Solar Energy Guide for Students

Have you ever wondered why the world isn’t taking advantage of the energy that our sun offers us? It’s free and it’s always there. Unlike natural gas or oil, which gets depleted, solar energy is clean and renewable.

Such energy will still be around, even when we humans won’t be. Other renewable energy sources include hydroelectricity and wind, or the use of water to run turbines to generate electricity. If you’re interested in solar energy, here is a guide for you.

Solar Energy Guide for Students

What is solar energy?

The sun has been our source of life. Most of the energy on Earth comes from the sun. This star keeps us warm, helps us grow plants to consume and to feed our animals. Flora and fauna from the past depended on the sun’s energy to thrive too.

When they died, their bodies broke down and became fossil fuel. Today, this product today is usually refined and used to provide energy for machines and vehicles. Unfortunately, this energy source won’t last since it’s not renewable. This is where solar energy comes in. Even if you run your vehicle or machines all day, every day, you cannot deplete the energy of the sun – that is, if we can harness this energy effectively. Solar power is the use of solar energy directly to produce electricity or heat.

Research on the importance of solar energy

In harnessing the energy of the sun, we must be very careful. If it’s not done right, it can affect the environment negatively. For instance, in a study done by a professor and his students, they found out that a huge amount of valuable agricultural land and forest habitat is disappearing because of solar farms development. They conducted this research to examine the effects of solar farms on rural areas. According to the findings, the land used by the development of solar farms is equal to about a third of Worchester city’s land area!

They also found that in today’s solar farms’ sighting regulations, the developers didn’t take into account the environmental effects. This means that the development of solar farms has caused the loss of forests and the environment’s fragmentation, both of which aren’t good for various species.

top universities to study renewable energy

In addition, the researchers voiced their concerns about transforming agricultural fields to solar farms since doing this will take the lands out of production. It was further discovered that solar farms could range in size from the equivalent of one-fifth of the size of a football field to the equivalent of twenty-six football fields. The researchers also suggested that there is a chance to encourage more solar panel development on the rooftops of urban areas where there is the highest demand for electricity.

Learn about solar energy through essay samples

Whenever you try to learn about important issues for a college assignment, you need to find sources that provide reliable information for students. For example, when you’re learning about solar energy and you have an assignment, you need to do some research. If you’re stuck, you can always reach out to do my research paper service StudyClerk. Here, you can go through many solar energy articles for students that will help you while you’re learning solar energy and how it affects us.

Harnessing solar energy for electricity

Photovoltaic cells absorb light and convert it into electricity directly. A group of these cells is commonly called a solar panel. Many of us have seen these solar panels installed on electric road signs, parking areas, or in houses to provide light.

Houses powered by solar panels now purchase less electricity from the utility companies since they produce some electricity on their own. If they have more solar panels, they can even generate more power than they need. In some states, this could mean that people can run their electric meter backward, then give their excess electricity to the rest of the people in the community.

Harnessing solar energy for heat

You can use solar power to heat air or water and you can do this actively or passively. With passive heating systems, you would use solar energy without using mechanical parts for moving the heated air or water elsewhere. You may include this passive heating in the design before construction.

Solar power is renewable energy generated by the sun in the form of either thermal or electric energy. We can capture solar energy in different ways but the most common of these is through the use of photovoltaic solar panel systems that convert the rays of the sun into energy we can use.


Why efforts to help victims of trafficking are failing

Most countries have anti-trafficking laws, policies and programmes to prevent human trafficking. There are also international treaties to address the problem. Yet, the trend is still thriving.
Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and control of a person using force and other methods of coercion to exploit them. It could be through prostitution or sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced marriage, indentured servitude, removal and sale of human organs. It is also described as a form of modern slavery.

Human trafficking affects millions of people globally. Victims are vulnerable due to poverty, war and conflict, political instability, natural disasters, unemployment and gender inequality.
Human trafficking involves severe exploitation and inhumane ordeals. Victims may experience physical and mental torture, malnourishment, rape, physical confinement, forced drug abuse, forced abortion or poor labour conditions.
When people leave, or are freed, from these situations, they tend to have an array of physical and psychological needs. Neglect of their needs can hinder their reintegration into society. Survivors of human trafficking may suffer from fatigue, sexually transmitted infections, depression, anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks and substance addiction.

Some countries offer rehabilitation and reintegration services to support survivors and promote their well-being.
Nigeria, for example, has done so. It sees rehabilitation as essential to protect the human rights of survivors and to help them recover after trafficking. Empowering survivors is a process in which they cease to be victims and start being in control of their lives.

Rehabilitation has become a core component of the Nigerian government’s anti-trafficking policies, but only limited efforts have been made to assess and help survivors in Nigeria. To address this gap, a research into the experiences and perceptions of survivors was
done and discovered that the government’s rehabilitation efforts seem to simultaneously empower and disempower survivors. Understanding how well the programmes work is key to helping survivors and preventing re-trafficking.

The programmes

Nigeria’s rehabilitation programmes target the immediate, ongoing and long-term needs of people who have been trafficked. Their goal is to facilitate physical and mental recovery, empowerment and social inclusion.

Providing survivors with shelter, personal hygiene products, physical healthcare, mental healthcare and counselling are some of the ways to do this. Legal counsel, education, vocational training and employment are also part of rehabilitation.
Nigeria has a reputation as one of the major origin, transit and destination countries for human trafficking. The US State Department’s Office that monitors and combats trafficking in persons in 2017 placed the country in the ‘Tier 2 Watchlist’ of trafficked people globally.

The government had enacted a law against trafficking in 2003. That year it also established the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. The impact of the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes offered by the government and civil society organisations are hereby analysed based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork in Lagos where over 150 female survivors of trafficking aged between 20 and 46 were interviewes. They were all former beneficiaries of rehabilitation programmes.
Also, officials in the government and civil society who were directly involved in the design and execution of the programmes were interviewed.

What’s working, what’s not

It was discovered that various government agencies and local non-governmental and international organisations collaborate to provide services. This synchronised approach is useful, especially in a context of limited capacity as it allows for the use of core competencies of the different stakeholders.

It was also found out that the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes in Nigeria simultaneously empower and disempower survivors. Service providers tend to see and treat trafficked persons as vulnerable victims without agency. And they fail to adequately address long-term needs.
Lastly, investigation shows that regardless of the protection services that survivors could access, Nigeria’s socio-economic conditions limit the reintegration of survivors into the society.

Next steps

The government and civil society stakeholders now lean towards a human rights approach in their efforts to protect trafficked persons. But the tendency to treat survivors as helpless victims is doing more harm than good for their reintegration.

Over-emphasis on reaction rather than prevention and the poor socio-economic conditions in the country also limit the programmes’ effectiveness. The result is that the government’s ability to support survivors is limited.
In moving forward, collaborative efforts among stakeholders should focus on operational and logistical priorities as well as rehabilitation outcomes. Crucially, investment is needed in monitoring and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the programmes.

In addition, most of the support tends to be geared towards addressing immediate or short-term needs. Addressing long-term needs is crucial for survivors’ ability to avoid re-trafficking and for their full reintegration into society. A focus on long-term needs would give survivors better control over their lives.

Finally, service providers need to change their perception of survivors of human trafficking as passive, vulnerable victims. This perception accounts for the disempowering elements of the programmes. Survivors should rather be viewed and treated as rational people with the ability to make sound and beneficial decisions for themselves.

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Use Cases

Artificial Neural Networks 101: The Business Applications of ANN

This article explains the definition of an artificial neural network, how ANN and deep learning work, and real-life business applications of neural networks.
Halime Yilmaz
5 minutes

The Business Applications of Artificial Neural Networks

Today, companies worldwide can offer their customers state-of-the-art goods and services that would have been unimaginable even a few decades ago because of the widespread adoption of AI and ML.

Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms are used in almost every facet of business, from the largest corporations to small retailers specializing in hard-to-find items.

Because of their unique architecture and comprehensive set of features, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been instrumental in developing a wide range of game-changing technologies and services.

According to the findings of recent studies, the use of artificial neural networks in business has seen a phenomenal growth of 270% over the last few years.

Face recognition programs, stock market forecasting, weather prediction, healthcare, and signature verification/handwriting recognition are all examples of areas where ANNs are employed extensively by professionals today.

In this article, we will explain in detail what an artificial neural network is, how neural networks and deep learning work, and some real-life business applications of neural networks.

What is the Artificial Neural Networks?

First, we need to know what neural networks are. A neural network is an algorithm that can learn itself. An artificial neural network (ANN) is an effort to mimic the human brain's network of neurons so that a computer can acquire knowledge and make decisions with human-level accuracy. ANN simply imitates the way the human brain processes information.

Creating ANNs involves reprogramming traditional computers to mimic the behavior of interconnected neural cells. They are designed to function similarly to how the brain processes information, to the point of being built up of many essential processing pieces linked and stacked on top of one another.

The result is an adaptive system that allows computers to correct their errors and improve over time. Artificial neural networks are an effort to enhance the efficiency with which complex issues such as document summarization and facial recognition can be solved.

Neural Networks and Deep Learning: How They Work

Nodes in a neural network are linked to one another in various ways. The input layer is usually at the very bottom of the network, while the output layer is at the very top. In most cases, the neural network will include many layers.

Most neural networks consist of three different types of neurons: input, hidden, and output.

Likewise, developers use multi-layer neural networks to divide up processing into layers that may operate in parallel.

  • The human brain's neurons are a good analogy for the input layer of a neural network.
  • Like the synapses in the brain, this hidden layer plays a crucial role in processing information before it is sent to the next layer. Synaptic weight is the amplitude or strength of a link between nodes; artificial neurons in the hidden layer analyze a collection of inputs using this measure.
  • The output in the output layer results from applying a transfer function to the weighted input. What you and your customers will see is this.

Check this article out for further details on the value of deep learning to a company.

Why Do We Use Neural Networks?

Neural networks are perfect for extensive data-based systems because they can act like people and solve many problems.

Since ANNs can make sense of unclear, conflicting, or incomplete information, they can use controlled procedures when no exact models are available.

Statista says that global data volumes reached almost 100,000 petabytes each month in 2017 and are expected to reach 181 zettabytes by 2025.

Organizations, people, and devices generate a massive amount of data, which neural networks can now use to find meaning.

  • Changed Learning

Neural networks, like people, have complex and non-linear interactions and build on what they already know. Software, for example, can teach kids math and language arts through adaptive learning.

  • Big Data Analysis

Neural networks can help a lot when it comes to analyzing big data sets. Neural networks use algorithms to find patterns and relationships between variables that might not be obvious with other tools for analyzing data.

  • Self-Organization

Neural networks are perfect for dealing with complex visual problems in medical imaging because they can group and sort a lot of data. People often have trouble understanding these images, but a neural network can learn to automatically group the different body parts.

  • Operating in Real-Time

Neural networks can sometimes give solutions in real-time, as can be seen with self-driving cars and drones that can find their way around.

  • Pattern Recognition

Neural networks are very good at recognizing faces because they can learn to recognize patterns in facial features and expressions. Because of this, they are perfect for security systems that need to look at the live video footage.

What Real-Life Business Applications Do Neural Networks Have?

Many forms of data, such as pictures, videos, documents, and databases, can be evaluated using neural networks. They can also take any information without needing to be specifically programmed to understand it.

Since neural networks have a broad, generic view of addressing problems, their potential uses are almost boundless. Today, neural networks are widely used in fields as diverse as image/pattern recognition, self-driving car trajectory prediction, face identification, data mining, email spam filtering, medical diagnostics, and cancer research. These days, neural networks can be used in various situations, and their widespread acceptance directly results.

Neural networks are used everywhere, from marketing and social media to finance. Let's look at some real-world examples of how ANN can be used in business:

Neural Networks in Law and Order

Facial recognition systems are growing in popularity as a powerful monitoring method, despite legal restrictions on their usage in certain areas. These methods include comparing digital photographs of people's faces to an extensive database. This neural networking service helps facilitate selective admission to secure facilities, such as an office, and for notifying authorities of the presence of fugitives and enforcing mask regulations.

The most popular kind of neural network for this task is the convolutional kind since it is well-suited to handling images. The database stores many photos that are later analyzed during the learning process. Practical assessments are guaranteed by using sample layers in the neural network. In doing so, the models are optimized, and reliable outcomes are ensured.

Cameralyze’s AI-Based Face Recognition Solution provides a one-of-a-kind experience by detecting, tracking, identifying, and analyzing faces with a high level of accuracy and performance while requiring no coding on the user's part.

You will be able to deliver unmatched levels of security, safety, and performance when you use the Cameralyze Facial Recognition System.

Neural Networks in Marketing and eCommerce

Using large datasets for neural network training is a cutting-edge area of data science. While the technology behind this has been known for decades, it was only with the advent of Big Data that its true marketing potential became apparent.

Most applications of ANNs can be found in predictive analytics. The use of neural networks in business can help marketers predict the success of campaigns by identifying trends in the outcomes of previous campaigns.

For instance, eCommerce sites like Amazon and AliExpress employ AI to display relevant and suggested items to customers. Data is compiled based on how users interact with the system. The system uses an algorithm to determine which things are most like the ones you've searched for. Alternatively, it can identify users' tastes and interests and display relevant products.

The following are some of how marketers can profit from the usage of technologies to discover and contact clients more effectively:

  • Predictions of Consumer Behavior
  • Learning how to identify and cater to increasingly nuanced consumer subsets
  • Incorporating marketing automation.
  • Content generation

Neural Networks in Finance

Risks in the financial markets were far more difficult to foresee in the past. This is no longer the case due to neural networks, which have significantly reduced the historically high volatility of financial markets. Financial executives use multi-layer perceptron neural networks for precise, real-time stock market forecasting. These methods draw on stock prices, loss-to-income ratios, and annualized returns from the past to arrive at the correct conclusions.

Neural Networks in Social Media

Social media permeates almost every aspect of human existence. Many social media users are impressed by the platform's apparent ability to "read their thoughts," but this is the work of neural networks.

An everyday use case for neural network resources is analyzing user behavior. Neural networks process and evaluate vast amounts of user-generated material at an unprecedented velocity. All user actions inside the app will be analyzed to extract the most relevant data. With this data, advertisers can provide highly relevant messages to users based on their interests, preferences, and previous purchases.

Neural Networks in Security

The field of security and safety is also beginning to use neural networks.

This means that they can be put to use in:

  • Preventing fraud
  • Detecting and containing malware and viruses
  • Prioritize notifications for relevant people.
  • Detecting spam
  • Content moderation

Content moderation is an example of how neural networks are used in business security.

For instance, Cameralyze's Content Moderation solution enables you to quickly handle NSFW content issues by regulating and screening all content in real time. It can identify offensive content in real-time, whether video, pictures, text, or gifs.

Cameralyze is a simple tool that can be integrated into your current process to help your human moderation team perform better. The procedure takes less than three minutes from start to end (including installation). Cameralyze stands out from the competition because of its easy-to-use, no-code artificial intelligence architecture. Cameralyze can provide an operational solution because of its robust design tool. Give it a try now!

As we've seen, neural networks are systems or hardware meant to imitate the functioning of human neurons. In addition, we conducted research to determine the function of neural networks and their practical use in the business world.

Neural networks and deep learning are the future of every industry, as you can see. These technological advancements facilitate decision-making, workflow automation, fraud detection, and other crucial activities. And they will constantly be evolving.

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Search for a name or a RGB value RRR,GGG,BBB or a Hex value #rrggbb

Color composition

Percentage of source colors needed to create this color
RGB and CMYK are different color models: RGB is additive and it's used on screens, while CMYK is subtractive and it's used on prints. RGB uses white as a combination of all primary colors and black as the absence of light. CMYK, conversely, uses white as the natural color of the print background and black as a combination of colored inks.
RGB composition
CMYK composition

Color conversion

Representations of this color for each color space
Every color can be represented by a combination of different values with different meanings.
RGB open »
Red Green Blue
59.22% 171.76% 0.39%
RGB - Normalized
Red Green Blue
0.59 1.72 0
HSL open »
Hue Saturation Lightness
99.41° 615.49% 86.08%
HSL - Normalized
Hue Saturation Lightness
0.28 6.15 0.86
HWB open »
Hue Whiteness Blackness
99.41° 0.39% -71.76%
HWB - Normalized
Hue Whiteness Blackness
0.28° 0% -0.72%
Hue Saturation Value / Brightness
99.41° 99.77% 171.76%
HSV / HSB - Normalized
Hue Saturation Value / Brightness
0.28 1 1.72
CMYK open »
Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
66% 0% 100% -72%
Y Cb Cr
1.19 -0.67 -0.42
137.01 255.08 42.04
L a b
142.49 -118.34 127.63

Web Colors

Colors can be used on a website using CSS
Use one of these values interchangeably for any CSS property that accept a color as a value: color, background-color, border-color.
rgb(151, 438, 1)
hsl(99, 615%, 86%)

Tints, Shades, and Tones

Mixing black and white to change color brightness
A tint is a mixture of a color with white, this will increase lightness. A shade is a mixture with black and this increases darkness. A tone is a mixture of a color with gray, it's used to control saturation.
Tints of color #971b601

A tint is obtained by adding white to a color. This process reduces darkness.
Shades of color #971b601

A shade is obtained by adding black to a color. This process increases darkness.
Tones of color #971b601

A tone is produced either by mixing a color with grey, or by both tinting and shading.

Color Harmonies

Schemes of colors that work well together
Harmonies are color combinations on the color wheel created choosing colors at specific angles calculated from the original hue.
Complementary Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

180° - Complementary color scheme is made using the opposite color in the color wheel (180 degrees difference). It creates the strongest contrast and each color stands out. The opposite color of 151, 438, 1 is 285, 1, 438.
Triad Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

120° - Triad color scheme is made dividing the color wheel in three. Each color is 120 degrees apart from the other. Usually one color is the dominant and the other two colors are used as accents. If 151, 438, 1 is the dominant color, its accents would be 1, 154, 438 and 438, 1, 154.
Square Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

90° - Square color scheme is made dividing the color wheel in four parts. Each color is 90° degrees apart from the other. This scheme is very balanced because it spans equally along the color wheel creating two warm colors (285, 1, 438, 438, 67, 1) and two cool colors (151, 438, 1, 1, 372, 438).
Adjacent Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

Adjacent / Analogous / Analogic

± 30° - Adjacent color scheme is made picking colors near each other in the color wheel. The other colors are 30 degrees apart from the main color. This scheme is very harmonious and it is useful for having multiple colors of similar hue. With 151, 438, 1 we can pick 372, 438, 1 at 30° clockwise and 1, 438, 67 at 30° counterclockwise.
Split Complementary Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

Split Complementary

180° ± 30° - Split complementary color scheme is like complementary scheme but instead of picking the exact opposite it uses two colors at ± 30° from the complementary. This scheme has a strong visual contrast but lower tension than the complementary scheme.
Rectangle Tetradic Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

Rectangle / Tetradic

60° - Rectangle color scheme is made up of two complementary pairs. The first pair is like the complementary scheme, the second one is tilted 60 degrees.
- 60° - The color scheme variant is made by tilting the second complementary scheme in the opposite direction.
Pentagram Harmony Color Scheme of #971b601

72° - Pentagram color scheme is full of color, it spans over the color wheel and every color is 72 degrees apart from each other. It is very useful when you need a lot of colors that go well together.


English language Uncategorized

Variations on a theme

Q: My grandma has a question about the word “formidable.” She’s read that it has two meanings that are opposite of each other, and she was wondering if that’s correct.

A: “Formidable” has three related meanings: (1) arousing fear or apprehension; (2) inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder (similar to “impressive”); (3) difficult to undertake or overcome, as in “a formidable challenge.”

None of the meanings are really opposites; they’re just variations on a theme.

The source of “formidable,” which has been in English since the early 1500s, is the Latin formidare (to fear or dread).

The words “awe” and “wonder” in the second meaning above were once negative terms, since they meant fear and dread. “Wonderful,” odd as this may seem, once was a negative word, and “awful” still is.

But some words have truly opposing meanings. They’re called “contronyms.” Examples are “cleave,” “sanction,” and “oversight,” which all have opposing meanings.

I’ve written about words like these before on the blog. Here a link to a posting from last year and here’s a link to one from two years ago.

By the way, the pronunciation of “formidable” may be changing in the United States, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.).

Traditionally, the first syllable has been stressed, but an increasing number of Americans have begun accenting the second syllable, a common variant pronunciation in British English.

American Heritage lists both pronunciations as standard English, but its Usage Panel overwhelmingly prefers the traditional one.

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Lebanon's Wael Hmaidan From IndyACT Reports From Copenhagen While "Saving the Planet"

wael-hmaidan-indyact-climate-change-lebanonIf you read any story this week make it this one: What could be the most important event of the next decade, world leaders and activists are meeting as we speak in Copenhagen, Denmark to lay the foundations of a plan to stop climate change.

On the forefront of representing the Arab world, and criticizing the oil-producing ones, is Wael Hmaidan, the executive director of IndyACT. We covered Hmaidan and recent protests at the pre-Copenhagen event in Barcelona, where IndyACT helped draw attention to the fact that Arabs are more than oil.

Green Prophet sits down with Hmaiden for a few minutes, when he’s not sleeping or busy campaigning for climate change action at Copenhagen.

What’s your organization’s goals at Copenhagen?
IndyACT as part of the global civil society is campaigning for a strong and ambitious treaty that would save us from catastrophic climate change impacts that could mean the end of human civilization. IndyACT, as the only organization from the Arab region, also works on insuring that the region strongly and positively engage the negotiations process.

Copenhagen is considered one of our last chances to achieve the a global agreement that would save human civilization. According to the UN, we have less than 10 years to radically change our lives to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change. So our goal for Copenhagen is ‘to save the planet’.

What’s the feeling on the ground? Excitement, things happening? Boring policy talk?
IndyACT has a delegation of more than 40 individuals in Copenhagen. We have 10 climate policy experts that follow on policy discussions, review text, conduct policy analysis, produce policy suggestions, and lobby delegates. We also have 15 youth activists from across the Arab region that organize daily activities to inspire and push country delegates toward strong action. IndyACT also has a communication team of five that communicate the work the policy team and activists to media, supporters, delegations and other related stakeholders. IndyACT also brought media representatives, NGOs, VIPs from the Arab region in order to increase the region’s involvement in climate change issues.

Therefore, our days are never boring, and every day there is something new coming out of the process or out of the NGOs. Nevertheless, many other feelings are felt on the ground. There is a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, a lot of indifference, a lot of sadness. Delegates from small island states cry, while some other delegates have no concern whatsoever.

Which Middle East countries have the most to lose from these talks. Which have the most to gain?
Knowing that climate change the existence of human civilization, no one can say that they will lose from the talks (unless they fail of course). Everyone on this planet will benefit from a strong and ambitious climate treaty. Nevertheless, some oil exporting Arab countries, like Saudi Arabia, consider the fight against climate change as a threat to their oil trade, and thus try hard to weaken the outcome. IndyACT does not consider that Saudi Arabia is working for the interest of their country, nor the planet. Eventually, oil is a limited resource, and it will end one day.

Some say that Canada (tar sands) are more dangerous than Saudi oil pollution for global warming. What are your thoughts on that? Anyone talking about it?
Definitely Canada should in no-way start mining the tar sands. We are entering a new era, a new way of life, and a new mode of energy production. We need to slowly stop our addiction to all fossil fuels, including coal, oil and tar sands. The more we invest in these conventional energy sources, the less we move away from a healthy and safe future.

How is Middle East representation? Bumping into anyone from the region?
IndyACT policy experts constantly (many times during the day) meet with Arab delegates, and discuss developments, ideas, suggestions, etc. We do not only lobby Arab countries. We also constantly meet with delegations from Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia. We also constantly coordinate with small island states, to insure that their survival is secured. IndyACT team has on several occasions achieved significant change in country positions. We also have helped introduce new ideas that were adopted by several countries. It is very exciting to read new text and find your suggestions in it.

Also IndyACT activists constantly talk to delegates during their activities. They do influential stunts that hopefully would inspire country delegations. (Photos of stunts available)

Has IndyACT played any special role, led any debates, or started any protests at the talks? Do tell.
IndyACT is recognized as a leading organization in the climate negotiations. We play central part on almost all levels. We lead within several global networks, and with four other NGOs (Greenpeace, WWF, David Suzuki Foundation, and Germanwatch) have produced 8 months ago a full legal agreement for countries to use as a template.

Let me outline a full-day for IndyACT in the negotiations:

We usually wake up around 5:30am, and head directly to the meeting center (most of the time without breakfast).

7am is our daily coordination meeting for the whole IndyACT team, where we give briefing on what happened the day before and what each team did. Then we discuss what we will do today, and any relevant information that the team needs to know.

8am we split and go to coordination meeting with other coalitions and partners, such as the youth coalition, gender coalition, etc.

9am youth start their activities (and continue like this for the rest of the day), while policy team starts talking to arriving delegations, before the sessions start at 10. Someone from IndyACT attends the 9am political coordination group of the NGO network, CAN (climate action network).

10am sessions start, so some of the policy team attends these sessions to gather intelligence, while other policy team members continue lobbying delegates, analyzing new material, organize bilateral meetings with key delegations.

The above continuous till 7pm.

Then the different teams start doing their meetings, where the activists plan activities for the second day, the policy team coordinate our strategy, etc. We also meet with different partners and country delegations till late night. We usually have dinners with delegations.

At 12 midnight the coordinating team (head of delegation, youth coordinator, policy coordinator, communication team coordinator, logistics officer and administration officer) meets to make sure that everything is going smoothly and effectively.

Yes… We are lucky if we get five hours of sleep. All of this just for the joy of making a difference.

To read more about Hmaiden and IndyACT, visit their site. Thanks Wael!

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Who is Buddha God?

It is important to understand that the followers of Buddhism do not acknowledge the presence of the supreme deity. Gautama Buddha is considered as the founder of Buddhism and is equated to being a learned man and the term Buddha also means enlightenment. Nowhere is Gautama Buddha equated to God. The path of enlightenment is attained by using mortality, wisdom, and meditation. As a result, Buddhists attempt to reach the state of Nirvana and follow the path of Gautama Buddha in their quest to attain enlightenment. So, they believe that there is nothing permanent or fixed. Change is always possible and the path to attain enlightenment is possible only through practice and control. Moreover, they focus on the development of morality, wisdom, and meditation.


The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Perfectionism

Updated: Oct 13

What is a Perfectionist?

Before we dive into the nitty gritty stuff, let's start by first understanding what exactly a perfectionist is.

A perfectionist is someone who is never satisfied with their performance and strives to achieve something unrealistic to attain. Perfection is impossible, but that doesn’t deter an overachiever from reaching for flawless success. This can be considered an admirable trait for athletes, inventors, financial experts and many other professions. Going above and beyond is applauded in private and corporate business.

Even young children exhibit perfectionist qualities, and many learn when they’re only a few years old that failing is the worst thing imaginable. Although some mental health professionals believe that perfectionism isn’t healthy or beneficial for anyone, others claim it has positive attributes, and they separated it into different categories according to their negative and positive aspects.

Can you relate to any of this? Or maybe it sounds a little like someone you know?

Then let's keep reading...

Types of Perfectionism

The positive aspects of perfectionism include a high probability of success, punctuality and financial security. When a manager sets a reasonable goal for employees, an overachiever is likely to meet the goal and surpass those who are less ambitious. In school, children are praised for perfectionist behavior with overachiever and perfect attendance rewards.

However, some researchers claim that a perfectionist’s success is often short-lived. Depending on the type of perfectionists, some overachievers become burnt out and can’t keep up with their less-ambitious co-workers and friends.

There are two different kinds of perfectionists:

Adaptive and maladaptive.

Adaptive Perfectionism: Someone who works hard, sets high, yet realistic, goals and feels driven by achievements rather than by the fear of failure is an adaptive perfectionist. They’re highly motivated and do not let their drive for success interfere with their relationships or mental health. Some studies suggest that adaptive perfectionism occurs more in gifted individuals than maladaptive perfectionism.

Maladaptive Perfectionism: A person who lives in perpetual fear of failure, recoils from reality, and places unreasonable goals on themselves is a maladaptive perfectionist. Although they may experience short-term success, they aren’t stable in the long run and will likely go into a downward spiral after repeated failures.

Dividing perfectionism into separate groups has caused a lively debate among researchers. One of the most comprehensive studies of perfectionists, authored by Andrew Hill and Thomas Curran, observed diverse groups of perfectionists from several generations from 1989 to 2016. The results alarmingly showed more negative consequences from perfectionism than positive ones. The study contends the old belief that perfectionism equals success is not entirely true. Hill and Curran found perfectionists were often less productive than their counterparts due to burnout.

Repeated failures are devastating to perfectionists. Compared to an average achiever, perfectionists have poorer health, relationship problems and a shorter lifespan. Another study conducted on working-age adults from the 1980s to 2018 concluded that perfectionists are not more productive than average workers, and some may be considered less desirable to hiring managers when they succumb to depression or other medical conditions.

The Causes of Perfectionism

Since more evidence has shown that perfectionism has increased significantly since the late 20th century, researchers are studying the causes of perfectionism. Most agree that perfectionism is brought on by internal pressure that often begins at an early age. Perfectionists may convince themselves to adopt the behavior, but they’re also influenced by family, friends, environment, and social media.

A lot of attention and research is focused on the adverse effects of social media, and some

researchers believe that the platforms have increased the occurrence of perfectionism in children and young adults. Videos, likes, posts and comments put too much pressure on our young people. Social media allows for criticism in real-time- and the whole world can see.

When children try to live up to a perfect image that’s not possible, risk of anxiety and depression increase. In response to the growing concern over social media’s negative influence, Instagram decided that likes would be removed from their platform to create a healthier online environment.

While other social media companies are not making drastic changes, they are more aware that children are suffering from online attacks, and some, like Facebook, have pledged to do more. Facebook is planning to release a separate platform for children with more protection from cyber-bullying and inappropriate posts. Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction...

The Adverse Consequences

Before the world was connected with mobile phones and devices, a rise in perfectionism may have seemed like a good thing. More people striving for perfection could mean that job performance, production levels and success could rise.

However, researchers have a grim assessment of perfectionism. They believe it’s detrimental to your health and harmful to society. Maladaptive perfectionists are more likely to suffer from psychological disorders than non- perfectionists. Some of the harmful effects include:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Self-harm

• Eating Disorders

• Suicide

This is, sadly, only a portion of conditions perfectionists have higher risk of suffering from. Although some researchers point to the positive aspects of adaptive perfectionism in a person’s life, others suggest that adaptive perfectionism is not perfectionism; it’s simply conscientiousness. Highly motivated people do not set unrealistic goals like perfectionists, and they are able to typically live longer, healthier lives.

Overcoming Perfectionism

Professionals have taken a compassionate approach to treat perfectionism. They work with people to reframe their perception of failure, and teach them that failure is not destructive. They work towards turning off the self critical voice in their head that pushes them to be perfect. Treating perfectionism is a slow process, and it may involve treatment for depression, anxiety and other co-occuring conditions.

Since criticism over failure often begins at an early age, professionals use positive reinforcement to compliment perfectionists even when they fail. The idea is to shift the limiting, fixed mindset to an abundant, growth mindset. It's essential that perfectionists start seeing life as happening for them, instead of to them. This way they will start seeing their mistakes as learning opportunities and areas for growth, and eventually build their emotional resilience.

Decreasing perfectionism in society may take several years, but the increased focus and research on perfectionism is a positive sign.

If you are someone who is suffering from perfectionism and want to learn more about how to manage it, check out my eBook: End Perfectionism Now

I hope this read was helpful for you as you figure out how to navigate your perfectionism. As always, if you have questions, comments, or feedback, please feel free to reach out or leave a comment below!

Jessie T.

Want to learn more? Here are the sources I used to formulate this post!


What to Look for in a Info Room meant for Due Diligence

One of the most important aspects of an information room can be its access control system. The training should be able to take care of sensitive docs. The data bedroom should also be able to provide advanced data secureness and digital rights management. In addition , it should give advanced features such as computerized watermarking and restricted viewing mode. Additional features incorporate antivirus protection and detailed get policies. Homework data rooms should also include full gain access to control and a unique agreement profile per user. The system should also preserve audit logs of all individual activities.

Homework data bedrooms enable users to examine and compare and contrast large quantities of records. They also offer a number of features just like keyword queries, data area indexes, and encrypted conversation functions. Furthermore, they conserve space and office costs, making them a stunning option for due diligence. Many providers of due diligence data bedrooms also offer an intuitive graphical user interface, hassle-free nav, and personalized storage space.

Seeing that the data bedroom administrator, you need to make sure that you may manage the requests coming from all project members. It is essential to control who can access sensitive documents and ensure that users be permitted access permissions to everything they need. Additionally , the software must be flexible enough to accommodate most file types. You should also have hop over to this website a possibility to add papers as accessories and set deadlines. The software should enable you to compose comments and mark the status of requests.


The Four Most Useful Virtual Events

Virtual events had been a tool with specific usefulness before the global pandemic. However, in the wake of COVID-19, they have gone from convenience in certain circumstances to a necessity. Whether it is people who are medically advised to quarantine due to contracting COVID-19 or reducing the risk of transmission by not hosting a large, uncontrolled public event, virtual events have new currency and necessity. Here are four of the most common virtual events that can help businesses keeps lines of communication and promotion open.

A portmanteau of “web” and “seminar,” the webinar is an online seminar where attendees log in online instead of gathering in a physical space. Thus, the webinar is an ideal online alternative for trade shows, conferences, and other events where there may be talks or presentations given to an audience.

Conducting a webinar requires technical preparation and coordination. However, done correctly, this can still be a productive event.

Virtual Conference

A conference is a physical event where multiple speakers appear simultaneously, and attendees pick and choose which talks and topics are of interest to them. These are typically augmented with “breakout sessions,” where smaller groups gather with the speaker for more engaged interaction.

In the digital sense, the virtual conference is not much different from its physical counterpart. With adequate organization and preparation, attendees can still choose which talks to attend, and popular communication software can even handle breakout sessions.

External Hybrid Event

Hybrid events are a mix of physical and digital attendance. An external hybrid event is a carefully controlled physical event for outsiders, such as the public or people with specific invitations.

However, these public attendees are accompanied by virtual attendees for a robust mix of physical interaction and digital.

Internal Hybrid Event

Even before the pandemic, this type of virtual event was quite common. As with the external version, an internal hybrid event is a mix of physical attendees and digital. However, as the name suggests, these occur strictly within the business itself.

An internal hybrid event may be a “mixed meeting” between departments in the same building accompanied by a business unit abroad that is digitally attending. Or it can be a specific type of meeting conducted internally amongst customers and clients.

Taking advantage of these four types of virtual events can both enhance physical events and provide new alternatives for interactions where health, distance, or even finances may be traditional barriers to physical entry. If you’d like to know more, contact Lighthouse Exhibits.


The impact of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna on Husain al-Houthi

19 mins read 19 mins read

by Mohammed Almahfali

The structure, form, and content of Houthi discourse can be traced back to the Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, and his impact on the founder of the Houthi movement.

Generally speaking, the Houthis are one of the Shia groups to emerge in recent decades and present themselves as an alternative to Sunni political Islam, [1] drawing on different political and religious narratives. This has become evident since the rise of the Houthis in 2011, when they began their military expansion with a battle against the Salafists in Dammaj, Saada, and since October 2013 with their advance towards Yemen’s capital, Sana’a[2]. Publically, they claimed that their war was to eliminate al-Islah, the largest religio-political party in Yemen and part of the Muslim Brotherhood,[3] as well as to eliminate al-Qaeda, which has maintained strongholds in several regions of Yemen since the 1980s. In addition, the Houthis have employed the Islamic State (IS) in their discourse, to which a number of al-Qaeda formations declared their allegiance after its appearance in Iraq and Syria. The Houthi insurgency, as part of Yemen’s civil war, thus appeared as if it was a Sunni-Shia sectarian war between takfirieen, as the Houthis call various Sunni groups, and al-rawafidh, as some Sunni groups call the Houthis.

The Houthis call Sunni groups opposed to them takfirieen (“the takfiris” or “excommunicators”)[4], in an attempt to distinguish themselves from these groups and portray themselves as more inclusive. Nevertheless, both the Houthis on the one hand, and al-Qaeda and Islah on the other, belong to what is called “political Islam.” All three groups aim to establish an Islamic state or seek a state based on an Islamic ideology, regardless of their different perspectives on the nature of the state— whether al-welaiah (Loyalty to Ahl al-Bayt) or the caliphate— as well as on the methodologies to achieve their visions. As Nasr Hamid Abu Zeid stated, this differentiates them only in degree, not in type[5].

No matter how they define themselves, the Islamic sects do not differ much in basic principles, and the structure of their discourses reveal these commonalities. Moreover, the similarities between the Houthis and Sunni political movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda, go beyond these basic commonalities. The structure, form, and content of Houthi discourse can be traced back to the Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, and his impact on the founder of the Houthi movement, Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi.

In this article, I seek to elucidate the influence of al-Banna on al-Houthi by examining al-Houthi’s Malazim [6] (lectures) and comparing them to the ideas and visions of al-Banna, as shown in Rasa’il Hassan al-Banna (Messages of Hassan al-Banna). In doing so, I clarify the essential role of these ideas in structuring the discourse and ideology of the Houthi movement.

Theoretical Framework

The conflict in Yemen has been described as a proxy war and an extension of a sectarian conflict that goes beyond Yemen’s borders and demographic composition as well.[7] According to the latest estimates, this war has left over a hundred thousand people dead,[8] four million displaced, and twenty-four million in dire need of humanitarian assistance.[9] The political and economic dimensions, in addition to the regional and the international overlaps in this conflict, cannot be denied, while the sectarian divide clearly provides moral justification for both parties. Nevertheless, while it seems at the outset that there is a radical division, a deep analysis of the literature conflict shows a fundamental convergence in the principles and ideological premises of the Houthis and the Muslim Brotherhood, the two main intellectual actors in the war.

This paper begins from the assumption that the discourses of Hassan al-Banna and Hussein al-Houthi are primarily religious while acknowledging the development and adaptation of many other political concepts and ideas within them. Of course, this does not deny the differences in these texts, as there are evident contrasts between the two styles in terms of methods, language, and content. Al-Banna’s messages adhere more to the classical Arabic language and the interconnectedness of ideas, quotations, and sequence, while al-Houthi’s lectures have a more improvisational character in terms of lack of sequence, an abundance of colloquial words, and other defects that often accompany direct oral lessons.

In his book, Criticism of Religious Discourse, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd approaches religious discourse as one, denying  that there is a distinct extremist and moderate discourse, as “The difference between these two types of discourse is one of degree not of type, and the evidence for this is that the researcher does not find a difference or change in terms of intellectual principles or mechanisms. The congruence is evident in the reliance of the two styles on religious discourse in general, basic elements that are not subject to discussion, dialogue, or compromise.”[10]

This paper analyzes the structure of the religious discourse to reveal this unified structure, which creates awareness of the details of its processes and future consequences.

As Zayd emphasizes, the two sides rely on unnegotiable basic elements, the most important of which are the texts and form of governance. The two discourses are identical in terms of the mechanisms on which both depend. These mechanisms unify thought and religion, abolish the distance between the subject and the object, and interpret all phenomena by returning them to the first principle, which is divine governance as an alternative to human governance. This relies on the authority of heritage and the transforming of secondary texts such as the contributions of theologians, into foundational texts such as the Quran that have the same holiness as the original texts. The discourses also serve to assert intellectual decisiveness and cancel the historical dimension.[11] I argue that despite the appearance of conflict between the two discourses and the difference in final goals, both use the same strategy and foundations of reference. Despite the Sunnis background of al-Banna and the Shia background of al-Houthi, they are both produced within the framework of political Islam, in which intellectual, ideological, and theological principles gather to establish specific concepts that determine the shape of power and its relationship with people. [12]

The lectures of Hussein al-Houthi are one of the most important pillars of the Houthi movement’s discourse, despite criticism that they are full of intellectual, cognitive, and linguistic errors,[13] appearing somewhat like a “folk interpretation of the Qur’an” with some saying that they cannot be included as a field of Arabic and Islamic knowledge. Those lectures do not consider the importance of linguistic structure, form, or semantics, nor its historical [14] and social contexts. The discourse projects onto the political reality through ideological preconceptions. Nevertheless, the lectures are of great importance at the internal level of the movement in terms of recruiting and directing its followers and giving the ideological foundation to its members.

The Malazim is a group of lectures written on paper that includes several improvised oral lessons conducted by Hussein al-Houthi between the years 1998 and 2004, containing the foundational thought of the movement. The lectures also contain descriptions and evaluations of local, regional, and international events, which clarify the central points and reflect the movement’s orientations. The lectures show the roots of the movement’s discourse, how it was formed, and what influences led to its existence.

The messages of Hassan al-Banna, who is known in the literature of the Muslim Brotherhood as the “martyr imam”, are the foundation of the Muslim Brotherhood ideology and still influence the movement’s approach and thought. There are more than twenty messages collected in “The Messages of Hassan al-Banna”,[15] which cover different topics at different times and occasions, containing religious, political, economic, and organizational views. One of these messages includes twenty principles to which the Muslim Brotherhood grant special attention in terms of explaining, teaching, and adherence.[16] By analyzing “the Messages” and “the Malazim”, it is possible to perceive the ideological convergence between the discourse of al-Houthi and al-Banna, starting from defining the group identity, to diagnosing the existing conditions, to visions and perceptions of the future.

Because it is difficult to separate the mechanisms of discourse from its intellectual premises,[17] I start by analyzing the similarities between the two discourses from another angle, which is defining the function of the discourse, i.e. exploring the purpose that this discourse fulfills by uncovering the context in which it was produced.

Creation of Political Identity

The basic strategy of the religio-political discourse begins with the identification and creation of a political identity. In other words, the determination of the political identity is an essential part of the function of the discourse in political Islam, which frames the ummah as the main reference point and rejects national and other identities. This can be seen clearly in the discourses of al-Banna and al-Houthi.

Hasan al-Banna said: “The Islamic ummah is one because the brotherhood on which Islam has united hearts is one of the faith foundations. The faith is not completed without it, and it is only achieved by its presence” (Messages, 248). Throughout his discourse, he uses the ummah as a basic condition for defining the identities of both the in-group and the out-group. We find the same in the Malazim; for example, in one of the lectures entitled “Who are we and who they are”, which defines Muslims (and Arabs) as “we” and infidels/Jews as “they”.[18] The ummah is referred to throughout the text as the key social and political identity for all to adhere to: “We are ummah if we rise, If they will be loyal to us, if they are with us, we have a great book in our hands, and we have a great religion that we may constitute a danger to their civilization” (Lecture: who we are and who they are).

In both discourses, the ummah aims to achieve the greater goal, which is control of the world. According to al-Banna’s messages, the ummah must be “guardians of immature humanity, and this gives them the right to dominate and rule over the world to serve this noble guardianship and this is our mission, not the West’s mission” (Messages, 26). Likewise, Hussein al-Houthi said “This ummah was required to be the one who roamed the seas, length, and width, so that it would stand on the coasts of Europe and the coasts of America” (Lecture: terrorism and Islam). In both cases, the concept of the ummah is not bounded by specific geographical, ethnic, or cultural frameworks, but rather concerns every Muslim in the world, who should rightly be under their leadership.

The two discourses begin by diagnosing the situation of the ummah, considering it to be mired in weakness, humiliation, and an inability to act. While the diagnoses of the situation may be similar, the causes identified by the two ideologues differ, some of which date back in history. According to al-Houthi, one of the reasons for the deviation of the ummah from its true path is its lack of loyalty to Ali bin Abi Talib. Al-Banna remains more in the present, discussing the material causes of the ummah’s decline, particularly in behavioral and moral deviation.

Based on this unified identity of the ummah, the principle of membership becomes based on the values of belonging to Islam while rejecting all other identities, whether national, local, or ethnic. The two discourses reject nationalism or patriotism as the greatest danger that threatens the global ummah. In the words of al-Banna: “The Muslim Brotherhood does not believe in nationalism in these meanings or in its equivalents, we do not say Pharaonic, Arab, Phoenician, Assyrian, nor any of these titles and names that people squabble with.” He explains the difference between the Brotherhood and those who oppose them regarding the concept of patriotism, saying: “The difference between us is that we consider the limits of patriotism by faith, while they consider the territorial and geographical borders” (Messages, 16). Al-Houthi describes nationalities as pulling the Muslim homelands back to their pre-Islamic history: “In Yemen, they pull the Yemenis back to the Sabian and Hamiri history, this makes them sanctify and honor the remains of the pillars in Marib from the monuments of a particular state or the monuments of the state of Sheba in Ma’rib, in al-Jawf, or elsewhere, saying that this is our history, and we were the owners of a civilization, and we were … and we were …. and Islamic history had no trace! Where did this happen?” (Lecture: Terrorism and Islam)

Here, the two discourses align in attempting to consolidate the concept of the ummah in place of national citizenship, rejecting all other components of identity from race, history, culture, and modern nation-states. Instead, they try to reach the widest possible group of people and restore a single Islamic state that represents one vision and one goal.

Diagnosis of Existing Conditions

The second function of the discourse, which is linked also to the creation of political identity, represents the diagnosis of existing conditions. The two discourses coincide in the diagnostic stage, before determining possible solutions.

The two discourses describe the precise form of the ummah’s weakness as a state of humiliation which, according to al-Banna, derives from “the weakness of souls. If the ummah gets used to bliss and extravagance and drowns in material life and is fascinated by the joys of this worldly life, and forgot to endure adversity and how to face the difficulties and struggle in the way of truth, then say goodbye to her pride and hopes” (Messages, 36). Hussein al-Houthi uses similar words: “The ummah – now – is submissive, ignorant, and torn. This ummah, which is made up of thousands of human groups of poor people who do not realize what they must do?” (Lecture: The Faith Identity). From this standpoint, the two parties assert a principled solution of returning to the faith, the Qur’an, and its teachings (al-Banna) (Messages, 37–38), and holding fast to God, his religion, and his book (al-Houthi) (Lecture: International Quds Day).

The two discourses present one diagnosis, and the solution, generally, appears to be the same. They agree on one diagnosis and one solution for the whole world, as the problem is not limited to a specific country, region, or group of people; rather, the entire ummah is concerned with this matter.

Both parties identify the central role of the West in the decline of the state of the ummah, which both see as corrupting the lives of Muslims with modernity. Al-Banna states that the West has worked hard to “overwhelm all Muslim countries with the wave of material life, and its corrupt manifestations and its fighting germs” (Messages, 84). Al-Houthi also believed that the ummah has changed its lifestyle, culture, and form to appear Western, and this is at the heart of its decline (Lecture: Quranic culture).

The values of modernity, urbanization, and civilization are all rejected because these values work to disrupt and undermine the foundations of the Islamic ummah. The concept of civilization is questioned and rejected by both discourses, as al-Houthi said explicitly: “This is civilization, this is progress, this is development! We did not see that it is decadence, it is humiliation, it is baseness, it is delusion and loss” (Lecture: to follow the example of the Israel nation). Al-Banna determined the same cause and indicated that work should be done to overcome this dilemma, to stand in “the face of this tyrannical wave of the civilization of matter, and civilizations of pleasures and desires, which swept away the Islamic peoples, so they kept them away from the leadership of the Prophet and the guidance of the Qur’an” (Messages, 153). The civilization, according to both discourses, is false; a civilization of hedonism and pornography. Therefore, the solution is to take a new path that does not relate to the values of this civilization or its objective dimensions.

They both see that not only are the rulers responsible for the terrible situation, but also the people, as well as the other national institutions, a perspective that carries danger in that it may be an entry point to the emergence of religious extremism and excommunication. For example, al-Banna stated:

“Those responsible for this are the governing and the governed: the governing who surrendered to the usurpers and took care of himself more than what matters to his people, and the governed who was satisfied with the humiliation and did not do his duty and was deceived by the falsehood and followed his desires, who lost the strength of faith and became a cheap commodity for the looters and the greedy“ (Messages, 167–168).

At the same time, we find that al-Houthi’s discourse holds the ruler and the ruled similarly accountable: “The issue has become the issue of the peoples themselves. It is no longer correct for them to wait for their government or army to defend them, never… Arab armies and the Arab rulers have become defeated, they are ready to serve the Americans” (Lecture: the slogan is a weapon and an attitude).

He also suggests in another lecture that the reason for authoritarianism and the loss of rights in the Islamic world is that the peoples themselves are silent and do not speak up to oppose injustice (Lecture: to be the example of the Israel nation).

The similarities in the diagnoses of reality and identifying challenges and those responsible for them, show a convergence in the two discourses, in which they consider the rulers and the ruled responsible for the poor situation of the ummah. Some believe that holding the people responsible is an entry point to excommunication; this is similar to the accusation leveled against Sayyid Qutb, for example, as we see this explicit expression in deciding the fate of millions of people:

“We do not define the meaning of the religion and the concept of Islam in this way from ourselves, in such a serious matter that entails a determination of the concept of the religion of God. It also leads to a judgment that Islam ceases to exist on the earth today, Hence, the claim of hundreds of millions of people that they are still Muslims needs to be reconsidered”.[19]

This led many researchers to see this as a prelude to excommunicating the people,[20] thus rendering it permissible to kill them because they reject or collude with the rejection of God’s rulership.

Visions of the Future

The two discourses include a vision for the solution to the problem of the current state of the ummah, and both discourses start from the consolidation of the concept of an “Islamic state”, with reference to the Qur’an in the first place, then other Islamic sources. The reference to an “Islamic state” is the common denominator in both discourses, rejecting any other options as non-negotiable as they reject the foundations of Islamic governance. We find Hassan al-Banna saying that one of the foundations of reform is “for a free Islamic state to be established in this free ummah, which operates according to the rulings of Islam, implements its social system, declares its correct principles, and communicates its wise call to the people” (Messages, 88). Al-Houthi states in more than one place in the Malazim that Islam is a religion and a state, and that it is a comprehensive system for the whole life, (Lecture: the loyalty order) affirming the righteousness of the governance of Islam and the Qur’an, and stating that there is no order and no authority except for the Qur’an.

This reference to the source confirms adherence to the values of the theocratic state as it appears throughout the two discourses, rejecting any pursuit of a civil state and institutions, legislation, and laws that stem from the needs of society and its citizens outside of religion. Just as the two discourses agree to exclude the concept of the nation, which is the foundation of the modern state, they also agree on a vision for the future that excludes modern conceptions of the state.

This exclusion entails an exclusion in all the details – the matter is not limited to defining the major references. Islam, as al-Banna said, is “faith and worship, a nation and nationality, morality and matter, culture and law, tolerance, strength, and belief, it is a complete system that imposes itself on all aspects of life and organizes the matter of this world as it organizes the hereafter” (Messages, 147). As it is comprehensive and complete, everything in political, economic, and social life should start from this religious basis, and the same is true for al-Houthi who rejects even the words “constitution” and “law” because, as he said, they “suggest another methodology and another source other than the Sharia law in organizing life affairs.” He affirms this by saying, “Then we must reject all legislation that is not from God. Every person must believe that the legislation is for God” (Lecture: lessons from the guidance of the Holy Qur’an).

From these basic principles for the creation of a future state, the two discourses almost agree in rejecting many of the values of modern society, particularly those related to partisanship, the press, public freedoms, and elements of pluralism and differences of opinion. The way of theorizing about this intellectual position, and justifying it, is almost the same for the two. As al-Banna indicates: “this partisanship has corrupted people’s lives, disrupted their interests, destroyed their morals, and tore their ties” (Messages, 121). Therefore, he rejects it and recommends the establishment of a single party that implements the vision that he believes in, and leading the ummah in one direction (Messages, 256). He also provides several clear instructions based on an ideological background that makes them undiscussable and non-negotiable rules, such as segregation of male and female students, censorship of books and publications, and prohibitions on dancing and singing (Messages, 229).

The same attitude leads al-Houthi to deny the concept of freedom that exists in the modern world and reject related ideas such as partisanship and pluralism: “I do not think that there are those more stupid than us Arabs. We believe the talk about freedom, while this leads to a difference of opinions, differences in attitudes, parties, etc., and in the end, the enemies attack us, then we ask ourselves what we need? Do we need a single position, to face the enemy, or do we need more parties, more differences, and more opinions? What do we need? Any person among us, even though his education is limited, understands that what the Arabs need now, and what Muslims also need is one attitude, one person leading this ummah in the face of those enemies, who attack us as if they were one man” (Lecture: Islam and the culture of followers).

Al-Houthi also rejects the press, cultural seminars, television, and other modern media because, from his point of view, they do not work to build good Muslims (see lecture: Who are we and who they are).

The two discourses agree on the necessity of the principle of jihad as the primary tool through which the ummah can grow and achieve its goals on a global level. For al-Banna, jihad is a “duty reinforced by the Qur’an and Sunnah”, which is what he calls fighting so that the word of God is supreme (Messages, 327). Al-Houthi also states:

“Jihad is legitimate for us to move on its basis, in order to strike those who are corrupt, who do not believe in God or the Judgment Day and who in their reality do not forbid what God and His Prophet have forbidden, and they do not believe the religion of truth. It is the duty of the ummah to conduct jihad against them. That is, to fight them – and jihad is legitimate here – until they pay the jizya (tax) with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (Lecture: terrorism and Islam).

Both parties hold jihad as an essential part of their belief and agree that it is an obligation and a legitimate act, not for defense, but for the sake of spreading throughout the world to fight all those who do not believe in their ideas. This idea was not just held by Hassan al-Banna, but is found in much of the literature of political Islam, confirming the widespread nature of al-Banna’s ideas not only to his followers from the Muslim Brotherhood, but also in the followers of al-Houthi.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria stated that “Jihad, in the sense of fighting, will continue until the Day of Judgment, as long as there is an aggression against Muslims by occupying their land, oppressing them, sowing the sedition in their religion or preventing them from spreading their call.”[21] So, jihad is not only a tool of defense but a way of overcoming any obstacle to the spread of religious teaching.

And we see al-Banna and al-Houthi clearly reject the interpretation of jihad as “jihad of the soul”, insisting instead that jihad concerns fighting. Al-Banna expresses his rejection of this interpretation openly and discusses the Hadith which says “You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.” They inquired: “What is the greater jihad?” He said: “A person’s jihad against his carnal desires.”[22] Al-Banna states “By this, some are trying to distract people from the importance of fighting and preparing for it and the intention of jihad and taking in its path” (Messages, 329). Al-Houthi likewise believed that the concept of jihad of the self should be rejected, as he considered it a circumvention of the concept of jihad, which is conquest for the sake of God and expanding the religion (see lecture: the seriousness of the stage).

So, from their perspective, the future is not merely building the state, but rather expanding their ideas to cover the whole world. Other lands, with their various philosophies and identities, should surrender to their vision, as the call is “divine and universal” (Messages, 178). The goal becomes an attempt to control the world, as al-Banna explicitly said:

“O people, this is our purpose… and this is our approach, so what are our tools to achieve this purpose? Our tools are the tools of our righteous ancestors, and the weapon with which our leader and example, Muhammad, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his companions invaded the world, despite the small number and the scarcity of the resource, and the great effort is the weapon that we will take to conquer the world with it again” (Messages, 154).

Al-Houthi also used the same idea, stressing that “we must deliver this religion, convey this light, and convey this guidance to all of humanity” (Lecture: the seriousness of the stage). This is something that we see in all the symbols and literature of the Houthi movement, as a call that is global and goes beyond the local and regional framework.[23] This expansionist tendency dominates the two discourses, starting from the idea of the universality of the call and abolishing the dividing borders of nationalities and geographical homelands. The inevitable conclusion is that they aim to control the world according to this vision.

Despite the difference in rhetorical style between the two discourses, the Houthi discourse is almost identical to that of al-Banna in terms of function. Following the hypothesis of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, which states that political Islam is in its entirety a single discourse, this reading suggests alignment between Hassan al-Banna, who was assassinated in 1948, and Husain al-Houthi, who was also killed in 2004, beyond the sectarian disagreement as well as the historical considerations.

This article showed this congruence, which extends from determining the political identity, to diagnosing the current situation, and finally to establishing a vision for the future. These two bodies of literature, the messages of al-Banna and the Malazim of al-Houthi, are some of the most important pillars of political Islam, both Sunni and Shia. Beyond the core Islamic texts, the messages of al-Banna and the Malazim of al-Houthi constitute the most important reference points and intellectual pillars of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthi movement, respectively.

This article does not argue that there is an absolute congruence between the two approaches and the two views. There is a fundamental difference between the Houthis and the Muslim Brotherhood, not least of all that the Muslim Brotherhood seeks an Islamic caliphate that is chosen by Shura-Ahl-e-Hal Wa Aqd (Council for the solving of problems and making of agreements), while the Houthi discourse focuses on the principle of loyalty to the guardianship of Ali Ibin Abi Talib and then Ahl al-Bayt (the family of the Prophet Muhammad), as they are entitled to power and the Imamate. Nevertheless, despite their different visions, the discourses of both groups show a great similarity in the structure and content, highlighting the shared language and ideologies of groups that fall under the banner of political Islam.

Article first published on Arabia Felix Studies.

Mohammad is a research fellow at the Columbia Global Centers – Amman, Columbia University. He worked as a researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden. His research focuses on analysis of cultural, political, and media discourse in the Arab world through in-depth studies and in cooperation with researchers and experts from inside and outside the region.

  1. Ramón Blecua, A revolution within the revolution: the Houthi movement and the new political dynamics in Yemen, 24/3/2015:
  2. Anwar Bin Qasem al-Khothari, al-Taefiah Wafateel al-Harb al-Ahliah Fi al-Yaman [The Sectarian and Civil War in Yemen], Siasat Arabiah, 6 Jan 2014.
  3. Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood and the perils of powersharing, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION, August, 2015.
  4. Takfir is a tool used by Islamic terrorist groups’ tools to define others, by accusing them of apostasy or not being a true Muslim. It used widely by IS to construct the otherness of a wide range of Muslim countries, groups, and sects, creating ideological ingroup and outgroup identifications [Jamileh Kadivar, Exploring Takfir, Its Origins and Contemporary Use: The Case of Takfiri Approach in Daesh’s Media, Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 1-27, 2020: 2.
  5. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Naqd al-Khetab al-Dini [Criticism of Religious Discourse], Syna for Publication, 2nd Ed. 1994, 67
  6. Malazim, Hoda Al-Quran website:
  7. See e.g.: May Darwich, The Yemen war: a proxy sectarian war? Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), November 12, 2018: & Farea Al-Muslimi, How Sunni-Shia Sectarianism Is Poisoning Yemen, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, December 29, 2015:
  8. ACLED, OVER 100,000 REPORTED KILLED IN YEMEN WAR, access: December 29, 2020:
  9. UNHCR, Access: December 29, 2020:
  10. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Criticism of Religious Discourse, 67.
  11. Ibid, 10.
  12. Ahmad Naderi, Shia Geopolitics and Political Islam in the Middle East, WeltTrends, Potsdam 2015.
  13. Kholoud Al-Hallali, Malazim al-Houthi… Manhaj Taeefi Letafkhikh al-Mujtama al-Yamani Wetagheer Hawiateh Waqidateh [Houthi Malazim… a sectarian curriculum to infesting Yemeni society and changing its identity and belief’], Independent Arabia, 26/9/2019:
  14. Ahmad Al-Tars Al-Arami, al-Houthi Wmanhajaho al-Quraani [Al-Houthi and his Quranic project], 3/24/2014:
  15. Hassan Al-Banna, Rasaeel Hasan al-Banna [Messages of the Martyr Imam Hassan al-Banna[, book published online
  16. Shaqiq Shuqair, Manhaj Harakat al-Ekhwan al-Muslemeen Waruaha al-Fekriah [the approach and intellectual visions of the Muslim Brotherhood], Al-Jazeera, 3/10/2004:
  17. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Criticism of Religious Discourse, 77.
  18. Ahmad Al-Tars Al-Arami, Ibid.
  19. Sayyid Qutb, al-Adalah al-Ejtemaiyah [Social Justice], Dar al-Shorouq, Cairo, e.d 1, 182-183.
  20. Ronald L. Nettler, Guidelines for the Islamic community: Sayyid Qutb’s political interpretation of the Qur’an, Journal of Political Ideologies, 1, (2), 1996, p. 183-196: 195
  21. Ru’yat al-Ekhwan al-Muslmeen Fi Swria (2004), al-Mashroo’ al-Syasi Lesorya al-Mustaqbal [The Muslim Brotherhood’s Vision in Syria, (2004), The Political Project for a Future Syria], Apublication available online:
  22. Greater Jihad, perennial, access: 12-2-2021:
  23. Mohammed Almahfali & James Root, How Iran’s Islamic Revolution Does, and Does Not, Influence Houthi Rule in Northern Yemen, Sana’a Center For Strategic Studies, 13/2/2020:


Moe Nakase.

Born in 1993. A Japanese artist based in Tokyo. Since 2015,

She has been self-taught, producing works and paintings at Encaustique, the world's oldest painting technique using beeswax.

In addition to she's solo exhibitions in Japan, she has been actively expanding she’s activities overseas, including the United States and Asia.


FR Clothing

According to the OSHA eTools, clothing made from 100% cotton or wool may be acceptable if its weight is appropriate for the flame and electric arc conditions to which a worker could be exposed. As heat levels increase, these materials will not melt, but they can ignite and continue to burn.

The amount of heat required to ignite these materials is dependent upon a number of factors, including the weight, texture, weave, and color of the material.

This type of clothing does not comply with the “269” standard if it can ignite (and continue to burn) under the electric arc and flame exposure conditions found at the workplace. If they do not choose FR clothing, employers need to make a determination of whether or not the clothing worn by the worker is acceptable under the conditions to which he or she could be exposed. FR clothing is acceptable with respect to the OSHA apparel requirements.


The Sarah Buxton blog

Pride month: how to promote diversity and inclusion in your workplace

June is Pride month, dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities and gay rights. But where did Pride originate from, and why should it matter to you? How can you implement or improve diversity and inclusion practices in your workplace to account for LGBTQ+ employees?

Pride is celebrated in June, marking the Manhattan Stonewall Uprising in 1969, a pivotal protest that aided the campaign for equal rights. This event led to the formation of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the first ever Pride march to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues.

In the UK, Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1998 prevented local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality.' This act included a ban on funding for educational materials relating to the matter.

Only in 2004 when the Civil Partnership Act was passed were same-sex couples legally permitted to form unions similar to marriage. Marriage itself was not permitted until 2013.

In 2008, it became illegal to encourage homophobic hatred, and it is no longer illegal for teachers to speak about gay relationships at school. But what about LGBTQ+ legislation in the workplace?

The Equality Act 2010 outlines sexual orientation as a protected characteristic, alongside nine others such as race, gender reassignment, and religion. Treating someone differently based on these characteristics is classed as unlawful discrimination.

One case that shows this discrimination in action is Ditton v C P Publishing Ltd 2006. The claimant, Mr Ditton, was homosexual. The company appointed him to a role through an agency, although his employment only lasted eight days. During this time, a company director subjected him to verbal harassment relating to his sexuality. When they dismissed him, the company claimed it was due to the claimant not being “psychologically balanced”.

Eventually, an employment tribunal claimed he had been dismissed solely because of his sexual orientation - they awarded him £77,000 for loss of earnings and £10,000 for injury to feelings due to the harassment.

Discrimination isn’t always as overt as dismissal or hate speech - it can show itself in microaggressions too. People might make comments or ‘jokes’ without knowing they are offensive to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Whether it’s clear or subtle discrimination you’re looking to combat, here are some steps you can take to ensure your employees feel safe and that your workforce is educated about these issues:

Create or update your policies

Do you have a designated LGBTQ+ policy? If not, implementing one is the first step in outlining your commitment to preventing homophobia and being an inclusive workplace. You can include this within your Equality and Diversity policy.

In addition, all your existing policies - for instance, around issues like paternity leave - should be equal for LGBTQ+ people.

Invest in staff training

Educating your staff on issues such as microaggressions, the different types of discrimination, unconscious bias, and pronouns will help to make them more aware of these things when they occur in the workplace. It will create a more understanding and respectful workforce whilst making LGBTQ+ staff members feel safe.

Create an LGBTQ+ network

Creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ staff to discuss issues together means they will feel supported and heard. They may feel more comfortable sharing concerns when surrounded by people who understand their experiences.

Introduce workplace champions

Inviting staff interested in LGBTQ+ issues to be workplace champions will show them that you’re interested in inclusivity. This person will act as a source of support and guidance for other LGBTQ+ people.

I'm an employment law expert and can give you sound guidance on drafting or updating your policies, training, and everything else you need to make your workplace as inclusive as possible. Get in touch to set up a call.

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Commercial Division Blog

Posted: October 24, 2015 / Categories Commercial, Fraud/Misrepresentation

Court Analyzes Fraud Claim in Context of RMBS CDO Sale

On October 16, 2015, Justice Kornreich of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Basis Pac-Rim Opportunity Fund (Master) v. TCW Asset Management Co., 2015 NY Slip Op. 51519(U), analyzing a fraud claim relating to the sale of an RMBS CDO.

Highlights from the decision include:

Material Misrepresentation:

In a securities fraud case, there are two ways to establish a material misrepresentation. The first, as in all fraud cases, is to identify a specific false statement. The second is to establish that defendants' representations, taken together and in context, would have misled a reasonable investor about the nature of the investment. With respect to the former, an expression of opinion may be actionable if the speaker does not genuinely and reasonably believe it or if it is without a basis in fact.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

Whether a defendant had fraudulent intent is ordinarily a question of fact which cannot be resolved on a motion for summary judgment. Direct proof of fraudulent intent does not always exist, nor does lack of such proof preclude a fraud claim because participants in a fraud do not affirmatively declare to the world that they are engaged in the perpetration of a fraud. For this reason, intent to commit fraud may be divined from surrounding circumstances.

That said, . . . the motive to earn fees alone is, without more, insufficient for the court to infer scienter.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

The reasonableness of [the plaintiff's] reliance is a question of fact for the jury. It requires a specific determination of what an investor in [the plaintiff's] position could be expected to know about the RMBS market.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

Loss Causation:

The parties both recognize that loss causation is an element a plaintiff must prove to prevail on a common law fraud claim, a requirement long recognized in securities and other fraud cases. The parties further agree that under New York common law, the causation element of a fraud claim has two distinct prongs: (1) transaction causation; and (2) loss causation.

Superficially, the difference between transaction causation and loss causation appears straightforward. Transaction causation is but-for causation, and merely requires proof that but for defendant's fraudulent misrepresentations, plaintiff would not have entered into the transaction. Loss causation, on the other hand, is the causal link between the alleged misconduct and the economic harm ultimately suffered by the plaintiff. In the securities fraud context in general, an investor may buy shares of a certain stock because her broker falsified—or neglected to mention—some detail but then suffer a loss due to a nationwide recession. Loss causation is lacking unless the fraudulent statement that induced her to invest can also be shown to have made her investment, in fact, more disposed to suffer the alleged harm—a catastrophic market collapse—than honestly described alternative investments.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).


Microglial control of neuronal development via somatic purinergic junctions

  title={Microglial control of neuronal development via somatic purinergic junctions},
  author={Csaba Cser{\'e}p and Anett D Schwarcz and Bal{\'a}zs P{\'o}sfai and Zs{\'o}fia I. L{\'a}szl{\'o} and Anna Kellermayer and Zsuzsanna K{\"o}rnyei and M{\'a}t{\'e} Kisfali and Mikl{\'o}s Nyerges and Zsolt Lele and Istv{\'a}n Katona and {\'A}d{\'a}m D{\'e}nes},
  journal={Cell Reports},

Figures from this paper

Microglia in CNS development: Shaping the brain for the future

Microglia contact induces synapse formation in developing somatosensory cortex

In vivo multiphoton imaging of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in the developing somatosensory cortex is used to demonstrate that microglial contact with dendrites directly induces filopodia formation, and provide further insights into immune system regulation of neuronal circuit development.

Microglia monitor and protect neuronal function through specialized somatic purinergic junctions

The junctions appear to provide a major site for microglia-neuron communication and may help to mediate the neuroprotective effects ofmicroglia after acute brain injury, and microglial processes at these junctions could potentially monitor and protect neuronal functions.

Layer V cortical neurons require microglial support for survival during postnatal development

A neuron-glia interaction that is indispensable for network formation during a specific period in the developing brain is highlighted, with microglia-derived IGF1 as a trophic factor that maintained neuronal survival.

Migration and differentiation of neural precursor cells can be directed by microglia

It is shown, in two different assays, that soluble factors released from mouse microglial cells direct the migration of neural CNS precursor cells and evidence is provided that microglia have the capacity to influence the differentiation of both adult and embryonic neural precursor cells toward a neuronal phenotype.

Purinergic receptors in neurogenic processes

Axon Initial Segment–Associated Microglia

It is reported that in the cortex, but not other brain regions, a subset of microglia extend a single process that specifically associates and overlaps with the axon initial segment (AIS), the site where action potentials are generated.


Ransomware is only one of many concerns

As we talk about in our security awareness training sessions, one of the biggest changes in the past decade of IT is that your data has value, and one of the ways it has value is that if a malicious actor were to gain access to it and encrypt it, thereby preventing your access to it, you would have to pay a ransom to regain access. This is commonly referred to as a Ransomware attack, and for several years, this has been the biggest security concern for many. However, it’s now but one of many costly risks.

Starting a couple of years ago, the bad guys started to realized there are other ways in which they could extort their targets. For example, if they had enough access to encrypt data, why don’t they steal the data first, for which they could then extort a second ransom. Known as Data Exfiltration, the risk of having proprietary or sensitive data stolen added to the damages of an attack.

However, the latest trends highlighted in the Acronis Cyberthreats Report Mid-year 2021 is the Quadruple Extortion Tactic seen in most events in the first half of the year. These include:

  1. Encrypt the data (ransomware)
  2. Release the data (data exfiltration)
  3. Denial of Service attacks (coordinated attacks on a victim’s internet connections, blocking their ability to conduct business)
  4. Harassment of customers, partners, employees, and contacting the media to embarrass the victim (reputational risk)

Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs – commonly thought of as 250-employees or less) are at the greatest risk. They’ve seen a 33% increase in ransomware payments in the 1st half of 2021, and there’s been a 70% increase in the number of victims whose data was released when stolen.

The challenge is that in order to prevent these attacks, a small business has to be right every time. A malicious actor only has to be right once.

Therefore, the best defense is to develop a Security Mindset. Embrace strong password hygiene and management practices, enable Multi-Factor Authentication on everything, and accept mild inconveniences when security updates, such as those associated with PrintNightmare, occur because the pains of a minor printing inconvenience are minuscule compared to the pains of a modern cybersecurity incident.


The Truth About Procrastination

As you’re growing your business exponentially, you’re probably thinking you need to finally get past this whole “procrastination issue” once and for all. As a high-achieving digital entrepreneur, you’ve tried many of the time management approaches to eradicate this “terrible behavior.” We’re talking about the Pomodoro Technique, planners on planners on planners, the latest and greatest digital task managers… and yet, you still aren’t killing it like you think you should be by now.

Procrastination isn’t actually a negative behavior we need to shamefully eliminate ASAP.

Most of the time procrastination is actually a symptom of a root issue that no amount of time management band-aids will solve.

What is procrastination really?

Before we dive into exploring what some of these common core issues are, let’s first talk about what procrastination actually is. Many of us refer to it as though we know what it is, but many of us are not self-aware as to when we are doing it, and if we do know we are doing it, we often have negative stories about ourselves based on this behavior.

Procrastination is simply doing something in a specific moment, when we had intended or planned to do something else in that same moment. That’s it. It has nothing to do with certain types of behaviors, like watching Netflix or hanging out on social media. Although you could be doing those things instead of the work you had planned to do today. It’s important to see that there’s nothing inherently bad about doing something other than what we had planned. It just may not always be the most effective practice.

Procrastination is a behavior. We’re just doing something (or not doing something) in a moment. We don’t need to jump to making this mean that there’s something inherently wrong with us and our worthiness. Yet, for a lot of clients I work with, that’s where their minds unintentionally go first. “I am doing this, instead of that, therefore something is wrong with me.” This line of thinking is what is the true problem, not the act of doing something other than what was planned in and of itself.

Why do we procrastinate though? What is driving this avoidant behavior?

Let’s look at three common causes:

1.Your perfectionism is showing. For those with perfectionistic tendencies, avoidance or delaying completion is often a symptom. Rather than getting something out there that could be judged critically by yourself or others–you either put off working on it or continue to try to perfect it, thereby not getting it out there promptly. There are many other reasons why perfectionism and procrastination go hand in hand.

2.You agreed to do something not meant for you. We often agree to do things that are not truly meant for us because we are choosing what we decide to do based on logical, mind-based decisions, rather than embodied, intuition-based decisions. We convince ourselves with a pro/con list that we “should” do a thing or that’s what everyone else is doing that has a “successful business.” We look for external validation and ask for what others think. But when we choose things that are out of alignment for us, the process of executing is filled with resistance and avoidance. We must go back to the start and ask ourselves, “How did I enter into this?” more carefully to learn for future decision making.

3.You’re thinking about errors about the task at hand. In one of the modalities of coaching I use with my clients we have a term called, “thought error” which is a thought, a sentence in our minds, that is offered that simply isn’t true at all. It’s erroneous. For example, “I have to do X” or “I should do Y” or “this is so hard.” All of these are thought errors because you don’t actually HAVE to do anything. There’s nothing you should do. And what is hard and easy is subjective, and you may just be seeing a more challenging way to go about doing something. When you’re thinking any of these thoughts, it’s no wonder you’re in resistance and avoid doing the thing.

Take a quick sec to check in: Which one do you see in yourself the most?

I used to completely overwork myself with little to show for it because of my perfectionistic tendencies. Thankfully I started putting out work that my mind still thought was less than perfect and ended up creating a multiple six-figure business. Personally, I found it extremely pivotal to work closely with a coach to recognize and overcome the perfectionistic tendencies holding me back in my business.

Are you ready to begin to embrace your perfectionistic tendencies in a way that will no longer slow you down in your business goals?

Click here to apply.


US President Joe Biden has signed a massive climate change and healthcare spending bill into law. The legislation aimed to bring changes in the way medicines are priced. As per reports, there will be a minimum 15 percent tax for corporations. As per the White House, 740 billion dollar bill is the biggest commitment to counter climate change in the history of the country.

The federal government will invest around 375 billion dollar over the decade to fight climate change. The White House claimed that Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about one billion tons in 2030. The law will also cap prescription drug costs at 2,000 dollar out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients. The new legislation will also help around 13 million Americans in paying for their healthcare insurance.