Pronouncing the "ed" in the English past tense regular verbs (unfinished but useful draft)

https://eslbuzz.com/how-to-pronounce-the-ed-ending-correctly-in-english/ https://www.grammar.cl/english/pronunciation-ed.htm#google_vignette

CURRENT EVENTS --ICE, distance learning, and foreign student visas

The United States ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has just announced a controversial policy affecting foreign students. I oppose this decision.

A very   quick, hastily produced introduction to the current US ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) policy on foreign students who are taking classes through distance learning. Please note that this policy primarily affects foreign students who came to the USA to study in conventional programs but whose programs have switched exclusively to distance learning due to the on-going Covid-19 Pandemic. Not a final or complete study on the issue, and I created this merely as a starting point for those interested on this issue. Please feel free to share. Please feel free to contact me at plh25.0@gmail.com with additional resources. Thank you

Here is the official government press release from ICE.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/sevp-modifies-temporary-exemptions-nonimmigrant-students-taking-online-courses-during?fbclid=IwAR3eQmfV7B9cEWIUpjB-lAq5oZyTvF1RnqQppJIlCbbR2FSlb9NRPxzcAbE

Here are some stories of reactions from the media. This is not intended as a comprehensive survey but only a brief, quickly collected group of such stories although an effort was made to include different angles and viewpoints.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/christian-groups-oppose-removal-foreign-students-200710200829464.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/99-members-congress-demand-withdrawal-restrictions-international-students-n1233358?fbclid=IwAR34AH6WH8tt_wAPgu7wVlrRINNNHwgAJrBVFcQ03ATBtKI9EtjJjfX9-yY

https://www.wcvb.com/article/harvard-mit-sue-feds-over-new-immigration-rule-targeting-students/33246356?fbclid=IwAR2YL5-Za40P9jf-7EIyoavKPKcReL09_byDIKRCYQav610LyJSFvjR4CG4

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/politics/harvard-mit-lawsuit-ice-foreign-students/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2ggdT_8Gy77IjHgXQJnPRrKQX6ruhGwLKAQTmDdmDyhaCDZkIM9GWUvxY

To better understand this issue, please keep in mind this action will not just affect foreign students, but also their landlords, local restaurants, the places they buy their clothes and groceries, and the many other businesses and services where they spend money. This is a report from NAFSA, a respected organization for professionals in the international education field, on the economic value of foreign students. (FYI, I have personally visited two different large NAFSA gatherings. They were expensive, but I enjoyed them.)

https://www.nafsa.org/policy-and-advocacy/policy-resources/nafsa-international-student-economic-value-tool-v2?fbclid=IwAR1jDW4yIB-7UTVS0fG9-GGqzck3OGwTrpEyC9FRNDB-UpenQ4kRr7xMNLY

Here are some academic organizations that are working on this issue. By sharing these links, I am not endorsing these organizations or their approach to this issue. Again, this is quickly assembled and shared for informational and initial networking purposes.

The National Humanities Alliance  (both links)

https://www.nhalliance.org/take_action_to_reverse_ices_decision_on_international_students

https://p2a.co/NwHGF6D

Statement from the Associations for Asian Studies

https://www.asianstudies.org/aas-statement-on-modifications-to-student-and-exchange-visitor-program-rules/?fbclid=IwAR07nBwGQ9UdSQZW4yhbd3gZKtIEK66YUOcp_UJaTOH50jvC7T1Xwf7INMw

Here is a list of academics who have signed an open letter. If you are an academic you can consider signing it.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HNQjP2yPtS67C4UpaNMn0Khn1c2LDwgU-p9Htzh4_2A/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3DXcEGRWU3UKnN1BQMFXKOi9Dh3ko8olgb3QlzdpiZvlOM4J6zcDZu7vA&edit_requested=true&hl=en

Here is a Twitter feed discussion from an immigration lawyer that is well worth reading. Again, I do not endorse the man but am sharing for informational and networking purposes.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1280207487573069827?fbclid=IwAR10B_S1fQD4hgxIBh5kRlLZefYfvDiwSFWWcvJelzz2pq9PHP24cIQm7A0

Here are a pair of petitions one can read and/ or sign if one wishes

Change.org

https://www.change.org/p/student-and-exchange-visitor-program-sevp-allow-f-1-and-m-1-students-to-remain-in-the-us-with-online-only-classes?recruiter=50438578&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=signature_receipt&recruited_by_id=44270b50-9df8-0130-3580-00221968d0e0&fbclid=IwAR2XHrD89ev-Y2UodATKPKnweNoUed98QMHNIBhJImYlyzPnNsWacx-MVYI

Whitehouse.gov

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/allow-f-1-students-stay-us-through-fall-semester-if-instruction-online-due-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR2zDzXbjZLT-rlpIsUYH1LL-Rr1a5kUGE-bnyK3b-Aix6x9JYRDrl106hI

Thank  you,

Peter Huston, MA, MS,

Conditionals

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-conditional.htm

Beginning minimal pairs

https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-l-r.htm

https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-b-v.htm

https://engoo.com/app/lessons/minimal-pairs-v-w/FUSOTDADEeeQ1bc2BHyMHA

https://magoosh.com/toefl/2016/tongue-twisters-w-v/

past perfect versus present perfect

https://englishlive.ef.com/blog/language-lab/english-grammar-help-present-perfect-and-past-perfect/ 

 https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpas-preper

https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html#verb-tense-chart-title

Cool links!

https://www.easypacelearning.com/all-lessons/grammar/1198-12-verb-tenses-table-learning-english-grammar-tenses?fbclid=IwAR08I7lgTVebe67KTtCKh28mndKmh0MdcgoqWUV-Z18lModFTRdRKPIdX7Q  

 https://www.esl-lounge.com/reference/grammar-reference-most-common-irregular-verb-list.php?fbclid=IwAR1ePMQEl5msYA0Wc9_xspHjdzKuDBEk9eN9gV3ZSMUYtWAN-TGnYitVShs 

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/support-files/50_common_irregular_verbs_list.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1KwOXFcwDQJf4jYMXCdf42Y7DBkronPh8Mutq50U029Yg4BrhknGCQb-s

Verbs in ESL

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/verbs.htm 

 https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/regular-verbs-list.htm

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/irregular-verbs.htm

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https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-t-d-initial.htm


http://englishspeaklikenative.com/minimal-pairs/minimal-pairs-for-consonants/

Writing Lesson: Don't Use Hard Sell Techniques Unless It's a Paid Advertisement

Although I've been away for a while, it does not mean I've forgotten or abandoned teaching. And, as always, if something holds legitimate interest for you, reach out to me and send a message or leave a comment.

Today we look at an issue that's been itching at me for a long time --the best way to explain educated norms to low academic ability, first generation college or other adult basic education adult learners. While all of these students have made an important first step to get ahead and improve their lives, anyone who has interacted with or taught them knows that in many cases the obstacles to their advancement are many.

Many of these students come from backgrounds where poverty and low education is the norm. Poverty is a difficult, unpleasant thing, and the feeling of being trapped in such a condition makes it worse.  If you've never been there, imagine this. You've got a bad toothache and no way to pay for the dentist, sitting on the front steps is frightening because you live in a high crime neighborhood, you're overweight, the doctor says to watch the sugar and lose weight, and not only can you not afford good nutritional food, the best supermarkets with the lowest prices and freshest vegetables are a long bus ride away and it's not easy to carry groceries on a bus. And people look down on you, sometimes for reasons you understand and sometimes for reasons that make no sense to you at all.

And sometimes the best thing to do is to just trudge along, tell yourself it's not your fault that life sucks, and ignore the people who say things that make you feel bad.

Which, if you read the last sentence carefully and think about it, precludes and denies and reduces opportunity for growth, learning, and positive change in a person's behavior. If it's not your fault that your life is in this state, then why should you change your behavior? If the behavior is not related to the situation, then how could changing the behavior affect the situation? And so it goes in the lives of some people.

As multiple people have noted, the traits that often enable a person to survive poverty emotionally and physically are often the opposite of traits that enable a person to escape poverty. 

Which brings me back to teaching such students, It's a challenge (and, honestly, not one I think I'm terribly good at it but I try and I learn as I go. Sometimes that's the best we can do. And, sometimes, when I learn something useful, I try to share it here.)

A few years back, I was hired by the local proprietary college to teach English 101. This was one of those places that specialized in recruiting first generation college students, hooking them up with government loans, placing them in classes, and then trying to keep them happy so they came back semester after semester using the loans to pay them for tuition. Sometimes they got educated in the process, but my impression after dealing with the management is that this was basically incidental to the process. The keeping them there and getting the loan money seemed to be the priority. The students who did like it said they liked it because several of the classes taught hands on skills taught by professionals in the fields where they wanted to work.

And that's what I tried to make English 101 be. I can't say I succeeded but I tried to make it practical and relevant.

Therefore my first real writing assignment after a basic (but widely ignored yet very necessary) grammar review was to have them write a cover letter for a resume.

I taught how to do this. I shared videos on how to do this. I assigned links on how to do this. And I gave them homework on how to do this.

But when the results were turned in, I was surprised by some of the results.

One was plagiarized. I told the management, and the student claimed she hadn't understood that original work was expected. I'm not sure I believed her, but whatever . . .

Another, a student who spent most of the class under the impression that my class and every other class he'd ever taken was not useful in any way and that he knew things that he clearly did not know --it was a great challenge teaching him that not only were citations required they were required because his papers often included ignorant misinformation. For instance, he turned in a paper that stated most terrorism was committed by Muslims, a statement that was both unsourced and false. When I told him this his response was "Are you calling me a liar?" I forget my response, but as I'd already been told not to give the students blunt reality checks, it was most certainly not what I considered as my first response.

In this case, he showed his lack of interest in the project by stating in his cover letter that he had a degree from the local community college when in fact he'd failed out and then come here. I never did get a good reason as to why he included obviously false info in the cover letter. (As for why he was in this school, someone had convinced him that if he wished to be a security guard, he should go to college and study law enforcement and I think he came from a background where his parents expected him to be in college. This degree was completely unnecessary as most security companies do not require such degrees. Last I saw him, he was wandering the halls of a shopping mall dressed in a rent a cop uniform.)

But others showed a completely unexpected problem. The students basically put sales slogans in their cover letters. In other words, although they tried to follow the standard three paragraph cover letter format they were shown, they'd use language like "Why take a chance on an unproven employee? Hire me. I'm the best and my record shows it." This, paraphrased from memory, came from an adult student with a good work history, and it surprised me.

Yet it was not uncommon. And it shows a lack of familiarity with norms of behavior among what I shall call "the educated class" by those who I will refer to as "the uneducated class."

One of the challenges of advancing in work or society, at times, is to brag but to do so without appearing to brag. In other words, one must let people know of your great accomplishments without appearing to want to impress people of your great accomplishments. This is, as many recognize, one of the skills or modes of behavior that one must assume when using linkedin (which exists almost entirely for self promotion) or one of the other social media forums where people try to let others know of their greatness without bragging. This is just the way it's done. I mean, anyone with an ounce or more of social awareness knows everyone is doing this but one can't just let it be seen that you are doing it. You must keep things subtle. Why? Because that's the way it's done. (Unless, of course, you're donald trump, a man who seems to delight in breaking rules)

Yet it's tough to explain this to people who do not normally travel in circles where this is not the way that things are done. Why not brag? Why not boast? Why not even go so far as to exaggerate and if you think you can get away with it downright lie?

Well, just because you don't. It's unseemly. Inappropriate. Gauche. Vulgar, and lest one forget, for what it's worth, "vulgar" comes from the Latin word for "common class."

Yet how does one not just explain this concept, but sell it to the audience who needs it, in this case, the students who need to learn to write cover letters that are acceptable and ordinary to whatever human resources people might happen to receive it?

It was not easy for me to find the perfect, succinct way to phrase this without sounding smug, judgemental, and even classist. 

Or worse finding oneself trapped in increasingly circular and convoluted explanations as some of the students, as some of the students tended to do, seek to argue with the instructor for no other reason than to reinforce their view that the instructor could not possibly have anything to offer them and that nothing in their life is their own fault and therefore there is nothing to be gained by changing their behavior as there is nothing to be gained by changing their behavior because their lifestyle and its problems, and their behavior is unlinked, and the worse we can the instructor look, well, the more we can reinforce this view that we are, in fact, smarter than him and he has nothing to offer us.

And thus it was when I found myself, years later, confronted with the perfect answer.

"Don't use hard sell techniques unless it's a paid advertisement."  

It's that simple. And if the students ask why, tell them because human resources people get exposed to enough blatant, in-your-face advertisements outside of work and do not need them at work. They wish to meet job candidates who are sincere and wish to work and wish to fit in to their organizations or companies. They do not wish to meet slick salesmen who will try to manipulate them, They wish to judge credentials and experience and character, not slogans.

And if you can get that idea across, well, you've got your students writing better cover letters and made them more employable than they were before they met you.

"Don't use hard sell techniques unless it's a paid advertisement." 

It's that simple.

Explaining What Trump is Trying to do with Immigration

Someone asked me to explain what Trump is doing or trying to do with the United

States immigration policies. There has been a lot of talk of this in the news lately.

Trump wants to change our immigration policies.

Many other people do not want them changed. Exactly how changes in

US immigration law happen is complicated. Because Trump is president sometimes

he can do things to change the way the US government works. However, a President

cannot just do anything he wants. There are laws on what he can do and what he

cannot do. So sometimes he cannot do what he wants. Sometimes he can try to get

Congress and the House of Representatives to make changes. Then the people in

Congress and the House of Representatives vote on whether or not they want to

make the changes.

So no really knows what changes will happen and if Trump will be able to do

what he wants.

If he gets his changes then if you are a US Citizen or have a Green Card you can still stay.

HOWEVER, if he gets his changes it will become more difficult for you and other people

to bring new people here from your country, this includes family members who live

overseas.

Trump is also looking at many groups who were allowed to stay here temporarily and

trying to send them home.

For instance, there was a terrible earthquake in El Salvador, a small country south of

Mexico many years ago. Because of the Earthquake many El Salvadoreans were told

they could stay until things got better in their country.

But actually nobody really told them it was time to go home. The government just

let them stay. Now Trump is telling them to go home.

A second group that you will here about are called "DACA recipients"

DACA means "Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals."

These are people whose parents came here against the law, usually from Mexico or

South America but brought their children with them.

Their children did not choose to come here against the law and grew up here, and

Trump said, basically, although they are here against the law, it's not their fault, and

they can stay until we decide on a good policy about what to do with them.

Now Trump is saying he wants to send them home.

Honestly, Trump has the idea that the USA should build a big, expensive wall with

Mexico to try to keep more people out. (I do not think this wall is a good idea.)

He is crazy about this idea and really, really wants it, and he's basically told a lot of

people he might agree to let some of these people stay and stop trying to send them

home if people let him build his wall.

But the basic idea is if he gets his changes, you, your family, and other immigrants

and refugees who have green cards or are citizens can stay but it will be more difficult

to invite friends or family from Asia to come here.

And even if these things do happen they might change back when we get our next

president.

If you wish to do something about this and live in Albany, Schenectady or Rensselaer

County you should probably contact Paul Tonko's office. He is your government representative and he works in Washington DC to help make national laws and policies.

He likes to know how people feel about things and sometimes changes his vote after

people talk to him.

https://www.facebook.com/reppaultonko/

Peter Huston

Here are some news articles that discuss these things.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/us/politics/trump-immigration-meeting-anatomy.html

6 Dramatic Moments in Trump’s Unusual Immigration Session

The West Wing met The Apprentice when President Trump presided over a meeting,

later broadcast on television, of lawmakers from both parties debating immigration

policy in the cabinet room.

nytimes.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-chain-migration-became-a-target-in-trumps-immigration-agenda/2018/01/02/dd30e034-efdb-11e7-90ed-77167c6861f2_story.html?utm_term=.c3578f0cce98

Family ties drive U.S. immigration. Why Trump wants to break the ‘chains.’

An irony of the president’s effort is that liberal reformers of the 1960s wanted a merit-based model, too.

ESL speaking Rhythm Videos

This is a collection of youtube videos on Enlgish speaking ehythm for ESL students.I hope to edit this and add more comments and value judgements on these videos in thie future.

ESL --speaking slowly videos

These are some random videos on speaking slowly that have some use in ESL teaching either for students or teachers. I hope to sort through them more carefully in the future, 

Cyberpunk

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CyberPunk

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteACyberpunkStory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathlok

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Future_Past




https://www.google.com/search?q=american+flagg+chaykin&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS769US769&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwianqCVv_vXAhXKlOAKHS_bCqsQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=903

William Gibson

Bruce Sterling

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bruce+sterling+



Afrofuturism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdylle_hPgQ





My Stories



http://www.nthzine.com/literary-legacy-of-a-vampire/

http://www.nthzine.com/the-brothers-of-the-golden-tiger-slam-hong-kong-four-trained-fists-of-blazing-fury-meet-kang-the-puppetmasters-minions-in-a-1970s-kung-fu-fantasy-guaranteed-to-make-your-chi-flow-l/

http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/tensions-rise-as-chinese-governments-influence-infiltrates-aussie-universities/news-story/e7768b0bb1f5953a7608884527387372





https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/08/you-should-consider-our-feelings-for-chinese-students-the-state-is-an-extension-of-family



https://www.thoughtco.com/is-taiwan-a-country-1435437


http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn86011850/2001-09-20/ed-1/seq-16.pdf

APA format

Here are some introductory materials to help teach the APA format. The APA format is a standard format used in academic writing.

http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/reingold/courses/resources/handouts_apa/Citing1.pdf

Some well liked Public Speaking Videos

Introduction to cause and effect essay and paragraph writing

Here are a few videos that help teach writing about cause and effect.

This one is on how to write a cause and effect paragraph.

These are on how to write cause and effect essays. There are many others on the web as well, but they tend to be long.

Writing a Five Paragraph Essay

Here are some materials I've collected for help in learning to write five paragraph essays. I used these when teaching English 101 at the proprietary college.

http://www.edb.utexas.edu/minliu/pbl/ESOL/index.htm



https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/

Simple cause and effect videos

 These are a few videos I've collected to help explain cause and effect. Many are designed for children, but they do a good job of getting the basic idea of what one is talking about before moving on to more advanced vocabulary. 

1970s Science Fiction --Dangerous Visions and the New Wave

Films

ROLLERBALL

Clockwork Orange

ZARDOZ

DEATHRACE 2000

Start at 15:30 and play until 19:30

The 1996 film of JG Ballard's "Crash" based on the novel from 1973. 

 

good paragraphs

When teaching paragraph structure and writing, it is often a good idea to have some sample paragraphs that one can use as examples. Here are a few that I have found. For better or worse, the reading level of the paragraphs is not high. When I taught at the proprietary college, the students, although native English speakers in most cases, were often not able to read them well enough to understand them. And with English language learners, they also are quite likely to have difficulty in understanding the sentences. Nevertheless, here are a few good paragraphs written by a few of my favorite writers or media personalities.

GOOD PARAGRAPHS

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.”

― Anthony Bourdain

Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”

― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

“I don't mind exercise but it's a private activity. Joggers should run in a wheel - like hamsters - because I don't want to look at them. And I really hate people who go on an airplane in jogging outfits. That's a major offense today, even bigger than Spandex bicycle pants. You see eighty-year-old women coming on the plane in jogging outfits for comfort. Well my comfort - my mental comfort - is completely ruined when I see them coming. You're on an airplane, not in your bedroom, so please! And I really hate walkathons: blocking traffic, people patting themselves on the back. The whole attitude offends me. They have this smug look on their faces as they hold you up in traffic so that they can give two cents to some charity.”

― John Waters

“You don’t need fashion designers when you are young. Have faith in your own bad taste. Buy the cheapest thing in your local thrift shop - the clothes that are freshly out of style with even the hippest people a few years older than you. Get on the fashion nerves of your peers, not your parents - that is the key to fashion leadership. Ill-fitting is always stylish. But be more creative - wear your clothes inside out, backward, upside down. Throw bleach in a load of colored laundry. Follow the exact opposite of the dry cleaning instructions inside the clothes that cost the most in your thrift shop. Don’t wear jewelry - stick Band-Aids on your wrists or make a necklace out of them. Wear Scotch tape on the side of your face like a bad face-lift attempt. Mismatch your shoes. Best yet, do as Mink Stole used to do: go to the thrift store the day after Halloween, when the children’s trick-or-treat costumes are on sale, buy one, and wear it as your uniform of defiance.”

― John Waters, Role Models

Philip K. Dick      

"Today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups... So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing."

— Philip K. Dick

Seagal is looking wider and moving slower than ever, and part of the joy of his pictures these days is seeing how they will try to convince the audience that he is some sort of an action hero. Early on it looks like all the action will be vehicle related, driving jeeps around splashing in puddles or a hilarious scene where he commandeers a small plane to scare its pilot into giving him information. (The pilot says his nickname is Crash “because I never have” – like that’s something to brag about. Shouldn’t most pilots be nicknamed Crash then?) But hang in there because there are some fight scenes that really deliver the laughs. Seagal has apparently thrown out the girdle and lets it all hang for some of his most Dolemite-esque fights to date.

VERN --  http://outlawvern.com/2003/07/04/out-for-a-kill/

“I was drawn to all the wrong things: I liked to drink, I was lazy, I didn't have a god, politics, ideas, ideals. I was settled into nothingness; a kind of non-being, and I accepted it. I didn't make for an interesting person. I didn't want to be interesting, it was too hard. What I really wanted was only a soft, hazy space to live in, and to be left alone.”

― Charles Bukowski

“We are all wired into a survival trip now. No more of the speed that fueled that 60's. That was the fatal flaw in Tim Leary's trip. He crashed around America selling "consciousness expansion" without ever giving a thought to the grim meat-hook realities that were lying in wait for all the people who took him seriously... All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding for three bucks a hit. But their loss and failure is ours too. What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped create... a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old-mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody... or at least some force - is tending the light at the end of the tunnel.”

― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas