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Episode 50. Rogue Tenors (Crossover Classics VI)
August 30, 2020 African American Singers, CrossoverAgustín Lara, Ah Sweet Mystery of Life, Al Dubin, Ay ay ay, Beniamino Gigli, Boudleaux and Faye Bryant, Bronislau Kaper, Camille Nickerson, Carlo Bergonzi, Cesare Andrea Bixio, Charles Kullman, Charles Marshall, Dermot Macmurrough, Erich Korngold, Ernesto de Curtis, Fernando de Lucia, Francisco Araiza, Franco Corelli, Fritz Wunderlich, Gene Pitney, Georges Thill, Granada, Hans May, Harry Warren, Hello Mary Lou, Irving Berlin, James Melton, Jan Kiepura, Javier Camarena, Jerry Hadley, John McCormack, Joseph Schmidt, Júrame, Jussi Bjorling, Knut O.W. Almroth, Lao Silésu, Lauritz Melchior, Lennon & McCartney, Leonello Casucci, Love Hurts, Macushla, Mamma, Marcel Wittrisch, María Grever, Miguel Fleta, Oh What a Beautiful Mornin', Osmán Pérez Freire, Paolo Tosti, Peter Hofmann, René Kollo, Richard Crooks, Richard Tauber, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Roland Hayes, Sammy Fain, Schöner Gigolo [Just a Gigolo], September in the Rain, Tandy MacKenzie, Tito Schipa, Tu ca non chiagne, W.J. Coelho, What'll I Do?, Yesterdaycountermelody
https://media.blubrry.com/countermelody/content.blubrry.com/countermelody/Episode_50-Rogue_Tenors_FINAL.mp3
Our crossover series continues, this time with a full episode dedicated to more than a century of great tenors singing crossover material, beginning in 1902 with Fernando de Lucia's recording of "Serenata" by Paolo Tosti . Along the way we observe the evolution of the genre from Victorian ballads through Neapolitan songs and Spanish-tinged material (you have not lived until you have heard Fritz Wunderlich sing "Granada"!); from folk songs and musicals to international film theme songs and popular rock hits. Other featured singers include John McCormack, Richard Crooks, Charles Kullman, Tito Schipa, Carlo Bergonzi, Franco Corelli, Miguel Fleta, Jussi Björling, Roland Hayes, Tandy MacKenzie, Francisco Araiza, Joseph Schmidt, Beniamino Gigli, Marcel Wittrisch, Georges Thill, Richard Tauber, Jan Kiepura, James Melton, Lauritz Melchior, René Kollo, Peter Hofmann, Javier Camarena, and Jerry Hadley. Today's episode is pure escapism, until you find yourself weeping at the unexpected beauty and pathos of it all.
Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and "inside stories." Occasional guests from the "business" (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. At Countermelody's core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available!
Episode 49. Eileen Farrell (Crossover Classics V)
August 23, 2020 Art Song, Crossover, Eileen Farrell, Giuseppe Verdi, Needle Drop, Operetta, Pop Icons, Queer PrideAdolph Green, Alec Wilder, André Kostelanetz, Andre Previn, Betty Comden, Claude Debussy, Depuis le jour, Die Walküre, Dory Langdon, Dory Langdon Previn, Dory Previn, Edvard Grieg, Eileen Farrell, George Gershwin, Gian Carlo Menotti, Giuseppe Verdi, Gustave Charpentier, Harold Arlen, Helen Traubel, House of Flowers, Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Jule Styne, Knoxville Summer of 1915, La forza del destino, Leonard Bernstein, Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), Loonis McGlohon, Lorenz Hart, Luther Henderson, Maurice Ravel, Mitchell Parish, My Funny Valentine, On the Town, Oscar Hammerstein II, Peer Gynt, Percy Faith, Peter DeRose, Renato Cellini, Richard Rodgers, Richard Wagner, Robert Farnon, Samuel Barber, The Consul, The Lamp Is Low, Truman Capote, Victor Herbert, William Engvickcountermelody
https://media.blubrry.com/countermelody/content.blubrry.com/countermelody/Episode_49-Eileen_Farrell_FINAL.mp3
The American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell (1920–2002) was one of the finest and most versatile singers the United States has ever produced. Her singing career lasted more than fifty years, and this episode covers the entire chronological range of that career, from her early work as a radio singer in the 1940s to her final pop albums in the 1990s. While the episode focuses on her crossover work (and includes work by, among others, Harold Arlen, Jule Styne, Alec Wilder, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, as heard on two of her lesser-known pop albums with Percy Faith and the late André Previn), we also sample her opera and concert work, with examples from Verdi and Wagner, to Debussy and Charpentier, to Barber and Menotti. A late reunion with her frequent collaborator Leonard Bernstein caps the episode. In all her singing Farrell combines ease of delivery and a relaxed, insouciant response to the words and music with a vocal and interpretive precision that inevitably strikes a bullseye. Bow down to the Queen of Crossover, nay, the Queen of Song!
Episode 48. Cesare Siepi (Crossover Classics IV)
August 16, 2020 Art Song, Crossover, Giuseppe Verdi, In Memoriam, Lieder, Needle DropAlfredo Mazzucchi, Cesare Siepi, Cole Porter, Easy to Love, Eduardo di Capua, Ezio Pinza, Funiculi funicula, Giuseppe Verdi, I Get a Kick out of You, In the Still of the Night, Johannes Brahms, La sonnambula, Luigi Denza, Nabucco, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paolo Tosti, Renato Brogi, Richard Rodgers, Roland Shaw Orchestra, Sigmund Romberg, Some Enchanted Evening, South Pacific, Vincenzo Bellini, Visione venezianacountermelody
https://media.blubrry.com/countermelody/content.blubrry.com/countermelody/Episode_48-Cesare_Siepi_FINAL.mp3
Last month marked the tenth anniversary of the death of the great Italian basso Cesare Siepi, one of the most important basses of the twentieth century, after such figures as Nazzareno de Angelis, Tancredi Pasero, and, particularly, Ezio Pinza, the latter, like Siepi, particularly associated with the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni. His dashing good looks, solid technique, sonorous voice and appealing artistry, placed him in the forefront of the opera world, particularly in the 1950s through the 1970s. In this episode, rather than his celebrated Mozart and Verdi portrayals, however, we will focus primarily on his 1958 Decca/London album, Easy to Love: The Songs of Cole Porter. Siepi also made two appearances on Broadway, including 1962's nearly-forgotten Bravo, Giovanni, from which we hear two excerpts. Other musical selections in this episode include two operatic arias, several favorites from the Neapolitan song repertoire, and live and television performances from Brahms to Sigmund Romberg. Revisiting this artist, and particularly his spot-on Cole Porter performances, is a nostalgic journey for me, and I hope to convey to you his enormous appeal.
Episode 47. Sylvia Sass (Crossover Classics III)
August 9, 2020 Bel canto, Crossover, Operetta, Sylvia SassA Kékszakállú herceg vára, András Sebestyén, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anthony Hymas, Barry Gibb, Béla Balázs, Béla Bartók, Bluebeard's Castle, Bridge over Troubled Water, Daniel Molnár, Don Giovanni, Ervin Lukács, G. Dénes György, Gábor Lakatos, Georg Solti, Giuseppe Verdi, Híd a romlás vizén [Bridge over Troubled Water], Il Trovatore, Iván Bradányi, Jacques Offenbach, James Diamond, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jim Steinman, Joe Jackson, Kolos Kováts, La Belle Helene, Miklós Tibor, Nello Santi, Nézz körül [Total Eclipse of the Heart], Paul Simon, Péter Wolf, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Robin Gibb, Sarà qual che sarà, Stephen Bishop, Sylvia Sass, Szerelmes asszony, Tim Rice, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Vier letzte Lieder, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woman in Lovecountermelody
https://media.blubrry.com/countermelody/content.blubrry.com/countermelody/Episode_47-Sylvia_Sass_FINAL.mp3
The Hungarian soprano Sylvia Sass was a comet in the operatic firmament in the mid-1970s through the 1980s, most celebrated for singing the heaviest dramatic coloratura repertoire. In 1984 she also released a crossover album entitled Nézz körül, which I purchased when it was first released, and which amused me to no end, featuring as it did songs from "Flashdance" to "Total Eclipse of the Heart," all sung in Hungarian. As the years have passed, and I have become more and more of a Sass fan, I have completely revised my opinion of this unusual entry into the Crossover Classics genre and now am of the opinion that Sass's achievement on this record represents the peak of opera singers singing crossover material. Her unusual and compelling voice is heard at its most mellifluous here; her musicianship is at the complete and non-condescending service of the material, which ranges from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Quincy Jones; and the intensity of her delivery, contrasted with the sometimes tacky arrangements, makes for a unique and delectable experience. I supplement material from that album with several examples of Sass's magisterial performances of operetta and classical music, from Mozart and Offenbach through Ferenc Erkel and Richard Strauss, pausing (regretfully only momentarily) on her matchless Verdi portrayals. Prepare for the Total Eclipse of the Kékszakállú!
Episode 46. Julia Migenes (Crossover Classics II)
August 2, 2020 Crossover, Needle Drop, OperettaAdolf Dallapozza, Alban Berg, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Arline Woods, Astor Piazzolla, Berg Lulu, Bill Withers, Bob Merrill, Brent Ellis, Charles Strouse, Der Vetter aus Dingsda, Eduard Künneke, Ernesto Lecuona, Evening Primrose, Fiddler on the Roof, Francis Lai, Francis Poulenc, Franz Lehár, Funny Girl, Georges Pretre, Giacomo Aragall, Giacomo Puccini, Heitor Villa-Lobos, I Remember (Evening Primrose), Ileana Cotrubas, Im Prater blüh'n wieder die Bäume, Ira Gershwin, Isaac Albéniz, Jean Cocteau, Jerry Bock, Jule Styne, Julia Migenes, Kurt Weill, La Boheme, La voix humaine, Lecuona The Breeze and I, Lehár Friederike, Leigh Harline, Leonard Bernstein, Loulou Gasté, Luiz Bonfá, Manhã de Carnaval, Maximiano Valdes, Michael Kamen, Michel Legrand, Morris Albert, Ned Washington, People (Funny Girl), Rags (Strouse & Schwartz), Richard Strauss, Robert Stolz, Schicksalsmelodie, Sheldon Harnick, Silvio Varviso, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Strauss Salome, The Windmills of Your Mind, Theme from Love Story, Tim Rice, Weill Lady in the Dark, West Side Story, When You Wish upon a Star (Pinocchio)countermelody
https://media.blubrry.com/countermelody/content.blubrry.com/countermelody/Episode_46-Julia_Migenes_FINAL.mp3
Today's featured artist, the cosmopolitan yet earthy Julia Migenes, is certainly one of the most compelling and successful of all "crossover artists." Beginning early in her career, she assumed roles in musicals, operetta, opera, and beyond that showcased her versatility and contributed to her worldwide eminence. Her multilingual facility and fascinating cultural background rendered her a true artistic chameleon. I explore in particular her success in the European market, particularly Germany and France. This episode features Migenes in live and studio recordings over the course of her entire career (showcasing in particular her 1980 release, Latin Lady) in shows ranging from West Side Story to Salome, and composers from Astor Piazzolla to Richard Strauss. A celebration of a peripatetic, treasurable, idiosyncratic artist who never was afraid to be anything but herself.
Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and "inside stories." Frequent guests from the "business" (singers, conductors, composers, coaches, and teachers) lend their distinctive insights. At Countermelody's core is the interaction between singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. Please visit the Countermelody website (www.countermelodypodcast.com) for additional content. And please head to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/countermelody to pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available only to Patreon supporters are currently available!


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Home / Top Legal News / Autistic girl, family awarded $4.9M settlement
Autistic girl, family awarded $4.9M settlement
By: Haviland Stewart November 29, 2022
An autistic girl and her family were awarded $4.9 million after the girl was beaten by caregivers that resulted in serious injuries.
In 2016 an autistic, non-verbal 15-year-old girl with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and explosive disorder, living in an unlicensed alternative family living (AFL) home was repeatedly beaten and traumatized by the two "caregivers" in the AFL home, her attorney reported.
According to the plaintiff's lead council, Jeffrey R. Monroe, the beatings caused life-threatening bodily injuries, resulting in the child being hospitalized for eight weeks and undergoing multiple surgeries.
One of the caregivers pleaded guilty to attempted murder of the child and felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and received an active sentence of 110 to 114 months. The other caregiver pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and received an active sentence of 73 to 100 months. The two caregivers were not sued in the civil cases. The civil cases were filed against the corporate entities and individuals that placed the child in the home.
The primary defendant in both the state and federal cases was Alliance Health, formerly known as Alliance Behavioral Healthcare. According to Monroe, Alliance is a local management entity (LME), authorized by state statute to manage the provision of behavioral health care services to Medicaid-eligible enrollees of the North Carolina Medical Assistance Program.  LMEs do not directly provide behavioral healthcare services for their clients, rather they contract with private behavioral healthcare provider agencies to provide the services required by the client's individual support plan. LMEs then oversee the provision of those services and authorize payment to the provider agencies.
The acting chief of the Mental Health Licensure Section of the Division of Health Services Regulation testified that the AFL home license requirement for minors is mandatory and that the law is intended to ensure the safety of clients.
The plaintiff alleged that the caregivers, one male and one female, operating the AFL home had not been properly vetted by the provider agencies before they were hired. According to Monroe, the male caregiver had an old conviction for assault on a female, and more recently he had been charged with assault on a female and false imprisonment. Though the more recent charges were dismissed, the warrants indicated that the alleged victim in both instances of dismissed charges was the female caregiver. According to Monroe, the provider agencies obtained a criminal record check on the male caregiver, but they did not ask him about the conviction for assault on a female or the dismissed charges before he was hired or investigate whether there was a history of domestic violence in the home prior to the Plaintiffs placement.
According to Monroe, the provider agencies that operated the unlicensed AFL home were responsible for screening and hiring the caregivers, however, Alliance Health also vouched for the suitability of the female caregiver. Alliance's care coordinator also allegedly told Plaintiff's mother that the licensing requirement was only a technicality.
Alliance contended that there was no suitable community placement available to meet the plaintiff's needs, and that this circumstance explained the illegal placement of the plaintiff in the unlicensed AFL, Monroe reported.
The federal action was filed against Alliance and seven Alliance employees in their individual capacities. The federal action included six claims – five claims alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. 1983 and one claim alleging violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §2000d.
The fifth 1983 claim was an equal protection claim based upon racial discrimination. A former NC Start — a community crisis prevention and intervention program for individuals with disabilities — clinical social worker who provided services for the plaintiff testified that Alliance Health was "dismissive" of the concerns of Plaintiff's mother. Referring to Alliance Health, the social worker testified, "When there's a black mom and when there's a non-black mom, there's a different response in how I think a lot of time their concerns are heard and received. And so that was seen multiple times in the work that we were doing in the cases that we were working on."
The federal action alleged that Defendants' custom and practice of racial discrimination was a cause of the actions and inactions of Defendants that lead to the abuse of the plaintiff and constituted a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Defendants denied the allegations.
The defense did not respond to requests for comment.
Is this a verdict or a settlement? Settlement
Type of case: Negligence, Civil Rights
Amount: $4,875,000.00, comprised of the following recoveries: $2,000,000.00 from Alliance Health; $1,850,000.00 from a provider agency (name confidential); $1,000,000.00 from a provider agency (name confidential); $25,000.00 from a provider agency (name confidential). The net recovery (recovery after attorney fees and costs) for the minor plaintiff was paid into a special needs trust established to preserve the minor's eligibility for Medicaid services. The minor plaintiff's mother's claim was derivative. (Unless otherwise indicated, "Plaintiff" refers to the minor plaintiff.)
Injuries alleged: Multiple contusions of Plaintiff's small intestine, colon and rectum, transverse process fractures of second and third lumbar vertebrae, transverse process fracture of right rib, contusions to pancreas, acute post hemorrhagic anemia, and emotional distress (PTSD). Surgeries: right hemicolectomy and ileostomy for colonic contusion and pancreatic injury; and subsequent takedown ileostomy 45 days later. Inpatient Hospitalization: 56 days
Case name: Actions were filed in North Carolina Superior Court and in U.S. District Court (Eastern District of North Carolina). (State case name confidential). Federal Case: OBW, an incompetent person appearing through her GAL v. Alliance Health f/k/a Alliance Behavioral Healthcare, Local Management Entity/Managed Care Organization (LME/MCO), et al.
Case No.: 5:21-cv-336
Judge: United States District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle
Date of verdict or settlement: January of 2022
Special damages [if applicable]: Medical Expenses for Treatment of Physical Injuries:  $173,861.32
Most helpful experts [if applicable]:
Plaintiff's Experts: Dr. Jeffrey C. Holden, psychologist, specializing in mental retardation and child development, Dr. David S. Husted, forensic psychiatrist, Ashley H. Johnson, MS, CRC, CLCP, life care planner, J. C. Poindexter, Ph.D., economist
Insurance carrier [if applicable]:
Alliance – Arch Specialty Insurance Company (identity of other insurance carriers is confidential)
Attorney(s) for plaintiff and their firm(s): All attorneys representing the Plaintiff are with the law firm of Miller Monroe & Plyler: Jeffrey R. Monroe (lead counsel), Jason A. Miller, William W. Plyler, Robert B. Rader, III
Attorney(s) for defendant and their firm(s): Erin M. Young, Hall Booth Smith, P.C., Charlotte, NC, Attorney for Alliance Health (state action). Andrew H. Erteschik, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh, NC, Attorney for Alliance Health and individual defendants (federal action). Attorneys for Defendant Providers in state action not identified due to confidentiality agreement
Was the opposing represented by counsel? Yes
Were liability and/or damages contested? Yes
Has the judgment been successfully collected? Yes
settlement 3:38 pm Tue, November 29, 2022 North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Haviland Stewart
Tagged with: settlement
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Lately I've been toying with these ideas of how we connect, how we provide in the wellness industry, and how we receive wellness care from others. For many practitioners and would-be receipients alike, geography can get in the way of us engaging in the healing work we want to engage with. So, taking my cue from the folks who have successfully launched their programs into online classes and more, I've decided to strike out on my own with an innovative solution for us all.
I'm launching a new kind of coaching program. And I'm doing it through a subscriber-based platform called Patreon. It's not just any coaching program. I'm specifically focusing this program on how we relate to the planet. In my mind I hear this global desire for this—from other people, from the animals, and certainly from the planet herself too. We are on the brink of global ecological disaster, but concurrently there are so many Earth healers looking for where to begin their work.
I'm here for us. My program is designed to connect us all—to weave together the healing work, the science, the activism, and the magic being done to love this planet more fully. And I'm doing an online and subscriber-based program because I don't want to just limit this stuff to what I can accomplish in one-on-one sessions. I want virtually everyone to have access.
So head over to Patreon and check my program out. Watch my videos. Comment with your feedback and questions. And when you're ready, give me a vote of confidence by signing up!
Together, I truly believe, we can grow a better world.


Alowies Art was in Cape Town to assist in the clown master class, facilitated by Tom Roos. She documented the entire process through live art drawings, which have created a sustainable archive for present and future continuations of the project through exhibition.
As mentioned above, Alowies Art was essential in documenting the process. She produced 109 live drawings of the process, one half is black and white and the others are in color. Alowies Art has donated all of these original drawings to UNIMA SA. She has given UNIMA.SA permission to sell this drawings to contribute in the costs of future projects. UNIMA SA has planned for this fundraising to be in a form of an auction that will take place in November 2014.
with French and South African Artists, directed by Tom Roos (Belgium).
Wall drawing by Alowies in Masakeng restaurant Soweto, South Africa.
Tom Roos invited the audience to write short texts near the drawings.


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Maj Toure Knows The "Reason" Libertarianism Is Exploding In The Hood
Chad Lemoine
I've known Maj Toure for about seven years now and I've watched his growth and the growth of his projects with great admiration.
In 2018, while I was working for a presidential campaign, I helped bring him to the Libertarian National Convention in New Orleans to introduce him in person to a party that had, for all its good intentions, been doing an atrocious job of connecting with urban America.
So when I saw him challenge Reason Magazine to cover his work and the "growth of libertarianism in the hood," I couldn't help but reach out and offer to do the job myself.
Guess @reason didn't want to. 🙁🙁🙁 https://t.co/FpHKfmCJ3s
— Maj Toure (@MAJTOURE) September 2, 2022
For decades, the urban community has alternated between being under the thumb of authoritarian statism or, at the very least, underserved by politicians who make promises and fail to deliver anything but a self-perpetuating cycle of dependency with tyrannical strings attached.
So when I asked why there was "rising interest in Libertarianism" in urban America, it seems like a no-brainer for Maj to claim credit for himself and his allies. but I know Maj well enough to know that's not how he was going to respond.
"It's not just because libertarians are doing more work. Of course, huge shouts to the Mises Caucus and the work that they've done over the last 5, going on 6 years, to right the ship."
But the outspoken gun rights advocate says there's more to it than that. He said the Libertarian Party still has a long way to go to repair an image that has long failed on many levels to connect with the black community.
"When people, even including myself, were like 'man, fuck these dweebs in charge. I'm not fucking with that.' I was falling victim to that 'I'm a libertarian, but I don't fuck with the party' mentality."
He credits the Mises Caucus community, led by its founder, Michael Heise, with holding the line and doing the work from within the party rather than abandoning the party altogether. "That staying power to say 'nah we're gonna fucking course correct.' That's impactful."
So why IS libertarianism surging in urban areas? The current administration seems to be putting its foot on the gas and driving the statist agenda at record speeds towards the cliff.
The Culpability of the State on Full Display
"Their high level of fuck-ups on every level: economically, socially, politically…even Psaki had to step down. And she's bullshitter number 1," he laughs as he recalls the press secretary's penchant for pretense and pageantry.
He continued to paint the picture that they seem to not even be hiding behind the curtain anymore.
"A few days ago, President Biden gave a speech. Every picture from that speech, it looked like the fucking chancellor from V for Vendetta. When I saw those images, I immediately assumed they were Photoshopped."
Claim: Biden looked like the chancellor from V for Vendetta. Fact Check: True
When it comes to the rank and file, current and former Republicans and Democrats are looking for alternatives.
"There's an explosion of interest in libertarianism in the hood because people are asking 'what the fuck can I do?" And to hear him tell it, they seem to be asking this question not rhetorically, but with a real determination to find an answer.
Hip-Hop and Freedom
What is it about urban and hip-hop culture, though, that seems to make it the perfect fit for libertarianism?
There's perhaps no demographic against whom the state is more perniciously and consistently weaponized. Whether it's the war on drugs, over policing, redlining, gentrification, or the barriers to entrepreneurship via taxation, licensing, fees, and zoning restrictions that seem to be cranked up to maximum intensity in urban areas.
Hip-hop has always been (and continues to be) surgical at identifying these obstacles and providing the blueprint for overcoming them. Look at what grows from that spirit of perseverance and imagine what the hood could produce if it were allowed to create and produce freely.
Jay-Z recently discussed this in a highly circulated Twitter Space.
Credit to our friend and mentor Sonnie Johnson for consistently trumpeting this message:
HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT… HOW MANY WAYS… https://t.co/GPlnlKQ7OR
— Sonnie Johnson (@SonnieJohnson) September 1, 2022
And the kingpin of Roc-A-Fella Records took his shots at the state in this week's release with DJ Khaled:
It's not that the left has been offering great options to solve these problems, it's more that they are often the only ones offering any options at all, even if those options tend to perpetuate or even exacerbate the problems.
So how do you present the option and appeal to this obvious and unfulfilled need for representation?
The 2019 Philadelphia city council at large candidate described his experience: "If you live in a blue city like Philadelphia, you know the Republicans aren't doing anything."
So people are more open now than ever to exploring libertarians as legitimate alternatives when they recognize that the Democrats are only offering more of the same in maybe different messaging packages.
"Last election that I was a part of in Philadelphia, they were using those Soros boxes. That was the last election they were allowed to use those boxes in Pennsylvania elections."
So what's the significance of the type of voting machines used?
"I was getting phone calls all day from people saying 'Bro, I don't see you on the ballot' or 'they're telling me I have to vote Democrat all the way down my ballot.' They were being told this by the person in the polling station! So I know the numbers were skewed."
Staying True to Principles
"But that's why I ran as a libertarian. To put that in the zeitgeist."
But Maj seemed to see it as a personal challenge to hold true to his philosophy and not give in to the temptation to join one of the two major parties just for clout.
"And also, principally, could I have run as a Democrat and gotten more traction? Absolutely." In all the time I've known him, he has never seemed like the "go along to get along" type.
"You know you talk about Jay Z," he continued. "Jay Z got denied by every record label. 'You're never gonna be a star. You're not gonna make it.' He just was smart enough to keep going and was just like 'you know let's just do our own thing.' The Libertarian Party is that. You know, the Republican Party was a third party at one point. And that's why I have to speak this message to this demographic."
I know what you're thinking. "That's great and that's a cute story and it would be great if the libertarian message could have the success that Jay Z and hip-hop have had at large, but it's not that easy."
Bold Messaging
But Maj's experience on the ground tells a different story. When he is able to connect with people and share the message, "when they get ahold of it, they're like 'oh fuck that, I'm never fucking with either of the other 2 (parties) ever again…that's stupid!'"
Recently, the national Libertarian Party social media has been receiving criticism from the usual suspects. But Maj sees it as effective in reaching a broad demo of people "FED" up. "The fact that the national party's Twitter is saying 'We need to abolish the ATF. We need to abolish the IRS.' Every fucking body in the hood agrees with that."
So could it be as simple as just moving to bolder messaging? It's gonna take more than that, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
A fairly bold messenger himself, Maj explained, "there need to be people…like a Jay-Z or like an Allen Iverson, who say 'this is who I am. This is where I'm from. This is what I do. This is how I look. This is how I dress. This is how I talk. And we're gonna talk about this liberty shit. And we're not gonna sugarcoat a motherfucking thing.' And people are going to resonate with that."
We've already seen it. It's part of the reason Trump was so effective especially at appealing to black men. Love him for hate him, he spent decades being the figurehead of hip-hop aspirations of entrepreneurship.
"Say what you want about Trump, but the reason he has the appeal that he has is because he's like 'Yo fuck that, I'm doing what I'm doing.'"
People who truly believe in and want to advocate for freedom should take a similar approach according to Maj. Because the people receiving the message are sick and tired of being fed focus-grouped messaging that sounds like a script read by a telemarketer. We want someone to speak directly and tell the naked truth.
"That IS hip hop. That IS masculinity. That IS leadership."
"America wants leaders that have balls. It's every underdog story."
Putting in the Work
Maj has been working tirelessly for the better part of a decade building Black Guns Matter and his new Solutionary Center in Philadelphia. He sees firsthand the response that those efforts get in the community.
ALL of our basic classes are FREE TO ALL.
That INCLUDES range time.
We are able to bring more and more people into the second amendment community because of these classes and that doesn't happen without YOUR SUPPORT. (Cont. in thread) pic.twitter.com/edUeX36CeO
He has created and built these projects without any concern for the order prescribed by the establishment. In fact, he has done this in the face of opposition from the established order.
His focus is on liberty, individual rights, and coming together voluntarily to work toward common goals without any forced collectivism and regardless of what the establishment trend may be.
If anything, he is hoping to create trends through his leadership, work ethic, and collaboration with other liberty-minded movers and shakers:
"In the next few months, Angela Stanton King, Ian Smith, and Major Williams will be open Libertarians."
In the next few months, Angela Stanton King, Major Williams and Ian Smith Will all be open libertarians.
Not to mention the new #BLM movement.
No, not THAT BLM, but the #BlackLibertarianMovement. https://t.co/RX96QxR5kN
"They're really (already) libertarian. They just needed someone to say 'this is what it is.' The GOP is stale. As long as they can sell tickets to CPAC, they're going after the Mar-a-Lago crowd. Cool, get your money. I ain't tripping. But that's not gonna advance our cause."
The Republican Party has become a lukewarm, "Law and Order" flavor of progressivism that only poses as an alternative to far left authoritarianism. To paraphrase Michael Malice, the GOP has just been a party of progressives driving the speed limit. "With a heavy dose of statism," Maj made sure to remind me.
Thick Skin
As bold alternatives go, it's tough to outdo the Black Guns Matter founder. "What the fuck are you gonna do to me? What y'all gonna do to me? I do what the fuck I wanna do."
Maj sees himself as somewhat of the tip of the spear for the urban libertarian explosion.
"Now you'll have the more polished guys. There's guys like Justin Amash, who is a legit Libertarian, but he's also polished because he knows how DC works. But he's not gonna be afraid to say the ATF should be abolished. So we ARE the big tent."
With the decades of attempts by the state to stifle urban entrepreneurship, development, and just overall freedom, the soil is very fertile if the right seeds are planted. But there are a few very easy issues that would galvanize substantial support very quickly.
"Over policing of communities. Leave us the fuck alone, bro. Police should be like the fire department. If we don't call you, we don't need you."
"That control and patrol shit? No. No thank you. Because that control and patrol shit is really road pirate shit."
And anyone who has been pulled over for going 5 miles an hour over the speed limit or for an expired inspection sticker or no seatbelt knows that this is an issue that transcends race. But it seems to find its way into some of the worst outcomes in urban areas.
Over Policing: A Different Approach
"Police should not be driving around or parked somewhere," he describes the situation as though the cops are driving around hunting for crime to prevent, so they naturally spend most of their time harassing peaceful people because there's just not that much crime happening out in plain sight of patrol cars and on highways. "Yet, somehow, even with your cars floating around, the average response time is still 11 minutes?"
Maj then went on to describe a fire that he witnessed in North Philly last week where, from the time he noticed the fire until the fire was completely extinguished was under 10 minutes.
"Someone called them. They weren't riding around in the fire truck wasting gas saying 'where the fuckin' fires at?'"
He pointed out the hypocrisy that is on full display when people in urban communities are told to "pick themselves up by the bootstraps" and not rely on government for help but then, they are told by the same conservative politicians and talking heads that their communities need to be heavily policed.
"No we don't. No we fucking don't. We wanna smoke what we smoke. We want to sell what we sell. Leave us the fuck alone. Let it be Amsterdam…Stop over policing. Fall back."
One way to facilitate a drastic reduction in over policing, he told me, is to "highlight the decriminalization of all substances. Not because the hood is so hooked on drugs. It just ties into the overpolicing."
So how are libertarian ideas best introduced to that underserved urban community?
"If the Libertarians have handsome, young, dreadlocked, aggressive shooters such as myself spreading that message, then we win. And as we have more people echoing those sentiments, we win," he assures me, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
But something tells me he's not wrong.
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text:
My 2017 in Board Games
Hoo boy, what a year, huh? It's been… well, let's just say that I am literally forcing myself to stop this train of thought because if I don't, there's a good chance I'll get overwhelmed with despair and paralyzed by the anxiety of figuring out what to say and whoops it'll be another year of unintended blog hibernation.
So instead, let's talk about board games!
2017 was not the year I started playing hobby board games in earnest. That title belongs to 2016[1]. This year, however, board games took on a new significance in my life. I've long loved the power of games to bring people together and forge tangible analog experiences, but this year, that seemed more than idealistic–it seemed necessary. Every time this year that I spread the contents of a game box across a table, it felt like an intentional act of self-care. Games fortified my relationships at a time when it felt like the world was fracturing. When my stomach was a leaden pit, games made me laugh and gave me levity. When my tank was empty and I felt downtrodden and alone, games brought me to the people I love and reminded me what mattered.
I also began the year with a specific board game-related goal: what the board gaming community calls a "10×10". Between January 1st and December 31st, I decided, I would play 10 board games at least 10 times each. With an ever-growing library of games, I expected this 10×10 would allow me to familiarize myself with a number of games, but also force me not to pigeonhole myself into a small handful of familiar boxes.
It seems appropriate, then, to look back on this year through the lens of games. In no particular order, here are some of the games that stick out to me from my last year of playing.
The "Old Trusty" Award for a Reliable Standby
Photo by Gary James (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The winner: Ticket to Ride
You know what's a good game for introducing to your family on graduation weekend? Ticket to Ride. You know what's a good game to play with your partner after a long day of work? Ticket to Ride. You know what's a good game for game-night parties? Ticket to Ride.
Ticket to Ride earned its place on our shelf this year by being a cozy, consistently enjoyable game of set collection and route-building. It doesn't offer the strategic depth of some other games on this list, but it makes up for it by being a breeze to teach and a reliably fun game to play. I maintain that Ticket to Ride is a particularly great "gateway" game for players new to the hobby because even when you lose, you get a satisfying sense of accomplishment, looking at the rail network you made. Plus, as we discovered when this year when we bought the India/Switzerland expansion, there is enough flexibility in the mechanics to allow for a wide array of new gameplay experiences just by changing maps or tweaking the base rules just a hair.
It's rarely at the top of my list, but Ticket to Ride is good enough that I'll almost never turn it down, straightforward enough to share with people new to the hobby, and strategic enough to satisfy. That's a heck of a hat trick.
The "Nervous Grad Student" Award for a Gateway Game You Can Teach While Waiting to Take Your Orals
The winner: Coup
The counseling department at Gonzaga had a tradition: on the day of our oral exams, we all waited as a group in the student lounge, celebrating as each graduate emerged victorious and wishing good luck to whoever came next. Nobody was alone. Until the last oral of the day, we made sure there was somebody around to send them off and congratulate them when they were done.
That also meant, however, that the day involved a lot of waiting around. Anticipating this, I brought a bag of board games to share with my classmates. I had Spot It! and Forbidden Island, and maybe Red7 too, but the runaway hit was Coup. With the spring sunshine streaming through the windows and the prospect of a post-graduate life just hours away, our group of future counselors sat together and lied ruthlessly to each other's faces.
Whenever I introduce hobby board games to people who haven't played before, an element of self-conscious worry creeps into my mind. As much as I love my games, I have to recognize that "board games" still conjures images of interminable Monopoly nights or the rudimentary simplicity of Sorry! for most people. It's a certain kind of boxed fun associated with picture-perfect Norman Rockwell families sitting around a kitchen table. Though I'm a board game geek through-and-through, I temper my enthusiasm about my hobby with new players. Don't want to scare them off.
You can imagine my surprise and joy, then, when I wasn't the one asking, "Go again?" after each came of Coup–it was my peers. A light small-box game of deceit and cunning was the perfect thing to keep us occupied and enjoying each other's company in our last hours as grad students.
The "Best $10 I Ever Spent" Award for Punching Above Its Weight Class
Photo by Kelchior/Eric (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
The winner: Mint Works
I'm a fiend for games that punch above their weight class. Sushi Go!, for instance, is a card-drafting game that comes in a tin smaller than a bargain romance novel and is at least twice as engaging. Star Realms is about the size of a 48-piece box of Crayola crayons, and is a gripping two-player game of fleet-building in space. Both of these games offer gameplay much larger than their packaging and price tags.
This year, after an improbably well-run Kickstarter campaign that delivered months early, a new contender took the title for best gameplay-to-size ratio: Mint Works. It's a game of managing resources and assembling disparate components into an engine that drives you toward victory. And it fits in a mint tin.
Mint Works quickly became one of my go-to games to throw in a bag for a night out. It's physically unimposing and easy to teach, but the 15-minute gameplay is rife with strategic choices. Do you set your sights on economic cards that are worth fewer points, but set you up for a strong late-game? Or do you go straight for the points and hope you can race to a win before your opponents? Each turn, there's only so many actions available on a shared action board, so you have to prioritize and hope that the other players don't block you out. And when you're done, you can shuffle it up, swap out some cards, and play again for a different experience.
Mint Works is an essential distillation of the worker-placement family of games, worth far more in anyone's collection than the pocket change it costs.
The "Golden Bootstraps" Award for Gameplay that Forced Me to Improve
The winner: Brew Crafters
Mint Works introduced me to worker-placement games this year, a family of games where players jostle for available actions. Lots of games present players with options like a respectful family dinner: on your turn, you can take whatever actions you'd like, and when the turn passes, the next player does the same. The options in worker-placement games are more akin to dining with a group of jealous dragons. The first one takes the whole turkey, so you steal the mashed potatoes, only to watch the bowl of green beans snatched from the table and devoured. Whatever you don't choose, you risk being shut out from until the next turn, so you have to plan wisely. Mint Works showed me how fun this mechanic could be, so it wasn't long before we slaked our thirst with a much bigger worker-placement game: Brew Crafters.
In Brew Crafters, the goal is to build the best brewery over twelve seasons. Players start each season by taking actions at the market–a classic worker-placement phase where buying hops from one vendor clears out their stock and prevents anyone else from using that space this turn. Once everyone has taken two actions at the market, they then retreat to their breweries, where they can research, brew beer, or purchase equipment. Befitting a bunch of startup microbreweries, everyone starts modestly in Brew Crafters, and each decision gives an incremental advantage, shifting a player toward one play style or another.
Brew Crafters requires long-term strategic thinking and short-term tactical flexibility–but most of all, it requires careful awareness of your path to victory. As I quickly learned, it's not a game you can win just by playing what feels good. I was so used to games that buttered over skill differences with smooth, comforting chance that this utter lack of randomness jolted me. If I was going to win, it had to be on my merits. By returning the responsibility for my victory or loss to me and me alone, Brew Crafters forced me to play better. The eventual victory was all the sweeter for it.
The "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" Award for Cross-Format Adaptations That Still Work Really Well
The winner: Brew Crafters: The Travel Card Game
How do you take a game like Brew Crafters, which contains enough components to choke a horse, and transform it into a travel game consisting of little more than a deck of cards? I'm not exactly sure, but Brew Crafters: The Travel Card Game manages. The shift from a nonrandom worker-placement board game to a card-based set collection game admittedly introduces an element of chance not present in the larger version, but I was impressed by how this small box still captured the feeling of the bigger game. There's the same pressure to be efficient with your limited resources, the same sense of slowly building an engine, the same need for flexibility instead of rigid adherence to a strategy.
I bought Brew Crafters: The Travel Card Game a few weeks after getting its bigger brother, and honestly, I'm glad I have both. There are times when I'll want to play the big-box Brew Crafters, and there are times when I'll feel more like the travel version. Despite their naming, neither game feels derivative. That's the mark of a good adaptation, if you ask me.
The "I'm Not Mad" Award for Disappointing Games
The winner: Smash Up
Oh, Smash Up.
It comes from a good place. Like someone I love used to say, it's the captain of the "Means Well" team. Smash Up recognizes that there's something incredibly satisfying about custom-tailoring your own deck in games like Magic: the Gathering, but there's also a towering barrier to entry. Only after you've learned the rules, played dozens of games, begun to become familiar with the cards, and learned about principles of deckbuilding can you finally make the deck you've been dreaming of since starting the game. Smash Up does away with that with its "shufflebuilding" concept–don't fret about card ratios or careful synergies, just pick two factions that sound cool, shuffle them up, and play. Ninja Wizards? Knock yourself out. Robot Dinosaurs? Heck yes. Zombie Pirates? GO FOR IT.
It's a great idea, allowing the personal expression of deck construction without the hours of playtesting. The problem is that the rest of the game betrays this breezy setup. Players score points by "breaking" bases, which is simple in theory but in practice requires a constant arithmetic tally–any time a card is played on a base or affecting the minions on it, you've got to recalculate the total power of all the minions on the base and then compare it to the base's "break point." It sounds simple enough, but when you're looking at a hand of cards and making these adjustments nearly every turn, it gets exhausting. It's just damn fiddly.
And, unfortunately, it still suffers from another problem other card games have: so many cards to read and grok. For the experienced card game players, this isn't a problem. I grew up playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Magic: the Gathering, so I'm used to juggling dozens of different card effects. But for players who aren't so seasoned– again, remember who the "shufflebuilding" concept targets–so many different cards means an exponential explosion of possibilities. That's a fast track to analysis paralysis.
The few times I've played Smash Up this year, it's been in a casual setting, and the fiddliness has made it a far cry from the easy, zany fun the cover and core mechanic suggest. For Smash Up to deliver on the breezy gameplay promised by its "shufflebuilding" concept, the base game would need something to alleviate the burden of constantly counting power on bases, and the cards would need to be simpler. Save complexity for expansions. There may be a good game behind Smash Up, but it's not the game it promises on the box.
The "Robe and Wizard Hat" Award for Role-Playing Games
The Winner: Ten Candles
This year, after reading a glowing review on Shut Up and Sit Down, I bought my first tabletop role-playing game: Ten Candles, a survival horror game played in the dwindling light of tea lights. Despite my bona fide nerd background, I've never played a role-playing game, but the tone and central mechanic of Ten Candles were so intriguing to me that I felt compelled to try it out.
We played three times this year, and by far and away, my favorite session took place in an airport-turned-survival camp. I was the game master, in charge of leading the narrative, and I had my players on the edges of their seats as they encountered suspicious packages, dark tunnels, and the groaning forms of abandoned airplanes. Playing Ten Candles made me feel inspired, not only by my creativity and the prompts provided in the sourcebook, but also by the ingenuity and storytelling chops of my friends.
Ten Candles turned me on to role-playing games, and I'm already plotting what sort of new role-playing adventures I want to host in 2018.
The "Too Close to Home" Award for Politically Relevant Games I Didn't Play Enough Of, Probably Out of Some Sort of Self-Preservation Instinct
The winner: The Resistance
We're a small cell of resistance fighters lashing out against a dystopian government. Some of our number are spies, however, secretly loyal to the tyrannical regime. Can we see through the deception and successfully fight the power–or will the loyalists in our midst sabotage our efforts and crush our hopes beneath their boots?
Not knowing who you can trust? Finding out that people you knew were much less worthy of your faith than you thought? Organizing your allies and fighting to beat back the arms of a corrupt regime? The Resistance is a great game, and part of me wishes I'd played more this year, but like a champagne flute shattering when exposed to harmonic tones, I was worried that spending too much time on this one might not have the same restorative effect as other games.
Runner-up: Secret Hitler
It's very similar to The Resistance, but explicitly about fascism. Hoo boy was I not ready for that this year.
My Game of 2017
The winner: Android: Netrunner
I have spent most of this year trying to write a blog post about this game. Although I bought it back in 2015, it wasn't until this year that I brought it to the table. Now that I have, I am completely hooked.
Android: Netrunner is a two-player cyberpunk card game. It's asymmetric, so while one player is a dastardly megacorporation trying to advance their aims in secrecy, the other player is a hacker trying to blitz past their defenses and expose their plans. It's got the bluffing of high-stakes poker[2] combined with the custom deck construction of Magic: the Gathering, but the gameplay is so rich that comparisons like that are beyond inadequate.
I started the year knowing next to nothing about the game. The learning curve is steep, so for weeks, playing Netrunner mostly meant staring blankly at the cards in my hand, the processor in my brain running hot. Play by play, however, I got better. Like Neo jacking into the Matrix, I felt the physical cards fall away, exposing the glowing lines of possibility that traced throughout the game. Netrunner is a beautifully written system that captures the cat-and-mouse feel of a battle between an anonymous hacker and an opaque megacorp, and the deeper I got into the game, the more I marveled at its painfully elegant design.
There's just so much to love. The way that Netrunner turns the corporation's hand, deck, and discard pile, zones that are typically safe from opponents' interference in other card games, into live and strategically crucial parts of play. The way that at its heart, Netrunner is actually a game of economy, with each side using money in different–but equally important—ways. The way that the lack of universal best options means that each player often has to make painful compromises during a game. The distribution model, which eschews the randomized booster pack model in favor of consistent, predetermined packs of cards. The inevitable arc each game of Netrunner takes, thanks to rules which shape dramatic showdowns.
I logged 201 board game plays in 2017, and 34 of them were Android: Netrunner, nearly twice the plays of the runner-up. I fully anticipate playing it just as much next year. Android: Netrunner is one hell of a game, and the joy of diving into it made my year great.
Board games gave me warmth this year, in a time when so much felt cold and fractured. I'm looking forward to 2018, in no small part because I can't wait to see what memories I can make playing games with the people I love.
The new WordPress Gutenberg editor does not currently support footnotes. This is silly, but here we are. Here are my footnotes from this post, preserved awkwardly until I can reintegrate them more elegantly:
[1] To be clear, I've been playing dorky board games for a long time, thanks to parents who enthusiastically brought games like Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot and DICEcapades to our kitchen table, but 2016 was really when I came into my own and started building a modern hobby game library.
[2] So I've heard, anyway. I've still never played poker, and the few times I've seen it played, it's struck me as more arcane than even the most complicated game on my shelves.
Successful Field Test: NISEI's Strengths


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Monaster Narodzenia św. Jana Chrzciciela – prawosławny żeński klasztor w Leuszynie nad Iłosem i Szeksną, istniejący w latach 1875–1931. W latach 1941–1946 miejsce, na którym się znajdował, zostało zalane w czasie tworzenia sztucznego Zbiornika Rybińskiego.

Historia

Powstanie wspólnoty
Wspólnota monastyczna w Leuszynie została założona w 1875 przez mniszkę Sergię z monasteru Mądrości Bożej w Rybińsku. Wezwanie klasztoru odnosiło się do cerkwi położonej w Leuszynie. Wewnętrzne spory we wspólnocie sprawiły, że w pierwszych latach jej funkcjonowania trzykrotnie zmieniała się jej przełożona. Ostatecznie metropolita petersburski Izydor skierował do Leuszyna mniszkę Taisę z monasteru Ikony Matki Bożej "Znak" w Zwance. Również ona, zniechęcona atmosferą panującą w klasztorze, planowała go opuścić. Jak jednak później wspominała, postanowiła w nim pozostać po tym, gdy objawiła się jej Matka Boża. W 1885 wspólnota została oficjalnie przekształcona w żeński monaster, a mniszka Taisa otrzymała godność ihumeni.

Funkcjonowanie monasteru w Rosji carskiej
Natychmiast po otwarciu monasteru rozpoczęto na jego terenie budowę soboru Pochwały Matki Bożej, wzorowanego na soborze Zaśnięcia Matki Bożej w ławrze Peczerskiej. Sobór zaprojektował Michaił Szczurupow, budowa obiektu trwała od 1887 do 1891.

Na przełomie XIX i XX wieku był to jeden z największych żeńskich klasztorów Rosyjskiego Kościoła Prawosławnego, o znaczeniu porównywanym z monasterem w Szamordinie i w Diwiejewie. Jego przełożona, ihumenia Taisa, określana była jako ihumenia całej Rusi. Dzięki jej działalności mniszki z Leuszyna stanęły następnie na czele kolejnych żeńskich klasztorów: Terapontowskiego, pustelni nad Jeziorem Czarnym, św. Jana Rylskiego w Petersburgu, św. Jana Teologa w Surze, w Woroncowie oraz w Parfienowie. W monasterze funkcjonował zwyczaj nieustającego odczytywania akafistu do Matki Bożej przed czczoną w nim ikoną, w specjalnie zbudowanej na ten cel kaplicy (otwartej w 1905 i poświęconej w 1906 przez Jana Kronsztadzkiego), gdzie gromadzono wszystkie czczone przez Cerkiew wizerunki maryjne. Zwyczaj ten nie był znany w żadnym innym monasterze rosyjskim. W 1917 w monasterze przebywało blisko 700 mniszek i posłusznic. Łączyły one zachowywanie surowej reguły modlitewnej z obowiązkiem pracy społecznej w prowadzonych przez monaster instytucjach: szkołach, przytułku, szpitalu lub w pracowniach wytwarzających wyposażenie świątyń. Monaster zaliczany był do klasztorów I klasy (status ten otrzymał w 1903). W 1915 zmarła ihumenia Taisa, którą zastąpiła wskazana przez siostry uczennica duchowa – mniszka Agnia.

Zamknięcie i zniszczenie monasteru
Po rewolucji październikowej monaster został przekształcony w rolniczą spółdzielnię pracy, co przez kilka lat zapewniło mu przetrwanie. Przy wspólnocie nadal działał szpital i przytułek, mniszki rozpoczęły także wznoszenie stacji elektrycznej i młyna parowego, praca spółdzielni była wysoko oceniania. Ostatecznie jednak została ona przekształcona w sowchoz, a mniszki musiały go opuścić. Klasztor funkcjonował do 1931, kiedy został zamknięty przez władze radzieckie. Według innego źródła zakonnice musiały opuścić Leuszyno już w 1924.

W latach 1941–1946 monaster został ostatecznie zniszczony – zatopiony wodami tworzonego sztucznego Zbiornika Rybińskiego.

W 2002, w momencie, gdy poziom wód w Zbiorniku Rybińskim poważnie się obniżył, arcybiskup wołogodzki i wielkoustiuski Maksymilian odprawił molebień na miejscu zniszczonego klasztoru. Od 1999 w nocy z 6 na 7 lipca we wsi Miaksa nad brzegiem zbiornika odbywa się modlitewne czuwanie upamiętniające monaster. Uroczystości te organizowane są jednak bez błogosławieństwa ordynariusza eparchii wołogodzkiej, na terenie której położony jest teren dawnego monasteru i są krytykowane przez jej przedstawicieli za niekanoniczny przebieg.

Monaster posiadał od 1894 placówkę filialną w Petersburgu. Działała ona do 1932. W 2000 cerkiew na terenie placówki została zwrócona wiernym.

Przypisy

Nieczynne klasztory prawosławne w Rosji
Klasztory prawosławne w obwodzie jarosławskim

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


My Secap 30K will start up and print, then suddenly, the transport speeds up, it misses a few pieces, then I get a transport stall. Sometimes it will feed a few, not print at all, and stall. I have cleaned the feeder and printer paper sensors. If I move the belts by hand, it feels nice and smooth. When it is running the motor feels strong. What else should I look for?
cleaning it all out taking care with the wires and the disk on the back of the motor. The disk and sensor on the back of the motor are most likely the cause of your problems. Carefully take some compressed air safe for electronic sensors and clean it off the best you can.
Below is a photo of a new Pitney Bowes – Secap SA5300's transport assembly removed from the base. As you can see they now have a sealed encoder on the back of the motor, not the original, exposed, disk and sensor, but hopefully it helps you understand what we are referring to.
Need ink? Check out SFM 42 and read the reviews to find out why so many have switched from C8842A. The fact that it sells for under $18 is just the beginning!


text:
Improving Educaton Through Lean Mass Customization
18 July 2011 by Kevin Meyer
By Kevin Meyer
Today's one of those days when a question poised by one Wall Street Journal article is answered by another. First we have the news that the Obama administration is asking for help from business to improve schools. Yes, really.
President Barack Obama will meet with some of the nation's top CEOs Monday to prod them to invest more heavily in education initiatives, especially those he champions, such as high-quality teaching and early childhood programs.
"We have laid out a comprehensive agenda that provides a clear road map where people need to go," she [Melody Barnes, the White House's Domestic Policy Chair] said. "But the federal government has a relatively small footprint in terms of resources and the business sector has immense resources and expertise, so we are trying to leverage that."
I'll let you digest that for a minute. The fringe "all business is evil" crowd must be quivering about hope and change. Some of them are speaking:
Jay P. Greene, who heads the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas and has written about education philanthropy, said private money has little lasting influence because public education needs major overhauls, not tinkering at the edges. "It's like pouring buckets into the sea," Mr. Greene said. "The only way to make change with private money is to dig a new canal, build dams, reshape the public school system."
Ok.. Mr. Greene is right. A major revamp is necessary as the current focus on educating to the lowest common denominator isn't working. Enter the second article from today's WSJ on how the internet will reduce teachers union power.
Now my point isn't about the unions – don't get me started on that subject – but on how business-driven technology is reshaping eduction. Perhaps our best hope to fix this sinkhole.
Over the long haul, however, the unions are in grave trouble—for reasons that have little to do with the tribulations of this year.
The first is that they are losing their grip on the Democratic base. With many urban schools abysmally bad and staying that way, advocates for the disadvantaged are demanding real reform and aren't afraid to criticize unions for obstructing it.
Then there's a crucial dynamic outside of politics: the revolution in information technology. This tsunami is only now beginning to swell, and it will hit the American education system with full force over the next few decades. The teachers unions are trying to stop it, but it is much bigger than they are.
What is the IT revolution?
Online learning now allows schools to customize coursework to each child, with all kids working at their own pace, receiving instant remedial help, exploring a vast array of courses, and much more. The advantages are huge. Already some 39 states have set up virtual schools or learning initiatives that enroll students statewide, often providing advanced placement courses, remedial courses, and other offerings that students can't get in their local schools.
The national model is the Florida Virtual School, which offers a full academic curriculum, has more than 220,000 course enrollments per year, and is a beacon of innovation. Outside of government, tech entrepreneurs like K12 and Connections Academy are swarming all over the education sector. They are the innovative force behind the rise of virtual charters, which now operate in 27 states, enroll some 200,000 full-time students (who typically do their studying at home), and stand at the cutting edge of technology's advance.
So instead of dumbing down education in order to accommodate the lowest common denominator, mass customization can match curricula, learning velocity, and learning methods to each individual student.
Lean education? One piece flow of knowledge delivery? A kanban of matching knowledge delivery to knowledge consumption?
It's not all online – the model is morphing into a hybrid.
Most American parents want their kids to actually go to school—to a physical place. So the favored virtual schools of the future will be hybrids of traditional and online learning. There are already impressive examples.
At the high-performing Rocketship schools in San Jose, Calif., for example, students take a portion of their academics online—generating $500,000 in savings per school annually. Schools use that money for higher teacher salaries and one-on-one tutoring.
You can read the article to learn how this impacts the unions since that wasn't my point.
As an aside, this is exactly why Gemba Academy has been so successful at delivering online lean learning to over 1,000 companies. The ability for large-scale mass customization of high quality curricula based on the circumstances of individual organizations and deliver it on demand.
Jim Fernandez says
Great post Kevin !!
Hey your correct, I just learned something valuable reading your blog post on the internet……
"We have laid out a comprehensive agenda that provides a clear road map where people need to go"
What on earth have the assorted education "experts"…in Washington and in the Ed Schools…actually **accomplished** that would give us any reason to care where they believe we need to go?
Hear hear,
It's easy to hate IT when all you see is the appalling monstrosity that is SAP, Oracle Microsoft etc, but when IT is subservient to people and process then it can be the catylyst for real transformation.
The part that stopped me in my tracks to re-read, then re-read was "Melody Barnes, the White House's Domestic Policy Chair] said. 'But the federal government has a relatively small footprint in terms of resources….' "
The US Department of Education has an annual spend of 71 billion – almost double from the Bush days of $39 billion. That amunts to close to $1,600 for every school kid in America.
What, exactly, are we getting for that hefty footprint stomping on young minds every year?
@crichardson You have several big books to go, and every one of them is worth the read.about 41 minutes ago
@anniemurphypaul Interesting. For me it's the smells and feel of the sea breeze, watching dolphins play, the changi… https://t.co/LRlyKgo79Aabout 1 days ago


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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The American Law Register, Volume 3
wider range, and his Series will embrace all important cases of probate law which may be decided in the various courts of the state.
A large portion of this volume is occupied with the case of Delafield vs. Parish, otherwise known as the Parish Will Case, in which the question of testamentary capacity was elaborately argued both by the bar and the bench. Mr. Redfield has wisely given the profession a summary of the able and exhaustive arguments of counsel. There is a complete view of the case, both before the Surrogate and the Court of Appeals. This case alone will amply repay the profession for the purchase of the book. There is a somewhat singular difference of opinion between Mr. Smith, the regular Reporter of the Court of Appeals, and Mr. Redfield. Mr. Smith (11 Smith, p. 66) states that the court did not intend to overrule the celebrated case of Stewart vs. Lispenard, 26 Wendell, 255, while Mr. Redfield maintains that a majority of the court did, in effect, overrule that decision, (201, note.)
There are other cases of interest and value, which we have not space to notice, except simply to allude to an interesting one, involving the validity of a gift causâ mortis, decided by Acting Surrogate Daly.
Mr. Redfield's part of the work is uncommonly well done. He has introduced a feature which we hope will become common, that of giving a table of cases cited as well as of those reported. Though such a list adds to the labors of the reporter, it is of great service to the profession.
T. W. D.
COMMENTARIES ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ; of Separations without
Divorce; and of the Evidence of Marriage in all issues; embracing also, Plead. ings, Practices, and Evidence, in Divorce Cases; with Forms. By JOEL PRENTiss Bishop, author of " Commentaries on the Criminal Law." Fourth edi. tion ; 2 volumes. Boston: LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY. 1864.
The author of this standard work, which has acquired high and deserved reputation for learning and accuracy, upon both sides of the Atlantic, has now recast it, and after making large additions presented it, in two volumes. In the new arrangement portions of the work
to have been considerably transposed, but we are furnished with a parallel table of references, so as to save all embarrassment in finding references to either of the former editions, in the present one.
The work has been so long and so favorably known, that we should not feel justified in occupying more space than to assure the profession that the additional matter is wisely selected, and judiciously ordered, and that none of those, whose practice falls within the range of these volumes, cau afford to be without them.
I. F. R.
AMERICAN LAW REGISTER.
AUGUST, 1864.
LEGAL REFORM.
There are those, we regret to say, eminent in the profession, who deem it their duty to oppose, ab initio, all effort at change, in form or substance—for better or for worse;"—men more blind than justice, and whose only maxim is " Stare decisis ;"—men educated and disciplined in one stage or condition of society, who forget that our social condition is constantly changing, and that adaptation to that social condition is the only true test of justice. It is manifest that the principles, which these adopt, would, if fully developed, inevitably tend to bind us to the darker
of the past,—to fetter that freedom in progress and civilization (of which the law should rather be the safeguard and promoter), and thus ultimately to defeat that only legitimate end of all law—the public good.
Rut, on the other hand, law, as well as religion, has had its Luthers, its Calvins, and its Melancthons. From the days of the Spartan lawgiver to the present time, every age has produced its reformers; men of benevolent hearts and comprehensive intellects, which elevated them to a point of vision, whence they might look beyond their own narrow sphere of action, and know and appreciate the wants and condition of society. And these, though few, have numbered among their ranks the brightest stars of the Legal Constellation. Vol. XII.-37
But why should this noble work be confined to so few? Why should not the study of man and his surroundings—of human nature, as it exists, in all its phases, and the necessity of adapting the law thereto, become an essential part of every legal education ? Thus would the standard of the profession be raised. Thus might every one of its members, each in his own sphere of action, when the opportunity was offered, effect such changes as seemed necessary or proper. And thus might each in his own degree become a benefactor of his race, and perform that high duty, which he owes to society, to justice and right, whose allegiance no human being
can renounce.
Such is the reform, which we would commend. And such, too, we believe to be the only true means of effecting this important object. It cannot be accomplished at one fell swoop. It must be attained by constant and continued effort. For, while society continues to progress, and there remains implanted in the heart of man a desire to improve his condition, the reformer's work is never done.
We are no advocates of that so called spirit of reform, which can see nothing but absurdity in the great work of ancient wisdom, and which aims at nothing short of an entire abrogation of many of its long-established principles, for the purpose of substituting some untried theory: Long's Reflections, p. 4 (of preface). That is the abuse. The true spirit is contained in the language of the prince of reformers, Bacon, when he says:–«The work, which I propound, tendeth to pruning and grafting the law, and not to ploughing up and planting it again ; for such a remove I should hold indeed for a perilous innovation." To accomplish this true reform, the standard of excellence in professional ethics and education must, as above intimated, be raised. Nor is this all that is required. The discovery and regret of an evil, it is true, are the first steps towards its removal. But these alone can never effect the reformation. As has been truly said by one, who has done much for the honor of his profession (Hon. D. D. Field): " The regret that this noble profession of ours, which can accomplish results so beneficial, which numbers among its members so many of the wise and good of all ages, now falls below its ideal standard, is not enough." "It is wiser and manlier to retrieve than to regret." The retrieving spirit must be adopted. Men must devote some attention to ascertaining what the law should be, as well as what it is, and has been; and when the opportunity offers, there must be action. But here we reach the most difficult and hazardous stage of all reformation. For Johnson has reminded us, "the hand which cannot build a hovel, may pull down a temple." Provide the remedy, ere you lay hands upon the seeming imperfection. If this be done, all danger will be removed. And it is only by constantly calling attention to the subject of reform, and encouraging its investigation, until it has become familiar to all, that we can ever hope to accomplish this happy result, and guard against dangerous innovation. The good of society is best promoted by stimulating the individuals, of which it is composed, to the exertion of all their talent and industry in its behalf, by that great motive power—the hope of benefiting those, who are near and dear to them. This is the way to serve your country, and to make her great, flourishing, and respected ; " the happy effect of following nature, which is wisdom without reflection, and above it."
The members of the profession, then, must, as a body, take upon them the office and duties of the Sexviri of Athens, who, as Lord Bacon, citing Æschines, observes, "were standing commissioners, who did watch to discern what laws waxed improper for the times, and what new law did in any branch cross a former law; and so ex officio propounded their repeal:" Bacon's Law Tracts, p. 19, (2d ed).
If this high stand be taken, and the fruitful seed of reform be sown in the heart of the profession, it needs no prophet to foretell the prosperous growth of that seed; and we need ask for no more lenient judges of its fruitfulness, than time and experience. How noble will be the work! How rich to every true American heart, the reward! And here, we cannot refrain from expressing the hope-nay, more—the belief, that the true spirit of reform is fast gaining ground in this country, and the hour near at hand, when it will bring to maturity its richest fruits. Then will our laws be
transmitted to posterity pruned and grafted, and the true ends of justice be subserved.
All legal reform may, as to the mode in which it is effected, be embraced under three heads, viz.,—that effected—1st. By Direct Legislation, in abrogation or derogation of existing law. 2d. By Accretion. And 3d. By Desuetude.
The influence of the first is felt only by particular laws, or rules of law, and is limited to the letter of the repealing statute. The influence of the second is more general in its nature, and is felt by distinct branches of the law; as the addition of matter to one portion of a material object changes the centre of gravity of the entire mass; or, as the application of a distant impetus, to motion already compound, alters the direction of that motion.
The influence of the third is felt in each of the above modes, and, though negative in its nature, it is continually at work, and as years roll by, effects changes as salutary and as great as any that may be accomplished by positive enactment.
But the last needs not the helping hand of man, to aid it in its workings. It can itself only be effected by those great changes in society, which are constantly taking place, and which, in time, render past laws, by their utter non-adaptation to man's wants and condition, to all intents and purposes null and void. It is in the first and second that the broad field of usefulness lies open to the profession; and in them alone, can professional talent, industry, and discretion be exerted to advantage. By the study, systemization, and development of these two methods, in all their numerous subdivisions, it is believed, each individual may find his own appropriate field of labor, and all work together, as one man, for the common good.
And multiform, indeed, are the workings of those systems. Every reversing decision by our courts is, in one sense, a reform. Nay, every decision, which is not simply an affirmation of a previous one, is a reform under the second method. This second method is open to all, and is peculiarly adapted to our system of jurisprudence. Herein rests the enduring element of the common law. Its susceptibility of change, and thus, perfect adaptation to all


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Defilement - A Silent National Canker
Even though Defilement is a criminal offence that attracts a minimum sentence of seven and a maximum of 25 years in Ghana's Criminal Law and the Domestic Violence Act, 2007, some callous men still engage in the practice without remorse.
Young girls, who are the future leaders expected to contribute to national development are being cruelly bruised, broken physically and emotionally and sometimes killed by men in society who should rather protect them.
Various reportage on the issue, reveal a deafening trend of the canker, with toddlers as young as two years, being defiled by men of all ages on daily basis.
In most cases, the girls are defiled by family members, and trusted men in the society and its debilitating effects later in the lives on the victims could be mistrust, loss of self-worth and fear while some may even engage in child prostitution later.
To say that defilement cases are on the rise is an understatement as a day never passes without a reported incident at the law courts. It has reached an alarming rate, leaving its victims in physical pain, emotional turmoil and psychological traumas.
In April this year, the Central Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP) Rev David Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, described as "worrying" the upsurge in defilement cases in the Region putting the figure at 273 in 2016 as against 191 in the previous year, representing a 42.9 percent increase.
According to statistics from DOVVSU last year, 5,752 children including eight boys were defiled in Ghana between 2010 and 2014 with 342 of them being perpetrated by family members.
This is just the tip of the iceberg because they represent the reported cases as the girls only admit when someone finds out.
Many victims of defilement are suffering in silence due to fear while the perpetrators, who cow them into fear and submission with threats of harm and death, walk freely with impunity waiting to pounce on their next victim.
Chilling stories of how girls as young as eight years are being defiled on daily basis by unscrupulous, indecent and shameless men unfolded when the girls are coaxed by their teachers to confide in them.
So appalling are the abuses told by the girls that, the teachers at the Girls' Basic School in Cape Coast who also double as counselors had to engage external counselors to meet the girls after they recounted their harrowing, horrendous and nightmarish experiences in turns.
First to gather the courage to break the ice after weeks of persuasions was Araba, (borrowed) who smiled sweetly as she entered the office, revealed a dark gloomy eyes behind that smile fidgeting with her book. May I confide in you, Madam, she said, and bent down her head.
After assuring her of confidentiality, 10-year-old Araba, a class three pupil, who stays with her mistress, told the counselor how her mistress' fiancé had been having oral sex with her each time she was sent to his house on errands, amidst threats of death.
She told the counselor that though she abhors the practice, particularly when the man pressed her head down to force his manhood into her mouth, a practice she said left her neck aching, she kept her secret for fear of losing her life, adding, the man sometimes inserted his finger in her vagina.
Rema, another beautiful, 12 –year- old class five pupil, said, her step-brother who was in Senior High School had been forcibly having sexual intercourse with her at the blind side of their parents.
He had also threatened her with death.
She said even though the act was painful, she had no choice because, she did not want to die.
Zeny's story was that, her landlord whose grand children were her age, took advantage of her any time her mum travels outside. She is 11 years old and in Primary four.
Others said they were defiled by their fathers' friends, uncles, cotenants, grandmother's boyfriend, blood brothers, Area Boys and male teachers.
One girl said she was defiled by the husband of her mother's friend when she was left in their care. Some of the girls shed bitter tears as they narrated their ordeals. One of them had been defiled twice by unknown men.
According to her, she was sent by her mother at night only to be pulled by a man on the footpath, who covered her face with a piece of cloth and dragged her into the bush. She regained consciousness only to see blood oozing out of her private part.
Some good Samaritans who saw her at dawn sent her to the hospital. In the second incident, an unidentified man defiled her in a public washroom.
These are just a few of the sad realities of defilement cases in many communities across the country which will leave many of the victims emotionally scarred for life if not checked.
But for the vigilance of the teachers, these barbaric acts would have remained uncovered while the academic performance of many of the girls, who were hitherto excelling, kept dwindling.
The victims pleaded that their stories should not be told because of fear, saying they would be blamed and even brutalised by their parents and guardians though others said their parents or guardians were not ready to listen when they tried to speak out.
"My mother shouts at me each time I make the attempt to tell her and would ask me to read my book or do a house chore".
This disturbing trend is a clear indication that many girls are keeping dark secretes that would eventually affect their emotional and cognitive development.
Many girls are growing into timid, fearful and shy young women whose academic performances are suffering as a result of the canker.
Another source of great concern is that, many of the victims have not reached their menarche, but are being introduced to early sex which will eventually destroy them psychologically and physiologically in future.
There have been instances where the cases in the court are so dehumanising that relatives of the victims break down and wail uncontrollably because their girls have been maimed for life.
An example was an eight year old girl whose raptured womb had to be removed through surgery to save her life after she had been brutally defiled by a 38 year old watchman.
After the incident, parents and guardians were asked to give maximum attention to their wards, develop close relationship with them and engage in conversation to help unfold the issues. Professional counselors should work on victims to help heal the scars.
Parents and guardians should desist from settling such cases at home but report to the law enforcement agencies to bring the culprits to book.
Concerted efforts must be made by stakeholders to deal with the canker. First, parents should conscientise their girls about the dangers posed by irresponsible men and report such cases for immediate action.
Parents and guardians must desist from sending their girls on errands late and unaccompanied, pay attention to their actions, frequently engage them in conversations to share their fears and dreams and be careful whom they leave their girls with.
Counseling units in schools should help in educating girls on such issues as well as help heal girls who have already fallen victim.
The law enforcement agencies should promptly prosecute defilement cases whilst maximum sentence should be encouraged to serve as deterrent.
The state must train more clinical psychologists to facilitate the healing of girls who have been traumatized by recalcitrant, shameless men.
All hands should be on deck to rid the country of irresponsible men who parade as fathers, uncles, friends, teachers, stepfathers and brothers.
His Royal Majesty-Otumfuo Osei Tutu II
Ending Procurement Fraud: The Role Of Licensing And Sanctions


"About a little girl": A William Carlos Williams Poem and Its Legacy. Michael Lund and Robert W. Hamblin. Afterwords by Suzy Williams Sinclaire and Daphne Williams Fox. Southeast Missouri State UP, 2008. 71 pp. $25.00 (paper).
The poem itself is about knowledge—specifically the physician's presumed knowledge of hidden or obscured things, such as that while we are in life we are in death due to the secret presence of disease not yet made fully manifest, especially poignant when the patient is a child. Robert W. Hamblin gives a finely sensitive close reading of the paradoxes, tensions, and thematic consistency of the poem, in one of the component essays to the volume, "Notes on 'About a little girl'" (59-62). One of the ironies surrounding the poem, apparently given to the mother of the diagnosed child, however, is that a diagnosis can be incorrect, and this in part creates the story of "its legacy" or, in any case, its interpretation and reception in posterity as part of a complex story.
The mother of the "little girl" (and grandmother of the two donors of the poem to the library), Ethel Woodruff Macy, was herself an occasional minor poet, living a few blocks down Ridge Road from Williams's home in Rutherford in the 1920s. Furthermore one of the two grandsons and heirs who donated the typescript to the library is a regional novelist, author of serial novels about life along Route 66 in Missouri, and a professor of English at Longwood University in Virginia. The grandson-donor's commentary on the legacies of the poem, in the essay "Literary and Literal Ancestors" (17-54), leads us to view the poem through a series of lenses framing the poem in biographical, autobiographical, and literary-historical perspectives.
Ethel Woodruff Macy's poetry was conventional and modestly competent. It was published in a variety of journals and anthologies, often alongside more daring and aggressively distinguished modernist work. As the grandson Michael Lund traces the genealogy of the poem, illuminates the poetic career of his grandmother, and meditates upon literature as a way of knowing, one cannot help but think of the contrasting example in Williams's career of the relationship with, and [End Page 207] use in his own writing of, the words of Marcia Nardi. In that respect alone, this publication expands our view of Williams's multiple faces and guises.


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Revenge of the Pyschotronic Man – Shattered Dreams Parkway
Shattered Dreams Parkway
Format: CD/LP
Released: October 2013
"An incredible album" Louder Than War
The third full length album from Manchester band, Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man.
All vinyl orders get an limited edition zine.
They take influence from bands as diverse as Zeke, Kid Dynamite, The Steal and The Ramones and have built a reputation for combining intense super fast punk rock, with memorable choruses and a high energy live show.
The 2009 album 'Make Pigs Smoke' was widely acclaimed by the underground press and international music publications. The 2011 International split EP saw the band sharing CD space with bands from Denmark, Sweden and the USA and again received much acclaim.
Revenge Of... formed in 2004 and have since toured the UK and mainland Europe on numerous occasions. The band have shared the stage with the likes of Bad Religion, The Briefs, The Queers, Discharge and many more.
This release is also available on vinyl. There are also t-shirt deals available with both formats.
"The recorded sound of Revenge Of... effortlessly captures the insanely contagious energy that defines their live sets... Ultimately, the album is thought provoking, forward thinking and doused with intensity... They also possess the ability to write songs with a social and political conscience as well as ones that encompass the exuberant nature of getting drunk and having a laugh... Revenge Of… are like the John Fante or Charles Bukowsi of punk; they are accessible to everyman. There is no pretension; they are simply intellectually challenging and emotive in the most straightforward of ways. Merge this with punk music that is hard and fast enough to make your ears bleed and you're left with quite an incredible album." Leanne Durr - Louder Than War
"It's super fast, furious, frantic and to add another couple of f's to the party…it's fucking fantastic! You do need to get this album right away, in fact why not get their whole back catalogue. ROTPM are without a doubt one of my favourite UK bands!"Lights Go Out
"This band have everything you want in hardcore thrash punk, the speed, live shows beyond everything else and brilliant lyrics and song titles... More than highly recommended." 9/10 Danielle Millea - Leeds Music Scene
"Shattered Dreams still has absolutely all of the alcohol-soaked, adrenaline fuelled punk rock fun that made a generation of punks get pissed, talk shit and dance like idiots. Sub-fucking-lime."
One Way Ticket To Cubesville
"It's like a mental kick up the arse to make people get away from their TV screens take more action... It's fast as fuck and they're playing in a way that a lot of other bands seem afraid to do these days. Each time I listen to it, it makes me want to drink as fast as possible and break things. Which can only be a good thing." 5/5 Shot In The Foot
"The best bits from those early 80's USHC bands but add a British touch, then throw in some sussed yet original lyrics... The best thing on TNS to date! No Messing!" Savage Amusement
"How good? Fucking good! That's how good. So enjoyable on so many levels" Issue
"Middle-finger-in-the-air punk rock that's fast, fun and lacking in bullshit. Shattered Dreams Parkway is reminiscent of a mix of early Rancid, Kid Dynamite and The Steal... A furious racket!" 4/5 Big Cheese
"A fresh reminder of what punk rock should sound like - raw and DIY, whilst still sounding like the 3 lads playing it know what they're doing."FranxRants
"If you like your punk music heavy & fast then give Revenge of the Psychotronic Man a few minutes of your time - you'll be hooked." Punk Online
"A mighty fine new album." Barbies Dead
"Revenge of the Psychotronic Man are most definitely one of the best punk bands around, their sound is punk at its most ferocious combined with lyrical finesse." Click Manchester