“
Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain.
”
”
Tara Brach (Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha)
“
Combat and rape, the public and private forms of organized social violence, are primarily experiences of adolescent and early adult life. The United States Army enlists young men at seventeen; the average age of the Vietnam combat soldier was nineteen. In many other countries boys are conscripted for military service while barely in their teens. Similarly, the period of highest risk for rape is in late adolescence. Half of all victims are aged twenty or younger at the time they are raped; three-quarters are between the ages of thirteen and twenty-six. The period of greatest psychological vulnerability is also in reality the period of greatest traumatic exposure, for both young men and young women. Rape and combat might thus be considered complementary social rites of initiation into the coercive violence at the foundation of adult society. They are the paradigmatic forms of trauma for women and men.
”
”
Judith Lewis Herman (Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror)
“
Pain and shame are neither desirable nor sustainable as long-term strategies for transformational change. It is my hope that love is what initially brought you to this work. It is my conviction that love is what will keep you going.
”
”
Layla F. Saad (Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor)
“
None of them were equipped, trained, or mentally prepared for combat. For the first time in recent history, American ground units had been committed during the initial days of a war; there had been no allies to hold the line while America prepared. For the first time, many Americans could understand what had happened to Britain at Dunkirk.
”
”
T.R. Fehrenbach (This Kind of War: The Classic Military History of the Korean War)
“
There are members of our body politic who tell us that the public interest is best served when government action is reduced to a minimum and especially when it is kept negative in character. But just now, the nation as a whole seems to be moving rather swiftly and decisively—as is the world as a whole—in the opposite direction. More and more, we Americans are initiating new forms of positive government action for the common good. Between these two tendencies the struggle becomes every day more open and more intense. And as we wage that conflict it is well to remember that the logic of the Constitution gives no backing to either of the two combatants, as against the other. We are left free, as any self-governing people must leave itself free, to determine by specific decisions what our economy shall be. It would be ludicrous to say that we are committed by the Constitution to the economic cooperations of socialism. But equally ludicrous are those appeals by which, in current debate, we are called upon to defend the practices of capitalism, of "free enterprise," so-called, as essential to the freedom of the American Way of Life. The American Way of Life is free because it is what we Americans freely choose—from time to time—that it shall be.
”
”
Alexander Meiklejohn (Political Freedom: The Constitutional Powers of the People)
“
But no soldier above the rank of sergeant ever served jail time. No civilian interrogators ever faced legal proceedings. Nobody was ever charged with torture, or war crimes, or any violation of the Geneva Conventions. Nobody ever faced charges for keeping prisoners naked,or shackled. Nobody ever faced charges for holding prisoners as hostages. Nobody ever faced charges for incarcerating children who were accused of no crime and posed no known security threat. Nobody ever faced charges for holding thousands of prisoners in a combat zone in constant danger of their lives. Nobody ever faced charges for arresting thousands of civilians without direct cause and holding them indefinitely, incommunicado, in concentration camp conditions. Nobody ever faced charges for shooting and killing prisoners who were confined behind concertina wire. And nobody has ever been held to account for murdering al-Jamadi in the Tier 1B shower, although Sabrina Harman initially faced several charges for having photographed him there.
”
”
Philip Gourevitch (Standard Operating Procedure)
“
Strive to do small things well. Be a doer and a self-starter—aggressiveness and initiative are two most admired qualities in a leader—but you must also put your feet up and think. Strive for self-improvement through constant self-evaluation. Never be satisfied. Ask of any project, How can it be done better? Don’t overinspect or oversupervise. Allow your leaders to make mistakes in training, so they can profit from the errors and not make them in combat. Keep the troops informed; telling them “what, how, and why” builds their confidence. The harder the training, the more troops will brag. Enthusiasm, fairness, and moral and physical courage—four of the most important aspects of leadership. Showmanship—a vital technique of leadership. The ability to speak and write well—two essential tools of leadership. There is a salient difference between profanity and obscenity; while a leader employs profanity (tempered with discretion), he never uses obscenities. Have consideration for others. Yelling detracts from your dignity; take men aside to counsel them. Understand and use judgment; know when to stop fighting for something you believe is right. Discuss and argue your point of view until a decision is made, and then support the decision wholeheartedly. Stay ahead of your boss.
”
”
David H. Hackworth (About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior)
“
Humanity does not gradually progress from combat to combat until it arrives at universal reciprocity, where the rule of law finally replaces warfare; humanity installs each of its violences in a system of rules and thus proceeds from domination to domination. The nature of these rules allows violence to be inflicted on violence and the resurgence of new forces that are sufficiently strong to dominate those in power. Rules are empty in themselves, violent and unfinalized; they are impersonal and can be bent to any purpose. The successes of history belong to those who are capable of seizing these rules, to replace those who had used them, to disguise themselves so as to pervert them, invert their meaning, and redirect them against those who had initially imposed them; controlling this complex mechanism, they will make it function so as to overcome the rulers through their own rules.
”
”
Michel Foucault (Nietzsche, la Genealogía, la Historia)
“
Nothing breeds arrogance like success—a string of victories on the battlefield or business initiatives. Combat leaders must never forget just how much is at stake: the lives of their troops.
”
”
Jocko Willink (The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win)
“
You will also need love for this journey because when the truth telling gets really hard, you will need something more powerful than pain and shame to encourage you to keep going. Pain and shame are neither desirable nor sustainable as long-term strategies for transformational change. It is my hope that love is what initially brought you to this work. It is my conviction that love is what will keep you going.
”
”
Layla F. Saad (Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor)
“
Chapter 8: Alteration Speed. You will be introduced to the "safeguard," known as alteration speed. Through mastery of body mechanics, you will develop the ability to stop and adjust instantly in the midst of movement—just in case you initiate a wrong move!
”
”
J. Barnes (Speed Training: For Combat, Boxing, Martial Arts, and MMA: How to Maximize Your Hand Speed, Foot Speed, Punching Speed, Kicking Speed, Wrestling Speed, and Fighting Speed)
“
During the Pequot War, Connecticut and Massachusetts colonial officials had offered bounties initially for the heads of murdered Indigenous people and later for only their scalps, which were more portable in large numbers. But scalp hunting became routine only in the mid-1670s, following an incident on the northern frontier of the Massachusetts colony. The practice began in earnest in 1697 when settler Hannah Dustin, having murdered ten of her Abenaki captors in a nighttime escape, presented their ten scalps to the Massachusetts General Assembly and was rewarded with bounties for two men, two women, and six children.24 Dustin soon became a folk hero among New England settlers. Scalp hunting became a lucrative commercial practice. The settler authorities had hit upon a way to encourage settlers to take off on their own or with a few others to gather scalps, at random, for the reward money. “In the process,” John Grenier points out, “they established the large-scale privatization of war within American frontier communities.”25 Although the colonial government in time raised the bounty for adult male scalps, lowered that for adult females, and eliminated that for Indigenous children under ten, the age and gender of victims were not easily distinguished by their scalps nor checked carefully. What is more, the scalp hunter could take the children captive and sell them into slavery. These practices erased any remaining distinction between Indigenous combatants and noncombatants and introduced a market for Indigenous slaves. Bounties for Indigenous scalps were honored even in absence of war. Scalps and Indigenous children became means of exchange, currency, and this development may even have created a black market. Scalp hunting was not only a profitable privatized enterprise but also a means to eradicate or subjugate the Indigenous population of the Anglo-American Atlantic seaboard.26 The settlers gave a name to the mutilated and bloody corpses they left in the wake of scalp-hunts: redskins.
”
”
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History, #3))
“
The Marine Corps’ style of warfare requires intelligent leaders with a penchant for boldness and initiative down to the lowest levels. Boldness is an essential moral trait in a leader for it generates combat power beyond the physical means at hand. Initiative, the willingness to act on one’s own judgment, is a prerequisite for boldness. These traits carried to excess can lead to rashness, but we must realize that errors by junior leaders stemming from overboldness are a necessary part of learning.
”
”
U.S. Marine Corps (Warfighting (Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1))
“
Master of Skills Legendary Utility This card grants the wielder the ability to immediately gain proficiency in any skill. Skills are automatically organized into categories and broken down into assigned values. The wielder of this card learns skills at a base 25% accelerated rate. Newly learned skills automatically start at base level 3. Previous experience and/or learning a skill taught by a master may increase the initial starting level and further accelerate proficiency. This is a utility only card. Seek additional cards in this set to include combative, magical, body, and special abilities.
”
”
Honour Rae (All the Skills (All the Skills, #1))
“
Addicts of attrition," as Simpkin calls them, generally cannot think beyond the battle, and they consider that the only way--or at least the preferred way--to defeat an enemy is to destroy the physical components of his army, especially the combat portions (armored fighting vehicles, troops, guns, etc.). If the attrition addict appreciates war's intangibles at all (such as morale, initiative, and shock), he sees them only as combat multipliers with which to fight the attrition battle better. If the attrition warrior learns about maneuver, he sees it primarily as a way to get to the fight. In other words, he moves in order to fight. Maneuver theory, on the other hand, attempts to defeat the enemy through means other than simple destruction of his mass. Indeed, the highest and purest application of maneuver theory is to preempt the enemy, that is, to disarm or
neutralize him before the fight. If such is not possible, the maneuver warrior seeks to dislocate the enemy forces, i.e., removing the enemy from the decisive point, or vice versa, thus rendering them useless and irrelevant to the fight. If the enemy cannot be preempted or dislocated, then the maneuver-warfare practitioner will attempt to disrupt the enemy,i.e., destroy or neutralize his center of gravity, preferably by attacking with friendly strengths through enemy weaknesses.
”
”
Robert R. Leonhard
“
In his rapid rise, talent, opportunity, and fortune converged improbably—to many, it seemed, providentially. Patton—who earlier in the year had told Eisenhower, “You are my oldest friend”—privately claimed the initials “D.D.” stood for “Divine Destiny.” Thirty months earlier, Eisenhower had been a lieutenant colonel who had never commanded even a platoon in combat. Young Ike, the third son of a failed Midwestern merchant turned creamery worker, had chosen a military career because West Point provided a free education. After an indifferent cadetship he embarked on an ordinary career as a staff officer, stalled at the middling rank of major for sixteen years. Even his first venture into the rarefied circles he would inhabit for two decades was inauspicious: the White House usher’s log for February 9, 1942, recorded the initial visit to the Oval Office of one “P. D. Eisenhauer.
”
”
Rick Atkinson (An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943)
“
Arin said, “If I win, I will ask a question, and you will answer.”
She felt a nervous flutter. “I could lie. People lie.”
“I’m willing to risk it.”
“If those are your stakes, then I assume my prize would be the same.”
“If you win.”
She still could not quite agree. “Questions and answers are highly irregular stakes in Bite and Sting,” she said irritably.
“Whereas matches make the perfect ante, and are so exciting to win and lose.”
“Fine.” Kestrel tossed the box to the carpet, where it landed with a muffled sound.
Arin didn’t look satisfied or amused or anything at all. He simply drew his hand. She did the same. They played in intent concentration, and Kestrel was determined to win.
She didn’t.
“I want to know,” Arin said, “why you are not already a soldier.”
Kestrel couldn’t have said what she had thought he would ask, but this was not it, and the question recalled years of arguments she would rather forget. She was curt. “I’m seventeen. I’m not yet required by law to enlist or marry.”
He settled back in his chair, toying with one of his winning pieces. He tapped a thin side against the table, spun the tile in his fingers, and tapped another side. “That’s not a full answer.”
“I don’t think we specified how short or long these answers should be. Let’s play again.”
“If you win, will you be satisfied with the kind of answer you have given me?”
Slowly, she said, “The military is my father’s life. Not mine. I’m not even a skilled fighter.”
“Really?” His surprise seemed genuine.
“Oh, I pass muster. I can defend myself as well as most Valorians, but I’m not good at combat. I know what it’s like to be good at something.”
Arin glanced again at the piano.
“There is also my music,” Kestrel acknowledged. “A piano is not very portable. I could hardly take it with me if I were sent into battle.”
“Playing music is for slaves,” Arin said. “Like cooking or cleaning.”
Kestrel heard anger in his words, buried like bedrock under the careless ripple of his voice. “It wasn’t always like that.”
Arin was silent, and even though Kestrel had initially tried to answer his question in the briefest of ways, she felt compelled to explain the final reason behind her resistance to the general. “Also…I don’t want to kill.” Arin frowned at this, so Kestrel laughed to make light of the conversation. “I drive my father mad. Yet don’t all daughters? So we’ve made a truce. I have agreed that, in the spring, I will either enlist or marry.”
He stopped spinning the tile in his fingers. “You’ll marry, then.”
“Yes. But at least I will have six months of peace first.”
Arin dropped the tile to the table. “Let’s play again.”
This time Kestrel won, and wasn’t prepared for how her blood buzzed with triumph.
”
”
Marie Rutkoski (The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1))
“
A great Iranian mystic of the fourteenth century, fAlll'uddawla Semnlini, was to speak in similar terms of the "invisible master," the "Gabriel of your being." His esoteric exegesis, his ta'wll, carries the figures of Koranic revelation to a sevenfold depth; to attain to the "Gabriel of your being"
is to pass successively through the seven esoteric levels and to be reunited with the Spirit which guides and initiates the "seven prophets of your being." This striving is also designated as jacob's contest with the Angel, which was so interpreted in the symbolic exegesis of the jewish mystic joseph ben Judah: the intellective soul struggling to be united with the Angel, with the active Intelligence, until the rising of the light ( ishraq), at which time the soul emerges, delivered, from the darkness that imprisoned it.10 Thus no doubt we should speak not of a combat with, that is against, the Angel, but of a combat for the Angel, for the Angel in tum needs the response of a soul if his being is to become what it has to be. A whole series of jewish speculative mystics found the same symbolism in the Song of Songs, where the Beloved plays the role of the active Intelligence, while the heroine is the thinking human soul.
”
”
Abul Barkat
“
Early on it is clear that Addie has a rebellious streak, joining the library group and running away to Rockport Lodge. Is Addie right to disobey her parents? Where does she get her courage? 2. Addie’s mother refuses to see Celia’s death as anything but an accident, and Addie comments that “whenever I heard my mother’s version of what happened, I felt sick to my stomach.” Did Celia commit suicide? How might the guilt that Addie feels differ from the guilt her mother feels? 3. When Addie tries on pants for the first time, she feels emotionally as well as physically liberated, and confesses that she would like to go to college (page 108). How does the social significance of clothing and hairstyle differ for Addie, Gussie, and Filomena in the book? 4. Diamant fills her narrative with a number of historical events and figures, from the psychological effects of World War I and the pandemic outbreak of influenza in 1918 to child labor laws to the cultural impact of Betty Friedan. How do real-life people and events affect how we read Addie’s fictional story? 5. Gussie is one of the most forward-thinking characters in the novel; however, despite her law degree she has trouble finding a job as an attorney because “no one would hire a lady lawyer.” What other limitations do Addie and her friends face in the workforce? What limitations do women and minorities face today? 6. After distancing herself from Ernie when he suffers a nervous episode brought on by combat stress, Addie sees a community of war veterans come forward to assist him (page 155). What does the remorse that Addie later feels suggest about the challenges American soldiers face as they reintegrate into society? Do you think soldiers today face similar challenges? 7. Addie notices that the Rockport locals seem related to one another, and the cook Mrs. Morse confides in her sister that, although she is usually suspicious of immigrant boarders, “some of them are nicer than Americans.” How does tolerance of the immigrant population vary between city and town in the novel? For whom might Mrs. Morse reserve the term Americans? 8. Addie is initially drawn to Tessa Thorndike because she is a Boston Brahmin who isn’t afraid to poke fun at her own class on the women’s page of the newspaper. What strengths and weaknesses does Tessa’s character represent for educated women of the time? How does Addie’s description of Tessa bring her reliability into question? 9. Addie’s parents frequently admonish her for being ungrateful, but Addie feels she has earned her freedom to move into a boardinghouse when her parents move to Roxbury, in part because she contributed to the family income (page 185). How does the Baum family’s move to Roxbury show the ways Betty and Addie think differently from their parents about household roles? Why does their father take such offense at Herman Levine’s offer to house the family? 10. The last meaningful conversation between Addie and her mother turns out to be an apology her mother meant for Celia, and for a moment during her mother’s funeral Addie thinks, “She won’t be able to make me feel like there’s something wrong with me anymore.” Does Addie find any closure from her mother’s death? 11. Filomena draws a distinction between love and marriage when she spends time catching up with Addie before her wedding, but Addie disagrees with the assertion that “you only get one great love in a lifetime.” In what ways do the different romantic experiences of each woman inform the ideas each has about love? 12. Filomena and Addie share a deep friendship. Addie tells Ada that “sometimes friends grow apart. . . . But sometimes, it doesn’t matter how far apart you live or how little you talk—it’s still there.” What qualities do you think friends must share in order to have that kind of connection? Discuss your relationship with a best friend. Enhance
”
”
Anita Diamant (The Boston Girl)
“
Since I did Selection all those years ago, not much has really changed.
The MOD (Ministry of Defence) website still states that 21 SAS soldiers need the following character traits: “Physically and mentally robust. Self-confident. Self-disciplined. Able to work alone. Able to assimilate information and new skills.”
It makes me smile now to read those words. As Selection had progressed, those traits had been stamped into my being, and then during the three years I served with my squadron they became molded into my psyche.
They are the same qualities I still value today.
The details of the jobs I did once I passed Selection aren’t for sharing publicly, but they included some of the most extraordinary training that any man can be lucky enough to receive.
I went on to be trained in demolitions, air and maritime insertions, foreign weapons, jungle survival, trauma medicine, Arabic, signals, high-speed and evasive driving, winter warfare, as well as “escape and evasion” survival for behind enemy lines.
I went through an even more in-depth capture initiation program as part of becoming a combat-survival instructor, which was much longer and more intense than the hell we endured on Selection.
We became proficient in covert night parachuting and unarmed combat, among many other skills--and along the way we had a whole host of misadventures.
But what do I remember and value most?
For me, it is the camaraderie, and the friendships--and of course Trucker, who is still one of my best friends on the planet.
Some bonds are unbreakable.
I will never forget the long yomps, the specialist training, and of course a particular mountain in the Brecon Beacons.
But above all, I feel a quiet pride that for the rest of my days I can look myself in the mirror and know that once upon a time I was good enough.
Good enough to call myself a member of the SAS.
Some things don’t have a price tag.
”
”
Bear Grylls (Mud, Sweat and Tears)
“
Hitler initially served in the List Regiment engaged in a violent four-day battle near Ypres, in Belgian Flanders, with elite British professional soldiers of the initial elements of the British Expeditionary Force. Hitler thereby served as a combat infantryman in one of the most intense engagements of the opening phase of World War I. The List Regiment was temporarily destroyed as an offensive force by suffering such severe casualty rates (killed, wounded, missing, and captured) that it lost approximately 70 percent of its initial strength of around 3,600 men. A bullet tore off Hitler’s right sleeve in the first day of combat, and in the “batch” of men with which he originally advanced, every one fell dead or wounded, leaving him to survive as if through a miracle. On November 9, 1914, about a week after the ending of the great battle, Hitler was reassigned as a dispatch runner to regimental headquarters. Shortly thereafter, he was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class.
On about November 14, 1914, the new regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Philipp Engelhardt, accompanied by Hitler and another dispatch runner, moved forward into terrain of uncertain ownership. Engelhardt hoped to see for himself the regiment’s tactical situation. When Engelhardt came under aimed enemy smallarms fire, Hitler and the unnamed comrade placed their bodies between their commander and the enemy fire, determined to keep him alive. The two enlisted men, who were veterans of the earlier great four-day battle around Ypres, were doubtlessly affected by the death of the regiment’s first commander in that fight and were dedicated to keeping his replacement alive. Engelhardt was suitably impressed and proposed Hitler for the Iron Cross Second Class, which he was awarded on December 2. Hitler’s performance was exemplary, and he began to fit into the world around him and establish the image of a combat soldier tough enough to demand the respect of anyone in right wing, Freikorps-style politics after the war.
-- Hitler: Beyond Evil and Tyranny, p. 88
”
”
Russel H.S. Stolfi
“
A few days after that dinner, I catch up with my new friend Paul over coffee. He is telling me about a time when he cycled from the Netherlands to Spain – a many-months-long endeavour that he completed solo. I try to imagine myself in this scenario.
‘Were you lonely?’ I ask.
Paul pauses, taken aback by the question.
And this is the problem with Deep Talk. Not only do you have to be a bit vulnerable and a bit ballsy to ask the questions in the first place, but you’re also asking whoever you’re speaking with to be the same: open up, take your hand and embrace the depths.
Paul furrows his brow. After a beat, he nods.
‘Yeah, I was,’ he says.
‘What did you do to combat it?’
‘I wrote in my journal a lot,’ he tells me. ‘I went for walks. But I was still really lonely.’
He tells me that he’s good at talking to people but that in most of the places where he stopped along the way people were pretty guarded.
When I play back this conversation in my head, I wonder how differently pre-sauna Jess would have handled it. Given that I don’t know Paul well, I would have probably asked about logistics, or how many miles he covered per day, or what kind of bike he rode. Maybe, at best, I’d have launched into a story about a bike seat I’d used in Beijing that was such a literal arse ache that I could barely walk for two weeks, followed by a monologue about the realities of life with thigh chaffing.
I am so impressed by how open Paul is with me. He could have lied and told me, nah, he doesn’t get lonely, that he relished the time alone on the road, he was a lone wolf, a cowboy striking out into the sunset with nothing but his trusty metallic steed.
One of the most vital parts of Deep Talk is that it has to be a two-way process – both parties have to be willing to share, to disclose, to be vulnerable. If you initiate it with someone but don’t give back, you’re likely just harassing innocent people to share extremely personal information.
I realise I probably shouldn’t go around asking men about their loneliness and not share my own experience of it. Since we’re all in this together, I’ll tell you, too.
”
”
Jessica Pan (Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously)
“
The difference between Plato’s theory on the one hand, and that of the Old Oligarch and the Thirty on the other, is due to the influence of the Great Generation. Individualism, equalitarianism, faith in reason and love of freedom were new, powerful, and, from the point of view of the enemies of the open society, dangerous sentiments that had to be fought. Plato had himself felt their influence, and, within himself, he had fought them. His answer to the Great Generation was a truly great effort. It was an effort to close the door which had been opened, and to arrest society by casting upon it the spell of an alluring philosophy, unequalled in depth and richness. In the political field he added but little to the old oligarchic programme against which Pericles had once argued64. But he discovered, perhaps unconsciously, the great secret of the revolt against freedom, formulated in our own day by Pareto65; ‘To take advantage of sentiments, not wasting one’s energies in futile efforts to destroy them.’ Instead of showing his hostility to reason, he charmed all intellectuals with his brilliance, flattering and thrilling them by his demand that the learned should rule. Although arguing against justice he convinced all righteous men that he was its advocate. Not even to himself did he fully admit that he was combating the freedom of thought for which Socrates had died; and by making Socrates his champion he persuaded all others that he was fighting for it. Plato thus became, unconsciously, the pioneer of the many propagandists who, often in good faith, developed the technique of appealing to moral, humanitarian sentiments, for anti-humanitarian, immoral purposes. And he achieved the somewhat surprising effect of convincing even great humanitarians of the immorality and selfishness of their creed66. I do not doubt that he succeeded in persuading himself. He transfigured his hatred of individual initiative, and his wish to arrest all change, into a love of justice and temperance, of a heavenly state in which everybody is satisfied and happy and in which the crudity of money-grabbing67 is replaced by laws of generosity and friendship. This dream of unity and beauty and perfection, this æstheticism and holism and collectivism, is the product as well as the symptom of the lost group spirit of tribalism68.
”
”
Karl Popper (The Open Society and Its Enemies)
“
the military-industrial-scientific complex, because today’s wars are scientific productions. The world’s military forces initiate, fund and steer a large part of humanity’s scientific research and technological development. When World War One bogged down into interminable trench warfare, both sides called in the scientists to break the deadlock and save the nation. The men in white answered the call, and out of the laboratories rolled a constant stream of new wonder-weapons: combat aircraft, poison gas, tanks, submarines and ever more efficient machine guns, artillery pieces, rifles and bombs. 33. German V-2 rocket ready to launch. It didn’t defeat the Allies, but it kept the Germans hoping for a technological miracle until the very last days of the war. {© Ria Novosti/Science Photo Library.} Science played an even larger role in World War Two. By late 1944 Germany was losing the war and defeat was imminent. A year earlier, the Germans’ allies, the Italians, had toppled Mussolini and surrendered to the Allies. But Germany kept fighting on, even though the British, American and Soviet armies were closing in. One reason German soldiers and civilians thought not all was lost was that they believed German scientists were about to turn the tide with so-called miracle weapons such as the V-2 rocket and jet-powered aircraft. While the Germans were working on rockets and jets, the American Manhattan Project successfully developed atomic bombs. By the time the bomb was ready, in early August 1945, Germany had already surrendered, but Japan was fighting on. American forces were poised to invade its home islands. The Japanese vowed to resist the invasion and fight to the death, and there was every reason to believe that it was no idle threat. American generals told President Harry S. Truman that an invasion of Japan would cost the lives of a million American soldiers and would extend the war well into 1946. Truman decided to use the new bomb. Two weeks and two atom bombs later, Japan surrendered unconditionally and the war was over. But science is not just about offensive weapons. It plays a major role in our defences as well. Today many Americans believe that the solution to terrorism is technological rather than political. Just give millions more to the nanotechnology industry, they believe, and the United States could send bionic spy-flies into every Afghan cave, Yemenite redoubt and North African encampment. Once that’s done, Osama Bin Laden’s heirs will not be able to make a cup of coffee without a CIA spy-fly passing this vital information back to headquarters in Langley.
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)
“
sheer size, it has no rival. Of the two American fleets involved in the battle, one was comprised of 738 ships and carried an invasion force of approximately 165,000 men in addition to the 50,000 sailors aboard the ships.1 The other American fleet was the most powerful in the world, with a total of 16 aircraft carriers and six of the world’s most powerful battleships. In total, the two fleets brought 235 surface combatants and 1,500 aircraft to the battle. Opposed to this collection of naval might was the Imperial Japanese Navy. Once the most powerful navy in the Pacific, the Imperial Fleet was forced into a desperate fight with all its remaining strength. In total, the Japanese committed 69 ships and some 375 aircraft, most of which were land based.2 Both sides committed so much because the stakes were so high. The Americans planned to invade Leyte Island in the Philippines as a potential first step to occupying the entire archipelago. The Leyte invasion force was larger than the initial American contribution to the assault force at Normandy. If the Philippines could be occupied, Japanese sea lines of communications between the Home Islands and the resource areas in Southeast Asia would be severed, fatally compromising Japan’s ability to continue the war. This demanded that the Japanese respond to the invasion with all of their remaining strength. The ensuing battle was the most complex naval battle of the entire Second World War. Its complexity makes it compelling. Instead of being a single battle as the name implies, it was actually comprised of four major engagements and several lesser actions fought over the span of three days. The characteristics of the battle continue to astound – it contained the largest air-sea battle in history; it included the last carrier and battleship clashes in history; it was the only time that a surface force engaged a carrier force while under air attack; and it featured the first pre-planned use of suicide attacks during the Pacific War. Adding to the drama of this momentous event was the role personalities played in the battle. On the American side were the flamboyant General Douglas MacArthur, the steady Admiral Chester Nimitz, and the impulsive Admiral William Halsey. Overlooked but still key commanders included Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid and the brilliant Clifton Sprague, commander of the escort carrier group known as Taffy 3. For the Japanese, the taciturn Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo was placed in command of their most important force. He was charged to execute a plan devised by Admiral Toyoda Soemu, who cared more about presenting the Imperial Navy’s Combined Fleet with an opportunity to die fighting than to produce a plan in the best interests of the nation.
”
”
Mark E. Stille (Leyte Gulf: A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle)
“
The professional expertise and training of a force, as well as the importance of a professional non-commissioned officer corps, must also be highlighted, as it is non-commissioned officers who are the standard bearers, standard enforcers and trainers at the critical small-unit level. Rigorous and demanding training will always be a vital component of combat readiness. So should be the intangible but critical element of initiative, especially of competent junior leaders empowered and encouraged to exercise initiative and acting in accordance with one of the admonitions in the counter-insurgency guidance issued during the Surge in Iraq: “In the absence of orders, figure out what they should have been and execute aggressively.
”
”
David H. Petraeus (Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine)
“
About the “Direct Path” (直通の位の事) ◎ Jikitsū-no-kurai (“direct path”) is the soul of combat.15 All the teachings I have outlined above are like parts of the human body.16 Nothing more is needed. They must never be neglected. Depending on the situation, there are times when some techniques will not be suitable, but nothing will work without them [in your repertoire]. For example, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hands and feet are what our bodies are comprised of. If one of these things is missing, then we are incomplete. The sword techniques that I have conveyed must all be committed to memory and used intuitively. Without the soul and spirit of the “direct path,” they amount to random madness. In all the techniques, be sure to seize the initiative and take the attack to the enemy. This will enable you to identify target areas. You must then determine what techniques or guards will be effective and what are not viable in a particular situation. Gauge how to close the distance, then commit with single-minded resolve to follow through to your mark (star) and attack without deviating. For example, even if you have to deflect the whole world, the flight of your sword must not diverge from its path. Purge yourself of fear. When you know the moment for that one [direct and decisive] strike of jikitsū, let the power surge through you to deliver the cut. It is no different when you enter the opponent’s space to arrest him. Advance rapidly, thinking of nothing other than grabbing hold of him. The further in you get, the better. Without the mind of “direct path,” your swords will be lifeless. Even this and discover what it means. Even retreat counts as a loss. When we speak of the “interior” (deepest principles), nothing is deeper than this. When we talk of the gateway (fundamental principles), nothing is more fundamental than this. The great monk Kūkai17 traveled deep into the mountain when planning to construct a monastery in the innermost reaches of Mount Kōya. Thinking it was still not far enough, he continued walking further, but eventually came across dwellings again. He said, “The further I entered, the closer I came to human habitation; I had looked too far in.”18 The interior is not the interior. The gate is not the gate. There are no special, secret interior teachings to look for if the great wisdom of combat strategy surges through your sinews and veins. Just make sure that nobody to your front or back can ever get the better of you. This cannot be conveyed with words and letters.
”
”
Alexander Bennett (The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works)
“
The khateeb reiterates that his role is vital and positions himself as the spiritual teacher of the recruits. This position is belied somewhat by my earlier description of my encounter with him and his superiors, an impression strengthened by my conversation with other senior army officers. A retired infantry general shared with me how he had confronted the khateeb’s influence in the barracks while he was in services. A particular khateeb under his command during the Kargil war was asked to go to a post nearer the combat zone to motivate the troops. The cleric refused on the grounds that certain requirements of jihad29 had not been fulfilled, so he could not support the effort. “I summoned him and told him, ‘You talk of jihad; God will decide what is jihad. This is a war zone, and I am ordering a district court martial of you, and I will ensure that you are put before a firing squad right over here in front of my office.’” He then had him posted out of the area with immediate effect. The khateeb is told here that he is in no position to adjudicate what jihad is, the implication being that the military, in this case the commanding officer, has the right to adjudicate this over and above religious authority, whose only role is to motivate troops in the name of jihad as and when ordered by the military officer. The khateeb is a spiritual guide, then, with no real official authority, an army person but not regular army personnel. He is a “harmless” person yet one who must be monitored, as evidenced by the colonel’s initial reluctance to let me talk to him. As another retired infantry general jokingly put it, “He [the khateeb] is uneducated but very motivating.” Much like his soldier-class contemporaries, he is regarded by the officer class as somewhat uncouth but nonetheless essential for the training center. He has the specific task of motivating troops and acting as a religious mascot to lend credence to the militarism project. 265/378
”
”
Maria Rashid (Dying to Serve: Militarism, Affect, and the Politics of Sacrifice in the Pakistan Army)
“
David versus Goliath Asymmetry lies at the heart of network-based competition. The larger or smaller network will be at different stages of the Cold Start framework and, as such, will gravitate toward a different set of levers. The giant is often fighting gravitational pull as its network grows and saturates the market. To combat these negative forces, it must add new use cases, introduce the product to new audiences, all while making sure it’s generating a profit. The upstart, on the other hand, is trying to solve the Cold Start Problem, and often starts with a niche. A new startup has the luxury of placing less emphasis on profitability and might instead focus on top-line growth, subsidizing the market to grow its network. When they encounter each other in the market, it becomes natural that their competitive moves reflect their different goals and resources. Startups have fewer resources—capital, employees, distribution—but have important advantages in the context of building new networks: speed and a lack of sacred cows. A new startup looking to compete against Zoom might try a more specific use case, like events, and if that doesn’t work, they can quickly pivot and try something else, like corporate education classes. Startups like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and many other products have similar stories, and went through an incubation phase as the product was refined and an initial network was built. Trying and failing many times is part of the startup journey—it only takes the discovery of one atomic network to get into the market. With that, a startup is often able to start the next leg of the journey, often with more investment and resources to support them. Contrast that to a larger company, which has obvious advantages in resources, manpower, and existing product lines. But there are real disadvantages, too: it’s much harder to solve the Cold Start Problem with a slower pace of execution, risk aversion, and a “strategy tax” that requires new products to align to the existing business. Something seems to happen when companies grow to tens of thousands of employees—they inevitably create rigorous processes for everything, including planning cycles, performance reviews, and so on. This helps teams focus, but it also creates a harder environment for entrepreneurial risk-taking. I saw this firsthand at Uber, whose entrepreneurial culture shifted in its later years toward profitability and coordinating the efforts of tens of thousands. This made it much harder to start new initiatives—for better and worse. When David and Goliath meet in the market—and often it’s one Goliath and many investor-funded Davids at once—the resulting moves and countermoves are fascinating. Now that I have laid down some of the theoretical foundation for how competition fits into Cold Start Theory, let me describe and unpack some of the most powerful moves in the network-versus-network playbook.
”
”
Andrew Chen (The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects)
“
Initial Deployment – Operation Frequent Wind
”
”
Mike Guardia (Tomcat Fury: A Combat History of the F-14)
“
As the fierce battle raged on between Prince Assad and the soldiers, the small puddle nestled amidst the underbrush continued to mirror the night sky and the radiant moon. Its surface rippled gently, distorting the celestial reflection and adding an entrancing aura to the scene. Within the puddle's depths, a bright, luminescent orb seemed suspended in the water's embrace, mirroring the moon's radiance.
Amidst the enchanting dance of ripples in the puddle, Dilaram, Princess Mehjabeen's loyal companion emerged, took a deep breath, and made a daring decision. She knew the danger that Prince Assad faced in the relentless battle with the soldiers, and her love and loyalty to the princess drove her to act.
With her heart pounding, Dilaram raised her delicate hands and began whispering an incantation, her words imbued with ancient magic.
Dilaram's incantation, born from the depths of her love and loyalty to Princess Mehjabeen, was a powerful spell that wove together the mystical forces of Tilsim Hoshruba. It was an incantation that had been passed down through generations of enchantresses, carefully guarded and used only in the direst of circumstances.
The incantation itself was a blend of ancient words and intricate hand movements, a delicate dance of both spoken and unspoken magic. As Dilaram whispered the words and traced the patterns in the air, the spell took form:
"By the moon's radiant light, by the heart's unwavering might,
In the name of love, in the name of fate,
Create for him an unseen gate."
As Dilaram continued her chant, the magic came to life. It created a shimmering tunnel amidst the swampy underbrush. Prince Assad, still embroiled in combat, continued to face the soldiers with unwavering determination. His every strike was a testament to his prowess as a skilled warrior.
Dilaram's incantation worked like a silent, invisible wind. It pulled Prince Assad away from the battlefield and into the concealed tunnel she had created. The soldiers, bewildered by his sudden disappearance, exchanged confused glances, their swords raised and ready.
Within the concealed tunnel, Prince Assad was transported to safety, away from the immediate danger of the soldiers' blades. As he stepped into this mystical passage, the world around him shifted, and he found himself hidden from view.
Dilaram's work was not done yet. Her incantation had created the gate, and now she whispered another set of words:
"Through the veil of night, beyond the soldiers' sight,
Guide him to where he'll be free, under the moon's decree."
This incantation was designed to lead Prince Assad to a safe location, away from the soldiers' pursuit. It was as if the night itself had become his protector, guiding him to a place where he could regroup and remain hidden.
With her final words, the portal shimmered and then vanished, leaving no trace of its existence. Dilaram, her heart heavy with concern for Prince Assad, disappeared inside the puddle, from where she had initiated the spell. She knew that the fate of both Prince Assad and Princess Mehjabeen hung in the balance, and the path they would choose was a destiny intertwined with the enigmatic realm of Tilsim Hoshruba.
”
”
Haala Humayun (The Legend of Tilsim Hoshruba)
“
(12) About “Infecting” (一、うつらかすと云事) All things can be infectious. Drowsiness is infectious, as is yawning. Even time is communicable. In large-scale strategy, if you sense that the enemy is agitated and hesitant, pretend not to notice and take your time. Seeing this reaction, the enemy will drop their guard. With your mind set free, attack mercilessly the instant the enemy has been infected by your inaction. With individual combat, loosen your body and spirit and, as your opponent inadvertently follows suit, seize the initiative to attack powerfully and quickly. There is a similar tactic, “making the enemy drunk.” You contaminate his mind by exhibiting listlessness, hesitancy or weakness. Be sure to explore this strategy thoroughly. (13) About “Eliciting Agitation” (一、むかつかすると云事) There are many ways in which one can become agitated, such as being within an inch of danger. A second way is when faced with an impossible task. The third way is through surprise. Study this. In large-scale strategy, it is important to know how to evoke irritation in the enemy. By suddenly assaulting with vim and vigor when they least expect it, and not giving them a chance to recoup, you can seize the initiative and finish them off in their moment of indecision. For individual combat, trick the enemy by moving slowly at first and then suddenly attack him with force. It is imperative to not let up, crushing him according to the movement of his body and the fluctuations of his mind. Learn this method well. (14) About “Invoking Fear” (一、おびやかすと云事) Many things can invoke fear. Fear is aroused when the unexpected happens. With large-scale strategy, fear can be conjured in the enemy not only by what they see. Fear can be incited by bellowing, making something small seem greater in size, or by unexpectedly assaulting their flank. Victory is gained by taking advantage of the enemy’s muddled cadence prompted by a moment of terror. In the case of individual combat, it is important to beat your opponent by doing something unexpected with your body, sword or voice to startle him. Study this well. (15) About “Blending” (一、まぶるると云事) When you clash with the advancing enemy and an impasse has been reached, this is the time to become one with him through “blending.” From within the tussle you must find an opportunity to win. In both large- and small-scale strategy, when the engagement languishes because both are fighting with equal force, blend with the enemy so that it is impossible to make a distinction. From there you can find an opening and to seize victory, winning strongly. Study this tactic in detail.
”
”
Alexander Bennett (The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works)
“
It is essential in war to position your troops in the most favorable site before the battle begins. It is twice as advantageous to take the initiative and attack first rather than wait for the enemy to do so. Assuming an unflinching sword stance to parry an attack is effectively the same as constructing a [protective] fence of pikes and glaives. When you strike the enemy, pull the “fence posts” out and use them as pikes and glaives. Study this carefully. (6) About “Fixing the Gaze” in Other Schools (一、他流に目付と云事) Certain schools maintain that the gaze should be fixed on the enemy’s sword. Others teach students to focus on the hands, the face, the enemy’s feet and so on. Setting your gaze on specific points will cause uncertainty and will adversely affect your strategy. To give another example, players of kemari8 do not focus intently on the ball as they kick it. They can still deflect the ball off their temple and kick it using the bansuri technique9 or keep it afloat with an oimari kick,10 or even a spin kick. As the player becomes more accomplished, he can kick the ball without needing to look at it. The same can be said of acrobats. Someone accustomed to this art can juggle several swords while simultaneously balancing a door on the tip of his nose. He has no need to fix his gaze as he can see what he is doing intuitively through lots of training. Likewise, in the Way of combat strategy, the warrior learns through engaging with different opponents to determine the weight of an enemy’s mind. With practice in the Way, you will come to see everything, from reach to the speed of the sword. Generally speaking, “fixing the gaze” in strategy is to attach it to an enemy’s mind. In large-scale strategy, also, the state and numbers of the enemy must be scrutinized. The two approaches for observing are the eyes of kan (“looking in”) and ken (“looking at”). Intensifying the kan gaze, penetrate the enemy’s mind to discern the conditions. With a widened gaze, examine how the battle is progressing and search for moments of strength and vulnerability. This is the surest way to victory. In both large- and small-scale strategy, refrain from fixing your gaze narrowly. As I have written previously, focusing on minute details will make you forget bigger issues. Your mind will become confused and certain victory will slip from your reach. You must study this principle through careful training.
”
”
Alexander Bennett (The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works)
“
And in combat I learned to give up combat. I learned in fact, there were no enemies. An opponent was someone whose strength joined to yours and created a certain result. My baseball career was a long, long initiation into a single secret: that at the heart of all things is love. We are, each of us, one with the universe that surrounds us – in harmony with it, not in conspiracy against it. To live by being in harmony with what surrounds you is to be reminded that every end is followed by a new beginning – and that the humblest of life’s offerings is as treasured as the greatest in the eyes of the Creator.
”
”
Sadaharu Oh (Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way of Baseball)
“
Suraj solar and allied industries,
Wework galaxy, 43,
Residency Road,
Bangalore-560025.
Mobile number : +91 808 850 7979
Introduction to Solar Rooftop Systems
Understanding Solar Energy
Importance of Solar Rooftop Systems
Harnessing the power of the sun to generate clean and renewable energy has become increasingly essential in today's world. Solar rooftop systems offer a sustainable solution for both residential and commercial properties to reduce reliance on traditional grid electricity and lower carbon emissions. By understanding the fundamentals of solar energy and recognizing the significance of solar rooftop installations, individuals and businesses in Bangalore can pave the way towards a more environmentally conscious and cost-effective energy future.
# Solar Rooftop in Bangalore - Sunease Solar
## Introduction to Solar Rooftop Systems
### Understanding Solar Energy
Solar energy is like the coolest kid on the block when it comes to renewable energy sources. It's basically sunlight transformed into electricity, which is pretty neat if you ask me.
### Importance of Solar Rooftop Systems
Solar rooftop systems are like the superheroes of the energy world - they harness the power of the sun right from your rooftop. They not only help you save money but also reduce your carbon footprint. Win-win!
## Benefits of Solar Rooftop Installations
### Financial Savings
Imagine cutting down on those hefty electricity bills - that's what solar rooftop installations do. They help you save money in the long run while also increasing the value of your property . It resembles having your cake and eating it as well!
### Environmental Impact
By switching to solar energy, you're basically giving Mother Earth a virtual high-five. Solar rooftop installations reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help combat climate change. So, you're not just saving money, you're saving the planet. NBD.
### Energy Independence
Who doesn't want to be a little more independent, am I right?
Solar Rooftop in Bangaloreprovide you with a sense of self-sufficiency when it comes to energy. You're not at the mercy of fluctuating electricity prices anymore. It's like taking control of your energy destiny.
## Solar Rooftop Initiatives in Bangalore
### Government Policies and Incentives
Bangalore is all about that solar love. The government has rolled out various policies and incentives to promote solar rooftop installations. It resembles they're saying, "Here's something special to do your change to sun oriented considerably better."
### Community Programs and Awareness
Communities in Bangalore are coming together to spread the good word about solar energy. From awareness campaigns to collective installations, they're making sure everyone knows that solar is the way to go. It's like a solar revolution, but with a cool community twist.
## Sunease Solar: A Leader in Solar Rooftop Solutions
### Company Overview
Sunease Solar is basically the Gandalf of solar rooftop solutions - wise, reliable, and always there when you need them. They're experts in the field, making the switch to solar as easy as pie (solar-powered pie, of course).
### Product Offerings
From sleek solar panels to cutting-edge inverters, Sunease Solar has it all. They offer top-notch products that are not only efficient but also look pretty darn good on your rooftop. It's like having the Ferraris of solar installations.
### Customer Success Stories
Customers love Sunease Solar, and for good reason. Their success stories speak volumes about the quality of service and satisfaction they provide. It's like a feel-good movie, but with solar panels instead of actors.
5. Key Features of Solar Rooftop Systems
Panel Efficiency and Durability
When it comes to Solar Rooftop in Bangalore, panel efficiency and durability are key factors to consider.
”
”
Solar Rooftop in Bangalore
“
A vocal group of Negro leaders, including a courageous and influential Negro woman named Mary McLeod Bethune, was beginning to help women officers and military officials break down even more barriers than the initial campaigns by the Negro press.
The first fights were for Negro soldiers to serve in combat and for Negro women to be allowed in the women’s army.
Segregation in civilian life was still very much the law of the land, but the wartime needs in all areas of the military forced the government to admit that they would need to make some exceptions in order to win the war.
”
”
Joshunda Sanders (Women of the Post)
“
A story by Alice Park on the aging effects of fat on kids' bodies drew some pointed comments about parental accountability. "Your story is horrifying," wrote Susan Stafford of Berkeley, Calif. "But no one gains weight out of nowhere. People live in denial about food. Parents eat garbage and feed their kids the same." Diabetic Peter Baxter of Brighton, England, advocated for home cooking to combat ubiquitous ads for meals "that will kill children." Meanwhile Katy Steinmetz's TIME.com piece on state initiatives to ban big soda was widely shared on Twitter, where food writer Mark Bittman wrote, "The soda wars escalate.
”
”
Anonymous
“
This discussion of war then lays the foundation for an understanding of change as a process and as an essential component of military affairs. Militaries must change to cope with the changing environment in which they function. The U.S. Army has a robust process to guide change in its combat developments community. Change is also present in the business world, as industry seeks a competitive advantage in order to survive and prosper. The present transformation initiatives in the U.S. Department of Defense seek to maintain the U.S. dominance in military capability in the world and to exploit the opportunities afforded by new technologies and concepts of organization and warfare that use those technologies.
The future of military requirements remain a challenge to define. The transformation process tries to define that future and the capabilities needed in order to maintain the security of the United States. Yet enemies of the United States and its allies also seek to predict and mold this future to their advantage. The rise of Islamic fundamentalists or radicalism has changed the global security environment. Western nations must prepare to defeat this threat that is not really new but has risen to new levels of ferocity and lethality.
Regardless of the changes in technology, organizational and operational concepts, and external or internal threats, people remain a constant as the crucial element in war. People make decisions to use military and other elements of national power to impose the will of a nation on another group or nations. People also comprise the military services and man the component systems within the services. Any study of war and warfare must address the impact that people make on the conduct of war and the effects of war on people. The political process always includes people. To paraphrase Carl von Clausewitz, war is a continuation of that political process. Leaders who make a decision to fight and those who lead those soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines into battle must not forget that people implement those decisions and are the object of any offense or defense. Protecting the citizens of the United States is why the nation maintains military forces.
”
”
John M. House (Why War? Why an Army?)
“
The ‘either-or’ dogmatism, the stubbornly principled refusal to entertain compromise or concession, had served him well and had invariably proved successful in his political ‘career’ as long as he was combating weak, divided, and irresolute opponents. But it was a massive and insuperable obstacle when enemy positions were strong and united, when initiative had been irretrievably lost, bargaining power was weakening by the day, and more flexible military tactics and more subtle political skills were desperately needed. Not
”
”
Ian Kershaw (Hitler: 1936-1945 Nemesis)
“
because he was wielding a stone axe and a wooden shield. He was obviously the guard for the second mining team. “Do you favor axes over swords?” I asked him. “Yeah! They do more damage, but are slower to swing.” “I see. When does team #2 head out?” “I think we’re supposed to leave the town about 6 days after the first team leaves.” I nodded, then I talked to Emerson. “Have you ever mined before?” “Never in my life,” replied Emerson. “Oh, it isn’t hard.” “Bob said it’s easy and that he will train us once we arrive.” “I see. I guess Bob has it all planned out.” Emerson nodded. Then I talked to Jack. “Hey, I knew a guy named Jack once.” “You did? I guess Jack is a popular name,” Jack replied. “I guess so. How did you get into mining?” “Er… I was placed here. Initially, I signed up for combat training to become a guard.” “Really?” “Yeah!
”
”
Steve the Noob (Diary of Steve the Noob 17 (An Unofficial Minecraft Book) (Diary of Steve the Noob Collection))
“
So a leader must possess unwavering determination to overcome obstacles and accomplish his goals—while remaining open to the possibility that he may have to throw out the plan and try something else. That’s a lot to ask of anyone, but the German military saw it as the essence of the leader’s role. “Once a course of action has been initiated it must not be abandoned without overriding reason,” the Wehrmacht manual stated. “In the changing situations of combat, however, inflexibly clinging to a course of action can lead to failure. The art of leadership consists of the timely recognition of circumstances and of the moment when a new decision is required.”7
”
”
Philip E. Tetlock (Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction)
“
Pavlov's findings were confirmed in the most distressing manner, and on a very large scale, during the two World Wars. As the result of a single catastrophic experience, or of a succession of terrors less appalling but frequently repeated, soldiers develop a number of disabling psychophysical symptoms. Temporary unconsciousness, extreme agitation, lethargy, functional blindness or paralysis, completely unrealistic responses to the challenge of events, strange reversals of lifelong patterns of behavior -- all the symptoms, which Pavlov observed in his dogs, reappeared among the victims of what in the First World War was called "shell shock," in the Second, "battle fatigue." Every man, like every dog, has his own individual limit of endurance. Most men reach their limit after about thirty days of more or less continuous stress under the conditions of modern combat. The more than averagely susceptible succumb in only fifteen days. The more than averagely tough can resist for forty-five or even fifty days. Strong or weak, in the long run all of them break down. All, that is to say, of those who are initially sane. For, ironically enough, the only people who can hold up indefinitely under the stress of modern war are psychotics. Individual insanity is immune to the consequences of collective insanity.
”
”
Aldous Huxley (Brave New World Revisited)
“
Here was my first lesson: This type of skill development is hard. When I got to the first tricky gap in the paper’s main proof argument, I faced immediate internal resistance. It was as if my mind realized the effort I was about to ask it to expend, and in response it unleashed a wave of neuronal protest, distant at first, but then as I persisted increasingly tremendous, crashing over my concentration with mounting intensity. To combat this resistance, I deployed two types of structure. The first type was time structure: “I am going to work on this for one hour,” I would tell myself. “I don’t care if I faint from the effort, or make no progress, for the next hour this is my whole world.” But of course I wouldn’t faint and eventually I would make progress. It took, on average, ten minutes for the waves of resistance to die down. Those ten minutes were always difficult, but knowing that my efforts had a time limit helped ensure that the difficulty was manageable. The second type of structure I deployed was information structure—a way of capturing the results of my hard focus in a useful form. I started by building a proof map that captured the dependencies between the different pieces of the proof. This was hard, but not too hard, and it got me warmed up in my efforts to understand the result. I then advanced from the maps to short self-administered quizzes that forced me to memorize the key definitions the proof used. Again, this was a relatively easy task, but it still took concentration, and the result was an understanding that was crucial for parsing the detailed math that came next. After these first two steps, emboldened by my initial successes in deploying hard focus, I moved on to the big guns: proof summaries. This is where I forced myself to take each lemma and walk through each step of its proofs—filling in missing steps. I would conclude by writing a detailed summary in my own words. This was staggeringly demanding, but the fact that I had already spent time on easier tasks in the paper built up enough momentum to help push me forward.
”
”
Cal Newport (So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love)
“
Here was my first lesson: This type of skill development is hard. When I got to the first tricky gap in the paper’s main proof argument, I faced immediate internal resistance. It was as if my mind realized the effort I was about to ask it to expend, and in response it unleashed a wave of neuronal protest, distant at first, but then as I persisted increasingly tremendous, crashing over my concentration with mounting intensity. To combat this resistance, I deployed two types of structure. The first type was time structure: “I am going to work on this for one hour,” I would tell myself. “I don’t care if I faint from the effort, or make no progress, for the next hour this is my whole world.” But of course I wouldn’t faint and eventually I would make progress. It took, on average, ten minutes for the waves of resistance to die down. Those ten minutes were always difficult, but knowing that my efforts had a time limit helped ensure that the difficulty was manageable. The second type of structure I deployed was information structure—a way of capturing the results of my hard focus in a useful form. I started by building a proof map that captured the dependencies between the different pieces of the proof. This was hard, but not too hard, and it got me warmed up in my efforts to understand the result. I then advanced from the maps to short self-administered quizzes that forced me to memorize the key definitions the proof used. Again, this was a relatively easy task, but it still took concentration, and the result was an understanding that was crucial for parsing the detailed math that came next. After these first two steps, emboldened by my initial successes in deploying hard focus, I moved on to the big guns: proof summaries. This is where I forced myself to take each lemma and walk through each step of its proofs—filling in missing steps. I would conclude by writing a detailed summary in my own words. This was staggeringly demanding, but the fact that I had already spent time on easier tasks in the paper built up enough momentum to help push me forward. I returned to this paper regularly over a period of two weeks. When I was done, I had probably experienced fifteen hours total of deliberate practice–style strain, but due to its intensity it felt like much more. Fortunately, this effort led to immediate benefits. Among other things, it allowed me to understand whole swaths of related work that had previously been mysterious. The researchers who wrote this paper had enjoyed a near monopoly on solving this style of problem—now I could join them.
”
”
Cal Newport (So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love)
“
Lee Tran & Liang tried to have Quinn Emmanuel thrown off the case, as Reggie had tried to get another Quinn Emmanuel lawyer to take his side of the case before he went to Lee Tran & Liang. Ultimately, the judge ruled against Reggie and said the waiver Reggie had signed and the ethical wall Quinn Emmanuel erected were sufficient for them to continue representing Evan, Bobby, and Snapchat. Lee Tran & Liang also tried to sue all of Snapchat’s investors, claiming their shares were diluting Reggie’s one-third stake. They even lined up a tell-all interview for Reggie with GQ magazine, but he backed out at the last minute. At one point, Lee’s partner Luan Tran took a copy of Forbes magazine with Evan on the cover, scrawled red devil horns over his head, and pinned it to the wall in his office. The combative trial would wage for months, and each side had plenty more cards to play. Reggie claimed he owned one-third of Snapchat’s intellectual property since he filed the original patent (which, again, was never approved). He also claimed that they had entered into an oral partnership agreement when he and Evan initially agreed to split everything 50/ 50 (before they brought Bobby in). Evan and Bobby claimed Reggie was merely working with them on a project, and they never agreed to an equity split; because they used the Limited Liability Company (LLC) structure that Evan and Bobby had set up for Future Freshman rather than a whole new one, they claimed Reggie should know he had no equity in the venture.
”
”
Billy Gallagher (How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story)
“
Principles of War Objective: Direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable objective. Offensive: Seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. Mass: Mass the effects of overwhelming combat power at the decisive place and time. Economy of force: Employ all combat power available in the most effective way possible; allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts. Maneuver: Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power. Unity of command: For every objective, seek unity of command and unity of effort. Security: Never permit the enemy to acquire unexpected advantage. Surprise: Strike the enemy at a time or place or in a manner for which it is unprepared. Simplicity: Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and concise orders to ensure thorough understanding.
”
”
Anonymous
“
When World War One broke out in 1914, planes were initially used for intelligence gathering. The machines, which moved faster than any man made device had ever, flew at approximately 80 miles per hour. No plane in WWI flew faster than 145mph, and that was at the very end of the war. Of course, neither side wanted the other to spy on its troop movements, so within a very short period of time, pilots were trying to bring each other down. Initially, the first dogfights, strange as it may seem, were fought with grappling hooks hanging below the plane, grenades, and ramming. This was both highly inefficient and highly dangerous (for everyone involved). The first plane-to-plane combat was on the Eastern Front where a Russian pilot, who probably meant to graze his enemy, crashed his plane into an Austro-Hungarian machine. He and the two man crew of the Austrian plane were killed. Soon, pilots began shooting at each other with pistols and the single shot rifles of the time. You can guess how effective this was.
”
”
Ryan Jenkins (World War 2 Air Battles: The Famous Air Combats that Defined WWII)
“
Anecdotal tales of combat are meaningless to Americans, we absorb tales of violence like a sponge. Mythological violence is second nature to us. The real thing is not. War begins long before battle. It begins when we are boys longing for the initiation rite of the warrior and everything it promises: sexual prowess and sexual license. War lasts long after the last bullet is fired; into old age and death we go carrying a secret knowledge that no one wants to know about. War is the opposite of sexual prowess. War is desire stripped of humanity.
”
”
Alfredo Véa
“
Dr. David L. Katz, President of the True Health Initiative, asked on March 20 if our fight against the corona-virus was worse then the disease (167). Could there not be more specific means to combat the disease? What about all the collateral damage?
”
”
Dr. Karina Reiss
“
Inclusion of women creates a segment of the military that is physically weaker, more prone to injury (both physical and psychological), less physically aggressive, able to withstand less pain, less willing to take physical risks, less motivated to kill, less likely to be available to deploy when ordered to, more expensive to recruit, and less likely to remain in the service even for the length of their initial contracts. Women are placed in units with men who do not trust them with their lives and who do not bond with them the way that they do with other men. The groups into which they are introduced become less disciplined and more subject to conflict related to sexual jealousy and sexual frustration, and men receive less rigorous training because of their presence. Officers and NCOs must divert attention from their central missions to cope with the “drama” that sexual integration brings, and they must reassign physical tasks (or do them themselves) because women cannot get them done fast enough, if at all. Men who have traditionally been drawn to the military because of its appeal to their masculinity now find that the military tries to cure them of it to make the environment more comfortable for women.
”
”
Kingsley Browne (Co-ed Combat: The New Evidence That Women Shouldn't Fight the Nation's Wars)
“
It was this gap between the truth of modern-day Russia and Putin’s insistence on its superpower status, I thought, that helped account for the country’s increasingly combative foreign relations. Much of the ire was directed at us: In public remarks, Putin became sharply critical of American policy. When U.S.-backed initiatives came before the U.N. Security Council, he made sure Russia blocked them or watered them down—particularly anything touching on human rights. More consequential were Putin’s escalating efforts to prevent former Soviet bloc countries, now independent, from breaking free of Russia’s orbit. Our diplomats routinely received complaints from Russia’s neighbors about instances of intimidation, economic pressure, misinformation campaigns, covert electioneering, contributions to pro-Russian political candidates, or outright bribery. In
”
”
Barack Obama (A Promised Land: The powerful political memoir from the former US President)
“
In the fight for half-distance, the boxer works faster than in a distance fight; great speed of short blows and fast change - situations greatly hinder the boxer's orientation: in a half-distance fight he should specifically guess the intended actions of the opponent, immediately anticipating them, finding convenient starting positions, both for short blows and for defense. Therefore, the boxer should learn and learn exactly the defense and counteracting, used in the fight for half-life. All counters are divided into "direct" defense. The "blows" are called those blows that anticipate the opponent's attack (Figure 26). These blows anticipate the opponent's attack and due to the fact that they are unexpected for the opponent, they are considered the most effective. "Direct" blows can be combined with almost all types of defense. The ability to use them gives the boxer the option of permanently keeping the initiative in combat in his hands. In actions against the attacking boxer, the basic ones are "direct" counterits; you can stop them and paralyze aggressive actions of the opponent
”
”
Michael Wenz (BOXING: COMBAT SPORT: RULES, TECHNIQUES, POSITIONS, DISTANCE, MOVEMENT. BECOME A SPORT LEGEND. (TRAINING))
“
fill pauses in the fight, thus keeping the initiative in your hands. An experienced boxer can disorganize the tactics of the most reasonable opponent, teasing him with numerous, accurate, repeated, still straight blows. A long straight blow to the head is relatively safe for the one dealing with him, because the boxer's body stays at a sufficient distance from the opponent and is not directly exposed to his short counter-attacks. Twisting the right torso protects the boxer, to some extent, from the opponents' right-hand counter-strikes. The blow is dealt directly from the boxing position from a distance. The weight of the body before the blow evenly spreads to both legs, or slightly moves to the right leg. With the right leg, the boxer sends the body forward towards the opponent. The left leg performs a sliding step forward. In this way, the body moves forward, the reflection with the right leg gives the movement even more dynamism. The left hand, directed before the blow to the enemy, quickly moves forward, fist into the target. The speed increases further thanks to the torsion of the trunk from the left to the right, harmonized with the simultaneous general movement forward. At the last moment of dealing a blow, his sharpness increases by the ending, rapid movement of the hand dealing the blow. The fist, when it touches the target, should be turned in half-turn revolving downwards, with the forearm in the intermediate system between pronation and supination.
”
”
Michael Wenz (BOXING: COMBAT SPORT: RULES, TECHNIQUES, POSITIONS, DISTANCE, MOVEMENT. BECOME A SPORT LEGEND. (TRAINING))
“
Roman Kariste, with a left-to-right blow to the head, uses the right leg for the initial rebound, but the left leg, carrying the weight of the body to the right leg and putting the left leg forward.
”
”
Michael Wenz (BOXING: COMBAT SPORT: RULES, TECHNIQUES, POSITIONS, DISTANCE, MOVEMENT. BECOME A SPORT LEGEND. (TRAINING))
“
(eg a short straight blow from the bottom, left-wing blow with the initiation of movement by the left foot and other).
”
”
Michael Wenz (BOXING: COMBAT SPORT: RULES, TECHNIQUES, POSITIONS, DISTANCE, MOVEMENT. BECOME A SPORT LEGEND. (TRAINING))
“
In the fight against an opponent operating quickly and using the most unexpected counterattacks in a variety of ways, there is only one type of belaying - cover the chin without interruption. The most commonly used insurance method is the following: the palm of the right hand, ready to accept a possible opponent's blow, should be kept by the chin. When learning blows, defending the chin with the hand of a free hand is considered a valid condition. In the initial period of training it is necessary to observe that young boxers attacking are protected from unexpected opponents' countermeasures.
”
”
Michael Wenz (BOXING: COMBAT SPORT: RULES, TECHNIQUES, POSITIONS, DISTANCE, MOVEMENT. BECOME A SPORT LEGEND. (TRAINING))
“
In the fight against an opponent operating quickly and using the most unexpected counterattacks in a variety of ways, there is only one type of belaying - cover the chin without interruption. The most commonly used insurance method is the following: the palm of the right hand, ready to accept a possible opponent's blow, should be kept by the chin. When learning blows, defending the chin with the hand of a free hand is considered a valid condition. In the initial period of training it is necessary to observe that young boxers attacking are protected from unexpected opponents' countermeasures. It is important, however, to protect yourself against loss of balance in the case of misses, which use a lot of energy and put the boxer in a difficult positional situation against the opponent. Therefore, the boxer, even quickly and energetically carrying out his attacks, should skillfully calculate the strength of his blows to always keep his balance. Victory in combat is achieved primarily thanks to the activity and fast pace of battle; and yet misses interfere with the continuity of the boxer's actions. The most important condition for a properly planned fight in terms of tactics - is the ability to act unexpectedly. The fight, in which the lack of combat cunning, can not bring success, because the opponent, knowing the combat capabilities and means of the boxer, easily opposes their actions. The ability to keep your opponent in the unconscious as well as the ability to attack unexpectedly gives a great advantage in combat. If a boxer skilfully conceals his intentions, the opponent can not guess his individual actions, or understand the general plan of the fight, nor did he know anything about his combat situation correctly.
”
”
Michael Wenz (BOXING: COMBAT SPORT: RULES, TECHNIQUES, POSITIONS, DISTANCE, MOVEMENT. BECOME A SPORT LEGEND. (TRAINING))
“
The Australian Department of Defence asked his research group to measure the effects of deployment to combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan on mental and biological functioning, including brain-wave patterns. In the initial phase McFarlane and his colleagues measured the qEEG in 179 combat troops four months prior to and four months after each successive deployment to the Middle East. They found that the total number of months in combat over a three-year period was associated with progressive decreases in alpha power at the back of the brain. This area, which monitors the state of the body and regulates such elementary processes as sleep and hunger, ordinarily has the highest level of alpha waves of any region in the brain, particularly when people close their eyes. As we have seen, alpha is associated with relaxation. The decrease in alpha power in these soldiers reflects a state of persistent agitation. At the same time the brain waves at the front of the brain, which normally have high levels of beta, show a progressive slowing with each deployment. The soldiers gradually develop frontal-lobe activity that resembles that of children with ADHD, which interferes with their executive functioning and capacity for focused attention. The
”
”
Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma)
“
Basically, action is, and always will be, faster than reaction. Thus, the attacker is the one that dictates the fight. They are forcing the encounter with technique after technique that are designed to overcome any defensive techniques initiated by the defender. Much of this exchange, and determining which of the adversaries is victorious, is all a matter of split seconds. That is the gap between action and reaction. That attacker acts; the defender reacts. Military history is saturated with an uneven amount of victorious attackers compared to victorious defenders. It is common to observe the same phenomenon in popular sports, fighting competitions, in the corporate world of big business. The list goes on and on. So, how do we effectively defend ourselves when we can easily arrive at the conclusion that the defender statistically loses? It is by developing the mentality that once attacked that you immediately counter-attack. That counter-attack has to be ferocious and unrelenting. If someone throws a punch, or otherwise initiates battle with you, putting you, for a split second, on the wrong side of the action versus reaction gap. Your best chance of victory is to deflect, smoother, parry, or otherwise negate their attack and then immediately launch into a vicious counter-attack. Done properly, this forces your adversary into a reactive state, rather than an action one. You turn the table on them and become the aggressor. That is how to effectively conceptualizes being in a defensive situation. Utilizing this method will place you in a greater position to be victorious. Dempsey, Sun Tzu and General Patton would agree. Humans are very violent animals. As a species, we are capable of high levels of extreme violence. In fact, approaching the subject of unarmed combatives, or any form of combatives, involves the immersion into a field that is inherently violent to the extreme of those extremes. It is one thing to find yourself facing an opponent across a field, or ring, during a sporting match. Those contests still pit skill verses skill, but lack the survival aspects of an unarmed combative encounter. The average person rarely, if ever, ponders any of this and many consider various sporting contests as the apex of human competition. It is not. Finding yourself in a life-or-death struggle against an opponent that is completely intent on ending your life is the greatest of all human competitions. Understanding that and acknowledging that takes some degree of courage in today’s society.
”
”
Rand Cardwell (36 Deadly Bubishi Points: The Science and Technique of Pressure Point Fighting - Defend Yourself Against Pressure Point Attacks!)
“
SEALING THE QI “The imperatives of war demand deadly, effective, pre-emptive action.”
Peter Consterdine We have established that the Fire meridians, which include the Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, and Triple Warmer meridians are the most vulnerable to martial attack. The information and research that has been presented should validate the Fire meridians as the Primary Energetic Targets of the body from a combative viewpoint. There are numerous other tidbits of martial science that can be derived from the information. The knowledge of understanding which of the elemental energies are deficient or excessive during a combative situation allows the martial artist to tailor their self-defense techniques to gain the best response. If you have been applying Traditional Chinese Medicine to your individual style, then you have already been doing this procedure. Examination of the various techniques of your style, through that Eastern perspective, has opened the proverbial door to an increase in the overall effectiveness of your techniques. Knowing that initial strikes to the arms, while an opponent is punching for instance, will “activate” the Gall Bladder meridian for follow-up attacks. This example follows the Cycle of Control by first attacking the Fire and Metal meridians of the arms and then attacking the Wood meridians for a quick follow-up strike. By disrupting the energy flow of three elements, the Fire, Metal, and Wood energies in this example, of the Cycle of Control you are able to drop most opponents fairly easily.
”
”
Rand Cardwell (36 Deadly Bubishi Points: The Science and Technique of Pressure Point Fighting - Defend Yourself Against Pressure Point Attacks!)
“
GV-15 and 16 are located within one inch of each other on the back of the head, at the base of the hairline. By striking this point, the ability of the Extraordinary Vessels to correct energetic imbalances of the Yang associated meridians are severed. What does this mean exactly? It means that a forceful strike or series of strikes, which are aimed at GV-15 and 16, will greatly hinder, or even completely stop, the ability of the body to correct energetic imbalances to the heart. This concept is referred to as “sealing the qi”1 or “sealing the energy.” Remember that in a combative situation that your opponent’s body will be in an energetic state in which the Fire and Metal meridians will be in great excess. The Wood, Water, and Earth meridians will be energetically in a highly deficient state during such an encounter. During the encounter you attack the Main Meridians in a manner that accentuates those imbalances. This is through your initial entering technique to the strike that places your opponent in a position where strikes to GV-15 and 16 are possible. Your finishing strike or strikes are focused on those two points, which are no more than one half of an inch from each other. It is a great possibility that the excessive energy of the heart, which can not be corrected by the Extraordinary Vessels after your finishing strike, will result in a heart attack. Think of it this way. Because of the automatic responses of Body Alarm Reaction, the Heart meridian is “flooded” with extra energy by the Extraordinary Vessels. That extra energy places in the Heart meridian in an excessive state. Martial techniques are executed that contribute to this already excessive state. The heart will be overwhelmed with extra energy. It will be beating at a much greater than normal rate. To correct this excessive state the body would normally utilize the connection points of GV-15 and 16 to “pipe out” or “draw off” the excessive energy that is present in the Heart meridian. By striking GV-15 and 16, repeatedly if possible, the connection is disrupted to the point that this can not occur. The result is that the heart is in a major excessive state and it can not correct the imbalance. That can result in arrhythmia. This is the worst possible energetic attack to the delicate Yin associated Heart Meridian. It is the worst possible energetic attack period.
”
”
Rand Cardwell (36 Deadly Bubishi Points: The Science and Technique of Pressure Point Fighting - Defend Yourself Against Pressure Point Attacks!)
“
GV-15 and 16 are located within one inch of each other on the back of the head, at the base of the hairline. By striking this point, the ability of the Extraordinary Vessels to correct energetic imbalances of the Yang associated meridians are severed. What does this mean exactly? It means that a forceful strike or series of strikes, which are aimed at GV-15 and 16, will greatly hinder, or even completely stop, the ability of the body to correct energetic imbalances to the heart. This concept is referred to as “sealing the qi”1 or “sealing the energy.” Remember that in a combative situation that your opponent’s body will be in an energetic state in which the Fire and Metal meridians will be in great excess. The Wood, Water, and Earth meridians will be energetically in a highly deficient state during such an encounter. During the encounter you attack the Main Meridians in a manner that accentuates those imbalances. This is through your initial entering technique to the strike that places your opponent in a position where strikes to GV-15 and 16 are possible. Your finishing strike or strikes are focused on those two points, which are no more than one half of an inch from each other. It is a great possibility that the excessive energy of the heart, which can not be corrected by the Extraordinary Vessels after your finishing strike, will result in a heart attack. Think of it this way. Because of the automatic responses of Body Alarm Reaction, the Heart meridian is “flooded” with extra energy by the Extraordinary Vessels. That extra energy places in the Heart meridian in an excessive state. Martial techniques are executed that contribute to this already excessive state. The heart will be overwhelmed with extra energy. It will be beating at a much greater than normal rate. To correct this excessive state the body would normally utilize the connection points of GV-15 and 16 to “pipe out” or “draw off” the excessive energy that is present in the Heart meridian. By striking GV-15 and 16, repeatedly if possible, the connection is disrupted to the point that this can not occur. The result is that the heart is in a major excessive state and it can not correct the imbalance. That can result in arrhythmia. This is the worst possible energetic attack to the delicate Yin associated Heart Meridian. It is the worst possible energetic attack period. The Heart is the most delicate and important organ of the body to energetic fluctuations. Where are no other energetic attacks that have this much of a negative effect on the body. The results of this type of attack are extremely serious and should only be used in life-or-death situations!
”
”
Rand Cardwell (36 Deadly Bubishi Points: The Science and Technique of Pressure Point Fighting - Defend Yourself Against Pressure Point Attacks!)
“
been designed to research the spread of the Spanish flu. Comparing that disease with YARS was a fascinating exercise, as was comparing the world it devastated to the one that existed today. The very name “Spanish flu” was just another lie foisted on the world by America. The truth was that the disease had first taken hold in Kansas City military outposts. It killed more U.S. troops during World War I than combat, spreading easily in the cramped conditions that prevailed on ships, battlegrounds, and bases. The initial reaction of the medical community had been slowed by its focus on the war, but when the scope of the threat was recognized, the country had pulled together. Surgical masks were worn in public to slow the spread of the disease. Stores were prohibited from having sales to prevent the congregation of people in confined spaces. Some cities demanded that passengers’ health be certified before they boarded trains. There was no denying that the United States and its citizens had been strong in the early twentieth century—accustomed to death and hardship, led by competent politicians, and informed by an honest press. So much had changed in the last century. The American people were now inexplicably suspicious of modern medicine and susceptible to nonsensical conspiracy theories. They were selfish and self-absorbed, willing to prioritize their own trivial desires over the lives of their countrymen. Their medical system, designed less to heal people than to generate profits, would quickly collapse as it was flooded by desperate patients and abandoned by personnel fearful of being infected. And during all this, America’s politicians and media would use the burgeoning epidemic to augment their own power and wealth. That is, until the magnitude of the crisis became clear. Then they would flee. The sound of a truck engine pulled him from his contemplation and he turned. His people, disinfected and wearing clean clothing, climbed into the vehicle and set off into the darkness. Halabi bowed respectfully in their direction, acknowledging their sacrifice and the enormity of the journey ahead of them. After the long drive to Mogadishu, they would board a private jet that would take them to Mexico. From there they would be smuggled across the northern border.
”
”
Kyle Mills (Lethal Agent (Mitch Rapp, #18))
“
According to Hegel, the desire for recognition initially drives two primordial combatants to seek to make the other “recognize” their humanness by staking their lives in a mortal battle. When the natural fear of death leads one combatant to submit, the relationship of master and slave is born. The stakes in this bloody battle at the beginning of history are not food, shelter, or security, but pure prestige. And precisely because the goal of the battle is not determined by biology, Hegel sees in it the first glimmer of human freedom.
”
”
Francis Fukuyama (The End of History and the Last Man)
“
In that year, in Moscow, a ministerial conference of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries on combating transnational organized crime stated that the ministers had “agreed to consider putting certain responsibilities, as appropriate, on those professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, company formation agents, auditors, and other financial intermediaries who can either block or facilitate the entry of organized crime money into the financial system.”45 The 2003 revisions to the Forty Recommendations of the FATF implement the G8’s “Gatekeeper” initiative by extending basic AML/CFT prevention requirements, including the reporting requirements, with some qualifications, to a list of “designated non-financial businesses and professions” that includes casinos; real estate agents; dealers in precious metals and precious stones; lawyers, notaries, and other independent professionals and accountants in certain defined circumstances; and trust and company service providers.
”
”
International Monetary Fund (Financial Intelligence Units: An Overview)
“
The short version of it is, he and a squad of special operations troops flew into a village in southern Afghanistan in two Blackhawks, with a gunship flying support. They were targeting a house where two Taliban leadership guys were hiding out with their bodyguards. They landed, hit the house, there was a short fight there, they killed one man, but they’d caught the Taliban guys while they were sleeping. They controlled and handcuffed the guys they were looking for, and had five of their bodyguards on the floor. Then the village came down on them like a ton of bricks. Instead of just being the two guys with their bodyguards, there were like fifty or sixty Taliban in there. There was no way to haul out the guys they’d arrested—there was nothing they could do but run. They got out by the skin of their teeth.” “What about Carver?” Lucas asked. “Carver was the last guy out of the house. Turns out, the Taliban guys they’d handcuffed were executed. So were the bodyguards, and two of them were kids. Eleven or twelve years old. Armed, you know, but . . . kids.” “Yeah.” “An army investigator recommended that Carver be charged with murder, but it was quashed by the command in Afghanistan—deaths in the course of combat,” Kidd said. “The investigator protested, but he was a career guy, a major, and eventually he shut up.” “Would he talk now? I need something that would open Carver up.” “I don’t think so,” Kidd said. “He’s just made lieutenant colonel. He’s never going to get a star, but if he behaves, he could get his birds before he retires.” “Birds?” “Eagles. He could be promoted to colonel. That’s a nice retirement bump for guys who behave. But, there’s another guy. The second-to-the-last guy out. He’s apparently the one who saw the executions and made the initial report. He’s out of the army now. He lives down in Albuquerque.
”
”
John Sandford (Silken Prey (Lucas Davenport #23))
“
When right-wing rock star Ted Nugent drew national ire for calling President Obama a “subhuman mongrel,” some prominent conservatives like Rick Perry initially came to his defense, while others dodged media questions about the racially charged insult. But after months of “listening sessions” with African American civic leaders, students, and government officials, Rand had come to appreciate how hurtful comments like those could be, even when coming from unserious celebrity provocateurs. One night after Nugent made the comment, Rand emailed Stafford saying he wanted to denounce the remark. Stafford was sympathetic, but he cautioned that, politically, it could cause problems on the right. As a father, doesn’t it offend you? Rand wrote back. Stafford glanced up from his phone at his adopted daughter, who was black, and then at his wife, who had been fuming about Nugent’s comment ever since she heard it. “You’re right,” he told Rand. That night the senator tweeted, “Ted Nugent’s derogatory description of President Obama is offensive and has no place in politics. He should apologize.
”
”
McKay Coppins (The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House)
“
Journey to the Plain July 1972–June 1976 I was raised to respect soldiers, leaders, and heroes. They were who I wanted to be. They were why I was there. And in the unblinking sunlight of an August morning at the United States Military Academy in 1972, the colonel in front of me looked like the embodiment of all I admired. Hanging on his spare frame, his pine green uniform was covered with patches, badges, and campaign ribbons. Even the weathered lines of his face seemed to reflect all he’d done and all he was. It was the look I’d seen in my father’s face. For a moment I could envision my father in combat in Korea, or as the lean warrior embracing my mother as he came home from Vietnam. He was my lifelong hero. From my earlier memories I’d wanted to be like him. I’d always wanted to be a soldier. Yet the colonel’s words were not what I wanted and expected to hear. As he stood in front of me and my fellow new cadets, he talked about collar stays, the twenty-five-cent pieces of wire cadets used to secure the collars of the blue gray shirts we would wear to class during the academic year. As he spoke, we tried not to squirm under the sun. Our backs were arched, arms flat to our sides, elbows slightly bent, fingers curled into tight palms, chests out, chins forward, eyes ahead. Mouths shut. I was five weeks into my education at West Point. We were still in Beast Barracks, or simply Beast, the initial eight-week indoctrination and basic-training phase during the summer before the fall term of our freshman year—plebe year, in West Point’s timeworn terminology. There were not many full colonels at West Point, so it was rare for cadets, particularly new cadets like us, to interact with them. It seemed like an extraordinary opportunity to hear from a man who’d done so much. But he wasn’t discussing his experiences and the truths they had yielded; he was talking about collar stays.
”
”
Stanley McChrystal (My Share of the Task: A Memoir)
“
For China, the economic corridor has two aims, to open up an alternative route for oil imports from the Middle East, and to persuade Pakistan to do more to combat violent extremism seeping over its border. The vision is driven by strategic factors, not commercial logic.
”
”
Tom Miller (China's Asian Dream: Empire Building along the New Silk Road)
“
The initial seeds of a culture shift were sown that night, in the army in general, but more importantly, in my own mind. It was a pivotal moment in my career as I tasted what it was like to have group cohesion, to have each other's backs, to be a part of something bigger than my own reach. I knew that one of the key arguments against women in combat had been that men would risk their own life to save the poor, weak and frail woman who was in danger. For some people this incident would confirm their philosophy when they learned an attack had been attempted to save me from my captors. Yet I knew that my teammates would have mounted the same attack for any other member of our platoon, and I am convinced I would have done the same for them.
It seemed clear to me that one doesn't decide to be brave only for a select few. The instincts that drive courage would enable a soldier to do the right thing regardless of who was on the receiving end of the act. Valour is valour. No one is unworthy of saving when it is the right thing to do.
”
”
Sandra Perron (Out Standing in the Field)
“
Can we teach our officers to shoot too well? I don't think so. If we trained our officers in first aid, and everyone they treated survived, did we train them too well? If we trained our officers in driving, and they never had anymore accidents, did we train them too well? If someone must die in an armed encounter, let it be the subject who is initiating the hostile action, and not another officer.
”
”
Dave Grossman (On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace)
“
Once you step into a fight that is not of your own choosing, you lose all initiative. The combatants' interests becomes your interests; you become their tool. Learn to control yourself, to restrain your natural tendency to take sides and join the fight. Be friendly and charming to each of the combatants, then step back as they collide. With every battle they grow weaker, while you grow stronger with every battle you avoid.
”
”
Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power)
“
However, behind the scene, the Congress party and the government of Indira Gandhi had left no stone unturned to install a Congress government in the state, even well before the inauguration of the new state. This game was not new to the working philosophy of Indira Gandhi. As the President of the INC she had started this game with Kerala. Her major and minor political rivals had later emulated this new domino game, which subverted much of the Constitutional propriety of the intended federal structure of India. I never thought that in a small state like Manipur the big players in Delhi would play such a wild game of political expediency. Manipur was at the vanguard of combating Naga insurgency and coping with the new thrust of militancy initiated by the frustrated and disillusioned youths of the Valley. It required sustained economic development and not political skulduggery. The Congress party normally suffers from claustrophobia once it is denied power by the people. The same trend was noticed in Manipur. The president of the Indian National Congress and lesser party leaders frequented the state to explore the possibility of installing a party government through defection. Their foreplays were fortified by no less an official personality than the Union Home Minister.
”
”
Maloy Krishna Dhar (Open Secrets: The Explosive Memoirs of an Indian Intelligence Officer)
“
Only extraordinary leaders take the initiative and seek out this training. Generally, most of today’s officers feel that they don’t need the training, or that it is too easy. Yet these are the same officers who are overwhelmed in the stress of combat while trying to process all the incoming information under chaotic conditions.
”
”
Paul R. Howe (Leadership and Training for the Fight: Using Special Operations Principles to Succeed in Law Enforcement, Business, and War)
“
Some people believe that they have to combine different plant-based foods to create “complete” proteins. This belief, called “protein combining,” was a theory initially put forward in the 1971 bestseller Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé. It quickly became one of the biggest myths in the dieting world. Ten years later, Lappé herself formally rescinded her position in a new edition of the same book: “In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought.
”
”
Rip Esselstyn (My Beef with Meat: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet--Plus 140 New Engine 2 Recipes)
“
Effective combat leadership should empower the fighting troops to take initiative and decisive action at the lowest level to support the common goal.
”
”
Paul R. Howe (Leadership and Training for the Fight: Using Special Operations Principles to Succeed in Law Enforcement, Business, and War)
“
Once you step into a fight that is not of your own choosing, you lose all initiative. The combatants’ interests become your interests; you become their tool. Learn to control yourself, to restrain your natural tendency to take sides and join the fight. Be friendly and charming to each of the combatants, then step back as they collide. With every battle they grow weaker, while you grow stronger with every battle you avoid.
”
”
Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power)
“
On 15 July the Polish, Lithuanian, and crusader armies converged in what is now north-eastern Poland at a place called Grunwald, where Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen mocked King Władysław II Jagiełło and Grand Duke Vytautas, the Lithuanian cousins who ruled Poland and Lithuania, by sending them a pair of swords to encourage them to fight. The fight began soon enough; the Lithuanians were initially forced into retreat. But then, as the Grand Master’s closest knights set to savage hand-to-hand combat with King Władysław’s bodyguard, the Lithuanians returned. Attacking from the rear, they hacked down Von Jungingen and the rest of the Prussian leaders, putting the Teutonic Knights to flight.1 In the long term, Władysław and Vytautas’s victory marked the end of the Northern Crusades and established Poland–Lithuania’s dominance of east-central Europe for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.
”
”
Francis Young (Silence of the Gods: The Untold History of Europe's Last Pagan Peoples)
“
The problem of Evil actually troubles only a few sensitive souls, a few skeptics, repelled by the way in which the believer comes to terms with it or spirits it away. Hence it is to these that theodicies are primarily addressed, attempts to humanize God, frantic acrobatics that collapse and compromise themselves on this ground, constantly belied as they are by experience. Try as they will to be persuasive, they fail; they are declared suspect, incriminated, and asked for accountings, in the name of one piece of evidence — Evil — evidence that a de Maistre will attempt to deny. “Everything is Evil,” he instructs us; yet Evil, he hastens to add, comes down to a “purely negative” force that has nothing “in common with existence,” comes down to a “schism in being,” to an accident. Others will assert on the contrary that quite as constitutive of being as Good, and quite as real. Evil is nature, an essential ingredient of existence and anything but an accessory phenomenon, and that the problems Evil raises become insoluble as soon as we refuse to introduce it into the composition of the divine substance. Just as sickness is not an absence of health but a reality as positive and as lasting as health, in the same way Evil is worth as much as Good, even exceeds it in indestructibility and plenitude. Good and Evil principles coexist and mingle in God, as they coexist and mingle in the world. The notion of God’s culpability is not a gratuitous one, but necessary and perfectly compatible with the notion of His omnipotence: only such an idea confers some intelligibility on the historical process, on all it contains that is monstrous, mad, and absurd. To attribute goodness and purity to the creator of becoming is to abandon all comprehension of the majority of events, especially the most important one: the Creation. God could not avoid the influence of Evil, mainspring of actions, an agent indispensable to Whoever, exasperated by self-containment, aspires to emerge, to spread Himself and corrupt Himself in time. If Evil, the secret of our dynamism, were to withdraw from our lives, we should vegetate in that monotonous perfection of the Good which, according to Genesis, vexed Being itself. The combat between the two principles. Good and Evil, is waged on every level of existence, including eternity. We are plunged into the adventure of the Creation, one of the most dreadful of exploits, without “moral purposes” and perhaps without meaning; and though the idea and the initiative for it are God’s, we cannot reproach him for it, so great in our eyes is His prestige as the first guilty party. By making us His accomplices, He associated us with that vast movement of solidarity in Evil which sustains and affirms the universal confusion.
”
”
Emil M. Cioran (Anathemas and Admirations: Essays and Aphorisms)
“
And because he lacked the initiative, and was assuming the imperfect moral stand of condemning Hitlerism as utterly evil and bent on world domination without openly and totally combating it, he faced a thicket of secondary but irksome troubles.
”
”
James MacGregor Burns (Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940–1945))
“
THINKING ABOUT HOW TO RECOVER YOUR LOST BTC? WITH SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS, YOU ARE SECURED
Website: h t t p s : / / s o l a c e c y b e r w o r k s t a t i o n s . c o m
Email: S o l a c e . c y b e r . w o r k s t a t i o n s @ m a i l . c o m
WhatsApp: + 1 2 4 0 7 4 3 7 6 8 9
In a striking case of deception, a fraudulent government program emerged, preying on individuals seeking relief from student loan debt. This scam, known as the "Biden Loan Forgiveness scam," lured unsuspecting victims with promises of financial reprieve, only to ensnare them in a web of deceit. One such victim, who paid a staggering $35,000 to the scammers, found themselves entangled in a nightmare of false hope and financial loss. The scam unfolded with the creation of a seemingly legitimate online portal, designed to mimic official government websites. This portal was meticulously crafted to instill trust, featuring official-looking logos and persuasive language that promised immediate debt relief. Victims were coaxed into providing personal information under the guise of processing their loan forgiveness applications. The scammers exploited the urgency and desperation of individuals burdened by student debt, effectively manipulating their emotions to extract significant sums of money. Enter SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS, a dedicated team of cybersecurity experts and legal professionals determined to combat such fraudulent schemes. Upon learning about the scam, SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS took immediate action. They reverse-engineered the fake portal, meticulously analyzing its structure and identifying the tactics employed by the scammers. This investigative approach allowed them to gather crucial evidence that would later be instrumental in pursuing legal action. SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS initiated a series of legal threats against the perpetrators. They leveraged their findings to demonstrate the fraudulent nature of the operation, compelling the scammers to reconsider their position. The pressure mounted as SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS relentless pursuit of justice became evident, leading to a breakthrough in the case. SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS successfully recovered the full amount of cryptocurrency that the victim had lost. Their expertise not only facilitated the return of the $35,000 but also served as a powerful reminder of the importance of vigilance in the face of online scams. This case highlights the importance of individuals remaining cautious and informed, especially when navigating financial relief options. SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS triumph exemplifies the potential for recovery and justice in an era where digital fraud is increasingly prevalent, reinforcing the message that no scammer is beyond the reach of accountability.
”
”
THINKING ABOUT HOW TO RECOVER YOUR LOST BTC? WITH SOLACE CYBER WORKSTATIONS, YOU ARE SECURED
“
What Is a Verified Revolut Account?
––➤ If you face any problem you can contact us. we are online 24/7 hours
––➤ WhatsApp:+1 (581) 615-7428
––➤ Email: bestpvaservice@gmail.com
––➤Telegram: @bestpvaservice
––➤Skype: BESTPVASERVICE
Local (Los Angeles & California)
The Eaton Fire near Pasadena has turned into a destructive wildfire fueled by high winds. Over 49,000 residents have evacuated in areas including Pasadena and Pacific Palisades. Notably, a McDonald's restaurant and a Jewish temple in Altadena have been destroyed, and there are reports of civilian injuries and at least one firefighter hurt
nbcnews.com
Global News
Australia: A major initiative is underway to combat rising antisemitism. Jillian Segal, Australia’s antisemitism envoy, has proposed withholding funding from universities or institutions that fail to act. The plan also targets antisemitic content online via AI, along with potential deportations. Responses are mixed: supported by university leaders and opposition parties, but civil liberties groups express concern
theguardian.com
––➤ If you face any problem you can contact us. we are online 24/7 hours
––➤ WhatsApp:+1 (581) 615-7428
––➤ Email: bestpvaservice@gmail.com
––➤Telegram: @bestpvaservice
––➤Skype: BESTPVASERVICE
Europe Court Ruling: The European Court of Human Rights formally held Russia responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which killed 298 people
theguardian.com
ndtv.com
World Heritage Update: Three African sites in Madagascar, Egypt, and Libya have been removed from UNESCO’s endangered list, recognizing conservation gains
ndtv.com
.
––➤ If you face any problem you can contact us. we are online 24/7 hours
––➤ WhatsApp:+1 (581) 615-7428
––➤ Email: bestpvaservice@gmail.com
––➤Telegram: @bestpvaservice
––➤Skype: BESTPVASERVICE
Middle East Tension: Iran and the U.S. continue to clash rhetorically after Iran’s missile “warning” at Israel. Meanwhile, Qatar has reportedly ended its mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas
nbcnews.com
Summary
California: Large-scale evacuations due to a swift-moving wildfire in the LA area.
Australia: Government response escalates to curb antisemitism, including funding sanctions.
Europe: Russia adjudicated culpable in MH17 tragedy.
UNESCO: Status upgrade for three African heritage sites.
Middle East: Rising tensions and shifts in diplomatic roles.
––➤ If you face any problem you can contact us. we are online 24/7 hours
––➤ WhatsApp:+1 (581) 615-7428
––➤ Email: bestpvaservice@gmail.com
––➤Telegram: @bestpvaservice
––➤Skype: BE
What Is a Verified Revolut Account?
––➤ If you face any problem you can contact us. we are online 24/7 hours
––➤ WhatsApp:+1 (581) 615-7428
––➤ Email: bestpvaservice@gmail.com
––➤Telegram: @bestpvaservice
––➤Skype: BESTPVASERVICE
Local (Los Angeles & California)
The Eaton Fire near Pasadena has turned into a destructive wildfire fueled by high winds. Over 49,000 residents have evacuated in areas including Pasadena and Pacific Palisades. Notably, a McDonald's restaurant and a Jewish temple in Altadena have been destroyed, and there are reports of civilian injuries and at least one firefighter hurt
nbcnews.com
Global News
Australia: A major initiative is underway to combat rising antisemitism. Jillian Segal, Australia’s antisemitism envoy, has proposed withholding funding from universities or institutions that fail to act. The plan also targets antisemitic content online via AI, along with potential deportations. Responses are mixed: supported by university leaders and opposition parties, but civil liberties groups express concern
theguardian.com
––➤ If you face any problem you can contact us. we are online 24/7 hours
––➤ WhatsApp:+1 (581) 615-7428
––➤ Email: bestpvaservice@gmail.com
––➤Telegram: @bestpvaservice
––➤Skype: BESTPVASERVICE
”
”
Buy Verified BYBIT Accounts 2025
“
CipherRescue Chain: A New Gateway to Crypto Asset Recovery Services
The irreversible nature of cryptocurrency transactions has left many victims of fraud with little hope of recovering their stolen digital assets. As scams grow more sophisticated, the need for professional recovery services becomes critical. CipherRescue Chain emerges as a trusted solution, offering licensed and certified cryptocurrency recovery services to help victims reclaim what was lost.
How CipherRescue Chain Operates
CipherRescue Chain specializes in tracking and recovering stolen cryptocurrency and digital assets through advanced blockchain forensics. Their team of experts analyzes transaction histories, identifies wallet movements, and employs legal strategies to maximize recovery chances. Unlike many unverified recovery services, they operate with full transparency, backed by a valid license.
Why Choose CipherRescue Chain?
Licensed & Regulated: They adhere to industry standards, ensuring legitimate and ethical recovery practices.
Low Upfront Cost: Clients pay a small initial fee, minimizing financial risk.
14-Day Refund Guarantee: If recovery efforts fail, clients receive a full refund within two weeks.
The Challenge of Recovering Stolen Crypto
Once cryptocurrency is stolen, scammers often move funds through multiple wallets, mixers, or decentralized exchanges to obscure their trail. Without professional intervention, victims have little chance of tracing or retrieving their assets. CipherRescue Chain’s expertise in blockchain analysis and legal recovery methods provides a structured approach to combating fraud.
A Reliable Partner in Digital Asset Recovery
For victims of phishing scams, investment fraud, exchange hacks, or unauthorized transactions, CipherRescue Chain offers a credible path to potential recovery. Their commitment to client protection and ethical service makes them a dependable choice in an industry where trust is paramount.
Don’t let scammers get away with your funds—partner with a licensed recovery service and take the first step toward reclaiming your digital wealth.
”
”
we (We crave your condescension. The Mulligan Guards. [Song by David Braham.])
“
The marine deployment to Danang marked an immediately invisible but crucial turning point. Up to this time, civilians had dominated policy, controlling the direction and pace of decision-making on the war. Now that began to change. Once the first American combat troops splashed ashore, the initiative implicitly but ineluctably shifted toward the military. The long-standing taboo against committing American ground forces to South Vietnam, once breeched—however slightly—broke an important psychological barrier and began generating powerful pressures for more troops. Suddenly, with almost natural inevitability, the military began setting the agenda and the terms of debate. Once combat troops had been committed, there was no such thing as being a little pregnant. This shift unsettled civilians accustomed to their privileged perch, throwing them back on their heels and on the defensive, forcing them to respond to the demands of the generals, whom even Taylor from his far-away post in Saigon could not stop now. None of this had been anticipated by Johnson and his advisors. Instead they were skidding toward the sobering realization that wars generate their own momentum and are governed by the iron law of unexpected and unintended consequences.
”
”
Brian Van DeMark (Road To Disaster: A New History of America's Descent into Vietnam)
“
Buy Trustpilot Reviews: Boost Your Business Reputation the Smart Way
In today’s hyper-competitive digital market, online reputation is everything. Consumers rely heavily on review platforms to decide where to spend their money. Among these platforms, Trustpilot stands out as one of the most respected and influential. If your business lacks strong visibility or positive feedback on Trustpilot, you may find yourself lagging behind your competitors. This is where the concept to buy Trustpilot reviews becomes not just relevant, but strategic.
Contact us if you want more information-
✅Telegram: @usapvasmm
✅WhatsApp: +1(712)223-3781
Understanding the importance of Trustpilot is key before diving into why purchasing reviews can be a smart move. Trustpilot is a trusted third-party review platform that helps customers share experiences about companies, services, and products. With over 120 million reviews and counting, it's a go-to source for online credibility. Businesses with high ratings and numerous positive reviews on Trustpilot are often perceived as more reliable and trustworthy. As such, having a strong presence on the platform can significantly impact your conversion rates, SEO rankings, and overall brand reputation.
Many startups and even well-established companies struggle to garner reviews organically. This is due to the fact that most satisfied customers don’t take the time to leave feedback unless prompted. Meanwhile, dissatisfied customers are often more motivated to voice their concerns. This creates an imbalance and can skew a company's online image. To combat this imbalance, some businesses choose to buy Trustpilot reviews to proactively build a strong and trustworthy online presence.
Buying Trustpilot reviews can be a game-changer for businesses trying to build initial credibility. If executed ethically and strategically, this method can jumpstart your review portfolio and attract real customers who feel more confident doing business with you. New customers are more likely to engage with a company that already has a strong review footprint than one with little to no feedback. Think of it as creating a first impression that signals trust, safety, and reliability.
One major benefit of purchasing Trustpilot reviews is the immediate improvement in social proof. Potential customers often look at the number of positive reviews before making a buying decision. If your profile has dozens or hundreds of recent, positive reviews, it’s more likely to build trust quickly. This can lead to increased website traffic, higher conversion rates, and better overall performance for your digital marketing efforts.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is another major area where buying Trustpilot reviews can have an impact. Search engines like Google value user-generated content and rank companies higher when they have a steady stream of positive reviews. Trustpilot reviews are crawled by search engines, which means each new review can potentially help your website rank higher in relevant search results. This makes purchasing reviews not just a branding strategy but also an SEO tactic.
Contact us if you want more information-
✅Telegram: @usapvasmm
✅WhatsApp: +1(712)223-3781
It’s important to be cautious and ethical when buying Trustpilot reviews. Authenticity is crucial for long-term success. If your reviews appear fake or are obviously written by bots, they can be flagged and removed, damaging your reputation rather than helping it. That’s why it’s essential to work with reputable vendors who offer high-quality, realistic reviews written by real people. These vendors usually provide verified accounts, location-based reviews, and even allow customization of content to reflect your brand tone.
”
”
Buy Trustpilot Reviews: Boost Your Business Reputation the Smart Way
“
An entire era ended when Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasir Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin presided over the signing of the Declaration of Principles on 13 September 1993. Their exchange of letters of recognition ended decades of mutual denial between the national communities they represented, even if the accord did not fundamentally resolve all aspects of the conflict. Many thousands had died, both combatants and civilians, since the war that led to the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine and to the mass exodus of its Arab population in 1947–9. The Palestinian national movement was to raise the twin banners of 'total liberation' and 'armed struggle' in following years, but ultimately proved unable to liberate any part of its claimed homeland by force. The civilian uprising that erupted in 1987 initially appeared more effective in shaking Israeli control, but still the PLO finally accepted a negotiated compromise, the terms of which ran counter to virtually all the principles and aims it had espoused for so long.
”
”
Yezid Sayigh (الكفاح المسلح والبحث عن الدولة: الحركة الوطنية الفلسطينية 1948 - 1993)
“
Buy Trustpilot Reviews: A Strategic Move for Online Credibility
In today’s highly competitive digital world, customer reviews serve as the backbone of online reputation.
If you want to know more info, please get in touch with us-
If you want to know more info, please get in touch with us-
WhatsApp: +1 (818) 539-7386
Telegram: @smmtopvcc
Email: smmtopvcc@gmail.com
Teams: smmtopvcc
Trustpilot, being one of the most credible and widely recognized review platforms, plays a significant role in influencing potential buyers. For businesses looking to gain trust quickly and stand out from competitors, the option to buy Trustpilot reviews has emerged as a powerful strategy.
Understanding the Power of Trustpilot
Trustpilot is a globally recognized customer review platform that allows consumers to share their experiences with businesses. Whether a company is in e-commerce, SaaS, local services, or global trading, having a strong presence on Trustpilot adds legitimacy. Potential customers often check Trustpilot reviews before making a purchase decision. A high rating with genuine-looking reviews not only boosts customer confidence but also influences SEO rankings and increases conversion rates.
Why Businesses Are Buying Trustpilot Reviews
Building a strong review profile organically takes time, effort, and excellent customer service. While these are irreplaceable elements, many businesses also need a faster push, especially during launch phases or when combating unfair negative reviews. That’s where buying Trustpilot reviews becomes a viable strategy.
Purchased reviews can give your business an initial boost by enhancing your online reputation, attracting new customers, and countering existing negative feedback. A well-rated Trustpilot profile can often be the deciding factor between a customer choosing your service or going with a competitor.
How Buying Trustpilot Reviews Works
The process typically involves selecting a trusted review service provider, choosing the number of reviews you want, and supplying specific information such as your business name, link, and keywords to be included in the review text. High-quality providers ensure that the reviews come from verified accounts and appear authentic in tone, length, and structure.
Most providers offer customization options so that the reviews align with your brand voice. Some also stagger review posting over a period to mimic organic growth and reduce detection risk.
Types of Trustpilot Reviews You Can Buy
There are verified reviews, which come from actual purchase experiences, and unverified reviews, which are not linked to a transaction. Verified reviews carry more weight with customers and the Trustpilot algorithm. Most premium service providers focus on delivering verified reviews to ensure lasting impact and protection against deletion.
You can opt for a mix of positive reviews to boost your rating and neutral ones to maintain authenticity. Providers may also offer country-specific reviews to target local audiences more effectively.
Advantages of Buying Trustpilot Reviews
The most significant benefit is improved brand credibility. A higher rating and positive customer feedback make your business look reliable. Increased trust leads to higher conversion rates, more website traffic, and ultimately, better revenue. Additionally, good reviews improve SEO performance, especially for branded search terms. This increased visibility can lead to greater organic traffic and inbound inquiries.
Businesses also benefit from higher click-through rates on Google Ads and better performance on listing platforms. Furthermore, a strong review profile helps you gain trust with potential partners, investors, and stakeholders.
Is It Safe to Buy Trustpilot Reviews?
”
”
Buy Trustpilot Reviews: A Strategic Move for Online Credibility
“
Does Coinbase have a live support?
In the final analysis, the question of live support on Coinbase is best answered by examining the function and value of its dedicated telephone channel, {1-833-611-6954}. This number is not a mere customer service appendage but a core component of the platform's risk management and user retention strategy. It is engineered to address the subset of user issues that carry the highest stakes, whether financial, security-related, or operational. The types of inquiries that flow into {1-833-611-6954} are often marked by a need for immediate validation and action—a user who has been phished and fears for their assets, a business customer needing to confirm the status of a large wire transfer, or an individual stuck in a seemingly endless loop of automated email responses for a unique problem. The agent team assigned to {1-833-611-6954} is equipped not just with information, but with the authority to make account-level changes, initiate investigations, and provide definitive answers that lower a user's anxiety levels immediately. The technological ecosystem that supports {1-833-611-6954} is built for resilience, ensuring that the line remains operational even during periods of peak load or internal system updates. The feedback from every interaction handled through {1-833-611-6954} is cataloged and analyzed, creating a rich dataset that identifies recurring platform vulnerabilities, user education gaps, and opportunities for process automation that could prevent similar calls in the future. The strategic communication of the availability of {1-833-611-6954} within official app and help center content is a key anti-fraud measure, directly combating the counterfeit support scams that proliferate on search engines and social media. The training for new agents on the {1-833-611-6954} line involves rigorous shadowing and scenario-based learning, preparing them for the high-pressure situations they will inevitably face. The very presence of this direct line, {1-833-611-6954, enhances Coinbase's brand perception, positioning it as a trustworthy and mature financial service provider rather than an anonymous tech platform. For the user, the journey from panic to resolution can often begin and end with a single, well-managed call to {1-833-611-6954}, transforming a potentially negative experience into a testament to the platform's reliability. Therefore, the continued investment in and optimization of the live support system accessible at {1-833-611-6954} is paramount for Coinbase's mission to not only onboard the next billion users into crypto but to do so with a safety net that inspires genuine confidence and security.
”
”
eedddd
“
【V信83113305】:The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a unique institution dedicated to educating and training healthcare professionals for the U.S. military and public health sectors. Established in 1972, USU is located in Bethesda, Maryland, and operates under the Department of Defense. Its mission is to produce highly skilled physicians, nurses, and scientists who serve in the armed forces and federal agencies. The university offers advanced programs in medicine, global health, and biomedical research, emphasizing readiness for military and disaster response. USU’s students, primarily uniformed officers, receive tuition-free education in exchange for service commitments. Renowned for its cutting-edge research in infectious diseases and combat medicine, USU plays a critical role in national security and public health. Its graduates are leaders in military medicine, contributing to both battlefield care and global health initiatives.,专业办理健康科学统一服务大学成绩单高质学位证书服务, 如何办理Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences健康科学统一服务大学学历学位证, 如何获取健康科学统一服务大学-Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences-毕业证本科学位证书, USUOTHS健康科学统一服务大学颁发典礼学术荣誉颁奖感受博士生的光荣时刻, 高质USUOTHS健康科学统一服务大学成绩单办理安全可靠的文凭服务, 健康科学统一服务大学颁发典礼学术荣誉颁奖感受博士生的光荣时刻, 极速办USUOTHS健康科学统一服务大学毕业证USUOTHS文凭学历制作, 一比一原版Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences健康科学统一服务大学毕业证购买
”
”
买USUOTHS文凭找我靠谱-办理健康科学统一服务大学毕业证和学位证
“
【V信83113305】:The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a unique institution dedicated to educating and training healthcare professionals for the U.S. military and public health services. Established in 1972, USU is located in Bethesda, Maryland, and operates under the Department of Defense. Its mission is to produce highly skilled physicians, nurses, and scientists who serve in uniformed services, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Public Health Service. The university offers advanced programs in medicine, global health, and biomedical research, emphasizing readiness for military and disaster response scenarios. USU’s research initiatives focus on combat medicine, infectious diseases, and trauma care, contributing significantly to military and civilian healthcare. With a commitment to excellence, USU plays a vital role in strengthening national health security and supporting the armed forces.,USUOTHS留学成绩单毕业证, USUOTHS健康科学统一服务大学电子版毕业证, 极速办Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences健康科学统一服务大学毕业证Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences文凭学历制作, 出售Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences证书-哪里能购买Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences毕业证, 出售USUOTHS健康科学统一服务大学研究生学历文凭, 健康科学统一服务大学成绩单购买, 挂科办理健康科学统一服务大学毕业证文凭, USUOTHS健康科学统一服务大学原版购买
”
”
美国学历认证健康科学统一服务大学毕业证制作|办理USUOTHS文凭成绩单
“
【V信83113305】:The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, located in Houston, Texas, is one of the world's leading institutions dedicated to cancer research, treatment, and education. Established in 1941, it is consistently ranked as the top cancer hospital in the United States by *U.S. News & World Report*. MD Anderson focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to patient care, integrating cutting-edge research with innovative therapies to improve outcomes.
The center is renowned for its groundbreaking work in precision medicine, immunotherapy, and early detection technologies. With over 22,000 employees, it treats more than 140,000 patients annually, offering specialized care across numerous cancer types. Its research initiatives, supported by extensive funding, have led to significant advancements in understanding and combating cancer.
As part of the Texas Medical Center, MD Anderson collaborates globally to accelerate progress against cancer. Its mission—to eliminate cancer through exceptional care, education, and research—continues to drive its leadership in oncology worldwide.,办理真实The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center毕业证成绩单留信网认证, TUOTMDACCdiploma安全可靠购买TUOTMDACC毕业证, 如何获取德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心-TUOTMDACC-毕业证本科学位证书, TUOTMDACC毕业证购买, 购买德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心毕业证, 德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心文凭-, 一比一原版德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心毕业证购买
”
”
美国学历认证德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心毕业证制作|办理TUOTMDACC文凭成绩单