On May 1, May Day rallies took place around the globe. Originally a day for unions and labor groups devoted to advocating workers' rights, May Day demonstrations in America this year took on a slightly different appearance. Propelled by Arizona's controversial new immigration enforcement law, mass deportations and stalled momentum toward reform, more than one million protesters took to the streets across America. Many of them were focused on the situation in Arizona, where misinformation campaigns about immigrants and crime have fuelled a climate of intolerance.
What stands at the heart of America's growing immigration problems however, is not racism but classism. It exists in nearly every facet of American life. These immigrants are being treated unfairly, not because of the color of their skin, but rather the size of their bank account.
Most of the 10 to 20 million estimated illegal immigrants in this country are, for the most part, law-abiding, upstanding and hardworking individuals. According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, crime in Arizona has actually dropped since the 1990s when immigrants "began pouring into the state." The state's property crime has dropped 43 percent since 1995.
The people being targeted lack the resources, financial, legal or otherwise to navigate the bureaucratic path to legal status. It is in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness that these so-called "illegals" resort to whatever means necessary to obtain a better life, a shot at the American dream. It is this same mentality that brought the pilgrims and pioneers to America, and it is the same tenacity exemplified in immigrant workers that built this country.
People opposing immigration reform and proponents of deportation over amnesty often tout that Mexican drug cartels import increased violence to American soil. However this problem will not be solved by deportation, but rather by improved border security. Years of lackadaisical border enforcement have allowed the Latin American drug cartels, criminals and "coyotes" to roam free.
Now law-abiding South and Central American immigrants are being scapegoated for failed American policy. Perhaps it is time to focus less on protecting Pakistani borders and commit more resources to defending the 1,969-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
Another common argument of the opposition is that millions of American jobs are lost to immigrants, illegal or otherwise. While the 10.2 percent unemployment rate in America is unacceptably high, many immigrants are content to do the jobs that American elitism renders unsatisfactory. It is unlikely that scores of unemployed Americans would line up to wash dirty laundry or clean toilets, even in the direst of economic circumstances.
Furthermore, it is difficult to comprehend how those who fall in the top tier of the capitalistic pyramid fail to recognize the economic necessity of the population residing just above the poverty line. This lower economic stratum of society serves as a foundation for the entire system, essentially supporting the security of those existing in the upper echelons of business and politics.
The immigration debate is yet another example of the divide that continues to grow between the controlling minority and the masses in America. In a society consumed and controlled by capitalism, the only color issue is the one dealing with stacks of green. Without money, immigrants have no voice.
In order to expedite snail-pace reform, the immigrant workforce should go on a national strike. Let the capitalist fat cats running the country wash toilets, collect trash, go without taxis, sleep on dirty hotel bedding and eat from soiled restaurant dishes. And let them rear their own children for a change and send their teenage sons and daughters to war. A change in legislation would be swift.
If you’re reading this, then you clicked past three Google pages of strategically-titled Huffington Post and Bleacher Report articles. I salute you. Hello and welcome. Here’s my assessment of the best (and worst) of 2013 Super Bowl ads.
E-Trade’s internal ad numbers would likely prove me wrong, but let’s just say it: this baby peaked two Super Bowls ago. Talking babies aren’t a running gag; they’re a one-time surprise. Wow! I sure didn’t expect it, but that little guy just talked! We’ve seen three dozen of these things.
Two years ago, Bridgestone nailed the animal-as-man’s-best-buddy in this suspenseful, near-death thriller. The guy’s perplexed reaction to the beaver only enhances the wackiness of the spot.
This year, Skechers brings it back, but doesn’t bother earning the point, wink, or fist-bump payoff. Why does this dude care about the deer? Lazy advertising.
With the way Budweiser sells, it’s time to admit that some people really would like to go to a vaguely-Gothic party with Roman arches, cavernous halls, and sixty ethnically-ambiguous twentysomethings dancing on 15th-century wooden tables. Just not me.
Generally, a big American truck company can’t lose with a sentimental salute to farmers, a lucrative market full of under-sung heroes. Yet Paul Harvey’s radio speech—originally just a clever poem in the Biblical style of Genesis—becomes something weirdly cult-like when paired with faded, heartfelt stills of middle-America at work. Worse, the speech carries on for two full-minutes (eons in world of Super Bowl ads), shifting the tone from “thoughtful” to “heavy-handed” to “now-everyone-in-the-room-is-silent-because-they-feel-uncomfortable.”
In contrast to the extended famer ad—which spends too long on one emotional note—Budweiser attempts to cram a feature-length-film's plot into a single commercial. We see two dudes purchasing beer, transporting an arm chair, sneaking past a gate, getting directions to a back room, all with no real indication of context. Suddenly, Stevie Wonder appears, sitting in a chair of his own, smiling broadly, dressed extravagantly. He snaps, a pretty girl arrives, a discussion of luck transpires. And on and on and on. I’ve watched the spot five times now, and like a well-crafted novel, I’ve picked up a little more each time. But for a football ad? Too complicated.
The Gist: A young man sits at a diner, gazing longingly through the window at a Mercedes-Benz billboard. Willem Dafoe (The Boondock Saints, Spider-Man) lounges across the table, fingernails cut like claws, eyes sparkling menacingly. It’s a classic soul-for-car Faustian bargain. All he has to do is sign. We see an imaginary montage of beautiful women and magazine covers (inevitable consequences of owning the car, of course), and our hero seems ready to do the deal. But wait! The corner of the billboard (just now finished) reveals the car is only 29 grand. Young man: “Thanks…but I think I got this.”
What Hit: Commendably, Mercedes sends a coherent message about its product: it’s a luxury car, yes, but it’s affordable. The spot also nails both gender demographics, with appearances from Usher and Kate Upton, along with fake magazine covers for GQ and Vanity Fair.
What Missed: While the ad’s message generally works, the price reveal and subsequent punch-line fall a bit flat. At $30K, most of us are still signing with the devil.
The Gist: A man walks along a sidewalk, eating a bag of Doritos. He comes across a goat (for sale), nibbling on a second bag of the iconic orange chips. Kindred spirits! The sale complete, man and beast proceed to eat Doritos everywhere: the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom. But the goat won’t stop. “42 bags later,” the incessant crunch, crunch, crunch drives the man to horde his remaining chip bags. He’s just painted a new Goat 4 Sale sign, when his pet discovers the man’s traitorous intentions. The ad ends with the goat cornering his master, the unpleasant details of his retribution left off screen.
What Hit: Doritos knows how to choose simple plots and execute them well. We even get a bit of circular narrative structure (a Goat 4 Sale sign starts and ends the ad). Wisely, the commercial ends the story in our imagination instead of on screen, the most dramatic outcome of all.
What Missed: There’s not much original about the spot: we’ve seen man vs. beast plenty of times. Plus the message gets a little murky: you’ll love Doritos so much you’ll want to share them with a pet goat, except that if that goat annoys you, you’ll want to horde the chips for yourself and sell that goat. The best spots put the product first; in this case, Doritos comes second to the man-goat narrative.
The Gist: A car salesman and couple have just completed a sale. The couple explains that Cars.com—with their expert reviews—made the decision easy, but…. “you miss the drama,” says the salesman, smiling knowingly. He opens a drawer and pulls out a baby wolf. The wife picks up the adorable pup, but the salesman gestures toward the wolf’s “incredibly protective mother,” who’s just been released down the hall. “Put the wolf down,” whispers the husband. “Get the right car, without all the drama,” the ad says.
What Hit: The ad nails its tagline efficiently, effectively, and humorously. By the end, we all know one specific thing the Cars.com product does: take drama out of the car buying process. I also liked how the spot didn’t have to personify the animals to make things funny.
What Missed: One might say the ad underwhelmed slightly, given the extravagance of almost all the other spots. An efficient, decent ad isn’t always enough for the Super Bowl. Though it was technically sound, I found it less memorable than the next seven items on this list.
The Gist: A shark attack at the beach. The crowd runs for shore, but a young woman remains in peril. An attractive male lifeguard swims directly for the shark, throws a few punches, then carries the damsel back to the beach. Just as she’s coming to, an astronaut arrives out of nowhere, and we see “Nothing Beats an Astronaut” as she runs for the man in the space suit. “Axe Apollo.”
What Hit: The shark fistfight (ridiculous), and the arrival of the astronaut (bizarre, nonsensical) work so well because Axe fully commits to it.
What Missed: The sheer absurdity of the ad’s logic—nothing beats an astronaut-->this deoderant spray has “Apollo” in its name-->therefore you should buy this it—is quintessential Axe, but it says absolutely nothing about the product. It may work for the 18-25 demo, but fleetingly at best.
The Gist: Dad’s on his way out the door to play football with the bros, but his adorable daughter wants to play princess. Critically, she holds a bag of Doritos. Cut to the dad’s group of (surprisingly) ethnically diverse friends, who peer in as the dad snacks on the chips, playing princess with his little girl. Cut yet again to mommy, who observes the scene (five guys now in dresses), and asks (flatly) if that’s her wedding dress one guy is wearing. “It could be,” he says, as orange crumbs fly from his mouth.
What Hit: The message here is cleaner than in Doritos’ goat ad: You will do silly things if it means a chance to eat Doritos. Plus the sheepish “It could be” line just sells the ludicrousness of it all.
What Missed: The little girl gets lost after her first appearance, sadly waving her broken wand in the corner of subsequent shots. Doritos misses the chance for a little more cute-kid appeal.
The Gist: A farmer raises a baby horse from foal to majestic steed. He sells the stallion to Budweiser, but not before the man and horse have formed a special bond. Years later, as the steed marches proudly through town in a Budweiser parade, the farmer watches from the edge of the road, hoping for some sort of snort of recognition. The horse passes by, nose straight ahead, trot uninterrupted. Disappointed, the farmer starts up his car, but then there he is! The horse! Galloping his way! The two reunite. “Budweiser.”
What Missed: I’ve never really bought Budweiser-as-benevolent-horse-breeders, and I tend to get a bit spooked by all the schmaltziness. That being said, it looks like Budweiser is having a contest to name the horse! Fun!
The Gist: A wife asks her husband when he’s going to put his “big idea” online. “Relax,” he says, “it’s not like anybody else is going to have…” *cut to new couple* “…the exact same idea…” *cut again* “…that popped into my head.” *cut to couple in private jet* “So thank goodness I put my idea online first!” A smiling flight attendant asks, “More champagne, sir?” “More everything, sky waitress!” he says, and the couple, waitress, and even pilot (Danica Patrick) fake laugh for 10 straight seconds before we cut to “GoDaddy.”
What Hit: GoDaddy taps directly into their potential customers’ most primal motivation: fear that someone else will snatch their URL away. Props to the perennial Super Bowl advertiser for (once) not degrading women, relying on shock value, or implementing cheap “See More Online!” ploys.
What Missed: Even if GoDaddy eschewed nudity, we still have an ad with all male entrepreneurs, and all female nagging spouses. Sure, they needed the symmetry to make the cuts work, but what if they had flipped the scheme from the outset, allowing each wife to have the great idea? Baby steps, I guess.
The Gist: Grandpa’s just been put to bed at Glencobrooke Retirement Center, but wait, he’s sneaking out for a night on the town! He and his buddies cause all sorts of trouble, jumping in the neighbor’s pool, blasting music at 3 am, and lighting smoke bombs on doorsteps. To round out the night, the group heads for—where else?—Taco Bell, for a late night (early morning?) snack.
What Hit: Spit-polished and beautifully shot, this spot is the best-looking Super Bowl ad of the lot. The background anthem—“Viva Young,” a Spanish version of “We Are Young”—hits the perfect pitch. Taco Bell also embraces its place as the go-to midnight snack stop. Some of my fondest college memories involve midnight runs to local fast-food joints.
What Missed: To me, the look-it’s-old-people-doing-young-people-things! gag has lost nearly all originality. Taco Bell executes admirably, but chooses a narrative bordering on cliché.
The Gist: Paul Rudd (Knocked Up, and the other 12 movies exactly like Knocked Up) and Seth Rogen (same) have been contacted by Samsung (separately) to do their NextBigThing ad. They arrive in the lobby, confused that the other also received a call. After some comedic bickering, Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad’s slick and goofy lawyer) strolls out to invite the two into his office. They proceed to brainstorm ideas for Samsung’s ad campaign, before LeBron James Skypes in on a Samsung tablet, upstaging Rudd and Rogen. The ad cuts to black as the two verbally trip over each other trying to grab back Odenkirk’s attention.
What Hit: Samsung knows if they throw enough money at talented actors, they’ll produce a memorable ad. Sure, it may be a little lazy, but when you’re making the kind of money they do, you’ve earned it.
What Missed: The spot employs awkward/improvisational humor (popularized by The Office) throughout, which has its fans and its critics. Personally, I love it, but I can understand those who prefer smart, exacting dialogue over the meandering creative stylings of Rudd and Rogen.
The Gist: A geeky (but not that geeky…this is TV, after all) high school senior doesn’t have a date for Prom. He stands sheepishly, bowtie crooked, as his mother reassures him. It’s no use: even his eight-year-old sister knows he’s in trouble. As he saunters toward the door, his dad tosses him the keys to his Audi. “Hey son: have fun tonight.” Emboldened by the sweet ride, he parks in the Principal Only spot, and strides into the dance hall. Up ahead, the Prom Queen herself dances. Our hero walks straight up, kissing her in front of the whole school. We see the Prom King (stereotypical blonde bully look) march toward him, fist raised. Cut to our (now) black-and-bruised geek, zooming down the freeway and whooping in exultation. “Bravery. It’s what defines us. Audi.”
What Hit: The cut from the kiss to the bruised eye is classic storytelling economy, and Audi executes it with a superb sense of pace and timing. Subtly, the spot also plays to an ideal demographic: nerdy smart guys in their late twenties or early thirties. They still have shivers of awkward dances and high school rejection, but their geekiness now translates to high-income jobs. Who better to target in a sports car ad?
What Missed: Soon after the commercial aired, a small (but vocal) minority accused the ad of endorsing sexual assault. For the history books, I’m acknowledging the outcry here. But my personal take? Patently ludicrous. When you’re in high school, you’re just figuring out all sorts of things: how to study, how to play sports, how to interact with the opposite sex. Show me one high school relationship without a moment or two where someone had to take (Heaven forbid) a risk. Every kiss in high school is the same: you never know if you’ll get kissed back, slapped, or forever ignored. I salute Audi’s geeky kid, high school kids who take risks, and Audi itself for their clever commercial about navigating through one of the most confusing phases of life.
Over the weekend, the New York Times published dueling articles about the doyennes of nineties daytime television, Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey. Both women broke glass ceilings by leveraging their personalities into media empires, but their businesses are suffering in today’s fractured media landscape. Still, one of the self-made moguls has crossed the generation gap, capturing the admiration of millennials whose mothers (and — sure, why not? — fathers) built their empires.
While O: The Oprah Winfrey Magazine struggles to attract younger readers with articles about “how tea helps lower blood pressure” and “how to talk to a doctor about medical history,” the Times reports that Stewart has become the “patron saint of twenty- and thirty-somethings who, in a post-recessionary world, have begun their own pickling, cupcake, and letterpress businesses and are selling crafty goods online.” Her website experienced a 40 percent traffic jump among the Etsy generation and now occupies what Martha Stewart Living editor Pilar Guzman called “the intersection between Colonial Williamsburg and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.”
It is a little surprising that a generation so blithely committed to social-media oversharing would turn its back on Oprah, the queen of disclosure who told us about her yo-yo diets, her secret half-sister, and her S-shaped fecal matter. Indeed, Oprah’s booking parade of celebrities and normal people, side-by-side, offering up some insipidly inspirational revelation (“some psychic scar de rigeur,” as Tina Brown put it) is an obvious precursor for millennial media like, say, xoJane. In 2012, we may now simply be saturated with overshares. And any expert of the form would have cringed when they read that Oprah revealed a recent breast cancer scare to best friend Gayle King in front of a live audience. It wasn’t public-sharing best practices.
But while Winfrey gets beat at her own earnestness game, Stewart has safely crossed the irony threshold. In the bold comeback show that followed her return from Alderson Federal Prison Camp (a.k.a “Yale”), Stewart offered herself up as a straight man to be lightly skewered by much cooler guests like Conan O’Brien, Seth Meyers, Snoop Dog, and Danny Bowien. Meanwhile, all Good Things that predate Stewart’s prison sentence now seem fashionably nineties.
Crucially, and like all of Gen-Y’s ironic interests, Stewart is basically uninterested in them or their tattoos. With Winfrey, who once crassly begged on Twitter for Nielsen families to flip to her OWN network, you get the feeling that if someone told her that twentysomethings love tattoos, she would devote a prime-time special to it. Our tattoos, ourselves. But Martha? She tells the New York Times that she’s “not a big fan of tattoos.” Not because they’re ugly or meaningless, but because the motifs we ink ourselves with look better embroidered on a jacket or silk-screened on a T-shirt. And she’s right.
Unfortunately, as equity research analyst David Bank told the Times, Stewart’s generational crossover appeal isn’t much use unless millennials all go out and buy her branded bedsheets and flatware, which is unlikely because there is no Macy’s or J.C. Penney in North Brooklyn. “Who cares if she’s popular if you can’t monetize it?” Bank mused. It’s a problem likely to resonate with Stewart’s young, pickling, and Etsy-ing fans, who are rich in Twitter followers and little else. Maybe she could try Kickstarter?
But will depend highly about the hardware it runs on. For instance, Mutex lock/unlock will depend on what multi-thread is implemented, how many cores are sharing some data in their cache, and so on...
Those mutex costs could match a critical section in Windows in low contention scenarios. Maybe that's what was meant rather than a Windows mutex object?
There’s increasing alarm about the number of American teenagers dealing with depression. The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that all children 12 years and older be screened for depression annually. Psychotherapist Dr. Mike Dow weighs in.
SELLERS ARE MOTIVATED AND ARE READY TO SELL!!! This home needs a little TLC, so bring your design ideas and make it your dream home! The sellers have already installed new, luxury, waterproof floors, added new stainless steel appliances and opened up the formal dining room the way it was originally built! The 4th bedroom in this home is the perfect size for a nursery or home office! The kitchen has a service window to the lanai which is great for entertaining! The large sparkling pool can be accessed through three sets of French doors from the family room, formal living room and the master bedroom. In addition to the French doors, the master bedroom features vaulted ceilings and two walk-in closets with built-in drawers and shelves. In the master bathroom, you will find a walk-in shower, jetted garden tub, and double vanities. In addition to the master suite, one of the other bedrooms has an attached full bath, making it a perfect in-law suite This home truly has it all! Come add your own design elements and make this YOUR home! This spacious Tampa Palms home is located on an oversized lot in the highly desired community of Tremont where you'll find low HOA fees. Other features include updated kitchen cabinets, an EEI Security system, Dog Watch Electric Fence, and a newer AC unit with a UV-C (germicidal) lamp, which is still under warranty. Close to parks, golf course, tennis, good schools, USF, and so much more!
Triumph & Disaster Shampoo for men is made from 100% naturally derived ingredients to provide a deep cleansing, refreshing, and cooling cleanse for your hair. The gentle formula won't strip your hair completely from its healthy natural oils, keeping your hair as healthy as possible.
Apply a small amount to the palms of the hand, and work into wet hair, focusing on massaging the scalp directly. Rinse and followup with your favourite conditioner.
Triumph & Disaster Rock & Roll Suicide Face Scrub for Men is made from volcanic ash, and green clay to dissolve and eliminate grease and grit from the face....
Triumph & Disaster Game Face moisturiser tube is a premium facial moisturiser, delivered in a convenient squeezable tube. The formula has been used by countless men all over the...
The privacy and security of your personal information is extremely important to us. This privacy policy explains how and why we use your personal data, to make sure you stay informed and can be confident about giving us your information. In certain circumstances we may also provide an extra privacy notice, which will always refer to this page.
If you have any questions in relation to this privacy policy or how we use your personal data they should be sent to
We collect personal data in connection with specific activities such as registration, purchases, bookings, research, ordering, employment etc.
You can give us your personal data by filling in forms on our website or using other social media functions on our website, or by corresponding with us (by post, phone or by email).
This personal data you give us may include name, title, address, date of birth, age, gender, demographic information, email address, telephone numbers, personal description, photographs, usernames and passwords).
Personal details (name, date of birth, email, address, telephone, and so on) and Financial information (payment information such as credit or debit card or direct debit)
Technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and if you access our website via your mobile device we will collect your unique phone identifier. Information about your visit, including, but not limited to the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) and query string, clickstream to, through and from our website (including date and time), the things you viewed or searched for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as but not limited to, scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page, and any phone number used.
Information about your purchase or bookings including but not limited to revenue figures, the types of products or service purchased.
Below are the main uses of your data which depend on the nature of our relationship with you and how you interact with our services and our websites.
Your privacy is important to us, so we’ll always keep your details secure. We’d like to use your details to keep in touch.
If you choose to hear from us we may send you information based on what is most relevant to you. We’ll only send this information to you if you agree to receive it and we will never share your information with companies outside of The Family Mediation Centre for inclusion in their marketing. (We may however share cookie data with third parties). If you agree to receive marketing information from us you can change your mind at a later date.
If you’d like to ‘share’ www.thefamilymediationcentre.co.uk content through Facebook and Twitter etc…, you may be sent cookies from their websites. We don’t control their cookie settings, so you will need to check with them for information about the management of their cookies.
If you’d like more information about cookies in general and how to manage them visit www.allaboutcookies.org/.
Not all cookies on www.thefamilymediationcentre.co.uk are related to us. If you visit a web page that contains embedded content, for example from YouTube, you may be sent cookies from these websites. We don’t control the setting of these cookies, so check with these third-party websites for more information.
The business partners that may set cookies on www.thefamilymediationcentre.co.uk include: Google, Facebook, Vimeo, Automatic Inc, PayPal.
It is time for the olive trees to yield their harvest. it is time for the olives to be taken to the press for oil. It is a season for "THE SEASON". I AM preparing my people to receive the "RAIN OF GLORY" and preparing the anointing oil. I will have my vessels ready to carry my glory and they will be anointed with my oil. My church, Israel is your prophetic mirror and through her I AM speaking to you. Pray that you as well will be strengthen to handle the pressure of the press. I AM telling you that it is all worth it.
Isaiah 41:7 The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good”; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.