There was a time when cricket was considered a mere English sport and a fancy sported by gentlemen. But times have changed. Just like football or soccer, people across the world are crazy over cricket.

Everytime Sachin Tendulkar lifts his bat to hit a ball; a roar of expectation reverberates throughout the entire stadium. Whenever Bret Lee swings his arm, the entire crowd waits with bated breath for the outcome.

So many cricketers have come and gone but the crazy adulation for the sportsmen have never stopped. I remember a phase when I was a crazy fan of Rahul Dravid and whether or not I understood cricket, it was irrelevant. I was glued to the T.V. whenever India played.

Fans all over the world show their adoration in their own ways. Some sport either their own country’s T-shirts, or make a tattoo, or put up wall-to-wall posters in their rooms, or even chant prayers for their players in temples. Some can even burns effigies of coaches if anyone dares to say a word or act against their favorite player.

You can take the example of Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of India, who was very much the center of attention last year, though for the wrong reasons. When he was ousted from his team, his fellow countrymen went wild with anger. They made street protests and showed their staunch support towards their favorite player. Now that he has made a comeback, the fans are gloating with pride. They are treating his victory as their own victory, such is their fan craze!

Legendary icons such as Don Bradman, Kapil Dev, Ian Chappel, Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Vivian Richards, and many more still reign among the hearts of people like shining stars. Cricket is a sport when one day you are made a hero and put on a pedestal and the next day you can be treated as a forsaken and forgotten man. It is such a sport that it makes you want to laugh or cry for your country.

We all know there is mutual resentment and antagonism in the Middle East. Rhetoric on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is incredibly heated. All involved in the region have been subject to the horror of dreadful actions.

Feelings of protest, anger and fear have often got out of hand. When shouting doesn’t work, then people are tempted to resort to violence. And so, awful behaviour becomes the focus of the conflict. This instead of just the original area of disagreement.

One wonders whether there will ever be any progress towards a constructive way forward. Resolving conflict is a political process. But is there any religious or ethical understanding that can help inform this activity?

Palestinian wrongdoing

Palestinian political violence, as part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, includes stone throwing, hostage taking, plane hijackings, stabbings, shootings, and bombings. For their part the Jews feel the threat of further Arab violence. It is seen as a risk to the continued existence and security of the state of Israel.

Israeli wrongdoing

Many believe this continuing Arab violence is in response to the illegal taking over of Palestinian land. There has been reports of physical violence against Palestinians by settlers.

“In many cases, settlers abuse Palestinians in front of Israeli soldiers or police with little interference from the authorities.” (Human Rights Watch)

There has been live fire on unarmed protesters. Arguably, all this has amounted to military occupation. Also denial of human rights and oppression.

Western attitudes towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Despite these grave criticisms, Israel remains a top recipient of U.S. foreign aid. And Western nations have not acted to oppose Israel policy.

Only the Quakers amongst Christian groups in Britain have acted. They will stop investing in companies that derive profit from Israeli activity in Palestinian territories over the pre-1967 lines. This refers to the illegal exploitation of natural resources such as water in occupied Palestine. In addition to the construction and servicing of the separation barrier and Israeli settlements.

The lack of Western action seems to be due to political expediency. Part of this may be due to fear of upsetting the Jewish vote. Current British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn is a critic of Israel’s policy. He maintains there is a difference between being anti-Zionist and being anti-Semitic.

Some writers have suggested that anybody in any Western country who is opposed to Israel and Zionism is branded anti-Semitic. It is not hard to see why, given the world history of anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism

For centuries the Jews have been dispersed among many nations. As a minority group, where-ever they have lived, they have been easy to scapegoat and blame for social ills. They have often been discriminated against and persecuted. For example, Jews were expelled from England in 1290. They were massacred in Spain in 1391. Genocide also happened in the Ukraine from 1648 to 1657. There was the Holocaust in the 20th century.

Given this history of killing & persecution, it is perhaps not surprising that today Jews are oversensitive. They have a hard time seeing any difference between antisemitism and condemnation of the Israeli government’s policy.

In relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict some Jews may feel justified in their persecution of Palestinians. This is because of the huge amount of persecution they themselves have suffered. We know that child abusers often were once themselves abused. It seems, generally speaking, that evil begets evil. But do two wrongs make a right?

The promised land & the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Local Arabs have hated Zionism as a threat to their homeland. When the Jews later announced the state of Israel, it caused a war with Arab countries in 1948. This resulted in 700,000 Palestinians being forced to flee from their homeland. They have subsequently been denied any right to return to their property now in Jewish hands.

Zionists justify their occupation of Palestinian territory by the idea of their ‘promised land’. They point to the Bible. For example, Abraham said:

“The Lord, the God of heaven… who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.'” (Gen 24:7)

In spiritual philosophy there is a notion that sacred text, dreams and mythologies are full of symbols. We could see events and characters as representations of spiritual processes and realities. In other words, although containing profound meaning, not all the Bible stories are historically and literally true. For example the creation taking just seven days.

Consequently, there is an alternative religious interpretation of the biblical text concerning Abraham’s offspring. One that does not take it to be literally true.

According to the biblical scholar Emanuel Swedenborg, the deeper meaning is about the ‘offspring’ of a person’s religious faith. The resulting life of trust and hope is the offspring of keeping faith with one’s principles. God promises to give to this kind of life something which isn’t a piece of earthly territory to dominate. Swedenborg says the ‘promised land’ refers to the spiritual territory of God’s kingdom. This would be joyful living within a community of people in peace and contentment.

Ethical suggestions about resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

1. The Israelis would benefit from a wake-up call from other Western nations implementing international law to oppose the settler policy.
2. All sides need to recognise there can be no way forward without goodwill. Love of dominating others is a road to nowhere.
3. Each side probably needs a lot of support to set aside grievances arising from the past. Then they could move on and tackle current issues.
4. Each group could give themselves a chance to reach compromise. But they should first stop focusing exclusively on their sense of entitlement. This would enable them to start to recognise the needs of their opponents.
5. The Zionists should recognise that the ‘promised land’ for Abraham’s ‘offspring’ should not be taken literally. The reason is these represent something deeper in divine revelation.
6. Both sides must stop engaging in dis-proportionate retaliation. It is worse than an eye for an eye.

“Religion is all about how we live, and the religious way to live is to do good.” (Emanuel Swedenborg, spiritual philosopher)

As a mystery writer, I am always thinking of bizarre motives for murder. There are a lot motives to kill people. Some are acceptable; say, self-defense. Others, like war, are debated. And then there are those that are just strange, bizarre, bordering on being excessively… weird. Why?

Reading the news is proof enough that we are not as sane as we think we are. There are daily stories about escalating problems, violent actions, overreactions, and just plain shit hitting the fan… for the cops to clean up.

Here are a few examples of bizarre motives for murder:

1. Serial Killers

Hannibal, Jack the Ripper, and other psychopaths come to mind. These guys are systematic with their operation; basically everyday men, or women, who have grown a rather dangerous fascination with murder; and they carry it out rather excellently.

The characteristics of the victims they target may range from age to hair color, or anything in between. Even among murderers and convicts, they are the ‘weird guys’ (I mean, the weird guys among the weird guys).

They sometimes leave clues behind to experience a ‘thrill of the chase’ which makes for interesting TV shows, books, and movies. In the meantime, we unknowing citizens go about our daily life with that serial killer who could be our mailman, driver, handyman, or neighbor. Thankfully, we’re not his type. Pretty bizarre.

2. Gang Related

When you think about it, this is one of the stupidest and strangest motives to murder someone. Most times it boils down to vengeance or taking back what has been taken; power tussles and basically alpha male rumbles. Many gang related murders occur because someone lives on the wrong side of town.

Wait; I mean, the reason they kill is because you live on the 14th and the other guy lives on the 88th. Well, if that isn’t motive enough to ‘pop a cap in their ass’, I don’t know what is.

So many adolescents and teens have been caught in this form of senseless violence that they nicknamed it Chiraq, a mixture of Chicago and Iraq.

3. “He Looked At Me the Wrong Way”

This deals with alpha males who have a problem with their masculinity, or femininity, as the case may be; chilling with a beer in their hands, looking around for someone to incite them in any way, violence seekers with an apparent hunger for altercations.

Almost always in tip top shape and ready to give death away… for free, I might add.

4. Rituals

Yes, deadly rituals exist. Sigh. When we think of fatal rituals we think of Jonestown, where Preacher Jim Jones urged 600 of his followers to drink arsenic and kill themselves.

This sort of mass suicide quasi ritual went down in America’s history of mass death as a black mark on the free world; the grave was, indeed, a huge mass of waste.

5. Protest

Protests fall somewhere between stupid and brave. A couple of years ago, an Egyptian went for a job interview and failed to get it. He used his last change to buy petrol, wrote a suicide letter, and doused himself on fire.

This bizarre and strange act led to a countrywide protest which caused the President to step down and an effective revolution to take place. In cases like this, murder or suicide as the case may be, isn’t just murder. It becomes an instrument for great change.

So there you have it; five bizarre motives for murder. Strange, yes?

Defending the poor and the voiceless in our society is a task that must be done for God and humanity.

In our world, with about 7 million people, the weak and the poor, who are in the majority, must be shielded from the strong and the powerful.

Yes, there are millions of concerned individuals, non-governmental organizations, corporate bodies and government agencies, etc, out there doing their bits to defend the poor and the weak.

This is Godly, humanitarian and therefore acceptable.

In Nigeria, with an estimated population of 180 million people, these helpers come in handy in their thousands, if not in millions.

Comrade Olusegun Adeeko, chairman/ lead activist, know your rights initiative, Ikotun, Lagos, is one of the many persons.

He is maintaining hardline postures against economic crimes, corrupt practices and human rights abuses. Call him a one-man riot squad, if you care.

On Monday, Adeeko invited me to cover a peaceful protest by members of his non-governmental organization and mechanics at Festac town in Lagos, Nigeria.

The peaceful, placards carrying members of the knorights and mechanics held the protest at the south-west zonal office of the Federal Housing Authority in Festac Town, Lagos Nigeria.

Their mission was to demand that housing authorities should look into the manner Mrs Aisha Onotu, allegedly connived with the police in Festac and suspected land grabbers to sell lands at the buffer zone, illegally to interested persons.

Background check by this writer revealed that 12 years ago, officials of the Festac Town Resident Association observed that the housing folks were selling lands, illegally to some persons.

The residents dragged the housing authority before a Lagos High Court on November 21, 2005 in suit No: ID/2494/1993.

12 years down legal battle line, Hon Justice ( Mrs) Y. A Adesanya delivered her judgment and the mechanic union members at the Festac buffer zone were asked by the court to still occupy their jobs.

But, knorights leader in a letter dated April 18, 2019, petitioned the independent corrupt practices commission, requesting that the zonal manager of the federal housing authority in south-west Nigeria should be investigated.

The manager, Onotu is alleged to corroborate with one Thomas Tanimowo to issue rent to illegal allotees and also issuing removal notice to the mechanics to vacate the land, despite the high court judgment.

This writer visited the federal housing authority office on Friday to see and hear from the zonal manager on the issue, but was told the woman has gone out of official assignment.

The police at various levels in our country, have been informed and the national headquarters of the federal housing authority in Abuja, Nigeria, is also aware.

Have you ever had the phobia of visiting a dentist, whether during your youthful years or even up to the time you were older? Perhaps, you still have that fear. If so, you would be glad to know that modern dentists are committed to eliminating such irrational fear in dental patients. This is particularly so for dental practitioners dealing with young children.

Ingraining in your child the habit of having regular dental visits from an early age is something that will set him/ her up for a future of good oral health. This is something that is so important that the Australian government set up the Child Dental Benefits Schedule in early 2014, to ensure proper dental care for all children between the ages of 2 to 17 years.

However, the only thing that could mess up this noble pursuit is if your child develops a fear of dental visits from the onset. Therefore, you must try as much as possible to prevent any incidence that would occasion such a fear in your child. Thankfully, your children’s doctor can help you achieve this goal.

How To Handle Your Kid’s Dental Visit

It’s never a wise thing to rudely surprise your child with a sudden dental visit, which he/ she was never expecting. Even you wouldn’t be too happy if someone gave you such a rude surprise.

The best way to go about it is to prepare your child psychologically for what is going to happen at the "strange" doctor’s office. If your child has some fears or misgivings about it, you need to explain – in a manner the he/ she understands – that there is really nothing to fear. You can even try to get him/ her used to the idea of going to the "strange" doctor’s facility, by organizing a prior tip to the area in which the facility is located, so as to create a bit of familiarity with the place.

Even after you manage to get your child into the dental facility without any protests, you should continue trying to make the whole experience an enjoyable one by offering rewards for good behaviour. Of course, an expert dental practitioner would always have a child-friendly facility. This is much more than just having an interesting and captivating layout of the health facility, but also having staff that know exactly how to treat children and put them at ease.

Paediatric dentists are well-skilled in handling young children, even those who don’t have the capacity to respond to the simplest of instructions. Even if your child cannot comply with a simple instruction to "open up", such a health practitioner would have a few tricks to get your child to do just that. Such strategies involve aspects as playful distractions that can easily entice the kid or soothing conversations to put the little guy at ease.

Understandably, there are quite a number of things inside a dental office that would startle a young child. This could be something as simple as the doctor’s strange white coat or the light which such a doctor intends to shine onto your child’s open mouth. Moreover, kids are normally restless and playful; hence, they need lots of distractions to keep them occupied. A competent medical practitioner understands all these, and he/ she knows just how to deal with all these aspects.

Children are often intimidated by just looking at mathematical problems. They say that it is hard before even trying. Of course, as parents, you do not want your child to feel this way. Good thing there are already a couple of creative ways to teach this subject. With innovative approaches, math concepts can easily be understood and applied.

Creative Methods For Teaching Mathematics

Dramatize – It would be a smart idea for you to invite children to pretend to be in a box or ball, feeling the faces, corners, edges, and to dramatize arithmetic problems like 3 frogs jumped in the pond, then 2 more, how many are there in all? Dramatization can greatly help children understand different math concepts.

Use the child’s body – Suggest that kids show how many mouths, feet, and so on they have. Try asking them to show their three arms, they respond loudly in protest, and then tell you how many they do have and show it. Also, invite children to show numbers using their fingers

Play – It would be wise for you to engage children in block play which allows them to do math in various ways, including creating symmetric designs, sorting, making patterns, seriating, and so on. Suggest also that they pretend to buy and sell toys or other small objects, learning how to count, understanding money concepts, and more.

Stories – You can share books with children addressing mathematics but are good stories as well. After that, help them see mathematics in different books.

Allow them to be creative – The ideas of children about math must be discussed with the young ones. For instance, imagine using cupcakes or any other delicious food products.

Use different strategies – You must bring mathematics everywhere you go in your classroom, from asking them to clean up a given number to counting them at morning meeting to setting the table. Moreover, use a curriculum that is research-based in order to integrate a sequenced series of learning activities into a study program.

Take advantage of today’s technology – Consider using digital cameras in order to record the mathematical work of the young ones, in planned activities and in their play. After that, use the images to help discussions and reflections with children, communication with parents, and curriculum planning.

Use assessments – Measure your children’s math learning using assessments. Also, use observations and small-group activities to know about the mathematical thinking of children and to make well-informed decisions regarding what every child may be able to learn from future experiences. More information mentioned here.

Not long ago, I was discussing something with another online writer – we were talking about “What If” Scenarios for Internet Article topics. You see, this is a very good article template, as one of the famous online article directories noted in a recent blog post in recommending how an Internet Article Author might overcome the anxiety of writer’s blog and attain a higher level of content using such a trigger (what if) type template.

My fellow online author, Mayo, stated that his was definitely thinking outside the box, and yes, of course he is right on that. He stated; “I can’t help but wonder would have happened if Mabarak had not been willing to leave Egypt. What would have been the US position and what would be the fallout in this country as a result?”

Well, what a perfect example of an appropriate current event to apply such a template like this. Indeed, and to his point I ask: “What If” the same sorts of protests, demonstrations, and riots continue to occur in places such as Venezuela or Iran, which I’d wager to say is likely indeed. In fact, just before Mubarak resigned from his 30-years in office, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was met with angry mobs, and had to flee the scene. Something he’s never done before, and thus, the mob was emboldened.

What might Hugo Chavez do now about that? Folks are upset and now they’ve witnessed their strength and power by the Egyptian and Tunisia over throws this week. Iran has thrown the opposition leader under house arrest just prior to a planned demonstration and march, cracking down in advance of any potential disruption or riots.

Oh, and also Bolivia the President, Evo Morales, purposely avoided a protest, an angry mob upset over food prices, scarcity, etc. Yes, it seems “inflation” and less-than-stellar leadership, along with the Internet Smart Mobs are converging – and the world is changing – What if – this continues? Yes, what if it does indeed. And that is what’s on everyone’s mind who studies and watches geo-political events. Our own leadership, and state department is now figuring out how to fix things and deal with these rapid changes.

Now what happens is the fuel of speculation throughout the social networking online world, as everyone is asking the question; What If? Indeed, if you are an online article author, I’d recommend writing articles which get people to ask these questions, and intrigue them with your intellectually driven content. Please consider all this and think on it. Deal?

Micronations are quite often expressions of political protest, theoretical experimentation, personal entertainment, artistic expression, or the conduct of criminal activity. Some micronations issue postage stamps, coins and medals, have flags and issue passports. The latest list of micronations reports how diverse they are, both in location, political and social alliance.

Whangamomona Republic was formed as a tourism booster in 1989, in a rural town in New Zealand. The locals had become disillusioned when the government disclosed plans to move the area’s district boundaries. A goat and a poodle are among the past-elected presidents. Visitors receive a Whangamomona passport.

In 1978 the Aeterna Lucina micronation was created, within the borders of Australia. Paul Baron Neuman is its self-proclaimed baron. Several associated businessmen were charged in 1990, with land and visa fraud.

In 1980 Aromoana was established when a small New Zealand community declared itself independent, as an objection against the building of an aluminum smelter on nearby land.

In 1981 Atlantium was declared a global sovereignty group based in Australia, founded by George Francis Cruishank.

Established 2008, Austenasia has three privately owned properties and a constitutional monarchy. They declared themselves independent in South London, under the leadership of Johathan Austen.

Later elected to the Tasmanian state parliament, John Charlton Rudge, an eccentric self-proclaimed duke, founded Avram, in the 1980s. It claims it is non-territorial.

Intended to revive the British colony of the same name, British West Florida was formed in 2005.

Barony of Caux, an absolute feudal barony, was formed in 2001. It boasts around 80 subjects worldwide. The baron, John V Corbett, resides in Ontario, Canada.

The Conch Republic, was formed in1982, in the Florida Keys, claimed independence from the USA, under Dennis Wardlow’s leadership.

Run from a caravan park in Norfolk, England, by Nick Copeman, Copeman Empire was created in 2003. Copeman calls himself HM King Nicholas 1.

Established in 2004, the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom, of the Coral Sea Islands, is a political protest, run by Dale Anderson, in southeast Queensland, Australia.

Elleore was formed in 1944, by a group of school teachers as a summer camp on the island of Elleore, Denmark.

Claiming Wake Atoll in the Marshall Islands, EnenKio, was formed in1994. It has been declared a scam for selling passports and diplomatic papers.

Stuart Hill declared Forvik, an islet in the Shetland and independent from Scotland in 2008.

Frestonia was created through a legal dispute in 1977, over the unauthorized performance by Heathcote Willims, of his play the Immortalist.

With its capital in Iowa, Global Country of World Peace was formed in 2000. It is a country without borders for peace loving people everywhere, says Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam.

Formed in 2002, Hajducka Repoblika Mijata Tomica is a protest project based in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was created when there were problems with the local electricity supply.

Richard Booth declared Hay-on-Wye in Wales independent in 1977, as a publicity stunt.

A large farm in Western Australia is known as the Hutt River Province. It was created in 1970.

A ball-shaped house built by artist Edwin Lipburger and located in Vienna Prater, Kugelmugel was formed in 1984. Lipburger was protesting against building permits.

Ladonia, was created by Swedish artist Lars Viks in 1980, as the home of sculpturers in north-west Skane.

Lagoan Isles, 2005, is run by self-proclaimed Grand Duke Louis Stephans. He states that the three tiny islands of Portsmouth pond are not owned by the local council.

L’Anse-Saint-Jean was formed by Denys Tremblay in 1997, to promote tourism in a tiny town of Quebec.

Kingdom of Lovely was created in 2004 by Danny Wallace, as part of the BBC TV series How to Start Your Own Country. This micronation is Internet-based.

Lundy, an island off the west coast of England, has had semi-independent status under various warlords. Established in 1925.

Melchizedek, established 1986, is well known for facilitating large scale banking fraud in many different locations of the globe. It is run by Richard James McDonald.

Formed by Kevin Baugh, in 1977, Molassia occupies a semi-rural residential acreage in Nevada. Baugh uses poker chips as money.

Northern Forest Archipelago, formed in1998, is environmentally focused and located in the northeastern United States. It has several privately-owned properties in the Northern Forest area of New York State.

Nova Roma is an organization of Roman revivalists, founded in1998.

Other World Kingdom, formed in1996, is an absolute monarchy/matriarchy where women rule over all men, located in the Czech Republic.

Pescenica, established in the 1990’s, is a satirical parodical project, ruled by dictator Zeljko Malnar, located in Croatia.

Rainbow Creek was formed 1979, when Tomas Barnes seceded from Victoria, Australia, over damage to farmlands created by flooding.

Established in 1947, Saugeais is an officially sanctioned micronation located in eastern France.

Paddy Roy Bates, also known as HRH Prince Roy, commandeered Sealand, in 1967. It sits up out of the ocean, as a manmade World War II base off the coast of England.

Serboga, formed in 954, claims it has never been part of the modern Italian state.

Robert Ben Madison created Talossa as a bedroom kingdom in 1979, in Wisconsin.

Created in 1997, Uzupis in Lithuania, flies its own flag, has its own currency, president and constitution.

Vikesland was founded in Canada in 2005, for the purposes of a television documentary.

Valtio was formed by Ari Peltonen in 2006, as a joke. It is located in Finland.

In 1994 Wanstonia was formulated by protestors against the M11 motorway link road, in north-east London.

Waveland was founded in 1997. It is located on a rocky islet in the North Atlantic, to protest oil drilling in the area.

Westarctica, established 1989, claims a large chunk of unclaimed land in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica.

Wirtland is an experiment into legitimacy and self-sustainability of a country without its own soil. It transcends national borders and was formulated in 2008.

The majority of teaming arrangements usually take place between large and small businesses, where either one could be the prime, depending on the procurement type. A full and open procurement where anyone can compete will usually have large businesses as the primes with small business subcontractors, whereas in small business set asides, you might see small-large arrangements, and even teams of multiple small businesses.

Because the size rules are complex, small business size is the largest cause for protests. Teaming could be one of the contributors to the problem. Therefore, you must understand the rules that have to do with the small business type and size, and how the government views your size.

The RFP will state a couple of things you have to pay attention to when teaming. It will include a NAICS code that will tell you what is considered the small business size for that procurement, and the associated dollar value that you cannot exceed as your average gross annual receipts for the past three years to qualify (for most businesses in the services industry), or the maximum number of employees (applicable to such businesses as manufacturing, telecommunications, and transportation companies). It will also state whether the contract is a set aside or full and open. On full and open contracts, the NAICS is there to show a threshold at which a large business will get credit for subcontracting with small businesses.

For example, if the RFP is released under NAICS 541512, Computer Systems Design Services, then the small business under that NAICS should have made no more than $25.5 million in average gross receipts for the past three years by the time of proposal submission.

It would be too simple if it ended there, if not for pesky affiliation rules. Affiliation essentially means that the government can add up the size of all the companies teaming together instead of looking at the size of just the small business prime, and treat the team as one bidder. If the government considers companies affiliated for size purposes, it will add teammates’ gross receipts numbers (or employee numbers) together; if they do that, the sum might exceed the size standard of the NAICS for that RFP, rendering the team’s proposal invalid. Behaviors that can leave you vulnerable to an assessment of affiliation include going after the same bids with the same team over and over again, using each other’s offices on a regular basis, or repeatedly sharing resources such as a proposal team. Even if you do not advertise these facts, a protest by a bitter competitor who is privy to these details could lead to a decision that you have been acting as one company.

Generally speaking, you don’t have to fear this in your regular teaming arrangements, even if you tend to go with the same teammates, because teaming agreements don’t automatically create an affiliation. Just make sure that you have a formal teaming agreement in place.

JVs that are not of the SBA mentor-protégé kind, however, can create an affiliation. You have to follow many rules if you want to bid on small business set-aside solicitations as a JV. JVs should be formed for a specific “bundled” pursuit (where the government has combined multiple different requirements to form a larger project), before you submit the proposal. JVs have to be formed for a particular purpose, such as winning a specific contract.

To avoid affiliation, a small business JV can be awarded no more than three contracts in two years (with some exceptions you should read up on if you are finding yourself in this situation). If the JV is ongoing, and is pursuing multiple contracts, it is considered a partnership, not a JV, and the companies will be considered affiliated for size purposes.

For a procurement having a revenue-based size standard, the dollar value of the procurement, including options, has to exceed half the size standard corresponding to the NAICS code assigned to the contract. When the employee-based size standard applies, the dollar value of the procurement has to exceed $10 million.

For example, if you are going after a $5 million contract, and the NAICS code for the procurement is $7 million, it is perfectly okay because $5 million is more than $3.5 million (which is half of $7 million).

You also need to follow the rules that are specific to each type of small business JV. If these rules don’t make sense and you are doing it for the first time, get a government contracts lawyer or contact a consultant to guide you through the rules.

The Black Race just like the black Rose is a unique race. They say black is ugly but I saw black and I knew right away that it was a beauty to behold.

In its deepness it glows to shine just like diamonds found in the deep but the shine is valued after its been polished and cut.

The Black Race is being through a lot but still continues to survive and thrive, we stand Strong, big and bold. They say black don't crack because we age slow and I have come to the conclusion that there is power in blackness.

My blackness makes me powerful, my melanin sets me apart. I must embrace my shield from the elements that plan to hold me down.

Black must rise through self-awareness, self-actualization and through our history we can see who we are and how we have stood strong through TIME.

It's time to start building, it's time to start re-grouping, It's time to show what we are made of. It's time we grip the enemy "Ignorance" by the neck. It's time we become innovative, It's time we get creative, It's time we stop thinking of self but start thinking of our collective.

Black Race let's think futuristic around the globe, In Africa, the Islands, North America, South America or wherever that color is represented. Let's plan to execute a 20 year plan for our future generation.

We have slept for too long, "Awake Sleeping Giants"

The past is gone, In the present let us find solution for the future generation.

We owe them a real plan that will work to their advantage. We are accountable for our future generation.

Too much shooting ion the streets, Black lives wasting and then the march that protests Black lives matters, who have we become Victims or Victors, we were the originals turned into counterfeits, how could that be.

The love for self, the love for one another, the love for our race should drive us to become better, so many angry but the anger is not put to good use.

The anger should be used to drive change and not to destroy each other. We must know who we are, our history is important, if we don't know who we are there is no way we can know where we are going.

Black race find the map to your destiny, our hearts will lead us to where it all started.

Black Race Rise and Together let's Leap!