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Ronald M. Smelser, Edward J. Davies II. The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xii + 327 pp. $75.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-521-83365-3; $21.99 (paper), ISBN 978-0-521-71231-6.
Reviewed by Kelly McFall (Department of History, Newman University)
Published on H-Genocide (November, 2010)
Commissioned by Elisa G. von Joeden-Forgey (University of Pennsylvania)
Tracing the Resurrection of a Reputation: How Americans Came to Love the German Army
Unusually, I want to begin with a personal anecdote. In 1995 I was a graduate student in Vienna researching my dissertation. Through great good fortune I was able to join a friend chaperoning Austrian teenagers on a field trip to London. I found myself accompanying the students as they ventured across London to museums, galleries, and stores. During one shopping expedition, my friend and I lagged behind our charges and surveyed the selection of fine frozen foods. Ahead of us, a pair of English stock boys whispered and laughed as the Austrians passed by. Suddenly, one of the employees walked out into the aisle and performed a credible goose step behind the girls for several seconds while simultaneously extending his arm in a Hitler salute.
Being teenagers, the girls didn’t notice. I did and briefly exchanged some unpleasant words with the young man, who clearly couldn’t understand why I was sticking up for people he had misidentified as Germans. The mocking ended quickly (if a bit reluctantly) and we went on our way.
I start with this story because it contrasts so directly with the American attitudes toward the German army explored by Ronald Smelser and Edward Davies II in their The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture. The book is a fascinating immersion into a simple but important question: How did the German soldiers who fought on the eastern front during World War Two become hero figures to so many Americans? The authors address a narrow topic and investigate it thoroughly. Precisely because they frame their question so narrowly, they leave ample room for other scholars to explore. Accordingly, American historians, military historians, and perhaps historians of genocide will want to read this book. But they will do that with notepads (or laptops) handy, scribbling down ideas for future research projects as they go.
The book breaks down into three sections. In the first, the authors summarize the prevailing American view of Germany and the German military (and SS) during and immediately after the war. They review newspapers, magazines, and other sources to show that American public opinion viewed the Soviets sympathetically while seeing Germany and its soldiers as enemies and war criminals. In my opinion, this is the best and most convincing part of the book. The extensive survey of reports and articles about the Soviet Union demonstrates clearly reporters’ successful attempts to present the Soviet Union as honorable and its people as similar to Americans. The subsequent discussion of the postwar trials shows how widespread knowledge of German wartime misconduct was. American opinion is aptly summarized with the words of Dwight Eisenhower, who wrote his wife toward the end of the war that “the German is a beast.... God, I hate the Germans” (p. 75) and who in 1944 advocated “exterminat[ing] all of the general staff” (p. 40).
Toward the end of the decade, however, attitudes toward the German army changed decisively. They did so for two broad reasons. First, the advent of the Cold War changed the geopolitical climate significantly. The need to integrate West Germany into the new alliance system meant rethinking accepted narratives about the Second World War. Only by erasing memories of Germans as fascist and criminal could Americans see them as allies and friends. Just as important, a campaign by German officers to defend the German army and soldiers against accusations of war crimes and dishonor proved enormously successful. This effort took several forms.
First, many German officers worked closely with the American army to produce reports and histories about the German army’s war against the Soviet Union. With the West’s strategic planning increasingly assuming that any new world war would begin with NATO forces giving ground in Europe, precisely the same kind of war the Germans had fought from 1943-45, the American army solicited these reports to learn how to wage such a campaign effectively. Closely coordinated by the prominent German general Franz Halder, the Germans produced hundreds of manuscripts. The U.S. Army thought these materials extremely useful and distributed them widely.
Secondly, the publication of memoirs by German officers played an important part in changing perceptions of German soldiers. Written mostly by formerly high-ranking German generals, these accounts were widely read by American officers and politicians. While these authors don’t seem to have coordinated as explicitly as in the production of military manuscripts, the messages the memoirs convey remain remarkably similar. The German army, according to these officers, was at least apolitical and, for some, actively disassociated from the Nazi Party. The incompetent leadership of Hitler and the Nazis sabotaged the army and the German war effort. General after general argued that Germany would have won the war except for the meddling of amateurs in affairs about which they knew little (while Smelser and Davies don’t use the words, they are essentially recounting the creation of a second “stab in the back” legend). Even with this political interference, the army had fought valiantly and lost only because the Soviet army vastly outnumbered the German. The memoirs also insist the German army had fought the war honorably and had been unaware of any atrocities. In instances where awareness could not be denied, they accused rear-area police or SS forces as having initiated and conducted the atrocities as an honorable army fumed powerlessly. Indeed, they claim the German army treated Russian civilians and prisoners of war well throughout the war, in alleged contrast to the bad conduct of the Soviet army.
Finally, Smelser and Davies address memoirs written by front-line soldiers and novels about these men. These books concentrate heavily on the fear and adrenaline of combat, the emotional impact of losing friends and superiors, and the exhaustion of constant retreats. Precisely by focusing on battlefield events, they portray German soldiers as “ordinary men,” uninterested in and unmotivated by politics or race, rather simply trying to survive. Atrocities (at least by Germans) simply don’t appear in these memoirs.
The broad outlines of this argument are familiar, but Smelser and Davies add a degree of detail that is both persuasive and enlightening. It’s clear American soldiers and leaders read these memoirs and this reading played a significant role in reversing images of the German army. Moreover, the authors do a thorough job discrediting the claims made by the German officers in their memoirs, which can no longer be viewed as even minimally respectable. It is less clear how the broader public responded to the German message. The authors make some effort to measure how ordinary Americans responded to these memoirs by discussing the types of presses that published these accounts and the blurbs that appeared on back covers. But they could go farther in this direction. There’s no reference to public opinion polling data, for instance, nor to sales figures nor is there an attempt to do a demographic analysis of readership (admittedly a challenging task). Consequently, it’s more difficult to assess changing perceptions of the German army among ordinary Americans.
The same dynamic exists in the third section of the book. Here, Davies and Smelser examine the emergence of a community of writers, “war-gamers” and re-enactors who became devotees of the German army and its campaigns in the east. As far as it goes, this is insightful and exciting research (if sometimes too detailed for some tastes). Smelser and Davies astutely identify a set of sources historians have rarely tapped and survey it thoroughly. They identify a set of authors and speakers (whom they label “gurus”) who have been exceptionally influential in presenting a heroic, sanitized picture of the German army in the east. In a path-breaking discussion, they examine the iconography and mechanics of war games published in the 1970s and 1980s to show how they presented gamers with an honorable and heroic German army. They have thoroughly convinced me of the existence of a community of “buffs” who have made a fetish of the German army as super-efficient and super-heroic (although it would be helpful to compare games set on the eastern front with other games). The difficulty comes in understanding how influential this image was. The authors don’t really identify how large the community is (it’s unclear, for instance, when they cite Web site views, whether these are total views or unique visitors) and whether the views of war-gamers and re-enactors have spread outside their group. Moreover, by focusing the discussion mostly on the 1970s and 80s, they leave unclear how the creation of vast networks of computer gamers have affected this community. As early as 2002, for instance, the New York Times wrote about games like Day of Defeat which allowed players to take the part of German soldiers and used Nazi symbols and characters in a way that attracted a neo-Nazi following. It’s unclear what kind of following war games like Panzerblitz (one of several cited by the authors as widely influential) have had since the rise of computer gaming and whether this has reinforced or redirected the communities highlighted by the authors.
What is most interesting and potentially valuable about the book is the broad framework the authors offer to explain the trends they have identified. They suggest Americans have created two separate but similar “myths of the lost cause” as lenses through which to view their past. The first, obviously, relates to the South and the Civil War. The second identifies German soldiers from World War Two as good people fighting unwillingly for a bad cause. It encourages Americans, precisely because it represents German soldiers as fundamentally honorable, to focus on the battlefield rather than atrocities. And it offers them a coherent narrative explaining why the United States was suddenly allied with its former enemies and opposed to its former allies. This is a rich and thought-provoking interpretation, well worth more exploration than the authors give it.
Here we come back to my story about the British stock boys and the Austrian girls. The authors do what they set out to do and do it, for the most part, convincingly. But they miss the chance to dig deeper. They don’t attempt to explain (and never intend to) why American attitudes diverged so clearly from those of another NATO ally of Germany, the British (as I believe they did). Why would British teenagers mock girls they believed to be German while American teenagers stayed up late searching the Internet for the most realistic recreations of Wehrmacht boots and caps? More broadly, as I read, I kept asking for more. It would be fascinating, for instance, to have dived into visual and oral culture before and after the war in the way John Dower does in his book on perceptions of Japan and Japanese soldiers, War Without Mercy (1987). The authors take some steps in this direction but could have gone much farther. Similarly, they rarely address the influence of movies and television. Given how many of my students refer to the History Channel as the “Hitler Channel,” it seems this would offer a rich set of sources that would flesh out the authors’ interpretations. In particular, one wonders if the recent spate of Holocaust and war movies touched off by Steven Spielberg (both the branch emerging from Schindler’s List  and that from Saving Private Ryan ) changed American impressions of the German war effort at all. Finally, and entirely appropriate for this list, they don’t even begin to suggest how this study might shed light on the aftermaths of other genocides and military conflicts.
This should not be taken as criticism. All authors hope their work will prompt other historians to wrestle with the issues they identified. Davies and Smelser have given us an interesting and persuasive study. It is likely to be most influential, however, in prompting historians to further investigate the ideas they engage here for the first time.
. Jonathan Kay, “Defying a Taboo, Nazi Protagonists Invade Video Games,” New York Times (January 3, 2002), http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/03/technology/defying-a-taboo-nazi-protagonists-invade-video-games.html, accessed September 2, 2010.
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at: https://networks.h-net.org/h-genocide.
Kelly McFall. Review of Smelser, Ronald M.; Davies II, Edward J., The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture.
H-Genocide, H-Net Reviews.
|This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.|

domain: history


Whether you should buy a gaming laptop or a regular laptop depends on the type of work you will be using it for. Each comes with its pros and cons. So, ultimately the requirements of the user become the deciding factor as to which kind of laptop one should buy.
Gaming laptops are high-performance power-hungry electronic devices that are predominantly used for purposes that demand high performance, such as gaming or video editing. These types of applications push the components of a laptop to their limits. Gaming laptops are made to withstand such stress on their components.
Standard laptops are mainly used for official purposes. These types of laptops are well suited for work such as word processing, email writing, PowerPoint presentation, making audio and video calls, etc. Normal laptops are also used for recreational purposes such as watching movies, web series, etc. These tasks do not need high-performance components; normal laptops are usually cheaper than gaming laptops. It is also lighter in weight. Therefore, it provides more ease in carrying.
There are many other features of gaming laptops and normal laptops. In this article, we will explore them in detail so that you can make an informed choice as to which type of laptop better serves your interest.
Comparison Table: Gaming Laptop vs Normal Laptop
|Gaming Laptop||Normal Laptop|
|Processor||Gaming Laptops have high performance processors that have multiple cores which have higher processing speeds.||Normal laptops do not have as many cores as a gaming laptop. Therefore, those processors are ideal for tasks like emails, word processing etc.|
|RAM||Gaming Laptops have 8GB to 16GB RAM||Normal Laptops have 4GB to 8GB RAM.|
|Battery Life||Gaming laptops have power hungry components. Hence, it does not have an impressive battery health.||Normal laptops do not have power hungry components such as dedicated graphics cards. Hence, batteries last upto 12 hours.|
|GPU||Normally, gaming laptops feature nvidia geforce or other high end graphics card that can facilitate graphics intensive work||Normal laptops come with a built-in graphics card which is embedded in the on the central processing unit.|
|Cooling System||Gaming laptops have multiple exhaust fans that compensate for the heat generated by various components of the laptop.||Normal laptops do not have such advanced cooling systems. Typically, normal laptops have only one fan.|
|Keyboards||Gaming laptops have heavy duty keyboards which can endure the stress of gaming.||Keys in a normal laptop keys are quite delicate and thus, better for typing.|
|Number of Ports||Gaming laptops have many ports for connecting all sorts of gaming equipment.||Normal laptops only have the basic ports such as USB, HDMI, Headphone port etc.|
|Portability||Gaming laptops are generally heavier because of its heavy duty components which creates a bit of difficulty in terms of carrying it along.||Normal laptops are sleek and lightweight and therefore, easily portable.|
|Display||Gaming laptop displays feature upto 300 Hz refresh rate.||Normal laptops displays generally have a 60 Hz to 120 Hz refresh rate.|
|Sound System||Gaming laptops have louder and qualitative sound systems which enhance the gaming experience.||Normal laptops have ordinary speakers.|
|Longevity||How long a laptop will last actually depends on the way it is handled. However, due to having strong and high end components, gaming laptops usually last longer than normal laptops.||How long a laptop will last actually depends on the way it is handled. However, normal laptops have a shorter lifespan compared to gaming laptops.|
|Price||An entry level gaming laptop costs around USD 700.||An entry level normal laptop costs around USD 400.|
Differences: Gaming Laptop vs Normal Laptop
Gaming laptops and normal laptops have huge differences in terms of the purpose it serves and their components. In this part, we will explore those differences for your convenience.
In terms of design, regular business laptops are sleek and slim. The exteriors of these laptops are given a smooth finish which makes them suitable for an office environment. The designs are more compact, and the frames of normal laptops are generally smaller and lightweight, which creates better portability.
Normal laptops come with basic ports for connecting USB, headphones, HDMI cables, etc. As normal laptops are generally smaller, it features more miniature battery packs.
Gaming laptops are given robust frames and robotic designs that enhance the laptop’s aesthetics. These laptops have many high-performance components, and hence, they are heavier in weight. Gaming laptops are often decorated with RGB lights. It has more ports for connecting all kinds of gaming peripherals.
Whether a laptop is built for heavy tasks like gaming, video editing, or for light tasks such as word processing can be understood by looking at the type of processor.
At first glance, both processors may look the same, but their function and internal build are different. The difference can be understood by looking at the suffixes of the processors.
For example, Intel uses the following suffixes for their normal laptop processors.
- G- Graphics
- Y- Extremely Low Power
- U- Ultra-Low Power
- T- Power Optimized Lifestyle
The video below explains the meaning behind these letters:
The suffixes of this processor give away the game! The processors that are used in standard laptops cannot generate high clock speed because of their low power.
These processors are very efficient for conducting day-to-day computer work. However, if you plan to run heavy software applications on your laptop, these processors are not cut out for such jobs.
Suffixes for Intel gaming laptop processors are given below:
- K- Unlocked (these processors can adjust clocking speed based on the requirement)
- H- High Performance
- HQ- High-Performance Quad Core
- HK- High Performance and unlocked
Typically, gaming laptop processors feature more cores that facilitate high clocking speed and high performance. Some gaming laptop processors can be overclocked to run at higher speeds. Because of their heavy-duty nature, these processors are costlier than regular laptop processors.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
Random Access Memory or RAM is a computer’s short-term memory. The running programs in a computer or laptop are stored in the RAM because it is easier for the computer to extract and read information from RAM than fetching the information from your laptop’s hard drive.
Generally, there are few distinctions between the internal architecture of a Gaming laptop’s RAM and a standard computer’s RAM. The RAM of a gaming laptop typically has a greater clock speed than normal laptop RAM.
In general, normal laptops feature 4GB to 8GB RAM. As regular laptops are mainly used for light office work such as writing emails, making PowerPoint presentations, or browsing the internet, these laptops do not need more than 8GB of RAM.
On the other hand, an entry-level gaming laptop typically has 8GB RAM as gaming laptops run multiple software at once. Many modern-day graphics-intensive games such as Assassins Creed, Call of Duty, Forza Horizon, etc., require 6-8GB RAM. Many people take 8GB to 16GB RAM for a lag-free gaming experience. Besides, video games are not the only applications that take space in the RAM. Many other background applications such as Antivirus, Operating systems, etc., also take up some space on the RAM.
In addition to RAM, some high-end gaming laptops also feature Video RAM (popularly known as VRAM). VRAM is specially made for the flawless execution of graphics displays.
The more RAM a gaming laptop has, the better computing speed it can provide. However, as the capacity increases, the price also increases, but the good thing is RAM can be replaced. Some laptops have more than one slot for installing RAM. Hence, if you cannot buy a big RAM initially, you can always return it later.
Gaming laptops typically have bigger screens to facilitate a top-notch gaming experience for gamers. The screen also has a more significant refresh rate which gives an edge to the gamers while playing online multiplayer games.
Regular laptops have smaller screens with less refresh rate. Typically, normal laptops feature a 60 Hz to 120 Hz refresh rate. On the other hand, gaming laptops screen feature up to 300 Hz refresh rate.
Graphics Card or Video Card Or GPU(Graphics Processing Unit) is the electronic component responsible for rendering graphical data. The main work of this piece of hardware is to extract information from the CPU and convert it into visual data which appears on the computer monitor.
There are significant differences between the graphics card of a normal laptop and the graphics card of a gaming laptop. In this part, we will explore those differences.
Graphics cards in normal laptops are embedded in the CPU and use the same RAM as the CPU. As a result, its power and efficiency are not much. Such graphics cards can only facilitate lightweight tasks of graphical data such as Powerpoint presentations, playing movies, etc.
On the contrary, gaming laptops have dedicated graphics cards known as GPU or Graphics Processing Unit. These GPUs use their separate VRAM, so it is much more powerful and works faster than the integrated graphics card in a normal laptop. These dedicated graphics cards can do heavy photo or video editing, 3D rendering, VR simulation, running graphics-intensive games, etc.
Popular GPUs in the market are NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards.
Difference in Keyboards
Normal laptops have standard membrane keyboards. These keyboards are suitable for typing. However, the registering speed is not very fast in membrane keyboards. Also, the keys are very delicate. The major drawback of membrane keyboards is that they do not last very long.
On average, membrane keyboards can endure 5 million presses per switch. However, with the progression of time, typing experience becomes unpleasant as the rubber underneath the plastic keycaps wears out. Normal keyboards cannot register multiple keypresses simultaneously.
The situation is different in the case of mechanical keyboards, which are found in gaming laptops. Mechanical keyboards can withstand the stress of gaming. Mechanical keyboards outlive membrane keyboards in terms of longevity. Another advantage of a mechanical keyboard is that it has a faster-registering speed, ensuring faster response while playing games. Also, mechanical keyboards can register multiple keypresses all at once. This feature is known as N-key rollover. Keyboards that have N-key rollover can register many keys pressed at once. In many games, this feature comes in very handy.
Keyboards in gaming laptops are often backlit as gamers tend to play games in a low-light environment. These backlit keyboards help gamers to find the keys in low light. It also enhances the overall aesthetics of the laptop.
Some of these gaming laptop keyboards can be programmed to have specific colors for specific keys. The user can assign specific colors to keys to find them quickly when playing video games. These illumination systems can be turned on and off. When it is turned off, it saves battery power. This feature is also unavailable on a normal laptop.
Cooling systems are vital for maintaining the optimum temperature of all laptop components. Both gaming laptops and normal laptops feature cooling systems, but significant differences exist.
Gaming laptops use a more robust cooling mechanism than normal laptops as the heavy-duty components in a gaming laptop produce a lot more heat than a normal laptop. Mainly, the heat in a gaming laptop is produced by the CPU and GPU of the computer. Gaming laptops have multiple fans, large air vents, and heat sinks to keep the laptop components at optimum temperature. Some gaming laptops have the modern vapor chamber cooling mechanism installed in place of the orthodox heat pipes, which is getting more and more popular day by day.
Normal laptops do not have vapor chambers as those laptops do not produce as much heat as gaming laptops. The primary source of heat in a normal laptop is the processor. A small heat sink, air vents, and one fan suffice to keep it cool. In some models, there are no fans at all. Those laptops rely on natural air ventilation to cool off the components. As there is one more minor component, those laptops are lighter in weight and super quiet.
It goes without saying that both gaming laptops and regular laptops are portable. Nevertheless, due to the difference in size and weight, there is a slight difference in portability.
Regular laptops are often smaller than gaming laptops, and they have less hardware than gaming laptops. That is why they are light in weight, making the normal laptops very convenient to carry. Because of its small size and lightweight, it can be carried in backpacks without any trouble.
On the other hand, gaming laptops are bigger in size and heavier in weight. These laptops are known for their high performance. To ensure high-performance gaming, laptops need extra hardware such as a dedicated video card, video ram, big battery, multiple cooling fans, and processors with multiple cores. These components make the laptop heavy and oversized compared to normal laptops. Hence, gaming laptops pose a bit of a struggle in carrying them from one place to another.
Battery life is an essential factor that must be considered while deciding whether one should buy a gaming laptop or a regular laptop. While the batteries used in both kinds of laptops are identical in composition, there are differences in size.
Both modern-day gaming laptops and regular business laptops have lithium-ion or lithium-polymer (LiPo) batteries. These batteries have internal circuits which prevent overcharging of batteries.
Gaming laptops are power-hungry electronic devices. Gaming, video editing, or any other graphics-intensive work consumes a lot of power. That is why gaming laptops have larger battery packs compared to regular laptops. However, gaming laptops can run for 6-8 hours during heavy use, even with large battery packs. Also, it is advised by experts to keep gaming laptops plugged into a power source for optimum performance.
In contrast, normal laptops have a smaller battery back than gaming laptops. Nonetheless, regular laptops are very power efficient. That is why those laptops do not consume much power. An average fully charged battery pack of a standard laptop can run the laptop for up to 12 hours despite having small battery packs.
There is a day and night difference between the sound systems featured by gaming laptops and normal laptops.
Sound is an integral part of a quality gaming experience, and quality sound can only be provided through good quality speakers. That is why gaming laptops have large and high-quality speakers that are louder than a normal laptop’s speaker. These loudspeakers ensure that the user can hear all the sound effects and character dialogues. The loud and clear sound quality of the speakers intensifies the gaming experience.
The sound system in gaming laptops serves another purpose. It often cushions any irritating noise coming from the cooling fans of the laptop and provides an immersive gaming experience.
On normal laptops, there is not much need for high-quality speakers. Also, due to the smaller size, there is not much scope to install large speakers. That is why normal laptops have small standard speakers which are well suited for watching videos, listening to music, podcasts, etc.
In terms of connectivity, there’s little to no difference between normal laptops and gaming laptops.
Both kinds of laptops offer Wifi connectivity. Wifi connectivity is very important in gaming laptops as the most popular games of recent times are online multiplayer games. Likewise, there is no alternative to the internet for official work such as sending emails, internet browsing, etc. That is why normal laptops also have the wifi connectivity option.
Bluetooth connectivity is also available in both gaming laptops and normal business laptops. With the help of Bluetooth, users can quickly transfer files from their phones or other electronic devices to their laptops.
The thing that sets apart gaming laptops and normal laptops is the number of ports. Generally, there are two USBs, one LAN, one HDMI, and a few other ports for connecting various electronic devices in regular laptops.
There are various ports available for connecting gaming keyboards, gaming mice, and other gaming peripherals in gaming laptops. Gaming laptops have at least three USB ports. Some gaming laptops have as many as 5 USB ports.
Gaming laptops provide a lot of comfort in replacing or upgrading parts. In gaming laptops, most parts such as graphics card, processor, RAM, VRAM, etc., can be detached from the motherboard. Therefore, these parts can be easily changed.
On the other hand, the components in a standard laptop are integrated into the motherboard. Hence, those cannot be easily separated and replaced.
The longevity of any electronic device more or less depends on the user. If one takes good care of their laptop, both gaming and normal laptops can last for a very long time.
Normal laptops are made for light tasks such as word processing, PowerPoint presentations, etc. If the laptop is used for this purpose only, normal laptops will last for a very long time. However, if one tries to play high graphics video games on a regular business laptop, the laptop will soon be subject to a performance drop.
How long a laptop will last depends on how often it is cleaned. Over time, dust starts to accumulate in the air vents and other laptop components, which creates heat build-up in the system. Such heat can cause permanent damage to many components of the laptop. Whether it is a normal laptop or a gaming laptop, it shall be cleaned routinely.
This being said, if we look at the components of a normal laptop and a gaming laptop, a gaming laptop is more likely to last longer than a normal laptop because of its heavy-duty components. In case of a performance drop in a gaming laptop, it can still be used to carry out day-to-day work. However, if a normal laptop becomes slow, it becomes useless.
Predominantly, the customers for gaming laptops are gamers who can afford them. Gaming laptops do not come cheap. Because of its distinct features and plethora of components, gaming laptops cost much higher than regular business laptops. That is why gaming laptops are not budget-friendly and have a limited customer base. It is most popular with young people who are into gaming. Gaming laptops are, without any doubt, popular amongst gamers who are into streaming. Programmers, video or photo editors, and graphics designers also constitute a part of gaming laptops’ customer base.
Regular laptops have a much more significant customer base because of their affordability. Normal laptops are available at different price points. Hence, most people find a laptop that fits their budget. It is most popular with office goers who spend a lot of time in front of laptops sending emails or writing big reports. Normal laptops are also trendy among students, especially among higher education students. College education demands students to write long academic essays and make presentations on various topics. In such circumstances, normal laptops get the job done. Moreover, as normal laptops are available at affordable prices, students can easily buy these laptops.
Price Comparison: Gaming Laptop vs. Normal Laptop
Price is the ultimate deciding factor while buying any product. There is a considerable difference between the prices of these two kinds of laptops.
Gaming laptops are made for accomplishing heavy graphic intensive tasks such as gaming, video editing, 3D rendering, programming, etc. Hence, it has more hardware in comparison to a normal laptop. Because of these extra components, gaming laptops are pretty expensive. An entry-level gaming laptop retails for $700. If you are looking for a good gaming laptop, there is hardly any chance that you will get under $1000.
The price of a normal business laptop starts from as low as $120. Some more expensive models offer various features. Nonetheless, because of the wide range of prices, normal laptops fit the budget of almost everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Many questions pop up in the mind of a person trying to decide what will be the best decision. Buying a laptop is a big financial commitment. Thus, it is essential to satisfy all the queries before determining which kind of laptop one should buy. We will try to cover the frequently asked questions and answer them in this part.
Are Gaming Laptops Worth Buying?
Gaming laptops are robust laptops made to accomplish heavy tasks such as video editing, gaming, 3D rendering, VR simulation, etc. Much specific hardware such as dedicated video card, VRAM, high-end processor, advanced cooling mechanism, etc., sets apart gaming laptops from normal laptops.
Gaming laptops can be used for day-to-day office work as well. Gaming laptops are made to facilitate both light and heavy tasks. It has mechanical keyboards that can endure the pressure of gaming and help a typist to type faster. The high-performance processors will make the laptop run smoothly. Gaming laptop screens have a better refresh rate. It also has a better sound system compared to general laptops.
Therefore, gaming laptops are better in almost every aspect. Hence, it is worth buying if the budget is not an issue.
Which Type of Laptop Should I Buy If I Want To Play Games And Work Using The Same Laptop?
Gaming laptops are better known for the smooth accomplishment of heavy and light tasks.
Gaming laptops have all the components of a standard laptop. It has some extra elements which enable the laptop also to do graphics-intensive tasks like gaming.
So if you are planning to use the same laptop for work and playing games, buying a gaming laptop is your best bet.
Which Kind of Laptop is Better: Gaming Laptop or Normal Laptop?
There is no universal answer to this question. It depends on the type of work you are trying to get done.
Gaming laptops work great for gaming, video editing, programming, etc. It has way more features than a normal laptop.
However, regular laptops are the best in terms of battery health and portability.
Can I Transform My Normal Laptop Into a Gaming Laptop?
It is impossible to transform your normal business laptop into a gaming laptop. Gaming laptops have many additional components such as GPU, VRAM, and multiple cooling fans attached to the motherboard. Those motherboards are different from normal laptop motherboards. Typically, normal laptops have only one cooling fan, and the graphics card is integrated into the CPU. Therefore, transforming a normal laptop into a gaming laptop is not possible,
The only parts that can be possibly interchanged are RAM and hard drive.
This video explains some of the things you can upgrade in a laptop and how to go about it:
Can I Play Games on A Normal Laptop?
Some video games which do not require much RAM and a dedicated graphics card can be played on normal laptops. Many old games such as Grand Theft Auto Vice City and Need For Speed: Underground can perhaps be played on normal high-end laptops.
However, a normal laptop will not be able to load graphic intensive games like Call of Duty, Fallout 4, Forza Horizon, etc., because these games require high RAM and graphics cards.
Go to system requirements lab.com and click on “My Computer Details” in the top menu to see if your laptop is suitable for gaming. Then select “view my computer details” from the drop-down menu. A Detection App will be automatically downloaded.
If the game’s minimum requirements match your business laptop’s specifications, you will be able to run the game on your normal laptop. Nevertheless, we strongly advise against it.
Normal laptops are not made for gaming purposes. Running a heavy game on a normal laptop can push the laptop to extreme limits, which may cause overheating. Such overheating can cause irreversible damage to your laptop’s hardware.
Is Gaming Bad for Laptop’s Battery Health?
This is a popular myth that has been propagated for ages that playing video games has adverse effects on battery health. This statement has no truth in it.
In general, a gaming laptop itself is a power-hungry digital device. Because of its high-performance hardware, it does not have impressive battery health. Generally, it is advised to keep the laptop plugged into a power outlet while using it.
Of course, playing video games consumes a lot of power very quickly, but many other tasks also cause high power consumption. However, it does not mean these power-hungry tasks are reducing battery health. Battery health is affected by overheating, charges/discharge cycle, and a few other factors. Gaming is not one of them.
Is It Wise To Buy A Gaming Laptop for Work?
Whether one should buy a gaming laptop or a normal laptop for work boils down to an individual’s personal preference.
In general, there are no significant drawbacks in using gaming laptops for work purposes because gaming laptops have all the components of a normal laptop. Owing to their high-performance hardware, gaming laptops have faster processing speeds than normal laptops. Also, gaming laptops have mechanical keyboards, which are becoming more popular among typists for convenience.
The major disadvantage of a gaming laptop is that it is heavier than normal laptops. Thus, it is a bit inconvenient to carry around. Also, gaming laptops are very expensive. However, gaming laptops tend to outlive normal laptops. So, it has benefits in the long run.
That being said, a normal laptop does the day-to-day job very efficiently. So, buying a gaming laptop for work might be overkill. Nevertheless, if money is not an issue, you should not stop yourself from buying a gaming laptop for work.
Gaming laptops and normal business laptops serve two different purposes. The distinction between the two types of laptops is clearly in the hardware.
Gaming laptops have many additional hardware components absent from a normal computer. The additional hardware components in a gaming laptop enable it to do graphics-intensive work such as playing high-resolution video games, 3D rendering, VR simulation, graphics designing, etc. These are heavy tasks that a normal laptop cannot accomplish.
However, these laptops do not come cheap. A good gaming laptop can easily cost you over $1000. Another problem is that gaming laptops do not have awe-inspiring battery life.
On the other hand, normal laptops do not have powerful components like gaming laptops, but they do their job perfectly. Normal laptops are used mainly for office work such as sending emails, word processing, conducting zoom meetings, etc. Regular laptops can do these things quite efficiently. Unlike gaming laptops, standard laptops have good battery life. Moreover, the prices of normal laptops are reasonable and budget-friendly.
Many reputed brands make both gaming laptops and business laptops. Find out which works the best for you. If you need a laptop for office work, choose normal laptops because they are budget-friendly. But if your job requires a robust laptop, buying a good gaming laptop is your best bet.


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Rio de Janeiro Travel Guide is the ultimate Pocket travel guide you should own to traveling through Rio de Janeiro. This app provide you with all the maps and travel information you need in your iPhone/iPad and discover the most exciting places to visit during your stay! Our app is designed from ground up to be a fast reader for large image maps.
1. Rio de Janeiro underground Metro Map with all zones and lines covered
2. Rio de Janeiro walking map to all major areas
3. Information about all major Travel passes and how to save time and costs on transport
4. Airport transport from Rio de Janeiro international/local airport to city center
5. Rio de Janeiro Top Attractions with "How to get there?" directions with detailed walking map
6. Introduction to excursions to important places outside the two cities that you must visit in Brazil - including Iguacu Falls and Amazon Rainforest
7. Detail information on transportation systems covering Integrated ticket system, Taxi, Long Distance Buses, etc.
8. Other useful information including currencies, emergency telephone numbers, major embassy numbers, etc.
9. To-do list of your upcoming trip
10. Taxi card for all top attractions
1. 100% OFFLINE – No Internet Connection required apart from external websites and updates.
2. POCKET TRAVEL GUIDE with the most important attractions, pictures, rich travel info, detailed directions of how to get there.
3. ALL THE MAPS YOU NEEDED with 5 zoom levels, completely offline with no roaming fees!.
4. COMPATIBLE with both iPhone and iPad, iOS6 or above.
5. ALL THE OTHER USEFUL INFO you may need.
- iPod Touch

domain: travel


Beach nourishment project: communication from the Acting Assistant Secretary (Civil Works), the Department of the Army, transmitting a report on the storm damage reduction project for Long Beach Island, Nassau County, New York, pursuant to section 101(a)(21) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996
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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Termed by the police, cuckooing is a type of criminal exploitation in which a drug dealer will take over somebody’s home to use as a base for county lines drug trafficking. Cuckooing takes its name from cuckoos, who push other birds out of their nests to take it for their own.
In this article, we will explore the term cuckooing (and county lines) and find out why it’s in the news and how we can deal with it.
There are many different types of cuckooing, but the most common type is when a trespasser or gang member makes their way into and take
s over the home of an at-risk adult. The main purpose of this will be to distribute, store or take drugs into the home.
Who is most susceptible to cuckooing?
Cuckooing has only recently emerged, evolved and taken meaningful hold in the UK. Reports reveal that hundreds of cases of cuckooing have occurred.
The criminals are very selective about who they target to cuckoo. Victims often have drug and mental health problems already, or are older individuals. Single parents, sex workers and those living in poverty are also targeted.
Coercion, intimidation, violence (including sexual violence) and weapons are often used. This may begin by befriending the individual, promising them things like a relationship, friendship, drugs/ alcohol or money. Criminals get victims to trust them so they come to rely on them or feel like they need to have them around, which can make it hard to stop and receive help.
Sometimes vulnerable adults or children are used as drug runners or to move cash, so that the perpetrators can stay under the radar of law enforcement. There are some key signs to watch out for, whether it’s a friend, neighbour, family member, work colleague etc.
How to spot cuckooing
Cuckooing will often take place in a multi-occupancy or social housing property.
Here is a quick summary of the signs to look out for:
- The number of people coming and going from the property may increase.
- The number of cars at the property may increase and you may see the use of taxis and cars you don’t recognise.
- Anti-social behaviour in and around the property may increase.
- You may not not see your neighbour for long periods of time while they try and keep their distance.
- The property may start to look untidy.
Why is cuckooing in the news?
People fear that the recent pandemic has led to an increase in cases of cuckooing. Organised crime groups adapted to lockdown restrictions and continued to target young and vulnerable people.
During the pandemic, many were struggling with loneliness and isolation, and while more people are spending time online, perpetrators have begun to use platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram to begin the grooming process.
How can we deal with cuckooing?
If you suspect that someone around you is a victim of cuckooing, it is important to report it immediately. You can speak to your local police by dialling 101, or 999 in an emergency situation. Law enforcement has been stepping up their response, working to take effective action and identify the crime in areas of the country that are most susceptible.
As well as this, a multi-agency county lines coordination centre has been established by the National Crimes Agency, alongside the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs). Officers from each organisation work towards developing national intelligence, prioritising action against serious offenders, and engaging with partners across health, welfare and education spheres in an attempt to tackle wider issues.
County lines – how does it relate to cuckooing?
Criminals running county lines will set up a base in a rural area or small town for a short time, taking over the home of a vulnerable person, cuckooing them.
The term county lines has been around for a few years now and is a term which is used when drug gangs from big cities expand their operations to smaller towns, often using violence to drive out local dealers. They are financially motivated. There are 1,000 different county lines operating, the majority originating from London, Merseyside and the West Midlands.
Recognised in 2019 in the statutory guidance for schools and colleges, Keeping Children Safe in Education, the term has now become widely known as a key safeguarding theme.
The National County Lines Coordination Centre have create a resource which encompasses more information about cuckooing and county lines.
More support can be found through The Children’s Society organisation and their Disrupting Exploitation Programme.
We offer safeguarding training for those professionals who work directly or indirectly with vulnerable adults and children. All our courses offer an in-depth understanding of safeguarding best practices and all necessary legal requirements.
If you would like to speak to a member of our customer support team please get in touch today by calling us on 01327 530259, emailing us at firstname.lastname@example.org, or using the live chat feature on our website.

domain: sociology


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The fact is, that for the Huichol, and for all those who refuse, who are in flight, words and things are precisely what language does not speak about. Language is a natural act which implies belonging. He who exists, speaks. He who does not speak, does not exist. He has no place in the world. The Huichol language is Huichol to the same degree as the Huichol earth, the Huichol sky, religion, tattooing, dress, the peyoteros' hat. It is not enough to pronounce the syllables of the Huichol language to be Huichol. That is obvious.
She squeezed her eyes closed. She heard the buggy stop, heard Colin’s boots hit the ground, knew that he strode toward her side of the wagon. “Felicia, where do you think you’re going?” “Away,” she whispered. Strong hands closed around her waist, and suddenly she was airborne, lifted off the wagon seat and then set gently on the ground. Her eyes flew open. “You’re not going anywhere, Miss Kristoffersen. Not until I’ve done this.” His lips claimed hers in the kiss she’d longed for, even when she hadn’t known it. The kiss was gentle, yet it sent her senses reeling. She felt turned upside down and wrong side out. His arms gathered her closer, and she felt their hearts beating as one. Oh, if they could only stay like this forever.
Miss Kristoffersen.” He offered his elbow to her. After a slight hesitation, she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, and the two of them walked toward the barn. Just before they reached it, guitar and fiddle, flute and banjo, drums and tambourine began to play a lively melody. Very soon, couples swirled by the open doorway, the women’s colorful skirts soaring out behind them. Colin dared to look at Felicia again and was rewarded with an enormous smile. “It’s wonderful,” she said, loud enough to be heard above the music. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Your first barn dance?” She nodded. “Would you like to dance?” The smile vanished, and she shook her head. It surprised him how much he wanted to change her mind. “Are you sure?” Color infused her cheeks. “I don’t know how to dance, Mr. Murphy.” “Tell you what.” He leaned closer so he didn’t have to raise his voice. “We’ll wait until they play something a bit slower. Then I’ll teach you. Okay?” For a heartbeat, he feared she would still refuse. But then she nodded, and pleasure flowed through him. Mrs. Summerville be hanged.
While in principle groups for survivors are a good idea, in practice it soon becomes apparent that to organize a successful group is no simple matter. Groups that start out with hope and promise can dissolve acrimoniously, causing pain and disappointment to all involved. The destructive potential of groups is equal to their therapeutic promise. The role of the group leader carries with it a risk of the irresponsible exercise of authority.Conflicts that erupt among group members can all too easily re-create the dynamics of the traumatic event, with group members assuming the roles of perpetrator, accomplice, bystander, victim, and rescuer. Such conflicts can be hurtful to individual participants and can lead to the group’s demise. In order to be successful, a group must have a clear and focused understanding of its therapeutic task and a structure that protects all participants adequately against the dangers of traumatic reenactment. Though groups may vary widely in composition and structure, these basic conditions must be fulfilled without exception.Commonality with other people carries with it all the meanings of the word common. It means belonging to a society, having a public role, being part of that which is universal. It means having a feeling of familiarity, of being known, of communion. It means taking part in the customary, the commonplace, the ordinary, and the everyday. It also carries with it a feeling of smallness, or insignificance, a sense that one’s own troubles are ‘as a drop of rain in the sea.’ The survivor who has achieved commonality with others can rest from her labors. Her recovery is accomplished; all that remains before her is her life.
Like most people, when I look back, the family house is held in time, or rather it is now outside of time, because it exists so clearly and it does not change, and it can only be entered through a door in the mind. I like it that pre-industrial societies, and religious cultures still, now, distinguish between two kinds of time – linear time, that is also cyclical because history repeats itself, even as it seems to progress, and real time, which is not subject to the clock or the calendar, and is where the soul used to live. This real time is reversible and redeemable. It is why, in religious rites of all kinds, something that happened once is re-enacted – Passover, Christmas, Easter, or, in the pagan record, Midsummer and the dying of the god. As we participate in the ritual, we step outside of linear time and enter real time. Time is only truly locked when we live in a mechanised world. Then we turn into clock-watchers and time-servers. Like the rest of life, time becomes uniform and standardised. When I left home at sixteen I bought a small rug. It was my roll-up world. Whatever room, whatever temporary place I had, I unrolled the rug. It was a map of myself. Invisible to others, but held in the rug, were all the places I had stayed – for a few weeks, for a few months. On the first night anywhere new I liked to lie in bed and look at the rug to remind myself that I had what I needed even though what I had was so little. Sometimes you have to live in precarious and temporary places. Unsuitable places. Wrong places. Sometimes the safe place won’t help you. Why did I leave home when I was sixteen? It was one of those important choices that will change the rest of your life. When I look back it feels like I was at the borders of common sense, and the sensible thing to do would have been to keep quiet, keep going, learn to lie better and leave later. I have noticed that doing the sensible thing is only a good idea when the decision is quite small. For the life-changing things, you must risk it. And here is the shock – when you risk it, when you do the right thing, when you arrive at the borders of common sense and cross into unknown territory, leaving behind you all the familiar smells and lights, then you do not experience great joy and huge energy. You are unhappy. Things get worse. It is a time of mourning. Loss. Fear. We bullet ourselves through with questions. And then we feel shot and wounded. And then all the cowards come out and say, ‘See, I told you so.’ In fact, they told you nothing.

domain: literature


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Armed Robbery of Suspected Drug Deal
February 2, 2024
On Thursday February 1,, at 11:07 pm, a Culver City Police Officer on patrol in the area of Culver Boulevard and Ince Boulevard was alerted by victims of an armed robbery that had just occurred. The Officer quickly put out a broadcast and requested additional units to assist in searching the area for the suspect involved. Still, after an extensive search, the suspect was not located.
Officers immediately began investigating and learned that three adult victims had arrived at the 9000 block of Culver Boulevard at 11:00 pm to make an online purchase exchange of five tablets. As the transaction was concluded, a masked suspect approached from an unknown direction, pointed a black firearm at the three victims, and demanded the tablets and the victim's cell phone. The suspect then ordered the victims to get on the ground. Once on the ground, the suspect hit two of the victims on the head several times with a firearm. The suspect then fled northbound towards Durango Avenue and Venice Boulevard and out of view.
Culver City Police Department Investigators urge any witnesses who may have information to provide regarding this robbery to come forward. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Culver City Police Department Public Information Officer, Jennifer Atenza at (310) 253-6120 or the Watch Commander at (310) 253-

domain: news


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Timeline as Historical Form
Emma Willard (1787–1870) was a brilliant author and educator with a long career as a promoter of women’s education in the United States. Her Temple of Time, published in 1846 in the United States, is a mnemonic conspectus of universal history. The image of a temple in classical European style presents the intersection of three hierarchically arranged temporal orders: the building’s pillars mark Common Era centuries, representing abstract time; inscriptions on the pillars (rulers) and lists inscribed on the temple’s ceiling (statesmen, etc.) tether biographies to abstract time; and twisting columns containing text, which snake across the temple’s floor, encapsulate destinies of groups identified as nations (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc.) in correlation with abstract and biographical times.
The density of information contained in this graphic reflects the variety and complexity of discourses about the past that needed to be assimilated by an educated person in Euro-American societies in the nineteenth century. However, the distinctively modern element here is not the comparison between pasts coming from multiple sources. This was a concern for many premodern chroniclers and philosophers as well, among them Europeans and Muslim polymaths such as Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (d. ca. 1050) and Rashid al-Din Tabib (d. 1318).
Emma Willard’s Temple of Time.
Emma Willard’s Temple of Time.
New York: A. S. Barnes, 1846, scan courtesy of Amherst College Library
The temple’s modernity resides in the timeline that is invisible in itself but forms the basis of the serialized placement of pillars marking the passage of impersonal time. Everyone looking at the image is presumed to have an intuitive grasp of this timeline as the image’s understructure. While expert viewers may disagree regarding text placed across the surfaces of the architectural elements as being a part of the graphic, they would consider the structure of time beyond dispute. Similarly, novices are presumed to know that time progresses regularly and are pushed to treat this as the basis for acquiring universal knowledge about the past.
For the creator and the presumed viewer of the temple graphic, abstract time has a totalizing yet agent-less authority over other temporal scales, such as lifetimes and narratives shared among religious communities and nations. I propose that to derive richer understandings of Islamic and other pasts, we must dismantle the presumed logic of representations such as the Temple of Time.
In addition to the primacy of abstract time as the scale, other aspects of the worldview exemplified in Willard’s graphic need recognition. Corresponding to the floor of the Temple of Time, these are seen more easily in The Histomap, a graphic representation of world history published in the United States in 1931. Abstract time dominates here as well, represented in the scale covering 4,000 years that runs vertically along both sides of the map. In between the scale’s regularity, we see lines twisting and tortured, representing what the work’s title refers to as “Relative Power of Contemporary States, Nations and Empires.” By looking horizontally between the years marked on the vertical axis, the viewer gets a snapshot of the relative balance of power between entities existing contemporaneously at a given moment on the scale.
While we are not provided a definition for “power,” the condensing of four millennia into a chart is based on a qualitative progression leading up to the global dominance of powers identified with Europe that have the widest presence at the very bottom (United States, British Empire, Continental Empires, and the USSR). The material wealth and technological capacity that allows these entities to dominate the world are the implicit definition of strength. Even as time continues its unconcerned march in the abstract scale, The Histomap gives history a purpose, which is to explain, and justify, power structures pertaining to human beings prevalent at the time the map was generated.
John B. Sparks, The Histomap: Four Thousand Years of World History. Relative Power of Contemporary States, Nations and Empires. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1931. Scan courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Underlying modern universal time—impersonal in scale but imbued with the power relations of the modern present—is the principle of material causality purportedly observable through scientific methods. Since the nineteenth century, this understanding of causality has acted as the touchstone for differentiating between the plausible and the implausible regarding claims about the past. Formulated in visions of progress or conservatism, and of development and stasis, the same principle has helped shape varying visions of the future.
Pasts and futures tied to timelines via investment in material causality have been the seemingly natural way to comprehend phenomena at any scale. At a micro level, causality presumed within the timeline is central to matters such as the detective novel and the modern science of forensics. In grander terms, its effects can be seen in understandings of biological evolution, theories of economic change, and sociopolitical dominance represented in documents such as the Temple of Time and The Histomap.
The ramifications of causality in this vein have not resulted in investigative naïveté. I am not suggesting that the notion of history as a modern science is a blind ideology or conspiracy. In fact, since the nineteenth century, the number and complexity of causes that can be invoked to make sense of observed data feeding into timelines has become greater and greater. Investigators operating on the basis of material causality have usually realized that figuring out one connection spurred them toward looking for others. However, even absolute uncertainty in this perspective is premised on the imagination of time as a unidirectional line. The observer’s frustration over the inability to substantiate the causes for an occurrence belie the foundational expectation that such causes must propel linear temporal progression in a single direction.
The important thing here is the epistemological pattern that connects material causality to the notion of time as an impersonal series of moments. The ascendancy of the timeline as a modern interpretive and representational mode and its underlying presumptions about causality has had specific consequences for the way Islam has been imagined.

domain: library


text:
The Black Vintage Rug is a stunning piece made 100% Viscose. Newly made with a vintage look.
Viscose in this rug gives the piece it's soft silky feel and and highlights the beautiful yarns and depth.
200cm x 290cm
Featuring tempered glass on the top and bottom.
Marcel Tables are RTA. Comes all in one box and requires easy assembly.
*$50 Delivery Fee - Australia Wide (One shipping fee covers multiple tables)

domain: design


When Bob Crow and Tony Benn passed away recently, it seemed the left was united in paying tribute to these wonderful men who had dedicated their lives to change for the betterment of society. They’re the only times lately that the left has been as one.
Changes are coming in politics on these islands, whatever the result of the referendum might be. There cannot be many people left, either north or south of the border, who are in any doubt about that. This Tory government has initiated social changes, in the name of necessity, which will take a generation or more to undo. The right has realised what the right has always known … that a radical government, pursuing its own agenda ruthlessly and without regard for public opinion, and thereby unencumbered by fears of not being re-elected, can fundamentally change the country.
The left never quite gets this. The Labour government, elected in a landslide in 1997, was neither radical or left-wing, but it could have been both. Nevertheless, it too laid foundation stones which can never be removed; the national minimum wage was one. Thankfully, for us all, the Scottish Parliament was another. Those things are permanent.
So too, in England, are the changes to social services, the NHS and the welfare system. Do not believe a word Ed Miliband says about rolling back the Tory changes to health care provision. The next Labour government will find a way to claim those changes have worked better than they thought, because reversing them will be deemed too expensive. The health service in England will not be just on the slippery slope but halfway down it. The same applies to welfare. No government at Westminster, with the hysteria of middle England at full volume, is going to contemplate ever raising the welfare cap as it presently stands, no matter the crisis. They will cut as much as they think they can get away and, in the greatest need, they will change the structure of the cap to increase overall spending on it, but at the expense of dragging Job Seekers Allowance in too.
The political “centre ground” in England has shifted to the right. It has done so not because this is a strong government but because we have a weak opposition, one willing to compromise, one which started out with a strong narrative on austerity – that cutting too quick would increase the debt and drag out the recession – and, over time, allowed that to be chipped away.
I read everything I can lay my hands on. The “recovery” is built on exactly the same shaky stilts as caused the last crash; public and private debt. There is a new housing bubble inflating, and when it blows the consequences are going to be truly apocalyptic. Our political class realises this. This is partly why the welfare cap has come into play … it prevents whole sections of the country from going on housing benefit when the roof falls in. This cynical, despicable cap is not only designed to cut the legs off the working poor, or those who need welfare to survive. The very leafy shires who have called for it are precisely the people it is going to hurt most.
But that’s not part of the political narrative. The economy is teetering on the brink of a black hole, and Labour has conceded all the ground. They have allowed the Tories to claim that the recovery is underway. That the cuts are necessary. That stimulating the housing market in soft government loans was a good idea. That a welfare cap is economically responsible, instead of an act of war against the social security system. They have given up every inch of dirt they started out fighting for, and the collapse in their poll numbers reflects the way in which people of all social and economic groups in England have reacted to such cowardice.
Those numbers are only going to go one way. Down.
It is not only Better Together who seem to have devised their very own “How To Lose Huge” strategy. At the very moment when Labour needed them most, the “party of the working man” has stuck the boot into its own foot soldiers, and proved, again, that when it comes to its relationship with the unions and the public sector they are even less trustworthy than the most blatantly right-wing Tory administration.
It is a matter of time before the unions walk away from Labour entirely. The way the national party treats them is an affront to decency. The Falkirk furore was a scandal not so much as in what happened up there but in how Labour handled it, and allowed the media to portray it. What should have been a local matter blossomed into a “debate” about the evils of trade unionism in Britain, and that “debate”, like every social and political debate these days, was coached in terms the right dictated and wanted, because, as usual, Labour’s cowardice came to the fore.
Across time, almost unfailingly, the right has pursued its political agenda by dividing people, creating “out” groups who inspire the hatred of the rest. This government is so fortunate in having so many to choose from. They have co-opted the yellow bellied Lib Dems, the whores of British politics, who will literally climb into bed with anyone and try to screw everyone, and they’ve cowed Labour to such an extent that those “out” groups literally have no voice in Parliament.
They have the immigrants, who have always been a Tory “out” group, and the easiest to give a good kicking to. They have made social security claimants a new “out” group, and Labour, of course, has acquiesced in that. Public sector workers can always be turned on when the standard of living collapses across “middle income earners”, and this unscrupulous government and a subservient media machine has allowed them to be painted, as usual, as sitting on “gold plated pensions and working conditions” – all of it, an enormous fraud – and not only will Labour not stand up for them, but it was Labour, the governments of Blair and Brown, which first led the line in perpetuating these heinous lies. It was, after all, Labour Party politicians who first talked of “strivers and skivers”, and called the firemen “fascist bastards.”
Yet if there’s one group of individuals in this country who are consistently demonised over and over again it’s the union bosses and their members. To expect Labour to come to their defence was always going to be too much to ask. The party founded by the trade unions has stood idly by and allowed them to be beaten down during every major industrial showdown of the last thirty years. They have allowed union rights to be eroded to the point of almost non-existence and barely raised a murmur of protest about it. They could have rolled back Thatcherism and restored all the rights she denied them … but that would have made life hard when their own “reforms” of the public sector came into play.
No party treats the union movement with such contempt and disregard as does the one that bears its name. It is an appalling indictment on all concerned that the trade union movement now has no voice in the Palace of Westminster. Miliband’s “reform” of the links between the union and the party are a disgraceful, and cowardly, case of a political party attacking its friends to appease unappeasable enemies, to no political advantage at all, and the way Miliband has allowed the media to define his relationship with the people who put him in his post should tell you everything you need to know about how this man and his party would act in government.
Without conviction. Without vision. Without principles of any sort.
Labour always obsesses about re-election. Tories never do. Right wing governments know that one term, one radical, transformative term, is all a government needs to fulfil whatever social, political or economic agenda it wants to pursue. It can create – like the one that built the welfare state, or the Labour government of 1997 (and I give them credit for that. This was a government that sought to build things) – or it can destroy, but whatever it does will be lasting.
One of the things that excites me most about what politics in Scotland will look like should we get what we’re campaigning for in September is this idea about what the first independent government here might do. That government will almost certainly be of the centre left. It does not have to be red in tooth and claw, but it has to have an understanding of the opportunity the moment affords it.
I believe the political and social narrative of Britain could have been transformed completely if, in 1997, Labour had been more radical and used its enormous mandate to shift the centre of political gravity leftward. It could have been done. Huge steps towards it were taken, only for them to back off at the last minute. The minimum wage was one. Signing the European Social Charter was another. The campaign to eradicate child poverty. The windfall tax on the private utilities. The creation of the ten pence tax rate. These were all monumentally significant, and forcing the Conservative Party to embrace them one at a time was a triumph for social advancement.
Yet even as Blair and Brown were doing this, they had already, broadly, began to accept the “market driven services” narrative that successive Tory governments had tried, and failed, to push through. The good was being counterweighted by the bad, and the bad was going to get worse as time went on as the true cost of schemes like the Private Finance Initiative became clear. “Reforms” to pensions and terms and conditions, the extension of compulsory competitive tendering, letting private firms bid for public service contracts … all of it started eating away at the social fabric.
They were moving the debate rightward after all.
By 2005, with Iraq dominating the political discourse, Blair and Brown had stopped even pretending concern for those at the bottom.
The opportunity had been lost. 2008, and the crisis in banking, could have – and should have – been a transformative event which allowed them to recapture the initiative and accomplish that goal … and they didn’t even try.
Here, in Scotland, the political centre of gravity is already on the left. That’s how Johann Lamont can get up and call the SNP’s plan to cut corporation tax a scandal and get away with it. If Ed Miliband had the brass ones to try that in London he would be flayed. As it happens, I think Lamont has called this one wholly wrong, and I don’t believe any credible figure on the left could agree with her. Cutting corporation tax will bring jobs to an independent Scotland, and allow firms to pay higher wages and invest in their infrastructure. It would be a grossly incompetent and irresponsible Scottish government that didn’t pursue those goals. It’s precisely because I’m on the left that I do support a policy that would bring those opportunities here.
But in Scotland we have a chance to do something even more important. With the political centre where it is here, we can actually build a new social security system. We can revise the role of trade unions in our society. Companies that want to be based in Scotland, and take advantage of our beneficial tax policies, can be brought around to the argument that paying a living wage and giving their workers full union rights and recognition is a price worth paying … and that is a case many on the left are not going to make two years from now but are making already.
Trade unions, and the public sector workers they represent, are not the demons the right-wing media would have some believe, and we all know this, because we are not ignorant and un-engaged from the process. A government that treated them with respect, instead of with contempt, would, in doing so, do more to change the political narrative we’ve been living with these past three or four decades than any number of policy changes ever could or would, and that is a social, economic and political imperative, and should be Item 1 on the manifestos of all the major parties (Tories excepted) when the first independent elections are called.
My view of the public sector has not shifted one iota in all the time I’ve been involved in political discourse. Our teachers, nurses, doctors, police officers, firemen, bin-men, parks workers, our cleaners and dinner ladies, those who work in the difficult jobs the Guardianista always disdain, and who’s “gold plated pensions” the chattering classes (most of them on six figure salaries) are always complaining about … these people are my heroes. Their pay freezes and 1% rises are an outrage that an independent Scottish government should end on its first day in office.
The trade unions which have fought – more often than not unsuccessfully – to reverse the shocking economic and political hammer blows these people have had to endure should be invited to come to the opening ceremony of the new Parliament and take their place there as genuine stakeholders, afforded recognition and respect instead of being regarded as the “enemy within.”
They are the one true democratic movement in British politics today, and for all they are vilified their one crime is that they actually do what they are supposed to for the people they represent. If our political parties did the same the country would be better off.
Scotland can give these people the acknowledgment they deserve. We have a tradition up here of respect for those things. More than that; in keeping with some parts of England, we have a tradition of honouring them and their people. Two of those people were laid to rest last month. One was a loss to politics as he showed what might have been. Tony Benn was a great man, and a wonderful advocate for the left. He will be missed tremendously.
Yet it’s Bob Crow’s death which hits hardest, cuts deepest, impacts farthest. The Movement needed him right now as much as it ever has, and his shoes will not be easy ones to fill.
The Londoncentric media wrote nice things about both, but refuses to do them the honour they are due by accepting the rightness of those things for which they fought.
Here in Scotland, we can do more than just pay them tribute. I can think of no greater mark of respect – for these men, and their ideas – than to make the bedrock policies of our first Scottish government the things to which they devoted their lives.
That is a true monument to them, and to the country we’re looking to build.


As if $100 bills weren’t already hard enough the keep in your wallet or purse, an effort is afoot to retire America’s largest denomination.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers suggested the idea last week and the New York Times editorial board approvingly chimed in. Discontinuing the $100 bill will thwart criminals, who prefer to traffic in large notes, and bring tax cheats, who try to avoid the IRS by doing under the table transactions in cash, to justice.
What’s not to like? Well, unless providing the government with yet another opportunity to control your life sounds like a swell idea, a lot, actually.
First of all the vast majority of $100 bills are used for legitimate reasons. Over ten billion 100-dollar bills are currently in circulation. As it turns out, two thirds are held by foreign central banks as reserves, which given all their loose monetary policies these days, may appear to some to indeed be criminal activity.
But the 100-dollar bill is also popular at home, accounting for almost 30 percent of the bills in circulation. Only the one-dollar bill is more widely used. Certain ethnic groups, the Chinese for example, especially among older generations accustomed to unstable banking and financial systems, do not always trust banks and prefer portable cash. To claim otherwise is, frankly, an astonishingly upper class white worldview.
However it doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to see something more troubling at play here. Simply put, eliminating the $100 bill will give the government greater control over your money and more opportunities to regulate your life.
For example, struggling to revive its economy, Sweden has already implemented negative interest rates to force spending and lending. Eliminating currency on top of this could leave citizens and companies with the choice of leaving money in banks where it will be effectively taxed, or spending it, as the government wishes.
To prevent citizens from withdrawing THEIR money and stashing it away, the Swedish government is contemplating eliminating cash altogether. With all of one’s money in electronic form within a heavily regulated financial system, governments could also seize its citizens’ savings with little more than a keystroke. This scenario is far from theoretical: Cyprus looted 40% of all deposits above 100,000 euros to fund their bailout in 2013. And Greece froze all private bank accounts in 2015.
This idea of the government controlling its citizens’ access to their money is not without precedent in America. In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102. The act forced Americans to exchange their privately held gold (both coins and bullion) for cash for $20.67 ($377 in 2016) an ounce, in an effort to spur inflation and revive the U.S. economy. Americans who did not follow the president’s order were threatened with 10 years in jail and a fine the equivalent to $186,802 in 2015 dollars.
It’s admittedly a jump from jettisoning the $100 bill to jailing Americans who stash them away. But confiscating gold and discontinuing the C-note are both ways of granting Washington greater command over the economy and your life.
The New York Times and others justify this step as a way to curb illegal behavior– as if saving money because of concerns about the government’s handling of the economy is some sort of nefarious act.
That type of thinking is not uncommon in our current economic atmosphere. With talk of another recession and the planners running out of tools to stop it, governments fret that citizens will buy gold or Bitcoin, or, in this case, stash large amounts of cash. The move to discontinue the $100 bill is an attempt to prevent this from happening and eliminate a way for Americans to protest government policy with their pocket books. For this reason it should be opposed.
Originally Posted on NewsMax.com
Categorised in: News


President Biden on Monday told reporters that the U.S. will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can strike targets inside Russian territory.
“We’re not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia,” Biden told reporters.
Biden’s comments came after several media outlets reported that the administration was leaning towards providing Ukraine with Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), which Ukrainian officials have been requesting for months.
A White House official later clarified Biden’s comments and said sending the MLRS is still on the table, but that it wouldn’t have long-range capabilities. “MLRS is under consideration, but nothing is on the table with long-range strike capabilities,” the official said.
If equipped with long-range munitions, the MLRS can reach targets up to 190 miles away. But the U.S. could potentially send Kyiv the MLRS with shorter-range rockets that can reach between 20-45 miles, which would still be the longest range weapons given to Ukraine. The shells fired by the M777 Howitzers the US has been shipping to Ukraine can hit targets about 15 miles away.
After the reports came out that the U.S. was considering giving Ukraine long-range rockets, Russian officials warned strongly against the move. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it would be a “serious step towards unacceptable escalation.”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, welcomed Biden’s decision not to give Ukraine weapons that can hit Russia, calling it “rational.”
The U.S. is expected to announce a new weapons package for Ukraine soon that will be taken from the new $40 billion aid package Biden recently signed into law.
This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.


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Celebs by countryUSA
Zachary Quinto mini bio:
Zachary John Quinto is a British actor born on 13 June 1990 in Buckinghamshire, England. He started his acting career at very young age of six years, when he starred in a movie name Macbeth. His role was the lead role in the movie and it saw the beginning of his limelight career. Zachary John Quinto kept his movie selection style quite random to excel in every genre of movies. He even starred in many TV shows, as guest or recurring star. The most significant role in his career came with the role of John Lennon in the movie Nowhere Boy. He is also very popular for his role of David "Dave" Lizewski in the movie Kick Ass. His most recognized work includes movies like The Greatest, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, The Apocalypse, Shanghai Knights, Kick-Ass 2, Kick Ass, and Nowhere Boy. For the movie Nowhere Boy, he also won the award of Empire Award for Best Newcomer.
Zachary Quinto images:
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domain: entertainment


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The Wall Street Journal reports on China’s increasingly difficult efforts to secure oil deals in African countries:
On Tuesday, Nigeria’s oil minister and a presidential spokesman said state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc, is in advanced talks with Nigeria to take over blocks that are owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and other companies, but are underutilized.
An official with Nigeria’s state oil company said about 20 onshore blocks were on offer and that negotiations were at a late stage with some companies, including Cnooc. He said he wasn’t sure exactly how much crude Cnooc was vying for, but that targeted investment would run into several billion dollars.
Cnooc officials couldn’t be reached for comment.
However, a Nigerian government official told Reuters that this is not true:
Nigeria is not offering oil licences currently operated by Chevron (CVX.N), ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to China while renewal negotiations are ongoing, a government minister said on Tuesday.
“We are not offering leases that are up for renewal in the middle of negotiations to renew. That is not happening,” Minister of State for Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia told Reuters in a telephone interview.
He said CNOOC, China’s no. 3 oil and gas producer, was one of several state-owned Chinese companies searching for opportunities in Nigeria and elsewhere.
“We are talking to them about their quest to buy proven reserves. This is not new, this predates this administration,” Ajumogobia said.
The second half of the Wall Street Journal article focuses on the backlash facing China in Africa, as locals increasingly resent the way Chinese companies operate in their countries:
The news of the Nigeria talks followed setbacks for China this month on deals in Angola and Libya. On Sept. 8, Libya vetoed a $462 million bid by China National Petroleum Corp. for Libya-focused Verenex Energy Inc. Days later, Angola’s state-owned Sonangol said it wanted to block the sale of Marathon Oil Corp.’s 20% oil-field stake to Cnooc and China PetroChemical Corp., or Sinopec.
The setback in Angola — China’s largest African partner — is in stark contrast with the enthusiastic reception it found there five years ago, when China was launching a quest for African resources to feed its economic boom.
[…] But some in Africa are starting to find the Chinese embrace too tight. The formula of bartering oil for infrastructure initially had given China’s oil concerns a competitive advantage against Western companies, whose investors were largely unwilling to fund such projects. But those same projects have become a key factor in China’s setbacks. In particular, China state companies’ insistence on keeping local hiring to a minimum has brewed resentment.