Flog a Pro: Would You Pay to Turn the First Page of this Bestseller?

Flog a Pro: Would You Pay to Turn the First Page of this Bestseller?:

Please judge by storytelling quality, not by genre or content—some reject an opening page immediately because of genre, but that’s not a good enough reason when the point is to analyze for storytelling strength.

This novel was number one on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list for October 18, 2020. How strong is the opening page—would it, all on its own, hook an agent if it came in from an unpublished writer?

JSTOR resources during COVID-19 | About JSTOR

JSTOR resources during COVID-19 | About JSTOR:

Expanded free access for everyone through December 31, 2020

26 journal archives in Public Health
6,000 selected journal articles related to COVID-19 — articles cover important topics such as coronavirus, communicable disease control, distance education, health surveillance, and more.
Free read-online access has expanded from six to 100 articles per month.

Decolonising the Coloured Question | part of no part

Decolonising the Coloured Question | part of no part:

In order to expose this absurdity, one needs to unpack our colonial history, together with an understanding of the colonial project. Despite the limited space available here, I will endeavour to layout the salient features around which I propose a decolonised discussion on the coloured question should proceed. In order to do this I will rely extensively on Mahmood Mamdani`s extensive writing on the question of colonial statecraft and governmentality (the way in which the state exercises control over, or governs, the body of its populace).

South Africa Seminar: Info Pages

South Africa Seminar: Info Pages:

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

- Mandela's statement from the dock at the opening of the defense case in the Rivonia Trial, Pretoria Supreme Court, April 20th, 1964.

"In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift- a more human face."

- Stephen Bantu Biko

Boys with cattle

What Happened to Jordan Peterson? | The New Republic

What Happened to Jordan Peterson? | The New Republic:

The Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson has been described as “the most influential public intellectual in the Western world.” He is an exponent of the Jungian concept of the hero’s journey, in which an ordinary person heeds a call to adventure and goes out into the world to struggle and suffer, only to return with heightened self-knowledge. (He has described himself, without apparent irony, as being “raised and toughened in the frigid wastelands of Northern Alberta.”) His stern ethos of self-help and bootstrapping has made him a darling of the so-called intellectual dark web, and a gateway drug for countless budding right-wingers who have stumbled upon one of his lectures on YouTube.
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So it was something of a surprise to learn, in early February, that Peterson had spent eight days in a medically induced coma at an unnamed clinic in Russia.

University has an in-house sangoma!

University has an in-house sangoma!:

A SANGOMA hired by the University of KZN to assist students has called on parents to tell their kids who their real fathers are.

The SunTeam visited sangoma Philile Mkhize at her offices on the Durban campus yesterday.

The 39-year-old, known as Makhosi on campus, said a common problem among students was that they didn’t know who they really were.

She said she saw between 15 and 20 students a day and most told her their mothers wouldn’t say who their real fathers were or what their surnames were.

She said the issue was so serious that students could end up dropping out and living on the streets.

How to describe characters in a children’s book (with free crib sheet)

How to describe characters in a children’s book (with free crib sheet):

PRO TIP: When describing any aspect of a character, whether it’s her complexion or what haunts his dreams, think about what it means.

And remember, you are listing the character’s attributes on the crib sheet. In the manuscript, you’ll want to infer many of those attributes by what the character does, by what other characters observe about her and by other storytelling techniques, rather than just saying what that characteristic is.

Think about how you can convey personality through each characteristic. For instance, think of the personality conjured up by the names “Snape” and “Slithering”, or what Snape’s greasy hair implies about his personality.

On the other hand, keep in mind the age you are targeting. The younger the audience, the less you can infer. For very young children, you’ll have to be more direct.

Facebook Removes Trump Propaganda Page After It Was Revealed It Was Run From Ukraine

Wot! No "Russian connections"? Facebook Removes Trump Propaganda Page After It Was Revealed It Was Run From Ukraine:

A Facebook page that backed President Donald Trump and touted American patriotism has been taken down after it was revealed that it was produced by a team based mostly in Ukraine.

The "I Love America" page had more than 1.1 million followers and made constant references to "our country" and "our military" and cross-posted content from jingoistic pro-Trump pages such as "God Bless Donald and Melania Trump and God Bless America".

However, the investigative website Popular Information revealed that the page was in fact run by a team based in Ukraine, with one person in Kazakhstan, one in France, and only one from the United States.

A website that was linked in the "About" section of the page is registered to Andriy Zyuzikov, from the Ukrainian city of Odessa, it added.

It used viral content once used by the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA), which a report by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded had interfered in the 2016 election.

New South African bank branches where you can get your Smart ID and Passport

New South African bank branches where you can get your Smart ID and Passport:

The E-Home Affairs system was launched in 2016 and lets South Africans apply and pay for their card or a passport on the Home Affairs website.

Applicants can then collect their card or passport at a Home Affairs office or the nearest supported bank branch that offers a Home Affairs Live Capture Service.

Once a card or passport is ready for collection, it can be picked up at one of these bank branches. Users will need to provide biometric authentication to receive their documents.

What Is Third-Wave Antiracism? - The Atlantic

What Is Third-Wave Antiracism? - The Atlantic:

Just as the first and second waves of both feminism and antiracism transformed social structures, third-wave antiracism may seem parallel to third-wave feminism in moving on to a different form of abuse, psychological rather than institutional. But this focus on the psychological has morphed, of late, from a pragmatic mission to change minds into a witch hunt driven by the personal benefits of virtue signaling, obsessed with unconscious and subconscious bias. As noble as this culture of shaming genuinely seems to many, it’s a dead end.

5 Reasons Socialism Is Not Christian - The Christian Post

5 Reasons Socialism Is Not Christian - The Christian Post:

To socialists, all that really exists is the material world. In fact, Karl Marx, the father of socialism/communism, invented the notion of dialectical materialism — the belief that matter contains a creative power within itself. This enabled Marx to eliminate the need for a creator, essentially erasing the existence of anything non-material.

To socialists, suffering is caused by the unequal distribution of stuff — and salvation is achieved by the re-distribution of stuff. There's no acknowledgment of spiritual issues. There's just an assumption that if everyone is given equal stuff, all the problems in society will somehow dissolve.

Rethinking Systemic Sin | Jesus Creed | A Blog by Scot McKnight

Rethinking Systemic Sin | Jesus Creed | A Blog by Scot McKnight:

Sin in the Pauline letters seems to be more than the violation of a command and seems to take on systemic force. Christian theology’s doctrines of original sin and guilt are but one example of theological attempts to come to terms with lower case sins and upper case Sin as a tyrant. In Matthew Croasmun’s recently published dissertation, The Emergence of Sin, a series of proposals are made that provide innovative solutions to all the above and more.

Milosevic exonerated, as the NATO war machine moves on — RT Op-ed

Milosevic exonerated, as the NATO war machine moves on — RT Op-ed:

The ICTY’s conclusion, that one of the most demonized figures of the modern era was innocent of the most heinous crimes he was accused of, really should have made headlines across the world. But it hasn‘t. Even the ICTY buried it, deep in its 2,590 page verdict in the trial of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who was convicted in March of genocide (at Srebrenica), war crimes and crimes against humanity.

There was no official announcement or press conference regarding Milosevic‘s exoneration. We’ve got journalist and researcher Andy Wilcoxson to thank for flagging it up for us.

How very different it all was when the trial of the so-called ‘Butcher of the Balkans’, began in February 2002! Then, you‘d have to have been locked in a wardrobe not to be aware of what was going on.

American Paganism | Commonweal Magazine

American Paganism | Commonweal Magazine:

In an essay praising Donald Trump’s “animal instinct” for “order” and “social cohesion,” Sohrab Ahmari opposed an America of “traditional Christianity” to one of “libertine ways and paganized ideology.” These are our only choices, he insisted. Between such incompatible enemies, there can be only “war and enmity,” so true believers should be ready to sacrifice civility in the battles ahead to reconquer the public square. Rod Dreher has speculated that Trump, while unpalatable, could be a divine emissary holding back the horrors of Christian persecution, like the biblical figure of He Who Delays the Antichrist, an implicit nod to old pagan enemies. “If Christians like me vote for Trump in 2020,” Dreher warns, “it is only because of his role as katechon in restraining what is far worse.” Though in a calmer tone, Ross Douthat entertained similar ideas in his column “The Return of Paganism,” wondering if the pantheist tendencies in American civil religion could morph into a neo-paganism hostile to Christian faith.

Stunning Lifestyle Photos of the Remote Mongolians who Hunt with Eagles

Stunning Lifestyle Photos of the Remote Mongolians who Hunt with Eagles:

Mongolians have a special relationship with golden eagles. Ancient cultures often have traditions that are visually stunning to outsiders, and none may be more so than the Khazakh hunters in the Altai Mountains in Mongolia. Combining glorious traditional dress with the regal splendor of an eagle mid-flight, these owners and their birds make incredible photography subjects.

But more than that is the relationship that develops between hunter and eagle, one that is almost like that between a child and his parent. But like so many traditional ways of living, this one is rapidly fading, and some suggest there are fewer than 100 true eagle hunters left.

Books for Year 6 pupils aged 10-11 in KS2 | School Reading List

Books for Year 6 pupils aged 10-11 in KS2 | School Reading List