley, Murrow, Eric Sevareid, and others echo in the memory. Even H.V. Kaltenbornanother oil-company-sponsored newscaster-commentator (and my fathers bte noire)retains his staccato echo. But the voice of America is fading out like a dim radio signal, at least for me. Perhaps Thomass voice, midwestern in origins, was destined to become the standard timbre of all electronic communicationand is now lost among all the others.

Edwin M. Yoder Jr. is the author, most recently, of Vacancy: A Judicial Misadventure.

Why I Love Che Guevara T-Shirts – Being Libertarian

Posted: at 5:46 pm

In the long-run, capitalism will always triumph for one reason: It actually responds to peoples desires even the people who call themselves enemies of capitalism and want to see it torn down.

My favorite case-in-point of this phenomenon is the famous and ubiquitous Che Guevara t-shirt.

Spend some time walking down a major city street anywhere in the country, or stroll through a college campus on a summer day, and you are bound to see some guy or gal sporting the likeness of the famous communist revolutionary. Che has been an enduring symbol for leftist activists, despite his bloodthirsty record of violence and inhumanity.

Ive heard plenty of libertarians and other advocates of liberty lament the continued popularity of Ches image; they list off his atrocities and hideous social views with aplomb.

But anger at the endurance of the Che t-shirt misses a crucial point: That it represents the ultimate power of capitalism.

It is the power to transform the most potent symbols of opposition to itself, into commodities that can be bought and sold in the marketplace. In other words, capitalism has turned its foe into another product to be sold within its own system.

The market does not have feelings and does not care about what the symbol of Che represents (if it represents anything). Symbols are just signifiers, brands even, and those can be bought and sold.

Every time some armchair leftist or college brocialist dons the image of Che, they are in fact neutering the ideology they purport to believe in.

When the young people, who Che might in another time have tried to galvanize to violent rebellion, buy shirts and other paraphernalia with his visage they are tacitly buying into the capitalist system. When Che and his ilk became fashion symbols, rather than political symbols, they were utterly defeated. Better than killing them or reducing their monuments to rubble, turning them into pieces of memorabilia was the ultimate insult and final defeat.

That is the beauty of the free market: It can transform an intractable enemy into harmless kitsch.

Supporters of liberty and the free market might understandably be irritated by Americas youth running around with the image of a monomaniacal war criminal blazoned on their chests, but they should bite back their bile and instead rejoice.

As Che has become a popular image, the image of the revolutionary has lost all the symbolic power it once might have claimed.

A couple of generations ago, radical socialism was a common part of the zeitgeist of the American youth, with college campuses serving as breeding grounds for genuine radicalism and acting as the chief apologists for the totalitarian regimes of Cuba, the Soviet Union, and China.

Today, a lot of leftishness is still there, but it has been beaten into a feeble identity politics that is hopelessly incapable of achieving anything of substance.

People on the political right often rail against the liberal bastions of academia, and they are not completely wrong to do so. To be sure, the political products of the academic world, such as President Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren, serve as cautionary tales to voters thinking about giving real power to the scions of the ivory towers. But they are nowhere near as threatening as the sorts of firebrand spokespeople produced by the hallowed halls of academia only a few decades ago.

Socialism in America, and around the world, has had to respond and adapt to the overwhelming power of the free market. In the marketplace of ideas, socialism is outdated and doomed to go out of business. In response, socialist thinking has shifted, softened, and come to accept at least parts of the capitalist system as essential to maintenance of prosperity.

We should call that a tentative victory for liberty, if not a total one. Even the most entrenched socialist parties around the world have had to accept the reality of markets.

Capitalism is the only serious game in town. Whats left of true radical leftism is just empty and deflated symbols, like t-shirts featuring half-forgotten political dissidents.

This post was written by John Engle.

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.

John Engle is a merchant banker and author living in the Chicago area. His company, Almington Capital, invests in both early-stage venture capital and in public equities. His writing has been featured in a number of academic journals, as well as the blogs of the Heartland Institute, Grassroot Institute, and Tenth Amendment Center. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and the University of Oxford, Johns first book, Trinity Student Pranks: A History of Mischief and Mayhem, was published in September 2013.

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An Unexpected Key to Freedom – Being Libertarian

Posted: at 5:46 pm

From the time we are born, we are conditioned through force and manipulation to comply with just about everything dictated by figures of authority. Is it any wonder then, why so many of us believe everything we are told by our government?

The fact is that compliance and discipline are necessary skills to survive in our society. Without knowledge of the rules and tools necessary to function successfully a person will never get the chance to become successful because the various systems of enforcement will make it impossible.

Your parents protect you against physical hazards by teaching you to avoid them. This is compliance with basic common sense. Dont put your fingers in a light socket, that makes sense. Dont eat rat poison, this too makes sense.

Soon enough youre off to school, where rules become the focus. Be on time. Do your assigned work. Be reliable. These ideas condition you to be successful at a job. If you are not timely and reliable, you will not succeed at your job, thus they are important skills, imperative to success.

But what happens when the information disseminated to you, from sources that are supposed to be trustworthy, is false or inappropriate, but you have been taught to accept the veracity of everything you hear from these sources?

What happens when your teacher spreads information that is blatantly false? If you fail to answer test questions that include this false information in the way you were taught, there is a penalty. Your grades will suffer. You may be disciplined. You eventually come to the conclusion that compliance makes your life easier and brings better results.

I suppose I was always a fighter.

As I began writing this essay, I remembered something that happened to me in the 7th grade.

My teacher created a program called IALUAC, which stood for, I am lovable, unique and courageous, sounds innocent enough.

Part of this program included a requirement to write a five paragraph essay that told the teacher about your biggest problems. Even at this young age, I felt that my problems were none of my teachers business. So I wrote the paper, making up silly meaningless problems and in the conclusion I said something to the effect of my biggest problem was coming up with problems to put in that essay.

Essentially, I said that my personal life is none of your damn business! This did not go over well. Between the repeated summons to counselors, my parents being called in to school, and what seemed like a month of harassment, I was taught not to think for myself and instead to comply.

The system was created to beat us all into compliance with authority. This is why the abuse of authority is the most unforgivable crime.

Enter President Richard M. Nixon, a prime example of the abuse of authority.

President Nixon was prosecuting a war in Vietnam, a war which was extremely unpopular. He saw that some of his harshest critics were Hippies and People of Color. Nixon clearly had a problem with being challenged, so he felt it was appropriate to attack his critics as his aide John Ehrlichman states in this 1994 quote, We knew we couldnt make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communitiesWe could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

If we study the effects of this example of abuse of authority the trail is mind boggling and fraught with decades of carnage.

The anti-drug campaign was part of all of our lives. Millions of people still believe what they were forced to believe for Nixons personal benefit. In school, we were taught and taught again of the dangers of drugs unsanctioned by the state, while some of us took the legal equivalent of methamphetamine just to make us conform to the system.

We wrote essays, prepared skits, and so much more that parroted back the dangers of certain drugs. I did avoid the use of drugs, but that had nothing to do with school, that was due to a combination of efforts from my Mother and the fact that I really was not interested in trying them to begin with. I was not an addictive personality, so drugs were never an issue to me.

I do not make the argument that drugs cannot be harmful, but it is well known that many more people die from legal drugs under the supervision of a doctor than illegal drug abuse.

The government sanctioning of a substance does not guarantee its safety, and the illegal nature does not mean it is unsafe. I would prefer that drugs were not abused, regardless of their legal status, but this is not the world we live in.

So, as Nixon wanted, the war raged on and he won office and was re-elected. His little white lie started landing people in jail and ruining their lives, this mushroomed into what we have today millions of Americans with criminal records who harmed no one and over a trillion tax dollars spent on a War on Drugs that did not decrease usage at all; forty years of misinformation, and for what? So that a dead president that resigned in disgrace could keep his job.

This is why abuse of authority in government is far more treasonous than the actions of a person such as Edward Snowden, whose only crime was telling the American people that the NSA was violating the constitution and abusing their authority.

If you were to expose a lie from a dictator, that dictator would have you killed. If you expose a lie or violation of your government, your government will try to do the same: ask Mr. Snowden, who is exiled to Russia instead of being able live at home and receive the congratulations of the people who are grateful for the risk he took in exposing the truth.

Compliance is paramount to government. If you fail to comply with their requirements, you will pay a severe penalty.

So, how can we solve the problem of abuse of authority vs. the necessity of compliance? Comply with the realities of the world, but dont bury your head in the sand and ignore what is really going on around you. Pay attention to what is really happening. Dont let drug-war-style brainwashing blind you to certain realities that government has used to bolster their revenue, power and control over you; thus solidifying their grip on power and job security as Nixon did so long ago.

Consider a few conventional items required by government today and you may notice that these are also abuses of authority. These abuses of authority may not be as egregious and destructive as Nixons War on Drugs, but they are still violations of your rights and some are out right theft.

If you make the connection that you have been manipulated, through the system, to believe what you are told by your government, you will never make the connection that these things really do happen. They are wrong and are designed to strengthen governments grip on you. You are more likely to believe that these were done in the interests of protecting you than to see the truth:

Can the people overcome this combination of forced indoctrination of the activities of government; combined with misinformation about their abuses of authority? I fervently hope so.

What plan can I offer to allow for the discipline necessary for survival to be part of us, without the brainwashing that results in most of us not seeing reality? This is the $64,000 question.

It is a given that government controls the schools. It is a given that government controls the curriculum in those schools. It is a given that people who speak in opposition to the lessons crucial to sustenance of the power of government are punished. It is a given that the people are forced to accept lies with respect to the abuse of government authority or pay the consequences.

The media is a willing partner as well. Mass media is used for the purpose of reinforcing any lies that cover up the motivation of the abuse of authority as well. We are constantly bombarded with false and manipulative information from all angles. It appears that there is nothing we can do.

Believe it or not, the answer to this is twofold social media and the closure of the Department of Education.

The closure of the Department of Education is pretty obvious, in that the decentralization of control of education would allow for less central control of curriculum. The effect of social media is why the fake news propaganda is swirling around in Washington D.C. There is an inconvenient barrier to complete control of the news media and it resides in the first amendment to the constitution. That barrier is Freedom of the Press. The fake news campaign is a precursor to an attack on freedom of the press.

If we remain steadfast to the protections included in the Bill of Rights, which our government sees more as a hurdle than a barrier, I see the pendulum swinging back in the direction of the people.

Heres how:

While mainstream media (MSM) still reports what they are instructed to report, and while schools still disseminate the same, it is social media that allows the people to interact with each other on a large scale. The people are not happy, and while the MSM encourages them to blame another political party that actually works in concert with their own, they really do not know why the people are so unhappy. I believe that most people smell a rat and are looking for the truth that is being shielded from them.

Social media, as long as it is allowed to operate freely, is the leader in the dissemination of truth (as long as the reader has the ability to filter out the crazy stuff).

This is fact: mainstream media may indeed succumb to the misinformation provided to it by our government, but they are in business for profit. If they are forced to choose between losing money and ceasing to exist or continuing to disseminate lies, they must choose survival.

As the people learn more of the truth of the current situation and make the connection that they are being lied to, they will seek out alternative sources of information. While many people prefer to hear lies that support their views, I believe that more people want to know the truth, because the truth en masse can lead to better decisions and a better life.

As this truth is uncovered, they will make decisions to stop electing politicians who believe in mass manipulation as the way to achieve their personal goals while in office.

The people will demand truth from mainstream media at some point in time, and if they fail to provide what their customers demand, these entities will fail and their new competitors will soar.

So as wacky as social media may seem, it is a vital key to freedom.

This post was written by Steve Kerbel.

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.

Steve Kerbel is a businessman, author, and former Libertarian Party candidate for President of the United States.

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The Golden Rule of Online Dating Photos – The Good Men Project (blog)

Posted: at 5:45 pm

As an online dating photographer, I have photographed countless people and have offered very specific guidelines when it comes to optimizing the photos on their online dating profiles. Admittingly, these rules can be daunting to remember and keep track of. While those rules should be viewed as guidelines and not absolute without any wiggle room for exceptions, there is a quick rule you should keep in mind as a rule of thumb.

Make sure each photo in your profile offers something different, unique, flattering, and interesting to your profile vs the previous photos.

Viewers do not need to see 3 photos from your epic tropical beach vacation; they do not need to see 4 head shots from the same angle and they certainly do not need to see multiple distorted selfies of you in your car, gym, desk etc. Be sure to mix it up but keep it concise i.e. one outdoor active photo, one closeup, one in dressed up attire and one in a social setting.

Photos are meant to help tell your story. I hate to refer back to the resume analogy but would you state that you increased revenue 10% in Q1, 10% in Q2 etc? It would be more efficient to consolidate that accomplishment and move on to the next one. This is the same principle with online dating photos.

This post was previously published on Mediumand is republished here with permission from the author.

Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Eddie Hernandez is an online dating photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is devoted to helping men and women alike capture themselves in their essence whether they are new to online dating, recently single, have changed appearance, have had trouble meeting people offline or hate being in front of the camera. Contact him for a complimentary, no obligation, review of your online profile and photos.

http://www.EddieHernandez.photography http://www.Instagram.com/EddieHernandezPhotography

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Kids Learning Golden Rule Applies to Treatment of Animals … – Noozhawk

Posted: at 5:45 pm

Posted on June 25, 2017 | 1:44 p.m.

As of June 1, C.A.R.E.4Paws has graduated 150 young animal ambassadors in Santa Barbara County through Paws Up for Pets, a new educational initiative that promotes accountability and compassion for animals and empathy in the community as a whole.

Launched in October,Paws Up for Pets is a collaboration between C.A.R.E.4Paws, United Boys & Girls Clubs, Daveys Voice and, as of June, the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise.

The program focuses on children in grades K-8, who are enrolled in afterschool programs.

The 150 students who have graduated with Badge 1 are from United Boys & Girls Clubs Carpinteria and Lompoc units, the Chumash Reservation, and a Girl Scout troop in Goleta.

C.A.R.E.4Paws also works with Santa Marias Arellanes Junior High and just expanded its program to include the Lompoc YMCA, United Boys & Girls Clubs' Goleta and Westside units, and a Santa Maria Girl Scout troop.

Graduates who received the Animal Ambassador badge worked weekly with C.A.R.E.4Paws for several months, learning about responsible pet care, pet overpopulation, shelter animals, and the importance of showing kindness to all living beings.

"Paws Up for Pets is unique in that it engages children over a period of time, which allows us to get to know the kids and talk a lot about how to be a great pet-care taker, that animals have feelings, just like us, and what to do when a pet is lost, sick or abused, said Carlos Abitia, director of C.A.R.E.4Paws Community Outreach and Youth Program.

After receiving the Animal Ambassador award, children can earn other badges such as the Animal Advocate badge, which involves a tour of a local shelter followed by a creative project.

Students can choose to virtually adopt and write about a shelter pet. Or they can focus on the topic of how all pets are individuals and that each shelter animal has its own story.

At United Boys & Girls Club Carpinteria Unit, students are working on their shelter projects after visiting Animal Shelter Assistance Program, Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter and County Animal Services dog shelter in Santa Barbara.

The Goleta Girl Scout troop also visited these three shelters. Afterward, they made high-quality leashes and toys for shelter pets out of recycled materials (such as Girl Scout cookie boxes).

Troop members also fund-raised to buy blankets, pet treats and other supplies for the shelter as well as C.A.R.E.4Paws.

As a Girl Scout leader, animal lover and pet owner, I have nothing but praise for Paws Up for Pets, said Amy Findlay, troop leader.

My troop learned about all aspects of pet ownership, from compassion to neglect and everything in between, and I guarantee they will be better pet owners as a result," she said.

"They also learned that, even as 10- or 11-year-olds, they can still make a difference in a pets life by educating others, volunteering, setting a good example and, essentially, being ambassadors for animals, Findlay said.

Paws Up for Pets was created in response to several incidents of severe animal cruelty in Santa Barbara County and a general concern that few cruelty cases are reported, despite the strong connection between animal abuse and family violence.

Years of research links animal abuse to violent behavior toward humans and shows that children who mistreat animals are more likely to act violently later in life.

And, according to data collected from WestEd surveys and the California Department of Education, Santa Barbara County has a high rate of bullying. One third of public-school students in Santa Barbara have reported being bullied.

When you show children how to be respectful and kind to animals, the ripple effects are endless, Abitia said. Children feel empowered, and are less likely to harm a pet, hurt a friend or bully a classmate. And they bring these values into adulthood.

Poverty affects the welfare of our youth and our pets, too.

In high-poverty areas, such as Lompoc and Santa Maria, more than 30 percent of adults and 40 percent of children live at or below the poverty line. And as many as 65 percent of these households own pets, reports a 2015-16 National Pet Owners Survey.

The good news? Paws Up for Pets connects pet-owning families to free and low-cost services that improve quality of life for them and their animals, such as spays/neuters, vaccines, vet care and pet food through C.A.R.E.4Paws.

In addition to C.A.R.E.4Paws original Paws Up collaborators, United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County and Daveys Voice, Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise has joined as a partner with a $1,500 grant to support:

Paws Up workbooks, badges, certificates and Stay Pawsitive t-shirts for at least 50 children participating in the program.

The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise, made up of local business, professional and civic leaders, has a history of supporting impactful community service programs that make a positive difference in the lives of youth," said Chris Baxter, Rotary Club president.

Sunrise Rotary is thrilled to support C.A.R.E.4Paws new, innovative Paws Up for Pets program, which teaches compassion for animals and anti-bullying," he said.

To support Paws Up for Pets or for more information about the program and its sponsors, visit care4paws.org/youthprograms, call 968-2273 or email [emailprotected]

Isabelle Gullo for C.A.R.E.4Paws.

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Kids Learning Golden Rule Applies to Treatment of Animals ... - Noozhawk

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The Golden Rule Manila Bulletin News – Manila Bulletin

Posted: at 5:45 pm

Published June 26, 2017, 10:00 PM

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to His disciples: Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

REFLECTION

DO TO OTHERS. Jesus saying, Do to others whatever you would have them do to you (v 12), has been known as the Golden Rule since the 18th century. The rule, in essence, encapsulates the Law and the Prophets. This is not distinctly Christian as in antiquity there were many variations of this saying, although in the negative form. Tobit reminds his son Tobiah, Do to no one what you yourself hate (Tb 4:15). Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, is reported to have said, What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow creatures. The negative formulation may also be found among sages of other faiths.

On the other hand, the Law and the Prophets or the essence of the Scriptures would be summarized in other ways. Jesus Himself says that the commandment of love of God and neighbor is the first and the sum of all the commandments (cf Mk 12:30-31). And the Apostle Paul declares, Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10).

The Golden Rulein the positive or negative formis so basic that it is almost implanted in our conscience. If we use common sense or are in our right mind, we will avoid doing to others what we would not like done to ourselves. But Jesus opens a wider vista for doing good. One does not just refrain from harming; one goes out to do good to others.

In your dealings with other people, are you guided by the Golden Rule? Have you followed this lately?

SOURCE: 365 Days with the Lord 2017, ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: books@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

Tags: Jesus, Law, Matthew 5:43-48, prophets, REFLECTION, The Golden Rule

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The Golden Rule Manila Bulletin News - Manila Bulletin

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Liberal mosque founder vows to keep it open despite Egyptian fatwa and death threats – The Independent

Posted: at 5:44 pm

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Student activists shout anti martial law slogans during a protest in Manila on June 23, 2017

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A person participates in a journalists' protest asking for justice in recent attacks on journalists in Mexico City, Mexico, 15 June 2017

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Poland's Piotr Lobodzinski starts in front of the Messeturm, Fairground Tower, in Frankfurt Germany. More than 1,000 runners climbed the 1202 stairs, and 222 meters of height in the Frankfurt Messeturm skyscraper run

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A troupe of Ukrainian dancers perform at Boryspil airport in Kiev, on the first day of visa-free travel for Ukrainian nationals to the European Union

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A troupe of Ukrainian dancers perform on the tarmac at Boryspil airport in Kiev, on the first day of visa-free travel for Ukrainian nationals to the European Union

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French President Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Trogneux cast their ballot at their polling station in the first round of the French legislatives elections in Le Touquet, northern France

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Liberal mosque founder vows to keep it open despite Egyptian fatwa and death threats - The Independent

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The "Progressive Liberal" Is Maybe The Perfect Wrestling Heel – Deadspin

Posted: at 5:44 pm

Kentucky-based Appalachian Mountain Wrestling has graced the world with the presence of Progressive Liberal Dan Richards. He definitely isnt a face.

Here are some of Richardss promosone of them has him in a shirt covered in a bunch of Hillary Clinton facesas well as a tag-team match in which Richards has PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL plastered across the back of his briefs:

During a ring appearance earlier this year, Richards cut an in-ring promo in which he praised Hillary, and was interrupted by attendees chanting Feel the Bern! At about the 2:08 mark, some little kid yelled, You better shut up, always a mark of decent heat.

You know what, I think Bernie Sanders would make a great Secretary of State, Richards said before being jeered. Later on, he tried to persuade the crowd. I want to exchange your bullets for bullet points. Bullet points of knowledge. A few minutes later, Timmy Lou Retton came out to wrestle. (Richards lost. You know who would have won, though?)

The Progressive Liberal is a solid character. He strikes the right level of condescension and punchable smugness. His line deliverys a little suspect and his actual wrestling leaves something to be desired, but those can be remedied. At its root, this is a good gimmick. If youre in Kentucky and free on Friday, watch Richards against some guy in a sleeveless shirt in a Crybaby Match, where the loser will have to wear a diaper and suck on a bottle.

H/t to @MurderBryan

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The "Progressive Liberal" Is Maybe The Perfect Wrestling Heel - Deadspin

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Monthly Archives: June 2017

Book Review: Harvesting by Lisa Harding (novel) – The London Economic

This Classic Colonial Revival in Westchester Has Impressive Literary Ties – Mansion Global

Lowell Thomas, the Original ‘Voice of America’ – The Weekly Standard

Why I Love Che Guevara T-Shirts – Being Libertarian

An Unexpected Key to Freedom – Being Libertarian

The Golden Rule of Online Dating Photos – The Good Men Project (blog)

Kids Learning Golden Rule Applies to Treatment of Animals … – Noozhawk

The Golden Rule Manila Bulletin News – Manila Bulletin

Liberal mosque founder vows to keep it open despite Egyptian fatwa and death threats – The Independent

The "Progressive Liberal" Is Maybe The Perfect Wrestling Heel – Deadspin

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