fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
How easy it is to connect redux. This article will help you to develop a…
By: Muhammed Saifudeen
Tags: React, Redux, Connect

Photo by Safar Safarov on Unsplash

This article will help you to develop a good understanding of how react-redux works, how to connect the store, reducer basics. If you’re new to react, please go through some React basic lessons.

Here we go,

About the React-redux CLI

I hope you already have a React CLI with a redux setup. All about react and react-cli are available on their website documentation (https://reactjs.org/docs/create-a-new-react-app.html).

Folder structure for redux setup

We need two extra folders in our basic CLI which can handle the store and reducer. I will give you a short brief about the store and reducer later. So the folders and the whole structure look like the following.

Again a reducer?

For me, it was so hard and tricky to understand the concept of a reducer.

Assume that we have some conditions and we need to update the state as per our conditions/rules. Since our project is full of conditions and logics, we must use functions to handle the data flow or state. These functions are reducers, the final gate just before the state.

Here is a simple reducer function

function rootReducer(state = basicState, action){

switch(action.type){

default: return state

}

}

We have two arguments, state, and action. State contains the data and action contains the rule. With the help of a switch statement, this reducer function returns the whole state data. Here we are using the default case, so action.type is not necessary.

Reducer/index.js looks like the following.

const basicState = {

article: [

{id: '0', title: 'Data title 1'},

{id: '1', title: 'Data title 2'},

{id: '2', title: 'Data title 3'},

{id: '3', title: 'Data title 4'},

]

} function rootReducer(state = basicState, action){

switch(action.type){

default: return state

}

} export default rootReducer;

Store

Our reducer is ready with some data which we have passed as state argument. Next is to set up the store.

This can be done by just passing the reducer to a createStore() function, and the return object is a complete state tree.

Store/index.js

import {createStore} from 'redux'; import rootReducer from '../reducers/'; const store = createStore(rootReducer); export default store;

Setup the top lever provider

We need to wrap the <app> component with a <provider> like this.

It makes the store available to any nested components that have been wrapper in the connect() function.

Connect() function

import { connect } from 'react-redux';

The connect() function connects a react component to a redux store.

mapStatetoProps parameter can be used to set the store data to component props as shown below.

Now component has this article object inside the props. We can simply loop it through a map() function and print it.
If Medium Went Belly Up Tomorrow
By: Michelle Monet
Tags: Medium, Writer, Books, Writing, Life

1. I’d still continue to write in a disciplined way. I’ve written since age 8. Why would I stop now? Hey, I’m just getting started.

Just a few of my full journals from age 8 to 57.

2. I’d continue editing my books and publish them. I’ve published 5 books thus far and I have more coming out of me now!

My first 5 published books. https://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Monet/e/B01J5X26QS/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

3. I’d look for freelance writing jobs. This route is one I am investigating for next year. There is a whole world out there!

4. I’d continue to write in my journal. Writing in my journal daily is one of the joys of my life. I would never stop this. I can bring my pen and journal out to a coffee shop for the rest of my life. The pen will always be my friend and loyal confidant.

5. I’d go back to publishing on my own blog . I can always do this. Even though I haven’t updated my own blog in a while I can still do this. Since Medium lets you import all of your stories with one click, I will never lose access to anything I write on here.
區塊鏈 vs. DDoS
By: 李昱霆 Jerry Lee
Tags: Ddos, Blockchain, Technology, Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto

iOS AR / Tennis / Drone / Editing Videos / Blockchain. I just like many things, although I am not a professional, but learning many things makes me happy.

Follow
We Brought Over 75 of Our Founders Together. The Result Was Magical.
By: Fatima Loeliger
Tags: Social Impact, Tech, People Of Color, Venture Capital, Founders

Celebrating transformative ideas and companies created by diverse Kapor Capital portfolio founders

For the first time in our history, Kapor Capital brought together over 75 founders and CEOs in May for a one-day networking summit to learn, build, and inspire a more inclusive world.

The Kapor Capital Founders Summit included company pitches, inspiring panels, enriching fireside chats, and educational breakout sessions, but the real magic happened in the wings.

Kapor Capital invests exclusively in companies working to close gaps of access, opportunity, and outcomes for low-income communities of color. Our founders are driven by the passion to make real impacts in their communities and in the world. Bringing them all under one roof to share their stories and their strategies proved to make for a powerful day.
【記事紹介】TEDxKobe 2017 “Spiralling Inspiration”
By: Ichi Kanaya
Tags: 日本語

in On The Couch
Say goodbye to Prop Drilling with Contexts
By: Heshan Andrews
Tags: Scholarx, Typescript, React, Prop Drilling

Here we are again my dear same 10 people who read my articles, I’m back with another react article. This time it’s on using contexts as a solution for prop drilling. All right before we drill down deep (yeah, pun intended) into the subject, just like in all of my articles a little back story on why and how I ended up using contexts.

The major focus in our SEF dev team for last few weeks was on developing a platform to make ScholarX mentor/mentee registration and selection process automated. So in the frontend, as we let users sign in to the platform all the views should render in a specific way for each user, depending on all the programs that particular individual is enrolled or applied to and the specific roles he or she is taking in each program. As I analysed the full requirement of the platform I realized that though most of the scenes do depend on the user object we receive when a user logs into the platform there are some views we can generalize over every user.

The basic way in react to do this is to get the user object in a component in the higher part of the component hierarchy, most of the time in the root component, and pass down the user object as a prop to the child components where a conditional rendering depending on the user object is needed. The problem in using this way is if a child component of component that does not depend on the user object does depend on the user object we have to pass the user object to the parent component just so that it can pass the object down to the child. Let me illustrate that in a graphical way. (Yeah, yeah, the last sentence is kind of complex, but you don’t have to mention it)
Artist Profile: Maisie Johnson
By: David Porter-Thomas
Tags: Recording, Music, Live, Artist Profile

Why did you choose The Basement Door as the venue?

It’s where I’ve been playing since I was 14 and is my favourite place to play. It does so much for young people and has shaped me as an artist, so there was no better place for it! It has a really great atmosphere.

Why did you decide to use Exit Live?

Exit Live is such a great concept, and it was so easy to use — it really helped that you can do pretty much everything in advance, from pictures to track names and order, so that once you have the recordings you can put them up so easily.

I really love the idea of being able to take a unique performance home with you, and I always love the opportunity to be a part of something new!

One of the most important things about Exit Live is the ‘artists first’ mindset — that, as a value, is so important and to have a platform prioritise this is so encouraging! Services that help me to connect with fans and ‘immortalise’ performances (no two shows are ever the same!) are so important to me and imperative to the future of the music business in general.

Did any of your fans say anything about the ability to buy the live recordings?

I had a number of comments on how nice it was to be able to listen again after the show, especially with the new songs that I’d never played before — it also meant that people who couldn’t make it didn’t miss out!

What’s next for you?

I’m currently trying to juggle A-levels and my music, which is a bit of a struggle I must admit! I’m trying to focus on writing new material and getting as much performance experience as possible, so that I can hopefully release some new music soon!

There’s no doubt that Maisie is one to watch. Be sure to check out her live recording, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Senryu
By: Charlotte Zobeir Ali
Tags: New Year, Energy, Ideas, Senryu, Goals

La Bibliothèque

I write towards what I want to know
Announcing DCG as a CLN Pre-Sale Investor
Tags: Blockchain, Finance, ICO, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency

Colu is proud to announce that Digital Currency Group, that has backed Colu from the seed round in 2015 has joined the CLN token pre sale, along with other leading investors such as IDB Group, Aleph VC & Spark Capital.

Digital Currency Group was launched in 2015 by Barry Silbert, who previously founded SecondMarket, Inc. Barry began investing in bitcoin companies in 2013, first as an angel investor, and provided funding for many of the earliest companies including

Coinbase, BitPay, and Ripple.

DCG believes that bitcoin and blockchain technology will drive global economic and social change, which makes its investment in a decentralized payment system specifically designed to empower communities, a perfect match. Colu and it’s CLN network are both part of a bigger vision to change how money is being created and used, essentially creating money that is more meaningful.

“We at Colu are excited that Digital Currency Group has decided to join the CLN pre-sale, solidifying its ongoing support of Colu’s vision from day one. This is a huge vote of confidence for Colu from the crypto community. “ — Colu CEO Amos Meiri
Building a web scraper with Selenium and BeautifulSoup4.
By: Sergio Placanica
Tags: Scraping, Automation, Programming, Python, Selenium

The Problem

My university website works pretty well, however all the courses material are organized in long trees of folders over folders and there’s no bulk download capabilities nor there is a public API that I can take advantage of. Students have to manually download every file for every course they are attending. This require a lot of time to download and extract all the zip, especially when you have something like 6 to 10 courses.

The uni website makes use of the cursed Shibboleth(I’m shivering just by writing its name) and of javascript dynamic rendering. You need to travel the website to find the links and the navigation is extremely cluttered. Using only requests.py is not an option.
TRIP | DISCOVER AKOURA
By: Architects For Change
Tags: Trip, Lebanon, Travel, Architecture, Discover Lebanon

We are heading to Akoura, a picturesque Lebanese village located in the Jbeil district. Akoura is known for the abundance of its churches, more than 40 historic churches in one village, in addition to its natural beauty.

Discover Akoura from a local perspective, tour the town, visit its churches, embrace its nature, and enjoy local food with a view towards Ibrahim river.



Sunday, June 23, 2019

Meeting point: 8:00 AM — Dunkin Donuts, Martyrs’ Square, Downtown Beirut



Fees: 30,000 LBP

to be paid on the day of the trip — covers transportation, entrance fees, and organizational fees.

PROGRAM

The program is subject to changes on the day of the trip

Meeting & Departure from Beirut — 8:00 AM
Take The First Step
By: Matt Peterson
Tags: Tableau Desktop, Visual Analytics, Tableau, Spotify, Data Visualization

Mostly, this will be a place where I nerd out about cool Tableau stuff, but since this is my inaugural post, I’m not going to deep-dive anything. Of course, I’ll splash some Tableau magic at the bottom of this post, but I want to give a brief introduction/inspiration session first. I can’t quantify how many years I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog, but every time I start, I always end up in one of the following places:

There are already plenty of Tableau blogs out there, what makes me think my voice and perspective are unique and different enough to stand out?

It’s probably a lot of work to start a blog…which platform would I use, what would I write about, and who would even care?

I’d rather spend (and typically waste) my time doing other things, I’ll get started on that whole blog thing later…

Analysis paralysis, imposter syndrome, dopamine deficiency, you name it. The amount of time that elapsed between when I decided “I’m actually doing the blog” and I hit “Publish” on this first post is longer than I care to admit, but the mantra that helped me get there stayed the same: “Take the first step.” Then later, “Take another step.” Even if it’s something as simple as opening a tab with Medium on it in my Chrome. Eventually, taking the next step becomes easier and easier, and eventually, you’re on a roll and in hyperfocus rabbit hole mode (at least, if you’re like me). If you’re thinking “starting a blog is easy, I could start a hundred blogs on the average day before lunch,” then use your imagination and apply this to whatever it is you do find hard to do. And also, read this comic. It’s for you.

If you didn’t already know, I’m unapologetically Type B. Speaking of, enough fluff, time for Tableau.
1 Year Ago We Became Digital Nomads —and It Changed Everything
By: Breana Wallace
Tags: Self Improvement, Lifestyle, Remote Working, Rv Life, Digital Nomads

8.) When you know you won’t be somewhere for a long time, it’s easier to love it for what it is

For most of my life until I was in high school, my family moved every 6–12 months…I hated it. Then we stopped moving and I was bored out of my mind and practically grew to hate it there until I left for college. There wasn’t enough to do, and the people didn’t seem to grow or change. I felt suffocated.

In our new life on the road it pays for us to move every 2–3 weeks, and that’s actually made me love every place that we’ve been to.

As we drive into our new spot the views are novel, and there are plenty of places to explore, experience, and eat at. It all feels so adventurous. As you begin to settle in and get cozy, it’s time to move again — and we always feel a little sad to be leaving. Although that might sound a bit depressing, I think it’s a great indicator that we’ve been moving at the right pace.

My theory here? When you know you’ll only be somewhere new for a small chunk of time, you can prioritize finding the things to love about it rather than worrying about whether it can meet all of your needs forever (a tall order).

The requirements for the place to be entertaining for a few weeks vs. a few years are drastically different, so moving often allows you to enjoy a place for what it has to offer rather than growing to hate it for what it doesn’t have.
Hard Work vs. Sacrifice
By: Bradley Ford
Tags: Work Life Balance, Work, Life Lessons, Sacrifice

I think there's a common misconception that Hard Work and Sacrifice are the same thing. To me, they’re not. To me, hard work is easy. You just DO something. There's no problem to solve, you just focus on the thing you're putting the work into.

What I think is difficult-- and what most people think is the same as hard work, is doing things you don't want to do so you can do work. Sacrifice. I think they're different, I think they belong in totally different categories when assessing what you want to venture into next.

First of all, let's clear something up; not everybody is going to sacrifice for the things they want. Some people are given everything (me up until a few years ago) and some people aren't. Both people can have what they want but one person may have to sacrifice more than the other just to get the same thing.

What you really need to ask yourself is “am I you willing to work hard and and what (if anything) will I have to sacrifice?” Because sometimes you have to wait tables so you can pay your tuition so you can try and walk onto the team. Are you willing to do that while the other guy’s on scholarship and can focus solely on his game, or party with that money if he wants, while you’re trying to keep the lights on and going to school and trying to work out the way you need to? I think that's how you know you want something and honestly I don't know that I’ve found something that I want that bad.

Everything in my life I set out to do, I was willing to work hard to be the best that I could be at it, but I never signed on to sacrifice. I never signed up to do things I don't want to do just so I can try out for the team, not knowing if I’m even going to make it. And that's been hard. Also, to be clear, this was all figurative, my “making the team” is being paid for my art.

You know, they say do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life, but they never define love. And that’s something I didn’t realize. What does love mean? Is love the all positive to hate being the all negative, or is love what you're willing to sacrifice for just so you get a chance to do it, with no guarantee you're ever going to get something back.

I don't think the answer is to give up trying to set up an ideal life or at least swing the percentages as far in your favor as you can. For example, spending 90% of your time the way you want and only 10% percent the way you don't as opposed to say a 50/50 split or worse.

If you have any insight on how I or other readers who might feel this way can sort this out, please chime in. I’m having trouble believing that sacrifice is a necessary evil. If it is, has anyone figured out how to live their life in such a way where their positive outweighs the sacrifice ten-fold-- where you work hard at the things you want to work hard at and not at everything? Alternatively, are there people who have given up on trying to craft their ideal life and just accepted this idea that you most of your adult life will belong to other people? How has it affected you? I wanna know.
Happy Meditation Wednesday Evening Prayer of — “The Holy Spirit!”
By: Ep Mcknight
Tags: Life Lessons, Christianity, Prayer, Life, God

Every day and every night, should begin and end with prayer. This is the key for a wonderful, fulfilled and balanced life. Say, yes, to prayer and prayer will say yes to you!!

The Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit, Love of God,

pour out your grace,

and descend plentifully into my heart.

Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling,

and scatter there your cheerful beams.

Dwell in that soul that longs to be your temple.

Water that barren soil, overrun with weeds and briars,

and lost for lack of cultivating,

and make it fruitful with your dew from heaven.

Come, refreshment of those who languish and faint.

Come, Star and Guide of those who sail in the tempestuous sea of the world. You are the only Haven of the tossed and shipwrecked.

Come, Glory and Crown of the living, and only Safeguard of the dying.

Come, Holy Spirit, in your great mercy, and make me fit to receive you. Amen.

Words are very powerful! In the tongue lies life and death. It can cut like a double edge sword!! You have a choice to submit to your tongue and make your tongue submit to you.

Allow the words of your mouth to be prayerfully positive and affirming for self and then others. You can not affirm another if you don’t how to affirm self truly. That’s like trying to love another and you’ve never been love and have no clue what it truly is.

Wisdom is golden, use it to build your mountaintop, then no one can destroy it because you built it on solid rock!!

Please comment, clap and subscribe!!

E.P. MCKNIGHT, #1 Amazon Best Seller’s list Author, IS A GRADUATE OF FORDHAM UNIVERSITY LINCOLN CENTER, NY,NY WHERE SHE RECEIVED HER MASTER’S DEGREE IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. SHE IS HONORED TO DEBUT THREE OF HER 10 MINUTE PLAYS AT THE 2012 NAACP THEATRE FESTIVAL.

SHE IS A POET, ACTRESS, ELEMENTARY TEACHER, WRITER, PRODUCER, TALKSHOW HOST, STAGE MANAGER, FITNESS GURU AND A MEMBER SAG/AFTRA AND EQUITY BUT MORE IMPORANTLY A WOMAN OF GOD WHOM SHE CREDITS ALL OF HER TALENTS AND SUCCESS. www.epmcknight.com www.epmcknight.wixsite.com/epfitspiration www.iquestionamerica-fannielouhamer.com
Seducing Children to Learn
By: Will Richardson
Tags: Education, Culture, All Things Considered

Here’s your weekly moment of “EduZen” to think about this weekend:

Russell Ackoff:

The common view, one that underpins almost all educational enterprises that have arisen over the past 150 years, is that motivation must be instilled from without, by a pedagogically sophisticated educator. This view is understandable when education is considered a way to enforce a particular social agenda on children. From the realization that such coercion inevitably arouses antagonism came the need to convince children that society’s agenda is actually their own agenda, too; only then would children in school be able to learn effectively. The primary activity of schooling became pedagogy, instilling in children motivation to do what the school authorities wanted them to do (or, in plainer terms, seducing children to think they love spinach by looking for ways to cook it that would make it seem delicious to them).

The reason this has been such a dismal failure, especially as the information age unfolds, is that seduction is ultimately a poor tool for a long-term relationship — in this case, between a person and an area of study (Kindle 414).
“Islam Jawa” dan Perlawanan Petani
Tags: Jawa, Kaji, Islam, Petani

in On The Couch
Wordless
By: Priyanka Srivastava
Tags: Poetry, Peace, Solitude, Writing, Sadness

Wordless

Micropoetry about staying quiet

Photo by Javardh on Unsplash

the sun looks dark today, the sky is gray

my thoughts I let them be shapeless.

I don’t chisel them in the shape of moon and stars,

today when the noise is different I prefer to be wordless.
Samsung Internet 13.2
By: Ada Rose Cannon
Tags: Web Development, Webxr, Samsung Internet, Augmented Reality, Updates

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

Samsung Internet 13.2

Happy Holidays! Have a treat from the Samsung Internet team.

Today we are happy to announce another big update to Samsung Internet. You can try it out as a beta today or soon in the stable release. This release continues our drive of giving a smooth user experience, allowing you to change Samsung Internet to your needs.

Smart Protect

Some websites act as honey pots to redirect you to malicious sites which try to persuade you to download malicious software. If we detect you have landed on one of these sites we will prompt you to return to where you came from.

Quickly go to your copied URL

This feature makes it a lot quicker to travel to URLs which are stored in your clipboard. Tap the URL bar to bring up the quick access menu and you can navigate to the URL in the clipboard with a single tap.

OS Settings Integration

Samsung Internet is almost endlessly configurable, but finding the option you need can sometimes be tricky. Now you can use the search functionality of the settings app to find the settings to configure Samsung Internet. This feature relys on some of the features of Android P to use so make sure your Android device is fully updated.

ARCore Upgrade

If you have read some of my other articles you may be aware that I am a big proponent of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality on the Web.

After the recent AR Core update to improve some of it’s features, AR functionality in Samsung Internet was broken. The latest 13.2 beta has been built to support the latest AR core so it now works again. This fix is currently rolling out so may take a few more days for the version of the beta with the fix to land on your device.

Dark Mode Trial

We are also launching a trial of the prefers-color-scheme media query and the color-scheme meta-tag CSS property. Read about them in this companion post.

If you find any bugs or issues please lets us know at browser@samsung.com
How to Include an asynchronous third party library in Angular
By: Peter B Smith
Tags: Software Engineering, JavaScript, Typescript, Angular, Drip

We use Drip for Marketing Automation as a part of our Content Marketing service and we use Angular2 for our Front-Ends as a part of our Development service.

Drip has a very simple JavaScript API for adding email subscribers to their database.

The Problem this post offers a solution to is “How do I integrate Drip with an Angular 2 project?”

Problem 1: Where do I include the Drip provided <script> tag?

Drip provides a <script> tag to include in every page. Drip recommends putting it at the end of the <body> tag, however that doesn’t play nicely with Angular. So I included this script in my index.html in the <head> tag.

Problem 2: Where do I invoke the API?

I recommend invoking the API in a service so that you can re-use code in multiple places in your app.

However, since this is Angular 2 and Angular 2 uses TypeScript, you’ve got to jump through a hoop. At the top of your service include this line:

Adding the declare statement will stop TypeScript from complaining in your editor like it did in mine:

TypeScript complaining that _dcq is not found

Now with the declare statement in place, we can create a simple service that returns the response or the error from the Drip API. In the code below I use a Promise to handle the async. It’s a simple method but its not the Angular 2 way.

The Angular 2 way involves Observables and Subjects. Of course, you already know what Observables are all about, but your friend doesn’t. So for your friend, a Promise.

Problem 3: How do I display the returned data in my component template?

I know that Drip will have a success response with an email property.

However, that email property will only exist when the Promise resolves. So our template must account for that. As well, the Promise resolves asynchronously so we must use the Angular async pipe.

The result looks like the below:

I’ll break down the critical line:

{{ (response | async)?.email }}

We pipe the response to async so that its value will update when the Promise resolves. And we’ll optionally display the e-mail from the response. Thats what the question mark is about, optionally displaying a value.

Done!
Awesome hacks from TerribleHack 6
By: Yu Chen Hou
Tags: Terrible, Comedy, Technology, Programming, Hackathons

Li Li the Scaredy Cat

The IoT equivalent of Furby. You can’t run away fast enough.

Poober

Did you ever have your pet poop but don’t want to pick it up? Thanks to the sharing economy you don’t have to! Pay someone else to pick up your shit.

Mouthzart

I don’t think I need to explain this one.

SQML — Structured Query Markdown Language

Disappointed with the high reliability of mongoDB? SQML is the hottest new DB in the block. It stores all the data in an HTML table. HTML has been around for decades and is used by all the Internet giants like Google or Facebook, so it must be reliable. Get it on npm!

Speakthernet

Send messages across two devices, one text-to-speech soundbyte at a time.

GooseScript

Fowl-friendly programming language. Transpiles Perl — I mean — Goose sounds into C++.

Smoke Detector Detector

Detects if there are nearby fire detectors by starting a fire. Genius.

Facecode

It automatically pushes your Git commits as a diff patch to Facebook for all your friends to admire. Not easy to use but at least you can keep working during those GitHub outrages!

Awesome Game Bundle™

It’s the poor man’s humble indie bundle, comes with exciting games such as 2 colour bejeweled and 1x1 Tetris.

Lemmr

Spice up your math assignments by automagically inserting lemmas taken from “Mathematical Theorems you had no idea existed, …” Facebook page.

Visual Stupid 2017

Ever need to compile pictures of code? Look no further.

College Freshman Cooking Simulator

Don’t know how to cook? This hot new web-app will randomly generate fun recipes for you to follow!

That’s a wrap for this term’s TerribleHack! A big thank you to everyone who participated for making the event awesome, to our Tilt supporters for making a huge leap of faith and gave us money, and of course to Mary from Shopify for hosting us.

I haven’t had the chance to include every single demo on here, but you can read more about them here!

We also have more information about each of the hacks on our DevPost page.

Want more? Read more about previous TerribleHacks here and here.

If you’re interested in helping out for a future TerribleHack, let me know, we can probably use the help.
Don’t worry. Trump Says Brain Injuries Aren’t Serious.
By: Steve Jones
Tags: Military, History, War, Donald Trump, Iran

The Pentagon announced on January 24 that 34 American troops had suffered traumatic brain injuries in the Iranian retaliatory missile strikes on U.S. bases January 7.

Those are the strikes that Donald Trump originally said produced no Americans casualties.

Recall that Trump even tweeted “All is well!” immediately after the strikes.

Trump Tweet, January 7, 2020 (Screen shot)

Iran launched the missile attack in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani.

Doctors have called traumatic brain injuries (TBI) a “signature injury” of the Afghan/Iraq wars after 9/11. One study shows that troops suffering TBI have “higher rates of PTSD, depression, suicidal ideation, back pain, and any pain.”

If you follow NFL football, you know that TBI has become a major concern for current and retired players.

This from a recent CNN report on TBI in the NFL.

Reports show an increasing number of retired NFL players who have suffered concussions have developed memory and cognitive issues such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Retired NFL players. That indicates that TBI-related symptoms can occur long after the initial incident.

And yet, Commander-in-Chief Trump does not consider the injuries serious.

No, I heard that they had headaches, and a couple of other things, but I would say, and I can report, it’s not very serious. — Donald Trump

That’s akin to General George Patton slapping a soldier in World War II with PTSD (they called it “combat fatigue”) because his condition wasn’t as serious as a “real” combat injury.

Trump’s callous comments about TBI are just more evidence of the many things he does not know.

He does not know how to conduct foreign policy.

He does not know about the dangers of military service.

And he certainly does not understand about the physical price many American troops will pay for that service.
Nothing beats a holiday in Monte Carlo during the month of May
By: Benjamin Cheung
Tags: Monaco, Grand Prix, Formula 1, Travel

Nothing beats a holiday in Monte Carlo during the month of May

The sun, the sea, yachts, casinos, fast cars and celebrities…

There is always something mesmerising when it comes to the coastal principality of Monaco right at the mid-point of the calendar year. You will be greeted by soothing sea breezes, the sun and the stunning view of the French riviera. On top of that, you are submerged into a fantasia of ridiculousness, speed, wealth and celebrities, i.e. the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix.

Even if you are not a fan of motorsports (to be honest, I can already feel your eye-rolling judgment), I really think that compared to an ordinary weekend, the events actually lit up the streets with glitz and glamour, hype and just a general “hey, this is really cool” vibe. Without the Grand Prix, this place is nothing but a coastal tax-haven for the richest, and although this atmosphere of wealth became ever-more omnipresent during the Grand Prix weekend, you are also surrounded by fans who came here to pay homage to the most exciting race circuit during the season, fans who camped out on the hills and climbed up trees just to see the split-second turns by arguably some of the best drivers in the fastest racing cars in the realm of motor racing.

That being said, knowing I am still trying to write a travel blog, allow me to cover the awesome aspects of Monaco, in the well-beloved format of a listicle:

Grab a cocktail (or five) at Bar Americain in Hotel de Paris
Republicans got it wrong in 2016.
By: Eric Allen
Tags: Supreme Court, Politics, Amy Coney Barrett, Republicans, Democrats

Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 78 that “ Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive, that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in capacity to annoy or injure them. The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.”

Clearly, Hamilton thought the Judicial branch would be the weakest of the branches. It has no control over making or enforcing law or any control on how money is spent or collected within the federal government.

The court over the years has gained more and more power- and as a result, more and more intense political scrutiny has been placed on nominees that have been selected to fill empty seats.

The political fights over nominees to the courts, especially the Supreme Court have become outrageous, to say the least. Votes for Justices used to be, for the most part, a bi-partisan event.

Justice Ginsburg was confirmed by a vote of 96–3

Justice Scalia was confirmed by a vote of 98–0

Justice Kennedy was confirmed by a vote of 97–0

As long as the nominee was well qualified they, more often than not, enjoyed bi-partisan support in their confirmations.

What changed? Clearly, that question requires a long and tedious answer that I will not seek to flesh out in this article.

However, there is no doubt that both political parties have vastly different views of the courts, especially the Supreme Court. And because of that battles for the open seats have become more intense and offensive.
Blue Banana Moon
By: David Grant
Tags: Poetry Writing, Poetry, Poetry On Medium, Life, Poet

Blue Banana Moon

A Poem

Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash

Blue banana moon

Shines in through my front door

I know it wants to talk to me

But I don’t listen anymore



It doesn’t matter if you’re lonely

It doesn’t matter if you’re blue

It doesn’t matter if you go to school

Or if you just play the fool



Everything begins

And everything must end

Some people hide their problems

And others just pretend

Others just pretend

Blue banana moon

Shines in through my front door

Life pretends to be your lover

Then it leaves you wanting more
School Closes Again Just Two Weeks After Reopening
By: Sumera Rizwan
Tags: Kids, Covid 19, Back To School, Pandemic, School Closure

At the beginning of September, schools started to open here in the United Kingdom as the number of cases reduced and the government perceived it to be safe for kids to return to school. Anxious parents gathered the courage to send their kids back to school, it was deemed compulsory by the UK government.

I am an immunocompromised person and sending my kids out into the world again was particularly difficult. Even for the kids going back after 5 months of pandemic shutdown involved a lot of fear and anxiety.

Today two weeks after the initial reopening of schools I was finally thinking maybe the worst is over. Kids were back in some sort of routine, they were following the required precautions and almost getting used to the new normal.

An urgent email from the school

Just after the kids got back from school today, we received an urgent email affirming a frightening situation of school closure due to a positive case of COVID 19 in the school.

No details were revealed it was just informed that the school is waiting for guidance from Public Health England.

As we further inquired this, we found out that many schools in the UK were forced to close again due to coronavirus confirmed cases within 2 weeks of reopening.

300 schools in England and Wales forced to close or send pupils home after positive COVID tests

It felt like we were back to zero, facing the same uncertainty which we thought was finally coming to an end.

The Uncertainty for Pupils and Parents

As the number of COVID19 cases increases again in the United Kingdom. The stress level is rising among parents and children. Numerous schools face short term shut down for deep cleaning but the point is, as the virus is spreading in the society it keeps coming back.

How many times will the schools be closed? How will the parents be assured that their child is safe? What about parents like me with compromised immunity?

There are countless ifs and buts, as a parent, I do not feel ready to send my kids back again after school claims to be deep cleaned knowing that the virus is still spreading with cases rising again.

Labs struggling to meet rising testing demands

With an increase in the virus spread, UK labs are again struggling to meet the demands of people requiring the test.

Parents are being refused COVID19 tests for their kids as children with mild symptoms are not considered a priority.

All this combined is escalating panic and lack of trust among parents.

Parents should be given a choice

I believe we should not be forced to go through this terrifying situation, we should be given a choice. At least for the time when COVID 19 numbers are increasing so rapidly parents should be able to decide if they want to send their kids to school or not.
How To Turn Your Unique Story Into A Story of Success
By: Diksha Bathula
Tags: Work, Storytelling, Interview, Life, Success

Imagine you are sitting at your computer and are about to apply for your dream job. Thoughts start to go through your head that all this is a waste of time.

You are thinking, “My parents didn’t go to college” or “I have a learning disability” or “There’s no way I’m going to get this job”.

And you don’t even apply. It does seem familiar and not uncommon at all. Tara Sophia Mohr, the author of Playing Big, has some interesting insights. She says —

Men are confident about their ability for about 60%.

Women don’t feel confident until they’ve checked off each item on the list.

Men generally attribute a failure to external conditions — “That was hard class!”

Women internalise their failure — “I knew I wasn’t good enough.”

It all boils down to low confidence and self-doubt. The natural result of low confidence is inaction. It is what is forcing us to hold ourselves back.

Most of us experience self-doubt at high-stakes moments. It is more common in people of colour and first-generation college students. If people don’t have a traditional background, they feel like they don’t fit the “mould”.

When searching for a job, you may feel like you’re not good enough or qualified enough to get it. But you are!

Even if you’ve been on an untraditional path, you’ve accrued some skills over time that are valuable in the workforce. Your task is to identify those experiences and trumpet them as it is more likely, that that story is your ticket to a great job.

These experiences which seem like liabilities are actually your differentiating strengths. Your self-doubt about your experiences can be the key to driving your career success. You don’t need to have top-notch internships in college or be an extraordinary student. The secret is to transform how to perceive your own story.
How Food Brings cultures Together
Tags: Food

Coming together and sharing a meal with others is the most communal thing in almost every place in the world.

Food is all the matters around the world and it brings us together. It brought me once I participated to a Potluck Party. It was definitely an awesome warm-up idea for exchange students.We gathered the dishes from our hometown and shared our food cultures through our dishes. We had lots of fun during this event! We have many vital moments in life either preparing or sharing a meal.

Photo by Author

Especially the Festivals in different countries. Festivals are days which get friends or family together. We have the reunion dinner in Chinese New Year Eve. In Western countries, they also have a gathered dinner in Christmas Eve and they celebrate Thanksgiving with a turkey feast. All these reunion dinner not only for blessing and eating food with the one you loved but provide an opportunity for family members to come together, strengthen ties and having a great family time.

In conclusion, no matter to create the memories or to keep in touch with the people we care. Meals shared with others is the first thought come to our mind. Therefore, food has the great power to build a global village which enhances the confirms of belonging with others and makes great effects that brings friends, families, colleagues and people in other backgrounds together.
Smilo update — Partnership with Radiu
By: Smilo Cooperative
Tags: Blockchain, ICO, Music, Cryptocurrency, Smilo Platform

The last couple of weeks we have been working incredibly hard on the development of the Smilo platform and we are excited to post yet another update.

On the 1st of May 2018, Smilo platform partnered with RADIU. Additionally, Elkan Roelen, Smilo’s Founder and Director of Technology, became an advisor in the RADIU “Board of advisors”.

RADIU is an AI-controlled search engine for internet radio, which automatically combines your favorite music out all of radio stations around the globe and compiles it into one personal ad-free radio stream which exactly tailors to your taste. Furthermore, you can also tune the energy level of the music, this way you can choose between calm or energised music.

Besides streaming your favorite music, RADIU is launching their own token, which unknown artists can use to promote their music. These tokens will then be used to reward listeners to listen to their music. In other words, you can earn money by listening to your favorite music!

Smilo and RADIU will collaborate to make RADIU tokens available on the Smilo Platform allowing low transaction fees and fast block creations.

Join our Telegram and Twitter to be a part of the Smilo blockchain revolution!
I made Lorca mundane
Tags: Art, Poetry, Philosophy, This Happened To Me, Life

σ.

by keeping a copy of him

on my bedpost. I had thought

that this way, having it near my

head, I’d transfigure him

into my dreams,

but now I can’t even remember ‘em.

Perhaps the threefour hours

of insomniac sleep doesn’t gather

as much cells and dust as to liquefy

the dreams, still I were to recall

anything… anything at all!

They are hypocrites — these dreams,

these surrealists

(I made Lorca mundane,

ironic to his movement that aims

to surprise) hypocrites —

with no reason behind them.

They are the traumatized mass,

refugees escaping the pain of reality,

who would rather please the eyes,

their shells with frail aesthetes

than feed the soul.

That is why I slowed down writing

poetry in the hope that something

meaningful will strike to base my

momentary shimmers upon,

and then that will be something

genuine… something breathing!

So I’d flip through the pages

of Lorca again, sniff that

maniac smell, place it back there

and go to sleep, or at least try.

ρ. Objectifying beauty.

τ. blur bird blues.
Eating Disorder Recovery Isn’t Always Hard
By: Meg Mccabe
Tags: Health, Psychology, Life, Eating Disorders, Mental Health

I’ve been open about my previous food issues for several years now.

And the one thing that I’ve never come out and said is:

My recovery wasn’t that bad.

And your recovery doesn’t have to be bad.

I don’t write this as a humble brag, I write this because I’ve never heard anyone say it before. I write this to offer a re-frame. I write this because maybe people are afraid to start recovery because they’ve only heard how freaking hard it is.

Like a broken record, I hear therapists and survivors say this every day: Recovery is hard work. It might be the hardest thing you’ll ever do.

In psychology, this is called a limiting belief.

According to changingminds.org limiting beliefs are beliefs that constrain us in some way. They’re usually about ourselves, our personal identity, other people, or the world.

‘Recovery is hard’ is a collective limiting belief I’ve observed in the eating disorder space that’s often mistaken as fact.

Eating disorders span across a spectrum of severity. They warp our thinking and make us do some uncharacteristic behaviors like steal food, binge, or snap at our mothers for putting salt on fat free popcorn. (Sorry mom). The experience of having an eating disorder is really hard.

Recovery can torment a person for their entire life. For many, it’s a lifelong battle within themselves. This article is not intended to minimize anyone’s individual experiences. If my outlook frustrates you, please know your recovery experience is valid too.
The Bad Influence
By: Marty De Jonge
Tags: Poetry, Writing, 100wordstory, Hunger, The Bad Influence

We are sitting in the kitchen when I ask her if she still loves me.

As she answers, she begins to remove all of the things I don’t like from a paper container of fried rice — the peas, the carrots, the chicken — until there is nothing left but browned rice and slimy onions.

I feel her doing the same thing with her words — spoon-feeding me answers of little substance because she thinks I like the taste of them, how easily they slip down to my stomach.

She’s right. I eat it all.

I’m still hungry late into the night.

Marty de Jonge
Asking for Directions
By: Kalman Balla
Tags: Short Story, Pentina, Microfiction, Morning, Fantasy

Asking for Directions

Weekly Pentina Prompt

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash

Edinburgh, Scotland 3 a.m.

‘Excuse me.’

‘Y-yes?’

‘Is this 3 Fillyside Avenue?’

‘No, that’s the next street. This is 3 Fillyside Terrace.’

‘Thanks. Also, I am sorry for waking you up.’

‘It’s alright. I got scared thinking you came for me.’

‘You still have time,’ Death said, then disappeared.
It’s Finally Safe to Go Outside
By: Bill Adler
Tags: Horror, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Horror Fiction, Vampires

“Let’s get some food. I’m starving.” Mihaela’s fingers disappeared as she slid them through her long black hair, emerging moments later covered in grime. She frowned. “Plus, I’m dusty from having spent the past six months inside.”

Alexandru looked at his wife, his coral blue eyes glowing as if lit by a spotlight. His stomach rumbled like a thunderstorm coalescing over the horizon.

“Your belly speaks for you,” Mihaela continued. “You look gaunt, my love. Your cloak flops around your shoulders, your feet wobble in your shoes.”

“I don’t disagree, sweetheart. It’s been a long half-year. The pandemic has been especially hard on us. I didn’t mind the rest, but this is the longest we’ve gone without a meal since we moved here.”

Mihaela smiled, her bone-white teeth shimmering in the candlelight. “Yes. But it’s over now. We can feast.”

“Do you think there will be people outside? It’s only been an hour since they gave the all-clear to go out. Surely restaurants and pubs haven’t opened so quickly. People have nowhere to go, especially — ” he glanced at the pendulum clock — “at 11 pm.” At that instant, the clock rang the first of eleven discordant chimes. Alexandru briskly rubbed his hands together, trying to mask his borborygmus. “I want to eat as much as you, but it’s a waste of energy if the streets and alleys are still empty.”

“They’re out already.” Mihaela took Alexandru’s hand and walked him to the open window, through which a slender breeze blew the bouquet of human blood.

Alexandru’s chest expanded to nearly twice its size as he took in a deep, satisfying breath. “I smell humans, too.”