Rumination of the Day (27th December 2016)

Opinion Piece, Rumination, , , ,

EDUCATION

There seems to be a bit of a ruckus about the standard of education being doled out to our kids in school. People always like to bang on about the “3 Rs” but I often wonder – and I’ve now had 48 years to ponder the subject – if it’s not more than that. A real desire to immerse yourself in the full scope of education also comes into it, and I think that somewhere along the way, berween the traditional and contemporary schools of thought, that the real heed to tailor education to specific groups has been ignored.

I started school around 1959, and though I have little recognition of it, I do remember the little school house in Sylvania Rd, Sylvania Heights, and using slates and chalk. Around this time, Sylvania Heights Public School was built, and I was there from kindergarten to form 6. I spent 12 months at Gymea High School, before being sent to be a boarder at St Gregory’s Agricultural College at Campbelltown, to complete the last three years of my education. I hated school, and was one of those who said a definitive NO to a final two years, and was glad to get out at the end of 1969.

Okay, so we set the “3R’s” as the educational standard, but not all of us feel that way about it. I excelled at English and Social Studies/History at school, tolerated Geography, and loathed Arithmetic/Mathematics and Science. Not only did the subjects not interest me, I could see no value in them, and did really badly in them at exam time. My love of English & History has stated with me all my life, Science has held no place whatsoever, and my use of Mathematics has only ever been at the level of basics, as used in the retail trade. 

So, to me, it would have been of more benefit to me to only have been taught some basic modules of Science & Mathematics instead of years of it, most of which was a waste of time. Algebra, volumes, and that sine, cos & tan stuff was unintelligible to me then…and still is! I think most of us know roughly what directions our lives will take after leaving school, so surely more personalised and directed education would be of more benefit to us than 12-14 years of enforced subjects, most of which ends up being of no value. 

My life has revolved around English & History, so it is not surprising that I excelled in them. When I left school in 1969, one of the Marist Brothers, who tutored me in English, told me That with my imagination, and my ability to use words, that I shiuld take up writing. It took nearly 20 years for me to realise that he was right. Even in Primary school my compositions (often incorporating themes of Science Fiction and Fururism) were considered pretty over-the-top by my teachers. It is probably not surprising that in 2004 I finally obtained my Graduate Certificate in Writing, and also the realisation that I’m not really a story writer, but more inclined to articles, historical pueces, and opion pieces. Writing comes naturally to me, and the basis of an article can be stimulated by a single word, or thought. Likewise with my interest in History, a subject I excelled in all the way through school, often coming out at the top of the class.

The other subjects I did wellmin, though not part of the standard curriculum were Agriculture, and Wool Classing. Perhaps I should have been a farmer or grazier! Heaven knows but that with the right encouragement – not likely in my family – I may have gone on to do journalism.

So, I personally think we need to stop forcing our children tonundergo years of forced education in things that do not interest them. Yes, do the basics of the 3R’s  if necessary, but give more attention to tailoring education towards subjects that interest and excite them. Education should not be a chore, but something that stimulates you, and sets you up for the future.

Tim Alderman (2016)


 

Rumination of the Day (12th December 2016)

Opinion Piece, Rumination, , ,

FACEBOOK NEWS

 So what riveting and biased news has Facebook passed onto me in the last few weeks? Well, evidently some very bad muslims were kicking down Australian, New Zealand & British war graves…video evidence available to view. However, it’s bullshit, and never happened. Then there was the hue and cry over the guy punching out the kangaroo that attached both his dog, and him. Again, despite the impromptu nature of the attack, we have very clear and steady video of the incident. The general consensus, except from those who live their lives in bullshit land, is..fake! Then we have a whole string of memes telling people that I am going to wear my poppy (for Renembeance Day) despite being told I shouldn’t…except…wellll…nobody said you can’t! Another bullshit rumour trying to make muslims look bad. Then only a couple of days ago, a photo of a donut with odd writing as a decoration, and an outraged rant that muslims were now using donuts sold in schools to promote their dirty and evil causes. The writing on the donut is, in fact, elvish ie of no particular type. Don’t even start me on the ignoramuses that spout rubbish about halal certification, and Sharia law – I hate to disappoint you, but it won’t be introduced here. Now, of course, it’s Christmas – so we have all the memes demanding that it be called Christmas, and not a “holiday”.  Nobody has insisted on it NOT being called Christmas, nor called for a ban on Santa, lights, decoration or trees. I’d love to know where this all comes from, and though I call it Christnas from habit, to me it is just a holiday. You see, there is this particular “Christ” word in Christmas, and as an Atheist, I find that a bit off-putting. But all the same, I don’t see why “Christmas” or “holiday” is an issue. If you want to call it either one, or the other, then…go for it! Only anal retentives are going to say anything.

What concerns me most about most of this misinformation is the anti-Muslim slant of it all, making muslims seem like the bad guys who want to move here – or elsewhere – and destroy our culture. There is something nasty and evil about it. Opinion-creation via musinformation is just wrong.

I watched a documentary on Australian architect Glenn Mercutt only a week ago. Glenn was in the process of building a mosque here in Australia. During the building process, Glenn!0’s son, who had an incurable illness, took a turn for the worst, and was close to death. Glenn was deeply touched when the muslim community he was building the mosque for included his son in their prayers –  despite neither he, nor his son – being of the Islamic faith. My immediate thought was…why is nobody posting something positive like that! 

As much as I love social media, there is so much garbage & lies spread throughout my feed. People are so lazy now that they don’t bother to research if something is true or not – it’s just all taken at face value.

Next time you share a meme of this nature, do us all a favour…and don’t!

Tim Aldernan (2016)

Rumination of the Day (6th December 2016

Health Information, Nutrition, Opinion Piece, Rumination, , ,

56 NAMES FOR SUGAR

I don’t hate sugar per se, but I do hate how it is snuck into just about everything we eat. It is a highly addictive product, despite the sugar industry denying it – no shock there! The only way you can avoid sugar is to not shop in the centre of your supermarket! The less processed foods you eat, and the more you prepare yourself, the healthier you will be. Sure, you do go through withdrawal, and everything fresh & healthy tastes “wrong” for a while, but that passes, and once you adapt, it is hard to go back. I get posts in my feed of things like Malteser desserts, and Tim Tam’s and the such like – and all it does is put my teeth on edge when I think about how sweet they would be. 

When I did Nutrition as part of my Certificate III in Fitness, the tutor asked the class, during a lesson on sugar, what one thing would the body burn first to give you a burst of energy. I was the only one in the class who said…sugar! The human body is intrinsically lazy, and hares to expend energy to run itself, so it looks for the easy way out. Given the choice between sugar, and fat as an energy source – sugar wins because it is easier to burn. However, if you don’t burn it off, it stores it to burn later…thus you get fat.

The sugar industry itself is responsible for a multitude of misinformation, dishonest advertising, and self-funded health reports relling us sugar is not a baddie! It is all very underhanded, and badically caters to the lazy cook, and those who really just don’t care!

There is no harm in some sugar! Have an occasional slice of cake, or biscuit, or a dessert…just don’t do it daily. 

Barley malt
Dehydrated cane juice

Golden sugar

Molasses

Barbados sugar

Demerara sugar

Golden syrup 

Muscovado

Beet sugar

Dextran

Grape sugar

Panocha

Brown sugar

Dextrose

High fructose corn syrup

Powdered sugar

Buttered syrup

Diastatic malt

Honey

Raw sugar

Cane juice

Diatase

Icing sugar

Refiner’s syrup

Cane sugar

Ethyl maltol

Invert sugar

Rice syrup

Caramel

Free flowing brown sugars

Lactose

Sorbitol

Corn syrup

Fructose

Malt

Sorghum syrup

Corn syrup solids

Fruit juice

Maltodextrin

Sucrose

Confectioner’s sugar

Fruit juice concentrate

Maltose

Sugar (granulated)

Carob syrup

Galactose

Malt syrup

Treacle

Castor sugar

Glucose

Mannitol 

Terpinado sugar

Date sugar

Glucose solids

Maple syrup

Yellow sugar

Some of these you will recognize as sugar, but what about ethyl maltol and maltose? Manufacturers are sneaking these types of sugar into everyday products without the consumer knowing what they are eating or drinking. Even the most health-conscious of us consumes processed foods, even if just on the odd occasion. However if we don’t know what these sugars are called, and what they can do to our bodies, how can we make informed decisions? Is the answer to simply avoid processed foods altogether, or are we simply misunderstanding sugar and the effect it has on us?

Tim Alderman (2016)

Rumination of the Day (2nd December 2016)

Gay Interest, History, HIV/AIDS, Opinion Piece, Rumination, , , , , , ,

WORLD AIDS DAY

It’s the day after WAD, and as usual, I’m ruminating! For many years now I have been looking at how I now view HIV/AIDS – through the lense of objectivity. Emotion only muddles the issue, and history has a trail of misinformation, mixed objectives, venom and misunderstanding! 

Even recently I have encountered those who, for reasons known only to themselves, have never been able to move on! The hate is still alive, the dragons still circling. I could be one of these, who still feel that the experiences of the 80s & 90s are still alive, an uncompromising hard line that leaves me stranded in a time that has passed by. Fuck knows there is a lot in my past that I have never fully moved on from – family business that could, at any time in the past, have left me sitting in a gutter, needle dangling…or in a bar, in an alcoholic stupor – and fuck knows I flew very close to the latter at one stage! More so than many, I have reason enough to be bitter, to be a victim. My experience with AIDS has left me close to blind, and there are many who would agree that that is reason enough. But, as in my latter teens, with full knowledge of my families dysfunctionality, living with a solitary knowledge of my younger brothers horrendous death, of violence and unspoken secrets, of my being gay, I made a quiet vow to myself that I was not going to let it get the better of me, to smother me, to stop me being who I would be! So to with AIDS – my survival alone was an unexpected surprise – and blindness! To buckke under, to attribute blame, to become a victim, to allow it to hold me back, swallow me up, would be saying…I do not have the strength for this, the self-empowerment whereby I would become someone who even I didn’t recognise! 

To move on, one has to acknowledge that the past is just that – the past! Yes, what happened was dreadful – the hatred, the discrimination, the accusations, the blame, the misinformation, the segregation, the fear! We need to acknowledge – 40 years along now – that we were all scared shitless. Straight, gay, male, female, religious, non-religious, politicians, doctors, journalists, activists…ad infinitum…were all scared. Perhaps not since the scourges of the Black Death have we encountered something we all knew absolutely nothing about – not even those who, perhaps, should have known! And what does human nature do when it is faced with an unknown that can just kill at will, shows no mercy, is no respecter of life at all – it looks for scapegoats, attributes blame, hands out punishment! It just so happens that the scapegoat was the gay community, and given what was happening at that time, it perhaps should not have been surprising. Minority groups have a long history of misunderstanding, stigma, discrimination, hate and ignominy! I am not defending the direction it took…I’m not going to shoot myself in the foot…but the point is, it was quite a while back now, and as awful and relentless as it was, as a community we not only survived it, but we fought back with the tools to hand – knowledge, facts, patience and dogged determination. 

One can’t deny that some of the negatives from that era live on. There is still prejudice, discrimination, stigma and musunderstanding! But it is also true that we don’t have it on our own – just ask any person with Down Syndrome. To hang onto the hate, and all the other negatives from that period in our history is to hold no one back but yourself! You know, we all walked in the footsteps of those that suffered, those that died! But by walking in their footsteps, when their footsteps stopped…ours continued on! To live with the negativity is to deny that a lot of good, positive, beautiful things were still going on. The community still lived, loved, and laughed. We supported each other, we were staunch in the face of adversity, we celebrated the lives of those who died with a gusto that was ever born of love. If ever there was a time I was proud to be a member of the gay community, it was through the 20 years of that horror!

Okay, it damaged me! As a fanatical reader & writer, it chose to attack perhaps the most important assets I had – my eyes! But it also presented me with new opportunities, new roads to venture down, new challenges to tackle. I can’t carty the hate because, despite everything, my life has not stopped, nor my humour, my inquisitiveness, my talents, nor my ability to just get on with it. I no longer go to candlelight vigils, or other AIDS memorials. It is too raw, too emotion charged, to ready to rip open healed wounds. I don’t forget – those who died are too entrenched in my memories for that – but now I choose to remember in more gentle ways. What every single one of my dead friends would have wanted is for me to get on with my life. Once a year their ghosts are going to waft around, to cajole me to tears, to invoke memories of wonderful times that will stay with me forever. 

But I’ll wake up tomorrow, and the ghosts will be gone. And just as they wanted, my life goes on. Who am I to argue with them!

Tim Alderman (2016)

Rumination of the Day (1st December 2016)

Opinion Piece, Political, Rumination, , , ,

PAR,IAMENT HOUSE PROTEST

As much as our ineffective government is whinging, and despite that horrid & embarrassing Deputy PM, Barnaby Joyce, bleating on about the interruption to the “workings” of parliament, the protesters disrupting proceedings today, and drawing attention to the atrocious treatnent of those in our detention centres, and demanding the closing of same, it is – in fact – democracy in action! I, and nany others, applaud them!

Rumination of the Day (30th November 2016)

Article

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media has become, in some senses, the monster that ate itself! We all post and repost items (it happens on all, not just FB), and use status updates to vent, amuse, inform, educate, be tongue-in-cheek, and spread news. However, there are those who use it to post information on themselves that is often …more information than we want, or need, to know. If the subject isn’t something you would discuss with your parents, or over the counter at your corner store – then it shouldn’t be on FB! The miniscule, intimate details of your life…spread to everyone near or far on your friends list…can have serious repercussions on both yourself, and those commenting, even if done for the best of intentions.

This morning was a very good example. I rarely scroll through my FB feed – generally because I don’t have the time to meander – but today I did. There was a status update from someone on my (not very large) friends list, extolling their exasperation at…at the grand age of 36…not having had sex with another person for 10 years, and at their age was highly unlikely that anyone would want to have sex with him, then deriding his own body etc…you are probably familiar with this sort of thing, so get the gist. What I would call a cry-for-help update! Now, just to give this some persoective, this is someone who SENT ME a Friends request, after having seen me comment on another friends posts. I rarely accept friends requests from those I don’t know, but we had two mutual friends, and I also had seen him comment on the same friends posts, so I accepted it. 

So, we are not friends…and certainly not close friends…in the true sense of the word. So, I liked the post to show that I had read it, and started a comment. I could feel some empathy for him, as I’m sort of in the same place, only 27 years further down the line, and under different circumstances. As I was typing my well considered reply – mind you, at one stage I questioned myself on whether I should reply – Messenger notified me of a message. I had messaged another friend earlier, and thought it was a reply from him, so posted my comment and went to Messenger. Imagine the look on my face when I encountered the folliwing message from the person whose post I had just commented on…”gee thanks for liking my current situation you fucking asshole! I hope you have a life if fucking misery. you deserve it you shallow asshole!”. Taken aback isn’t quite the word, and though it didn’t make me angry, it certainly cast a shadow on the day! Not only was this from someone I didn’t personally know…and would have been unacceptable from someone I knew…but from someone who, 5 minutes earlier, had been basically begging for understanding and advice! I shouldn’t have to point out that not only is this an outrageous over-reaction, it is just downright rude, and degrading! Surprisingly, I sent a very polite reply, saying I liked the post just as an acknowledgement, I had commented empathetically, and I was sorry he had taken it the wrong way. 

Just above his current, abusive message was another message I had received from him…the only other message, I will point out…at 9.30pm in August…”you is sux you cooel marinated chicken dez khan with wings and dryweave. reeeeeaally?!”. What it means, what it is about, or what it is in reply to, I have no idea! I do recollect that I chose to ignore it. I really don’t know what to think of it…full-stop! Drunk, and sent to the wrong person? Who knows!

But it does prove the point. Be careful what you post, and if you do post intimate details of your life, be prepared for the fact that not everyone may be sympathetic. And an emoticon is just that! If you rule your life on what emoticons people respond with, you really do need to get a life! Social media isn’t there to be a minefield!

So, its been a few hours now, and no apology, for what is basically an abusive, bullying message over nothing, has been forthcoming. For my part, I’ll remain polite and inform him that he is now not in my good books and is, in fact…

Unfollowed, and blocked. I have just done myself a favour, and put the sun back in the day!

Tim Alderman (2016)

Rumination of the Day (29 November 2016)

Opinion Piece, Rumination, , , ,

DESPOTS

So, Fidel Castro kicked the bucket! I know there are those out there gnashing their teeth, weeping and wailing over his death but hey – it’s just another dictator gone! These megalomaniacs who seem to be under the delusion that they have a right to just take over countries, wipe out any opposition, and kill innocent people in what is nothing more than a grab for power for personal aggrandisement, manipulation, and power play deserve what they get. That they brainwash almost entire populations into thinking that what they do is right  is beyond comprehension!

The 20th & 21st centuries have been rife with them, more so than any other time in human history! Some were outside my lifetime – Hitler, Lenin, Stalin,Tojo, Mussolini – but there have been, and are, so many in my lifetime even I can’t keep track. Idi Amin Dada, Pol Pot, Robert Mugabe, Mao Zedong, Kim Jong-il (and now his half-witted son), Saddam Hussein, Chiang Kai-Shek, Ferdinand Marcos (who would have been a lot wealthier if he curbed his Imelda’s shoe obsession), Kim Il-Sung, Francisco Franco, Ho Chi Minh, Muammar el- Gaddafi, Nikita Khrushchev, Bashar al-Assad, Hun Sen, Pervez Musharraf, Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, Augusto Pinochet, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Suharto, Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini, Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, Hafez al-Assad, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, António de Oliveira Salazar, Alberto Fujimori Fujimori, Slobodan Milošević, Fulgencio Batista, Juan Domingo Perón, Manuel Noriega, General Tito Lutwa Okello, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Papa Doc Duvalier,m, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz…and dozens of others I haven’t even heard of, have spent decades subjugating, killing, torturing, brainwashing, and propagandaing their way through peoples lives, more often than not holding populations to ransom, forcing them into poverty and misery as they rob their countries treasuries dry, as they live lives of extravagence and lucury. They are so caught up in their own world of megalomania and big-headed autocracy that they can’t even see their own vice and corruption. What’s worse – they actually think they matter! Along with religion, they can be added to the short list of causes of the most human deaths and misery. Between the two, multitudinous millions have died, or dragged into lives of extreme degradation. Torture, and the most agonising of deaths was made to seem normal, a spectator sport, even! No amount of sanctions, cutting political ties, or negotiating seems to stop these feelingless warmongers. 

So, Fidel Cadtro died, eh! Not one single tear will be shed here!

Tim Alderman (2016)

Rumination of the Day (28 November 2016)

Opinion Piece, Rumination,

RUMINATE

The World of Psychology would say this, wouldn’t they! I wonder if they ruminated on it…”When people ruminate, they over-think or obsess about situations or life events, such as work or relationships. Research has shown that rumination is associated with a variety of negative consequences, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, binge-drinking and binge-eating.Jan 20, 2011″,

Daily (Or When The Mood Takes Me) Gripe: The Disgrace of the Tasmanian Salmon Farming Big Guns- Tassal!

Article, General Interest, Health Information, Opinion Piece, , , ,

4 Corners Monday 31st October 2016 – Big Fish 

On last nights 4 Corners, we were presented with an investigation into the big wigs of salmon farming in Tasmania, and what was revealed is everything that is wrong with big corporations, not just here but worldwide. The lack of accountability, and the culture of denial for these companies is no longer something that can be hidden in plain sight.
To quote from my Facebook post just an hour after watching this  gobsmacking investigation where a serious  issue is treated like a game by Tassal –  “Lies, no transparency, lies, huge profits, lies, environmental vandalism to the once pristine waters around Tassie, lies, setting up “plants” for the 4 Corners interview, lies, ruining other businesses through their practices, lies, over-populating salmon farms, lies, denial of everything, and lies. Did I mention lies? And as to the WWF – just like the Heart Tick, it’s all up for sale under the guise of “donations” – provided the WWF can see fit to bestow its logo upon you…or as long as you can afford it. Corporate corruption is just par for the course these days, with government and its agencies seemingly turning a blind eye! Thank heaven for concerned citizens, whistleblowers, and those who are so fed up with it all that they just give the big FUCK YOU to them!

Oh..and in case you didn’t know, your lovely pink farmed salmon is coloured chemically through the fish food…they even get to choose the shade of pink! 

I am so glad I hate salmon, so not helping towards the profits of these unethical, immoral corporations. What an eye-opener…and unfortunately, none of it a shock! Let’s hope the pot has had a good stirring!”

Tassal are currently in the process of gaining permision to expand their salmon farming in bays along the Tasmanian shoreline. The environmental impact of what will become over-farming is dividing the community, but as always local government, state govrrnment and related agencies appear to be ignoring impact reports, and personal attempted interventions from those both experienced in the industry, and in several cases those impacted on a oersonal level by the current aggressive actions by Tassal.

The amount of fish excrement, and residue from feeding pellets, has to have a detrimental effect on what is currently a pristine environment, sitting on a knife edge. It doesn’t take a lot of common sense to see that things could – and have been – be tipped over the edge. That 4 Corners came to town obvioysly wasn’t a welcome intrusion “Four Corners doesn’t come down unless the community is concerned, I get that… I would be happier if we just slid under your radar and you hadn’t been here, but you’re here.” Company CEO. Obviously some Tassal employees are in the job just fot the pay – and not company loyalty – as several leaked documents from Tassal showed an attempt at subterfuge as far as the investigative team were concerned. Not only was a 50-page how-to-handle-Four-Corners manual produced by them, but most tellingly was a list of local big wigs who were “encouraged” to offer their support of Tassal in a contrived meeting that was rigged in their favour. One has to wonder just what inducements were offered by Tassal to gain their endorsement!

Even worse was a mussel farming small business that had been put out of business by Tassal’s intensive farming methods. A deadly sludge produced by cleaning methods on the salmon farms had coated and killed the mussels. Not only did the farm go broke, but a marriage was destroyed. Tassal, obviously not afraid to take advantage of a situation, offered to buy out the mussel farm leases – but with caveats attached. Most notable was the requirement to silence on the matter, that it was never to be spoken about, nor were they to denigrate Tassal. The poor ex-owner of the mussel farm was sick of carrying the burden around, and broke the caveat by speaking out against them. We need more people like this in the world! 

But perhaps the most disappointing – though not really coming as a shock – was the attitude and lack of ethics of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Australia. We have known for some time now that organisations like this – and the Heart Tick is another – get funding from selling their logo to put on products distributed by corporations like Tassal – with no impunity! This organisation is supposedly about protecting the environment, and the wildlife within the environs. However, it would appear that money is more important than ethics, despite knowing that their logo on a product is, from the publics point of view, a reason to select that product for purchase. What a savage deception! The organisations we turn to to provide protection in the environment against the violations of big business (who only care about shareholders and profits) is disillusioning! They are really no better than those offering “donations” to procure an endorsement that is, as it turns out, just a joke. WWF Australia did a total fail with their attempts to validate why Tassal were allowed to use their logo!

The sad thing is that once again, big business is bulldozing its way through the process, offering the community much needed jobs and money…but at what cost! Often, as we know, the end does not justify the means. Tassal are, like so many corporations now, using language and trends to portray their businesses in a positive light. They tout their transparency (at the opaque end of the scale) and their environmental “sustainability” and “best practice” like badges of honour, meanwhile hiding behind the semantics, and self-reporting (all in-house) to subvert the outcome to something that is less than desirable, or accountable  Producing salmon is big business and the industry is reaping big profits with plans to turn it into a billion dollar industry within 15 years. “”I would say that salmon farming is clean and green though it’s not a term that I’d like to use. I would say that it’s a responsibly farmed product and I think we do it in an environmentally responsible way.” Company spokesperson”.

Thankfully, I do not like salmon, so feel I can assume the high moral ground…don’t take that seriously, please! However, finding out what went into the feeding pellets…some ingredients even unknown by the employee intervieed – would positively turn your stomach. I encountered a similar situation with dogs kibble several years ago, and I now read ingredients listings, and pay more for quality kibble. That there is a chemical colouring agent included in the feed should be of concern to everyone. “If a consumer were to see a salmon fillet that was a pale grey or a white, chances are they wouldn’t buy it.” Lawyer!

There are those who care – members of the local community, environmentalists, ecologists, whistleblowers, and those whose livlihoods have been destroyed by the bullying tactics of big business like Tassal. While empty-mouthing platitudes about “the industry pulling  together”, are really just interested in their own profits, and giving shareholders a dividend. It is a sad state of affairs.

Tim Alderman (C) 2016