tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79911137033984106552024-03-05T14:12:56.532+01:00Damien HollandThe musings / artistry of a west coast American.Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-21121861357602857752016-03-14T18:55:00.000+01:002016-03-14T18:55:10.572+01:00(my video collage) "Stabbing a soda bottles is dangerous"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLaGdRQlJfYkdyR3M/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaDr3PQ4ZUOUVEEBvBBsQqjzBUDXMX-tuuQOxgaHPPKOh3XJPRFIweeTw1idibzXwq7-xR9-3L7kZ8A6VIqAZ5ofsKbrg-GjSaGLE1RgJz6Q7BLpI0q5HBPK_5aKD6n4kL8FwYcBSumw/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2gQbJic3qPX1fFlB5MMjEs5NSVeBaVXFxzU9_EPmXQGtIAwuv2JK3Yv1xd_0iohR4vvNtv4gqQkFuaKl3GVAF7T2UegOv13JrCSsXvrb30e0qdoy72YM1Xuupp2pFCBaA6Jx3A_yR0I/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2gQbJic3qPX1fFlB5MMjEs5NSVeBaVXFxzU9_EPmXQGtIAwuv2JK3Yv1xd_0iohR4vvNtv4gqQkFuaKl3GVAF7T2UegOv13JrCSsXvrb30e0qdoy72YM1Xuupp2pFCBaA6Jx3A_yR0I/s200/thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I used two random video clips and a random audio clip to put this one together.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-42711084353726842852016-03-13T16:22:00.000+01:002016-03-13T16:22:19.363+01:00(favorite show of the week) "I Survived" (S05E02)<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLYlBWbVFaVTViMTA/preview" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsLQDYCiut-QCkReIMJRNLADX8QwttsM-Hd4GvuCNrE9vJmKpULi8ryN4znUh-5g-exlGTsr3F0xfJvGKrGRG_hK4XlM3sSEPxvwZaPzIhyphenhyphenb8twZ9VP6-BUROqoWSQsAesQnDUIolJLs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9aCeegkQyTMCLkBQSR67dyqkXzaS7YiEj0Sz0h4Y6Al7lRz8k5os8Anrx50td6KUNes2OauT6bxQdOeAnQzd3MKsuIVRB_U4x5y7ei75aN0l4dBWu8K4Ntro5qpGHRPs_PZIkNGcH9g/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9aCeegkQyTMCLkBQSR67dyqkXzaS7YiEj0Sz0h4Y6Al7lRz8k5os8Anrx50td6KUNes2OauT6bxQdOeAnQzd3MKsuIVRB_U4x5y7ei75aN0l4dBWu8K4Ntro5qpGHRPs_PZIkNGcH9g/s200/1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
This lady, Susan (the one you see in the thumbnail), is one of the most amazing, courageous individuals I've ever seen. She's talking about how she survived an assassination attempt. There are a few other individuals talking about their near death experiences on this show as well.Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-13013467347541814762016-03-10T20:49:00.002+01:002016-03-10T20:51:38.625+01:00"Life is But a Shadow"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLenFGREUtb29JczQ/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpOr7S9QKPAKtH3EICNoSQPIFwG4NE239ib_tpxi5ojuC3cTZYT4homkJSCnw42yHiARAu-ZUiyYlSDx83Ep1QkA8HEbtmY1bbDiQ9k2N9T2UkwpNxymdEJRlSWEo3Fd6hu5ocAuNX0o/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpOr7S9QKPAKtH3EICNoSQPIFwG4NE239ib_tpxi5ojuC3cTZYT4homkJSCnw42yHiARAu-ZUiyYlSDx83Ep1QkA8HEbtmY1bbDiQ9k2N9T2UkwpNxymdEJRlSWEo3Fd6hu5ocAuNX0o/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpOr7S9QKPAKtH3EICNoSQPIFwG4NE239ib_tpxi5ojuC3cTZYT4homkJSCnw42yHiARAu-ZUiyYlSDx83Ep1QkA8HEbtmY1bbDiQ9k2N9T2UkwpNxymdEJRlSWEo3Fd6hu5ocAuNX0o/s200/thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a>I excerpted this beautiful work of art from "Listen to Me" a 2015 documentary about actor Marlon Brando's autobiographical audio tapes which he released posthumously. This part of the film is Marlon Brando reading a quote from famous classical writer William Shakespeare's "MacBeth" where the character Macbeth says<br />
<br />
"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,<br />
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day<br />
To the last syllable of recorded time,<br />
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools<br />
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!<br />
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player<br />
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage<br />
And then is heard no more: it is a tale<br />
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,<br />
Signifying nothing." -- "Macbeth", a play Macbeth by William Shakespeare from the approx. year of 1600Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-66333384416058438472016-02-13T20:05:00.004+01:002016-02-13T20:15:36.399+01:00(my video/music collage) "I found meaning in your destruction"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLa0xtVWc5emZIbFk/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaDr3PQ4ZUOUVEEBvBBsQqjzBUDXMX-tuuQOxgaHPPKOh3XJPRFIweeTw1idibzXwq7-xR9-3L7kZ8A6VIqAZ5ofsKbrg-GjSaGLE1RgJz6Q7BLpI0q5HBPK_5aKD6n4kL8FwYcBSumw/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKhT3negzzyo9tYYeQ1ebUZ94TktJs9XykY1q1AsPmYB6SWGDzb7dqHAAKwm9Z-WNdd1GdsDtEF0Mrq4O5BRr7S7oMgzr2tKPSir1whj_ltiDxk30h8_ur6mrzzkRSC3_3ybSXxm2izo/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKhT3negzzyo9tYYeQ1ebUZ94TktJs9XykY1q1AsPmYB6SWGDzb7dqHAAKwm9Z-WNdd1GdsDtEF0Mrq4O5BRr7S7oMgzr2tKPSir1whj_ltiDxk30h8_ur6mrzzkRSC3_3ybSXxm2izo/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
A collage of videos and sounds I put together in a meaningful, intentional, and unique way.<br />
<br />
Video: "Taxi Driver" movie (1976) excerpts<br />
Song1: "Too Late for the Sky" by Jackson Browne (1974)<br />
Song2: "Damask Rose" soundtrack for the movie Blade Runner (1982)<br />
Song3: "Video Girl" by FKA Twigs (recent)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-61718470529375239652015-12-25T17:05:00.001+01:002016-08-20T15:29:03.151+02:00(my music video) "Into Dust"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLWGw2R2dHMUwxYUU/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaDr3PQ4ZUOUVEEBvBBsQqjzBUDXMX-tuuQOxgaHPPKOh3XJPRFIweeTw1idibzXwq7-xR9-3L7kZ8A6VIqAZ5ofsKbrg-GjSaGLE1RgJz6Q7BLpI0q5HBPK_5aKD6n4kL8FwYcBSumw/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaDr3PQ4ZUOUVEEBvBBsQqjzBUDXMX-tuuQOxgaHPPKOh3XJPRFIweeTw1idibzXwq7-xR9-3L7kZ8A6VIqAZ5ofsKbrg-GjSaGLE1RgJz6Q7BLpI0q5HBPK_5aKD6n4kL8FwYcBSumw/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaDr3PQ4ZUOUVEEBvBBsQqjzBUDXMX-tuuQOxgaHPPKOh3XJPRFIweeTw1idibzXwq7-xR9-3L7kZ8A6VIqAZ5ofsKbrg-GjSaGLE1RgJz6Q7BLpI0q5HBPK_5aKD6n4kL8FwYcBSumw/s200/thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a>A collage of videos and sounds I put together in a meaningful, intentional, and unique way.<br />
<br />
Music: Mazzy Star's "Into Dust" remix by John O'Callaghan + "Call Me Maybe" song slowed down 1,000 times<br />
Lyrics: Mazzy Star's "Into Dust" remix by John O'Callaghan + Xandria's "Forevermore" (the last half)<br />
Video clip source: I normally cite where they came from, and who made them, but I no longer have the info or remember.<br />
<br />
Mazzy Star "Into Dust"<br />
<br />
lyrics<br />
<br />
Around, broken in two<br />
Till your eyes shed<br />
Into dust<br />
Like two strangers<br />
Turning into dust<br />
Till my hand shook<br />
With the way I fear<br />
<br />
I could possibly be fading<br />
Or have something more to gain<br />
I could feel myself growing colder<br />
I could feel myself under your fate<br />
Under your fate<br />
<br />
Still falling<br />
Breathless and on again<br />
Inside today<br />
Beside me today<br />
<br />
Around, broken in two<br />
Till your eyes shed<br />
Into dust<br />
Like two strangers<br />
Turning into dust<br />
Till my hand shook<br />
With the way I fear<br />
<br />
I could feel my eyes turning into dust<br />
Like two strangers turning into dust<br />
I could feel my eyes turning into dust<br />
<br />
I could possibly be fading<br />
Or have something more to gain<br />
I could feel myself growing colder<br />
I could feel myself under your fate<br />
Under...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-773249162883129632015-11-01T17:50:00.000+01:002015-11-01T17:51:59.772+01:00Korn "Good God"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span id="goog_1389288333"></span><span id="goog_1389288334"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6dkZMb_1GhhLTom_iNbttuy7I22ckWREucXK7e4Hxv7CtLWN_noAXRNd2ahd9lbgZ0sBRGD5LLTWil2rKE_YpTb4W3HILrs9A67BoiUFlcjDxiTUlaws-1G0H2CHvwnK1tV7Evhf29w/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6dkZMb_1GhhLTom_iNbttuy7I22ckWREucXK7e4Hxv7CtLWN_noAXRNd2ahd9lbgZ0sBRGD5LLTWil2rKE_YpTb4W3HILrs9A67BoiUFlcjDxiTUlaws-1G0H2CHvwnK1tV7Evhf29w/s1600/1a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="80" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLV0JOZ3V6clMtbDA/preview" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
LYRICS<br />
<br />
"GoodGod"<br />
<br />
You came into my life without a single thing<br />
I gave into your ways, but you left me with nothing<br />
I've given into smiles, I've dealt with all your games<br />
I wish you're happy now, I had to let you win<br />
<br />
Why don't you get the fuck out of my face, now!!<br />
Why don't you get the fuck out of my face, now!!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
In the sea of life, you're just a minnow<br />
You live your life insecure<br />
I feel the pain of your needles<br />
As they shit into my brain<br />
<br />
I scream without a sound<br />
How could you take away everything that I was?<br />
Leave me a fuckin slave<br />
Your face that I despise<br />
Your heart inside that's gray<br />
I came today to say, you're fucked in every way<br />
<br />
[Chorus]<br />
<br />
In the sea of life, you're just a minnow<br />
You live your life insecure<br />
I feel the pain of your needles<br />
As they shit into my mind<br />
You stole my life without a sigh<br />
You sucked me dry<br />
<br />
[Chorus] Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-59036574676453340642015-10-29T21:38:00.000+01:002015-11-01T17:38:54.187+01:00Korn "Chi"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YaUpTN-A1Y4mIJCAlrMRdq9v54r7YGppVZjpV84LxFxmJpuViSwQzg9fcw5Mh4HjXEyoKkp3mo8v6y9TzAhDgCFUvxZnycOeoQN98ZYwLrY381B8X9RTZsJjQPn-LRO7HAk6cYVAJnk/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YaUpTN-A1Y4mIJCAlrMRdq9v54r7YGppVZjpV84LxFxmJpuViSwQzg9fcw5Mh4HjXEyoKkp3mo8v6y9TzAhDgCFUvxZnycOeoQN98ZYwLrY381B8X9RTZsJjQPn-LRO7HAk6cYVAJnk/s640/1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="80" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLU1NpbE1BQzFUMFE/preview" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
LYRICS (sections that I liked in bold)<br />
<br />
"Chi"<br />
<br />
<b>Pain!</b><br />
Buried so far away<br />
Enter my life of nothing<br />
<br />
Sick of the same ol' thing,<br />
so I dig a hole, bury, pain!<br />
Sick of the same ol' thing,<br />
so I dig a hole, bury, pain!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I am so high, always<br />
Burying my life so slowly<br />
<br />
[chorus]<br />
<br />
It opens my mind to feelings<br />
Can't face bottom without something<br />
<br />
[chorus]<br />
<br />
It opens my mind to feelings<br />
Can't face bottom without something<br />
<br />
[chorus]<br />
<br />
We enter in my head<br />
Feeling like I'm God<br />
With the world around me<br />
<b>Can't you feel this pain!<br />reaming through my heart!<br />screaming through my veins!<br />nothing I can kill!<br />screaming a lie! I! Am!<br />Can't you feel my eyes out<br />Can't you take my heart. . . away</b><br />
To heart<br />
Good-bye<br />
<br />
[chorus]Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-73581724112655529352015-10-27T20:22:00.000+01:002015-10-27T20:44:30.329+01:00Roxette "Listen To Your Heart"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxwkFk2fERELAgPHfpLpFG1rxy1kT9FkmQSakTGkIM6if_vYag8RzzypWU9Aklz7R3HvX5cVVNgqvJiaKRESZIcsPWocHkpQPf4a63nHE2hOAyFRpO2f63uBvzY0N7kta7y_FPnHHByc/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxwkFk2fERELAgPHfpLpFG1rxy1kT9FkmQSakTGkIM6if_vYag8RzzypWU9Aklz7R3HvX5cVVNgqvJiaKRESZIcsPWocHkpQPf4a63nHE2hOAyFRpO2f63uBvzY0N7kta7y_FPnHHByc/s320/1a.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="80" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLeXdieW5sQ0Vkc1E/preview" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
LYRICS (sections that I liked in bold)<br />
<br />
"Listen To Your Heart"<br />
<br />
I know there's something in the wake of your smile.<br />
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yea.<br />
You've built a love but that love falls apart.<br />
Your little piece of heaven turns too dark.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Listen to your heart<br />
when he's calling for you.<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
there's nothing else you can do.<br />
I don't know where you're going<br />
and I don't know why,<br />
but listen to your heart<br />
before you tell him goodbye.<br />
<br />
<b>Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile.<br />The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yea.<br />They're swept away and nothing is what it seems,<br />the feeling of belonging to your dreams.</b><br />
<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
when he's calling for you.<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
there's nothing else you can do.<br />
I don't know where you're going<br />
and I don't know why,<br />
but listen to your heart<br />
before you tell him goodbye.<br />
<br />
<b>And there are voices<br />that want to be heard.<br />So much to mention<br />but you can't find the words.<br />The scent of magic,<br />the beauty that's been<br />when love was wilder than the wind.</b><br />
<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
when he's calling for you.<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
there's nothing else you can do.<br />
I don't know where you're going<br />
and I don't know why,<br />
but listen to your heart<br />
before you tell him goodbye.<br />
<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
when he's calling for you.<br />
Listen to your heart<br />
there's nothing else you can do.<br />
I don't know where you're going<br />
and I don't know why,<br />
but listen to your heart<br />
before you tell him goodbye. Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-30470487329445828632015-10-25T00:04:00.002+02:002015-10-25T00:09:02.103+02:00Berlin "Pink and Velvet"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbl7nyihrkYNy8vhjFIfGIZCLfC4-adCdFf6eDdet-iE9rlxkrLIWPa5_7jAv4uMZa4NbOrV0v2Itpk_E1Wk9BHghxL84DVJGJs9Ajc0U-V3GF5RMDjJx2CgTvzEfJPXk_GnBtdP7ingA/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbl7nyihrkYNy8vhjFIfGIZCLfC4-adCdFf6eDdet-iE9rlxkrLIWPa5_7jAv4uMZa4NbOrV0v2Itpk_E1Wk9BHghxL84DVJGJs9Ajc0U-V3GF5RMDjJx2CgTvzEfJPXk_GnBtdP7ingA/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="80" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLZllremhVTW4xWDg/preview" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />This song poleaxes me every time.Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-89287411818887225262015-10-24T20:47:00.002+02:002015-10-24T22:49:06.428+02:00Lucie Silvas "Breathe In"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RlDbMEC-uI6PoqZKrb26O_ooaMZCEHYBqZrTj8eBEAV2MLT0afpGd8WFnLsy1ixtnpsLmpQcoE6UeLIOxvvEPmiPgjwywk5xqKou2FbVnZX4JLOzQVEE2vNNQQ-nCXijkfk8b5HoqMQ/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RlDbMEC-uI6PoqZKrb26O_ooaMZCEHYBqZrTj8eBEAV2MLT0afpGd8WFnLsy1ixtnpsLmpQcoE6UeLIOxvvEPmiPgjwywk5xqKou2FbVnZX4JLOzQVEE2vNNQQ-nCXijkfk8b5HoqMQ/s1600/1a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="80" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLRDlYeEdHZ1RCdTQ/preview" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
LUCIE SILVAS LYRICS<br />
"Breathe In"<br />
<br />
I feel like I'm dragging you down a one way street<br />
I don't know which ways up<br />
All I ask of you is to stay on your feet<br />
That should be enough<br />
If we stand around it could pass us by<br />
We could give up now, and never even try<br />
<a name='more'></a>[Chorus]<br />
To breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Like tomorrow is the day<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
It's not so long to wait<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Wipe the dust from your sweet smile<br />
An breathe in life<br />
<br />
I just want something real I can hold onto<br />
I believe its near<br />
Life's too short to never know the truth<br />
Maybe it's already hear<br />
We could throw ourselves into the fire<br />
We could give up now and never even try<br />
<br />
[Chorus]<br />
To breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Like tomorrow is the day<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
It's not so long to wait<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Wipe the dust from your sweet smile<br />
And breathe in life.<br />
<br />
[Bridge]<br />
We're chasing something we've dreamed of<br />
(is not always out of reach)<br />
It's never far away from us<br />
('cause I believe that)<br />
<br />
[Chorus]<br />
To breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Like tomorrow is the day<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
It's not so long to wait<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Wipe the dust from your sweet smile<br />
An breathe in life<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Ooh, ooh, no, yeah, yeah yeah<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
And it's not so long to wait<br />
Breathe in life and breathe out<br />
Wipe the dust from your sweet smile<br />
An breathe in life<br />
Ooh, ohh, no, oh, ooh ohh<br />
And breathe in life<br />
Ooh, oh<br />
And breathe in life. Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-8237628336250191422015-09-27T20:29:00.000+02:002015-09-27T20:29:55.748+02:00Russian drunk's friend kicks open the bathroom door and...<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLSVUyYW1RR0ZXbzQ/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZB5IvAmDrZUG_f5JqSaDUTOyTswGjFYAuTRHja13oOdUSS5EIZAj11UvE6oeTZ1Fj0MSLZp7RBYo3LKaj8h7hNY5vFEGumnPI3J4Lhyp9F9H8UT5qfUOJBQ74Gb64bxK22F-Ua7PiDp0/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fWNdP_L8GSmkqZZAdQtuGjOtw1W6HYlWLZb5YqA6BsRyiE-UOWgcACFBr0YzQufNwuiNd2plheo4Yr7_5KTA95kKMRpEYGT4-QoiVPdClZP0lw_I5qvzZNwRR17YjK7DWIZAO0O9OEU/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fWNdP_L8GSmkqZZAdQtuGjOtw1W6HYlWLZb5YqA6BsRyiE-UOWgcACFBr0YzQufNwuiNd2plheo4Yr7_5KTA95kKMRpEYGT4-QoiVPdClZP0lw_I5qvzZNwRR17YjK7DWIZAO0O9OEU/s320/1a.jpg" width="181" /></a></div>
Has to be seen to be believed. His friends hopefully helped him avoid any back injury soon after by removing him from that position.<br />
<br />
[If
you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or
click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".] Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-87400317677951695632015-09-21T19:29:00.001+02:002015-09-21T19:29:13.010+02:00Man miraculously escapes mob justice TWICE!!!<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLN2ZOVjREcmRraXM/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPl5kevTfNiH0zIet44AFiK3EogqwSMYe9rcGRnaix8fEQ34qlXPIz-2a79wZntwwukJpVlKEJacx7pExte0319OxdfqUzyj9iwwiOJ6VcghL4bEl8_ER5_bi5oZT8RRcRtztoqsrtF9I/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPl5kevTfNiH0zIet44AFiK3EogqwSMYe9rcGRnaix8fEQ34qlXPIz-2a79wZntwwukJpVlKEJacx7pExte0319OxdfqUzyj9iwwiOJ6VcghL4bEl8_ER5_bi5oZT8RRcRtztoqsrtF9I/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPl5kevTfNiH0zIet44AFiK3EogqwSMYe9rcGRnaix8fEQ34qlXPIz-2a79wZntwwukJpVlKEJacx7pExte0319OxdfqUzyj9iwwiOJ6VcghL4bEl8_ER5_bi5oZT8RRcRtztoqsrtF9I/s200/thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a>Judging by how the mob is reacting to him this guy is likely accused of rape or murder. That doesn't mean he's the one who did it, though. Incredible escape!<br />
<br />
Original uploader: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAN9EtZF6VbQDUUz6OiUxqA">http://theync.com/thekiddd</a><br />
<br />
Original video source: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXqppZv7cjM">http://theync.com/thekiddd/watch-this-guy-miraculously-escape-mob-justice-twice.htm</a>Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-32114374888533683152015-09-09T18:37:00.002+02:002015-09-09T18:37:29.070+02:00Airsoft BB guns: Kill or be killed<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLdVJJXy1iUDZtTFE/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27Rqr5hnH0z4s7rwjE5AStFNLDM5iyeh0_T4_LyYX919LmLcQzeQ3zW-GXwuMLqxGNM27tfSGOAkRSvIErnowVo_nbgxqb7QuKcCBq_frxQ56aIoPRW6gVaT2edATAQVk68aJEjkj3dc/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27Rqr5hnH0z4s7rwjE5AStFNLDM5iyeh0_T4_LyYX919LmLcQzeQ3zW-GXwuMLqxGNM27tfSGOAkRSvIErnowVo_nbgxqb7QuKcCBq_frxQ56aIoPRW6gVaT2edATAQVk68aJEjkj3dc/s200/thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Oh my god I want to be this airsoft sniper. These are guns that shoot BB
pellets -- not too painful and no permanent damage. Would love doing
this instead of paintball because I don't like how innaccurate
paintballs are.<br />
<br />
Original uploader: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAN9EtZF6VbQDUUz6OiUxqA">novritsch's channel on Youtube</a><br />
<br />
Original video source: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXqppZv7cjM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXqppZv7cjM</a>Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-48359489233635248602015-08-15T11:22:00.000+02:002015-08-24T09:54:50.534+02:00"Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace"<span style="font-size: large;">The company is conducting an experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambitions.</span><br />
<br />
By JODI KANTOR and DAVID STREITFELD<br />
<br />
AUG. 15, 2015<br />
<br />
SEATTLE — On Monday mornings, fresh recruits line up for an orientation intended to catapult them into Amazon’s singular way of working.<br />
<br />
They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.<br />
<br />
At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are “unreasonably high.” The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another’s bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage others. (The tool offers sample texts, including this: “I felt concerned about his inflexibility and openly complaining about minor tasks.”)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NDeoYyN0KfsJVgIb6lmML58bCn1l0FU1mtxA6JSc8TELlJM9xksT7fevP-BE3C3ghJNJjkZ62fahjMP0UBy2eYNFjVAaWizMxQchxnFcs_m6PIhWx2SSCRdTMPH9tB8Jx-RKZlB5uEo/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NDeoYyN0KfsJVgIb6lmML58bCn1l0FU1mtxA6JSc8TELlJM9xksT7fevP-BE3C3ghJNJjkZ62fahjMP0UBy2eYNFjVAaWizMxQchxnFcs_m6PIhWx2SSCRdTMPH9tB8Jx-RKZlB5uEo/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amazon is building new offices in Seattle and, in about three years, will have enough space for about 50,000 employees. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Many of the newcomers filing in on Mondays may not be there in a few years. The company’s winners dream up innovations that they roll out to a quarter-billion customers and accrue small fortunes in soaring stock. Losers leave or are fired in annual cullings of the staff — “purposeful Darwinism,” one former Amazon human resources director said. Some workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and other personal crises said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out rather than given time to recover.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div>
Even as the company tests delivery by drone and ways to restock toilet paper at the push of a bathroom button, it is conducting a little-known experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers, redrawing the boundaries of what is acceptable. The company, founded and still run by Jeff Bezos, rejects many of the popular management bromides that other corporations at least pay lip service to and has instead designed what many workers call an intricate machine propelling them to achieve Mr. Bezos’ ever-expanding ambitions.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“This is a company that strives to do really big, innovative, groundbreaking things, and those things aren’t easy,” said Susan Harker, Amazon’s top recruiter. “When you’re shooting for the moon, the nature of the work is really challenging. For some people it doesn’t work.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bo Olson was one of them. He lasted less than two years in a book marketing role and said that his enduring image was watching people weep in the office, a sight other workers described as well. “You walk out of a conference room and you’ll see a grown man covering his face,” he said. “Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks in part to its ability to extract the most from employees, Amazon is stronger than ever. Its swelling campus is transforming a swath of this city, a 10-million-square-foot bet that tens of thousands of new workers will be able to sell everything to everyone everywhere. Last month, it eclipsed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the country, with a market valuation of $250 billion, and Forbes deemed Mr. Bezos the fifth-wealthiest person on earth.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tens of millions of Americans know Amazon as customers, but life inside its corporate offices is largely a mystery. Secrecy is required; even low-level employees sign a lengthy confidentiality agreement. The company authorized only a handful of senior managers to talk to reporters for this article, declining requests for interviews with Mr. Bezos and his top leaders.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk.”</div>
<div>
Bo Olson, worked in books marketing</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, more than 100 current and former Amazonians — members of the leadership team, human resources executives, marketers, retail specialists and engineers who worked on projects from the Kindle to grocery delivery to the recent mobile phone launch — described how they tried to reconcile the sometimes-punishing aspects of their workplace with what many called its thrilling power to create.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In interviews, some said they thrived at Amazon precisely because it pushed them past what they thought were their limits. Many employees are motivated by “thinking big and knowing that we haven’t scratched the surface on what’s out there to invent,” said Elisabeth Rommel, a retail executive who was one of those permitted to speak.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Others who cycled in and out of the company said that what they learned in their brief stints helped their careers take off. And more than a few who fled said they later realized they had become addicted to Amazon’s way of working.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“A lot of people who work there feel this tension: It’s the greatest place I hate to work,” said John Rossman, a former executive there who published a book, “The Amazon Way.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“It would certainly be much easier and socially cohesive to just compromise and not debate, but that may lead to the wrong decision.” - Tony Galbato, Amazon vice president for human resources</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Amazon may be singular but perhaps not quite as peculiar as it claims. It has just been quicker in responding to changes that the rest of the work world is now experiencing: data that allows individual performance to be measured continuously, come-and-go relationships between employers and employees, and global competition in which empires rise and fall overnight. Amazon is in the vanguard of where technology wants to take the modern office: more nimble and more productive, but harsher and less forgiving.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Organizations are turning up the dial, pushing their teams to do more for less money, either to keep up with the competition or just stay ahead of the executioner’s blade,” said Clay Parker Jones, a consultant who helps old-line businesses become more responsive to change.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On a recent morning, as Amazon’s new hires waited to begin orientation, few of them seemed to appreciate the experiment in which they had enrolled. Only one, Keith Ketzle, a freckled Texan triathlete with an M.B.A., lit up with recognition, explaining how he left his old, lumbering company for a faster, grittier one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Conflict brings about innovation,” he said.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2KwAO5KVZ1AocdGgDm0eWz96Vx9EUSmBl3qGhkP3lc5jrPbgZB67JPhs3lwW-XvNtGgWYusHyL6HIghKSDNZ_hImTvchV9XpQ3V_ZlN9wD7cxSR43Urfe4f8sf6AQkrgVjOC0YPPIDw/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2KwAO5KVZ1AocdGgDm0eWz96Vx9EUSmBl3qGhkP3lc5jrPbgZB67JPhs3lwW-XvNtGgWYusHyL6HIghKSDNZ_hImTvchV9XpQ3V_ZlN9wD7cxSR43Urfe4f8sf6AQkrgVjOC0YPPIDw/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">New employees arrive at the campus of Amazon in Seattle. The company holds orientation sessions on Mondays. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
A PHILOSOPHY OF WORK</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Jeff Bezos turned to data-driven management very early.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He wanted his grandmother to stop smoking, he recalled in a 2010 graduation speech at Princeton. He didn’t beg or appeal to sentiment. He just did the math, calculating that every puff cost her a few minutes. “You’ve taken nine years off your life!” he told her. She burst into tears.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He was 10 at the time. Decades later, he created a technological and retail giant by relying on some of the same impulses: eagerness to tell others how to behave; an instinct for bluntness bordering on confrontation; and an overarching confidence in the power of metrics, buoyed by his experience in the early 1990s at D. E. Shaw, a financial firm that overturned Wall Street convention by using algorithms to get the most out of every trade.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
According to early executives and employees, Mr. Bezos was determined almost from the moment he founded Amazon in 1994 to resist the forces he thought sapped businesses over time — bureaucracy, profligate spending, lack of rigor. As the company grew, he wanted to codify his ideas about the workplace, some of them proudly counterintuitive, into instructions simple enough for a new worker to understand, general enough to apply to the nearly limitless number of businesses he wanted to enter and stringent enough to stave off the mediocrity he feared.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The result was the leadership principles, the articles of faith that describe the way Amazonians should act. In contrast to companies where declarations about their philosophy amount to vague platitudes, Amazon has rules that are part of its daily language and rituals, used in hiring, cited at meetings and quoted in food-truck lines at lunchtime. Some Amazonians say they teach them to their children.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The guidelines conjure an empire of elite workers (principle No. 5: “Hire and develop the best”) who hold one another to towering expectations and are liberated from the forces — red tape, office politics — that keep them from delivering their utmost. Employees are to exhibit “ownership” (No. 2), or mastery of every element of their businesses, and “dive deep,” (No. 12) or find the underlying ideas that can fix problems or identify new services before shoppers even ask for them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The workplace should be infused with transparency and precision about who is really achieving and who is not. Within Amazon, ideal employees are often described as “athletes” with endurance, speed (No. 8: “bias for action”), performance that can be measured and an ability to defy limits (No. 7: “think big”).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“You can work long, hard or smart, but at Amazon.com you can’t choose two out of three,” Mr. Bezos wrote in his 1997 letter to shareholders, when the company sold only books, and which still serves as a manifesto. He added that when he interviewed potential hires, he warned them, “It’s not easy to work here.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKzmfr_SzRIkwGzg0CvOVzFaaJAjonep-Mzuv7qXSSybr5jOVs6Vcr5taU9CYGwFCiQEToiSW0Rog6gT1z3mmEuDZVROKpIX_3jZZ0USpU-r7Q-iYovieGLm4czq_l5C_2CPGjhyphenhyphenXvg4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKzmfr_SzRIkwGzg0CvOVzFaaJAjonep-Mzuv7qXSSybr5jOVs6Vcr5taU9CYGwFCiQEToiSW0Rog6gT1z3mmEuDZVROKpIX_3jZZ0USpU-r7Q-iYovieGLm4czq_l5C_2CPGjhyphenhyphenXvg4/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amazon employees and family members attending a company picnic. Some fathers at Amazon said they considered quitting because of pressure from bosses to spend less time with their families. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Mr. Rossman, the former executive, said that Mr. Bezos was addressing a meeting in 2003 when he turned in the direction of Microsoft, across the water from Seattle, and said he didn’t want Amazon to become “a country club.” If Amazon becomes like Microsoft, “we would die,” Mr. Bezos added.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
While the Amazon campus appears similar to those of some tech giants — with its dog-friendly offices, work force that skews young and male, on-site farmers’ market and upbeat posters — the company is considered a place apart. Google and Facebook motivate employees with gyms, meals and benefits, like cash handouts for new parents, “designed to take care of the whole you,” as Google puts it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Amazon, though, offers no pretense that catering to employees is a priority. Compensation is considered competitive — successful midlevel managers can collect the equivalent of an extra salary from grants of a stock that has increased more than tenfold since 2008. But workers are expected to embrace “frugality” (No. 9), from the bare-bones desks to the cellphones and travel expenses that they often pay themselves. (No daily free food buffets or regular snack supplies, either.) The focus is on relentless striving to please customers, or “customer obsession” (No. 1), with words like “mission” used to describe lightning-quick delivery of Cocoa Krispies or selfie sticks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As the company has grown, Mr. Bezos has become more committed to his original ideas, viewing them in almost moral terms, those who have worked closely with him say. “My main job today: I work hard at helping to maintain the culture,” Mr. Bezos said last year at a conference run by Business Insider, a web publication in which he is an investor.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of all of his management notions, perhaps the most distinctive is his belief that harmony is often overvalued in the workplace — that it can stifle honest critique and encourage polite praise for flawed ideas. Instead, Amazonians are instructed to “disagree and commit” (No. 13) — to rip into colleagues’ ideas, with feedback that can be blunt to the point of painful, before lining up behind a decision.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“We always want to arrive at the right answer,” said Tony Galbato, vice president for human resources, in an email statement. “It would certainly be much easier and socially cohesive to just compromise and not debate, but that may lead to the wrong decision.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At its best, some employees said, Amazon can feel like the Bezos vision come to life, a place willing to embrace risk and strengthen ideas by stress test. Employees often say their co-workers are the sharpest, most committed colleagues they have ever met, taking to heart instructions in the leadership principles like “never settle” and “no task is beneath them.” Even relatively junior employees can make major contributions. The new delivery-by-drone project announced in 2013, for example, was coinvented by a low-level engineer named Daniel Buchmueller.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpb2zlvvJX0TRfxluuHPjJxqDLMTkAko1sY2O4B90fnDQeyGeGWUR35vcjOX0OJe5-YlEbji5a62-i8NpUaw-MVuJj-RaM1GndVUAjFY0QaeyWLMyWVO9Tr9XZ2UoZ655zMMz_q-9D0o/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpb2zlvvJX0TRfxluuHPjJxqDLMTkAko1sY2O4B90fnDQeyGeGWUR35vcjOX0OJe5-YlEbji5a62-i8NpUaw-MVuJj-RaM1GndVUAjFY0QaeyWLMyWVO9Tr9XZ2UoZ655zMMz_q-9D0o/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“I was so addicted to wanting to be successful there. For those of us who went to work there, it was like a drug that we could get self-worth from.” - Dina Vaccari worked on projects from corporate gift cards to sales of scientific supplies, 2008 to 2014.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Last August, Stephenie Landry, an operations executive, joined in discussions about how to shorten delivery times and developed an idea for rushing goods to urban customers in an hour or less. One hundred eleven days later, she was in Brooklyn directing the start of the new service, Prime Now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“A customer was able to get an Elsa doll that they could not find in all of New York City, and they had it delivered to their house in 23 minutes,” said Ms. Landry, who was authorized by the company to speak, still sounding exhilarated months later about providing “Frozen” dolls in record time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That becomes possible, she and others said, when everyone follows the dictates of the leadership principles. “We’re trying to create those moments for customers where we’re solving a really practical need,” Ms. Landry said, “in this way that feels really futuristic and magical.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
MOTIVATING THE ‘AMABOTS’</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Company veterans often say the genius of Amazon is the way it drives them to drive themselves. “If you’re a good Amazonian, you become an Amabot,” said one employee, using a term that means you have become at one with the system.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In Amazon warehouses, employees are monitored by sophisticated electronic systems to ensure they are packing enough boxes every hour. (Amazon came under fire in 2011 when workers in an eastern Pennsylvania warehouse toiled in more than 100-degree heat with ambulances waiting outside, taking away laborers as they fell. After an investigation by the local newspaper, the company installed air-conditioning.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But in its offices, Amazon uses a self-reinforcing set of management, data and psychological tools to spur its tens of thousands of white-collar employees to do more and more. “The company is running a continual performance improvement algorithm on its staff,” said Amy Michaels, a former Kindle marketer.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The process begins when Amazon’s legions of recruiters identify thousands of job prospects each year, who face extra screening by “bar raisers,” star employees and part-time interviewers charged with ensuring that only the best are hired. As the newcomers acclimate, they often feel dazzled, flattered and intimidated by how much responsibility the company puts on their shoulders and how directly Amazon links their performance to the success of their assigned projects, whether selling wine or testing the delivery of packages straight to shoppers’ car trunks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWN-sB7puYt01YPbPCLSyeFwzy6MinjRaAxpJ3yg2FdFxsRGw2LU92be0x7iPGyD1XNiRr9zyeZw85C1Vb77NpSqmB5ZlbU-cOLCijv1MnlvWjQiYsFHRv8eDMsq7pWVOAZ4IV4mup0E/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWN-sB7puYt01YPbPCLSyeFwzy6MinjRaAxpJ3yg2FdFxsRGw2LU92be0x7iPGyD1XNiRr9zyeZw85C1Vb77NpSqmB5ZlbU-cOLCijv1MnlvWjQiYsFHRv8eDMsq7pWVOAZ4IV4mup0E/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“When you have so much turnover, the risk is that people are seen as fungible. You know that tomorrow you’re going to look around and some people are going to have left the company or been managed out.” Amy Michaels worked in advertising and marketing, 2012-2014.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Every aspect of the Amazon system amplifies the others to motivate and discipline the company’s marketers, engineers and finance specialists: the leadership principles; rigorous, continuing feedback on performance; and the competition among peers who fear missing a potential problem or improvement and race to answer an email before anyone else.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some veterans interviewed said they were protected from pressures by nurturing bosses or worked in relatively slow divisions. But many others said the culture stoked their willingness to erode work-life boundaries, castigate themselves for shortcomings (being “vocally self-critical” is included in the description of the leadership principles) and try to impress a company that can often feel like an insatiable taskmaster. Even many Amazonians who have worked on Wall Street and at start-ups say the workloads at the new South Lake Union campus can be extreme: marathon conference calls on Easter Sunday and Thanksgiving, criticism from bosses for spotty Internet access on vacation, and hours spent working at home most nights or weekends.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“One time I didn’t sleep for four days straight,” said Dina Vaccari, who joined in 2008 to sell Amazon gift cards to other companies and once used her own money, without asking for approval, to pay a freelancer in India to enter data so she could get more done. “These businesses were my babies, and I did whatever I could to make them successful.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She and other workers had no shortage of career options but said they had internalized Amazon’s priorities. One ex-employee’s fiancé became so concerned about her nonstop working night after night that he would drive to the Amazon campus at 10 p.m. and dial her cellphone until she agreed to come home. When they took a vacation to Florida, she spent every day at Starbucks using the wireless connection to get work done.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“I would see people practically combust.” - Liz Pearce, worked on Amazon’s wedding registry</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“That’s when the ulcer started,” she said. (Like several other former workers, the woman requested that her name not be used because her current company does business with Amazon. Some current employees were reluctant to be identified because they were barred from speaking with reporters.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To prod employees, Amazon has a powerful lever: more data than any retail operation in history. Its perpetual flow of real-time, ultradetailed metrics allows the company to measure nearly everything its customers do: what they put in their shopping carts, but do not buy; when readers reach the “abandon point” in a Kindle book; and what they will stream based on previous purchases. It can also tell when engineers are not building pages that load quickly enough, or when a vendor manager does not have enough gardening gloves in stock.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Data creates a lot of clarity around decision-making,” said Sean Boyle, who runs the finance division of Amazon Web Services and was permitted by the company to speak. “Data is incredibly liberating.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Amazon employees are held accountable for a staggering array of metrics, a process that unfolds in what can be anxiety-provoking sessions called business reviews, held weekly or monthly among various teams. A day or two before the meetings, employees receive printouts, sometimes up to 50 or 60 pages long, several workers said. At the reviews, employees are cold-called and pop-quizzed on any one of those thousands of numbers.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Explanations like “we’re not totally sure” or “I’ll get back to you” are not acceptable, many employees said. Some managers sometimes dismissed such responses as “stupid” or told workers to “just stop it.” The toughest questions are often about getting to the bottom of “cold pricklies,” or email notifications that inform shoppers that their goods won’t arrive when promised — the opposite of the “warm fuzzy” sensation of consumer satisfaction.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The sessions crowd out other work, many workers complain. But they also say that is part of the point: The meetings force them to absorb the metrics of their business, their minds swimming with details.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFU_lEXZJxEqfQ0tRXkoejUbsBPMBD4jDc6k3Q3YQrNEmWDZVRdkJ-pGSRCYu616HSskuNDL7tTyuI6qTH-dxmaNaYsV3rX7B8bn5aFoxiY-B9bNUlBWcUSiwrYJRtx2psrY7CMXYkSo/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFU_lEXZJxEqfQ0tRXkoejUbsBPMBD4jDc6k3Q3YQrNEmWDZVRdkJ-pGSRCYu616HSskuNDL7tTyuI6qTH-dxmaNaYsV3rX7B8bn5aFoxiY-B9bNUlBWcUSiwrYJRtx2psrY7CMXYkSo/s320/6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“</span><span style="font-size: small;">There’s no reward for not speaking up. ‘Good backbone’ is a compliment. It’s a very seductive quality about the organization because people want to contribute.</span><span style="font-size: small;">”</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Stephenie Landry has worked on projects from grocery delivery to sales of books and baby gear since 2004.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
“Once you know something isn’t as good as it could be, why wouldn’t you want to fix it?” said Julie Todaro, who led some of Amazon’s largest retail categories.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Employees talk of feeling how their work is never done or good enough. One Amazon building complex is named Day 1, a reminder from Mr. Bezos that it is only the beginning of a new era of commerce, with much more to accomplish.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2012, Chris Brucia, who was working on a new fashion sale site, received a punishing performance review from his boss, a half-hour lecture on every goal he had not fulfilled and every skill he had not yet mastered. Mr. Brucia silently absorbed the criticism, fearing he was about to be managed out, wondering how he would tell his wife.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Congratulations, you’re being promoted,” his boss finished, leaning in for a hug that Mr. Brucia said he was too shocked to return.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Noelle Barnes, who worked in marketing for Amazon for nine years, repeated a saying around campus: “Amazon is where overachievers go to feel bad about themselves.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A RUNNING COMPETITION</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2013, Elizabeth Willet, a former Army captain who served in Iraq, joined Amazon to manage housewares vendors and was thrilled to find that a large company could feel so energetic and entrepreneurial. After she had a child, she arranged with her boss to be in the office from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day, pick up her baby and often return to her laptop later. Her boss assured her things were going well, but her colleagues, who did not see how early she arrived, sent him negative feedback accusing her of leaving too soon.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“I can’t stand here and defend you if your peers are saying you’re not doing your work,” she says he told her. She left the company after a little more than a year.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ms. Willet’s co-workers strafed her through the Anytime Feedback Tool, the widget in the company directory that allows employees to send praise or criticism about colleagues to management. (While bosses know who sends the comments, their identities are not typically shared with the subjects of the remarks.) Because team members are ranked, and those at the bottom eliminated every year, it is in everyone’s interest to outperform everyone else.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Craig Berman, an Amazon spokesman, said the tool was just another way to provide feedback, like sending an email or walking into a manager’s office. Most comments, he said, are positive.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, many workers called it a river of intrigue and scheming. They described making quiet pacts with colleagues to bury the same person at once, or to praise one another lavishly. Many others, along with Ms. Willet, described feeling sabotaged by negative comments from unidentified colleagues with whom they could not argue. In some cases, the criticism was copied directly into their performance reviews — a move that Amy Michaels, the former Kindle manager, said that colleagues called “the full paste.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Soon the tool, or something close, may be found in many more offices. Workday, a human resources software company, makes a similar product called Collaborative Anytime Feedback that promises to turn the annual performance review into a daily event. One of the early backers of Workday was Jeff Bezos, in one of his many investments. (He also owns The Washington Post.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The rivalries at Amazon extend beyond behind-the-back comments. Employees say that the Bezos ideal, a meritocracy in which people and ideas compete and the best win, where co-workers challenge one another “even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting,” as the leadership principles note, has turned into a world of frequent combat.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMUEWTdISZhz43k3zH0CxeMXgrVJ17QKTc6OLjb_4yvrAs29-pXEIwaCG3iVZ-b9Grkaf9rDo4QLKVOkI1JSDqGKPACMtEfIpjY3yFhHRozn7o1q_hu_ZP3HU1ckZ0-pI2pKHPmw0aGk/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMUEWTdISZhz43k3zH0CxeMXgrVJ17QKTc6OLjb_4yvrAs29-pXEIwaCG3iVZ-b9Grkaf9rDo4QLKVOkI1JSDqGKPACMtEfIpjY3yFhHRozn7o1q_hu_ZP3HU1ckZ0-pI2pKHPmw0aGk/s320/7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“<span style="font-size: small;">You can feel comfortable that if there’s a flaw in your plan someone will tell you to your face.” David Loftesness worked as a developer and manager on Amazon’s internal search capabilities, 2003-2006.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Resources are sometimes hoarded. That includes promising job candidates, who are especially precious at a company with a high number of open positions. To get new team members, one veteran said, sometimes “you drown someone in the deep end of the pool,” then take his or her subordinates. Ideas are critiqued so harshly in meetings at times that some workers fear speaking up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
David Loftesness, a senior developer, said he admired the customer focus but could not tolerate the hostile language used in many meetings, a comment echoed by many others.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For years, he and his team devoted themselves to improving the search capabilities of Amazon’s website — only to discover that Mr. Bezos had greenlighted a secret competing effort to build an alternate technology. “I’m not going to be the kind of person who can work in this environment,” he said he concluded. He went on to become a director of engineering at Twitter.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Each year, the internal competition culminates at an extended semi-open tournament called an Organization Level Review, where managers debate subordinates’ rankings, assigning and reassigning names to boxes in a matrix projected on the wall. In recent years, other large companies, including Microsoft, General Electric and Accenture Consulting, have dropped the practice — often called stack ranking, or “rank and yank” — in part because it can force managers to get rid of valuable talent just to meet quotas.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The review meeting starts with a discussion of the lower-level employees, whose performance is debated in front of higher-level managers. As the hours pass, successive rounds of managers leave the room, knowing that those who remain will determine their fates.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Preparing is like getting ready for a court case, many supervisors say: To avoid losing good members of their teams — which could spell doom — they must come armed with paper trails to defend the wrongfully accused and incriminate members of competing groups. Or they adopt a strategy of choosing sacrificial lambs to protect more essential players. “You learn how to diplomatically throw people under the bus,” said a marketer who spent six years in the retail division. “It’s a horrible feeling.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy1rRqOvxj5uM96H7gKal99SI7HS3NpLfJSFxMX7GJlEH5Ft6OgaiMdmwjt57DT8c9E96WeF7Eust6d7pZ4t6UdoXuicqJsQalb-KeX6CepDn-wk_zDcqYfbQxKmZf2A_Vcs76asxPOKk/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy1rRqOvxj5uM96H7gKal99SI7HS3NpLfJSFxMX7GJlEH5Ft6OgaiMdmwjt57DT8c9E96WeF7Eust6d7pZ4t6UdoXuicqJsQalb-KeX6CepDn-wk_zDcqYfbQxKmZf2A_Vcs76asxPOKk/s400/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amazon employees on a lunch break. Many employees say they spend hours working at home most nights or on weekends. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Mr. Galbato, the human resources executive, explained the company’s reasoning for the annual staff paring. “We hire a lot of great people,” he said in an email, “but we don’t always get it right.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Dick Finnegan, a consultant who advises companies on how to retain employees, warns of the costs of mandatory cuts. “If you can build an organization with zero deadwood, why wouldn’t you do it?” he asked. “But I don’t know how sustainable it is. You’d have to have a never-ending two-mile line around the block of very qualified people who want to work for you.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Many women at Amazon attribute its gender gap — unlike Facebook, Google or Walmart, it does not currently have a single woman on its top leadership team — to its competition-and-elimination system. Several former high-level female executives, and other women participating in a recent internal Amazon online discussion that was shared with The New York Times, said they believed that some of the leadership principles worked to their disadvantage. They said they could lose out in promotions because of intangible criteria like “earn trust” (principle No. 10) or the emphasis on disagreeing with colleagues. Being too forceful, they said, can be particularly hazardous for women in the workplace.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Motherhood can also be a liability. Michelle Williamson, a 41-year-old parent of three who helped build Amazon’s restaurant supply business, said her boss, Shahrul Ladue, had told her that raising children would most likely prevent her from success at a higher level because of the long hours required. Mr. Ladue, who confirmed her account, said that Ms. Williamson had been directly competing with younger colleagues with fewer commitments, so he suggested she find a less demanding job at Amazon. (Both he and Ms. Williamson left the company.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He added that he usually worked 85 or more hours a week and rarely took a vacation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
WHEN ‘ALL’ ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Molly Jay, an early member of the Kindle team, said she received high ratings for years. But when she began traveling to care for her father, who was suffering from cancer, and cut back working on nights and weekends, her status changed. She was blocked from transferring to a less pressure-filled job, she said, and her boss told her she was “a problem.” As her father was dying, she took unpaid leave to care for him and never returned to Amazon.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“When you’re not able to give your absolute all, 80 hours a week, they see it as a major weakness,” she said.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A woman who had thyroid cancer was given a low performance rating after she returned from treatment. She says her manager explained that while she was out, her peers were accomplishing a great deal. Another employee who miscarried twins left for a business trip the day after she had surgery. “I’m sorry, the work is still going to need to get done,” she said her boss told her. “From where you are in life, trying to start a family, I don’t know if this is the right place for you.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A woman who had breast cancer was told that she was put on a “performance improvement plan” — Amazon code for “you’re in danger of being fired” — because “difficulties” in her “personal life” had interfered with fulfilling her work goals. Their accounts echoed others from workers who had suffered health crises and felt they had also been judged harshly instead of being given time to recover.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A former human resources executive said she was required to put a woman who had recently returned after undergoing serious surgery, and another who had just had a stillborn child, on performance improvement plans, accounts that were corroborated by a co-worker still at Amazon. “What kind of company do we want to be?” the executive recalled asking her bosses.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The mother of the stillborn child soon left Amazon. “I had just experienced the most devastating event in my life,” the woman recalled via email, only to be told her performance would be monitored “to make sure my focus stayed on my job.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoY8CSJy8BgzAdUtK3bq4NDAazpLtmTX9e_jNz56NFPOaN5qZamJjNAi_bj-jmvNKnYe2LVJTm2BbKzbtuJpJmQ7yz8T4YcVRCetJtm9Fko1VhGov9PyjRkWVjZ6eChXiUzCRWfP-t6SQ/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoY8CSJy8BgzAdUtK3bq4NDAazpLtmTX9e_jNz56NFPOaN5qZamJjNAi_bj-jmvNKnYe2LVJTm2BbKzbtuJpJmQ7yz8T4YcVRCetJtm9Fko1VhGov9PyjRkWVjZ6eChXiUzCRWfP-t6SQ/s320/9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“The joke in the office was that when it came to work/life balance, work came first, life came second, and trying to find the balance came last.” - Jason Merkoski worked on projects including Kindle and the Fire TV device. Employed at Amazon 2006 to 2010, then again in 2014.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Mr. Berman, the spokesman, said such responses to employees’ crises were “not our policy or practice.” He added, “If we were to become aware of anything like that, we would take swift action to correct it.” Amazon also made Ms. Harker, the top recruiter, available to describe the leadership team’s strong support over the last two years as her husband battled a rare cancer. “It took my breath away,” she said.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Several employment lawyers in the Seattle area said they got regular calls from Amazon workers complaining of unfair treatment, including those who said they had been pushed out for “not being sufficiently devoted to the company,” said Michael Subit. But that is not a basis for a suit by itself, he said. “Unfairness is not illegal,” echoed Sara Amies, another lawyer. Without clear evidence of discrimination, it is difficult to win a suit based on a negative evaluation, she said.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For all of the employees who are edged out, many others flee, exhausted or unwilling to further endure the hardships for the cause of delivering swim goggles and rolls of Scotch tape to customers just a little quicker.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Jason Merkoski, 42, an engineer, worked on the team developing the first Kindle e-reader and served as a technology evangelist for Amazon, traveling the world to learn how people used the technology so it could be improved. He left Amazon in 2010 and then returned briefly in 2014.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“The sheer number of innovations means things go wrong, you need to rectify, and then explain, and heaven help if you got an email from Jeff,” he said. “It’s as if you’ve got the C.E.O. of the company in bed with you at 3 a.m. breathing down your neck.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A STREAM OF DEPARTURES</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Amazon retains new workers in part by requiring them to repay a part of their signing bonus if they leave within a year, and a portion of their hefty relocation fees if they leave within two years. Several fathers said they left or were considering quitting because of pressure from bosses or peers to spend less time with their families. (Many tech companies are racing to top one another’s family leave policies — Netflix just began offering up to a year of paid parental leave. Amazon, though, offers no paid paternity leave.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In interviews, 40-year-old men were convinced Amazon would replace them with 30-year-olds who could put in more hours, and 30-year-olds were sure that the company preferred to hire 20-somethings who would outwork them. After Max Shipley, a father of two young children, left this spring, he wondered if Amazon would “bring in college kids who have fewer commitments, who are single, who have more time to focus on work.” Mr. Shipley is 25.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Amazon insists its reputation for high attrition is misleading. A 2013 survey by PayScale, a salary analysis firm, put the median employee tenure at one year, among the briefest in the Fortune 500. Amazon officials insisted tenure was low because hiring was so robust, adding that only 15 percent of employees had been at the company more than five years. Turnover is consistent with others in the technology industry, they said, but declined to disclose any data.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLZ7BvjuZmgjJhCKf2zbI7Jlpa7Lg03xamZgCHZxObLdIm609MMwocp8nwoEk__aQUTJOdksuptw6gFBOSfCxUm8ZgnNpHLrm5oniFRGWxaIgohWkvyGWtLzT-x3_xo3sTclDh3HqswE/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLZ7BvjuZmgjJhCKf2zbI7Jlpa7Lg03xamZgCHZxObLdIm609MMwocp8nwoEk__aQUTJOdksuptw6gFBOSfCxUm8ZgnNpHLrm5oniFRGWxaIgohWkvyGWtLzT-x3_xo3sTclDh3HqswE/s320/10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Working at Amazon can be a bit of an acquired taste, because everyone has a different need for positive reinforcement. It was hard to feel like the work we were doing was satisfactory. There are not a lot of people that last even as long as I stayed.” Chris Brucia worked at Amazon from 2005-2012, on projects from software sales to launching a new flash-sale site.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Employees, human resources executives and recruiters describe a steady exodus. “The pattern of burn and churn at Amazon, resulting in a disproportionate number of candidates from Amazon showing at our doorstep, is clear and consistent,” Nimrod Hoofien, a director of engineering at Facebook and an Amazon veteran, said in a recent Facebook post.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Those departures are not a failure of the system, many current and former employees say, but rather the logical conclusion: mass intake of new workers, who help the Amazon machine spin and then wear out, leaving the most committed Amazonians to survive.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Purposeful Darwinism,” Robin Andrulevich, a former top Amazon human resources executive who helped draft the Leadership Principles, posted in reply to Mr. Hoofien’s comment. “They never could have done what they’ve accomplished without that,” she said in an interview, referring to Amazon’s cycle of constantly hiring employees, driving them and cutting them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Amazon is O.K. with moving through a lot of people to identify and retain superstars,” said Vijay Ravindran, who worked at the retailer for seven years, the last two as the manager overseeing the checkout technology. “They keep the stars by offering a combination of incredible opportunities and incredible compensation. It’s like panning for gold.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The employees who stream from the Amazon exits are highly desirable because of their work ethic, local recruiters say. In recent years, companies like Facebook have opened large Seattle offices, and they benefit from the Amazon outflow.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Recruiters, though, also say that other businesses are sometimes cautious about bringing in Amazon workers, because they have been trained to be so combative. The derisive local nickname for Amazon employees is “Amholes” — pugnacious and work-obsessed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Call them what you will, their ranks are rapidly increasing. Amazon is finishing a 37-floor office tower near its South Lake Union campus and building another tower next to it. It plans a third next to that and has space for two more high-rises. By the time the dust settles in three years, Amazon will have enough space for 50,000 employees or so, more than triple what it had as recently as 2013.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Those new workers will strive to make Amazon the first trillion-dollar retailer, in the hope that just about everyone will be watching Amazon movies and playing Amazon games on Amazon tablets while they tell their Amazon Echo communications device that they need an Amazon-approved plumber and new lawn chairs, and throw in some Amazon potato chips as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Maybe it will happen. Liz Pearce spent two years at Amazon, managing projects like its wedding registry. “The pressure to deliver far surpasses any other metric,” she said. “I would see people practically combust.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But just as Jeff Bezos was able to see the future of e-commerce before anyone else, she added, he was able to envision a new kind of workplace: fluid but tough, with employees staying only a short time and employers demanding the maximum.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Amazon is driven by data,” said Ms. Pearce, who now runs her own Seattle software company, which is well stocked with ex-Amazonians. “It will only change if the data says it must — when the entire way of hiring and working and firing stops making economic sense.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
The retailer is already showing some strain from its rapid growth. Even for entry-level jobs, it is hiring on the East Coast, and many employees are required to hand over all their contacts to company recruiters at “LinkedIn” parties. In Seattle alone, more than 4,500 jobs are open, including one for an analyst specializing in “high-volume hiring.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some companies, faced with such an overwhelming need for new bodies, might scale back their ambitions or soften their message.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Not Amazon. In a recent recruiting video, one young woman warns: “You either fit here or you don’t. You love it or you don’t. There is no middle ground.”</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Source: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html</a></div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-20028355809015462152015-08-09T21:30:00.000+02:002015-08-09T21:30:13.683+02:00(my music video) "To Those Who Feel and Understand Rain"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLWGRoYU5aTGNyY28/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoI4SvgpLPc_37FDziYu6zz4jlWkgvGNp_Ou8RvMG_AMuGBReTyZKtSU6Iq8kKhLg-saILXjB4mbajyzOijQN15oaZafff2P5QOpW3JjfaiuROvrWWnt2OmcAnWcNX9CKYStvH07xAdK4/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTklC987YtoMirxoq34hwjgNDnYdKk3ld9Y_IqDyxIRMTvRMEE5ptcg5nllWJ9LjuL9JxbH3X8hz3ttbU8X7ptd4qrUECJD5iMizZ_zcmnj6CoJ_c6aQdzP7faDpCyw_YvtC1akxzEPiA/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTklC987YtoMirxoq34hwjgNDnYdKk3ld9Y_IqDyxIRMTvRMEE5ptcg5nllWJ9LjuL9JxbH3X8hz3ttbU8X7ptd4qrUECJD5iMizZ_zcmnj6CoJ_c6aQdzP7faDpCyw_YvtC1akxzEPiA/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The song "A Thousand Letters" by Xandria + a video compilation by someone named Emeric Le Bars on Youtube.<br />
<br />
[If
you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or
click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".]<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-12225962337928688962015-08-05T21:11:00.000+02:002015-08-05T21:11:10.547+02:00"A Day in the Life of Jack the Fox"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLVkh1V3ppWF83bTQ/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2AlprRuqsUI36QT6DouECOVwJGnITqmdh4Lfjsjqm_Z8N382Q7UU_y5O4crTdokARZrx4czoo2PB4zZkMshDku8ggt9oe8VxmqwcHR0QQjmDtD-5um24u0LJtgCB1KDoAV075PEjGqY/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2AlprRuqsUI36QT6DouECOVwJGnITqmdh4Lfjsjqm_Z8N382Q7UU_y5O4crTdokARZrx4czoo2PB4zZkMshDku8ggt9oe8VxmqwcHR0QQjmDtD-5um24u0LJtgCB1KDoAV075PEjGqY/s200/1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
There's not a lot of info on Google about this guy and his fox. I'm sure if you take your time you'll find more info, though. I think this is a good one-time upload to add to my video archives for your pleasure / perusal.<br />
<br />
Original Source: <a href="https://vimeo.com/6759993">https://vimeo.com/6759993</a> by Andy Langley / Ipscreativemedia.com (2000)Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-84743728504875299712015-07-29T22:28:00.005+02:002015-07-29T22:32:02.969+02:00(my music video) "Forevermore"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLQ3NrNFhTZVc2ekU/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6ytS36xDWQzsGX4LKgv0AgMdfdpWU0EJL5q30eqkckVUQRJINYbOVK5Wuc6utzoAmc0XCI9k_3bVeYyp2zeied3Xa7Klfz1L4dwrbC3DgydfMQ29fjhFAYWVGvel8hfOpChCcebr22k/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6ytS36xDWQzsGX4LKgv0AgMdfdpWU0EJL5q30eqkckVUQRJINYbOVK5Wuc6utzoAmc0XCI9k_3bVeYyp2zeied3Xa7Klfz1L4dwrbC3DgydfMQ29fjhFAYWVGvel8hfOpChCcebr22k/s200/thumbnail.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The song "Forevermore" by Xandria + a video compilation by someone named Sieswell under the file name "The World is Beautiful (Timelapse & Hyperlapse)".<br />
<br />
[If
you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or
click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".]<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-36195667614555045982015-07-25T18:00:00.004+02:002015-07-25T18:00:35.400+02:00(my music video) "Carefree Highway"<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLSHhPVE9teDFrYWc/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGl2ln2pHhqYcln79fYKIm689QlzT8xsZg_2y2y8zmrXg5FQOsDjAA0_44N4uBUgeWqKecDjcfbp0NC8Q_Kp-5_UnTHVaaxI5Bt9zG9bYPzawpFr0n0Wuswew7lKudJpBjmAPFseyKyPs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGl2ln2pHhqYcln79fYKIm689QlzT8xsZg_2y2y8zmrXg5FQOsDjAA0_44N4uBUgeWqKecDjcfbp0NC8Q_Kp-5_UnTHVaaxI5Bt9zG9bYPzawpFr0n0Wuswew7lKudJpBjmAPFseyKyPs/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
An old 1970s song called "Carefree Highway" by Gordon Lightfoot + my favorite car crashes from Russia.<br />
<br />
[If
you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or
click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".]<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-37157182540052765812015-07-24T19:37:00.002+02:002015-07-24T19:39:00.328+02:00 The Terror Strategist: Secret Files Reveal the Structure of Islamic State<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1YqD_x8505iN7xpf7DoC6Lm9gV_x8c5GQu_WWQ47LWGyWMXpQzX-jTxZ1keNP049GajHyFCavdx_0MJjQmulk0inCGhRl0SzNFI6bA3IEsE0KR-iqoXmHtf7C_tCUmw2Ipmi1dh26jE/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ1YqD_x8505iN7xpf7DoC6Lm9gV_x8c5GQu_WWQ47LWGyWMXpQzX-jTxZ1keNP049GajHyFCavdx_0MJjQmulk0inCGhRl0SzNFI6bA3IEsE0KR-iqoXmHtf7C_tCUmw2Ipmi1dh26jE/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
By Christoph Reuter</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Aloof. Polite. Cajoling. Extremely attentive. Restrained. Dishonest. Inscrutable. Malicious. The rebels from northern Syria, remembering encounters with him months later, recall completely different facets of the man. But they agree on one thing: "We never knew exactly who we were sitting across from."</div>
<br />
In fact, not even those who shot and killed him after a brief firefight in the town of Tal Rifaat on a January morning in 2014 knew the true identity of the tall man in his late fifties. They were unaware that they had killed the strategic head of the group calling itself "Islamic State" (IS). The fact that this could have happened at all was the result of a rare but fatal miscalculation by the brilliant planner. The local rebels placed the body into a refrigerator, in which they intended to bury him. Only later, when they realized how important the man was, did they lift his body out again. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOozjQ2rKqiKVFff6hV8Fr6UkV5YWS00b-AcYKkbdMOF9-s1ar3srks7SKxZhHdDR_LoDcEUVJUELEdaLzumSrPdk5z6dJ9rYnFDSR6s6YMCukWAEYL8W6yJYYqrHAFc_9lQXwerurE0/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOozjQ2rKqiKVFff6hV8Fr6UkV5YWS00b-AcYKkbdMOF9-s1ar3srks7SKxZhHdDR_LoDcEUVJUELEdaLzumSrPdk5z6dJ9rYnFDSR6s6YMCukWAEYL8W6yJYYqrHAFc_9lQXwerurE0/s1600/8.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former Iraqi Colonel Intelligence Officer <br />
Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi <br />
aka Haji Bakr. The man who helped <br />
Isis take over different cities in Iraq.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi was the real name of the Iraqi, whose bony features were softened by a white beard. But no one knew him by that name. Even his best-known pseudonym, Haji Bakr, wasn't widely known. But that was precisely part of the plan. The former colonel in the intelligence service of Saddam Hussein's air defense force had been secretly pulling the strings at IS for years. Former members of the group had repeatedly mentioned him as one of its leading figures. Still, it was never clear what exactly his role was.<br />
<br />
But when the architect of the Islamic State died, he left something behind that he had intended to keep strictly confidential: the blueprint for this state. It is a folder full of handwritten organizational charts, lists and schedules, which describe how a country can be gradually subjugated. SPIEGEL has gained exclusive access to the 31 pages, some consisting of several pages pasted together. They reveal a multilayered composition and directives for action, some already tested and others newly devised for the anarchical situation in Syria's rebel-held territories. In a sense, the documents are the source code of the most successful terrorist army in recent history.<br />
<br />
Until now, much of the information about IS has come from fighters who had defected and data sets from the IS internal administration seized in Baghdad. But none of this offered an explanation for the group's meteoric rise to prominence, before air strikes in the late summer of 2014 put a stop to its triumphal march.<br />
<br />
For the first time, the Haji Bakr documents now make it possible to reach conclusions on how the IS leadership is organized and what role former officials in the government of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein play in it. Above all, however, they show how the takeover in northern Syria was planned, making the group's later advances into Iraq possible in the first place. In addition, months of research undertaken by SPIEGEL in Syria, as well as other newly discovered records, exclusive to SPIEGEL, show that Haji Bakr's instructions were carried out meticulously.<br />
<br />
Bakr's documents were long hidden in a tiny addition to a house in embattled northern Syria. Reports of their existence were first made by an eyewitness who had seen them in Haji Bakr's house shortly after his death. In April 2014, a single page from the file was smuggled to Turkey, where SPIEGEL was able to examine it for the first time. It only became possible to reach Tal Rifaat to evaluate the entire set of handwritten papers in November 2014.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-HgLXGk54YhyphenhyphenHD8D7A2XdJD_EudJc5qp6cQrAmIgG4i1_57APJjMzAXNSpyV4Zg4BF7vfRPnD9WI7_3PS57tGHVjH6jF8BtreC6EgBkOg88oYMG2QnToRniYQhZrWoYOx9rhhJNYA9o/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-HgLXGk54YhyphenhyphenHD8D7A2XdJD_EudJc5qp6cQrAmIgG4i1_57APJjMzAXNSpyV4Zg4BF7vfRPnD9WI7_3PS57tGHVjH6jF8BtreC6EgBkOg88oYMG2QnToRniYQhZrWoYOx9rhhJNYA9o/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This document is Haji Bakr's sketch for the possible structure of the Islamic State administration.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
"Our greatest concern was that these plans could fall into the wrong hands and would never have become known," said the man who has been storing Haji Bakr's notes after pulling them out from under a tall stack of boxes and blankets. The man, fearing the IS death squads, wishes to remain anonymous.</div>
<div>
The Master Plan</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The story of this collection of documents begins at a time when few had yet heard of the "Islamic State." When Iraqi national Haji Bakr traveled to Syria as part of a tiny advance party in late 2012, he had a seemingly absurd plan: IS would capture as much territory as possible in Syria. Then, using Syria as a beachhead, it would invade Iraq.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bakr took up residence in an inconspicuous house in Tal Rifaat, north of Aleppo. The town was a good choice. In the 1980s, many of its residents had gone to work in the Gulf nations, especially Saudi Arabia. When they returned, some brought along radical convictions and contacts. In 2013, Tal Rifaat would become IS' stronghold in Aleppo Province, with hundreds of fighters stationed there.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was there that the "Lord of the Shadows," as some called him, sketched out the structure of the Islamic State, all the way down to the local level, compiled lists relating to the gradual infiltration of villages and determined who would oversee whom. Using a ballpoint pen, he drew the chains of command in the security apparatus on stationery. Though presumably a coincidence, the stationery was from the Syrian Defense Ministry and bore the letterhead of the department in charge of accommodations and furniture.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What Bakr put on paper, page by page, with carefully outlined boxes for individual responsibilities, was nothing less than a blueprint for a takeover. It was not a manifesto of faith, but a technically precise plan for an "Islamic Intelligence State" -- a caliphate run by an organization that resembled East Germany's notorious Stasi domestic intelligence agency.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVpf2-fyeTQD0JWE6RbctE9hWq8u3IfDLMsguKijIidFIkuKWWejo4K0rOx_vJtZzWs711SZIYdvC4pe1dJ8oOwDr-vCQRoz30Ty4X-54HtlA_dQURrlIJjxRnlIZx1XXRNgrMq2b850/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVpf2-fyeTQD0JWE6RbctE9hWq8u3IfDLMsguKijIidFIkuKWWejo4K0rOx_vJtZzWs711SZIYdvC4pe1dJ8oOwDr-vCQRoz30Ty4X-54HtlA_dQURrlIJjxRnlIZx1XXRNgrMq2b850/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graphic: A digital rendering of Haji Bakr's Islamic State organigram.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
This blueprint was implemented with astonishing accuracy in the ensuing months. The plan would always begin with the same detail: The group recruited followers under the pretense of opening a Dawah office, an Islamic missionary center. Of those who came to listen to lectures and attend courses on Islamic life, one or two men were selected and instructed to spy on their village and obtain a wide range of information. To that end, Haji Bakr compiled lists such as the following:</div>
<div>
List the powerful families.</div>
<div>
Name the powerful individuals in these families.</div>
<div>
Find out their sources of income.</div>
<div>
Name names and the sizes of (rebel) brigades in the village.</div>
<div>
Find out the names of their leaders, who controls the brigades and their political orientation.</div>
<div>
Find out their illegal activities (according to Sharia law), which could be used to blackmail them if necessary.</div>
<div>
The spies were told to note such details as whether someone was a criminal or a homosexual, or was involved in a secret affair, so as to have ammunition for blackmailing later. "We will appoint the smartest ones as Sharia sheiks," Bakr had noted. "We will train them for a while and then dispatch them." As a postscript, he had added that several "brothers" would be selected in each town to marry the daughters of the most influential families, in order to "ensure penetration of these families without their knowledge."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The spies were to find out as much as possible about the target towns: Who lived there, who was in charge, which families were religious, which Islamic school of religious jurisprudence they belonged to, how many mosques there were, who the imam was, how many wives and children he had and how old they were. Other details included what the imam's sermons were like, whether he was more open to the Sufi, or mystical variant of Islam, whether he sided with the opposition or the regime, and what his position was on jihad. Bakr also wanted answers to questions like: Does the imam earn a salary? If so, who pays it? Who appoints him? Finally: How many people in the village are champions of democracy?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The agents were supposed to function as seismic signal waves, sent out to track down the tiniest cracks, as well as age-old faults within the deep layers of society -- in short, any information that could be used to divide and subjugate the local population. The informants included former intelligence spies, but also regime opponents who had quarreled with one of the rebel groups. Some were also young men and adolescents who needed money or found the work exciting. Most of the men on Bakr's list of informants, such as those from Tal Rifaat, were in their early twenties, but some were as young as 16 or 17.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The plans also include areas like finance, schools, daycare, the media and transportation. But there is a constantly recurring, core theme, which is meticulously addressed in organizational charts and lists of responsibilities and reporting requirements: surveillance, espionage, murder and kidnapping.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For each provincial council, Bakr had planned for an emir, or commander, to be in charge of murders, abductions, snipers, communication and encryption, as well as an emir to supervise the other emirs -- "in case they don't do their jobs well." The nucleus of this godly state would be the demonic clockwork of a cell and commando structure designed to spread fear.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From the very beginning, the plan was to have the intelligence services operate in parallel, even at the provincial level. A general intelligence department reported to the "security emir" for a region, who was in charge of deputy-emirs for individual districts. A head of secret spy cells and an "intelligence service and information manager" for the district reported to each of these deputy-emirs. The spy cells at the local level reported to the district emir's deputy. The goal was to have everyone keeping an eye on everyone else.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-6UqSSfEU2uLBZPis-zIuq4i3ZGLPaBGOkEEv7JkiQNzznLB_44VYGyNi_CtyJ8b_tzoCZdtefHsQ632EAbPAqCFZiQIJi3LYN1B-tK9y6c0h4Q1QqjCSJrYyDyBP45y_fojBa2lxt0/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-6UqSSfEU2uLBZPis-zIuq4i3ZGLPaBGOkEEv7JkiQNzznLB_44VYGyNi_CtyJ8b_tzoCZdtefHsQ632EAbPAqCFZiQIJi3LYN1B-tK9y6c0h4Q1QqjCSJrYyDyBP45y_fojBa2lxt0/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A handwritten chart shows Bakr's thoughts regarding the establishment of the Islamic State.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Those in charge of training the "Sharia judges in intelligence gathering" also reported to the district emir, while a separate department of "security officers" was assigned to the regional emir.</div>
<div>
Sharia, the courts, prescribed piety -- all of this served a single goal: surveillance and control. Even the word that Bakr used for the conversion of true Muslims, takwin, is not a religious but a technical term that translates as "implementation," a prosaic word otherwise used in geology or construction. Still, 1,200 years ago, the word followed a unique path to a brief moment of notoriety. Shiite alchemists used it to describe the creation of artificial life. In his ninth century "Book of Stones," the Persian Jabir Ibn Hayyan wrote -- using a secret script and codes -- about the creation of a homunculus. "The goal is to deceive all, but those who love God." That may also have been to the liking of Islamic State strategists, although the group views Shiites as apostates who shun true Islam. But for Haji Bakr, God and the 1,400-year-old faith in him was but one of many modules at his disposal to arrange as he liked for a higher purpose.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>The Beginnings in Iraq</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It seemed as if George Orwell had been the model for this spawn of paranoid surveillance. But it was much simpler than that. Bakr was merely modifying what he had learned in the past: Saddam Hussein's omnipresent security apparatus, in which no one, not even generals in the intelligence service, could be certain they weren't being spied on.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Expatriate Iraqi author Kanan Makiya described this "Republic of Fear" in a book as a country in which anyone could simply disappear and in which Saddam could seal his official inauguration in 1979 by exposing a bogus conspiracy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is a simple reason why there is no mention in Bakr's writings of prophecies relating to the establishment of an Islamic State allegedly ordained by God: He believed that fanatical religious convictions alone were not enough to achieve victory. But he did believe that the faith of others could be exploited.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2010, Bakr and a small group of former Iraqi intelligence officers made Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir and later "caliph," the official leader of the Islamic State. They reasoned that Baghdadi, an educated cleric, would give the group a religious face.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bakr was "a nationalist, not an Islamist," says Iraqi journalist Hisham al-Hashimi, as he recalls the former career officer, who was stationed with Hashimi's cousin at the Habbaniya Air Base. "Colonel Samir," as Hashimi calls him, "was highly intelligent, firm and an excellent logistician." But when Paul Bremer, then head of the US occupational authority in Baghdad, "dissolved the army by decree in May 2003, he was bitter and unemployed."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thousands of well-trained Sunni officers were robbed of their livelihood with the stroke of a pen. In doing so, America created its most bitter and intelligent enemies. Bakr went underground and met Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Anbar Province in western Iraq. Zarqawi, a Jordanian by birth, had previously run a training camp for international terrorist pilgrims in Afghanistan. Starting in 2003, he gained global notoriety as the mastermind of attacks against the United Nations, US troops and Shiite Muslims. He was even too radical for former Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Zarqawi died in a US air strike in 2006.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Although Iraq's dominant Baath Party was secular, the two systems ultimately shared a conviction that control over the masses should lie in the hands of a small elite that should not be answerable to anyone -- because it ruled in the name of a grand plan, legitimized by either God or the glory of Arab history. The secret of IS' success lies in the combination of opposites, the fanatical beliefs of one group and the strategic calculations of the other.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bakr gradually became one of the military leaders in Iraq, and he was held from 2006 to 2008 in the US military's Camp Bucca and Abu Ghraib Prison. He survived the waves of arrests and killings by American and Iraqi special units, which threatened the very existence of the IS precursor organization in 2010, Islamic State in Iraq.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For Bakr and a number of former high-ranking officers, this presented an opportunity to seize power in a significantly smaller circle of jihadists. They utilized the time they shared in Camp Bucca to establish a large network of contacts. But the top leaders had already known each other for a long time. Haji Bakr and an additional officer were part of the tiny secret-service unit attached to the anti-aircraft division. Two other IS leaders were from a small community of Sunni Turkmen in the town of Tal Afar. One of them was a high-ranking intelligence officer as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2010, the idea of trying to defeat Iraqi government forces militarily seemed futile. But a powerful underground organization took shape through acts of terror and protection rackets. When the uprising against the dictatorship of the Assad clan erupted in neighboring Syria, the organization's leaders sensed an opportunity. By late 2012, particularly in the north, the formerly omnipotent government forces had largely been defeated and expelled. Instead, there were now hundreds of local councils and rebel brigades, part of an anarchic mix that no one could keep track of. It was a state of vulnerability that the tightly organized group of ex-officers sought to exploit.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Attempts to explain IS and its rapid rise to power vary depending on who is doing the explaining. Terrorism experts view IS as an al-Qaida offshoot and attribute the absence of spectacular attacks to date to what they view as a lack of organizational capacity. Criminologists see IS as a mafia-like holding company out to maximize profit. Scholars in the humanities point to the apocalyptic statements by the IS media department, its glorification of death and the belief that Islamic State is involved in a holy mission.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But apocalyptic visions alone are not enough to capture cities and take over countries. Terrorists don't establish countries. And a criminal cartel is unlikely to generate enthusiasm among supporters around the world, who are willing to give up their lives to travel to the "Caliphate" and potentially their deaths.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
IS has little in common with predecessors like al-Qaida aside from its jihadist label. There is essentially nothing religious in its actions, its strategic planning, its unscrupulous changing of alliances and its precisely implemented propaganda narratives. Faith, even in its most extreme form, is just one of many means to an end. Islamic State's only constant maxim is the expansion of power at any price.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>The Implementation of the Plan</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The expansion of IS began so inconspicuously that, a year later, many Syrians had to think for a moment about when the jihadists had appeared in their midst. The Dawah offices that were opened in many towns in northern Syria in the spring of 2013 were innocent-looking missionary offices, not unlike the ones that Islamic charities have opened worldwide.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When a Dawah office opened in Raqqa, "all they said was that they were 'brothers,' and they never said a word about the 'Islamic State'," reports a doctor who fled from the city. A Dawah office was also opened in Manbij, a liberal city in Aleppo Province, in the spring of 2013. "I didn't even notice it at first," recalls a young civil rights activist. "Anyone was allowed to open what he wished. We would never have suspected that someone other than the regime could threaten us. It was only when the fighting erupted in January that we learned that Da'ish," the Arab acronym for IS, "had already rented several apartments where it could store weapons and hide its men."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The situation was similar in the towns of al-Bab, Atarib and Azaz. Dawah offices were also opened in neighboring Idlib Province in early 2013, in the towns of Sermada, Atmeh, Kafr Takharim, al-Dana and Salqin. As soon as it had identified enough "students" who could be recruited as spies, IS expanded its presence. In al-Dana, additional buildings were rented, black flags raised and streets blocked off. In towns where there was too much resistance or it was unable to secure enough supporters, IS chose to withdraw temporarily. At the beginning, its modus operandi was to expand without risking open resistance, and abduct or kill "hostile individuals," while denying any involvement in these nefarious activities.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The fighters themselves also remained inconspicuous at first. Bakr and the advance guard had not brought them along from Iraq, which would have made sense. In fact, they had explicitly prohibited their Iraqi fighters from going to Syria. They also chose not to recruit very many Syrians. The IS leaders opted for the most complicated option instead: They decided to gather together all the foreign radicals who had been coming to the region since the summer of 2012. Students from Saudi Arabia, office workers from Tunisia and school dropouts from Europe with no military experience were to form an army with battle-tested Chechens and Uzbeks. It would be located in Syria under Iraqi command.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Already by the end of 2012, military camps had been erected in several places. Initially, no one knew what groups they belonged to. The camps were strictly organized and the men there came from numerous countries -- and didn't speak to journalists. Very few of them were from Iraq. Newcomers received two months of training and were drilled to be unconditionally obedient to the central command. The set-up was inconspicuous and also had another advantage: though necessarily chaotic at the beginning, what emerged were absolutely loyal troops. The foreigners knew nobody outside of their comrades, had no reason to show mercy and could be quickly deployed to many different places. This was in stark contrast to the Syrian rebels, who were mostly focused on defending their hometowns and had to look after their families and help out with the harvest. In fall 2013, IS books listed 2,650 foreign fighters in the Province of Aleppo alone. Tunisians represented a third of the total, followed by Saudi Arabians, Turks, Egyptians and, in smaller numbers, Chechens, Europeans and Indonesians.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Later too, the jihadist cadres were hopelessly outnumbered by the Syrian rebels. Although the rebels distrusted the jihadists, they didn't join forces to challenge IS because they didn't want to risk opening up a second front. Islamic State, though, increased its clout with a simple trick: The men always appeared wearing black masks, which not only made them look terrifying, but also meant that no one could know how many of them there actually were. When groups of 200 fighters appeared in five different places one after the other, did it mean that IS had 1,000 people? Or 500? Or just a little more than 200? In addition, spies also ensured that IS leadership was constantly informed of where the population was weak or divided or where there were local conflict, allowing IS to offer itself as a protective power in order to gain a foothold.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>The Capture of Raqqa</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Raqqa, a once sleepy provincial city on the Euphrates River, was to become the prototype of the complete IS conquest. The operation began subtly, gradually became more brutal and, in the end, IS prevailed over larger opponents without much of a fight. "We were never very political," explained one doctor who had fled Raqqa for Turkey. "We also weren't religious and didn't pray much."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When Raqqa fell to the rebels in March 2013, a city council was rapidly elected. Lawyers, doctors and journalists organized themselves. Women's groups were established. The Free Youth Assembly was founded, as was the movement "For Our Rights" and dozens of other initiatives. Anything seemed possible in Raqqa. But in the view of some who fled the city, it also marked the start of its downfall.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
True to Haji Bakr's plan, the phase of infiltration was followed by the elimination of every person who might have been a potential leader or opponent. The first person hit was the head of the city council, who was kidnapped in mid-May 2013 by masked men. The next person to disappear was the brother of a prominent novelist. Two days later, the man who had led the group that painted a revolutionary flag on the city walls vanished.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"We had an idea who kidnapped him," one of his friends explains, "but no one dared any longer to do anything." The system of fear began to take hold. Starting in July, first dozens and then hundreds of people disappeared. Sometimes their bodies were found, but they usually disappeared without a trace. In August, the IS military leadership dispatched several cars driven by suicide bombers to the headquarters of the FSA brigade, the "Grandsons of the Prophet," killing dozens of fighters and leading the rest to flee. The other rebels merely looked on. IS leadership had spun a web of secret deals with the brigades so that each thought it was only the others who might be the targets of IS attacks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On Oct. 17, 2013, Islamic State called all civic leaders, clerics and lawyers in the city to a meeting. At the time, some thought it might be a gesture of conciliation. Of the 300 people who attended the meeting, only two spoke out against the ongoing takeover, the kidnappings and the murders committed by IS.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One of the two was Muhannad Habayebna, a civil rights activist and journalist well known in the city. He was found five days later tied up and executed with a gunshot wound to his head. Friends received an anonymous email with a photo of his body. The message included only one sentence: "Are you sad about your friend now?" Within hours around 20 leading members of the opposition fled to Turkey. The revolution in Raqqa had come to an end.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A short time later, the 14 chiefs of the largest clans gave an oath of allegiance to Emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. There's even a film of the ceremony. They were sheiks with the same clans that had sworn their steadfast loyalty to Syrian President Bashar Assad only two years earlier.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>The Death of Haji Bakr</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Until the end of 2013, everything was going according to Islamic State's plan -- or at least according to the plan of Haji Bakr. The caliphate was expanding village by village without being confronted by unified resistance from Syrian rebels. Indeed, the rebels seemed paralyzed in the face of IS' sinister power.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But when IS henchmen brutally tortured a well-liked rebel leader and doctor to death in December 2013, something unexpected happened. Across the country, Syrian brigades -- both secular and parts of the radical Nusra Front -- joined together to do battle with Islamic State. By attacking IS everywhere at the same time, they were able to rob the Islamists of their tactical advantage -- that of being able to rapidly move units to where they were most urgently needed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Within weeks, IS was pushed out of large regions of northern Syria. Even Raqqa, the Islamic State capital, had almost fallen by the time 1,300 IS fighters arrived from Iraq. But they didn't simply march into battle. Rather, they employed a trickier approach, recalls the doctor who fled. "In Raqqa, there were so many brigades on the move that nobody knew who exactly the others were. Suddenly, a group in rebel dress began to shoot at the other rebels. They all simply fled."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A small, simple masquerade had helped IS fighters to victory: Just change out of black clothes into jeans and vests. They did the same thing in the border town of Jarablus. On several occasions, rebels in other locations took drivers from IS suicide vehicles into custody. The drivers asked in surprise: "You are Sunnis too? Our emir told me you were infidels from Assad's army."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once complete, the picture begins to look absurd: God's self-proclaimed enforcers on Earth head out to conquer a future worldly empire, but with what? With ninja outfits, cheap tricks and espionage cells camouflaged as missionary offices. But it worked. IS held on to Raqqa and was able to reconquer some of its lost territories. But it came too late for the great planner Haji Bakr.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Haji Bakr stayed behind in the small city of Tal Rifaat, where IS had long had the upper hand. But when rebels attacked at the end of January 2014, the city became divided within just a few hours. One half remained under IS control while the other was wrested away by one of the local brigades. Haji Bakr was stuck in the wrong half. Furthermore, in order to remain incognito he had refrained from moving into one of the heavily guarded IS military quarters. And so, the godfather of snitching was snitched on by a neighbor. "A Daish sheik lives next door!" the man called. A local commander named Abdelmalik Hadbe and his men drove over to Bakr's house. A woman jerked open the door and said brusquely: "My husband isn't here."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But his car is parked out front, the rebels countered.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At that moment, Haji Bakr appeared at the door in his pajamas. Hadbe ordered him to come with them, whereupon Bakr protested that he wanted to get dressed. No, Hadbe repeated: "Come with us! Immediately!"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Surprisingly nimbly for his age, Bakr jumped back and kicked the door closed, according to two people who witnessed the scene. He then hid under the stairs and yelled: "I have a suicide belt! I'll blow up all of us!" He then came out with a Kalashnikov and began shooting. Hadbe then fired his weapon and killed Bakr.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When the men later learned who they had killed, they searched the house, gathering up computers, passports, mobile phone SIM cards, a GPS device and, most importantly, papers. They didn't find a Koran anywhere.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Haji Bakr was dead and the local rebels took his wife into custody. Later, the rebels exchanged her for Turkish IS hostages at the request of Ankara. Bakr's valuable papers were initially hidden away in a chamber, where they spent several months.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>A Second Cache of Documents</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Haji Bakr's state continued to work even without its creator. Just how precisely his plans were implemented -- point by point -- is confirmed by the discovery of another file. When IS was forced to rapidly abandon its headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014, they tried to burn their archive, but they ran into a problem similar to that confronted by the East German secret police 25 years earlier: They had too many files.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some of them remained intact and ended up with the al-Tawhid Brigade, Aleppo's largest rebel group at the time. After lengthy negotiations, the group agreed to make the papers available to SPIEGEL for exclusive publication rights -- everything except a list of IS spies inside of al-Tawhid.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
An examination of the hundreds of pages of documents reveals a highly complex system involving the infiltration and surveillance of all groups, including IS' own people. The jihad archivists maintained long lists noting which informants they had installed in which rebel brigades and government militias. It was even noted who among the rebels was a spy for Assad's intelligence service.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"They knew more than we did, much more," said the documents' custodian. Personnel files of the fighters were among them, including detailed letters of application from incoming foreigners, such as the Jordanian Nidal Abu Eysch. He sent along all of his terror references, including their telephone numbers, and the file number of a felony case against him. His hobbies were also listed: hunting, boxing, bomb building.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
IS wanted to know everything, but at the same time, the group wanted to deceive everyone about its true aims. One multiple-page report, for example, carefully lists all of the pretexts IS could use to justify the seizure of the largest flour mill in northern Syria. It includes such excuses as alleged embezzlement as well as the ungodly behavior of the mill's workers. The reality -- that all strategically important facilities like industrial bakeries, grain silos and generators were to be seized and their equipment sent to the caliphate's unofficial capital Raqqa -- was to be kept under wraps.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Over and over again, the documents reveal corollaries with Haji Bakr's plans for the establishment of IS -- for example that marrying in to influential families should be pushed. The files from Aleppo also included a list of 34 fighters who wanted wives in addition to other domestic needs. Abu Luqman and Abu Yahya al-Tunis, for example, noted that they needed an apartment. Abu Suheib and Abu Ahmed Osama requested bedroom furniture. Abu al-Baraa al Dimaschqi asked for financial assistance in addition to a complete set of furniture, while Abu Azmi wanted a fully automatic washing machine.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Shifting Alliances</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But in the first months of 2014, yet another legacy from Haji Bakr began playing a decisive role: His decade of contacts to Assad's intelligence services.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2003, the Damascus regime was panicked that then-US President George W. Bush, after his victory over Saddam Hussein, would have his troops continue into Syria to topple Assad as well. Thus, in the ensuing years, Syrian intelligence officials organized the transfer of thousands of radicals from Libya, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia to al-Qaida in Iraq. Ninety percent of the suicide attackers entered Iraq via the Syrian route. A strange relationship developed between Syrian generals, international jihadists and former Iraqi officers who had been loyal to Saddam -- a joint venture of deadly enemies, who met repeatedly to the west of Damascus.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the time, the primary aim was to make the lives of the Americans in Iraq hell. Ten years later, Bashar Assad had a different motive to breathe new life into the alliance: He wanted to sell himself to the world as the lesser of several evils. Islamist terror, the more gruesome the better, was too important to leave it up to the terrorists. The regime's relationship with Islamic State is -- just as it was to its predecessor a decade prior -- marked by a completely tactical pragmatism. Both sides are trying to use the other in the assumption that it will emerge as the stronger power, able to defeat the discrete collaborator of yesterday. Conversely, IS leaders had no problem receiving assistance from Assad's air force, despite all of the group's pledges to annihilate the apostate Shiites. Starting in January 2014, Syrian jets would regularly -- and exclusively -- bomb rebel positions and headquarters during battles between IS and rebel groups.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In battles between IS and rebels in January 2014, Assad's jets regularly bombed only rebel positions, while the Islamic State emir ordered his fighters to refrain from shooting at the army. It was an arrangement that left many of the foreign fighters deeply disillusioned; they had imaged jihad differently.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
IS threw its entire arsenal at the rebels, sending more suicide bombers into their ranks in just a few weeks than it deployed during the entire previous year against the Syrian army. Thanks in part to additional air strikes, IS was able to reconquer territory that it had briefly lost.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Nothing symbolizes the tactical shifting of alliances more than the fate of the Syrian army's Division 17. The isolated base near Raqqa had been under rebel siege for more than a year. But then, IS units defeated the rebels there and Assad's air force was once again able to use the base for supply flights without fear of attack.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But a half year later, after IS conquered Mosul and took control of a gigantic weapons depot there, the jihadists felt powerful enough to attack their erstwhile helpers. IS fighters overran Division 17 and slaughtered the soldiers, whom they had only recently protected.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>What the Future May Hold</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The setbacks suffered by IS in recent months -- the defeat in the fight for Kurdish enclave Kobani and, more recently, the loss of the Iraqi city of Tikrit, have generated the impression that the end of Islamic State is nigh. As though it, in its megalomania, overreached itself, has lost its mystique, is in retreat and will soon disappear. But such forced optimism is likely premature. The IS may have lost many fighters, but it has continued expanding in Syria.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is true that jihadist experiments in ruling a specific geographical area have failed in the past. Mostly, though, that was because of their lack of knowledge regarding how to administer a region, or even a state. That is exactly the weakness that IS strategists have long been aware of -- and eliminated. Within the "Caliphate," those in power have constructed a regime that is more stable and more flexible than it appears from the outside.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may be the officially named leader, but it remains unclear how much power he holds. In any case, when an emissary of al-Qaida head Ayman al-Zawahiri contacted the Islamic State, it was Haji Bakr and other intelligence officers, and not al-Baghdadi, whom he approached. Afterwards, the emissary bemoaned "these phony snakes who are betraying the real jihad."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Within IS, there are state structures, bureaucracy and authorities. But there is also a parallel command structure: elite units next to normal troops; additional commanders alongside nominal military head Omar al-Shishani; power brokers who transfer or demote provincial and town emirs or even make them disappear at will. Furthermore, decisions are not, as a rule, made in Shura Councils, nominally the highest decision-making body. Instead, they are being made by the "people who loosen and bind" (ahl al-hall wa-l-aqd), a clandestine circle whose name is taken from the Islam of medieval times.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Islamic State is able to recognize all manner of internal revolts and stifle them. At the same time, the hermitic surveillance structure is also useful for the financial exploitation of its subjects.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The air strikes flown by the US-led coalition may have destroyed the oil wells and refineries. But nobody is preventing the Caliphate's financial authorities from wringing money out of the millions of people who live in the regions under IS control -- in the form of new taxes and fees, or simply by confiscating property. IS, after all, knows everything from its spies and from the data it plundered from banks, land-registry offices and money-changing offices. It knows who owns which homes and which fields; it knows who owns many sheep or has lots of money. The subjects may be unhappy, but there is minimal room for them to organize, arm themselves and rebel.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As the West's attention is primarily focused on the possibility of terrorist attacks, a different scenario has been underestimated: the approaching intra-Muslim war between Shiites and Sunnis. Such a conflict would allow IS to graduate from being a hated terror organization to a central power.</div>
<div>
Already today, the frontlines in Syria, Iraq and Yemen follow this confessional line, with Shiite Afghans fighting against Sunni Afghans in Syria and IS profiting in Iraq from the barbarism of brutal Shiite militias. Should this ancient Islam conflict continue to escalate, it could spill over into confessionally mixed states such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Lebanon.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In such a case, IS propaganda about the approaching apocalypse could become a reality. In its slipstream, an absolutist dictatorship in the name of God could be established.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Spiegel Online International<br />
April 18th, 2015</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-of-islamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html">http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-of-islamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s200/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
The best news article I've read regarding the specifics as to how the Islamic extremists known as Isis came into power.<br />
<br />
I am preserving this one for posterity's sake and for your interest.</div>
Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-61913859357456221682015-07-08T14:47:00.001+02:002015-07-08T19:35:47.371+02:00My 25 years as a prostitute<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2Z5LmhjzQWYH_EyInOuIt-8rQnkiZ5L7Ay9geKT_Mi6VE4vpmGucqekTW42w8Qhl0yH84TtTRE7ML2C0WB0cTYRKIHUrKO3qwIJC4JCKWK_CSFc4wmHCaqf5H0CCj2s8kdnhBy9tn-0/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2Z5LmhjzQWYH_EyInOuIt-8rQnkiZ5L7Ay9geKT_Mi6VE4vpmGucqekTW42w8Qhl0yH84TtTRE7ML2C0WB0cTYRKIHUrKO3qwIJC4JCKWK_CSFc4wmHCaqf5H0CCj2s8kdnhBy9tn-0/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Brenda Myers-Powell was just a child when she became a prostitute in the early 1970s. Here she describes how she was pulled into working on the streets and why, three decades later, she devoted her life to making sure other girls don't fall into the same trap. Some people will find Brenda's account upsetting.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Right from the start life was handing me lemons, but I've always tried to make the best lemonade I can.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I grew up in the 1960s on the West Side of Chicago. My mother died when I was six months old. She was only 16 and I never learned what it was that she died from - my grandmother, who drank more than most, couldn't tell me later on. The official explanation is that it was "natural causes".</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I don't believe that. Who dies at 16 from natural causes? I like to think that God was just ready for her. I heard stories that she was beautiful and had a great sense of humour. I know that's true because I have one also.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
It was my grandmother that took care of me. And she wasn't a bad person - in fact she had a side to her that was so wonderful. She read to me, baked me stuff and cooked the best sweet potatoes. She just had this drinking problem. She would bring drinking partners home from the bar and after she got intoxicated and passed out these men would do things to me. It started when I was four or five years old and it became a regular occurrence. I'm certain my grandmother didn't know anything about it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
She worked as a domestic in the suburbs. It took her two hours to get to work and two hours to get home. So I was a latch-key kid - I wore a key around my neck and I would take myself to kindergarten and let myself back in at the end of the day. And the molesters knew about that, and they took advantage of it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Zxx1mpOLz7D9nUDeno2nMHsmr58zUOUuaklpf8HlHGEhzy6uwWZElmCkN6WRWwJ8tJTZW1c8TrTh5bkRr1DdamgVlSEeKS7n8re5paBrZ4N2aMR5jB8tRUcJpEcLRoIxQaV9n79mNbE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Zxx1mpOLz7D9nUDeno2nMHsmr58zUOUuaklpf8HlHGEhzy6uwWZElmCkN6WRWwJ8tJTZW1c8TrTh5bkRr1DdamgVlSEeKS7n8re5paBrZ4N2aMR5jB8tRUcJpEcLRoIxQaV9n79mNbE/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I would watch women with big glamorous hair and sparkly dresses standing on the street outside our house. I had no idea what they were up to; I just thought they were shiny. As a little girl, all I ever wanted was to be shiny.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
One day I asked my grandmother what the women were doing and she said, "Those women take their panties off and men give them money." And I remember saying to myself, "I'll probably do that" because men had already been taking my panties off.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
To look back now, I dealt with it all amazingly well. Alone in that house, I had imaginary friends to keep me company that I would sing and dance around with - an imaginary Elvis Presley, an imaginary Diana Ross and the Supremes. I think that helped me deal with things. I was a really outgoing girl - I used to laugh a lot.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
At the same time, I was afraid, always afraid. I didn't know if what was happening was my fault or not. I thought perhaps something was wrong with me. Even though I was a smart kid, I disconnected from school. Going into the 1970s, I became the kind of girl who didn't know how to say "no" - if the little boys in the community told me that they liked me or treated me nice, they could basically have their way with me.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
By the time I was 14, I'd had two children with boys in the community, two baby girls. My grandmother started to say that I needed to bring in some money to pay for these kids, because there was no food in the house, we had nothing.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
So, one evening - it was actually Good Friday - I went along to the corner of Division Street and Clark Street and stood in front of the Mark Twain hotel. I was wearing a two-piece dress costing $3.99, cheap plastic shoes, and some orange lipstick which I thought might make me look older.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I was 14 years old and I cried through everything. But I did it. I didn't like it, but the five men who dated me that night showed me what to do. They knew I was young and it was almost as if they were excited by it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I made $400 but I didn't get a cab home that night. I went home by train and I gave most of that money to my grandmother, who didn't ask me where it came from.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The following weekend I returned to Division and Clark, and it seemed like my grandmother was happy when I brought the money home.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
But the third time I went down there, a couple of guys pistol-whipped me and put me in the trunk of their car. They had approached me before because I was, as they called it, "unrepresented" on the street. All I knew was the light in the trunk of the car and then the faces of these two guys with their pistol. First they took me to a cornfield out in the middle of nowhere and raped me. Then they took me to a hotel room and locked me in the closet.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
That's the kind of thing pimps will do to break a girl's spirits. They kept me in there for a long time. I was begging them to let me out because I was hungry, but they would only allow me out of the closet if I agreed to work for them.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHRePrhKdTxPbl-zPRkP8du0bpUqBvM7skfi15r_B3DZ6fWIKQVOwz3S_sbGc7i5NWe09kd1fxxJ18dGH3Bol9tlEXbfxGeMgyYMHwiMlrBNAuvRSrd714GWeDV08K5q3Ir5P_f3nkA4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAHRePrhKdTxPbl-zPRkP8du0bpUqBvM7skfi15r_B3DZ6fWIKQVOwz3S_sbGc7i5NWe09kd1fxxJ18dGH3Bol9tlEXbfxGeMgyYMHwiMlrBNAuvRSrd714GWeDV08K5q3Ir5P_f3nkA4/s400/3.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
They pimped me for a while, six months or so. I wasn't able to go home. I tried to get away but they caught me, and when they caught me they hurt me so bad. Later on, I was trafficked by other men. The physical abuse was horrible, but the real abuse was the mental abuse - the things they would say that would just stick and which you could never get from under.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Pimps are very good at torture, they're very good at manipulation. Some of them will do things like wake you in the middle of the night with a gun to your head. Others will pretend that they value you, and you feel like, "I'm Cinderella, and here comes my Prince Charming". They seem so sweet and so charming and they tell you: "You just have to do this one thing for me and then you'll get to the good part." And you think, "My life has already been so hard, what's a little bit more?" But you never ever do get to the good part.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
When people describe prostitution as being something that is glamorous, elegant, like in the story of Pretty Woman, well that doesn't come close to it. A prostitute might sleep with five strangers a day. Across a year, that's more than 1,800 men she's having sexual intercourse or oral sex with. These are not relationships, no-one's bringing me any flowers here, trust me on that. They're using my body like a toilet.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
And the johns - the clients - are violent. I've been shot five times, stabbed 13 times. I don't know why those men attacked me, all I know is that society made it comfortable for them to do so. They brought their anger or mental illness or whatever it was and they decided to wreak havoc on a prostitute, knowing I couldn't go to the police and if I did I wouldn't be taken seriously.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I actually count myself very lucky. I knew some beautiful girls who were murdered out there on the streets.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6GvyEXhqAIPkoqaHYNYXzX7ev3XiiC3Za1RMpUb14j_tasxmHlRJq9PythDccOYI6bWto7AJ5vpk_3mjJ7hr9Jc6SZ3mgiPymNbuXWiJ-GpB9mV4lsuK9M2mPXUhHXnNGXwVL-yzqXA/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6GvyEXhqAIPkoqaHYNYXzX7ev3XiiC3Za1RMpUb14j_tasxmHlRJq9PythDccOYI6bWto7AJ5vpk_3mjJ7hr9Jc6SZ3mgiPymNbuXWiJ-GpB9mV4lsuK9M2mPXUhHXnNGXwVL-yzqXA/s400/4.jpg" width="392" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I prostituted for 14 or 15 years before I did any drugs. But after a while, after you've turned as many tricks as you can, after you've been strangled, after someone's put a knife to your throat or someone's put a pillow over your head, you need something to put a bit of courage in your system.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I was a prostitute for 25 years, and in all that time I never once saw a way out. But on 1 April 1997, when I was nearly 40 years old, a customer threw me out of his car. My dress got caught in the door and he dragged me six blocks along the ground, tearing all the skin off my face and the side of my body.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I went to the County Hospital in Chicago and they immediately took me to the emergency room. Because of the condition I was in, they called in a police officer, who looked me over and said: "Oh I know her. She's just a hooker. She probably beat some guy and took his money and got what she deserved." And I could hear the nurse laughing along with him. They pushed me out into the waiting room as if I wasn't worth anything, as if I didn't deserve the services of the emergency room after all.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
And it was at that moment, while I was waiting for the next shift to start and for someone to attend to my injuries, that I began to think about everything that had happened in my life. Up until that point I had always had some idea of what to do, where to go, how to pick myself up again. Suddenly it was like I had run out of bright ideas. I remember looking up and saying to God, "These people don't care about me. Could you please help me?"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
God worked real fast. A doctor came and took care of me and she asked me to go and see social services in the hospital. What I knew about social services was they were anything but social. But they gave me a bus pass to go to a place called Genesis House, which was run by an awesome Englishwoman named Edwina Gateley, who became a great hero and mentor for me. She helped me turn my life around.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
It was a safe house, and I had everything that I needed there. I didn't have to worry about paying for clothes, food, getting a job. They told me to take my time and stay as long as I needed - and I stayed almost two years. My face healed, my soul healed. I got Brenda back.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Through Edwina Gateley, I learned the value of that deep connection that can occur between women, the circle of trust and love and support that a group of women can give one another.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Usually, when a woman gets out of prostitution, she doesn't want to talk about it. What man will accept her as a wife? What person will hire her in their employment? And to begin with, after I left Genesis House, that was me too. I just wanted to get a job, pay my taxes and be like everybody else.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
But I started to do some volunteering with sex workers and to help a university researcher with her fieldwork. After a while I realised that nobody was helping these young ladies. Nobody was going back and saying, "That's who I was, that's where I was. This is who I am now. You can change too, you can heal too."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
So in 2008, together with Stephanie Daniels-Wilson, we founded the Dreamcatcher Foundation. A dreamcatcher is a Native American object that you hang near a child's cot. It is supposed to chase away children's nightmares. That's what we want to do - we want to chase away those bad dreams, those bad things that happen to young girls and women.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The recent documentary film Dreamcatcher, directed by Kim Longinotto, showed the work that we do. We meet up with women who are still working on the street and we tell them, "There is a way out, we're ready to help you when you're ready to be helped." We try to get through that brainwashing that says, "You're born to do this, there's nothing else for you."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I also run after-school clubs with young girls who are exactly like I was in the 1970s. I can tell as soon as I meet a girl if she is in danger, but there is no fixed pattern. You might have one girl who's quiet and introverted and doesn't make eye contact. Then there might be another who's loud and obnoxious and always getting in trouble. They're both suffering abuse at home but they're dealing with it in different ways - the only thing they have in common is that they are not going to talk about it. But in time they understand that I have been through what they're going through, and then they talk to me about it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
So far, we have 13 girls who have graduated from high school and are now in city colleges or have gotten full scholarships to go to other colleges. They came to us 11, 12, 13 years old, totally damaged. And now they're reaching for the stars.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Besides my outreach work, I attend conferences and contribute to academic work on prostitution. I've had people say to me, "Brenda, come and meet Professor so-and-so from such-and-such university. He's an expert on prostitution." And I look at him and I want to say: "Really? Where did you get your credentials? What do you really know about prostitution? The expert is standing in front of you."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I know I belong in that room but sometimes I have to let them know I belong there. And I think it's ridiculous that there are organisations that campaign against human trafficking, that do not employ a single person who has been trafficked.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01Q7FxtliOZEbi2T3Y7uzwmUqP1hjFin1FSU6aljoHjcqalDYe6PUUWtvnz2jwd-DyfzB-PnGRCeTVa1B1V45srWohY_jSeoGIxtNGHOrY-CmjOpHZml9m4eOuQYUELZbzUgwOyuo5V0/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01Q7FxtliOZEbi2T3Y7uzwmUqP1hjFin1FSU6aljoHjcqalDYe6PUUWtvnz2jwd-DyfzB-PnGRCeTVa1B1V45srWohY_jSeoGIxtNGHOrY-CmjOpHZml9m4eOuQYUELZbzUgwOyuo5V0/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
People say different things about prostitution. Some people think that it would actually help sex workers more if it were decriminalised. I think it's true to say that every woman has her own story. It may be OK for this girl, who is paying her way through law school, but not for this girl, who was molested as a child, who never knew she had another choice, who was just trying to get money to eat.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
But let me ask you a question. How many people would you encourage to quit their jobs to become prostitutes? Would you say to any of your close friends or female relatives, "Hey, have you thought of this? I think this would be a really great move for you!"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
And let me say this too. However the situation starts off for a girl, that's not how the situation will end up. It might look OK now, the girl in law school might say she only has high-end clients that come to her through an agency, that she doesn't work on the streets but arranges to meet people in hotel rooms, but the first time that someone hurts her, that's when she really sees her situation for what it is. You always get that crazy guy slipping through and he has three or four guys behind him, and they force their way into your room and gang rape you, and take your phone and all your money. And suddenly you have no means to make a living and you're beaten up too. That is the reality of prostitution.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Three years ago, I became the first woman in the state of Illinois to have her convictions for prostitution wiped from her record. It was after a new law was brought in, following lobbying from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, a group that seeks to shift the criminal burden away from the victims of sexual trafficking. Women who have been tortured, manipulated and brainwashed should be treated as survivors, not criminals.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-JfILTbNw1Yap9bgVS67lhAphnlfwUNhqEkg2Zvy6pzryLaGbL9EUbFffUX1_ONpdh4THBV5_7gCjcCyWL7MUV9ksSWAJArUZlE_l9Eb4SyXtYKQC2ygsbgG-tSyaa7RZaKyBkj_BO4/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-JfILTbNw1Yap9bgVS67lhAphnlfwUNhqEkg2Zvy6pzryLaGbL9EUbFffUX1_ONpdh4THBV5_7gCjcCyWL7MUV9ksSWAJArUZlE_l9Eb4SyXtYKQC2ygsbgG-tSyaa7RZaKyBkj_BO4/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
There are good women in this world and also bad women. There are bad men and also good men.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Following my time as a prostitute, I simply wasn't ready for another relationship. But after three years of healing and abstinence, I met an extraordinary man. I was very picky - he likes to joke that I asked him more questions than the parole board. He didn't judge me for any of the things that had happened before we met. When he looked at me he didn't even see those things - he says all he saw was a girl with a pretty smile that he wanted to be a part of his life. I sure wanted to be a part of his too. He supports me in everything I do, and we celebrated 10 years of marriage last year.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
My daughters, who were raised by my aunt in the suburbs, grew up to be awesome young ladies. One is a doctor and one works in criminal justice. Now my husband and I have adopted my little nephew - and here I am, 58 years old, a football mum.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
So I am here to tell you - there is life after so much damage, there is life after so much trauma. There is life after people have told you that you are nothing, that you are worthless and that you will never amount to anything. There is life - and I'm not just talking about a little bit of life. There is a lot of life.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3fin-gt5ZptoDeZAnP4hyphenhyphenWN9CTzrkDYLsvh5sjmRUzd30jXOYNMNv0OqOsMdL1DcEor4xJMXP96zcmGs1dbBjghO1QIQcWhU1uj52heWQ-7fr9RKuBAlMynIu9XAPJv9KaPVc3mSHuo/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3fin-gt5ZptoDeZAnP4hyphenhyphenWN9CTzrkDYLsvh5sjmRUzd30jXOYNMNv0OqOsMdL1DcEor4xJMXP96zcmGs1dbBjghO1QIQcWhU1uj52heWQ-7fr9RKuBAlMynIu9XAPJv9KaPVc3mSHuo/s400/7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
BBC News</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
June 30th, 2016</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33113238">http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33113238</a></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s200/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
Beautiful story. Another one for my "best of" news archives here.<br />
<br />Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-59909768889730089952015-07-01T12:46:00.002+02:002015-07-01T12:46:48.767+02:00Negligence a role in Island County Jail inmate’s death, investigation concludes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2k5uU0zonTFhe1qKnMNmr3ruI0tPOmlUvX3TFtpGPpvOyPA-_1ttUpenVlM1bwlhG2xWwE2FcKnPq0Y_Zg2N56LsRemK5kJx3ogbt-WFI4gWGUuqik7BbnYSpSKrHMWgWZlxwDCvn7Y/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2k5uU0zonTFhe1qKnMNmr3ruI0tPOmlUvX3TFtpGPpvOyPA-_1ttUpenVlM1bwlhG2xWwE2FcKnPq0Y_Zg2N56LsRemK5kJx3ogbt-WFI4gWGUuqik7BbnYSpSKrHMWgWZlxwDCvn7Y/s400/1.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>
by JESSIE STENSLAND, South Whidbey Record Staff Reporter<br />
Jun 20, 2015<br />
<br />
Keaton Farris, 25, died in April because of dehydration. According to an Island County Sheriff's Office report, there was a 'catastrophic systemic failure' while Farris was imprisoned in Island County Jail. — Image Credit: Contributed Photo<br />
<br />
“Catastrophic systemic failures” at the Island County Jail led to a 25-year-old man’s death from dehydration April 8, Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said.<br />
<br />
An exhaustive investigation by Detective Ed Wallace offers an unblinking look at how negligence and errors by both corrections deputies and jail administration contributed to Keaton Farris’ tragic death. The report was released Thursday.<br />
<br />
Two corrections deputies who falsified logs were placed on administrative leave and have since resigned. Lt. Pam McCarthy was placed on paid administrative leave pending a disciplinary review.<br />
<br />
Chief De Dennis, the jail administrator, was suspended for 30 days without pay and his continued employment is uncertain, Brown said.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>Grief, anger, disbelief</b><br />
<br />
Farris’ father, Coupeville postman Fred Farris, said he is struggling to understand how this could have happened. He is filled with grief, anger and disbelief.<br />
<br />
“It’s not OK,” he said. “What happened is unconscionable.”<br />
<br />
Fred Farris and his family entrusted the jail employees to care for his son. He is agonizing over his decision not to bail out his son; people convinced him that the young man would be safer in jail since he was dealing with a mental-health issue.<br />
<br />
The family has organized a peaceful protest to be held on Father’s Day — this Sunday — as a way of sending a message to the jail and sheriff’s office.<br />
<br />
The goal, Fred Farris said, is to ensure that such a needless tragedy never happens again.<br />
<br />
He asked that people gather in the Community Greens near the library at 10 a.m. Then, everyone will march through town. He said people should wear a black T-shirt.<br />
<br />
The organizers will be handing out water bottles and selling T-shirts dedicated to Keaton Farris.<br />
<br />
<b>Falsified logs</b><br />
<br />
Island County Coroner Robert Bishop reported that Farris died from dehydration, but malnutrition was a contributing factor.<br />
<br />
Farris was suffering from mental health issues and had been both combative and non-responsive with jail staff in three different counties, Wallace’s report indicates.<br />
<br />
Wallace 51-page report outlines a complicated series of missteps. The water to Farris’ cell in the Island County Jail was turned off for days because he put a pillow in the toilet at one point and later flooded his cell. He was given water during his meals but it was only a fraction of what was necessary to survive.<br />
<br />
The staff did not check on him as often as protocol dictated. The logs didn’t include necessary information and observations.<br />
<br />
Medical staff wasn’t called to examine Farris until the day before he died and the nurse didn’t relate any concerns to jail staff.<br />
<br />
“Once the nurse was notified she failed to do a proper evaluation of his condition even after Farris advised her that he was not doing well,” Wallace wrote.<br />
<br />
The detective figured out that Corrections Deputies Mark Moffitt and David Lind had falsified their logs by comparing the entries to surveillance video.<br />
<br />
At this point, it’s unclear whether anyone may face criminal charges. Brown said Wallace’s report has been sent to the Island County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutor Greg Banks said he will review it carefully.<br />
<br />
<b>Accepting fault</b><br />
<br />
The sheriff said he doesn’t excuse himself from blame. He said he failed in his supervisory role over the jail.<br />
<br />
Brown said he immediately implemented changes at the 58-bed jail to ensure inmate safety and is planning on bringing in an expert in jail administration to do a comprehensive analysis of the facility, especially those confined to “safety cells.”<br />
<br />
“I want to know why the problems were so glaring and why I didn’t see them,” he said.<br />
<br />
Brown breaks into tears when he talks about the death of the young man who once played high school football and was a track star in Coupeville, the town where the sheriff’s office resides.<br />
<br />
The sheriff said he brought Farris’ father into his office soon after the tragedy and had one of the most difficult conversations of his life.<br />
<br />
“I promised him I would investigate this as if he were my own son,” he said, struggling with his emotions.<br />
<br />
Brown said his mission is to find the truth, disseminate it to the public, repair the problems and — hopefully — regain the public trust while offering closure to Farris’ family. He said he doesn’t know if the family will sue and such an eventuality isn’t guiding his actions.<br />
<br />
Brown conceded that larger issues are at play in the death, particularly how jails are ill equipped to deal with people with mental health issues. At this point, however, Brown said he’s focusing on the problems at his jail and what he can do to fix them.<br />
<br />
Sgt. Chris Garden, a veteran member of the department with training in emergency medicine, has taken over as interim jail administrator. He will be working closely with Undersheriff Kelly Mauck.<br />
<br />
Missing from Wallace’s report, Fred Farris said, is the family’s interaction with the jail. He said he and other family members went to the jail just about every day to see Keaton Farris, but were turned away.<br />
<br />
The reasons cited were unclear, conflicting and sometimes simply false, he said.<br />
<br />
He said family members would have noticed something was wrong and gotten him help; he said his son lost more than 20 pounds during his short time in jail.<br />
<br />
“It wouldn’t have happened if we were able to see him,” he said.<br />
<br />
“That’s the whole thing.”<br />
<br />
<b>Needed review</b><br />
<br />
Brown said that the jail policy doesn’t allow visitations when an inmate is in crisis or at risk. He said such individuals can’t be moved to visitation rooms and visitors aren’t supposed to be brought to cells. In fact, he said, McCarthy violated the policy when she allowed Keaton Farris’ aunt to visit his cell early in his incarceration.<br />
<br />
Brown said he’s interested in looking at policies at other facilities. He said it might make sense to allow visitors to visit certain inmates at their cells, especially if it would calm them.<br />
<br />
Fred Farris said his son had a happy, normal childhood growing up on both Lopez Island and Central Whidbey. He was a goofy kid who adored his sisters.<br />
<br />
“He was someone who wanted everyone to like him,” his father said.<br />
<br />
“He went out of his way to be fun, silly.”<br />
<br />
Keaton Farris was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago after experiencing a sudden onset of symptoms, his dad said.<br />
<br />
It was difficult to deal with, Fred Farris said, but he was convinced his son would figure it out and live a happy life.<br />
<br />
He noted that Keaton Farris had never been in a jail before this incident and had no criminal record.<br />
<br />
<b>Medical issues</b><br />
<br />
Records from San Juan County Superior Court show that prosecutors charged Farris, a Lopez Island resident, with second-degree identity theft on March 2 after a man reported that a check was stolen, forged and cashed at a bank. A $10,000 warrant was issued for Farris’ arrest.<br />
<br />
Lynnwood police picked him up on the warrant March 20. Officers responded to a report of a suspicious man at a bank. Farris told an officer that he was “off his meds” and that he was projecting his thoughts at people inside the bank, Wallace wrote.<br />
<br />
Records from the Lynwood jail indicate that he had prescription Lorazepam when he arrived. Under a cooperative agreement between jails, he was transferred to Snohomish County jail, where staff members indicated in paperwork that he was “gravely disabled,” was presenting symptoms of psychosis and needed a mental health evaluation before leaving the jail.<br />
<br />
A “medical slip” of paper indicated that he tested positive for amphetamines, THC and Lorazepam and possibly suffered from bipolar disorder, Wallace wrote.<br />
<br />
Farris was transferred to Skagit County on March 24. He was originally supposed to be transferred the day before, but he apparently resisted and was Tasered in Snohomish County.<br />
<br />
In Skagit County, he was non-communicative and resisted jailers; he was placed in restraints. A Skagit official warned the Island County jail lieutenant that two corrections deputies would be needed to transport Farris because of his unpredictable behavior.<br />
<br />
That message wasn’t passed down, and a lone Island County corrections deputy arrived, but wasn’t able to transport Farris. The San Juan Sheriff’s Office finally transported Farris to Island County on March 26. The Island County Jail holds inmates from San Juan County under an interagency contract.<br />
<br />
Farris arrived at Island County Jail without his medication or any of the medical and mental-health information that the other jails collected. Brown said he doesn’t yet know what happened, but he hopes to work with the other agencies in the future to ensure such information is shared.<br />
<br />
On March 27, Farris grabbed a corrections deputy by the hand and tried to pull him through the “feed slot” when the deputy was trying to give him water, the report stated.<br />
<br />
Farris was initially placed in a blue-padded safety cell but was moved to a single-person cell March 30. His cell was designated as a “safety cell,” which means heightened monitoring is required.<br />
<br />
<b>No water</b><br />
<br />
On March 30, water to Farris’ cell was turned off after he placed his pillow in the toilet and was “playing in the water in his sink,” Wallace wrote. It was turned off again when he flooded his cell on April 4.<br />
<br />
In his investigation, Wallace estimated that Farris’ consumption of water and other fluids during his time at the jail was about 185 ounces based on the amount of liquid in the Dixie cups the jail uses.<br />
<br />
Under National Institute of Health guidelines, Farris’ intake should have been 1,563 ounces. FEMA guidelines state that 791 ounces would be necessary for survival in an emergency situation.<br />
<br />
“The number could be lower since we cannot confirm that he consumed all the water/fluids provided,” Wallace wrote. “It could be higher as well since there were windows of opportunity where he would have been able to provide himself water.”<br />
<br />
Farris’ inmate book states that he was supposed to be observed each hour, but the log showed long stretches of time in which nobody checked on him. The last time that a corrections deputy confirmed he was alive was at 5:30 p.m. April 7. A deputy tapped on his door at 8:30 p.m., but Wallace wrote that it was likely he was dead at that time because of the lack of response and based on the estimated time of death determined by the coroner.<br />
<br />
Corrections deputies discovered Farris was dead at 12:30 a.m. on April 8.<br />
<br />
<b>Shirking procedures</b><br />
<br />
In his report, Wallace describes confusion among the jail staff regarding policies and procedures. The jail administration was in the process of instituting the Lexipol manual concerning jail policies. The part of the manual regarding safety cells was implemented, Brown said, but staff didn’t receive training and information wasn’t adequately disseminated or explained.<br />
<br />
Wallace details a series of instances in which the corrections deputies failed to follow the “safety cell procedures.”<br />
<br />
Wallace wrote that Farris wasn’t offered fluids hourly, as required. A safety cell log wasn’t started immediately and was incomplete. Supervisors didn’t inspect the logs as required. The safety checks were not sufficient to assess the inmate’s well-being.<br />
<br />
The policy requires that his medical and mental health status be assessed within 12 hours, but he wasn’t evaluated until his 11th day in custody.<br />
<br />
Wallace also described confusion among jail staff about McCarthy’s alleged directive that the door to Farris’ cell should not be opened because of his combative history.<br />
<br />
During his time in the cell, a corrections deputy observed Farris lying on his bunk with a piece of cloth in his mouth. He was concerned about the possibility of him choking and alerted McCarthy, who told him to leave Farris alone because of the possibility that he would assault a deputy.<br />
<br />
The Sheriff’s Office contracts with Island County Public Health to provide a nurse at the jail four days a week.<br />
<br />
The nurse was asked to see Farris on the day before he died. But she only interacted with Farris for two minutes and didn’t have a “hands on encounter,” but instead talked to him through the small slot in the door.<br />
<br />
According to Wallace’s report, Farris told her he needed a medical professional and that he was “not good.” Nevertheless, she didn’t alert the staff to any concerns.<br />
<br />
<b>Blood on their hands</b><br />
<br />
The nurse who visited Farris told Wallace that she didn’t think she had enough time to properly evaluate him, but apparently didn’t convey that concern to the staff. She said she did not ask for the cell door to be opened because “she had heard the staff talking about him being violent, disruptive and uncooperative,” Wallace wrote.<br />
<br />
In addition, a psychologist from Western State Hospital evaluated Farris for competency to stand trial and he also didn’t convey any concerns about the young man’s health to the jail staff.<br />
<br />
San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord said Farris was originally supposed to be transferred to Western State for the evaluation, but it was delayed because of the lack of “beds” at the facility, which is a well-documented problem in the state. As a result, the psychologist tried to examine him at the jail.<br />
<br />
Wallace’s report indicates that the psychologist attempted to interview Farris through the feeding slot on the closed cell door. Farris was lying naked on the cell floor and talking to himself continually.<br />
<br />
His report, issued after Farris’ death, found that the young man was not competent to stand trial.<br />
<br />
Fred Farris said there’s plenty of blame to go around. He said officials in San Juan County also have “blood on their hands” because they were ultimately responsible for his son’s well-being while in custody.<br />
<br />
He questions why neither the nurse nor the psychologist did more to help his son. He wants to know what happened to his son’s medicine and medical history as he was transferred from jail to jail.<br />
<br />
Mostly, however, Fred Farris said he wants to know what the sheriff is going to do to fix the unbelievably long list of problems at the Island County jail.<br />
<br />
<b>Outraged, heartbroken</b><br />
<br />
Island County commissioners received Wallace’s report and were briefed by the sheriff and attorney’s from the county’s insurance pool.<br />
<br />
Commissioner Jill Johnson noted the multiple opportunities to help Farris that were missed from the time of his arrest until his death. A press release from the board also emphasized this point and stated the three commissioners are outraged and heartbroken.<br />
<br />
“Our best way of honoring Keaton and his family is to do everything possible to see that no other family has to endure what the Farris family is experiencing,” the press release states.<br />
<br />
The commissioners said they are committed to working with both the Sheriff’s Office and the Health Department to fix the problems.<br />
<br />
While the sheriff’s office is an independent department, the county commissioners set the budgets for all the county agencies. Brown has been outspoken about a need for more personnel, both on the road and in the jail; he has received additional funds for more staff members in both places but not as much as he wanted through a proposed law-and-justice levy.<br />
<br />
Brown stresses, however, that Farris’ death was not caused by a lack of manpower, but rather a “perfect storm” of negligence, failures and shoddy oversight.<br />
<br />
Part of the solution, however, may be more staff members in the jail, Brown said.<br />
<br />
JESSIE STENSLAND, South Whidbey Record Staff Reporter<br />
jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s1600/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWk6ZqN2WI0OmlDJraJQIawBUV8za8mLybKKT_02aJd728KaQEuJoOi4Gv3JFnSO1AGaynvkwIfEFe1whlo7mI7NZmW9TbfDdgtZGIRgGhI7v9RlvRYBiX6S2lfQJPSUPoFbvSn4KG7GU/s200/in-thought-invis-bckgrnd.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />This story hits close to home. Someone very close to me had to spend a few weeks in the Ventura County, California jail in America over unpaid court fees for a few minor trafficking offenses. She has clinical depression for which she takes antidepressants. On the day I helped her enter the jail facility I explicitly told the staff she has a mental condition and I gave them a paper bag with her prescription pills them. The staff took the bag and said "that's fine" and I went home after hugging her. Guess what they did after I left? They prevented her from getting her pills. Suffering from the withdrawals as well as oncoming depression she shouted at the staff. So the staff punished her by denying visitation rights -- I was not allowed to see her until her sentence finished.<br />
<br />
Needless to say I was outraged and her brother and myself wrote to a judge. The judge immediately told the jail staff they cannot deny her of her pills and the staff complied. But all through her time there they bullied her yet treated career criminals, with known gang and drug ties, with respect and friendliness.<br />
<br />
I am of the impression that a lot of these jail and prison guards are out-and-out sociopaths and psychopaths. I often think of the Stanford Prison Experiment when I think about police officers, in general, because they talk and react to situations as if they are so invincible, righteous, and supreme.Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-17982843335910899672015-06-27T19:03:00.002+02:002015-08-07T22:58:32.341+02:00iPhone Slow Motion Video showing knockout<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3mlxaOMuWhLSzlUNU8zNk1zdW8/preview" width="640"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-awV0z4E6jIZZKaYjbJU119sH5DbOPmbgnhpucgx-RWZ18AyOYgnqffxc_qBBOquxbCAQn1odGUCXAkFDCg7ISiMSEmOHJYmi4M2EKOaBR5RsrhQLYL_oRPuaGJhpFNsA3Igj2dFQck/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-awV0z4E6jIZZKaYjbJU119sH5DbOPmbgnhpucgx-RWZ18AyOYgnqffxc_qBBOquxbCAQn1odGUCXAkFDCg7ISiMSEmOHJYmi4M2EKOaBR5RsrhQLYL_oRPuaGJhpFNsA3Igj2dFQck/s200/1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
I find something artistically beautiful about this video. There must be a deeper meaning here.Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-24201143406912597042015-06-27T18:18:00.000+02:002015-06-27T19:47:18.350+02:00In a society that profits from your self doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxYQXdM-RlQreouI0noRwIFtmxAS18VcCO8Oqhs3-RywdCQvOkUPER05kS-qlz518OHWr8HOBmB7vBFqe_cylfS4qiahf-E5fS6aHJz-Z6YS7ZbgcxDHq7OKUtZSGQ0z8KleYsazbYek/s1600/liking-yourself-is-a-rebellious-act.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxYQXdM-RlQreouI0noRwIFtmxAS18VcCO8Oqhs3-RywdCQvOkUPER05kS-qlz518OHWr8HOBmB7vBFqe_cylfS4qiahf-E5fS6aHJz-Z6YS7ZbgcxDHq7OKUtZSGQ0z8KleYsazbYek/s400/liking-yourself-is-a-rebellious-act.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-49243737343299209172015-06-27T18:15:00.002+02:002015-06-27T18:15:14.163+02:00A typical example of Hollywood chauvinism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxC7bPzMe4FUjoQWQpRRa3W9breAQjQsmWWr3tVjuT4Du5qi8Jj0bH_zPsBLECIgVaeGfNol4vzvD1DFiATCWSxrf10devZKHvo2vhcCz5fV34tXbKY3uNydFJ8vETUHiJc0_HWIJ48U/s1600/Hollywood-gender-role-stereotyping_selena-gomez-and-2-shmucks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxC7bPzMe4FUjoQWQpRRa3W9breAQjQsmWWr3tVjuT4Du5qi8Jj0bH_zPsBLECIgVaeGfNol4vzvD1DFiATCWSxrf10devZKHvo2vhcCz5fV34tXbKY3uNydFJ8vETUHiJc0_HWIJ48U/s400/Hollywood-gender-role-stereotyping_selena-gomez-and-2-shmucks.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
What better example of Hollywood than this photo? The men can dress
like shlepps, be older than 30, and look out of shape but the girl has
to be perfectly dressed, sexually provocative, less than 30, and in
shape (or have a high metabolism).<br />
<br />
So typical of the double
standard in the industry yet we're in the year 2015!!! Probably because
the owners of these studios are rich, old chauvinists who still offer
roles to actresses and actors in exchange for sex.<br />
<br />
These idiots are the<span class="text_exposed_show">
ones who are creating major films and distributing them worldwide!!!
Incredible, isn't it? No wonder so many Hollywood movies are so terribly
written, acted, and executed. Did you see the Wikileaks transcript of
the way these high paid executives talk to each other about actors and
actresses? The whole industry is fucked up by bigamists and chauvinists.
I am amazed ANY great movie makes it through given the circumstances.
You can throw a billion dollars into a movie project and it's still crap
because the people heading it are crap.</span>Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991113703398410655.post-61805916641808008702015-06-27T18:08:00.002+02:002015-06-27T18:08:04.083+02:00Kanye West kissing himself<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV35v5WKpAnMY087PyyvzRjoPed5XVa4LFN7BhoCNCLZIstO5XLd01h79WXI8b5WAFgiPvCPhkL66NsM_TKbD4qvT-P5xMD-dxEE6oIeiAnW2TZiLlLXPNPol-yVTvUFohvW72LGGH6dE/s1600/kanye-west-kissing-himself.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV35v5WKpAnMY087PyyvzRjoPed5XVa4LFN7BhoCNCLZIstO5XLd01h79WXI8b5WAFgiPvCPhkL66NsM_TKbD4qvT-P5xMD-dxEE6oIeiAnW2TZiLlLXPNPol-yVTvUFohvW72LGGH6dE/s400/kanye-west-kissing-himself.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
A recent photo of that idiot rapper known as Kanye West.<br /><br />If I have to see his arrogant mug every time I read the news, somewhere online or in newspapers, I only want to see a truthful representation of him every time. This photo is a very good representation of the "real" Kanye West.Damien-Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04985329901023930546noreply@blogger.com2