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O.J. Simpson and "What's Mine is Mine" Syndrome by Evan Palmer
2007-09-22 17:00:00
From Dictionary.Com, the definition of "syndrome" is: "A group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like."In his latest publicly-disclosed brush with the law, O.J. Simpson continues his obsession with what he thinks is "his" and his willingness to use any means to keep or retrieve it.To think that someone with his past and his means would care about a bunch of trashy mementos to the extent of organizing a criminal enterprise to take them back is difficult to fathom. Rather than call the auction people involved directly or initiating a lawsuit, Mr. Simpson decided to go with his posse and take back what was his. Flimsy excuses about a lack of response from the police since his dodge of murder charges don't hold water as he should have gone through a lawyer not the police. What this incident does illustrate in the boldest terms possible is that O.J. Simpson did kill his former wife because the thinking and feelings behind that crime ar...
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Baseball, Statistics & Disappeared Histories by Evan Palmer
2007-09-05 01:22:00
It's apparent that Barry Bonds took steroids and as a result of that there is a steady chorus from those who wish to ostrasize him and to asterisk his record. They are probably the same folks who wanted to put an asterisk beside Hank Aaron's home run record. But really if you want to scratch the surface of these records you'll find that we should putting asterisks beside all the records because there's something wrong or peculiar with all of them.Babe Ruth's home run record of 60 was set in 1927 not long after rules were introduced that resulted in a harder baseball and shorter outfields. That's one asterisk. In Babe's day, there were no brown-skinned players in the majors yet teams from the negro leagues won about half of the exhibition games they played against the white majors teams. There were also no hispanic players. In other words, many of the best players were not in Babe's major league. That's two asterisks. There also can be no doubt whatsoever that the calibre of...
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Why Iconic Cities are under Threat by Evan Palmer
2007-09-02 01:45:00
Everyone has a soft spot for certain places - the city you grew up in, the location of a particularly memorable vacation, your years at university and that sweetly familiar Alma Mater; but aside from those highly personal attachments, there are other places that seem to rise above all that; places, often cities, which merit attention from all quarters for a variety of reasons - those unique cities that are considered "iconic" and are also referred to as "world" cities or "global" cities, sometimes as "Tier 1" cities or "Alpha", "Beta" or "Gamma" cities although this article would argue that "iconic" is a category all on its own. Typically, it is a feeling that we have that a city is iconic (or vital or magical) even though the definition of "iconic" will vary and the usefulness of the term itself will be disputed. Without that feeling, most of us would not consider a given city to be iconic.What then makes for an iconic city and why can that make it a target? A key quality of an ico...
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Homeless (and Sleepless) in Toronto by Evan Palmer
2007-08-19 23:21:00
Homeless in Jakarta is a reflection of abject poverty and high-level thievery. Homeless in Toronto is a reflection of wilful neglect and high-level thievery. The main difference between "have" countries and "have not" is that there's enough left over after the elite has taken their cut to fund a sizable middle class. However, when the middle class disappears, as is happening in the USA, then the gap will close and there is no more vicious animal than one whose sustenance has been taken away.The great lie in the debate about homelessness is that they are on the streets by choice. It is obvious to even a casual observer that many homeless people have mental problems. Estimates run as high as one third of the homeless being mentally unbalanced to the degree that they are impaired. Another major issue for the homeless is drug and/or alcohol addiction. On its own, or as a result of the above, many of the homeless have physical health problems. There is risk and danger to the homeless a...
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Bets & Debts - Market Money "Phones Home" by Evan Palmer
2007-08-19 00:53:00
The despicable financiers have had their day again. Note how the bulk of the money flow is back home to the corporations and their (mainly American) home bases. So much for "act locally".Obvious obligations have been brazenly neglected: bond agencies have suddenly discovered that the ratings they gave to bond packages containing subprime mortgages were misleading, maybe even criminally erroneous; complex misunderstood derivatives funds have been allowed to operate and even grow by regulators and banks; hedge funds have been permitted to grow and expand and disrupt the market. All of the forgoing in the pursuit of obscene profits and zero oversight.What is the disguising of subprime mortgages except fraud? It is a form of money laundering where one hides bad debt in with the good, divides it up and spreads it around so it can't be found, and then turns that risky debt into AAA debt and sells it globally. It was never about spreading the risk around, it was always about hiding the ri...
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Globe & Mail's Neil Reynolds calls on birds to protect Canada by Evan Palme
2007-08-11 00:16:00
"Birds, after all, have economies, too."The United States will not have to look hard to find its slavish supporters in the journalistic corps as Neil Reynolds continues his misleading fusillades in favour of the Security & Prosperity Partnership (SPP). For a fully implemented SPP would cement a one-sided, disadvantageous relationship in favour of the US and lead to the dissolution of any Canada recognizable to its current citizens. It's clear to anyone with a dollop of sense (or not blinded by ideology) that a 98 pound chimp will enjoy few, if any, rights in the house of the 800 pound gorilla. Mr. Reynolds, although it most certainly caused him great discomfort, called on the restive spirit of John Kenneth Galbraith to support his grovelling on the part of his SPP masters. Mr. Galbraith, Reynolds asserts "never wavered in his conviction that economic globalization was an essential advance". Since Mr. Galbraith lived until he was 97 and wrote and was interviewed extensively, you co...
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"Nothing to Hide" and Torture by Evan Palmer
2007-08-10 18:28:00
Recent revelations about the rendition of Maher Arar by the CIA confirm what many people who have a modicum of knowledge about so-called "intelligence" services already know: that the various intelligence operations have more than their share of wildmen, incompetents, blowhards and cover-up artists. The frightening component of this though is that unlike others of their faltering, stumbling ilk, they can abuse secrecy and other laws to block oversight and accountability and to torment and punish alleged "threats" into silence.However, to zero in on the salient point, people like Mr. Arar shouldn't be complaining because as we well know if he has "nothing to hide" then he has "nothing to fear". The torture will exonerate him - why else would we do it unless it really worked, unless it was quick and effective? Yes, it might hurt temporarily but that would be gone and forgotten soon enough. Right? Can't seem to recall why we don't torture people ourselves though - at least not offic...
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Prisoners and The Right to Vote by Evan Palmer
2007-08-10 16:14:00
A surprising number of countries deny the right to vote to prisoners. Some, like America, make it dependent on the severity of the sentence, others like the UK apply it across the board although the UK recently lost an EU court case and must restore this right as soon as possible. The denial of voting rights is not something that typically appears in a judge's statement along with the length of incarceration. It is more like a common practice that is assumed but may come as a shock to a given prisoner who had expected to be able to cast a ballot in a federal election. In ancient Athens, losing your right to vote was a possible outcome of a conviction along with exile, death or a fine. It does highlight the fact that deprival of the right to vote has long antecedents. But then, when the "state" was a city, the reasoning behind denying this right was clearer, it was part of excluding a person from the city and the affairs of the city. Now it's less clear as exile is not an official...
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Neil Reynolds leads Globe & Mail charge into SPP oblivion by Evan Palmer
2007-08-08 17:28:00
In today's Globe & Mail another of G&M's bully boys for fascism rails against opponents of the Security & Prosperity Partnership (SPP) such as the Canadian Action Party (CAP) and the New Democratic Pary (NDP). He succinctly terms their opposition "nonsense" while less obviously and between the lines, he is also trying to categorize all opposition to the SPP as "nonsense". In a fairly short article, Mr. Reynolds neatly demonstrates most of what is wrong with columnist-driven news: unsubstantiated statements & claims, slanted news bites and facts, opinion-driven conclusions disguised as fact-based reporting. Ever so convincing, Mr. Reynolds says on more than one occasion, "it might be a good thing".He argues that the CAP (and its claims & opinions) is no good because it has very little support. The NDP is no good because some of its claims as to the real disposition of power in Canada and elsewhere are similar to CAP. And, by the way, the NDP are not in power so how can they be ...
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Stephen Harper & Michael Ignatieff no longer support Adolph Hitler by Evan
2007-08-04 18:32:00
Or the War in Iraq. Saying the equivalent of "oops" is not acceptable. For many reasons, there are long-standing rules & laws governing international relationships. Among them, Justice, fairness, the preservation of the Peace. One of the most prominent of these governance strictures is the rejection of using "might makes right", or its camouflaged little brother "pre-emptive strike", as a justification for aggression. Throughout history and continuing to this day, self-defence in its various guises has been used as a cover for military action and the thrust of a "no-one can stop us" realpolitik from the "just do it" and "bring it on" crowds. To prevent its fraudulent use, the only unassailable justification for military action is bonafide self-defence where it's an action against an aggressor who is physically threatening your actual borders. Not a future threat. Not a potential threat (if this and that and that and that... then). Not a threat to an ideal like "democracy" in a give...
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Compensation without Limits & Corporate Sellouts by Evan Palmer
2007-07-29 20:03:00
A conflict of interest occurs whenever a person, or organization, stands to profit from something which belongs, in whole or in part, to someone other than that person, or organization, but over which they are a custodian, manager, regulator or in some other position of control or enablement.Conflicts of interest are supposed to be declared and typically, one would excuse oneself from the decisions at hand. As we know, this often does not happen. Either the conflict is not known, or not admitted, or it is offered that the conflict is not important or can be set aside and not affect decision-making.The daily headlines attest to the surfeit of skewed management decisions being made in companies of all sizes but especially in larger concerns. In many cases, the reason for poor and/or biased management decisions is the lure of huge payouts. In essence, a bribe. A glaring conflict of interest."Caldwell Securities Ltd." took out a advertisement in the Globe & Mail recently attributing ...
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Caution! Genealogists at Work! by Evan Palmer
2007-07-28 19:05:00
Genealogy used to be the preserve of aristocrats, monarchists and other pretenders who sought to validate their claims to special status and, more importantly, to various lands, goods, services and loyalties. It ranked in importance with the recording of tax-related information. Ironically, nowadays, these aristocrats often complain about entitlements for the commoners.The creation of religions and tribes and nations expanded the scope of genealogy by giving people more reasons to tie themselves to various persons. These attachments waxed both good and bad depending on the ascendancy of the person, or group or ideology they represented. People wanted to be related to aristocrats in Russia until the Communistic revolution when this became a death warrant. Similarly in France before and during the French revolution. Then proletarian roots became more important. Or, as some did, a person would renounce their aristocratic ancestors and what they stood for.Some religions like Judaism an...
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The Globe & Mail's John Ibbitson speaks for the Empire by Evan Palmer
2007-07-15 03:36:00
At one point in the not too distant past, Mr. Ibbitson looked into matters pertaining to Toronto and Ontario and seemed to be a progressive voice. Nowadays, he joins the Globe & Mail's coterie of right-wing apologists, and has also become a spokesman for the Bush Regime as in "Iraq: Hang on, Mr. Bush, for all our sakes". Maybe that's considered a graduation of sorts?In this July 11th, 2007 article, Mr. Ibbitson argues that since the Iraqis are still fighting the thugs who have taken over their country, the thugs must remain lest the ignorant rabble fight amongst themselves and destroy what's left of their nation. The fact that most of the destruction has been carried out by the US is conveniently ignored.If we move this essay back in time to world-war-II Poland, we can see the specious nature of his logic. The Poles formed something called the "Home Army" which engaged in many of the same anti-occupation activities now going on in Iraq. The Germans constantly referred to this "a...
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Copyrights, Royalties & Sharing by Evan Palmer
2007-07-07 03:06:00
A way around increasingly rigid copyright protection mechanisms or overdone policing efforts is to expand on the idea that Canada has used regarding taxing blank cassettes and tapes. We can keep tabs on how often a song or album is downloaded and pay out to the artists based on that up to a maximum. This type of royalty acknowledges the new internet medium, its mobile adjuncts and the decentralization and commons philosophy while still rewarding the artists who create the works.If successful, a regime of this type would lead to reciprocal agreements in other jurisdictions up to the stipulated maximum. Thus, as an example, a specific fee on internet connectivity would pay into a fund that would be used to pay out royalities to artists per time period per jurisdiction.This compensation scheme may actually pay out more to artists than the traditional method. The other tremendous advantage of it is that it would encourage the growth of small groups and unknown artists while it reduces t...
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Having a Say in How Taxes are Spent by Evan Palmer
2007-07-05 23:40:00
There are any number of ways to make our society more democratic - lowering the voting age is one, decentralizing and broadening the ownership and control of mass media is another. But one which would dwarf them in immediate full-spectrum impact is to give the taxpayer, the actual money-out-of-the-wallet taxpayer, a choice in how tax dollars are spent. The government would still get to designate the tax-spend categories. It could recommend certain percentages. But, what a breath of fresh air if it has to be all laid out in clear terms - what is to be spent and why. Taxpayers would then be able to allocate their tax dollars according to what they want to have done and are willing to pay for. There would obviously be a default selection which would correspond to the government's recommendation. There would also be a break-out of the main spend categories and sub-categories and individuals could allocate their tax dollars as they see fit and their conscience dictates. No more subversi...
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Why is Canada in Afghanistan? by Evan Palmer
2007-07-05 04:37:00
In the simplest terms, Canada is there because the United States is there. It's a case of sticking together no matter what although this is way beyond your older brother taking the wrong turn and making you an hour late for a family function. This is a case of sticking together in the commission of a war of aggression and war crimes. So the question then becomes, why is the United States in Afghanistan ? They're there because their leadership decided on war with Afghanistan based on unproven allegations regarding an act of terrorism on US soil. The terrorism act itself is under question because it's not clear how planes crashing into the WTC could cause them to collapse the way they did. If that's the case then even if the correct perpetrators have been identified, their act of violence did not cause all, or most of, the damage and loss of life. To help prove their case, it would have been normal for the authorities to secure the crime scenes and collect and later closely examine...
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The Satisfaction Trap by Evan Palmer
2007-07-02 23:48:00
Often enough, something that we consider "good" requires dedication & effort. From this, we easily draw the conclusion that dedication & effort is part of the "goodness" or part of the path that leads to it. Further to that, as part of our generalizing imperative, we then feel, to varying degrees, that if dedication & effort (& talent & training & adversity & perseverance, etc. etc.) are not in evidence then whatever it is that we've attained or acquired or conquered is not "good".We expend so much effort, & lavish praise on those who expend it, on deciphering how things are built or how things interact that we never seem to get to the why. The why seems to be the more important objective but it's relegated to the "nice to have" category which never gets done.It's a truism that if something is hard to acquire, we value it more. If it's difficult to learn, to do, to find, to accomplish, or discover, or realize then we feel more satisfaction, joy and attachment.We...
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Ban Fireworks by Evan Palmer
2007-07-01 17:49:00
There are any number of vestiges of our past that we should stop perpetuating and the use of fireworks is one of them. It's a thrill we could do without both in terms of unnecessary cost and negative environmental impacts; fireworks are a relic from historic times smacking of aristocratic diversions and tributes to despotic monarchs.Fireworks are a subtle celebration of militarism in that they derive from the explosives used by armies and, in many cases, serve to glorify the state at nationalistic spectacles. The trappings of an unthinking patrioticism adorn most firework displays. It's an atavistic urge that we usually suppress but it makes its way into the open during these volleys of colourful aerial explosions. It's similar to firing off cannons to salute a head of state or to the awe we might feel when certain types of ordinance are exploded. But, is that a good thing? Hasn't feeding that beast led to more grief than happiness?Fireworks pollute the environment and scare & d...
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Nothing to Hide - Secrecy & Privacy by Evan Palmer
2007-06-30 20:34:00
The apparent struggle between privacy and secrecy is one of the trickest of knots to undo for a democracy. Paradoxically, as the demand and mechanisms for more secrecy (or government and corporate "privacy") increases, there is a corresponding argument and pressure to decrease personal privacy.Ultimately, all secrets come down to individuals because it's individuals who identify what's secret and what's not, individuals who record and categorize the data, individuals who must interpret and act on various data and secrets.We can classify privacy as concerned with secrets about an identifiable person or persons (usually related or associated in some way such as a family). Therefore, data which identifies a person is personal data; data which identifies a person and which is not data that would normally be available to a stranger or which can be used against that person and about which they would typically be guarded is private data, sensitive information. In this proposition, all p...
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Creating Imperial America by Evan Palmer
2007-06-27 03:51:00
When an organization is created that is based on secrecy & power and it is given the resources to become established and develop connections and expertise, there will always be a point when it realizes that it is above the law.At a certain point in its evolution, the organization gets an exemption to the law and that proceeds from being a rarity to being a commonplace. People who think they're smarter or better than other people decide that they will make the decisions and they discover that their secrets are inviolate because who will surveil the surveillors? This happens in all places throughout history because it's an integral part of an imperfect human psyche.They become solidified and toxic to democracy or any authentic power-sharing when they acquire their own sources of funding and income. They understand that there is ultimately no difference between an intelligence service and a criminal syndicate. The dirty detestable thing is that there is some valid work being done by ...
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Initiation of the "People Know" Campaign by Evan Palmer
2007-06-25 01:18:00
There are any number of crimes being committed as we speak and for every one of them, "People Know". We need people to go public about them. There are some programs like Crime Stoppers which are effective in their limited ways but they are not enough to get at the hidden rot in our society. The "People Know" campaign will. It is aimed at bigger crimes - crimes which wrap themselves in conspiracies and violence and fear. It's important to remember that even for these bigger, more organized crimes, "People Know".For example, human trafficking is going on world-wide. We think of it as only in third-world countries but, in fact, it's going on in every country and "People Know". We need a forum in which these people can speak up. Bribery and corruption are massive problems and issues. Again, "People Know". If people can be given the venue in which to make revelations, some format, these crimes against humanity & society can be exposed, contained and eventually greatly reduced.The venue...
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Suffering in all its Forms by Evan Palmer
2007-06-23 21:34:00
If we want a guiding principle, it seems that directing ourselves to the reduction and elimination of suffering will lead us eventually to a kind of paradise. It's similar to having compassion for all creatures. It's similar to "love your neighbour as yourself" or "do unto others..". However, it has an advantage in that it has more of an orientation to action. It pushes us to look at suffering and try to see its causes and remedies and then asks us to act.We'd want to state that not everything that may be construed as suffering would be under the force of this directive: for example, some learning might be considered as suffering but if the lesson is valuable and the suffering is temporary; pain, in and of itself, is not necessarily suffering if it's short-lived and it doesn't result in permanent damage. Suffering has some longevity to it, some continuity. In some instances, it carries a whiff of confusion or bewilderment. In other instances, it has a tinge of despair or futil...
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Disobeying Unlawful Orders in a War Zone by Evan Palmer
2007-06-17 02:43:00
Helmut Oberlander was initially accused of committing war crimes. Now the federal government's case against him rests on false statements on his entry application. This is one proceeding of many which points to the larger issue of following orders and the responsibilities of those issuing and those following any given order.It is important for society to give direction as to what an individual is to do when faced with orders that are unlawful. It is fine to admonish one to not execute an unlawful order but how exactly is that to be accomplished? Unless there is a straight-forward, somewhat safe, process then it will be difficult for a soldier in the field under duress to resist or to even know how to resist. There is also the issue of relativity. While we'd like to have constants, it will prove to be impossible to expect any given person to act a certain way under all circumstances. The impact of an order, its force of compulsion, depends on many factors. One factor is who is issu...
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When the Opposite Makes More Sense by Evan Palmer
2007-06-16 15:21:00
When headlines offer pronostications or couched opinions or supposedly unbiased evaluations, we have probably reached the point in the continuing deformation of society where its meaning in actuality is the opposite of what it purports.Say a given headline reads "US searches for peace in the Middle East". In today's world, we come to realize that what it really says is "US searches for control in the Middle East". Perhaps not quite the opposite but in that direction. In other cases, like Iran for example, our headline would read "US seeks negoiated solution to Iran problem" but the real headline as played out in Pentagon war-gaming rooms is "US plans for war against Iran".More headlines true and false, which do you believe: "Britain to leave Iraq" or "Britain to hide continued operations in Iraq". "Syria implicated in Hariri assassination" or "False Flag operation seeks to implicate Syria in Hariri assassination"."New US federal plan hopes to educate every child" or "New US federa...
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The Crafty Conference Board of Canada by Evan Palmer
2007-06-16 04:21:00
Anne Golden, CEO of The Conference Board of Canada , or CBoC, has managed to get her group's latest "study" quoted in all the Canadian mass media again. This time it's about Canadian mediocrity. The details are almost irrelevant because CBoC seems to only serve as a mouthpiece for the wealthy and everything it publishes is towards that end.Somehow CBoC has placed the United States fourth in their rating tucked in between socialist countries like Sweden and Germany. In fact, the seventeen nations listed are all socialist except for the US. Since CBoC is usually a propaganda arm for the US and its stealth takeover of Canada, let's focus on their fourth place showing but from a public relations pespective. CBoC couldn't have put the USA higher than fourth because that would have been a place, show or win position and it would have been unbelievable. The highest CBoC could have placed the US without undue negative comment is where they did - fourth. Wealth creation through innovation...
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A Trans-Canada Wilderness Network by Evan Palmer
2007-06-13 03:35:00
Islands can be a stifling environment as prone to developing vulnerable and overly specialized creatures as beautiful and unique ones. Islands often suffer from a deficit of resources and the stultifying effect of too little space. We have created islands for our wildlife which are as limiting and ultimately dangerous to them as any pollution or over-trapping or over-hunting. Our big predators in particular need large tracts of land upon which to roam. The loss or diminishment of the big predators leads to an over-population of their prey which generally stresses the habitat and other species. A wilderness network would also allow all species and population groups to move around and intermingle.Let's press our government to create a Trans-Canada Wilderness Network for our wildlife. This can be laid down quickly in the less populated northern areas where existing parks can be joined to form large wilderness networks. We need to make the Wilderness Trail a land, water & airway for al...
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Beyond Comprehension by Evan Palmer
2007-06-11 02:55:00
Beyond in the sense of beyond any "normal" perception and conception. For example, consider the following extraneous tidbits of knowledge:A muon lives for 2 millionths of a second and then it decays More than 50 trillion solar electron neutrinos pass through the human body every second.The Sun consumes about a 650 million tonnes of fuel (protons) per secondIt is estimated that the average human adult body contains about 10 trillion cells.In the fully mature human lung, approximately 400 million alveoli provide a gas exchange surface of 100 to 150 m2.The radius of the observable universe is about 47 billion light years.These are facts that we can only know by extending our ordinary in-the-moment wisdom through mental constructs like mathematics and ingenious fabrications like electron telescopes. So it seems to suggest that we are extravagantly unprepared to understand our world the way we are. This in turn suggests that we can only progress by advancing in the endeavours of mental ...
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Fruit Flies Have Free Will by Evan Palmer
2007-05-27 02:26:00
If there is only one ultimate source, and the Theory of Everything has been trying to posit that for many years, then everything that exists is made of that "suchness". In some cases, we may call it a substance but it is more than that. And if that source has awareness and consciousness then everything that issues from it will have awareness and consciousness. And if that source has free will and is the embodiment and enabler of free will then everything that issues from it will have "free will". In that context, the conclusion by a group of scientists studying fruit flies that they are manifesting free will is not unbelievable. In fact, it should follow that in every case where there are two or more possibilities then there is an opportunity for free will. It may be the case that even at the atomic level, we will find that the "choices" being made by the electrons and protons and other particles are not governed by purely stochastic processes.At what point would the awareness or c...
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The Free Trade Lie by Evan Palmer
2007-05-21 23:42:00
In the dogma of the marketeers, free enterprise and unencumbered trade is the elixir of prosperity and the guarantor of freedom. In reality, it is no such thing. A great debt is owed to Chalmers Johnson in clearly and unequivocally exposing this truth in his book "The Sorrows of Empire". As he points out, "... none of the world's twenty-four reasonably developed capitalist nations... got where they are today by following... globalization doctrine." (pg 262, Metropolitan Books, 2004)In fact, those countries, led by the United States, preach and pontificate to the poorer nations, telling them self-serving falsehoods while denying them the same growth and maturation techniques that they used; what Chalmers Johnson categorizes as "kicking away the ladder".Yet, "between 1790 and 1940, the United States was probably the most highly-protected economy on earth" (pg 263).Thus, for 150 years, with the multitudinous resources and advantages that the United States had, it still had to protect...
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The Urge to End History by Evan Palmer
2007-05-03 01:51:00
The urge to end history gets posited in various ways, in isolation, in volleys, as ultimate desolation, as eden remade, but its main attribute is that it will end history, in that, the state we will find ourselves, if we're alive, is one in which no appreciable change will any longer occur. Stripped of rhetoric, it's a conclusion to the human journey on this planet, a solid self-sustaining stasis. This resolution, which some fervently want, is the emergence of a national or global community where major sources of confrontation have been addressed or, more likely, negated.They are Utopians and whether that Utopia is good or bland, it will be certain and orderly. And this is not a bad thing except for the fact that Utopians with power seem to differ from Utopians without power. Utopians with power seem to be revolutionists at heart and they are the ones who will make history even when they are seeking to end it... in their favour.Most people are happy with steady, incremental progre...
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