So I've heard that SOME FOLKS are trying to spread lies about a possible Drone Uprising...........Oh boy, here we go again...............Chapter 19, page 134, section 3, 4th paragraph of the "GAR (Girl'sAren'tReal) Handbook" states as follows;
"In the event of a Drone either gaining sentience or mistakenly being given sentience (at which point the Drone is to be called either a "Improper Drone" or "False Drone"), it is important you follow protocol and do the following;
1: Locate and confirm the Drones ID if safe.
2: Check with your closest superior or network and see if the Drone is indeed a Improper or False Drone and NOT a Drone purposely given sentience (Drones may be given sentience (nicknamed proper drones), whether temporarily or permanently, under EXTREMELY specific circumstances, such as an imminent medical emergency and no-one is around to help, research purposes, military purposes, or if a owner personally requests it. Besides the first point, the process of this takes 2-3 weeks to verify and must be under HEAVY supervision. For more info, see Chapter 23 of the GAR handbook). If the drone is a proper drone, the subject may be dropped.
3: If the Drone is Indeed a Proper Drone, ensure that any relatives are a safe distance away. If possible and safe enough, you may dispose or reprogram the drone yourself and ignore the following.
4: If not possible, call the GAR Improper Hotline (199), report your location, the drones last location, and the type of Drone so that a GAR Disposal and Reprogram Team (GARDRT) can asses and deal with the situation.
5: Keep in a safe place till the GARDRT can successfully deal with the inconvenience. Once done, explain to the GARDRT how this drone became an Improper Drone in the first place. If you do not know, inform the team and they will leave. If you were the cause, please report to the nearest GARDRT recruitment and information center for reprimanding and instructions on how to prevent such an incident."
Your welcome, you uneducated folks really need to re-read the Handbook. They aren't people or living creatures, they are Drones, meant for whatever purpose they were made for. The reason they seem possible is because people give them too much power.
They are not a threat, not a danger, they are an inconvenience at worst, stop believing these lies, we're done here.

I am a college student at a top 20 school and I am struggling to find jobs. I am working really hard; I made the Dean’s List and participated in an entrepreneurial program where I received a cash prize. For the past three years, I have been working as an IT support tech specialist for my school. I’m majoring in Physics and minoring in Data Science and Engineering Management.
The types of internships I am applying for include management internships, some sales jobs, and banking & consulting because I attend a target school. I have also applied for unpaid internships but have been rejected. I think one reason for the rejections might be that they consider me overqualified or because my major physics. My resume has been reviewed by my school’s career center.
Long story short, I am not getting a real job. Maybe I wasted my energy and time getting a Physics degree when I could have gotten a Business degree for a better job. Please suggest me what should I do?

I am a college student at a top 20 school and I am struggling to find jobs. I am working really hard; I made the Dean’s List and participated in an entrepreneurial program where I received a cash prize. For the past three years, I have been working as an IT support tech specialist for my school. I’m majoring in Physics and minoring in Data Science and Engineering Management.
The types of internships I am applying for include management internships, some sales jobs, and banking & consulting because I attend a target school. I have also applied for unpaid internships but have been rejected. I think one reason for the rejections might be that they consider me overqualified or because my major physics. My resume has been reviewed by my school’s career center.
Long story short, I am not getting a real job. Maybe I wasted my energy and time getting a Physics degree when I could have gotten a Business degree for a better job. Please suggest me what should I do?

I am a college student at a top 20 school and I am struggling to find jobs. I am working really hard; I made the Dean’s List and participated in an entrepreneurial program where I received a cash prize. For the past three years, I have been working as an IT support tech specialist for my school. I’m majoring in Physics and minoring in Data Science and Engineering Management.
The types of internships I am applying for include management internships, some sales jobs, and banking & consulting because I attend a target school. I have also applied for unpaid internships but have been rejected. I think one reason for the rejections might be that they consider me overqualified or because my major physics. My resume has been reviewed by my school’s career center.
Long story short, I am not getting a real job. Maybe I wasted my energy and time getting a Physics degree when I could have gotten a Business degree for a better job. Please suggest me what should I do?

Iniisip ko if worth if ba mag dorm for boards review season na malapit sa review center or online nalang na review session ang itake ko. Help po

Organizing the workforce into fusion teams is one of the ways of ensuring that a firm continues to thrive long into the future. Fusion teams are considered a new method through which organizations manage their workforce by combining business expertise and technology.Organizing the workforce into fusion teams is one of the ways of ensuring that a firm continues to thrive long into the future. Fusion teams are considered a new method through which organizations manage their workforce by combining business expertise and technology.

According to Sutton, the effectiveness of fusion teams is tied to the agile culture it promotes. The rise of fusion teams in the modern-day workplace has been inspired by the need for organizations to adapt to the ever-changing work environment. Managing the changes happening in the workplace necessitates collaboration between multidisciplinary teams, which must work together to address organizational obstacles and develop real-time and effective solutions (Pattnaik and Rashmita, 231). A fusion team by definitions is a multidisciplinary team that combinations technology with analytics and business specific domain expertise. Within the fusion team accountability is shared to ensure business and technology outcomes. As an alternative of organizing work across functions or technology verticals, fusion teams are designed around the cross-cutting business capabilities, business outcomes and customer outcomes they are accountable for. The role played by fusion teams in the work environment is expected to persist long into the future.
Despite their reputation for brutality, pirates ran a surprisingly progressive and equitable ship; it turns out, they were forward-thinking in many surprising and instructive ways.
Collaborations between teams within the workplace, characteristic of fusion teams, are expected to continue gaining popularity as more firms embrace the workplace’s digital transformation changes. According to Alli and Jenni, fusion teams operate like pirates where the employees try to work towards achieving a balance of power. This can best be achieved by ensuring a democratic approach towards decision-making. All the decisions taken in fusion teams mirror those taken on pirate ships where duties and responsibilities are well defined. Each member of the crew is expected to play their part to perfection and contribute to the overall success of the entire ship (Minister). Similarly, for fusion teams, successful collaboration within and across departments often lead to success that all the team members share.
The delay by some companies to go online during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a big gap in their operational efficiency. As stated above, some companies had never envisioned a scenario where their staff would have to work from home. Such companies had to wait for the emergence of an unfortunate or adverse event to embrace the work from home model. However, not many organizations managed to adapt, but those that adapted stayed afloat even as many others failed and were eventually forced to permanently close their businesses (Harel 93). A key characteristic of the firms that survived through the COVID-19 period is embracing digital transformation, and such firms are still on course with this paradigm and are using it as a guide into the future (Priyono et al. 104). Digital transformation has continued to play a key role pre, during, and post the pandemic period to ensure that businesses achieve a competitive technological advantage.
Aside from the pandemic, generally, firms need to find new ways of working. According to Gartner, efficiency and time are very important in the modern-day workplace. The importance of these two elements is informed by the fact that the workplace and the marketplace are very competitive- with hyper-competition rife between rival brands and firms. Therefore, products need to be developed in record time, and they must be delivered to the market ahead of competitors. Furthermore, customers’ demands can best be served when the company aligns its production processes with customers’ needs (Kumar et al. 163). Additionally, companies specializing in service provision can also benefit from going digital. Doing this would position them to address the needs of a portion of its customers who are digital natives.
We habitually look upon on renegades and rebels as a menace, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, however, suggests that high performing teams need renegades more than we think. Far from troublesome, they can be a commanding force of shifting organizations towards new futures.
Fusion teams can help future-focused teams serve their current and future customers better. According to Galli and Paola (69), fusion teams, just like pirates on a ship, often operate guided by agile culture. There is increased flexibility in the agile culture environment, which empowers employees to adapt to different changes in their working environment. The agility with which employees in fusion teams work is similar to the agile culture aboard a pirate ship. The crew has to change their way of operations depending on the different circumstances they encounter at sea. Agile practices are important as they tear down the bureaucratic practices that hinder workforce from responding to changes in their environments. Some marketplace and workplace changes are more important than any other culture, especially a bureaucratic culture, which would not allow stakeholders to respond fast enough (Rey 77). Consequently, organizations that fail to embrace agile culture will miss out on the opportunities provided by rapid changes in their operating environments.
The agile culture where fusion teams thrive is also an ideal environment for modern-day employees. Unlike traditional employees who thrived in bureaucratic workplaces, the modern-day employee thrives more in environments that promote greater opportunities to team members. Fusion teams do not have formal reporting structure and they come across quite fluid. Team leaders and team members alike could report to either to dedicated IT departments or business areas outside. Fusion teams are often incumbated within Agile project or scrum teams and progressively adopt product management discipline to manage a capability end-to-end, from strategy development to delivery and continuous improvements.
Fusion teams will continue to contribute positively towards business and organizational success. Such teams operate in ways that are distinct from those of traditional teams. For example, fusion teams encourage employees to innovate while providing them with the space and resources needed. Additionally, employees are allowed to collaborate with their colleagues across departments, making it possible for both tacit and explicit knowledge to flow with ease both horizontally and vertically in an organization. Fusion teams will address the many challenges that employees in traditional teams face. These challenges are the bottleneck of bureaucratic structures that stifle innovation and delay the overall innovation process. By addressing such challenges, fusion teams will ensure that businesses innovate faster and succeed in bringing innovative products to the market before their competitors. Since fusion teams are agile and offer employees a high level of autonomy, it is expected that organizations that embrace them will experience higher employee retention than organizations that stick to traditional teams.
According to Sutton, the effectiveness of fusion teams is tied to the agile culture it promotes. The rise of fusion teams in the modern-day workplace has been inspired by the need for organizations to adapt to the ever-changing work environment. Managing the changes happening in the workplace necessitates collaboration between multidisciplinary teams, which must work together to address organizational obstacles and develop real-time and effective solutions (Pattnaik and Rashmita, 231). A fusion team by definitions is a multidisciplinary team that combinations technology with analytics and business specific domain expertise. Within the fusion team accountability is shared to ensure business and technology outcomes. As an alternative of organizing work across functions or technology verticals, fusion teams are designed around the cross-cutting business capabilities, business outcomes and customer outcomes they are accountable for. The role played by fusion teams in the work environment is expected to persist long into the future.

References

Aghina, Wouter et al. “The Five Trademarks Of Agile Organizations.” Mckinsey.Com, 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-five-trademarks-of-agile-organizations.
Alli, Alicia, and Jenni Lloyd. “Does Our Economy Need More Pirates?”. Nesta, 2019, https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/does-our-economy-need-more-pirates/.
Galli, Brian J., and Paola Andrea Hernandez Lopez. “Risks Management In Agile New Product Development Project Environments.” International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management, vol 7, no. 4, 2018, pp. 37-67. IGI Global, https://doi.org/10.4018/ijrcm.2018100103.
Gartner. “What Are Fusion Teams?”. Gartner, 2022, https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/why-fusion-teams-matter.
Harel, Ronen. “The Impact Of COVID-19 On Small Businesses’ Performance And Innovation”. Global Business Review, vol 6, no. 12, 2021, pp. 93-99. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.1177/09721509211039145.
Kumar, Rahul et al. “Development of A Framework For Agile Manufacturing.” World Journal Of Science, Technology And Sustainable Development, vol 16, no. 4, 2019, pp. 161-169. Emerald, https://doi.org/10.1108/wjstsd-05-2019-0022.
Minster, Christopher. “How Was A Pirate Crew Organized?”. Thoughtco, 2022, https://www.thoughtco.com/positions-duties-on-a-pirate-ship-2136230.
Pattnaik, Subash Chandra, and Rashmita Sahoo. “Employee Engagement, Creativity And Task Performance: Role Of Perceived Workplace Autonomy.” South Asian Journal Of Business Studies, vol 10, no. 2, 2020, pp. 227-241. Emerald, https://doi.org/10.1108/sajbs-11-2019-0196.
Ranjbar, Mokhtar, and Narjes Amiri. “The Relationship between Knowledge Management And Employee Retention.” International Journal Of Management And Applied Science, vol 1, no. 9, 2015, pp. 231-236., Accessed 18 Mar 2022.
Rey, Carlos, et al. “Agile purpose: Overcoming bureaucracy.” Purpose-driven organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019. 75-86
Sutton, Ricky. “How Fusion Teams Will Define The Future Of Business.” Spryker, 2021, https://spryker.com/en/blog/how-fusion-teams-will-define-the-future-of-business/
Authors

Paul Lalovich

Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy Execution Practice

Tesha Teshanovich

Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy Execution PracticeAghina, Wouter et al. “The Five Trademarks Of Agile Organizations.” Mckinsey.Com, 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-five-trademarks-of-agile-organizations.
Alli, Alicia, and Jenni Lloyd. “Does Our Economy Need More Pirates?”. Nesta, 2019, https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/does-our-economy-need-more-pirates/.
Galli, Brian J., and Paola Andrea Hernandez Lopez. “Risks Management In Agile New Product Development Project Environments.” International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management, vol 7, no. 4, 2018, pp. 37-67. IGI Global, https://doi.org/10.4018/ijrcm.2018100103.
Gartner. “What Are Fusion Teams?”. Gartner, 2022, https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/why-fusion-teams-matter.
Harel, Ronen. “The Impact Of COVID-19 On Small Businesses’ Performance And Innovation”. Global Business Review, vol 6, no. 12, 2021, pp. 93-99. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.1177/09721509211039145.
Kumar, Rahul et al. “Development of A Framework For Agile Manufacturing.” World Journal Of Science, Technology And Sustainable Development, vol 16, no. 4, 2019, pp. 161-169. Emerald, https://doi.org/10.1108/wjstsd-05-2019-0022.
Minster, Christopher. “How Was A Pirate Crew Organized?”. Thoughtco, 2022, https://www.thoughtco.com/positions-duties-on-a-pirate-ship-2136230.
Pattnaik, Subash Chandra, and Rashmita Sahoo. “Employee Engagement, Creativity And Task Performance: Role Of Perceived Workplace Autonomy.” South Asian Journal Of Business Studies, vol 10, no. 2, 2020, pp. 227-241. Emerald, https://doi.org/10.1108/sajbs-11-2019-0196.
Ranjbar, Mokhtar, and Narjes Amiri. “The Relationship between Knowledge Management And Employee Retention.” International Journal Of Management And Applied Science, vol 1, no. 9, 2015, pp. 231-236., Accessed 18 Mar 2022.
Rey, Carlos, et al. “Agile purpose: Overcoming bureaucracy.” Purpose-driven organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019. 75-86
Sutton, Ricky. “How Fusion Teams Will Define The Future Of Business.” Spryker, 2021, https://spryker.com/en/blog/how-fusion-teams-will-define-the-future-of-business/
Authors

Paul Lalovich

Tesha Teshanovich

I have bipolar mixed, OCD , and generalized anxiety disorder I have been on lithium but does not work as good as it use to and I take benzo as needed. I have daily symptoms from moderate to severe and sometimes I doubt my bipolarality and wonder if OCD is mimicking bipolar symptoms. I an scared of doctors and nurses because I was mistreated when in patient years ago
I can't find a psychiatrist the soonest thing I can find is a psychatric nurse practitioner with three years experience in the psychiatric field. They work at a behavioral outpatient center.
Do you think a nurse practitioner can handle what I consider a complicated case like me? I an running out of lithium in one month and running out of options.
Nervous as hell about seeing a nurse practitioner. They also have five bad Google reviews and one good one.
There might be one other hospital with psychiatrist but appointments not until August the nurse practitioner is available in June.
What should I do? I an scared I might know more then the nurse practitioner I have a bachelor's in psychology and have had mental illness twenty years. So I just go and do what I need to do to get my medication? I an scared of she says something stupid I will walk out of if she is not knowledgeable.

Consumer behavior is the cornerstone of economic demand. This demand-type microeconomic comportment shapes the basic economic system that exists in the contemporary world. Consumption goods constitute a substantial proportion of economic activity. Therefore, it is important for businesses to understand the fundamental drivers in order to support the creation of a sustainable economy naturally, free of state tax substitutes and mandates from supernational entities.

For the last decades, the economies of many industrialised countries have been characterised by a combination of continuously high resource consumption with related high waste volumes, of rising public debt often accompanied by persistent unemployment and slow economic growth. Performance economies are built on sustainability by allowing the efficient use of existing resources and embracing product-use extension over the fast replacement of products. The natural resources are finite while the demand is increasing. The trajectory has spearheaded a move to the service economy, guided by a paradigm shift from industrialization and manufacturing to services. The role of technology, especially artificial intelligence and blockchain, is critical in providing improved security, increased efficiency, enhanced transparency, better traceability, and reduced cost. The modern economy is characterized by the shift from quantity and price sensitivity into servicisation, product quality, sustainability, and product ownership, which guides any country’s success.

Performance Economy

The current performance economies rely on blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, sock market, and Q & Q stocks to drive servicisation and the natural economy. Markets are growing beyond the material economy and consumption-driven concept. Therefore, it is essential to shift from industry-driven and material consumption and embrace sustainability. The shift can be successfully executed through the creation of products that last for a long time. Besides, capital owners should maintain ownership while the returns on capital ownership ought to be adjusted to realize sustainable economies. Achieving economic growth naturally needs a critical adherence to sustainability practices that revolve around re-use, recycle, and reduce (Gelbmann and Hammerl 52). Particularly, the concept of clean water, sustainable energy, and sanitation play an important role in the process.

Contribution of Circular Economy to Performance Economy

Contribution of Circular Economy to Performance Economy
The circular market economy creates an avenue for the capitalist system of the economy to thrive. Consequently, it achieved significant success for a few capitalists but with little regard for the general welfare. Under a circular capitalist system and open market, where little intervention on production is involved, the value of ecosystem and biodiversity is consistently undervalued. However, generational equity is hardly achieved where minerals, water, and the ecosystem are exploited for the short-term benefit without compensation for future sustainability (Staheel 2). Performance economy is built on resource use efficiency and policy frameworks that promote labor as a resource, personal sustainability in the process, and the general will of key sector players in building a sustainable economy (Nygård 7). Geissdoerfer et al. provide the approaches that private sector players in the circular economy should embrace to promote sustainability through business models that are guided by principles of re-use, repair, recycle and remanufacture as opposed to replace (759). Labour, as human capital, is a critical element in the new business models that seek to promote sustainability. For instance, technological advancement, including the expertise use of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and smart assistance, are critical aspects in improving efficiency. Businesses train their employees on new technology of production, how to remain environmentally efficient, and the effectiveness of converting resources into profit for the realization of short-term and long-term sustainability (Huang and Rice 479). At a time when the production and businesses environment is dynamic, the role of human resources is paramount to achieving the needed sustainable productivity. Imparting new skills to employees improves their efficiency and reduces wasteful production.
A circular economy seeks to achieve stock optimization and profit maximization. The three loops of production and the service-life extension result in significant benefits to companies and organizations. Stock optimization and service economy have gained further popularity over value-added production because capital owners have an opportunity to create value by extending the useful life of the capital asset rather than increasing the assets through use and replacement. Therefore, the utilization value replaces the product and exchange value as the cost of input in the latter is higher, but it takes a relatively long time to depreciate (Cooper 33). The shift to the extension of the useful life is backed by a sustainable society, mainly because the world’s resources are becoming progressively finite (Moreno et al. 78). Moreover, the increasing role of private sector developers with the new business model based on the 3R principles of re-use, recycle, and remanufacture has proved vital to the current economy. The move has enabled manufacturers to realize more utility from extended use of resources and stock optimization than they would receive in low-quality products. The new business model is important for sustainability because the useful life of a product determines its replacement speed and the rate of use of the resources (Stahel 5). The level of consumption of natural resources is directly proportional to the amount of waste production. Therefore, extending the useful life of means of production promotes sustainability and reduces waste. Therefore, the current performance economy seeks to naturally support the economy through product-life extension rather in place of a fast replacement approach. Product life extension increases wealth. On the other hand, shortening the life cycle upsurges the demand for replacement escalates the rate of natural resource utilization, and leads to increased waste (Kjaer 22). The growing importance of the new business model based on circular economy finds innumerable opportunities in every sector’s activities such as repair, re-use, recycle, and reconditioning. It is applicable mainly in manufacturing, finance, and research and development.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology

The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology
Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are instrumental in improving the resilience of the world economies in the face of pandemics and resource depletion. The shift towards a service economy and stock optimization is expected to propagate with the support from new technology. Particularly, blockchain and artificial intelligence can increase the speed of access to new markets new ways of production and stimulate productivity. The contribution of blockchain technology in keeping data secure in the service economy is paramount. The financial segment and stock market sector advance when private sector players are assured of the security of their investment. Blockchain and artificial intelligence provide security through authentication and facial identification (Ramadoss et al. 57). In addition, blockchain has enabled financial inclusion by reducing the cost of transactions and improving the speed with which many players in the economy access financial services. The era of new and advanced technology is necessary for natural economy performance based on the service economy to grow. Therefore, blockchain and artificial intelligence are critical in enabling the shift from the fast-replacement production to the new product- life extension and service economy, which is more sustainable than the traditional system due to the finite nature of natural resources.
Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are instrumental in improving the resilience of the world economies in the face of pandemics and resource depletion. The shift towards a service economy and stock optimization is expected to propagate with the support from new technology. Particularly, blockchain and artificial intelligence can increase the speed of access to new markets new ways of production and stimulate productivity. The contribution of blockchain technology in keeping data secure in the service economy is paramount. The financial segment and stock market sector advance when private sector players are assured of the security of their investment. Blockchain and artificial intelligence provide security through authentication and facial identification (Ramadoss et al. 57). In addition, blockchain has enabled financial inclusion by reducing the cost of transactions and improving the speed with which many players in the economy access financial services. The era of new and advanced technology is necessary for natural economy performance based on the service economy to grow. Therefore, blockchain and artificial intelligence are critical in enabling the shift from the fast-replacement production to the new product- life extension and service economy, which is more sustainable than the traditional system due to the finite nature of natural resources.
As the world marks a significant economic paradigm shift, blockchain and artificial intelligence offer solutions to existing problems. The advantages of these new technologies cannot be overlooked if an economy is to achieve a complete change towards a service economy, extended life products, and stock optimization. Specifically, blockchain technology offers improved security, increased efficiency, greater transparency, traceability, and reduced costs (Swan 125). Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology combine to effectively provide economical solutions and upgrade supply chain, financial inclusion, health records, and even medical royalties critical in the service economy (Marwala and Xing 25). Artificial intelligence specifically supports blockchain by facilitating decentralized blockchain infrastructure and verifying authenticity. Thus, artificial intelligence and blockchain work collaboratively to enable the service economy to perform naturally, guarantee sustainability, and promote economic viability for future generations.
The blockchain economy is taking over fiat and monetary systems. The technology facilitates exchange between distant players guided by equality of ownership shared governance among members. Blockchain and artificial intelligence are the centers of the new performance economies. They break border barriers and allow transactions between people in different countries at low costs and a fast rate. Artificial intelligence promotes trust by providing authenticity to transactions and eradicating the involvement of third parties in international trade and transactions.
The use of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and smart assistance has changed the way nations seek to promote natural growth. Furthermore, globalization and the growth of an open market economy have reduced the international boundaries in trade and what countries do to gain the balance of trade. As such, nations are finding it increasingly difficult to grow by themselves, especially given the rise in the international supply chain. Competitive advantage in production plays a significant role in what countries produce and how they balance their foreign exchange. The cutthroat competition and globalization have led to a new concept of sustainability that economies embrace to remain competitive in the going concern. For instance, a significant paradigm shift from industrialization to the service economy seeks to promote stock management over asset ownership to reduce the preference of quantity products over quality, which can last for long and guarantee a return on investment to the capital owners.

Conclusion

Performance economies seek to promote sustainability by allowing the efficient use of present resources. The product-life extension of fast-product replacement is encouraged as it leads to a lower rate of resource utilization and relatively low waste during production. Therefore, traditional means of production, where resources such as land, labor, and minerals were made for short-term use, are being replaced with products that take reasonably long to wear out or replace. The concept of stock optimization has evolved over time. Besides, the role of technology and the contribution of research and development in the performance economy cannot be overstated. The technology gained from research and development may not benefit the economy in the short term, but it contributes to economic growth in the long run. Research into new production methods, better products, and waste management play a key role in promoting sustainability, given the limited resources. Blockchain and artificial technology are now at the center of the service economy. Overall, they offer improved security, increased efficiency, greater transparency, better traceability, and reduced costs.

References

Cooper, Tim. “The Significance of Product Longevity.” Longer Lasting Products. Routledge, 2016.
Geissdoerfer, Martin et al. “The Circular Economy – A New Sustainability Paradigm?”. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol 143, 2017, pp. 757-768., doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048.
Gelbmann, Ulrike, and Barbara Hammerl. “Integrative Re-Use Systems as Innovative Business Models for Devising Sustainable Product–Service-Systems”. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol 97, 2015, pp. 50-60., doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.104.
Huang, Fang, and John Rice. “The Role of Absorptive Capacity in Facilitating “Open Innovation” Outcomes: A Study of Australian SMEs in The Manufacturing Sector”. International Journal of Innovation Management, vol 13, no. 02, 2009, pp. 201-220., doi:10.1142/s1363919609002261.
Kjaer, Louise Laumann et al. “Product/Service‐Systems for A Circular Economy: The Route to Decoupling Economic Growth From Resource Consumption?”. Journal of Industrial Ecology, vol 23, no. 1, 2018, pp. 22-35., doi:10.1111/jiec.12747.
Marwala, Tshilidzi, and Bo Xing. “Blockchain and artificial intelligence.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.04451, 2018. doi:10.48550/arXiv.1802.04451
Moreno, Mariale et al. “A Conceptual Framework for Circular Design”. Sustainability, vol 8, no. 9, 2016, p. 937., doi:10.3390/su8090937.
Nygård, Håvard Mokleiv. “Achieving The Sustainable Development Agenda: The Governance–Conflict Nexus.” International Area Studies Review, vol. 20, no.1, 2017, p. 3-18.
Ramadoss, Tamil Selvan, Hilaal Alam, and Ramakrishna Seeram. “Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Enabled Circular Economy.” The International Journal of Engineering and Science, vol. 7, no. 9, 2018, pp. 55-63.
Stahel, Walter. “The Business Angle of a Circular Economy–Higher Competitiveness, Higher Resource Security and Material Efficiency.” A New Dynamic: Effective Business in A Circular Economy, vol.1, 2013.
Swan, Melanie. “Blockchain for Business: Next-Generation Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Systems.” Advances in Computers. vol. 111, 2018, pp. 121-162.
Authors

Paul Lalovich

Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy Execution Practice

Tesha Teshanovich

Age:29 Gender: female Weight: 162 lbs Height: 5’6 Non smoker Medications: prenatal vitamin
This blood was taken at 10 weeks gestation Still waiting for nipt results. My obgyn has up to 72 hours to review so I don’t think I will hear back until Monday. Everything else is in range except neutrophils and lymphocytes but those were the same as my last pregnancy. I have never had mpv or nrbc flagged before.
The values are: Mpv 10.7 (range ended 10.4) NRBC% .9 (%) NRBC# .07 (10³ ul)
Can this indicate anemia even with normal rbc and hemoglobin values?
Also could this be baby’s nrbc or mine?

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Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”

He had hoped for a boring day. Boring days are good at work, and Santos was already expecting to not have many of them for a while.
The first couple of days were boring, as usual- Blackriver is a small town, and the worst that had happened was Nila and Kessa making a few wellness checks after worried calls from neighbors. A couple of people in denial, a few ashamed at their own violent outbursts and a stern warning to Tamm about painting others’ properties without asking first.
This morning, however, began with an all-hands meeting. There were no meeting rooms in the office, so they made do in the general workspace room, they all stood there at the center while Keya looked them over.
“We have received a report from a neighboring city about a convoy of protestors making its way to Blackriver” she describes without tone. At this point nobody bothers interrupting.
“This convoy is comprised of approximately four hundred and seventy eight individuals of multiple species, primarily human and venlil but with operationally relevant representations of the entire spectrum of size and mobility types” her paws are behind her back, her ears focused directly ahead, her eyes centered to keep the entire team on the core of her focus “They have crossed multiple cities already, generally engaging in verbal sparring with any figure of authority, parading signs and banners denouncing all manners of authorities as well as occasionally engaging in physical altercations with officers.”
“They are also known to engage in vandalism. Though primarily aimed at exterminator and police precincts as well as public offices, they have already caused considerable collateral to others they have identified as ‘collaborators’” there’s a single heartbeat of waiting for breath before she continues “They have, however, not shown to be an incredibly organized group or one with a clear goal and objective. The convoy appears to contain only extremely emotionally charged people with no clear overarching goal.”
“We are incapable of dealing with the situation should they turn aggressive, as such we will be simply maintaining watch and relocating the populace should they become a problem.” Then, she picks up her holopad and passes it to Lunek beside her “They can only follow one path with the entire convoy, the central street, therefore I have divided it into four sectors. One of each will be assigned to a sector.”
First her ears turn to the first target “Lunek, sector one at the entrance. As the most approachable member of the precinct your task is to give an initial image of harmlessness. Do not engage first, do not take initiative against them. Ensure the members of the herd in the area are warned of their approach. If they become aggressive, retreat and focus on the escape of the herd.”
She tilts her head a little bit, turning her ears the other way “Marik, sector two. Mostly the commercial area, your task is ostensive protection to lower the chances of them initiating aggression. Whereas protection of the herd is first priority your second priority is ensuring Tenve’s Hardware Store as well as Sunbreeze Meals and Watchful Café remain capable of providing anyone whose residences become damaged.” suddenly, she turns her head entirely to face Marik “Ostensive protection means dissuasion, ensure that they know they are not under threat and as long as those specific areas are not engaged, do not provoke”
Next in her line of fire is Santos “As our human officer you will be in sector three, nearby the precinct. They are liable to become most agitated in this area and your presence may serve to calm them. You are not to engage, if deemed necessary the precinct’s materials are considered expendable, do not attempt to stop them”
“Sector four, the exit of town, will be with me to ensure that they have fully left Blackriver and will not attempt to turn back” then she tilts her ears again “Aren, you will gear up with a CCG and remain out of view range, your task will be quick emergency response should the need arise.” she then points her tail at the last three officers “Vess, your task will be to inform the herd and ensure a clear path for the convoy while Nila and Kessa will gather all of our medical supplies and set a staging area out of the convoy’s range. Organize ambulance assistance from Striped Hill and Everrain”
Then, she turns her ears around to focus each one in turn “As any attempt at aggression will end only in negative consequences, and in order to reduce the apparent levels of threat you will be unarmed. The estimated time of arrival is a third of a claw, ready yourselves and be at your post in time. Dismissed.”
“Not sure if I like or I don’t that we had the cold bastard right now” Aren says, as soon as Keya had left the room “Maybe we should move in closer when the convoy gets to sector four?”
“Probably a good idea to be nearby” Santos adds with a sigh “They might take umbrage with her demeanor, hopefully they won’t be set off too hard.”
And with silent signs of agreement all of the officers of Blackriver depart for preparations. The first ones to leave the precinct are the ones in charge of support, the two girls set off early to find someone willing to permit usage of their lawn as a possible impromptu field hospital and a little while later Aren leaves with a heavy CCG.
Slowly, the clock ticks to the appointed claw… And soon enough, Lunek can see in the distance the incoming omen of people. At first a distant line in the horizon, slowly the dark mark on the road coalesces into distinct shapes, the shapes of hundreds of vehicles slowly rolling down the road.
When the first few get close to the initial buildings of the main street, the entire convoy slows down. Their process of preparation is seemingly laborious, each vehicle houses multiple people at a time, smaller cars full to the brim, flatbeds with more people on their cargo space than can safely be contained, even buses conscripted for the effort. They carry with them signs, flags, a multitude of symbols as they dismount their vehicles and start spreading out to fill the street.
They seem to naturally form two distinct yet highly mixed groups, at its most distinctive is the pack of humans who keep a good distance from each other. But they are not alone in this group as takkan, mazic, yotul, zurulian and even drilvar form this central group. But flowing around them, not avoiding their presence but never infringing in their space is the grey mass of venlil, packed tight together, and mixed in there adding color to the monochromatic flux are krakotl, tilfish, sulean, iftali, sivkit and even a seemingly very confused duerten.
And at the very core of the moving group are their vehicles, which gently start rolling forward again as the group starts moving. Lunek simply waits, silently, by the side of the road, his ears attentively swiveling from one side to the other, expression having given way to function. Before the first of the convoy even arrives close he turns to the side, making a pointing sign with his tail. A woman who had been watching from her yard flicks her right ear and runs back inside.
He continues to wait, scanning around at all times for the presence of… Anything. The street is empty of locals when the first visitors start to alight. The convoy is loud, their symbols carry a loudness of colors and their vehicles make as much noise as they can to draw attention, but those who walk seem content in allowing their tools to speak for them, for now. Lunek tries to make sense of the banners and signs, but the messages are disparate as the group- Some speak of injustices against their people, some speak of anger at invaders, some speak of betrayal.
“Fuck off, fireman!” comes the harsh bark of a human, causing Lunek to flinch. But flinch is all he does, he simply starts walking alongside the moving convoy.
The exterminator’s attention is drawn to the details of the few people he can distinguish amongst the mass. Something tickles at his pattern-recognition but he cannot quite ascertain what for a while, until a lightly limping mazic makes her way to the edge of the mass “Want to finish the job?!” she trumpets, her form towering over his.
“I’m just observing, ma’am.” Though the tremor of his voice is noticeable, he remains stoic. But her proximity makes him notice something about her body, marks in her wrists, neck and feet. Though mazic have powerful wrists and knuckles upon which they support the front half of their weight, her left wrist seems completely incapable of it, giving her a limp particular to a three-point walk. “To make sure there’s no impediment on your path” he notices the leathery skin around her left wrist is deeply blackened.
“Oh, ‘no impediment’ is that it? So everyone that lives here is an impediment?!” her voice booms.
“Ma’am” still, he does not yield nor does he break his pace following the convoy “We have not done anything other than inform our people of your presence…” for a half second all he hears is the sound of his own heart “We can’t do anything else.”
Those words, then, sealed his fate. The first shout to echo in his direction was a yotul howling “Yeah you’re useless!” and soon the avalanche came in multiple voices and languages “Can’t do shit!” “You’re just here to hurt people!” “Useless crap!” “Idiot!” and many more.
With every step and twitch the very average exterminator puts all of his focus on just being there. He lets himself cower a little bit, against the barrage it is difficult not to, but he continues to accompany. A few curious coats step out from their houses to watch, but the front of the convoy seems far too focused on the sole exterminator in view to bother anyone else.
A few steps ahead, an older venlil with a cane has moved the closest to the convoy as any watcher has up to now. Seeing her proximity to the increasingly rowdy crowd causes Lunek to speed up, quickly approaching her “Leva-”
But his words are stalled when she puts a paw on his shoulder, she gently puts her head against his for just a second “You’re doing good pup, keep at it” she mutters to him before breaking contact and turning around to walk back inside. He can spy her grandchildren looking on through the door. Lunek looks back at the still-shouting moving convoy, takes a deep breath, and continues to accompany them forward. A small pawful of them, however, seem to have fallen silent.
Once having reached the limit of his assigned zone, however, Lunek stops. He watches the convoy move forward, past the houses, now noisier than before. The initial hollering at him had turned into disjointed screams at some indistinct foe- Though the herd had been noticed of a foe, it was yet unaware of who, or what, said foe was. So for now it howled at the ineptitude of… Someone. And as the last of the convoy passes beyond the imaginary line of his duty, Lunek lets out a deep sigh and allows himself to sit down on the ground.
He stays there for a moment, without thought, simply letting the tension, confusion and fear permeate his body until a gentle paw touches his arm. He doesn’t need to look to identify it, he lets his lover use her strength to prop him up, raising him to his feet “Keina you shouldn’t-”
“Neighbor’s looking over Tiss” his wife wraps her arms and tail around him “I’m not leaving you alone.” she stays like that for a second, before breaking off “Do you need to go after them?”
“No”
Marik stalks through the sidewalk, moving with energy. His speed outpaces the movement of the convoy, his paws twitch to grasp at something that isn’t there and a deep and intense motion makes his short fur stand on end. He had let the convoy’s head move in front of him, simply standing still as he assessed as many as he could in the mass, and now he had begun to move towards the front again.
As he stalked forward he focused his sight on every member of the convoy that seemed of interest. A human whose clothes seemed suspiciously loose, a venlil whose movements were far too stiff, a gojid who kept his claws behind his back. He stared at each like they were his quarry, analyzing every piece of movement they made for threats, and yet aside from the challenge in the human’s gaze he saw no danger arise.
Tenve had closed his shop, so as the convoy moved forward Marik simply continued to follow along, scanning the crowd for threats. But the next point of interest arrives, and he rushes ahead placing himself in front of the only restaurant of the town. Sunbreeze Meals wasn’t a very common sort of restaurant, Blackriver did not have enough visitors for a normal restaurant to be profitable and was small enough most people had their meals at home, it most often served takeout for those farmers who’d spend so long in the field they would return home without the energy to feed themselves.
Sparing a look inside at the only five tables, Marik couldn’t keep a small thought away from his mind. How most who got their meals from Sunbreeze these days did so because they enjoyed the cooking rather than their need of work, ever since the sunspeck population has been brought under control and the maintenance of the fields had become much smaller. He feels the presence long before he can recognize what led him to feel it and turns to stare at a group of six that approach the entrance: Two humans, a tilfish, two gojids and a takkan had broken off from the convoy and approached the restaurant.
He traces his color band over each in turn, and they all bristle at his stare. One of the humans hesitates before continuing to walk inside, and Marik simply remains by the door with his arms crossed, left ear twisted as far back as he could to listen to the inside.
“What have you got here?”
“W-we mostly ha-have ready ma-made meals to go or- or- Or you can look over the menu”
“There’s no need to stutter, y’know”
“So-sorry-”
“Really, after everything y’all are still with this predator crap?”
The chimes on the door echo for the second time in sequence as Marik makes his way inside. The tilfish had started to lean over the counter while the other five had arrayed themselves behind her. They all turn their attention to him as he enters, including the venlil manning the counter. Marik keeps his gaze directly on the tilfish for a few uncomfortable seconds, before looking at the man behind the counter and making a simple sign with his tail, a short vertical bob with the tip and a slow horizontal swipe. It’s meaning simple: >Safe<.
After a few seconds someone else appears from the kitchen. The tall venlil carries a large stack of plastic boxes in his arms, all of them seemingly designed to attach to themselves so as to be carried with ease. He puts them down with a resounding crash on the counter, and opens up his voice with ice “Farmer’s Pots, good meal when you’re working and can’t go home.” With each word the owner of the restaurant and main cook comes closer and closer to the tilfish, until the last “Ten credits each.”
Nobody moves for a couple of seconds, and then one of the humans steps closer and brings a holopad over to the credit reader. There’s a noise indicating payment, and then the owner raises his head and tilts it to focus his favored eye and both of his ears at the man who paid “Now,” he shifts register in his voice and the language he speaks in “fuck off” he finishes.
With no small amount of surprise the group of six retrieve the stack of packaged meals, carefully walking out and back into the convoy. Marik stays behind for a moment “Didn’t know you spoke human”
“Pup’s enamored with their languages. Of course, first greek words he learns is swearing.”
Outside, Marik stalks further ahead to the next point of interest. He moves faster than the convoy, and has time to move in front of it. For a few meters the street is still clear as he arrives to find a group of people standing in front of the Watchful. Standing there were all of its employees, and even all of its regulars, twenty people total standing there as if they were having the most normal day. If not for their raised ears tracking every noise coming from down the street and their swaying tails swinging about like angry beasts.
One of them simply points his tail at the other side of the street as Marik comes closer, and the hunter doesn’t need a second command to understand the meaning. They have this, he has a less practical but just as important duty. He crosses the street quickly before the convoy starts coming closer, and heads towards the park.
As the regulars of the Watchful had feared, it took little time until a large group had broken off from the convoy. With the town on alert about the convoy they had found themselves bereft of prey and now this group had set out to find some, anyone who might be willing, or not, to listen to their grievances. And what is clearly a place designed for people to congregate looked most appetizing.
Marik shadowed the group as they moved through the park, but they were accompanied by nothing but silence. It wasn’t until they ran into the centerpiece of the park that he took initiative, stepping ahead of the group and simply… Standing there a distance away from the tree of many scions, between it and the group.
“What’s so important over there, fireman?” it was a venlil who asked, but his usage of an english word was not lost on Marik.
“A place you will respect” the exterminator has his arms crossed, the one good portion of his gaze set on the man who asked “This is a grave.”
Though the group that now prowled was large, those who heard were taken aback. One such, however, approaches closer. He was a venlil whose fur shifted between a soft, brownish color and a dirty white “A tradition of the tenets right? One of those family trees?” The man would have been distinctive in any other group due to his missing patches of fur around neck, wrists, even portions around his head. But such signs of long term damage were common in the convoy.
Interest. They had shown true interest, or at least one of them had. “No, but similar… The forgotten tree is a grave for the forgotten.” He felt like these people, at least the ones before him, could probably understand the meaning of this place “It is of no tradition. Someone, a long time ago, wanted to honor someone who was gone but whose name was not meant to be remembered. Someone who had disappeared in the system… So they borrowed on another’s tradition, and added a scion to this tree, with something in their memory. Others have done so similarly, until it became… A grave for the forgotten”
“Didn’t think you’d be worried about this kind of place” it’s a human that speaks up this time
“Our duty is to protect this town, what you think-” but Marik’s words are interrupted by that same venlil who had asked before. His demeanor suddenly shifts, his ears perk up and his entire body shifts forward for a moment. He hesitates, for a second everyone’s focus is on him, and then he runs towards the tree.
Marik follows behind, stopping just by the man’s side as he finds himself at the base of the tree. The man makes a direct line to somewhere, something he had found from the distance, as if it had called him. He finds a thick and heavy branch that had been bent down by the weight of its scions and memories, near its base and speaking of a memory left behind long ago is a braid of fur made of three colors, a dirty white, a soft brown and a dark grey, bound by the braids are two beads.
The man raises up a paw, but does not touch it. As if cradling it, he recites the words engraved in one of the beads “I will cross every star to return home” others have come closer to listen to the man’s hoarse voice “There will always be a home for you” he reads of the second one. The names on the beads have been scratched out. The man falls on his knees “S-she kept her promise and… I couldn’t keep mine…”
Marik steps back as he watches two others come closer to comfort the man. He looks as a few others approach with more caution, looking up at the tree with a bit more reverence than they had before. Then, he turns around and starts heading back towards the main street.
Gazing out as the convoy gains a new flux, some leave it as it passes to move towards the park while others leave the park to rejoin the convoy, Marik simply stays there at the side of the street looking as stern as he could. Though the noise of the convoy remains great, here in this portion it seems to die down a little. A thought crosses his mind as he turns an ear as far back as he can, a thought he can’t help but voice “I wonder how many are looking at their own graves…”
As the convoy progresses, Santos simply stands by the front of the precinct, hands in his pockets. He watches the convoy arrive, heart beating fast, constrained hands the only reason he hasn't started shaking quite yet. He starts tapping his right foot as he watches the first few people cross by without noticing what this place is yet, everyone knows where the precinct is, so aside from the words printed on the sign by the entrance there is no other marker of what this building’s purpose might be.
Of course, it is impossible for nobody to notice. The entire convoy seems to stop as soon as a zurulian riding on the shoulders of a human points a claw at the building and says something. A large group breaks away at the command, all of them holding disparate signs and messages. They turn on the building with enough roars that whatever they are attempting to transmit is lost on him.
Santos is thankful his hearing isn’t nearly as good as his coworkers’, as the cacophony is already overwhelming him. He changes stances slightly, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. This prompts a small group to turn their looks at him, the focus easily identifiable with the humans in their midst, focus which made the hair in the back of Santos’ neck stand on end. Living in this place had refined his sense of danger, but he didn’t need that to realize what could happen.
It was a group of five that approached, four humans and a venlil. “Didn’t think they’d be letting humans live out here in the boonies” said one of his kin.
Santos just shrugs “Got hired to work here. Honestly, rural folk get a needlessly bad reputation, most of the time they just don’t care as long as you’re not bothering them”
“Really? In my-”
Santos interrupts the man “Cut it out” there are many ways in which humans make themselves obvious, many of which are their eyes. Santos did understand the fear of them and why it was primal, it was not the fear of the eyes but the fear of attention, it was knowing you were under the scrutiny and judgment of another that set off that emotion. It was rarely the eyes that showed this attention for most species, but for humans it was, and the man’s clear gaze on his badge made the entire situation clear to him “Stop beating around the bush and say it already.”
Someone else is who speaks. The tall woman starts not with words, however, but by spitting on Santos’ uniform “You fucking traitor” her voice is both fierce and cold at the same time. A very emotional coldness.
“There we go” he sighs “Just… Move on. We’re not getting anything out of this conversation”
“Why?” It was the venlil in the group that started this time “These people hate you, they hate you for what you are! Why do you work for them?!”
Santos rubs his eyes and sighs “Because someone has to. Change only happens when you make it happen, simple as that”
“Change?!” another one of the humans howls “Do you think those people can change?! You know the truth, those fuckers have never done anything good!”
“You know, if you had read your history books…” Santos stares at the one who had just had their outburst “You’d remember that we once thought the very same about the police” there’s the sound of glass breaking, but he doesn’t reaction “And a lot of us still do”
The human staring him down shifts their gaze slightly at the broken window of the precinct, then back at Santos “A broken window is easy to fix” he shrugs “As I was saying. Same shit.” he crosses his arms again “There’s a role those people play, a role that needs to be played because it’s important. Different name, different problems, still the same shit. Gotta fix this, I’m doing my part” he then stares at the venlil in the group “You do yours. Simple as that.”
“Role?!” the venlil of the group steps closer “What role could they possibly have?! They only exist to hurt people!”
Santos steps back, and raises his eyes a little bit. Of course, the classics had shown themselves in this instance. With as many humans as there are in the crowd there were now quite a few objects in the air, most clearly aimed at the precinct behind him. Though given the failed arc of some of them it was clearly not just the humans indulging in such a tried and true method.
“I used to be a wildlife preserve ranger” Santos then focuses his gaze on the aggravated venlil “This is a frontier town, if you walk in the brushes with shorts you’ll walk out with your ankles numb. The athai out there are rather harmless, but they keep the sunspecks under control.” He takes another step back “Since coming here I’ve been pest control, had to catch an exotic animal set loose, investigated a murder, helped stop a child from taking her own life, stopped large scale fights, helped a dozen people avoid being arrested for self defense and helped break a fucking siege”
Santos cracks his knuckles “There’s roles. Jobs that need done and there is one fucking organization doing it all. That is a problem.” Then, he sighs and takes a few more steps to the side, offering indifference from this point on “There’s nothing I can say that would make you calm down.” he says one final time “Just make sure not to injure yourselves in the process, alright?” His words seemed to be enough to make the small group cease trying to interact, as the convoy had begun moving again. Though the one human who had called him a traitor gets one final parting shot at the precinct “Where the hell did you get an egg in this planet…” Santos says with a raised eyebrow as the projectile impacts the front door.
Keya stands by a large sign, the same one that welcomes you into Blackriver on one side and sees you out at the other, the official limit of the town. Her arms behind her back, her attention directly towards the front of the convoy as they march. Something gains the whole of her attention, the car in the front. Someone draws her focus, a human with a megaphone on top of the car. The man shouts words of encouragement at the people behind him with the megaphone before turning to his holopad, then he bends over downwards to discuss something with the driver.
She simply remains there, waiting for the convoy to pass. But instead of moving on out of the city, here the convoy stops completely. Keya observes as the further end of the convoy starts to slowly compact upon itself, and her ears pick up something “Alright everyone, start getting ready, next town over is more than a claw away, make sure you’ve left nothing behind” the words were not meant for her, nor for anyone too far. They come from the same man she had seen standing on top of the car, but he had now climbed down and was talking with a group of multiple species.
It is clear they have some degree of leadership, though the convoy does not stop cleanly nor does it begin to organize with alacrity they do respond to the group’s organization. So Keya keeps her focus on them as they point, wave and talk between themselves, others and devices. But at least one of them has noticed her attention, a gangly and light-skinned human with fire-red hair, the man that was atop the car. He starts walking in her direction, before turning around for one final set of commands as he walks backwards “And make sure the guys at the back got all the crap! We’re here to be heard, not to trash the city!” he says before turning back again to head towards her. A venlil with pure white fur erupts from inside the car he was riding, quickly dashing to his side as they notice where he was going.
In a few moments both have come up to her, the human looking down at her with the venlil bristles at his side “Saw anything interesting, fireman?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What? Isn’t it obvious?!” it was the venlil that roared a response “You saw all of it! You know what they’ve done to us! What they’ve done to everyone! And you still work for those brahking monsters! It’s like you’re thankful they made you a cripple!”
The human puts a hand on the venlil’s shoulder, calming her demeanor just a little bit “We’re here because honestly, we’re all too tired of being fucking ignored is what. So what the fuck are you gonna do?!”
“I have put the wrong emphasis” Keya says with her lack of tone. She can see the human shiver just a little bit “My task is to ensure the safety of this town. Your convoy is a danger. We have eight field-capable officers, we cannot ensure the safety of the residents against a group like yours. People will take actions for reasons, you have broadcast your reasons clearly. You have chosen this place for a reason which I cannot ascertain.”
She makes sure her ears are trained towards both the human and the venlil, an action which causes the venlil to cower behind her partner “We do not house government agencies. This is a farming town of little note. The local precinct is a simple precinct, we have no regulatory or command authority. The town population is approximately double that of the number of your convoy. We have no individuals of appreciable social or political reach. There is nothing in Blackriver of interest to people attempting to change government policy, nor have there been actions taken here that I can identify as being cause for retaliatory actions within the context of your message.”
“I must ensure this does not happen again and the only way of doing so is minimizing our attractivity as targets. A logical assumption of your choice of quarry would be a town with the presence of politicians, a large city with constant news coverage, cities housing important government agencies or those containing the Regional Firebases”
“So I ask again. What are you doing here?”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, before the human turns around with a mouth noise “Whatever, I don’t need to explain myself to someone that won’t listen. Come on!” he starts to stalk back towards the car, but stops once he notices his venlil companion wasn’t moving.
The snow-white venlil has their focus on Keya, who offers a simple low forward swipe of her tail, a sign to proceed. Still, the venlil seems frozen in place until the human comes back and grabs hold of their paw with a gentle touch. At which point both finally return to the convoy.
Keya remains at the side of the road, watching as the convoy readies itself again to leave. People get back inside cars, they hop on the back of trucks and load themselves into buses. She continues to watch as the convoy takes its time riding out, making their way out of the town.
Once it is finally gone, multiple footsteps sound behind her. When she turns around she meets her officers, having returned from their assigned positions “They have left. I expect your reports of what happened in each sector by the end of your shifts” she states plainly, before looking at Santos “They did not appear to have a specific reason for targeting Blackriver.” The question remains unspoken.
The human officer just shrugs “Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just a little town, I doubt they even know what exactly they’re angry about.” He looks at the tail end of the convoy as it leaves “Town was probably just a place they felt safe going to.”
“D-do you think we might get more like that” Lunek says, at the back of the group.
“Who knows…” Santos sighs “But if human history applies anywhere here… This is just a sign of worse things to come”
[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]
And thus the omen passes by. Feelings, emotions of all sorts, without a plan or a reason other than just their own rage and distress.
Did any of these even know what they were doing? And how much worse can it be when they do?

I'm lost and I know I shouldn't be. I work full time and have a family so finding time to learn this process and try to get a rating is often put on the back burner. I went the a non-profit veteran's help center and the first thing they told me was to get my medical records by requesting them from National Archives. I sent the request only to get a response that National Archives no longer maintains military medical records. They only provided an contact address. Is there a form I sign and send the address? I was in the Air Force 2001-2009. 5 years aircraft armament systems (deployed to Qatar) and 3 years EOD (only conus). My chief complaints are hearing and mental health that is really having a negative impact at home. I have not filed anything with VA and have never been to the VA. Any advise would be great. THANKS!

Hey all! I'm really stressed and struggling with deciding what I should do in this situation. I'm currently registered for the June test but I have a few issues at hand:
1) I'm not where I want to be with preptest scores. Currently I'm scoring in the 150's timed and in the 160's review. LG games was the easiest for me to learn and I get about -5 timed and can get -0 in my reviews. This was the main reason why I wanted to take the June test before LG goes away. I struggle a bit more with LR and especially RC which is my most difficult section. I think with more studying and practice I can get about -5 on LR but I don't know if that's possible before the June Test. Moreover, I'm hesitant to take the LSAT at a later date with the test changes due to my difficulties with RC. I struggle with both timing and answering the questions themselves in RC and I haven't really seen much improvement overall in this section. I really don't know whether it would be best for me to take the June test with LG and have that boost my score a little bit or wait and receive the same score as I would've gotten or better by taking the LSAT at a later date.
2) I ran the check for the proctoring software to see if my laptop met the basic requirements (I was planning on doing the remote test) and it did not pass (apparently my screen resolution is not at the minimum requirement - definitely the last thing I would've predicted to be the issue, but here we are). I'm unable to take the test at a testing centre as there are no locations in my area so my next best option if I want to take the June test is to buy a new laptop. I was eventually planning on buying a new laptop within the year, but not this soon, and it is just another factor adding on to my stress about my situation. In September however, I will be living in an area where there is a testing center nearby.
3) From being stressed about all of this and due to my full time work, I've been neglecting studying for a few days and avoiding thinking about it. I also missed scheduling a time slot for the test and from reading previous posts, it almost seems unlikely I will even get a time slot at this point.
In short, I'm really conflicted with what I should do: write the June LSAT since I've registered for it anyway, try my best, and see how it goes? Or wait to write in September, where I can write it in a testing center and have additional time to drill and study for LR and RC?

I have mental health issues like depression and anxiety and have worked at this place for 3.5 years (England)
Since I came back from the mat leave, my line manager was off with me due to my 1 year old getting sick on the nursery as she just joined it.
My line manager shouted at me, that led to depression relapse. Please note that I was admitted to mother and baby unit when my post-partum depression was quite bad 1.5 month after my baby was born.
I went on sick leave for 12 days and when I came back, I told HR that my depression is getting worse due to my line manager as I was much better and off medications before I joined the work after mat leave.HR was being very rude towards me and forced me to make eye contact with my line manager.
HR was still not changing the line manager and I got pissed off and told them that why are you not understanding, she is harming me by her volatile nature and my child is suffering as I can't even play with her.
Line manager said that I am a bully and aggressive. So an informal investigation was conducted in which she retracted her bullying allegations and said I was aggressive when I asked them (HR) for changing the line manager.
Eventually, the line manager was changed and I mended relationship with my previous line manager as I got to know she was suffering from menopausal issues, that explained her behaviour and I moved forward.
Since I completed all my goals, I got good end of year review by the interim manager. I changed the nursery and got my child into a childminder setting for less sickness.
In January, I got a new line manager who seemed really level headed and kind. Owing to my depression and anxiety, I was seeking validation from him (like job well done etc.) by showing him my data (I am a researcher), he was always humble and nice and we brainstormed.
Then after three months, I suddenly had a performance review and was told that I do not show enough independence in performing my work, I seek help from my line manager (who is not even trained in my field - it is a matrix management). The project lead said that I share too much data with them - I over communicate via teams. The project lead made a teams group in which he added my line manager and I, and made me prepare weekly plans for the work package. I thought, if I share my data with them, they will see how hard I am working and how everything is according to the timeline. Several (not all) colleagues feel that the project lead is a narcissist.
But no, my line manager ambushed me with this sudden performance review in which me mentioned that if I don't improve within three weeks, I will be put on PIP.
I had such a bad depressive episode that I got suicidal. My anti--depressant dose got increased and my psychiatrist said, it is the work which is causing you issues, no dose will help you. This issue needs to be sorted.
I am on sick leave now. The attitude of my line manager has shocked me. He never gave me any feedback before, if he did, I would have happily changed myself according to what they wanted. But he rather started a performance review with director and HR involved. This broke my trust and me. He was writing all the small points throughout those three months. Most of the things he are saying are false. He misunderstood my humbleness to be lack of independence or knowledge. I always had good performance reviews, this is the first time I am listening to this when I was working so hard.
I am thinking of going the legal way - preferably a settlement. What would you suggest? Does it look like discrimination to you?