Engines are the heart and soul of a vehicle, powering its movement and performance. When they malfunction, it can lead to expensive repairs for any vehicle owner. But how much does it cost to rebuild an engine? This article examines the factors that influence the cost of rebuilding an engine, including the initial condition of the engine, the parts required, and labor costs. It also discusses tips for getting the most out of your money when attempting to rebuild an engine yourself or when hiring a professional mechanic to do it for you. By understanding how much it costs to rebuild an engine and what goes into that estimate, you will be better prepared to make informed decisions about whether this type of repair is right for you.
Factors Affecting the Price of a Rebuild
The cost of rebuilding an engine depends on various factors, including the type of vehicle, the extent and complexity of the repairs required, and the age and condition of the engine. The cost of rebuilding an engine varies depending on your vehicle type. For instance, a basic four-cylinder engine in a compact car will likely cost less than an eight-cylinder engine in a luxury sedan or SUV. Additionally, vintage vehicles may require more costly parts that are not readily available from traditional auto parts stores.
The condition and age of your engine can also affect how much it costs to rebuild. If your engine is new or in good condition overall, it may only require minor repairs, which can be done inexpensively. On the other hand, if your engine has suffered severe damage due to neglect or wear and tear over time, you may need more extensive work done, which can cause costs to increase significantly. Finally, other accessories, such as spark plugs, timing chains, hoses, radiators, and oil filters, may need replacing when rebuilding an engine. These additional components can add to your overall bill if required for your repair job.
Labor and Parts Costs
The cost of rebuilding an engine comprises two main categories: labor and parts. Labor costs vary significantly from shop to shop and will depend on the complexity of the repair job as well as the experience level of the mechanic doing the work. Generally, mechanics charge by the hour, ranging from $50 to $100 per hour or more, depending on location and expertise. Parts are usually listed separately in a rebuild estimate. The cost of parts for a rebuild can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars, based on what must be replaced. If your engine requires specialty parts unavailable at your local auto store, you may need to pay more for them due to their limited availability.
Options for Reducing Costs
Rebuilding an engine can be expensive, but there are several strategies to consider if you’re looking to save money. One of the best ways to reduce the cost of rebuilding an engine is to do it yourself. If you have access to the right tools and a good understanding of how engines work, you could save a lot of labor costs. However, it is vital to be aware that DIY engine rebuilds require significant time and effort to be completed successfully.
Another option for reducing costs is to shop around for used parts. Used parts are often more affordable than brand-new ones, and they can give your engine a second chance at life without breaking the bank. It’s also important to factor in any additional services, such as oil changes or tune-ups, that may be required when rebuilding an engine since these add-ons can also affect your total expense.
Benefits of Rebuilding over Replacing
Rebuilding an engine is often a more economical choice than replacing it entirely with a new one – not just in terms of cost savings but also in terms of performance and reliability. With rebuilt engines, all components are tested and inspected for quality control before being put back together again. This makes them more reliable than completely new engines, which may have unseen defects that could cause problems. When you replace an entire engine, additional labor is usually involved in removing and replacing all associated parts – such as radiators, timing belts, etc. – which will add up quickly if not done properly by a professional mechanic. Alongside understanding the benefits of rebuilding, it’s also essential to know about potential issues that can arise in engines. Can a Starter Lock Up an Engine? This is a query many vehicle owners have, especially when faced with starting difficulties. Also read about the intricacies of starters and how they can influence an engine’s performance.
Rebuilding an engine is a great way to extend its life and reduce overall costs compared to replacing it with a brand-new one. However, the cost of rebuilding an engine will vary depending on factors such as your vehicle type, age and condition of the engine, labor costs, and parts required. Considering all these elements before starting such a project is important to avoid costly surprises. Additionally, if you plan on doing it yourself or hiring someone else to do it for you, there are options available for reducing costs, such as shopping for used parts or taking advantage of DIY kits. With careful attention paid to detail and research on how much it will cost, you can ensure your rebuild succeeds while avoiding unexpected expenses.


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2017 ARCA Racing Series Schedule Unveiledby Kyle Pokrefky November 10, 2016
ARCA Racing Series officials have pulled the covers off of their official schedule for the 2017 season on Thursday morning.
Similar to the schedules of the last three seasons, the 2017 schedule will feature 20 races on the calendar. Several tracks, however, have been changed
The series will once again start at Daytona International Speedway in February and end at Kansas Speedway in October.
NASCAR companion events at Michigan International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and two races at Pocono Raceway will return.
Also returning to the fold will be two races at Salem Speedway and races at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, Winchester Speedway, Lucas Oil Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Madison International Speedway, Toledo Speedway, Illinois State Fairgrounds and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
New for 2017 will be the return of Road America, which replaces the series’s previous road course race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Elko Speedway is also set for a return to the schedule, replacing Berlin Raceway’s annual event.
2017 ARCA Racing Series Schedule
- Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Florida – February 18th
- Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville – Nashville, Tennessee – April 8th
- Salem Speedway – Salem, Indiana – April 30th
- Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama – May 5th
- Toledo Speedway – Toledo, Ohio – May 21st
- Elko Speedway – Elko, Minnesota – June 3rd
- Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, Pennsylvania – June 9th
- Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, Michigan – June 16th
- Madison International Speedway – Madison, Wisconsin – June 23rd
- Iowa Speedway – Newton, Iowa – July 8th
- Lucas Oil Raceway – Brownsburg, Indiana – July 21st
- Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, Pennsylvania – July 28th
- Winchester Speedway – Winchester, Indiana – August 6th
- Illinois State Fairgrounds – Springfield, Illinois – August 20th
- Road America – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – August 27th
- DuQuoin State Fairgrounds – DuQuoin, Illinois – September 4th
- Salem Speedway – Salem, Indiana – September 9th
- Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, Illinois – September 14th
- Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, Kentucky – September 22nd
- Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, Kansas – October 20th
Photo Credit: ARCAracing.com

domain: geography


Emego uses dry sensing technology which means no more uncomfortable skin preparation or gels and the Bluetooth® LE wireless operation means Emego is truly wireless. Emego is body worn, small, light and can be used over extended periods, suitable for applications to detect muscle signals around the jaw, eye, and limbs.
Simply activating the muscle, even slightly, will activate the patient sensor of the Emego to transmit a signal wirelessly up to 10 Metres to a small base station that interfaces to existing EC or AAC equipment via a standard 3.5mm phono jack. The Patient sensor can be charged via inductive charging allowing Emego to be used as a stand-alone or accompany an existing switching method.
Emego, designed and manufactured in the UK by GSPK Design, is developed to easily replace the switch. Accurately and repeatedly detecting a trigger from small muscle movement converting this artefact to a switching signal to interface with existing (eAT) equipment through a wireless connection to the base unit.


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- Marcin Kosman, once associated with CD Projekt, claims that the company's employees are replacing their ID cards. He published the information on Twitter this morning;
- We asked CD Projekt for a comment on this matter;
- According to information gathered by the company, at this point there is no evidence of personal data leak.
The ransomware attack on CD Projekt is the hottest topic in the industry in recent days. The criminals acquired company data, as well as source code of its games. Yesterday we informed about the first consequence of the attack - the source code of the popular card game Gwent, and as well as Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales are to be sold at an online auction. The hackers gave the company 48 hours to meet their demands following the attack. The Polish company, instead of going along with the criminals, decided to make the whole matter public.
New, disturbing information on the attack was provided this morning by Marcin Kosman from better. gaming agency, a former employee of CDP Sp. z o.o (CD Projekt's daughter company created in 2014). According to his sources, CD Projekt employees are replacing their ID cards after some began suspecting a case of identity theft may have taken place. According to Kosman, there was an attempt to take a loan using the personal data of one of the employees.
"My friends are reporting that after the leak of CD PROJEKT RED's data, the company's employees started replacing their IDs and verifying credentials at the Credit Office. One of them had a call from the bank, asking whether he really is the person trying to take a loan from them (no, he isn't)."
The leak is said to affect not only current employees of CD Projekt Group, but also former ones:
"It seems like the case includes, e.g. data of former employees of CDPR's associate company CDP.pl. This includes me. And I hear about this from third parties, and not the place that dropped the ball. What a lovely morning."
The company recently reported that, to the best of its knowledge, a leak of employees' personal data did not occur. We asked CD Projekt to verify the veracity of these reports. In response, the company maintains its position from the announcement published on February 9:
"At the moment we have no evidence that personal data has been accessed. However, we continue to recommend caution (e.g. enable alerts for fraud attempts)."
To sum up: we know that we know nothing. CD Projekt has not confirmed the information posted on Twitter, but the mere fact that at this point there is no evidence of a leak does not mean that it did not happen (although we all hope that there really was no leak). CD Projekt's ransomware attack case is developing at a rapid pace, so probably in the next few days we will know new details about the attack.
- CD Projekt - official website
- Cyberpunk 2077 Review - Samurai, You've Got a Great RPG to Play! (PC version review)

domain: news


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August 21, 2018
Background: A group of 22 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia along with private parties have asked a U.S. federal appeals court to overturn the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order.
The following statement can be attributed to Jonathan Spalter, President & CEO, USTelecom:
“As we’ve said many times, our nation’s broadband providers stand with their consumers in supporting a free and open internet—without 1930’s-era regulations—and with consumer protections that are applied consistently across the entire internet ecosystem and not exclusively on ISPs. As this case winds its way through federal court, it is worth noting what has not happened since the FCC’s order: the internet as we know it is still thriving, growing, open and continues to spin on its axis. The predictions made by some that ISPs would engage in throttling, blocking, and anti-competitive prioritization, have not happened. When it comes to maintaining our open, innovating internet, consumers deserve smart, modern and unambiguous protections that apply consistently to all parts of the internet ecosystem—not the backwards and balkanized approach these state attorneys general would impose on America’s internet consumers. That is what we will continue to fight for in this case and ultimately in Congress.”
Brian Weiss, VP of Media Affairs | 202.326.7226 | firstname.lastname@example.org

domain: law


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It was all joy and fun over the past weekend as Yumvita thrilled hundreds of families to an exciting festive celebration in the Eastern regional capital city of Koforidua.
The event was held at the plush Nel Gardino park on the as part of efforts by the brands to bring the festive celebration to the Koforidua township.
As families trooped into the event grounds, they were met with giveaways and other freebies.
In an atmosphere of entertainment, relaxation and competitiveness, children and parents took part games and activities like, bouncy castle games, musical chairs, fill the bottle, Spa treatment for parent among others.
The event also came with a health screening exercise to sensitise parent and guardians on the need for healthy nutrition for children
Brand manager for Yumvita Emmeline Tagoe expressed her excitement about the event.
“The festive season is a time to celebrate and make merry, that is why we have brought Yumvita Kiddies to celebrate with the people of Koforidua. The event also provides us with opportunity for us to say thank you to our patrons,” she said.
This year’s Yumvita kiddie games was organised in partnership with the Dare-2-Dream Foundation, an NGO this is committed to developing the creative talent of children.
For the participants, it was an opportunity to thank Yumvita for bringing the event to Koforidua and on the brand to organise more of such an event in the town.
The event was preceded by a donation to the Pediatric Unit of the Koforidua Regional Hospital.

domain: sociology


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McKee Utility Contractors is a water and sewer infrastructure services platform providing pipeline installation, replacement, tunnelling, and boring for water, wastewater, and stormwater utility customers. The Company leverages its superior track record and qualifications to target large, complex utility infrastructure projects.
Active. Pursuing growth by further capitalizing on opportunities in the Company’s current geographic footprint, along with expansion into new US markets and infrastructure services through organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions.
Boyne partnered with management to recapitalize the business and support accelerated growth initiatives.


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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Sec. Social Inclusion in Cities
Volume 4 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.876740
Striving for normality: Agency, citizen participation and intergroup belonging on the urban periphery of Helsinki
- Faculty of Social Sciences/CCSR, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
This article examines how the inhabitants of a culturally diverse suburban estate in Finland strive for meaningful encounters in their lives. The focus is on Kontula, a residential working-class district on the eastern periphery of Helsinki, which has become a powerful symbol of the ills of contemporary urbanity—poverty and social problems, as well as rootlessness and the failed integration of the immigrant populations—in the vernacular geography and media representations of the city. I studied how everyday mobility in an increasingly segregated city is related to a range of qualities of sociocultural encounters, both within the immediate neighbourhood and across other urban areas. I argue that for many marginalised inhabitants, agency predominantly emphasises striving for normality, not a challenge to the system. This is why it is so rarely recognised. Themes such as common decency, meaningful activity and equal encounter are much more typical aims of everyday practises than those focussing on changing the conditions. The contexts explored range from the familiar and neighbourly surroundings characterised by high degree of cultural intimacy and effortlessness to spaces with unfamiliar expectations and very different cultural codes. How do people living on the stigmatised periphery establish sense of belonging in a segregated city? How is it possible retain a sense of decency and dignity in unpredictable circumstances? During my long-term ethnographic fieldwork in the area, I concentrated on the qualities of encounters and senses of agency. These are interweaved with the inhabitants' everyday life, realised in their movement across the city and vary considerably in different contexts, reproducing the quotidian urbanity of Helsinki.
It is early morning in January and the open-air shopping centre of the urban periphery of Kontula is mostly asleep. Only the large supermarkets are open and there is a steady stream of people walking towards the metro station platforms, on their way to work in the central districts of Helsinki. At the same time, there is another, more unpretentious sense of movement towards Kontula and its outpatient care facility for people with mental health and substance abuse issues. It is my first day of ethnographic fieldwork in the area and I have not visited the centre before.
There is a modest sign on top of the door but a large group of people smoking cigarettes outside is a better indicator of the location. I met one of the employees, Harri,1 the day before and he has invited me to visit the place. The atmosphere outside is quiet and sleepy: there are casual greetings for the people arriving and a constant motion in and out of the door. I enter and almost collide with someone with excited gesticulations rushing out. Everyone else is relaxed and casual. A game of pool has just begun, the TV is on but there is no sound and most of the people are either eating porridge and drinking coffee or queuing for their plateful. I cannot see Harri so I ask a person wearing a shirt with the centre's logo for him. I notice immediately that he is under the influence and has difficulties understanding my question. The encounter feels surprising, even surreal, because of the uniform he is wearing.
I spot Harri and he tells me to fetch a cup of coffee and to sit down by the TV. All the large armchairs are occupied but one of the regulars is preparing to leave: “It is already ten o'clock and the bars have been open for an hour. My shift here is over. I will go for a pint.” He leaves and I sit down to chat with the others. The discussion revolves around the charities hosting food banks in Helsinki. This is a popular topic among the regulars: the quality of food, the (nominal) prices of different items and changes in the atmosphere are deliberated upon meticulously in a routine that is repeated every day. Yet some complain that things change too often and that it is hard to keep up with all the unpredictability.
Our discussion is interrupted by two young men who want to borrow Harri's mobile phone for their “business”. I later learn that this is a common practise and an important reason to visit the centre. These two are referred to as “nine-euro-men” because they are receiving nine euros of daily support from the state for assisting in the everyday chores of the centre. Even on the first visit it becomes obvious that porous boundaries distinguish various groups of visitors from one another. In addition to full-time employees and customers there are in-between categories of volunteers, interns, experts by experience (paid and non-paid), people supported by pay subsidies and variable categories of customers. Together they have established a sense of a workplace hierarchy and participate in running the place in both formal and informal ways. What struck me was the extensive range metaphors related to employment and responsibilities: shifts, businesses and wages. This was a place where it was possible to achieve a sense of normality—to work, to do housekeeping and to socialise—a rare case in a society that looks down people with mental health and substance abuse issues.
These aspects of social life are closely related to questions of agency, intergroup belonging and participation. They are crucial for practises of social inclusion and exclusion in a stigmatised suburban housing estate in the margins of Helsinki. My ethnographic approach examines how qualities of urban space, shaped through diverse historical trajectories, have significant consequences for how the potential outcomes of encounters and interactions are realised and imagined. I argue that for many marginalised inhabitants, agency predominantly emphasises striving for normality, not a challenge to the system. This is why it is so rarely recognised. Themes such as common decency, meaningful activity and equal encounter are much more typical aims of everyday practises than those focussing on changing the societal conditions. Inhabitants' spatially ordered notions of sociality—their embodied knowledge of different spaces and contexts—shape agency and belonging through quotidian practises (Taylor, 1992, p. 217–218). In addition, the encounters are also carefully analysed regarding Kontula's shifting relative location (Green, 2012a,b, 2013): a complex understanding of the value and hierarchical order of places, arising historically from their relations and separations from other places within a particular value system (Green, 2012a, p. 6). A brief look into Kontula's history and urban transformation will provide an understanding of its relative location in comparison to other spaces.
Context: Suburban housing estate as a liminal form of urbanity
Until the rapid expansion of Helsinki, beginning in 1950s, its marginalised districts were located in the inner city, in close proximity to the urban core (e.g., Kokkonen, 2002; Kemppainen, 2017). At first, construction of the suburban estates on the urban fringes represented modernisation and a promise of a new way of life, especially for the working classes living in cramped conditions. The newly built suburban housing estates provided spacious flats, balconies, fridges, central heating and an environment close to nature (Kokkonen, 2002; Karjalainen et al., 2021). The residential quarters were built first and the infrastructure followed with a delay—the difference and distance of suburban life in the 1950s and 1960s was characterised by inadequate public transport and lack of shops and services (Kokkonen, 2002). In Kontula, opening the open-air-shopping centre in 1967 and extension of the metro line in 1986 were cornerstones in connecting the district with the urban sphere of Helsinki.
In this sense, urban transformation in Helsinki is an example of a shift from “donut”-shaped cities with the disadvantaged groups living in the derelict cores to “saucer” cities where the urban poor and the immigrants are marooned on the urban outskirts (see Davis, 2006, p. 31). Nowadays, the central working-class districts in Helsinki have undergone a thorough process of gentrification with only the remains of their previous inhabitants left (Tuominen, 2020). While the inner cities have been associated with a distinctive proletarian urban culture portrayed in literature and cinema, the suburban housing estates in the fringes have been artistically underrepresented until recent years. They have been considered to be liminal zones, somewhere between the urban and rural, human containers that are noted in the media almost exclusively only with regard to social problems (Roivainen, 1999; Kokkonen, 2002; Karjalainen et al., 2021). Despite their fluid connections to the city centre and their culturally diverse population, they have not been included in the narrative of a global city (see Hall, 2012 for an almost identical narrative in London). At the same time, peripheral suburban housing estates share many of the global struggles regarding affordable housing, gentrification and segregation.
The dominant narratives of poverty and social problems, so prevalent in the image of Kontula, are not supported by the statistics. Helsinki has followed the policy of mixed housing for decades, applying quotas for free-market and subsidised housing throughout the city. This has made the reputably disadvantaged areas resemble a fragmented mosaic of poverty, with only small pockets plagued with social problems, not the whole districts (Kortteinen et al., 2006). In the case of Kontula, this has resulted in an intricate classification shared by the residents, often extending to the scale of a single apartment blocks, but virtually unknown for people not familiar with the area. However, the socioeconomic differences between Helsinki's urban districts expose significant patterns. The differences generally levelled down until 1990 (Lankinen, 1997) but have been growing since then (Kortteinen and Vaattovaara, 2000; Stjernberg, 2017). The early 1990s was a time of severe economic depression for the whole country that, among other developments, resulted in a shift from almost full employment to significant differences between districts (Kemppainen, 2017).
In contemporary social sciences, these dynamics of urban transformation are often understood through the concept of segregation—separation or isolation of marginalised urban areas from the other parts of the city. The municipal strategy of Helsinki continues to have strong emphasis on work against segregation (see Vilkama and Hirvonen, 2018) even though segregation development is not as aggressive in Finland as in many other countries (see Hirvonen and Puustinen, 2016; van Ham and Tammaru, 2016; Saikkonen et al., 2018; Kauppinen and van Ham, 2019). The reputation of marginalised districts ruled by criminal gangs, vandalism and explosive rioting is enforced by the sensationalist press and social media representations and there are dire warnings, mostly by the populist right-wing parties, of Helsinki going down the road of the cities plagued by no-go zones, drug wars and extremist movements (Tuominen, 2020; Juntunen, 2021). For the residents of Kontula, these representations feel out of place. Its neighbourhoods have their fair share of problems but everyday life is characterised much more by boredom and sense of peripherality. The sense of insecurity experienced by the inhabitants is not markedly higher than in some central districts of Helsinki and has remained roughly the same in the recent years. The figures are nevertheless higher than in most of the more socially advantaged areas (Hirvonen, 2022; Keskinen and Kainulainen-d'Ambrosio, 2022).
Theory: Unrecognised agency
The principal approach in this article was to study the senses of agency and participation in differently defined and experienced spaces, both real and imagined. Sometimes they were distinguished from one another in gradual and flexible ways but at others by more fundamental divisions of inside and outside, inclusive and exclusive. The everyday life in Kontula consists of dealing with the contradictions associated with urban space and movement situated in it. Didier Fassin's depiction of representation and lived reality in a Parisian banlieue, resembles closely the situation in Kontula:
The hardship of life in these disadvantaged neighbourhoods stems mainly not from problems of insecurity, although these do exist, mainly in the subjective form of concern and fear: they are, above all, issues of unemployment and poverty, quality of housing and the environment, reputation of the area and discrimination against their residents (Fassin and Gomme, 2013, p. 58).
There is a rich literature on territorial stigmatisation in urban settings (see Horgan, 2020 for an overview). Since the pioneering work of Goffman (1963), stigmatisation has been developed theoretically in social sciences with various views on the role of agency of the residents. The influential work of Bourdieu (1991, 1999) emphasises the role of state-led campaigns and media in the formation and perpetuation of stigma. He argues that they condition the subjection of the residents to the dominant frameworks in a way that is impossible to escape, except by moving out of the area (if possible). Some other authors allow more flexibility. In his work, Loïc Wacquant has tied together Goffman's foundational work with Bourdieu's notions of symbolic power (Wacquant et al., 2014, p. 1272). His views, based on ethnographic fieldwork in several marginalised areas, have shifted from the earlier accounts that stressed the hopelessness of residents (Wacquant, 2007, 2008, 2010) into theoretical considerations that permit room to challenge the stigma, ranging from recalcitrance to resistance (Wacquant et al., 2014, p. 1276). Following this view, there have been ethnographic descriptions of attempts to challenge territorial stigmatisation in creative ways (see August, 2014; Kallin and Slater, 2014; Kirkness, 2014; Smets and Kusenbach, 2020; Tuominen, 2020). These studies, based on long-term participant observation, locate cracks in societal hierarchies and problematise reductive views designating lack of agency among the residents.
In an impoverished and stigmatised setting, the formal and informal understandings of the area clash frequently. Often, the value of quotidian activities is in stark contrast with the official policies of citizen participation. The latter focus increasingly on measuring the impact and efficiency of innovations and solutions that can be scaled to other contexts. There is also increasing competition over project funding, often highly dependent on progress reports documenting predominantly quantitative data about the participants and results of the participatory activities.
On a more holistic level, participatory acts relate to “right to the city” (Lefebvre et al., 1996), a possibility to reclaim the city and to combat against the spatial inequalities in urban contexts. The emphasis is on renewal and regeneration, “The right to change and to reinvent the city more after our heart's desire” (Harvey, 2012, p. 4). Lefebvre's formulation has acted as an relatively open-ended idea and slogan for various social justice movements in their struggles for affordable housing, against gentrification and to fight againts other injustices in urban contexts. This approach does not deliever straighforward solutions in the quest to create an alternative urban life less alienated, more meaningful and playful but draws attention to encounters and “perpetual pursuit of unknown novelty” (Harvey, 2012, p. x). While writings of Lefebvre and scholars influenced by his work have been enomously influential for both scholarly and activist initiatives for over 50 years, their conceptions of agency and resistance differ considerably from the everyday realities I encountered in Kontula. Throughout my fieldwork, agency in everyday life was not seen through its potential to resistance but through striving to normality. This focus on agency and ordanariness has been explored in the recent work of several anthropologists and philosophers.
What has been widely heralded “ethical turn” in recent anthropological discussions focusses on the ordinariness and abundance of ethical considerations in daily life, phenomenology of moral experience, as well as Foucauldian and neo-Aristotelian traditions of virtue ethics (see Fassin, 2014; Mattingly and Throop, 2018 for overviews of the central debates). Several authors associated with these debates see it as a response to approaches that reduce ethical considerations to deliberate strategies, ideology or calculation (Das, 2007, 2012, 2015; Lambek, 2010; Fassin, 2014; Mattingly and Throop, 2018; Dürr et al., 2020).
Here, I explore how focus on the ordinary can help us to question the dominant Western conceptions of agency, participation and ethical life. I follow Veena Das in her powerful critique, demanding the study of ethics “through the cultivation of sensibilities within the everyday”, rather than “orienting oneself to transcendental, agreed-upon values” (Das, 2012; emphasis in the original). Ordinary ethics have been studied in diverse contexts, from the everyday acts of forgiveness during the village resettlement in postwar Uganda (Meinert, 2018) to ethical alterities in experimental family therapies in China (Stafford, 2013). Many of the studies in this field concentrate on violence, mourning and trauma, following Das's (2007) influential study of legacy of violence in South Asia. However, after an extensive literature review, I have not come across ethnographic studies that question widely held Western notions of agency among the marginalised in European urban contexts. Dürr et al. (2020) provide an overview of how the ethical turn has influenced study of cities and normativity but focus on agency in the sense successful citizen participation, protest and urban activism.
In the course of my fieldwork, I noticed that the notions of agency and participation meant very different things for the parties involved. Didier Fassin has pointed out that the sociologically mainstream senses of agency, strongly influenced by the work of Anthony Giddens, consider the concept pointing at the “margin of liberty individuals dispose of, even when structures overwhelmingly tend to reproduce the unequal social order” (Fassin, 2014, p. 431). For Fassin, this reflects the view of the observers at the outside, who recognise agency “only when the practises meet their expectations of openly manifested resistance” (p. 431). Veena Das summarises the same tendency by pointing out that “our theoretical impulse is often to think of agency in terms of escaping the ordinary rather than as a descent into it” (Das, 2007, p. 6–7).
My ethnographic findings are in line with these views. With my informants, their aim was generally to strive for a meaningful life in its ordinariness: the grand pursuits might be brought up occasionally but they felt distant and somehow the territory of the others—they were often elusive and implied risking the relative stability of life around the familiar surroundings of the shopping centre. At the same time, my focus was on a particular variety of ethics of the everyday that Michael Lambek describes through polar opposites: “relatively tacit, grounded in agreement rather than rule, in practise rather than knowledge or belief, and happening without calling undue attention to itself” (Lambek, 2010, p. 2). It is from this perspective that I examined the agency in relation to inclusion, group formation and urban space.
Striving towards normality in a spatially narrow lifeworld is intimately linked with an intricate awareness of the people frequenting the centre of Kontula and even the slightest transformations in the area. At the level of the ordinary, this means the skill to recognise identities within the crowd very accurately—to distinguish ethnicity, economic status and the time lived in the area in a glance (see Elyachar, 2011). However, the process does not depend on navigating within clear and predefined groups but of examining “social contact sustained through regular practises and familiar spaces [that] ultimately constitutes crucial, but often unrecognised, forms of belonging” (Hall, 2012, p. 11). In the more official realms, the hierarchy is reversed, resulting in what Michael Herzfeld defines as skilful literacy: the ability of marginalised populations to develop the capacity to decode the rhetoric of those in power (Herzfeld, 2000, p. 33, see also Graeber, 2007, p. 305). Sometimes the significant groupings are ephemeral or even reduced to a single glance, a bare acknowledgement of meaningfully occupying the same space (Hall, 2012, p. 20). The busy but by measurement small space of Kontula makes it possible to stay on track of different changes in the area: who are the newcomers: which bars, shops and services have new owners: and how is the housing stock being developed. These are important ways to redefine the boundaries between various groups and to establish local sense of belonging. The expectations and limits of agency vary significantly according to groups.
Method: Ethnographic engagement
The study is a result of 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Kontula (12 months in 2017 and 3 in 2018), followed by on-going dialogue with the informants about the findings and how they should be presented. While the fieldwork was based on the participant observation of the everyday lives of the residents, the findings are a result of establishing connections to macro-forces and trying to negotiate a balanced view of their complexities and contradictions. I acknowledge that there are several occasions of uncertainty between these connections, for they do not follow straightforward laws of cause and effect (see Duneier, 1999). At the same time, it is often through this confusion that many of the crucial issues are exposed. Suzanne Hall describes the dynamic aptly, as studying “the unanticipated (and often inconsistent) expressions of human frailty and ingenuity, and how these intersect with the economic forces and political frameworks of our time.” (Hall, 2012, p. 14). My ethnographic examples bring forward patterns of thought and practise that arise in a variety of contexts but nevertheless portray identifiable sociocultural patterns.
Here, my ethnographic focus was on loosely defined and contextually shifting groups of people, most of them unemployed and suffering from health problems and stigmatisation, spending most of their time in the vicinity of Kontula and actively engaging with services and projects facilitating “participation”. This micro-level forms the basis for the analysis, reflected against the notions of the “inside” and the “outside” in the wider lifeworlds and the macro-level of the society-wide developments.
To bring these scales together, I see ethnography not simply as excavation of “data”, but fieldwork as a practise and acquiring understanding through the processes of lived engagement (Hall, 2012, p. 15). With my research assistant Taina Petrell, I conducted over 30 semi-structured interviews on a range of topics (varying from half an hour to several hours). They acted mostly as support for participant observation with a focus on humanisation of the subjects instead of their depiction in abstract terms (cf. Duneier, 2002, p. 1575). The core of my argument is mostly based on following the rhythms of everyday life, balancing between the ordinary and extraordinary, contradictions and paradoxes that are specific to contexts, rather than to stable opinions and identities. Issues dealing with agency and participation rarely fall within the confines of simple definitions in which the experienced and measurable meet univocally. My background as a white male with university education certainly had an impact on the social dynamics I encountered. However, my own background as a resident in a suburban housing estate with a bad reputation helped me considerably to overcome many of the obstacles. In addition, the privilege to devote a full year into ethnographic fieldwork enabled cultivation of close relationships based on mutual trust with the residents in the area.
Everyday life in Kontula: Agency towards normality
The open-air shopping centre of Kontula, covering the area around the metro station, has become a widespread symbol for the whole area. Always busy, with over 30.000 people crossing it daily on their way to and from the metro, it is also a centre for local services, largely absent from the other parts of the district. The public library and the swimming pool as well as the health and youth centres cater for a more general needs; a growing concentration of Middle Eastern and Asian restaurants increasingly gathers customers from all around the city—for many this is their only reason to visit Kontula. In addition, there are three supermarkets and several other shops, but the shopping centre is most famous for its dense concentration of notorious pubs. Furthermore, there are several NGOs with state- and church-run organisations working with the disadvantaged, often with an emphasis on health care and the special needs of the immigrants in the area.
From the beginning of my fieldwork, I quickly became aware of the distinction between people frequenting the shopping centre daily and the ones who were seen, and saw themselves, as mere passers-by, living in Kontula but usually limiting their interactions in the centre to a quick visit to a supermarket. There is no particular name for the loosely connected group of regulars or the passers-by but there are several linguistic conventions to establish the difference. My introduction to the daily life in the centre of Kontula began with a plethora of the names of the usual suspects that I was supposed to recognise. Usually these are first names or nicknames—in the case of a possible mix-up, there is an epithet associated with a character trait, profession or some other attribute. They form a significant part of the vernacular history—some of the people were no longer present but their names were nevertheless soon acknowledged by the newcomers. I quickly became known as Doctor, in addition to my first name.
While the regulars move between locations and establish various temporal patterns, the focus is on the immediate surroundings of the centre of Kontula. They repeatedly pointed out that the shopping-centre area was the only place where they feel like they are part of something. In their very ordinariness, these significant actions give structure to daily life and a sense of belonging. Jukka, a former bus driver who had to retire because of mental health problems, reflected on his situation in very practical terms, recognising the perception from the world that he considered to be far away and outside his reach: “This is a centre for the marginalised. The goal of my life is to fill my days with something meaningful—it is much better than being home alone. I know that I will never be able to go back to work, I don't even want to talk to people who are suggesting that. I couldn't do that and, besides, I am already an old man, there just isn't a chance of anyone hiring me. I have got used to the idea that this is all I need.” He was an insider to Kontula with a limited interest to what was happening outside.
In addition to those living in the area, the people working in the NGOs had become a crucial part of the everyday community. The arrival of each new employee into the area was an especially significant event and discussed thoroughly. Terhi, who had worked in one of the community centres for several years, felt that she had to deal with the contradictions between intimacy and estrangement, the inside and the outside:
“It happened very quickly after I started, I became so close to people attending our functions. The weeks in here follow the same rhythm, starting with an open meeting for everyone, although it is mostly pensioners who come then. I know this sounds like a cliché, but I have not encountered a similar sense of community in Helsinki. If some of regulars are missing, people go to check that they are ok. If someone is having hard time, the others provide consolation. These places offer so much support. It came to me as a surprise. We might be here giving more formal advice on how to deal with social services, but as awful it feels to say this, these people have become experts on many of the issues concerning the disadvantaged because they have had to endure these situations for such a long time. The roles become blended. However, it is difficult when the roles clash. We concentrate on bringing down the hierarchies in our work but if someone asks for my private phone number, I just cannot give it to them. I need to have a separate life when I am not working here.”
Establishing the shared boundaries of intimacy and belonging is hard work. Likewise, it is not easy to find the balance between informal and formal registers: an old man who comes to the community centre meeting promptly every Monday, greets people before making coffee for everyone and leaves soon after. He does not fit into the formal criteria to evaluate agency and participation but is performing a meaningful routine to battle his loneliness; the daily discussions about the food served by the charities, with recurring comments on price, quality and attendance are extremely significant for the participants but, likewise, their significance is difficult to assess and to compare with other functions.
The services aim at increasing agency and participation of their users, especially by including diverse and mostly unheard voices at the local level, but these notions are understood very differently by the inside and outside actors. The guidelines of what counts officially as participation are deeply ingrained into the policies that designate these activities. The view of citizen participation as a ladder, proposed by Arnstein (1969) over 50 years ago, distinguishes between the levels of participation, from “non-participation” and “tokenistic” participation into the highest degrees of “delegated power” and “citizen control”. The informal tactics of resistance might be acknowledged by the researchers (see Berger, 2015) but they are discussed and measured mostly by their effectiveness and impact. Engin Isin takes this approach even further in his portrayal of the “the activist citizen,” an actor who make a difference by introducing a break or a rupture (Isin, 2009, p. 379–380). Isin defines “acts of citizenship as those acts that transform forms (orientations, strategies, technologies) and modes (citizens, strangers, outsiders, aliens) of being political by bringing into being new actors as activist citizens (that is, claimants of rights) through creating or transforming sites and stretching scales.” (Isin, 2009, p. 383, emphasis in the original). Agency becomes indistinguishable from the struggle for rights.
Of course, the agency to influence policies, increase social justice and empower citizens is extremely important, but, as I argue here, it is not the whole picture. The lack of affordable housing and increasing segregation are severe problems in Kontula and there are formal and informal groupings actively fighting for social justice. In social sciences, informal agency is often recognised, but the focus is on the results that are evaluated within formal and normative frameworks. According to these views, agency escapes the ordinary and has powerful impact on reality. Agency that is striving for normality lies outside these considerations.
Overwhelmingly, for the resident taking part in participatory activities, the issue is not just about “spending time,” however modest the objectives are. Among those designated as marginalised, there is a strong emphasis on having “things to do” and of being an independent individual who makes his/her own decisions when and how to participate (see Duneier, 1992, p. 34 for similar dynamics in Chicago). The episodes of participation often resemble modest rituals. They are strictly scheduled and changes in routines, for example, the times when establishments were open, are met with group opposition. These are the occasions when individuals who would otherwise emphasise a highly individualistic determination congregate under a common cause. The emergence of these informal groups demonstrates the everyday experience of “the multiple allegiances and visceral forms of mixing that spontaneously occur in urban life” (Hall, 2012, p. 3).
The tension between the strict order and unexpected spontaneity of significant encounters brings us back to the day centre. For a casual observer, it is a place to read newspapers, charge mobile phones, acquire clean needles and receive health consultations. Its stated aim is to minimise the complications of the drug use rather than to facilitate the users quitting completely. Most of the residents of Kontula tend to avoid the place and there have been incentives to move it to another location, usually on a pretext that “Kontula has more than its fair share of problems”. However, a group of pensioners, actively participating on other functions in the area had begun to occupy their own table in the daycentre, reading the newspapers and drinking coffee. This quickly developed into a problem, for the centre had an officially defined policy of its target group: people suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues. The pensioners were seen as enjoying services not meant for them and coming to the place out of curiosity, to “spy” and see who the drug users were.
This was met with strong opposition on their side. Martti, a 70-year-old man, who differentiated himself vocally from the socially disadvantaged and told me repeatedly that he participated in the functions because he wanted to continue “an active social life,” could not understand why his group was “chased out” from the day-centre: “The authorities want us to stay at home. What is the problem? We all live here in the same area. Should I start to use drugs to be accepted into this place? It is just beneficial for everyone that there are different kinds of people visiting the centre, not just the junkies—there are no places for people without money here and we can all fit in here.”
His friend Sanna, a very talkative woman of the same age, whom everyone in the area knew, interrupted: “They say that we like to spy on people with problems. That is ridiculous. I know all of them already, I talk with them, and I have never had any problems with them.” Martti continued with a smile: “There is even a doctor around here on some days and you get to see her immediately. In the public health centre, it can easily take months to book an appointment.” This vignette refers to a common dynamic: it reflects the preference for a spontaneous sense of sociality, opposition towards a bureaucratic system that feels very distant and is better to be avoided. The claim about belonging is based on routine visits to a shared space, by contextually specific grouping of people who are sustaining meaningful senses of belonging within a system they feel they cannot challenge in formal terms.
The claim for belonging also reflects acknowledgement of shared marginality. In this case, the series of negotiations resulted in a defeat for the pensioners. The orders from the upper echelons had to be obeyed and the group was banned from the premises. As a compromise, some new projects were established by the other NGOs to provide meaningful activities in the daytime, but the episode was remembered as arbitrary bullying by outsiders who had never set foot in Kontula. The group of pensioners felt that their extremely modest pleasures were being prohibited by the authorities. One of them specifically mentioned that all they wanted was to be treated as “normal people”.
Stuck inside: Skilful literacy of Kontula
The presuppositions of agency and spontaneously emerging groupings are intimately linked to the specific qualities of lived space in Kontula. What is the role of the qualities of urban space in creating groups and connections? How is the awareness of connection and separation reflected in the everyday lives of its residents? I argue that the experience of living in a district with a notorious reputation, together with the shrinking of one's lifeworld, has resulted in an understanding of rigid boundaries separating the inside from the outside. While the identity as a resident of Kontula might be a source of pride and belonging locally, in many contexts it becomes subordinate within the wider hierarchy of urban locations—something that rarely happens the other way around (Tuominen, 2020). Alternating between the real and imaginary, embodied and reflective, the differences in the immediate environment become routine and rarely questioned and define the everyday experience of the city. In the case of Kontula, the reputation of the district is constantly enforced from the outside and the stereotypes are in a constant relationship with the personal experiences, often with conflicting ideological inflections (cf. Green, 2012b, p. 111).
The narrowing of the lifeworld can amplify an awareness of urban space. Among my informants, the lack of money for the public transport, with the cost of over five euros for a two-way trip, turned into powerful justifications for staying in the familiar surroundings. They claimed to have been in the city centre more than enough when they were younger, everything was more expensive there and could be also found in Kontula, and most importantly, people in the centre were seen as unauthentic and looking down at them. If there was something that could not be found locally, the most common choice was Itäkeskus, a large shopping mall, a 45-min walk or two metro stops from Kontula, still within the confines of Eastern Helsinki. This preference extended to the youths who described the city centre in very similar terms and the immigrants who found the area as safe and welcoming despite its bad reputation in the mainstream representations. However, in these narratives the relationship to Kontula is ambivalent: in the more official contexts—visits of politicians before the elections, ubiquitous media appearances of reporters who want to portray the “voice of the marginalised” in a disadvantaged area (there were surprisingly many recollections of their visits) and the researchers with their questionnaires, the opinions of the residents follow the mainstream rhetoric, concentrating on demolishing the old-fashioned shopping centre with its “drunks and junkies,” as well as calls to restrict the “uncontrolled immigration” into the area (Tuominen, 2020).
The residents have a sophisticated and detailed knowledge of the official rhetoric concerning their home and they often take pride of their ability to shift between the registers of formal and informal. Tarja, a 30-year-old woman with a long history of substance abuse and presently, after a better period in her life, an energetic figure in the voluntary organisations, summed this up:
“After dealing with so many authorities in my life, always on the subordinate side, I have become very good in understanding their ways of thinking. For some, you just have to agree on everything and play the role of the victim. With others, you have to insist on your rights and really try to influence their decisions. The whole thing is exhausting, it feels that you are playing this awful game all the time. Many of them are not human beings—they have absolutely no idea what my life is like.”
In this case, the boundaries between the inside and the outside are clear and cannot be challenged—it is possible to influence the outcomes but not the positions of the interlocutors. However, there are exceptions when the local and the ordinary actions extend across both the real and imaginary boundaries. These instances might not qualify as powerful acts of resistance against unjust urban conditions, nor empower the residents to reinvent their city thoroughly, but they are extremely significant for sustaining a sense of dignity. In the concluding part of the article, through two occasions I wish to propose how the agency striving towards normality relates to participation recognised outside the ordinary.
Conclusion: Fleeting moments of participation
Sometimes participation in the social activities, despite being restricted to the immediate vicinity and a familiar circle of locals, can successfully expand in surprising ways to dimensions that are normally experienced as being out of reach. In the rare case of local music festivals, especially the annual Kontula Electronic Festival (of electronic music), Kontula fills up with “outsiders” for a spring weekend. The event attracts chiefly people from the central districts who are looking for a party centred on music, performance arts, film, food and discussion events. Since its beginning in 2016 there has been a strong focus on collaborating with the local NGOs and other actors, in this case a voluntary group called Lämmin Itä (Warm East—referring to seeing the eastern peripheries of Helsinki as friendly and inviting locations) that has been responsible for the festival catering since 2017. Since the beginning of my fieldwork, I have taken an active part in both the festival and this organisation. Lämmin Itä group consists of people, most of whom have a history of substance abuse and mental health problems, many of them also taking part in other NGO-coordinated activities.
After the extremely busy festival weekend in 2017 we gathered to talk about the experience. All of us were slightly surprised how the discussion revolved around the relative location of Kontula: “So many visitors said that they were surprised to find food that was both vegan and delicious, cooked by regular people here”; “The whole place felt different, much like in the city centre, but we were still in charge”; “this was something really big, I would not have believed that all these people find their way here.” Tarja was (and is) a central member of the group, taking part in its weekly meetings, and in this case cooking and serving food to the festival artists, staff and guests. When her turn came, she was visibly moved:
“This might be difficult to understand for many of you, but for me the biggest thing was the ease of talking with people, many visiting Kontula for the first time. I have my own group of friends, but we feel like outcasts whenever we are with other people. Then I try to interact with the authorities, but they rarely treat me with respect—I am asking for something from them and they are questioning whether I am allowed to have it. Over the course of the weekend, all the encounters have been equal—I serve people food, they thank me for that and ask for my advice about the festival and Kontula. It has been years since I last felt like this.”
This fittingly summarises my argument for the striving to normalcy. The boundary between the inside and outside can be stretched on this special occasion and the practise of just acting in an ordinary manner is enough for effortless interaction to happen. It is impossible to assess the moral worth of these moments conclusively. A cynical view would regard presentation of these views as a shrewd tactic to downplay the effects of structural forces among the marginalised (see Wacquant, 2002). Rather, I consider my description of attempts to maintain ethical lives as acknowledgement of complexity of agency in the everyday. To explicate this further, I want to finish with a depiction of contrasting set of power dynamics occurring in the encounters with the outside—a kind of mirror image to Tarja's intimate experience of meaningful sense of agency.
While Lämmin Itä is an informally working charity initiative working on a volunteer basis, most of the NGOs have to report their activities to their funders and pay a lot of attention to the evaluation of the impact of their different operations. They have also developed various methods to ensure that the different voices are being heard. Sometimes the evaluation of citizen participation includes visits to various facilities and discussions with the “customers”. I participated in one of the evaluation sessions in September 2017, already quite well acquainted with the people frequenting these services. The coordinators in Kontula had asked many of the regulars to come to talk about the activities to the “NGO bosses” and we were waiting for the “delegation” to arrive. The visitors were five people in total, two of them from another NGO to “learn from one another.” The beginning of the meeting established the sense of inequality: before any introductions, the visitors shook the coordinators' and my hand, leaving the others staring at them, although we were all scattered around the room. Straight after this there was ironic banter about the notoriety of Kontula, supposed to establish an informal atmosphere but in fact strengthening the divide between the inside and the outside.
When the more formal discussion began, I was surprised, for this was my first time to witness a situation of this kind. The regulars started talking about “empowerment,” “flexibility,” “agency” and “inclusion” in a knowledgeable manner, while the evaluators took notes. I had never heard any of these words from them before. We went through different themes, to be repeated with a slight variation in the future evaluations I attended. The feedback was exclusively positive, there were no deviations from the established structure and the session was over in 20 min. The delegation expressed thanks for the coffee and the “valuable time” of the participants and left quickly. For a little while there was an awkward silence in the room, as if everyone was waiting for them to come back. Suddenly everyone started to laugh at the sheer absurdity of what had just happened. Before leaving Minna, an elderly woman who looked like she was more serious about this exercise than the others, looked at the coordinators and asked: “Did we do well? I want this place to stay open in the future.” The coordinators nodded their heads.
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.
PT conducted the research and wrote the article.
This research was funded by NordForsk and the Academy of Finland through the COLDIGIT project (no: 100855) and supported by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland / BIBU project (312710) and COST Action CA18204.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
1. ^The names of my informants and some other identifiable details have been changed to protect their privacy.
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Keywords: urban anthropology, ethnography, research methodology, social inclusion, stigma, agency
Citation: Tuominen P (2022) Striving for normality: Agency, citizen participation and intergroup belonging on the urban periphery of Helsinki. Front. Sustain. Cities 4:876740. doi: 10.3389/frsc.2022.876740
Received: 15 February 2022; Accepted: 31 August 2022;
Published: 28 September 2022.
Edited by:Remus Cretan, West University of Timişoara, Romania
Reviewed by:Natalie Marie Gulsrud, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Clémentine Rossier, Université de Genève, Switzerland
Copyright © 2022 Tuominen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Pekka Tuominen, firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
I met Jeanette Lunde three years ago at a blogger meet up in Stockholm, I had already been a huge fan of her work and I am still following all her adventures. Because everything she touches is Magic.
Jeanette has teamed up with Ann-Karin Pedersen, together they have founded Made Of Rocks and edited this wonderful book as a first result of their creative partnership of designing and writing respectively.
A child’s voice.
A message; to don’t give up.
No matter starting point.
When receiving a beautiful package and flicking through the first pages, reading that very peaceful text, I couldn’t quite find a way of describing what I was holding in my hands. I have not included any of Ann-Karin poetic texts in this post, as I want you to discover them yourself when holding a copy in your hands.
I decided to ask Jeanette and Ann-Karin to add a few lines to their work and this is what they answered:
Who is behind The Seed and how came you ladies together?
Made of Rocks ( M.O.R.) published The Seed.
Behind M.O.R are Ann-Karin Pedersen and Jeanette Lunde.
We met through common friends and began to cooperate after that.
We create things we feel passionate about. Either it´s just from us or in collaboration with others.
What do you believe is your strength together and where do you complement each other?
We are different in many ways.
But we have one great thing in common. Respect and love for each other, it´s unconditional.
This is what makes our friendship and collaboration so strong.
How was the idea of The Seed born? This books sounds to me like an inner journey to peace and love. Did you have a similar purpose when creating the idea of it?
“The Seed” is a child´s voice. With a message to adults.
Of reality. To wake up. Freedom.
To never stop believing in dreams , no matter starting point.
It´s taken some time to finish it, but at the same time it has always been there.
You have also some beautiful prints that belong to The Seed in your shop and that can be ordered. Can you tell us a bit more about the design process?
Everything is connected. The words were there, then feelings of images started to appear.
This process has been like a big playground.
Creating. Walking away. Coming back the next day, to find out you want to make something brand new.
Rearranging. Slowly finding the right pieces.
We are really blessed with the power of passion and joy.
Thank you so much, ladies, I am really looking forward to your next adventure. Which I know will be pure magic again! G, x

domain: literature


The 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show showcased plenty of new metal slated to arrive in the near future. With the automotive industry undergoing transition from fossil fuels to electric powertrains, the German show provided a perfect stage for manufacturers to demonstrate their prowess with the new tech. And not all the concept were boring or outrageous, some of them are slated to hit the production line sooner rather than later. Here is our pick of the top concepts from the Frankfurt stage.
The Mercedes-AMG’s Formula 1-based hypercar comes powered by the 2015 Championship winning 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine. The two motors conjoined take the power output to 1000bhp! The hypercar looks subdued despite all the F1 wizardry going on under the body shell. The Project One was slated for a limited production run, and has been already sold out.
BMW i Vision Dynamics is an electric four-door Gran Coupe design study which could spawn the all-new i5. The Munich-based carmaker boasts of a range of 600kilometres, a top speed of over 200kmph and a 0-100kmph time of four seconds. The concept car looks futuristic with several elements borrowed from BMW’s other concept studies.
Kia Proceed Concept
The Korean carmaker took the stage with a preview of the next generation Cee’d hatchback in a new design study. The Proceed concept not only displays a new design language from Kia, but also previews a new shooting brake addition to the Cee'd range. Kia says the concept car represents “extended hot hatch styling”.
Honda Urban EV Concept
The retro-futuristic Urban EV Concept serves as a preview for a future Honda production model slated for launch in 2019. The design elements from the Urban EV will appear on future battery electric Honda production models. The styling is a bit retro, reminiscent of the hot hatches of the 1980-90s.
Audi has added two new models to its growing list of autonomous concepts - the Aicon and the Elaine. The Aicon is truly autonomous with Level 5 tech and all the futuristic connectivity features. It’s powered by motors on each wheel producing 350bhp with a range of 900km and quick charging.
The Elaine is based on the E-Tron Sportback concept. It is classified as a level four autonomous, loaded with the traffic jam pilot system. While the E-Tron Sportback is slated to go into production in 2019, there is no word about the Elaine’s fate.
The X7 IPerformance Concept showcases BMW’s new flagship SUV. The X7 will be revealed next year based on the Frankfurt concept. The show car was powered by a turbocharged petrol engine coupled with a plug-in hybrid system. In typical BMW Concept fashion, the X7 Concept has large kidney grille, sleek lights and lots of chrome coupled with a minimalistic interior.
Mini announced that an all-electric Mini is arriving as early as next year. At the Frankfurt show, the Mini Electric Concept showcased the new step in the British carmaker’s design and powertrain evolution. The concept was powered by lithium-ion battery. Still in early stages of development, no other details have been divulged yet. The showcar was unmistakably Mini, but with a lot of futuristic touches.
Smart has revealed its inclinations to participate in the autonomous EV race with its new EQ for Two micro car. Smart will use the EQ moniker. The peppy little car is straight out of a future-based sci-fi movie. The two-seater is loaded with screens, transparent bodyshell and autonomous driving tech. The interior too is futuristic with massive screens and connectivity features.
Volkswagen looks pretty serious about its electrification plan. The German giant showcased the ID Crozz at the Shanghai Motor Show. Now, a second iteration of the same concept took the stage at Frankfurt, inching closer to its production form. The production-spec ID Crozz is a glimpse of what we can expect from Volkswagen in the future.
The resurrected German carmaker, Borgward, marked the return of its Isabella moniker with an all-electric four-door design concept. The design study was on display at the Frankfurt stage. The Chinese-owned brand’s first halo product would take cues from this futuristic concept. The Isabella Concept is truly futuristic and a gorgeous looking vehicle.


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The federal budget is back on life support after the passage of an 11th-hour continuing resolution holding government spending at par. This measure is the “clean” spending bill that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had formerly vowed he would never pass. And now that McCarthy has stepped forward as “the adult in the room” to tamp down all the rudderless tantrum-throwing in the caucus he nominally presides over, he’s on schedule to lose his post—just as his predecessors John Boehner and Paul Ryan did in the wake of past shutdown crises. A vote to oust him could come as early as Monday, October 2.
The continuing resolution has omitted aid to Ukraine, which is now left slowly twisting in the wind, as the saying goes. Even putting Ukraine aside, McCarthy and his caucus have no foreseeable consensus on the budget. Something has to give. A new vote to fund Ukraine will come quickly via the Senate. And it will once more force House Republicans who don’t want to be known as nihilists and obstructionists to defy their MAGA comrades and their orange eminence, Trump, and join with Democrats.
The root of this nutty situation is the perverse leadership incentives at the heart of the MAGA-era GOP. As Hunter Thompson famously said, “When the going gets tough, the weird turn pro.” The pros apparently in charge of the Republican agenda of the House of Representatives are as weird as they come, so they have spent the past four weeks pushing us into the crisis of a disabled US government. And the funny thing is that none of this was really about money.
Former shutdown artist Newt Gingrich was quoted saying, “I frankly don’t understand it—I think it’s sort of nuts.” As conservative Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute is saying, it’s the show about nothing.
A disagreement about money is a relatively simple thing, since the number lies along a single dimension—what one party wants vs. what the other one favors. You can always split the difference somewhere in between. What we now have instead is not a debate about numbers but an upsurge of weird identity politics.
The House Republican caucus has been leveraged into all this weirdness by a minority of several dozen Trump-adjacent fanatics. (The others are no bowl of cherries either.) Their identity is to be the party that will smash the State, as we used to say in SDS. Their proposals are what are called “messaging bills”: legislation that nobody expects to be enacted but that makes statements.
The headline statement behind McCarthy’s shutdown crucible is “Oh noes, the national debt”—and the phony magnitude of that rallying cry was made instantly clear once McCarthy cut his deal with the Democrats to keep current spending levels intact.
Like the weather, everyone says they care about the national debt, but nobody ever does anything about it. It just keeps growing, in fair weather and foul. Another funny-strange thing is that people have been screaming about it for decades, but it has not seemed to have any harmful economic consequences. To the contrary, the debt-financed provision of expanded unemployment benefits and the Child Tax Credit in 2021 had wondrous effects on the well-being of the working class. The US economy has emerged from the conniptions of 2020 in relatively good shape. The inflations spike of 2022 is over, and unemployment remains at a rock-bottom 3.9 percent.
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What are the numbers in question now? For the proper perspective, we need a little background about federal spending. In Fiscal Year 2023 (which ended on October 1), total federal spending was projected at $5.792 trillion, $1.154 trillion in excess of revenues. That funding gap adds to the federal debt.
Of that roughly $5.8 trillion, close to 70 percent is devoted in large part to Social Security, Medicare, and other programs known as “mandatory spending” (more loosely, “entitlements”), and interest on debt.
The remaining 30 percent of the federal budget is classified as “discretionary spending.” The funding outlays behind these discretionary programs are up for votes in Congress every year. The mandatory programs run on automatic pilot, for the simple reason that no politician wants to be burdened with voting for the mandatory programs, which everybody knows will roll on—and over anyone raising objections.
About half of discretionary spending—$766 billion—is for defense, which also inexorably increases annually, thanks to the public’s chronic state of national insecurity and the devious machinations of defense contractors. So the grand budget sum at the center of this year’s shutdown crisis was about the remaining non-defense half, roughly $873 billion. If you have been following along, that’s about 15 percent of total spending. Recall that the deficit for 2023 is $1.154 trillion.
While most federal spending consists of checks sent to seniors, health care providers, bondholders, and defense contractors, the other piece funds the actual operations of federal programs, in every field imaginable—law enforcement, public health, infrastructure, health and safety regulation, disaster relief, as well as the bureaucracies that mail the checks. This is the “administrative state” that MAGA thought leaders like Steve Bannon are determined to cut down.
But here we run into a quandary of simple math. Regarding the pretense of any desire to eliminate deficits, and notwithstanding perennial support for tax cuts that increase said deficits, the difficulty of carving $1.154 trillion out of $873 billion should be clear. On Saturday’s vote for the continuing resolution, the Republican House finally passed a budget framework with the messages pared down to one: no help for Ukraine. Otherwise, the messaging has dwelled on immigration, Trump’s ill-fated border wall, and the phantom army of new IRS agents. The real message is still, “We are too uncoordinated to agree on any sort of realistic budget, even just among ourselves.” (Though the measure conveyed another important, if well concealed, ancillary message, in a provision for House members to receive cost-of-living raises: austerity for thee, but not for me.)
Details of other proposed cuts don’t matter. They are dead letters. Moreover, cuts demanded by the House Republicans would contravene the deal struck between their leader McCarthy and Democrats in May of this year. Even the Democrats are not dumb enough to allow somebody to renege on a deal the other party has already bought into.
If the present deal holds beyond its appointed 45-day tenure, it’s important to keep in mind that the larger GOP agenda here is simply an appetite for destruction. We have seen this movie many times before. The contrast this time between the current situation and 2018 is especially stark. In the previous shutdown, the Republican Party controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. In that case, in other words, the GOP had a clear path to doing all the things they are whining that they’re prevented from doing now. Remember “Infrastructure Week”? I remember the week, but I don’t remember the infrastructure.
It’s equally crucial to bear in mind the real-world costs of a shutdown for ordinary Americans, should we see one take hold around Thanksgiving. The political robustness of the mandatory programs carries with it the retention of their most basic functions, but some services to Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries and civil service pensioners will be curtailed.
Otherwise, billions of dollars in economic damage are in store, as we’ve learned from earlier GOP-inflicted shutdowns. The injury to families whose workers are in precarious circumstances will be palpable. For instance, federal workers and troops may be reimbursed eventually, but employees of the many contractors used by the federal government, folks cleaning floors and running cafeterias, will not. Some school programs will shut, creating nightmares for parents in finding childcare. Portions of the National Institutes of Health may have to turn away patients who don’t have time to spare. The list is endless.
We can suppose that, shorn of the Capitol Hill theatrics that produced the unlikely continuing resolution vote, remains the ultimate Republican objective: torpedo the economy, make a mess, and blame it on “Bidenomics.” Recently Fox hostess Harris Faulkner blamed Biden for the spike in child poverty—even though that grim development was a clear outcome of Republican opposition to extending the increased Child Tax Credit.
In short, the lesson of this near-shutdown is the same bequeathed to us by the long train of other GOP-engineered spending crises: Watch what the Republicans do, not what they say—if you can stand it.


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By Simon Ng’ona
Business Associations (BAs) can play a productive, pro-competitive role in the development of a particular sector, thus promoting the efficient functioning of that market. BAs, which consist of individuals and firms with common interests in trade, join together to further their commercial or professional goals. Although the principal function of a BS, typically, is to provide services to its members, these associations also have industrial policy and political functions.
BAS frequently perform many valuable functions, and these are elucidated in a number of scattered literature. Through cooperation, BAS can significantly increase the efficiency and performance of a particular sector. Nevertheless, collaboration between otherwise competing firms raises the possibility that cooperation may overflow into coordination, thus lessening competition between these firms or in the market more generally. Consumer harm, in the form of raised prices or lower quality goods or services, is the almost inevitable consequence of such collusion. In a number of instances globally, moreover, BAs have played a central role in the management of a cartel among their members.
On various occasions, the Competition Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), even in its old outfit as Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC, has encountered, in the course of its enforcement activities, varied situations. Many media articles and annual reports for the Commission, at least those that are in public domain, suggest that where BAs have coordinated, or have been used as a vehicle by which to coordinate, the activities of member firms, the consequence has been that competition between member firms is restricted. In light of these experiences, the Competition Authority has continued to raise specific concerns regarding activities of BAs and their compliance with competition law.
One contemporary issue relate to the Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ). The latter’s recent quest to hike Mealie Meal prices has receive resistant, hostility and squashing responses from varying stakeholders including Government, Consumer Organisation and others.
In as much as the Millers, just like other industry players, are facing both productive and supply side challenges due the economic paralysis Zambia is in, it is business immorality for the association to continue setting prices. This practice has been a tendency by most associations and this is a situation that cannot be allowed to pervade the exiting free market economic setup and requirements.
This abridged article provides information and brief guidance for BAswhich coordinate at horizontal level and their members regarding competition dynamics and price fixing. It provides information about the limits that competition law places on joint or coordinated action by competitors.
Prohibition of price setting and the motives behind it;
Within the category of coordinated activities, it is firmly established that there arecertain practices which are absolutely prohibited, such as price-fixing, as well as many practices which may have an anticompetitive effect,and are thus prohibited. Mr Hanford Chaaba, the Public Relations officer at the CCPC, in his recent statement, draws the public and the MAZ to Section 8 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) 2010. Despite him not detailing the particulars of this Section in his statement as quoted by media, he has given us the specific provision and individually we can inquire more on what this Section says.
Section 8. says…… “Any category of agreement, decision or concerted practice which has as its object or effect, the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition to an appreciable extent in Zambia is anti-competitive and prohibited”. …..
This Section and the subsequent ones prohibit and make void all decisions taken by associations of undertakings, as well as agreements and concerted practices between undertakings, which have either the object or the effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition.
But what does competition in the purview of literature and practice mean. To get a clear understanding on whether effective competition has ensued or not, two variables will always have to be factored in mind i.e price and non-price competition.Non-price competition is a form of competition among suppliers where they try to win customers not by lowering prices but by improving their product brand and advertising, offering after-sales-service, using sale promotion tools, etc. On the other hand, Price Competition is a form of competition among suppliers where the suppliers try to win customers by offering them a product at a price which is lower than their competitor’s price.
These two factors collectively form what might be termed as effective competition, although they can be looked at isolatedly. Therefore, any effort to undermine either of the two factors through concerted efforts or price fixing is prohibited under most competition laws.In short, competition law prohibits any coordinated activity between competing firms which lessens the normal uncertainty that should exist between them in relation to pricing policies arrived at independently on the market. Thus, firms are prohibited from entering into agreements which restrict the freedom of the contracting parties in relation to pricing in any way.
But I must admit that, the concept of consented efforts is given a very wide interpretation under the case law that has evolved over time. Discussing case law that has ensued on this particular subjectis outside the scope of this article. However, I will explore the possibility of writing another article on the same.
Moving forward, what could be some of the decisions that could warrant prohibition under competition law? As already indicated, these include, not merely formal decisions adopted by an association under any procedures laid down in its constitution or founding documents, but also the constitution itself, any rules governing the association’s operations, binding regulations made by the association and any nonbinding recommendations made by it, for as long as they are it is distorting effective competition.I am tempted to wonder whether the commission has done anlegal audit of some of the constitutions governing these associations and vet whether there are provisions which promote anti-competitive behaviour. If not, this could be one potential area of work the commission could explore. More importantly, since the CCPA is under review, it is important to include such explicit provisions than leaving it to wider interpretation.
The latter part of the preceding sentence shows that the concepts of agreement and concerted practice among business associations can be been interpreted widely. Agreements can also include unwritten agreements and gentlemen’s agreements as well as formal contracts for as long as they are promoting anti- competitive practice and restrictive business behaviour. The CCPA in Section 9, exemplify a similar situation through definition of a horizontal agreement. “a horizontal agreement between enterprises is said to be prohibited per se, and void, if the agreement; (a) fixes, directly or indirectly, a purchase or selling price or any other trading conditions; (b) divides markets by allocating customers, suppliers or territories specific types of goods or services”. If one closely looks at these potential violations as provided in the Act, the major source for such violations could be through consented practices in associations. Note:these are not the only provisions that relate to this issue.
Now that the law is clear, why has the MAZ eschewed heeding advice from the Commission? Or why has MAZ opted to ignore such provisions and continue to announce prices instead of leaving it to individual players. This applies to all business associations.
Having raised this, I have a premonition that some players or indeed mother associations will be scolding my statement. However, these are facts ladies and gentlemen and legally backed by the current legal framework.
But anyway, could there be any exemption for associations to engage under competition law. The Zambian competition law and others acknowledges that cooperation between associations may, in certain instances; result in some benefits to consumers. If cooperation does not appreciably restrict, prevent or distort competition in the first place, it will fall entirely outside the prohibitions contained in PART III of the CCPA which deals with restrictive business and anti-competitive trade practices. Section 8 and 9 highlighted above are under Part III and goes way till section 23. Please, dear Bas, read these provisions and empower your members with such information. Otherwise, you have no authority to hike price and as Mr Chaaba has indicated, your announcement has triggered anxiety and panic buying among consumers.
The Author is the Centre Coordinator for Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International Lusaka. (Dip Journ and PR; BA – Economics; LLM – Trade and Investment Law)


PennDOT plans to start designing three projects so construction can start when there's money available.
Here are the plans:
Repaving Fourth Street in Hamburg
from Route 61 to Interstate 78 and related work, such as installing curb cuts for wheelchairs.
Repaving Route 419
through Tulpehocken and Bethel townships. Work would happen on the stretch known as Four Point Road, which is between Rehrersburg Road and Interstate 78.
Replacing the Miller Street bridge
over the Schuylkill River that connects Centre Township and Shoemakersville. The 253-foot span is 72 years old and considered structurally deficient. It has average daily traffic of 1,229 vehicles.


Mr. Yohane Amarh Ashitey, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive on Monday charged the candidates writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to be focused and pass well in their examination.
He said for Tema to shine again, education was key hence the need to get the candidates motivated to come out with flying colours, adding that, “one of my major focus is education, everything including; the live blood in us, with education everything goes on well”.
The MCE was speaking to the candidates when he joined the Metropolitan Director of Education and other officials to tour some BECE Examination Centres in the metropolis.
A total of 4,034 final year students of various Junior High Schools in the Tema Metropolis commenced this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) from Monday, November 15 to Friday 16, 2021; with huge focus through the “Tema must shine again agenda”.
Mr. Ashitey noted that through the “Tema must shine again agenda” the metropolis would top the chart in this year’s BECE examination.
He donated nose masks and hand sanitizers to the candidates and asked for its patronage to combat coronavirus during the examination.
The students expressed excitement and promised to excel in the examination to make the metropolis proud.
The officials visited Chemu SHS centres A and B; Tema Methodist Day centres A and B; and Tema PRESEC, and promised to continue with other centres in the coming days.
Mrs. Bernice Ofori, Tema Metropolitan Director of Education in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said the examination was taking place at 13 centres in the metropolis and out of the total number of 4,034 candidates, 1,946 were males while the remaining 2,088 were females.
She urged the candidates to take good care of themselves through the examination week to write all the papers well.
She said the candidates were registered from 27 public schools and 68 private schools in the Metropolis, adding that, 13 supervisors, 14 assistant supervisors and 141 invigilators were at the various centres conducting the examination.
Breaking down the candidates according to the centres, she said 204, and 214 were writing at Chemu SHS centres ‘A’ and ‘B’ respectively; Tema Methodist Day centres A and B, 280 and 216 respectively; with Tema PRESEC 296.
Others are 348 were at the St. Paul’s Methodist School, while Manhean TMA One and Two was hosting 362 and 261 respectively.
The rest are; Manhean Secondary Technical, 286; while 346 were writing at Our Lady of Mercy SHS centre, Naval Base JHS 455; St Peters Catholic School 327; and Nyalor SDA 339.


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Charis Atkinson. Nail Design. September 08th , 2019.
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domain: hobby


What's in the box:
1 X Avantree HIVE Bluetooth stereo headphone with mic
1 X Detachable 3.5mm audio cable
1 X Charging cable
1 X User manual
* Bluetooth stereo headohone with mic
* Enjoy wireless music and answer phones calls in crystal clear stereo sound.
* Corded option for non Bluetooth-enabled phones, MP3 etc.
* Long working time - up to 18 hours music / talk time.
* Auto-connection, easy to use.
* Comfortable wearing and secure carrying.
* Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, Class 2, 10m
* Support Headset Profile, Hands free Profile, A2DP, and AVRCP
* Talk/Music time: Up to 18hrs
* Standby time: up to 8 days
* Charge time: About 3 hours
* Weight: About 180g
* Size: 180(L) * 170(W) * 71(H) mm
|Zone||Weight||Delivery Fee (RM)|
|West Malaysia||First 1.00 kg||FREE|
|East Malaysia||First 1.00 kg||5.00|