Monthly Archives: February 2021

By Richard Baum, Ph.D., University of California, Los AngelesThe port of Canton became the center of the illegal opium trade in early 18th-century China. (Image: William Daniell/Public domain)The Money in Opium

Rebuffed in their efforts to negotiate a trade agreement with China, the British increasingly flouted Chinese law by smuggling larger and larger quantities of opium into the Middle Kingdom. By 1820, opium had surpassed all other items of trade as Chinas chief import.

As the opium flowed in, the silver flowed out. By the mid-1820s, Chinas overall trade balance, which had been heavily favorable throughout the 18thcentury, began to turn sharply negative. Between 1831 and 1833, nearly 10 milliontaelsof silver flowed out of China (worth almost $14 million at the prevailing exchange rate).

In 1838, an official Manchu estimate placed the number of opium addicts in China somewhere between 2 and 10 million, a figure that reportedly included up to one-fourth of the countrys civil servants. A one-day supply of opium in the 1830s would cost roughly half the daily wage of a Chinese laborer; and by the mid-1830s, British merchants were netting roughly $18 million a year from the opium trade. It is worth noting that these are 1830s prices. Small wonder the British parliament showed little enthusiasm for curtailing the opium traffic.

This is a transcript from the video series The Fall and Rise of China. Watch it now, on The Great Courses Plus.

But for the Manchu dynasty, it was a different story altogether. Alarmed by the growing prevalence of opium addiction and by the hemorrhaging of silver from the imperial treasury, the Manchu court redoubled its efforts to stamp out the drug trade.

In 1836, the emperor ordered the provincial governor-general in Canton in south China to crack down hard on the sale and use of opium. Over the next two years, the governor imprisoned more than 2,000 Chinese opium dealers, smugglers, and users; in addition, there were daily reports of addicts being publicly executed.

In 1839, the Manchu emperor appointed a new commissioner to oversee the suppression of the Canton drug trade. His name was Lin Zexu. Lin Zexu pursued a policy to deal aggressively with all domestic participants in the opium cycle, while at the same time treating the foreign suppliers of the poisonous drug with a certain amount of leniency and circumspection. Aware of Britains growing global power and prestige, Lin Zexu hoped to avoid an open conflict, if possible.

Learn more about Manchu hubris.

Writing to Queen Victoria in 1839, Lin cited Christianitys own golden rule in an effort to shame the British sovereign into stemming the cultivation, manufacture, and sale of opium:

I have heard that the smoking of opium is strictly forbidden by your country. Why do you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries? Suppose there were people from another country who carried opium for sale to England and seduced your people into buying and smoking it; certainly your honorable ruler would deeply hate it and be bitterly aroused. Naturally you would not wish to give unto others what you yourself do not want.

There is no record of the British sovereign responding to Commissioner Lins letter.

In pursuit of his goal of ridding Canton of all opium, Lin Zexu in 1839 ordered all foreigners in the city to surrender their stores of opium within three days; and in addition, he ordered them to sign a pledge that they would never again traffic in the drug.

Violation of this pledge was to be punishable by death. In a gesture intended to sweeten his ultimatum, Commissioner Lin offered a token reward of five and a half pounds of Chinese tea for every opium chest turned over by the foreign merchants.

When the foreigners ignored the commissioners deadline, Lin threatenedto execute two opium merchants. In response, the British reluctantly surrendered more than 1,000 chests (about 75 tons) of opiumwhich was only around two percent or so of all the opium that was currently stockpiled in Cantons warehouses.

Dissatisfied with the British response, Lin Zexu ratcheted up the pressure. He blockaded a key British trading firm, confining its 350 foreign occupants to the factory compound.

The siege lasted for six weeks, ending only when British merchants agreed to turn over 20,000 additional chests of opium, weighing approximately 1,300 tonsmore than two and a half million pounds.

In a classic display of imperial potency, Commissioner Lins ceremonial destruction of the British opium was carried out in the presence of several high Chinese court officials and foreign dignitaries.

The opium was first dumped into three massive open trenches, each lined with large quantities of salt and lime, where it was then covered with two feet of water. The mixture was then stirred thoroughly, and the resulting slurry was flushed into a nearby creek, where the currents eventually washed it out to sea. Repeating the process several times, it took 500 workers 22 days to complete the destruction of the British opium.

Learn more about Chinas early golden age.

While Commissioner Lin Zexu was celebrating his triumph over the opium lords, British merchants were planning countermeasures of their own.

They sent a petition to Queen Victorias prime minister, Lord Palmerston, urging the British government to demand full compensation for the seized opium. In London and Manchester, a groundswell of patriotic opinion arose, demanding firm governmental action to uphold the trading rights of British merchants abroadand to sternly repay the deep Chinese insult to British pride.

Amid this rising tide of jingoistic self-righteousness, few British thought to question the proprietyor to note the stunning hypocrisyof demanding the right to trade freely on foreign markets a substance whose cultivation, sale, and use were punishable by death at home.

By the mid-1830s, British merchants were netting roughly $18 million a year from the opium trade. Because of this, the British parliament showed little enthusiasm for curtailing the opium traffic.

Lin Zexu was appointed in 1839 by the Manchu emperor as the new commissioner to oversee the suppression of the Canton drug trade by the British.

Lin Zexu pursued a policy to deal aggressively with all domestic participants in the opium cycle, while at the same time treating the foreign suppliers of the poisonous drug with a certain amount of leniency and circumspection.

The confiscated British opium was first dumped into three massive open trenches, each lined with large quantities of salt and lime, where it was then covered with two feet of water. The mixture was then stirred thoroughly, and then flushed into a nearby creek, where the currents eventually washed it out to sea.

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Before the Opium Wars: Lin Zexu and his Campaign against Opium - The Great Courses Daily News

Sometimes, the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

Southwest Airlines is challenging its customers and crew to complete one million acts of kindness in celebration of the major airlines 50th anniversary this year.

On Feb. 17 otherwise known as Random Acts of Kindness Day Southwest announced the campaign, inviting its personnel and the public to sign the so-called Kindness Pledge and commit to doing something good for someone else.

Employees got a head start on the challenge in mid-January, already logging over 62,000 good deeds since. (Southwest Airlines)

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Whether participants bring a meal to a neighbor, help clean a local park or write someone an uplifting note, every signature on the official pledge and good deed shared on social media with the hashtag #HeartinAction will count towards the larger goal, a news release explained. Southwest hopes the challenge will hit one million acts of kindness by Dec. 31.

"We are the airline with heart, founded on the golden rule treating others as you would like to be treated so celebrating our 50thAnniversary year with a kindness challenge is fitting," Linda Rutherford, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, said in a news release.

Southwest has also announced it will offer employees thecoronavirus vaccinefor free, once the inoculation is widely available in the U.S. (iStock)

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"Our employees live out the golden rule each day through their interactions with each other, our customers, and in our communities. We're excited to all come together to inspire a kinder tomorrow, because at Southwest, we're more than an airline, we're your neighbor. And neighbors take care of each other."

According to the airline, which was founded in Texas in 1967, employees got a head start on the challenge in mid-January, already logging over 62,000 good deeds since.

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Customers are also invited to donate their Rapid Rewards points through the airline's Points for a Purpose program, giving back to groups like the Student Conservation Association, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Team Rubicon, Honor Flight Network, Polaris, Hispanic Heritage Foundation and United Negro College Fund.

In other news, Southwest has announced it will offer employees thecoronavirus vaccinefor free, once the inoculation is widely available in the U.S.

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Southwest Airlines encouraging 1 million acts of kindness with 50th anniversary campaign - Fox News

The Chicago Bears will look elsewhere for a quarterback now that Carson Wentz has landed with the Indianapolis Colts.

Quite frankly, that was the plan all along for Chicago.

While social media was ablaze with Wentz rumors regarding the Bears, it was tough to weave through the garbage. There were so many different reports. Even a few folks from the Philadelphia media told us the Bears were going to make an offer which included certain players like Nick Foles or Tarik Cohen.

In the end, Wentz found himself in Indy, and the Bears are still looking for an answer at the quarterback position. The funny aspect of it all? Chicago never even made an offer.

Despite reporters from Philadelphia and so-called NFL insiders feeding us juicy rumors and information they were supposedly hearing, the Bears never even made an offer for Wentz. Isnt that just how the internet works?

If we havent learned by now, the golden rule of the NFL offseason is pretty simple: Unless something is reported by a person with the last name Schefter, Rapoport, Pelissero or Mortenson, its probably worth waiting before freaking out.

Theres a lot of folks out there wishing and hoping they could be the next Adam Schefter, but until proven otherwise, the experts should be the only ones trusted period.

So, now that Wentz is in Indianapolis, whats next for the Bears?

Looking at the crop of free agent quarterbacks, its pretty slim pickings. There is hardly a way for the Bears to end up with Dak Prescott, so we can forget about that idea. Aside from Prescott, its guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jacoby Brissett and Tyrod Taylor who are available.

Are the Bears really about to hand the keys to the car to one of those quarterbacks? Lets hope not.

The veteran quarterback trade market seems to be running dry with the Atlanta Falcons likely holding onto Matt Ryan. Maybe the San Francisco 49ers cut Jimmy Garoppolo, with the Bears having one other option to sign as a free agent.

One of the top rumors now sees the Bears trading for Sam Darnold, who has yet to break out as a pro. However, he has been stuck under the tutelage of Adam Gase his entire career thus far. Some wonder if he could become a legitimate starter in this league still.

If its not a veteran, then its a rookie. The Bears might have a shot at Mac Jones at no. 20 overall, but the other top four quarterbacks will most likely be gone by then. If Ryan Pace wants to assure himself a top rookie quarterback, trading up is the only way to go.

What we do know for sure is that maybe, just maybe, we can trust Pace just a little bit more after learning he had never made an offer for Wentz.

Originally posted here:

Chicago Bears: Carson Wentz situation involved a lot of smoke - Da Windy City

For lifelong Newark resident Melissa Hopkins, who was recently named Delawares 2021 Mother of the Year, the path to motherhood was not an easy one.

Hopkins required four rounds of in vitro fertilization to give birth to her son Samuel in 2013. After the third round of IVF ended in a lost pregnancy, Hopkins applied to Leadership Delaware, a yearlong fellowship described as a masters degree in Delaware.

We kind of decided as a couple that we werent going to put other pieces of our life on hold while waiting to get pregnant, Hopkins said.

She received a grant from the Evan David Foundation that would cover a fourth round of IVF. She didnt have much hope that another round of IVF would be successful, but on the day she started Leadership Delaware, she received the news that she was pregnant.

I carried around a lot of anxiety up until Sam was born that I wouldnt be able to carry to term, said Hopkins. Were really blessed that we have our son.

She regrets not being more open about infertility during her seven years of treatment. Infertility almost took over her marriage, as the couple would talk about the issue constantly and it took great effort to discuss other important parts of their lives.

At a certain point, we had to stop letting it be the only thing in our world, said Hopkins. Its a very hard thing to do. We had to be very intentional about doing things together, so infertility didnt become our marriage.

Hopkins gave much of the credit to her success as a mother to her husband, David, saying she is only 50 percent of the equation.

I just think all the time about how hes just one of the greatest people I know. And that I didnt just want to have a child to have a child, but I wanted to have a child with him and build a family with him, Hopkins said. We have a really strong marriage, and we just really wanted to have a family together.

Hopkins was nominated by two former Delaware Mothers of the Year, Michelle Wall and Kim Hoey Stevenson, whom she met through Leadership Delaware. Hopkins is the 70th Delaware mother to be recognized by American Mothers Inc., a nonprofit with its roots in Eleanor Roosevelts Golden Rule Foundation.

Hopkins currently works for the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, where she is the executive vice president for sector advancement and serves as a registered lobbyist for the nonprofit sector. In that role, Hopkins helped Delaware nonprofits receive money to buy personal protective equipment and ensured that COVID-19 relief funds were set aside to help organizations on the frontlines of the pandemic. DANA also helped groups shift to a virtual world, giving away 100 laptops statewide.

While raising her son, Hopkins focuses on family experiences such as reading out loud, going camping and playing board games instead of material goods. She only allows her son to access electronic devices on the weekends.

Its the forcing mechanism for us to just have a conversation and talk about the highs and lows of our day, Hopkins explained.

Service is an important part of the family, which Hopkins attributes to her Catholic faith. Her son, after noticing homeless people around Delaware, wanted to do something to help them.

Hopkins and her husband talked with him, and Samuel decided to create bags full of supplies that would be useful to homeless people, such as shampoo, mouthwash, hand sanitizer, bottles of water, crackers and other snacks.

When we see people that are homeless or theyre panhandling, my son will roll down the window and ask if they would like a bag, said Hopkins. We just provide that to them. It just brings Sam a lot of joy to be able to help others in that way.

Hopkins said her sons thoughtfulness comes from the familys communication style. The family always has dinner together. During the early stages of the pandemic, before her sons school, Christ The Teacher, re-opened in September, Hopkins and her son would take long afternoon bike rides and discuss their feelings around the pandemic.

We never talked to him like he was a baby, Hopkins said. We talked to him like he was a decision-maker.

She emphasizes giving Samuel independence within a controlled environment, allowing him to make mistakes and learn without suffering dangerous consequences.

As the Delaware Mother of the Year, Hopkins plans to visit members of Congress and lobby for better access to quality early-learning opportunities from birth to 8 years old. In 64 percent of families, both parents work, so access to daycare is a necessity, she said.

Hopkins is on the board of directors for the Newark Day Nursery, giving her first-hand experience on both the parenting and administrative sides of early learning.

Once upon a time, kindergarten wasnt required, and then you moved from a half-day kindergarten to a full-day kindergarten, Hopkins said. Over time, weve been on this evolution to provide better opportunities for our children to succeed. So I think that is something nationally that we can be doing a better job of.

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Newark woman named Delaware's Mother of the Year - Newark Post

The doors are swinging open again, and, inevitably, well walk through them to our seats. Arenas and stadiums are cathedrals of the sports religion, after all, and like addicts drawn to crack, giddy fans cant help themselves from re-absorbing the sights, sounds and smells before science says theyre ready.

So 500,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 and 100,000 more may perish by June 1. So only a small percentage of people have been inoculated to date, making Vaccine Envy a new thing. So variants of the virus could prolong the pandemic until 2022. So experts still arent sure if a vaccinated person can infect someone else. So Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. isnt remotely close to herd immunity, telling NBC: We want to get that baseline really, really, really low before we start thinking that were out of the woods. So COVID is very much with us like hell on Earth.

So what?

Its time to invite the paying customers inside because, you know, sports says so. And the fans say so, at least enough who care more about supporting teams than protecting fellow human beings.

The objective is money the same old greed grab yet what is the rush, people? Infectious disease experts say its foolish to let basketball crowds of up to 25 percent capacity for NCAA tournament games, which include dome settings in Indianapolis and San Antonio, when bodies are converging indoors from around the country. Its understandable why the NCAA, which lost $375 million from last years cancellation, needs March Madness to recoup broadcast revenues. But is it necessary to take health risks inside venues? We continue to use the knowledge weve gained over the season on how to conduct games in a safe environment, said NCAA president Mark Emmert, who, as usual, is so blinded by dollars that he hasnt addressed the possibility of superspreads.

Where I live, Los Angeles, the city postponed thousands of Dodger Stadium vaccination appointments because supply is limited, amid disturbing reports that Black and Latino communities are underserved in the inoculation process. Yet a logistical nightmare isnt stopping the Dodgers from suggesting fans will be allowed inside the fabled ballpark in just a few weeks. I hope, by Opening Day, we are finally going to have some fans in the park, team president Stan Kasten said in a video, as if oblivious to the vaccine issues in the parking lot. I dont think it will be a full stadium just yet. But I do believe sometime during this season, the way things are looking, we will have a full stadium again.

Guess they have to pay Trevor Bauer, right? I mean, who cares about the pandemic when the 2021 payroll is $255 million and Guggenheim Baseball is more than $45 million over the luxury tax threshold? Get those fannies in the seats, baby, even if they have to maneuver around the health workers and the line for Dodger Dogs isnt safe.

The NBA? LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and other league stars arent the only ones opposed to an All-Star Game in Atlanta. So is the citys mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who said, I have shared my concerns related to public health and safety with the NBA and the Atlanta Hawks. We are in agreement that this is a made-for-TV event only, and people should not travel to Atlanta to party. Yet that hasnt stopped commissioner Adam Silver, who is whiffing badly on the 2020-21 season after drawing raves as a Disney World Bubble visionary, from proceeding with a one-day squeeze game, skills competition and Slam Dunk contest which surely will lure the usual party crowd despite the mayors edict. Why do this?

Money. The leagues $5 billion business in China continues to take massive financial hits, thanks to Silvers continued support of Daryl Morey, he of the pro-Hong Kong tweet that rocked the geopolitical sphere. When Morey left his post as Houston Rockets general manager, Chinas communist government might have been ready to lift an NBA broadcast ban on state-run CCTV. But when Morey was hired in the same role by the Philadelphia 76ers, the ban continued. Is it really worth keeping Morey employed as a top executive when the league stands to lose potential billions? Can anyone still say were living in the former America, land of the free and home of the brave? Coupled with a disjointed season that has suffered outbreak-forced stops and starts, the league and partner TNT simply need the cash flow from an event watched globally by tens of millions.

All-Star is a part of our league, no different than the games we play, Silver said. It begins and ends with the fans. This is an event our fans love to see. They love to see the players come together. But nothing comes without controversy during a pandemic.

That includes the remarks of Minnesota star Karl Anthony-Towns, who has lost his mother and six other family members to COVID-19. Said Towns, who contracted the virus last month: I personally dont believe there should be an All-Star Game, but what the hell do I know? Obviously, I havent dealt with COVID, right? Im probably a guy who has some insight into that.

The reason leagues can get away with hosting events and fans including a Super Bowl crowd of 25,000 and growing numbers at NFL and college games is the lack of general resistance among the masses. Many Americans are trying to survive and push their families through a life crisis, unconcerned about who wants to attend a sports event. As long as enough people show an interest in buying tickets regardless of whether theyve been vaccinated, teams will keep the turnstiles greased. The Phoenix Suns announced they would allow 1,500 fans to attend home games; within days, that number increased to 3,000-plus. This week, New York opens Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center to about 4,000 fans per game.

Spring training? Arizona and Florida have been among the virus-ravaged states, but a limited number of fans will be allowed for Major League Baseball exhibitions starting next week. The Diamondbacks sold out 2,200 tickets for each of 14 home games, prompting manager Torey Lovullo to say, That fires me up. Weve been looking forward to this day as much as them. We missed our fans, not just Diamondbacks fans but I think baseball fans throughout the entire United States. Weve lost a little bit of a connection.

Even Fauci, the noted baseball fan, softened when asked by ESPN about paying customers in the regular season. A pretty good chance, he said, We could have people in the stands, maybe not right next to each other. There are going to be public health restrictions like mask-wearing, things like that.

Again, why? Havent we discovered the last 12 months, with the one-year anniversary of Rudy Gobert Night arriving March 11, that the resumption of sports is facilitated by television? That the seasons still carry on as diehard fans and gamblers watch from home? In a sense, the industry has avoided a significant consumer issue that way. By not paying in-house prices, the fans havent felt ripped off watching periodic ragged competition in the NBA, NHL, MLB and college football and basketball. Only the NFL sustained a high quality of play, though only because quarterbacks are protected by safety rules that enable entertaining, tech-influenced offenses.

Imagine purchasing a ticket in Lake Tahoe for the NHLs sun-aborted outdoor game. For big bucks, youd have seen the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights play one period, then told to return eight hours later because the ice was melting. I like quirky stuff as much as anyone, but to resume play at 12:02 a.m. ET gosh, it was past Gary Bettmans bedtime.

We knew that unabated sunshine was a problem, said the commissioner, who had to flip the telecast from NBC to NBCSN, which is shutting down later this year. After consulting with our ice-makers and both teams, we didnt think it was safe or appropriate to continue this game at this time.

In using the plural we to describe the returning fan procession, I include myself, as one who covers sports for a living. But that will happen only after I am vaccinated, which should be the golden rule for all fandom. If nothing else, leagues and franchises should be eternally grateful that humans want to set foot in their buildings amid a deadly pandemic. I would suggest free admission and parking, unlimited food and drink, socially distanced meet-and-greets with players and foot massages.

But who am I kidding? They want your money, period.

And, somehow, you are eagerly giving it to them.

Jay Mariotti, called the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century, is the host of Unmuted, a frequent podcast about sports and life (Apple, Spotify, etc.). He is an accomplished columnist, TV commentator and radio host. As a Los Angeles resident, he gravitated by osmosis to movie projects. He appears Wednesdays on The Dino Costa Show, a segment billed as The Rawest Hour in Sports. Compensation for this column is donated to the Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust. He can be reached on Twitter @MariottiSports.

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Fans Have Returned Inside Arenas, Stadiums Why? - Barrett Sports Media

The observations I have been able to enjoy through these months of quarantine have been beyond joy. Something awesome and eye opening seems to happen every week.

The normal most every day is the faithful five does coming into the yard for a nibble and sometimes a nap. As I write this article, I am watching not 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 but 5 bucks using my rockery for a game of King on the Mountain and the grassy area for a race track. Two are young and feeling playful and cocky. Maybe their growing head-gear is akin to our teenage sons getting their first freedom of driving.

One buck has lost half of a good-sized rack and the other two are seasoned to the ways of the world. Young buck wanted to engage old buck in a game of horn butting by giving a gentle poke to his rack. And then the game started. It wasnt a serious game, and after a dozen pushes forward and back the game abruptly stopped and they went back to munching.

To think all of this happens one block from busy 27th Street, makes me realize what I thought was my land, really isnt, and thats OK with me.The observation of more people walking in my neighborhood and throughout the city brought to mind a subject I have never written about, streetscaping.

Streetscaping involves the narrow strip of land between the street and sidewalk, usually between three- to six-feet wide and can be several times that in length.

The city of Bend has published a guidebook specifically regarding the use of that strip of land with regard to water consumption. The guide book is titled WaterWiseTips, StreetscapeGuide.org available on-line and at the City Hall.

At the time of publication, it was noted that approximately 60% of all residential water use in Bend occurs outdoors, most of which goes to landscape irrigation. Much of that irrigation is lost due to overwater through improper irrigation scheduling and to irrigation overspray resulting in run-off onto streets and driveways.

The book is a step-by-step guide to create a better looking and more water-efficient alternative to what you may have. The guide includes an initial design or landscape plan, a focus on soil preparation and grading, an efficient drip irrigation system and minimal routine maintenance.

There is a notation that some street strips in Bend are designed to collect and retain stormwater. These strips have been engineered for a specific purpose and should not be altered. Please call the city of Bend WaterWise Program (541-317-3000 option 2) if you have questions about your property. Property owners who are part of a Home Owners Association should check on the regulations in place with the association.

The guide offers four planting options all of which are water efficient, functional and aesthetically pleasing. The transformation isnt as simple as just digging out what you have and replanting. There are site preparation and grading which will include soil or sod excavation and a switch from overhead sprinklers to a dripline irrigation system.

Remember the Golden Rule of gardening plant the right plant in the right place. Be aware of the maximum growth width of the plant, especially shrubs. The plant may look great for a year or two and then extends growth into the sidewalk impeding walkers and bike traffic. Label the plants for the benefit of walkers who might be encouraged to follow your example. What could be a better way to build community than in your front yard?

The publication is a great inspiration to help correct some of our old beliefs that there will always be enough water. Maybe we should be thinking more seriously now rather than later. Remember that basically, we are living in a desert and not in the lush Midwest. In years to come who knows the problems others might encounter as well.

In addition to the WaterWise Streetscaping Guide, the City has also published WaterWise Tips, Landscape Guide and WaterWiseTips, Irrigation Guide. Water-wise Gardening in Central Oregon, an Oregon State University extension publication is also available online.

Kudos to Summit High School and their participation in the Tree-Plenish program to replenish the environment with 187 trees, based on an approximate school usage of 1.9 million sheets of paper. The trees offered for sale are Acer rubrum, red maple and cercis canadensis. Eastern Redbud. Both trees are listed in the Water-wise Gardening in Central Oregon publication. The saplings are 12-18 inches and priced at $5. The offer includes planting but a word to the wise. At this time of year, it would be safer to buy a bag of potting soil and plant it in a black 1-gallon nursery pot to acclimate it to our climate by placing it in a protected area outdoors. The recommended area for protection would be the north side of a structure, placed on the south side might encourage early leaf-bud, then subject to damage from an unexpected frost.

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Streetscaping tips: The right plant in the right place - The Bulletin

The kind of culture a company has is reflective of the kind of leaders it has. When leaders walk their talk and get involved in the overall business processes, the company walks alongside it too. In this episode, Carrie Charles brings over someone who has shown tremendous passion, realness, and involvement to his company. She sits down with the President and CEO of Everstream, Brett Lindsey. Brett shares with us how he has built a culture around authenticity, inclusivity, and diversity. He talks about how he empowers his employees and leaders to lead effectively and powerfully. Moreover, Brett then tells us about the things they are looking forward to this 2021 and how they are planning to move with the market as fiber-based network service providers.

I amthrilled to have with me,Brett Lindsey. He isthePresidentand CEO ofEverstream.Brett,welcome to the show.

Thank you. I appreciate being here.

I want to say that weve been working with Everstream for quite some time, and I was excited when you accepted my invitation to come on the show.Onething Im excited about is speaking to you from a leadership perspective, because Ive heard many great things about not just Everstream, but also about you as a leader.Canyou discuss a little bit about your journey, how you got to where you are, maybe some challenges that you faced along the way, some of your greatest professional achievements?

I joke around that I grew up wanting to be in telecom,and its not quite true, but I had a mentor when I was in college thathappened to be the president of a company in telecom. I thought,Thisguy has got a great life. I wonder what I can do to replicate what hes done.I asked him and he said,Hereswhat you do. You start off selling telephone equipment because youll understand what the customer wants.Once youve done that for a little while, and if youve been successful, then you move to an operating companysoyou can understand the nuts and bolts of how you deliver the underlying services to those companies.Thisis starting in sales.Onceyouve done that,then you need to take a pay cut and move into operations and figure out how to manage that side of the business,and understand how it all comes together.Ifyoure fortunate enough, then youll get an opportunity to leave a big company and go work for a smaller venture back or PEbackedcompany where you can then get into leadership roles.Hopefully,that will allow for you to move into a presidency overall like I had.I thought, That sounds good to me.

I did not finish college. I got hired in Aprilinmy senior year of college. I ended up flagging two classes that last semester and didnt graduate.Igot the job in April. I was excited. It was a juniorAG for thecompany at the time calledWilTel selling key systems, which most people dont know what that is anymore. I was excited to get this job.Twoweeks later, they called and told me that there was going to be a hiring freezeandI wasnt going to get to startuntilDecember. I wasscrewed at that point. I hadnt graduated from college. I had accepted the job and I needed to figure out how to live until December. I started doing landscaping for rich people in OklahomaCityat theNichols Hillsneighborhoods to make ends meet.Myjob started in December. I started working in sales. I loved itandI had been there about six months when the company decided to do away with my position,and itwas going to force me to have to double my quota.

I went to my manager and said,I can do this. Youvegot to give me a chance. She gave me that opportunitytosomeone that Im still in contact with now.Itwasthe beginning of my trajectory through telecom and it was atWilTel. Istayed thereuntiltheTelecomAct happened in 1996, which was my leverage into the operating business side of things. I was at BrooksFiber.Mymentor who told me what to do became a regional president in Ohio.Thatshow I moved from OklahomaCityto Columbus, Ohio to work with him back in the day for our nextlane, which later became XO, which is now part of Verizon.

Icontinued to have these steps with big companies. I wasona quest for awhile and the JoeNachosdays, and everybody remembers what happened there. Ourdivision was calledCross-link,and we were a pet project of his.Whenhe got let go, our division got shut down, and itwas two days before my son was born. I was sitting there thinking,Im going to have some challenges here.I immediately landed a position with MCPartners,which was a private equity firm that had invested in a couple of companies. Icontinued to work with them multiple times and they were my first big equity partner at Everstream.Wehad successful exits together.Forme, it was trying to get that big company experience moving into a more entrepreneurial environment where I felt like I could have a bigger impact on the business.Ihave been able to take that opportunity with both hands and continue to grow the business that way.Its atestamenttounderstanding that if you are well-rounded in the business, it helps you be successfullater in life.Iwas fortunate to have some great mentors and coaches along the way.

Thatsthe power of mentorship. Youvegot some great advice when you were younger.Thatsone thing Id love to speak on is mentorship being a mentor, as well as a mentee.Youvetouched every piece of telecom. I could see why youre successful and youre such a great leader.Thatsawesome.Tellme about Everstream,your services, who are your customers,and a little bit about your offices locations,andthe markets that you serve?

Welike to keep it simple.We are a fiberbased network service provider. We like to own,operate everything that we connect customers to. In 2020,93% of every circuit that we sold to a customer was directly connected to our network. We believe that is how you win those customers, keep those customers and continue to grow.Forus, its allfiber all the time.The idea is how can we build more fiber than anyone else in the markets that were inbecausewe believe that delivering ethernet,internet, some dark fiber isthe key for us.Our business has shifted a little bit.Westarted outheavy on wholesale, then moved into enterprise.Thatwas when we were in Ohio.When we brought in our initial funding in 2015 with MC,we acquired GLCCommLink up in Michigan, and we also are at LynxNetwork Group.

Thattook us from Ohio to Michigan.Wepicked up some other services along the way, but weve always kept our core and focusing on enterprise customers and the wholesale space, andnot try to get away from marketing. We didnt decide to become a data center company orget into voice or unified messaging or anything else.Wewant to buildourown and operate as much fiberas possible.Thathas helped us well. Wedid a transaction in 2018 where we sold Everstream toAMP.Thebasic premise there was weve been successfullydoing it in a couple ofstates. I like the Midwest,I likethework ethic of the people,the business community thats here.Forme, it was,How can I find a partner that will allow us to continue to grow our business?

Werenow in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, well be closing ontheUnity transaction, and thatwill take us into Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.Withsomewinannouncements, well also be opening up Kentucky.Thebusiness has continued to evolve.Wewant to make certain that we are connecting as many people as possible to our fiber networks,and that we have robust networks that are there for our customers.Theconversations of talking about100MBor1 GB adays past, customersarenow askingfor 10GBlike it wasnt1GBor100MB.Afew years ago, 40GB or100 GB. Itsabout having the capacity and the assets to be able to keep your customers happy.

Youkeep your employees happy too.Mycompany,Broadstaff, weplace people with Everstream and we always hear that they are happy. I want to talk about that a bit. What is it like to work for Everstream?Whatsthe culture like there?

Thereare very few things in our organization that are top-down, but culture is one of them.Tome, the culture has to start at the top and it has to be embodied by me and everyone on our executive team,and flow through everybody in the organization so that its clear,concise and consistent.Whenwe started down this path, the idea was,Whatare the key valuesandmantras? What can we have peopleinternalize so that it can help them understand what we need to do every day?Thefirst one is,Dowhat you sayyou willdo.Thepalindrome,Dowhat you say you will do,is everywhere in our office. Its on the walls, on t-shirts, its everywhere.Forus, thats our golden rule. That the idea is whether its a co-worker,customer, partner, vendor, whomever, that we will do what we say we will do.Itstattooed on my arm in Latin.Itsmy own thing as well.Fromthe standpoint of understanding that every day, whether thats for work or my family, my kids, whatever that is, that Im doing that as well.Thatsthe first one.

The second one is happypeople, happy customers. There is not a chance in hell that your customers are going to have a positive experienceifyour employees do not enjoy their jobs.Itsnot going to happen.Wedo a ton on developing ourpeople.Forthemany years in a row, weve grown exponentially in sizeandpromoted 20% of our staff every year.Weare very focused and conscientious about giving people development plans that allow them to stay with us.Wewant to review those on a regular basis.Ive been here formanyyears. Weve got a lot ofpeoplethat have been with me during that duration.

Whatsgreat to me is having examples in the organization that other new people can come in and see, and understand thatmanyyears ago,they were the person thats now the vice president of our customer engagement team.Thatperson startedincustomer service, became a manager, then became a director and is now running a very large team with that organization. We have a gentleman that started in the NOC and then went into engineering and became a manager.Hesnow VP of ourNetworkEngineering team.Wehave multiple stories ofpeoplethat have come in and stayed with us.Theystayedwith us because our feeling is different than what theyre used to.Itsdifferent because we spend a lot of time talking about it, caring for our people.

Thelast one on that space is once people hit that magic five-yearmark,I view those people at the highest risk.Ifyouve been here for five years, and if you havent been promoted a coupleoftimes, your compensation hasnt changed dramatically over that period of time, youre riding to get picked off.Howdo we do that?Wedo that one because every single employee in our company is an owner. Everyone in our organization has shares.Those peoplethat have been with us before when we sold back in 2018, participated in,and theyllpay it again whenever our next event is.Theidea is that everyone needs to feel like they have ownership in whats going on.Alsothat thosepeoplethat have been here for five years, some people are comfortable doing what theyre doing.I may be a splicer and I love splicing them. Thats what I want to do every day. As long as that person is happy doing that, thats great, but we want to make sure that people are there.

Thelast one is our no asshole policy.Peoplejokeandthink thats funny when I say it.Itsthe one that I take the most pride in because its the one thing that if you say and you dont live up to that rule, somebody is going to call you on it.Theidea iswe cannot have someone in our organization that isscreaming at people, yelling at people, badgering them, that doesnt work. We know that and it doesnt keep people happy.Iftheyre not happy, then the customers arent happy.

Wevehad some instances where weve had some fairly highuppeoplein the organization who were assholes,and thosepeopledidnt make it.Wehad a holiday party one time and the guy decided to show up,have too much to drink,break some people and pass out at the bar.OnMonday,he was gone.Iwrote a note to the team on Monday after we let the person go and told that team,I want to make sure you understand that theno asshole policyapplies to all.Wewant to make certain that people understand that they need to have a safe environment where they feel comfortableexpressingtheir opinions and can challenge things.Wedo not serve ourselves or our customerswellby having a bunchof people that all think the same.Wehave a very diverse work culture here,and45% of our team are female. Weve got every ethnic variety you can imagine within our organization.Forus, webelieve that having that difference of opinion allows for our business to be better and makes people want to stay here.

Did you say 45% of your team?

Thatsthe lateststatandits an all areas,permitting,construction, finance, HR,sales, all throughout the organization.

Youwrote an article on LinkedIn about diversity. First of all,I love your realness.Whenyou speak, I get what youre saying. Lets talk about that article briefly about diversity,about your passion around it, and also the new initiative you created because of that.

In2020, it was hard for everybody. Itwas an odd feeling that our business grew exponentially during 2020 while other people were suffering.Businesseswere suffering, but even more than that, you have the social injustice undertone that went out the entire year. I was struggling at trying to figure out how could I specifically make a difference as it relates to racism and diversity, and being able to have those conversations within our team. Iwasinvited on a flyfishing trip to Montana right around the same time that the racial unrest was at its peak. I went there with the idea of unplugging,and instead tried to focus on how can I help on this specific issue and ended up connecting with two African-American gentlemen that were on the trip with me.

Ithought,Theseguys are here. Oneis from Atlanta andone isfrom California. I can figure out how to ask them questions and learn something.Themost key thing that was shared with me was,Youneed tolisten more. You need to talk to people, ask questions, but also educate yourself about some of the issues.Whatthey recommended most was that I readtheLetter from Birmingham Jailthat waswritten by Martin Luther King, Jr.in 1963.Whenyou read them, youre taken with the fact that this guy is such an amazing line.Takeapart all of the challenges that he was facing at thattime.Thefact that you could sit inside of a jail and write one of the most eloquent things Ive ever read, and be able to describe succinctly the challenges that were facing.

Whenyou read it, you could replace Birminghamnowwith Detroit, Chicago, LA, any city in the US.Youcould read thatand think,Thiscould have been written now, but how sad is it that it was written in 1968andhow little have we come in that period of time? Itstrying to address these issues and make it better.Thelast thingthat spoke to me,and Im trying to get some of my peers to think about it more,is this idea that Martin Luther saysitsnot the raging racist or the KKK that hes concerned about. Its the moderate white male, and that person wants the issue to go away.Theywant to like,Im sorry that you feel that way, but lets move past it,becausethey feel uncomfortable.They dont want to raise their hand and talk about something.Thatmakes other people feel uncomfortable because they somehow feel thats not their role.

Whathes saying is that is wrong. Those are the people that we need to be helped with the most that your silence effectively is hurting us more than anything else.Mychallengeinthe piece on LinkedIn was to create awareness and make sure that my team knew that I was thinking about it.Secondlyisto try to getpeoplein our space, which are predominantly white 50-year-old malesto take a step forward and trying to do something beyond whats good for our business or ourselves.

Theressomething about you as a leader, and Ive learned a lot from you from our brief conversations,and also what I hear about you as a leader from the people that weve placed there at Everstream, youre involved, committed and passionate, but then you also empower people at the same time.Youreinvolved in the interview process and some followup post-interview with the growth and development of your team. Tell me a little bit about your involvement and also how you empower others and empower your leaders to lead effectively and powerfully?

Thefirst thing I talked about for the business why people want to be here is because of our culture. I view myself as the final gatekeeper when somebody joins the business.Peoplethink its more altruisticlikeIcant wait to talk to every single person that were interviewing, but its to make certain that we dont bring the wrong person in our doors.Wehave an interview processdepending on everyperson, no matter what level, between3to5people. Im the final interview for every employee that we have.Itsa different type of conversation. I dont spend time going through peoples resumes. They have barfed that up to five people before they get to me. I dont need to ask them again how they got into telecom and their last job.

Instead, I use it as an opportunity to try to get to know them.Myquestions are,Describeyour life from birth until the end of high school.Areyou1of3? Didyou play soccer? Did your parents go to divorce?Whatever it is that makes that person into who they are. Thesecond one is,Whatdo you do for fun?Whenyoure not working,howdo you spend your time?I learned more about peoples families,hobbies and things that I otherwise would not know for quite some time after somebody joined us.Thelast oneis,Whyare you leaving where you are?Itssad and awesome for us at the same time.Sadthat most people are leaving where they are because they dont feel appreciated,because they dont feel like the direction is truly shared with them,andthat they dont feel like theyre having an impact at the place where they are.

Thoseare things that we can solve for people. Those are the things that were doing it correctly. Those people will feel differently when they come to Everstream.Thesecond that I do is once somebody is on board, we have an onboarding call3to4weeks after the person joins with us.Myquestion is,Didwe do what we said we would do? Was your laptop sitting at your desk? Did you have access to all this stuff?Isthere training that you need? What can I do to make certain that you are successful in this role with us?Thefeedback that I constantly get from people is one,I never thought I would talk toyouduring the interview process. Second,I never thought Id probably talk to you again.

Beingable to talk to them again after theyve been on board for that is key.The other thing is we believe that we have to be out in the market.Theway that we operate our businessis by having whoever touches the customer needs to be local in that specific area, which is different from a lot of telecom companies where everything keeps getting more and more centralized into the headquarter grand goofball location, which doesnt work for us.Theother thing that weve done, especially during COVIDin 2020,whichwas a little dicey, but we were trying to travel to every market once a month through social distancing and everything else. They saw our faces because2020was a challenge for people,lets be clear.Itwas difficult to try to keep peoples morale up.

Wehad a tremendous year and our own people felt guilty about it. We built over 10 million feet of fiberin 2020,weinstalled customers in every state that we now operate in. We opened new offices in every state.Alot took place in the midst of very difficult times for others.Ourability to try the best we could to communicate with people,have them see us,and make certain that they felt like they were connected to what we were trying to do with the business has helped us continue that culture.

Everstream is growing exponentially.Its exciting toknow. Lets talk about hiring.Whatson your radar for 2021?Are you hiring?Whattypes of roles?Whatare you looking at there?

Weare hiring. Ourexpectation is well add somewhere between 75 to 80 people. Some of those are also going to come through the acquisitions that were either scheduled to close or those that were in the process,but we will be staffing across the markets.Wealso have a team of what we call a national team.What theyre doing is tasked with going into some of the expansion markets where we haveacontract.Wehave a customer in that area.Wehave the team now focused on doing the initial design engineering and permitting to get that market on its way.Onceit started to starttoconstruct fiber and were moving towards the solid customers, then we would bring in that director of field services and OSB manager,high-speedmanager, and all the bodies that are required.

Inany given market, youretypically going to see 25 to 35 people managing everything from a local level.Wewant to be able to see those markets with more of a higherup view,and then be able to hand them off to someoneonce its a little bit more mature. Thatsa process that weve been evolving.Wehired a gentleman,Drew Mullin from Crown Castle. Itsover our corporate development group and hes leading that team.Wevecontinued to add local talent at every as well as in the organization,andCleveland istheretoo.

Forus,outside plan,inside plan,sales, anything and everything that you can imagine that we need for our business, we are not planning on slowing down from the standpoint of what we construct or install.Forus, its making certain that weve got Xinthebacklog and were going to install Y each quarter, how many bodies need to be in our shop to be able to make that happen. I feel like we figured out our machine,and we know exactly each quarter what needs to come in to make sure that we deliver on our promises to customers.

Whats your vision for the next five years?Wheres Everstream going to be?

Im not sure that I can answer that. If youd asked memanyyears ago, I would have not given the answer of where we are now for sure. I wouldnt want to be limitinginwhere I think well be.Ifwe keep doing what we havebeen doing, our workwill continue to come.Wehave been opportunistic at looking at acquisitions that made sense where we could find fiberrich assets with products that aligned with ours, with smart people that we could bring into the business.Wewill keep doing that. We will continue to grow organicallyinevery one of these markets. Werenot interested in being competitors to a lot of our peers.Itdoesnt make sense for me to move towards greatplainsbecause,withthe way that we view it,and it sounds like an odd thing to say,we want to be inthethird place.

AT&T,because of market shareandthe fact that theyve been here for hundredplus years,is going to be first in market share in the market.The second is going to be the MSO, whether thats Comcast orCharteror whoever that is.Thenwe want to be the one that is deploying the most fiber thats adding the most customers and is taking market share on this market.Ifyou consider that weve gone from twostatesto where we are now and the availability of business in those areas, we have plenty to do for the next several years.Whenwe marry our carrier wholesale wireless business and everything thats happening in 5G, which is pushing us hard, and then our enterprise demand, which is continuing to hammer us for more bandwidth organically, more services, everything that they need.Ifwe stick to our knitting, well be finefiveyears from now.

Manytimes when companiesgrowandthey grow fast through acquisitions, as well as organically, the culture changes,things change.Wehear this quite a bit from candidates. They say,Thingshave changed since X happened.Thecompanyis different since X happened.It sounds to me like that is not going to be the story of Everstream. How do you maintain a cohesive culture through all the growth and acquisitions?

Itsa shit ton of work.Thechallenge is trying to get the people that you bring on board. You ask the question about how do you empower your people?Thisis how we keep our culture growing.Weview the directors in the market.Inevery large market, we have a director of field services and a director of sales, and they manage 90% of the bodies that are in that market.Ifthat market is not succeeding, it isnt because somebody in Cleveland didnt do what they needed to do. Its because we failed at the local level to make those people feel supported,involved and had the tools that they needed to be successful.Forus, we have spent a ton of time and we did thisthoughtfully.

Backin 2019, we engaged withAMP.We looked at a number of acquisitions and these things are priced so high,wedont feel like were getting what we want.We kicked off a $300 million capital campaign to build all these marketsout.Theidea waswhilewere doing that, what has to happen is that you have to feel like youre working for Everstream no matter what city youre in, and how that manifestsitself.Whenyou walk in,the offices look exactly the same, same paint on the walls, same furniture, same sayings on the walls, everything, same snacks.Thinkingof the things that make people feel like Cleveland is not the epicenter of the world. Cleveland happens to be one office where a number of us sit,and it should feel the same in St. Louis or Indianapolis or Milwaukee.

Theoffice is important. Itsgoing to sound like a small thing, but its something in years past people started to get rid of.Wehave an office manager in every single office.That person is there to make certain that we have visibility to whats going on, not in aBig Brotherwatch you mode, but understanding what is the culture feeling? How are people feeling? Are they overwhelmed? Whatsthemoralelike?Thatway,we can also use those office managers as advocates for the business.Theyrun all of that. If we have a chili cook-off in Cleveland, we have a chili cookoff in every market at the same time.Thoseoffice managers are helping make that happen.Thatsthe difference.

Theother piece is people want to build. So much of our team are on the construction site.Ifyouve been at some of the big companies out there, especiallyWindstream or CenturyLink or Lumen,the amount of building fiber at the local level has gone down dramaticallyoverthe last several years.Theyvegotten bigger, theyve got different products, theyve got different mindsets.Whenthey know that were coming in to impact the local market, to build as much fiber as possible,theyget to do that. People get geeked up about the fact that theyre building something from scratch in that city.Capitalizingon that, making certain that it feels consistent across all the markets, and then giving people a culture that feels different from where they areisthe best compliment that one of our team members can make to me is it feels different here. If it feels the same, then weve lost. It has to feel different here than anywhere else that theyve been in the past, or we will not be able to replicate the success that weve had up to this point.

Therearesome rich golden nuggets here in this conversation. I thank you so much for being on the show. I know Ive learned a lot and Im honored to support Everstream withBroadstaff. Imhonored to have this conversation with you.Wherecan our audience learn about Everstream,the careersandeverything that you have to offer?

Thankyou for having me on.Everstream.netis our website. We have a builtout section for people that are seeking employment. It has all kinds of information,videos about the business,allof the postings are there as well. Aboutanything that you need to know to find a positionat Everstreamis available online.

Brett, thank you so much for being on the show.Itsbeen a pleasure.

Thank you very much.

Take care.

In 2016-2017, Brett more than tripled the size of the organization within less than 12 months with two Michigan-based acquisitions. Previously as Chief Operations Officer of OneCommunity, Brett oversaw the $100 million expansion of the network that became Everstream. Brett brings more than 25 years of experience in successful operations management and business development efforts for venture-backed organizations to the Fortune 500. He has extensive experience in the telecom industry, having served as President of Elantic Telecom and Chief Operations Officer of Vox Mobile. Brett also held management positions with City Signal Communications, Qwest Communications, XO Communications and Williams Communication Systems.

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