Team has been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, holding key positions at, and transacting with Scientific Games Corp, Inspired Gaming Group, FOX Bets, Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts International Holdings, PokerStars, DraftKings, Mohegan Sun, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment, Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming, Facebook, Inc, Wynn Resorts, Dubai World/MGM Resorts
Here's all the Bios. These guys are stellar! TEKK closed at $10.30 today. Still cheap!
If you don't like to read... you don't like to make money!!!!
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Matthew Davey — Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Davey has over 25 years of experience within the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming ecosystems, as well as experience in the public sector. He is an experienced public company executive officer and board member. He has served in executive management positions across the gaming technology arena. Over the course of Mr. Davey’s career, he oversaw more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led.
Most recently, Mr. Davey was Chief Executive Officer of SG Digital, the Digital Division of Scientific Games Corp. (“Scientific Games”) (Nasdaq: SGMS). SG Digital was established following the purchase by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Limited (“NYX”) (formerly TSXV: NYX), where Mr. Davey served as Chief Executive Officer and Director. The NYX acquisition provided Scientific Games with a vehicle to significantly accelerate the scale and breadth of its existing digital gaming business, including the strategic expansion into sports betting. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of NYX, Mr. Davey developed and implemented a corporate strategy that generated strong revenue growth. Mr. Davey shaped company strategy to focus on digital gaming supplier platforms and content that provided various gaming operators with the underlying gaming and sports betting systems for their online gaming business. In 2014, Mr. Davey oversaw the initial public offering of NYX, and his experience in the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries helped NYX recognize momentum as a public company. After the public offering, from 2014 to 2018, Mr. Davey oversaw seven acquisitions which helped establish NYX as one of the fastest growing global B2B real-money digital gaming and sports betting platforms. These acquisitions included:
• OpenBet: In 2016, NYX completed the $385 million acquisition of OpenBet. This was one of the more complex and transformative acquisitions that Mr. Davey oversaw at NYX. Through securing co-investments from William Hill (LSE: WMH), Sky Betting & Gaming and The Stars Group (formerly Nasdaq: TSG, TSX: TSGI), Mr. Davey was able to get the acquisition from Vitruvian Partners completed successfully, winning the deal against much larger and well capitalized competitors. By combining two established and proven B2B betting and gaming suppliers, NYX was well positioned to provide customers with exciting player-driven solutions across all major product verticals and distribution channels. This allowed NYX to become the leading B2B omni-channel sportsbook platform in the market and the supplier to over 300 gaming operators globally with an extensive library of desktop and mobile game titles, including more than 700 on NYX platforms and more than 2,000 on the OpenBet platform.
• Cryptologic/Chartwell: In 2015, NYX completed the $119 million acquisition of Cryptologic and Chartwell. The acquisition provided NYX with more than 400 titles of additional leading gaming content, a broader customer base, and direct exposure to PokerStars and Intercasino, part of the Gamesys Group (LSE: GYS) — two of the world’s largest online casino offerings.
• OnGame: In 2014, NYX completed the distressed acquisition of OnGame, a premier poker content, platform and service provider. This acquisition provided NYX with one of the best poker products in the industry, access to several regulated jurisdictions, and a valuable talent pool that was instrumental in the growth of NYX. The addition of OnGame further established a path for NYX to continue its growth in both European and U.S. markets.
These acquisitions, together with meaningful organic growth, increased NYX’s revenue from $24 million in 2014 to $184 million annualized in 2017. During that time, Mr. Davey helped build NYX to have over 200 customers in the global gaming industry and a team of 1,000 employees. Mr. Davey’s success at NYX ultimately led to its sale to Scientific Games for $631 million in 2018.
Mr. Davey joined Next Gen Gaming, the predecessor to NYX, in 2000 as the Vice President of Technology, was appointed as Executive Director in 2003 and named Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Senior Consultant for Access Systems, a company that specializes in the provision of back-end software for licensed online casinos. Prior to joining Access, Mr. Davey worked for the Northern Territory Government specializing in matters pertaining to the internet and e-commerce along with roles in the Department of Racing and Gaming. Mr. Davey received a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Northern Territory University, Australia (also known as Charles Darwin University).
Robin Chhabra — President
Mr. Chhabra has been at the forefront of corporate acquisition activity within the digital gaming landscape for over a decade. His prior experience includes leading corporate strategy, M&A, and business development at two of the global leaders in the digital gaming industry, The Stars Group (“TSG”) and William Hill, and a leading supplier, Inspired Gaming Group (Nasdaq: INSE). Mr. Chhabra served on the Group Executive Committees of each of these companies. From 2017 to May 2020, Mr. Chhabra served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at TSG and, from 2019 to August 2020, he also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fox Bet, a leading U.S. online gaming business which is the product of a landmark partnership between TSG and FOX Sports, a transaction which he led. During that period, Mr. Chhabra led several transactions which transformed TSG into the largest publicly listed online gambling operator in the world by both revenue and market capitalization and one of the most diversified from a product and geographic perspective with revenues of over $2.5 billion. Mr. Chhabra’s M&A experience is extensive and covers multiple global geographies across the digital gaming value chain and includes the following:
• TSG/Flutter Entertainment Merger: In 2019, Mr. Chhabra led the TSG M&A team that was responsible for TSG’s $12.2 billion merger with Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). The merger between TSG and Flutter Entertainment is the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. The combination created the largest publicly listed online gaming company with approximately 13 million active customers and leading product offerings, which include sports betting, online casino, fantasy sports and poker. The combined entity includes some of the world’s most iconic digital gaming brands such as Fanduel, Fox Bet, Sky Bet, PaddyPower, Betfair, PokerStars and SportsBet. TSG/Flutter Entertainment is one of the most geographically diverse digital gaming and media companies with leading positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Georgia.
• TSG/Sky Betting and Gaming (“SBG”): In 2018, Mr. Chhabra led the acquisition of SBG from CVC Capital Partners and Sky plc, Europe’s largest media company, in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion. At the time of the acquisition SBG was the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing of the major operators having doubled its online market share in three years. The acquisition of SBG provided TSG with (a) greater revenue diversification, significantly enhanced expertise and exposure to sports betting just ahead of the judicial overturn of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the U.S. Supreme Court, (b) a leading position within the United Kingdom, the world’s largest regulated online gaming market, (c) improved products and technology as a result of the addition of SBG’s innovative casino and sports book offerings and a portfolio of popular mobile apps, and (d) expertise in deeply integrating sports betting with leading sports media companies, positioning TSG to create more engaging content, deliver faster growth and decrease customer acquisition costs.
• William Hill (LSE: WMH): At William Hill, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Chhabra served as Group Director of Strategy and Corporate Development where he led several transactions which contributed to William Hill’s transformation from a land-based gambling operator in the United Kingdom to a leading online-led international business. Mr. Chhabra led William Hill’s entry into the U.S. sports betting and online lottery markets with the acquisition of four businesses, including the simultaneous acquisitions of three U.S. sportsbooks, Cal Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of $55 million. These businesses ultimately led William Hill to achieve a leading position in the U.S. sports betting market with a market share of 24% in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Chhabra played a key role in structuring William Hill’s successful joint venture with PlayTech Plc (LSE: PTEC) in 2008. The combined entity created one of the largest online gambling businesses in Europe at the time of its formation and led to William Hill’s buyout of Playtech’s interest for $637 million in 2013. Prior to the transaction, William Hill had struggled in its attempt to establish a strong online gaming platform and a meaningful presence outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chhabra has also successfully completed four transactions worth over $1.2 billion in Australia, the world’s second largest regulated online gambling market, and various partnerships in Asia. Additionally, he completed several technology and media related transactions, including William Hill’s investment in NYX, where he worked with Mr. Davey on NYX’s transformational acquisition of OpenBet.
Prior to working in the gaming sector, Mr. Chhabra was an equities analyst and a management consultant. Mr. Chhabra received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Eric Matejevich — Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Matejevich is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive experience in both the online gaming and traditional casino industries. From February to August 2019, he served as Trustee and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Casino Resort (“Ocean”) (formerly Revel Casino, which had a construction cost of $2.4 billion) in Atlantic City, where he successfully led the management team through an ownership change and operational turnaround effort. Over the course of seven months, Mr. Matejevich managed to reduce the property’s weekly cash burn of $1.5 million to an annualized cash flow run rate in excess of $20 million.
Prior to Ocean, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Matejevich served as the Chief Financial Officer of NYX. At NYX, he focused his efforts on integrating the company’s many acquisitions and multiple debt refinancings to simplify its capital structure and provided liquidity for growth initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Matejevich was instrumental to the executive team that sold NYX to Scientific Games for $631 million.
Prior to NYX, from 2004 to 2014, Mr. Matejevich was the Chief Financial Officer of Resorts International Holdings and later, from 2011, also the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Club Casino, a property under the Resorts International Holdings umbrella — a Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) entity. As Chief Financial Officer, he provided managerial oversight for all finance functions for a six-property casino company with annual gaming revenue exceeding $1.3 billion, 10,000 gaming positions, 7,000 hotel rooms and over 11,000 staff members during his tenure. Mr. Matejevich led the transition effort to integrate a four-casino, $1.3 billion acquisition from Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR). As Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Club, he lobbied for and was successful in obtaining the first internet gaming legislation passed in the United States. The Atlantic Club was the sole New Jersey casino proponent of the legislation.
Prior to serving in various gaming positions, Mr. Matejevich was a Vice President of High Yield Research for Merrill Lynch, where he managed the corporate bond research effort for the gaming and leisure sectors and marketed high yield and other debt transactions totaling $4.8 billion. Mr. Matejevich received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
Our Board of Directors
Morris Bailey — Chairman
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Bailey has been a leader in turning around Atlantic City, as well as being among the first gaming executives to embrace online gaming and sports betting in the United States. In his efforts, Mr. Bailey partnered with two of the largest digital gaming companies in the world, PokerStars, part of the Stars Group, and DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG). In 2010, Mr. Bailey bought Resorts Atlantic City (“Resorts”) and initiated a comprehensive renovation which allowed for the property to be rebranded and repositioned. In 2012, Mr. Bailey signed an agreement with Mohegan Sun to manage the day-to-day operations of the casino. In addition to Mohegan Sun’s operational expertise and ability to reduce costs via economies of scale, Resorts gained access to their robust customer database. Soon thereafter, Mr. Bailey and his team focused on bringing online gaming to the property. In 2015, Resorts established a platform to engage in online gaming by partnering with PokerStars, now part of the $24 billion Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR), to operate an online poker room in Atlantic City. In 2018, Resorts announced deals with DraftKings and SBTech to open a sportsbook on-property and online. For 2020 year-to-date, Resorts has performed in the top quartile in internet gross gaming revenue in New Jersey. Mr. Bailey’s efforts in New Jersey helped set the framework for expansion of online sports and gaming throughout the United States.
In addition to his gaming interests, Mr. Bailey has over 50 years of experience in all facets of real estate development, asset M&A, capital markets and operations and is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of JEMB Realty, a leading real estate development, investment and management organization. Mr. Bailey has notable investment experience within the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors through investments in the Astoria Energy Plant, Basis Investment Group and Xentris Wireless.
Tony Rodio — Director Nominee
Mr. Rodio has nearly four decades of experience in the gaming industry. Most recently, Mr. Rodio served as the Chief Executive Officer and director of Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) (Nasdaq: CZR), one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company, from April 2019 until its acquisition by Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in July 2020. Mr. Rodio led Caesars through its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, one of the largest transactions in the gaming industry to date. Additionally, Mr. Rodio was instrumental to Caesars’ expansion into the digital gaming industry and oversaw the implementation of new digital segments such as its Scientific Games powered retail sportsbook solution that now operates in various states throughout the U.S. From October 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Rodio served as Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Gaming. Prior to Affinity Gaming, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. (“Tropicana”) for over seven years, where he was responsible for the operation of eight casino properties in seven different jurisdictions. During his time at Tropicana, Mr. Rodio oversaw a period of unprecedented growth at the company, improving overall financial results with net revenue that increased more than 50% driven by both operational improvements and expansion across regional markets. Mr. Rodio led major capital projects, including the complete renovation of Tropicana Atlantic City and Tropicana’s move to land-based operations in Evansville, Indiana. Each of these initiatives, among others, generated substantial value for Tropicana. Ultimately, Mr. Rodio’s efforts at Tropicana led to its sale to Eldorado Resorts in 2018 for $1.85 billion. Prior to Tropicana, Mr. Rodio held a succession of executive positions in Atlantic City for casino brands, including Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment (predecessor to Caesars), the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and Penn National Gaming. He has also served as a director of several professional and charitable organizations, including Atlantic City Alliance, United Way of Atlantic County, the Casino Associations of New Jersey and Indiana, AtlantiCare Charitable Foundation and the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism. Mr. Rodio brings extensive knowledge of and experience in the gaming industry, operational expertise, and a demonstrated ability to effectively design and implement company strategy. Mr. Rodio received a Bachelor of Science from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University.
Marlon Goldstein — Director Nominee
Mr. Goldstein is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming space. He joined The Stars Group (Nasdaq: TSG)(TSX: TSGI) in January 2014 as its Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary until his retirement from the company in July 2020 following the merger of TSG with Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR). Mr. Goldstein also previously served as the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of TSG. Mr. Goldstein was also the senior TSG executive based in the United States and was one of the primary architects of TSG’s strategic vision for its U.S.-facing business. During his tenure, TSG grew from an approximately $500 million market-cap company to an approximately $7 billion market-cap company through a combination of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Goldstein participated in numerous M&A transactions and capital markets offerings at TSG, including several transformational transactions in the digital gaming industry. Notable transactions in which Mr. Goldstein was involved include:
• TSG/Flutter Merger: In 2019, TSG merged with Flutter for a $12.2 billion transaction value, the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date.
• TSG/Fox Bet Partnership: In 2019, TSG entered into a partnership with FOX Sports to create FOX Bet in the U.S., a leading U.S. online gaming business. Wall Street Research estimates an approximate $1.1 billion valuation for Fox Bet post-partnership with The Stars Group.
• TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming: In 2018, TSG acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom at the time, for $4.7 billion.
• TSG/CrownBet and William Hill: In 2018, TSG simultaneously acquired CrownBet and William Hill, two Australian operators, for a total of $621 million in a multi-part transaction.
• TSG/PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker: In 2014, TSG acquired The Rational Group, which operated PokerStars and Full Tilt and was the world’s largest poker business, for $4.9 billion.
Through his ability to legally structure large and complex transactions, Mr. Goldstein was integral to TSG’s vision of becoming a full-service online gaming company. Additionally, he assisted in structuring TSG’s capital markets activity, which generated liquidity for acquisitions and strengthened its balance sheet.
Prior to joining TSG, Mr. Goldstein was a principal shareholder in the corporate and securities practice at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig P.A., where he practiced for almost 13 years. Mr. Goldstein’s practice focused on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and financing transactions. Additionally, Mr. Goldstein was the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Gaming Practice, a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys representing owners, operators and developers of gaming facilities, manufacturers and suppliers of gaming devices, investment banks and lenders in financing transactions, and Indian tribes in the development and financing of gaming facilities.
Mr. Goldstein brings experience and insight that we believe will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target business. Mr. Goldstein received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate with highest honors from the University of Florida, College of Law.
Sean Ryan — Director Nominee
Mr. Ryan is a digital media and technology operator with extensive global experience in online payments, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile ad networks, digital games, enterprise collaboration platforms, blockchain, real money gaming and online music. Since 2014, Mr. Ryan has been serving as Vice President of Business Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) (Nasdaq: FB), where he leads a more than 500 person global organization that manages the Payments, Commerce, Novi/Blockhain, Workplace and Audience Network businesses. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ryan was hired in 2011 as the Director of Games Partnerships to lead and grow the global Games business at Facebook. While the Director of Games Partnerships, Mr. Ryan focused on re-shaping Facebook’s games and monetization strategies to derive more value for Facebook, its users and its partners, including the addition of a Real Money Gaming offering in regulated markets. Mr. Ryan’s team helped accelerate a major trend in engagement through cross-platform games and therefore the opportunity to increase users through establishing games on multiple platforms. Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Ryan created the new social and mobile games division at News Corp, an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by Rupert Murdoch. While at News Corp, Mr. Ryan led the acquisition of Making Fun, a San Francisco social-game start-up, that created News Corp’s games publishing division.
Before joining News Corp., Mr. Ryan founded multiple digital businesses such as Twofish, Meez, Open Wager and SingShot Media. Mr. Ryan co-founded Twofish in 2009, a virtual goods and services platform that provided developers with data analytics and insights for individual application’s digital economies. Twofish was later sold to online payments provider Live Gamer, where Mr. Ryan served on the board of directors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Ryan founded and led Meez.com, a social entertainment service combining avatars, web games and virtual worlds. The white label social casino gaming company Open Wager was spun out of Meez and was later sold to VGW Holdings, Mr. Ryan also co-founded SingShot Media, an online karaoke community, which was sold to Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) and merged into its Sims division.
We believe Mr. Ryan’s experience will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target and would provide an expanded perspective on the digital gaming landscape. Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Roche — Director Nominee
Mr. Roche has more than 40 years of experience in the gaming industry as a regulator, advisor and independent auditor. Mr. Roche joined Ernst & Young (“EY”) as a partner in 2003 and opened its Las Vegas office. He was subsequently appointed as the Office Managing Partner and Global Gaming Industry Market Leader. In 2016, Mr. Roche relocated to the EY Hong Kong office to supervise the expansion of the EY Global Gaming Industry practice in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Roche has been integral to numerous transactions that have shaped the current gaming landscape, including:
• Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) initial public offering: Mr. Roche was the lead partner on Wynn Resort’s initial public offering, which raised $450 million in 2002.
• Harrah’s Entertainment/Apollo Management Group & Texas Pacific Group: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory advisory services on the buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company at the time, for $17.1 billion.
• Dubai World/MGM Resorts: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory and due diligence advisory services to Dubai World in its approximately $5.1 billion investment in MGM. Dubai World bought 28.4 million MGM shares, or 9.5 percent of the casino operator, for $2.4 billion. It then invested $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in MGM’s CityCenter Project, a $7.4 billion 76-acre Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets.
• MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) initial public offering: Mr. Roche provided tax and structural transaction services to MGM Resorts in the creation of MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT engaged in the acquisition, ownership and leasing of large-scale destination entertainment and leisure resorts. MGM Growth Properties raised $1.05 billion in its 2016 initial public offering.
Mr. Roche also directed EY advisory services to boards and management teams for profit improvement and technology related initiatives. In addition, Mr. Roche provided advisory support to the American Gaming Association on several research projects, including those specifically related to sports betting, the revocation of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and anti-money laundering best practices in the gaming industry. Equally, he has assisted government agencies in numerous international locations with enhancing their regulatory approach to governing the industry especially in the online gambling sector.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Roche served as Deloitte’s National Gaming Industry Leader and as the co-head of Andersen’s Gaming Industry Practice in Las Vegas. In 1989, Mr. Roche was appointed by then Governor of the State of Nevada, Robert Miller, to serve as one of three members of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for a four-year term, where he was directly responsible for the Audit and New Games Lab Divisions. As a board member, he spent a substantial amount of time assisting global jurisdiction regulators enact gaming legislation in the design of their regulatory structure. During his career, Roche has been involved in numerous public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. His background includes providing casino regulatory consulting services to casino licensees and to federal and state agencies including the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, and industry associations such as the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association.
We believe Mr. Roche’s highly regarded reputation as a gaming auditor and advisor in the gaming industry will be valuable for us and a potential business combination target. Mr. Roche is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed by the Nevada State Board of Accountancy and Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

Australia’s success in curbing Covid-19 infections is allowing it to slowly ease some restrictions even as it remains largely closed off from the rest of the world, taking its economy back to the pre-globalization era.
Mining and agriculture continue to support exports and a government-sponsored group is looking at ways to revive manufacturing. But the flow of foreign tourists, students and immigrants has been frozen, pinning hopes for a rebound on local consumption.
The closed borders and domestic reliance has the economy harking back to the 1980s, before the lifting of tariffs opened up trade and Paul Hogan offered to put another shrimp on the Barbie for international visitors.
Services Driven Nearly two-thirds of economic output from service industries
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Nominal gross value added, 2018-19
The capacity of services to quickly turnaround and the fact Aussies aren’t blowing savings on holidays abroad could help the nation fare better than many developed-world peers. Much will depend on the mood of households as unemployment rises, with a poor construction outlook adding to headwinds.
What Bloomberg’s Economists Say “Close to 1 million Australians per month traveled overseas in 2019. They will now be looking for a change of destination, heading to Noosa instead of Nusa Dua; Port Douglas, not Penang; and catching up with friends at bars in Melbourne Laneways, instead of Hong Kong’s mid levels. Containment measures change the economics of international travel.”
James McIntyre, economist
Household consumption, which makes up around 55% of the economy, has been boosted on the one hand by people stocking up on essentials during the lockdown, but hammered on the other as they couldn’t eat out or go to the movies. Shops and restaurants are gradually reopening but, for consumption to drive any rebound, households must put aside concerns over job security and debt to drive spending. That may be tough.
Wesfarmers Ltd. is seeing shift in consumer behavior across its retail portfolio. Home improvement and office products stores, Bunnings and Officeworks, have seen significant uplift in sales, while general merchandise stores, Target and Kmart, have seen sales slow.
Pessimistic households have consumption outlook seeming bleak Even before Covid-19, Australian households were among the most indebted in the developed world, with debt almost double disposable income. The threat of unemployment to people’s ability to meet their debts is now key, and the Reserve Bank of Australia has long acknowledged it as a major risk facing the economy.
The unemployment rate is currently 6.2%, with the central bank expecting it to peak at around 10%. Banks are offering repayment holidays to help tide homeowners over and have quadrupled provisions for an expected surge in bad debts.
Australia Passes Massive Stimulus Measures as Virus Spreads People wait in line outside a Centrelink office in the Bondi Junction suburb of Sydney, March 2020.Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg The absence of skilled migration due to closed national borders will also hit pause on what had been steady stream of profitable mortgage lending for the banks. That could flow through to housing prices if sustained.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia said its base case is for an 11% fall in home prices, though in a prolonged downturn a cumulative 32% slump is possible. National Australia Bank Ltd. said in a severe downturn, prices could plummet 21% this year.
Uncertainty and job insecurity impacting property market Residential construction typically closely follows house price movements, and the sector was already scaling back activity following the previous flood of new stock still working its way into the market.
The RBA earlier this month said that indications from the initial stages of the development process suggests demand for new housing “has deteriorated significantly.” It expects dwelling investment to plunge 17% in the 12 months through June and remain a drag on growth until 2021.
Property investors have been hit by the six month moratorium on tenancy evictions during coronavirus. Without renewed interest from investors, it’s challenging to get a new apartment development, particularly of any size, into construction.
The same holds for business investment. Unless the project was already underway, or is related to creating a covid-safe environment, capital expenditure plans have been parked until demand returns.
Natural Endowment Things look brighter as you leave the cities. Internationally, Australia is known as a commodity powerhouse. While it accounts for just 10% of output, it is a key source of export income and prosperity in the country.
Iron ore shipments from Port Hedland, a key export hub, hit a record for April, while gold sales from Perth Mint -- the main refiner -- also surged. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. lifted its projected annual iron ore shipments in a wager on China’s recovery. “We are selling everything we can possibly produce,” Chairman Andrew Forrest says.
Net exports important source of economic growth It’s less rosy for the liquefied natural gas producers. Just as the coronavirus sent the global economy into lockdown, Russia and Saudi Arabia began a standoff that sent oil prices tumbling below zero.
Top producers Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Santos Ltd. have slashed spending plans and deferred flagship growth projects -- worth over $15 billion -- in line with drastic steps by energy majors worldwide to hunker down during the pandemic.
On The Sheep’s Back Virus Fears Grow In Sydney As Growing GDP Expected To Be Hit Rolls of toilet papers sit in an empty section of a supermarket in Sydney, March 2020..Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg As supermarket shelves were stripped bare, a panicked nation was reminded of the sheer mass of food the country’s farmers produce. Domestic food production services more than 90% of fresh produce sold in supermarkets and still is able to more than match that amount in exports.
The industry could also become an unexpected source of employment. Backpackers and workers from Pacific Islands flock to rural areas to pick up work with seasonal tasks, but with borders shut and jobs being lost across the economy, farmers are likely turn to the local community for the extra labor.
Other producers have greater worries. Barley and meat exporters have been caught in China’s crosshairs in retaliation for Australia’s public call for an independent investigation of the coronavirus outbreak, while the wine industry is looking on nervously.
It’s been a tough year for wine, even before the virus. Clonakilla winery in New South Wales, north of Canberra, decided against producing a 2020 vintage after analysis showed unacceptably high levels of smoke taint from wildfires over the summer.
Exploring Our Own Backyard Australia's China Reliance Backfires as Virus Fallout Spreads Students sit on the grass at the University of Sydney, Feb. 2020.Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg The education industry was one of the first to feel the pinch from coronavirus restrictions. When the government imposed travel bans on flights from China in February, around 100,000 international students were unable to enter Australia to begin the academic year and left universities bracing for a costly fallout.
The University of Sydney, where students from China represented nearly one-quarter of the total student body, projected a A$470 million loss this year. Other institutions, including the University of Melbourne and Monash University, are bracing for similar hits. Even smaller regional institutions that don’t attract nearly the same level of international students have been affected.
With a lot of money at stake, there could be a relaxation of international border restrictions for students to study in Australia, before leisure travelers are allowed. But for businesses catering toward an offshore audience, demand is unlikely to snap back.
Qantas Airways Ltd. is currently operating just 1% of its network and has canceled overseas fights until at least the end of July. Its main competitor, Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd., collapsed into administration in April.
Virgin Australia Collapses After Pandemic Halts Air Travel Virgin Australia check-in kiosks inside a deserted Sydney Airport, April 2020. Photographer Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg Crown Resorts Ltd. and Star Entertainment Group Ltd., which both target big-spending visitors from Asia, were forced to close their casinos in Australia as the country locked down. Crown is just months away from completing a A$2.2 billion luxury gaming resort in Sydney.
The tourism industry was already reeling from the wave of cancellations following the December and January wildfires. The silver lining is that Australians will have no option but to spend holidays on home soil once inter-state travel is allowed again.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-19/australia-goes-back-to-the-1980s-with-economy-closed-to-world?sref=s0L1qQ1H

Updated 10.02.2021
 

2021

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf & Caskey - YELAWOLF X BLACKSHEEP(?) 3. Been A Problem
 
Features RiFF RAFF - TiP TOE 4 (feat. Yelawolf)
 

2020

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Features RiFF RAFF - Water Whippin Wizard (ft. Yelawolf) [Vanilla Gorilla] Struggle Jennings & Adam Calhoun - Cracked Pepper (ft. Yelawolf) [Legend] Korn - The Devil Went Down to Georgia (ft. Yelawolf) RiFF RAFF - Million Dollar Mullet (feat. Yelawolf) Caskey - McQueen Fiend (feat. Yelawolf) [Remix] Outlaw Mel - Big Dreamz (Yelawolf and The Outfit, TX) Struggle Jenning & Jelly Roll - Winds of Change (ft. Yelawolf and Tommy Vext) [Waylon & Willie IV] Struggle Jenning & Jelly Roll - Fufu (ft. Yelawolf) [Waylon & Willie IV]
 

2019

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Ghetto Cowboy 1. Mama Wolf 2. Unnatural Born Killer 3. Opie Taylor 4. Box Chevy 7 5. Here I Am 6. Still Ridin’ 7. Lightning 8. Renegades 9. So Long 10. You and Me 11. A Message From DJ Paul 12. Country Rich (ft. DJ Paul) 13. Keep on Rollin (ft. Big Henri & Cub da Cookupboss) 14. Ghetto Cowboy
 
Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik 3 1. TM3 (ft. DJ Klever) 2. Catfish Billy 2 3. Rowdy (ft. Machine Gun Kelly) 4. Special Kind of Bad 5. Like I Love You 6. Drugs 7. Trailer Park Hollywood 8. No Such Thing as Free (ft. Caskey & Doobie) 9. We Slum (ft. Shawty Fatt & Big Henry) 10. Box Chevy 6 (ft. Rittz & DJ Paul) 11. All The Way Up (ft. MopTop & CookUp Boss) 12. Over Again (ft. DJ Klever) 13. Addiction 14. Over Here
 
Yelawolf & Cub da CookupBoss - SLUMTRAP 1. (Intro) Catfish Billy Speaks 2. Shotz (ft. Moptop) 3. You & Me (ft. Kris Flair) 4. Take It There (ft. Bubba Sparxxx) 5. No Hall Pass (ft. Upchurch) 6. Never Coming' down (ft. Rittz) 7. Muddy Waters (ft. Kris Flair) 8. Sauce
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Get Buck Freestyle Yelawolf - Pinto Bean Freestyle Yelawolf - Jesco White Freestyle Yelawolf - Billy Goat Freestyle Yelawolf - SKALLYWAG Freestyle Yelawolf - Elvis Messy Freestyle Yelawolf - Mountain Dew Mouth Freestyle Yelawolf - Bloody Sunday Freestyle Yelawolf - Jackson (ft. Fefe Dobson) Yelawolf - Midnight Yelawolf - You and Me (demo) Yelawolf & DJ Paul - I'm So Juiced Up (ft. Seed of 6ix & DJ Ease)
 
Features Caskey - Remember (ft. Yelawolf) [Black Sheep 4] DJ Paul - The Easy Way (ft. Yelawolf & Seed of the 6ix) Doobie - Circles (ft. Yelawolf) [Faithfully Faded] Struggle Jennings - Wild Eyes (ft. Yelawolf) [The Widow’s Son] Rittz - Wake up Call (ft. Yelawolf & Twista) [Put a Crown on it]
 
Music Videos Unnatural Born Killer Opie Taylor You and Me Elvis Messy Mountain Dew Mouth Bloody Sunday DJ Paul - The Easy Way (ft. Yelawolf & Seed of the 6ix)
 

2018

----------------------------------------------------- Features Alexander King - Southern Road (ft. Yelawolf & Gracen Hill) [R.O.S.A.P.] CookUp Boss - Never Comin’ Down (ft. Catfish Billy) [Make the Trap Great Again] Prhyme - W.O.W. (With Out Warning) [ft. Yelawolf] {Prhyme 2} Jelly Roll - Southern Hospitality (ft. Yelawolf, Struggle & Alexander King) [Goodnight Nashville] The Fever 333 - (The First Stone) Changes (ft. Yelawolf) [Made An America]
 

2017

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Trial By Fire 1. Trial By Fire 2. Shadows (ft. Joshua Hedley) 3. Get Mine (ft. Kid Rock) 4. Son of a Gun 5. Ride or Die 6. Struggle Speaks (Interlude) 7. Daylight 8. Do For Love 9. Punk (ft. Travis Barker & Juicy J) 10. Row Your Boat 11. True to Yourself (ft. Bones Owens) 12. Sabrina 13. Violin (ft. Lee Brice) 14. Keeps Me Alive (ft. Wynonna Judd)
 
Yelawolf & Cookup Boss - Catfish Billy X Cub Cookup Boss 1. Too Gangsta 2. You & Me 3. Sauce 4. Muddy Waters 5. Cocaine 6. Heisenberg
 
Features Angaleena Presley - Country (ft. Yelawolf) [Wrangled] Bone Thugs - Gravity (ft. Yelawolf) [New Waves] DJ Paul - Litty Up RMX (ft. Yelawolf) [Da Reason: Thank Me Later] Struggle Jennings - Your Little Man (ft. Yelawolf)
 
Music Videos Daylight Row Your Boat Get Mine ft. Kid Rock Punk ft. Travis Barker & Juicy J Shadows ft. Joshua Hedley Struggle Jennings - Your Little Man (ft. Yelawolf)
 

2016

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - H.O.T.E.L 1. Supersonic Alley Cat 2. You Should Have Known 3. Renegades 4. Someday 5. In Love Tonight 6. Be Yourself (ft. Bubba Sparxxx) 7. Good Love
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Instagram Freestyle Yelawolf - Instagram Freestyle 2 Yelawolf - Instagram Freestyle 3 Yelawolf - Instagram Freestyle 4 Yelawolf & Travis Barker - Out Of Control
 
Features Bubba Sparxxx - Put in Work (ft. Yelawolf) [The Bubba Mathis EP] Bubba Sparxxx - Y. G. M. F. U. (ft. Yelawolf) [The Bubba Mathis EP] DJ Paul - Get Away (ft. Jon Connor & Yelawolf) [Mafia 4 Life] DJ Paul - Slumerican Three 6 (ft. Yelawolf) [#YOTS Pt. 1] Doobie Bvndit - Jacuzzi Lucy (Remix) (ft. Yelawolf) Struggle Jennings - Return of the Outlaw (ft. Yelawolf) [Return of the Outlaw]
 
Music Videos DJ Paul - Get Away (ft. Yelawolf & Jon Connor Bubba Sparxxx - Y. G. M. F. U. (ft. Yelawolf)
 

2015

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Love Story 1. Outer Space 2. Change 3. American You 4. Whiskey in a Bottle 5. Ball and Chain (Interlude) 6. Till It's Gone 7. Devil in my Veins 8. Best Friend (ft. Eminem) 9. Empty Bottles 10. Heartbreak 11. Tennessee Love 12. Box Chevy V 13. Love Story 14. Johnny Cash 15. Have a Great Flight 16. Sky's the Limit 17. Disappear 18. Fiddle Me This
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Led Zeppelin Freestyle Yelawolf - American You (Extended Version) Yelawolf - Till It’s Gone (Acoustic) [ft. DJ Klever, Bones Owens & Travis Barker) Yelawolf - Till It's Gone (Campfire Remix) Yelawolf - Till It's Gone (Dan Heath Remix) Yelawolf - To Whom It May Concern
 
Features Rittz - L.A.F. Remix (ft. Yelawolf, Royce Da 5'9" & KXNG Crooked) WLPWR - Thank You (ft. Yelawolf) [Free Game] DJ Paul - F U 2 (ft. Violent J & Yelawolf) [Master Of Evil] Alexander King - Country Side (ft. Yelawolf & Jelly Roll)
 
Music Videos Whiskey In A Bottle Whiskey In A Bottle (Lyric Video) Johnny Cash Best Friend ft. Eminem Till Is's Gone Let's Roll ft. Kid Rock American You Devil In My Veins Box Chevy V Outer Space (Wall of Death)
 

2014

----------------------------------------------------- Shady Records - Shady XV Yelawolf - Down Skylar Grey, Eminem & Yelawolf - Twisted Slaughterhouse - Psychopath Killer (ft. Eminem & Yelawolf)
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Primus Freestyle Yelawolf - Money Freestyle Yelawolf - Alabama Song Freestyle Yelawolf - Voodoo Child Freestyle Yelawolf - Louder (ft. Ink Monstarr) Yelawolf - Have A Great Flight (Demo Version) Yelawolf - Honey Brown Yelawolf - Box Chevy V (Single Version) Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse & Eminem - Shady CXVPHER
 
Features Gucci Ghost - Slumerican (ft. Yelawolf) [Rad Tape] Hillbilly Casino - The Hole (ft. Yelawolf) [Live In The USA] Jelly Roll - So Long (ft. Yelawolf) [The Biggest Loser] Kaleb D - Reload (ft. Yelawolf) Rittz - Profit (ft. Yelawolf & Shawty Fatt) [Next to Nothing]
 
Music Videos Down Shady CXVPHER
 

2013

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik Returns 1. Firestarter 2. Way Out 3. F.A.S.T. Ride 4. Box Chevy (Part 4) 5. Hustle (ft. Paul Wall) 6. Catfish Billy 7. Gangster (ft. A$AP Rocky & Big Henry) 8. Rhyme Room (ft. Raekwon & Killer Mike) 9. Fame 10. Tennessee Love
 
Yelawolf & DJ Paul - Black Fall 1. Get Straight 2. Mastermind 3. Bowties (ft. Rittz) 4. Party Prophet (ft. DJ Paul) 5. Light Switch
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf & Big Henry - The Dark Knights Freestyle Yelawolf & Rittz - Hammertime
 
Features Big Henry - Troubled Times (ft. Yelawolf) Brotha Lynch Hung - Tha Package (ft. Yelawolf) [Mannibalector] Da Mafia 6ix - Go Hard (ft. Yelawolf) [6ix Commandments] Fefe Dobson - Legacy (Remix) (ft. Yelawolf) Jackie Chain - Yeah Dats Me (Remix) (ft. Big K.R.I.T & Yelawolf) [Bruce Lean Chronicles Vol. 2] Juicy J - Gun Plus A Mask (ft. Yelawolf) [Stay Trippy] Mickey Factz - Zen (ft. Yelawolf) Pill - I'm Hard (ft. Yelawolf) Rittz - Heaven (ft. Yelawolf) [The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant] Travis Barker - Cuz I'm Famous (ft. Yelawolf, Paul Wall & Hopsin)
 
Music Videos F.A.S.T. RIDE Way Out Hustle (ft. Paul Wall) Da Mafia 6ix - Go Hard (ft. Yelawolf)
 

2012

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf & Ed Sheeran - The Slumdon Bridge 1. London Bridge 2. You Don't Know (For Fuck's Sakes) 3. Faces 4. Tone
 
Yelawolf - Heart of Dixie 1. Howdy 2. Let Me Out 3. Be The One 4. Big Nutz 5. White Boy Shit 6. Fuck Me 7. Sobriety Sucks 8. Out My Face (ft. Shawty Fatt & Rittz) 9. Father's Day 10. Wrap Song
 
Yelawolf & Travis Barker - Psycho White 1. Push 'Em (ft. Skinhead Rob & Tim Armstrong) 2. 6 Feet Underground (ft. Tim Armstrong) 3. Funky Shit 4. Whistle Dixie 5. Director's Cut (Micheal Myers & Superman)
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Rack City Freestyle Yelawolf - Thank You Freestyle Yelawolf - I Do Freestyle Yelawolf - Best of Freestyles Freestyle Yelawolf - Can it Be Yelawolf - Squidbillies Theme Song
 
Features ¡MAYDAY! – Dollar General (¡MAYDAY! Rmx) (ft. Stevie Stone & Yelawolf) [Smash & Grab] 8Ball - Immaculate Perception (ft. Waka Flocka & Yelawolf) [Premro] A$AP Rocky - 1 Train (ft. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.) [Long. Live. ASAP] Blink-182 - Pretty Little Girl (ft. Yelawolf) [Dogs Eating Dogs] Cisco Adler - Lemonade (ft. Yelawolf, Dirt Nasty, Johnny Polygon) CyHi Da Prynce - Drank & Smoke (ft. Big K.R.I.T & Yelawolf) [Ivy League Club] Jasmine Solano - One On One (ft. Yelawolf) Prof - New Kid (ft. Yelawolf) [Kaiser Von Powderhorn 3] Struggle - Satellites (ft. Yelawolf & Zilla) Trouble Andrew - Cheated (ft. Yelawolf) Big HUD - Far From A Bitch (ft. Yelawolf, Rittz & Young Struggle) [The Long Way Home]
 
Music Videos Push' Em Whistle Dixie Out of Control 6 Feet Underground Funky Shit Stevie Stone - Dollar General (ft. Yelawolf) Trouble Andrew - CHEATED (ft. Yelawolf)
 

2011

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Radioactive 1. Radioactive Introduction 2. Get Away (ft. Shawty Fatt & Mystikal) 3. Let's Roll (ft. Kid Rock) 4. Hard White (Up In The Club) (ft. Lil Jon) 5. Growin' Up In The Gutter (ft. Rittz) 6. Throw It Up (ft. Gangsta Boo & Eminem) 7. Good Girl (ft. Poo Bear) 8. Made In The U.S.A (ft. Priscilla Renea) 9. Animal (ft. Fefe Dobson) 10. The Hardest Love Song In The World 11. Write Your Name (ft. Mona Moua) 12. Everything I Love The Most 13. Radio 14. Slumerican Shitizen (ft. Killer Mike) 15. The Last Song Best Buy Deluxe Edition: 16. Whip It 17. I See You 18. In This World
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Yonkers Freestyle Yelawolf - Toca Tuesdays Freestyle Yelawolf - Hard White (Remix) (ft. Slaughterhouse & T.I.) Yelawolf - Gangsta Of Love (Feat CyHi Da Prince) Yelawolf - Kill My Nightmare Yelawolf - Pop The Trunk (Bones & Vocal Version) Yelawolf - No Hands Yelawolf - Alabama Gotdamn Yelawolf - Shit I've Seen (ft. Trae Tha Truth) Yelawolf - Just Right (Demo Version of Animal) Yelawolf - 2011 XXL Freshmen Freestyle Yelawolf, Eminem & Slaughterhouse - 2.0 Boys Yelawolf, Kendrick Lamar, LIl B & CyHi Da Prince - 2011 XXL Freshmen Class Cypher Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse & Eminem - Shady 2.0 Cypher
 
Features Ace Hood - Shit Done Got Real (ft. Busta Rhymes & Yelawolf) [The Statement 2] Big HUD - Smell My Cologne (ft. Yelawolf) [Smell My Cologne EP] Big K.R.I.T - Happy Birthday Hip Hop (Remix) (ft. Yelawolf) Bizarre - Down This Road (ft. Yelawolf) [Friday Night At St. Andrews] CyHi Da Prince - Bulletproof (ft. Yelawolf) [Royal Flush 2] Game - Rough (ft. Yelawolf) [Hood Morning] GLC - Empty Town (ft. Cold Hard, Yelawolf & The Carps) [Eternal Sunshine Of The Pimpin Mind] Gucci Mane - Too Turnt Up (ft. Yelawolf) [Writings on the Wall 2] Hollyweerd - Buss It (ft. Yelawolf) Jessie and The Toy Boys - Push It (ft. Yelawolf) [Show Me Your Tan Lines] Kydd - Hall Pass (ft. Yelawolf) [The Sounds in My Head Part 2] Mr. Finley - Oh Yeah (ft. Yelawolf) [Bacc On My Wease Mac Shit] P.Watts - Lites On (ft. Yelawolf) [Element of Surprise] Rittz - Fulla Shit (ft. Yelawolf) [White Jesus] Rittz - Sleep At Night (ft. Yelawolf) [White Jesus] SMKA - Deer Mama (ft. Yelawolf) [The 808 Experiment Vol 2] Struggle - Outlaw Shit (ft. Yelawolf & Waylon Jennings) [I Am Struggle] STS - Hello Sunshine (ft. Yelawolf) [The Illustrious] Tech N9ne - Worldwide Choppers (ft. Ceza, JL of B. Hood, U$O, Yelawolf, Twista, Busta Rhymes, D-Loc & Twisted Insane) [All 6's and 7's] The Crystal Method - Make Some Noise (Put 'Em Up) (ft. Yelawolf) [Real Steel - Music From the Motion Picture] Travis Barker - Let's Go (ft. Busta Rhymes, Twista & Yelawolf) [Give the Drummer Some] Article - Electric Kingdom (ft. Yelawolf)
 
Music Videos Hard White (Up In The Club) ft. Lil Jon No Hands GUTTER ft. Rittz - A Short Film Bizarre - Down This Road (ft. Yelawolf) Travis Barker - Let's Go ft. Yelawolf, Twista, Busta Rhymes & Lil Jon Rittz - Sleep At Night ft. Yelawolf Rittz - White Jesus Struggle Jennings - Outlaw Shit ft. Yelawolf & Waylon Jennings 2.0 Boys Shady 2.0 Cypher 2011 XXL Freshman Cypher Jessie and The Toy Boys - Push It (ft. Yelawolf)
 

2010

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik 1. Trunk Muzik 2. Stage Lights (Remix) 3. Good To Go 4. Pop the Trunk 5. Box Chevy 3 6. FU 7. Lick The Cat 8. Speak Her Sex 9. I wish (ft. Raekwon) 10. In This Club 11. Love is Not Enough 12. Mixin Up the Medicine (Remix) (ft. Juelz)
 
Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik 0-60 1. Get The Fuck Up! 2. Daddy's Lambo 3. That's What We On Now 4. I Just Wanna Party (ft. Gucci Mane) 5. Billy Crystal (ft. Rock City) 6. Pop The Trunk 7. Box Chevy 3 (ft. Rittz) 8. Good To Go (ft. Bun B) 9. Marijuana 10. Love Is Not Enough 11. I Wish (ft. Raekwon) 12. Trunk Muzik
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - I Need A Dollar Freestyle Yelawolf - Lemonade (Trunk Muzik 0-60 Freestyle) Yelawolf - FMS Freestyle Yelawolf - B.M.F Freestyle (Trunk Muzik 0-60 Freestyle) Yelawolf - Fly Boy Radio Freestyle Yelawolf - Dirt Road Freestyle Yelawolf - I Wanna Rock Freestyle Yelawolf - Beamer, Benz, Bentley Freestyle Yelawolf - Rhyme Room (Episode 1) Yelawolf - Rhyme Room (Episode 2) Yelawolf - Swagger Killer (ft. Mz Shanti) Yelawolf - Looking For Alien Love Yelawolf - Ain’t Goin Out Like That [Peter Rosenberg x Cypress Hill The Uprising] Yelawolf - I Wish (Remix) (ft. CyHi Da Prynce & Pill) Yelawolf, Wiz Khalifa, Bones Brigante & Raekwon - 2010 BET Cypher
 
Features Big Boi - You Ain’t No DJ (ft. Yelawolf) [Sir Lucious Left Foot] Big K.R.I.T - Hometown Hero (Remix) (ft. Yelawolf) [K.R.I.T Wuz Here] Donnis - Country Cool (Remix) (ft. Pill & Yelawolf) [Fashionably Late] Dreamer - Crazy Girlz (ft. Yelawolf) [Live in Stereo 2.0] Emilio Rojas - Turn It Up (ft. Yelawolf) [Life Without Shame] Feroz - Bring The Money Home (ft. Yelawolf) [Invisible Man] Glamourlyke - Cutlass (ft. Yelawolf) [Highway Love] Ludacris - How Low (Remix) (ft. Yelawolf & Rock City) Neako - Suicide (ft. Shawn Chrystopher, Phil Ade, Yelawolf, Smoke Dza & Stalley) Paul Wall - Live It (ft. Jay Electronica, Raekwon & Yelawolf) [Heart of a Champion] Rich Boy – Go Crazy (ft. Yelawolf) [Featuring] Shawty Fatt - Yeah (ft. Yelawolf) Digit - You Win Some You Lose Some (ft. Yelawolf) [The Alter Ego & Summer Of SUM] SkapeZilla - Look The Other Way (ft. Yelawolf, Note & Young Trimm) Scragg Lee - I'm A Freak (ft. Yelawolf, Pill & Henny) [Gold Chains] Thee Tom Hardy - Take 'Em To... (ft. Yelawolf) [The Hardy Boy Mystery Mixtape: Secret Of Thee Green Magic]
 
Music Videos Daddy's Lambo Pop The Trunk Good To Go ft. Bun B Marijuana I Just Wanna Party ft. Gucci Mane Big Boi - You Ain't No DJ ft. Yelawolf 2010 BET Cypher Rhyme Room 2 Yelawolf - I Wish (Remix) (ft. CyHi Da Prynce & Pill)
 

2009

----------------------------------------------------- Features Alex King - Like A Sewing Machine (ft. Yelawolf & Struggle) [Reincarnated] Alex King - Looking For A Change (ft. Sonny Bama & Yelawolf) [Reincarnated] G-Side - Whos Hood (ft. Yelawolf) [Huntsville International] Juelz Santana - Mixin' Up The Medicine (ft. Yelawolf) [Born to Lose, Built to Win] Slim Thug - I Run (ft. Yelawolf) [Boss of all Bosses] Slim Thug - I Run (Remix) (ft. Chamillionaire, Yelawolf & Z-Ro) Stophouse - Rocketman (ft. Yelawolf) [Recession Music] Priceless the Kid - Witness (ft. Yelawolf) [No Barcode] ??? - How We Do (ft. Yelawolf)
 
Music Videos Juelz Santana - Mixin' Up The Medicine (ft. Yelawolf)
 

2008

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Arena Rap EP 1. Back To Bama 2. Candy & Dreams 3. Enjoy The View 4. All Aboard 5. Come On Over 6. Stage Lights 7. Gone
 
Yelawolf - Stereo 1. Stereo Intro 2. Brick In The Wall 3. Stereo 4. Rich Like Me 5. Box Chevy Part 2 6. Break The Chain 7. Phone Skit 8. Gone 9. Magic Man 10. Burn Out 11. Brown Sugar 12. Run Johnny 13. In The Cradle 14. Heroine 15. TNT 16. Stereo Outro 17. Take It Easy
 
Features Jonny Euphonic - Off (ft. Yelawolf & TayFlow) Jonny Euphonic - Sippin Nis' Sauce (ft. Yelawolf)
 
Music Videos Box Chevy: Part 2
 

2007

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Ball of Flames: The Ballad of Slick Rick E. Bobby 1. Talladega Dreamin' 2. Doughnuts 3. Shake N Bake 4. I'm The Shit 5. Boyz In The Woodz 6. Kickin' 7. Run (ft. Shawty Fatt & B.o.B) 8. Hey Rick E. Bobby 9. My Box Chevy 10. New Shoes (ft. Sweet Waste) 11. Beer Buzz 12. Victory Circle
 
Miscellaneous Songs Yelawolf - Before You Leave Yelawolf - Big Trucks Yelawolf - Chainsaw Yelawolf - Double Barrel (ft. Rittz) Yelawolf - Drama Yelawolf - Get Er Done Yelawolf - It's A Party (ft. B.o.B) Yelawolf - Land of Oz Yelawolf - Radio Smash Yelawolf - Superman (2007 Version) Yelawolf - Whyte Trash Yelawolf - 1979
 
Features Vendetta - Hip Rock (ft. Yelawolf)
 
Music Videos Kickin'
 

2005

----------------------------------------------------- Yelawolf - Creekwater 1. Intro (ft. Lil Jamie & Omar Cunningham) 2. Creekwater 3. G.A.D (ft. Big Henry & Shawty Fatt) 4. FITZ Spoken Word 5. Won't Stop 6. Dare He Go 7. Makeup 8. Pickin' Shrooms 9. Breathe (ft. Ban Hameen, Fly Friday & Grip Plyaz) 10. Ride Down The Highway (ft. Ben Hameen) 11. Bible Belt 12. SALIK'S Spoken Word 13. Sleeping Beauty 14. Fifty (ft. Grip Plyaz) 15. Soul Everyday (ft. Ben Hameen) 16. It Aint Over
 
Yelawolf - Piss'n In a Barrel of Bee'z 1. Intro 2. Piss'n In A Barrel Of Bee'z 3. Diamonds 4. Send Em Over 5. 2 Hot 4 TV 6. Hard Work 7. My Time 8. Need 2 Hear 9. Go To Jail 10. Drop It 11. Pissed On (ft. jhi-ali & Shawty Fatt) 12. Pistol N The Air 13. Super Man 14. Fist Up 15. White Boys (ft. ???)
 
Shoutout to the slumfam, especially Rafael and Josh27
 

About me: playing CR for 1.5y with PB ~6k, 28 maxed cards, all on level 11 or up. Bought all passes from 1 to 6 and many other "promotions". In generally spend much more than no any AAA PC games made longer than CR is live like Witcher 3 or RDR2. Last buy on 2nd Dec and not going to pay a single cent any longer... even if I can afford it and still like the core of the game.
Now let me explain the reasons behind it. I see some changes in the game from the summer to not pay as I get stronger and stronger feeling of being manhandled and slowly less and less F2P friendly. Even if I was not F2P player I care about it because strong P2W games do not live long without hords od new users who do not yet know about it.
​
Here is the list of changes that made me take that decision:

1. Pass royale and special challenges prizes going down. One of the reasons of buying pass and playing a lot were relatively big prizes initially (in July it was 55k gold first event, 15k second not counting). In December it was a joke.
   
2. Special challenges getting harder (drafts, 2vs2) etc. In all challenges if you are average player there is 50% chance you get only first three prizes for free (without pass). This I think is partly a trick to make it harder for good F2P to get far (as bad players having pass make it easier for them)
   
3. Not adding new common card for almost 1.5 year (we got one new this January). Because of the way chests select card, the new common is very easy to max quickly even for longer playing F2P players if they have enough commons already on 13 level (they are out of random generator list in initial round) and easy to request. This means adding them is not very profitable.
   
4. Adding all this additional king crowns nonsense including the explanation it is to make crown chests easier to grab for low playing users. The real reason is to get an illusion of additional boost and the excuse to remove old special quests where ending them added to stamps to the bar and allowed get big chests faster (anyone remember last Christmast with easy 24 special quests for 20 points each? and what we got this Christmast!). I do not do thise quest as 1.5 week in season i already have 20th to be unlocked without playing a lot. If you have a pass and play challenges and for normal chests event with The Bank (400 more crowns) all is doable easily without special quests or crown boosts.
   
5. Removal of 3x 3000 gold for 100 gems. I understand that two other boosts had to go, but this one was a monthly 5x gem to gold exchange offer.
   
6. Silent removal of epic chest from the shop (available maybe twice a month, not sure) and into bi-monthly special offer? Additional move to make F2P players get epics higher (buying pass is where you are kindly forced... you get over 70 epics there with changes...).
   
7. Split of 100 gems to 40 and 60. Supercell knows how many players can go to 6150 and many many (including me) can't, so you get 60 less. The 50% winrate target is designed the way that above 6k you have to have more wins than loses.
   
8. More and more tokens are added at the beginning of events or challenges. I undestand they are helpfull for some to max dreamed card, but from the game perpsective and your real progress with cards they have almost no value.
   
9. Many very obvious bugs gets into the release every time. When for fhole month there was a bug in chest queue I said that CR do not deserve our money because I do not remember any other high profile company to have it for so long and only visible to paying users (sic!). But I gave a try... And there were even more obvious bugs in next updates, but this time luckily for us Superrcell is not on monthly vacations. Quick question: anyone knows when the testers are going from vacations?
   
10. Controversial, but just personal feeling that it may be more complicated than "just trophies" in ladder. With introduction of party mode and non ladder 1vs1 I have made some tests. Last day of the season I on purpose lose to get below 4600 (4300 after reset) to control when I get the time boost (like over the weekends). When playing part 1vs1 the algorithm is still trying to find you an opponent with similar trophies but it is not limited to it (I do not see taking levels into accont there). In general having 4300 I see players from 4100 to 4800. But from time to time I get someone really out of blue who is below 4k (like 5400 guy with 6500PB or with 3800 guy with almost all gold cards???). What we really know about 1vs1 matchmaking for ladder? Yes, it is honest on the trophy range matched (levels do not count) and yes, after 7 wins straight you may be too high for you skill level, but considered this... Supercell gathers TB of analytical data every day and for each your deck can easily say with which archetypes your deck will struggle. This way within trophy range they can find some guy that will beat you and most of the time you won't be ably to do anything about it (as average player, not a pro). Well crafted losing streak and you may throw your phone, quit the game or $$$buy in the shop$$$ (that is why standard prices are very high, for compulsive buyers). Does Supercell use gathered analytical data this way? I do not have proof but also haven't seen their matchmaking algorithm audited (as for some casino games and their random generators), so it is technically possible. Also a 2vs2 bug some time ago made me think that match history may also be used (when after several games you could'nt find opponents).
    
11. More and more cards for this inflation gold is not really increased in chests etc. We got last year is (always 44 gold for 20 first wins a day; from 26-36 mostly, so not ground breaking change) and more gold in trophy road. Most of additionall gold is currently going to special challenges or pass.
    
12. Reddit communication in last months is bad. Yes, there were many bad comments and hate because of balance changes but whose fault it was to change primary aspects of long existing epic card? Because of some hate we now have silence. This does not build community.
    

​
PS. What I mean obvious bug. The bug that tester should easily find playing the game before release. Like for example all cards showing as Boosted without order and wrong levels (event is capped to lvl 9) in deck section for special events... I do not count here bugs that are harder to find or unimportant that I personally see from first pass royale (ff you have the pass, in clan war the current war popup have the middle tab with member names; sometimes you are there in gold but sometimes plain white; it looks it depends on the API asked for the list).
Also the current global tournament changes are going this direction. From 2 turnaments to 1 they say better prizes, i see 30 gems in total (most of you will get 20) and even more priceless tokens :) But let see 30 gems is 500 gold in shop. Well from progress perspective I'would better see gold chests in all those places...
Why CR devs are doing this? Because Clasy Royale tanked in comparison to the last year in revenue. Also Clash of Clans (which is longer on the market) had similar revenue in the last months of 2018 as CR (if I remember). This December CR had $23m and Clash of Clans above $70m (both have pass system). It says something... and this is the reason CR team silently starts to be more and more agressive in my opinion. Above list of reasons and bad balance changes make more and more players angry leaving the game (from CRL gems result I saw 5m players, so likely they is 10m players). We will see next Dec numbers, but with this direction there may be less. I like the game but with less players only advanced will stay which may make it unplayable (not fun) for average players like me. I may start to pay for the pass again when I see some real improvement.
​
Please leave a comment if you think I missed something or do not agree with some of the points.

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE:
1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999

1-3-2000	1-10-2000	1-17-2000	1-24-2000
1-31-2000	2-7-2000	2-14-2000	2-21-2000
2-28-2000	3-6-2000	3-13-2000	3-20-2000
3-27-2000

★★ READ THIS THREAD ★★

★★ Be The Match ★★

• WCW has made the decision to bring back Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo in a last-ditch effort to save WCW. The decision has been in the works for about a month and people are already doubting whether or not the two can co-exist with each other. Dave recaps what led us to this point. First, the group of Bill Busch, Kevin Sullivan, JJ Dillon, and others pretty much pulled the coup last year that got Bischoff canned and Russo was hired soon after. But once it became clear that Russo desperately needs someone to filter his insane ideas, those people also pretty much forced Russo out in favor of Sullivan as the head booker. But the company continued free-falling under Sullivan. Bischoff and Russo had been in talks with Brad Seigel and pitched an idea where they would lead competing factions of older and younger wrestlers fighting over power for the company. Bischoff tried a similar angle to this last year but it never got off the ground because, aside from Ric Flair, none of the older wrestlers (like Savage, Hogan, Piper, etc.) wanted to be portrayed as "old" and didn't want to be forced to put over younger stars that hadn't established themselves. Bischoff was officially hired back into WCW as the head of creative on 3/22, but due to the company losing so much money on his watch last year, he was not given control over the business end of things. Bill Busch informed Siegel that he would quit if Bischoff was brought back, and he made good on his word and walked out when he was told. Bob Mould, a somewhat famous musician who has also been part of WCW's creative and management team, also quit when he heard the news. Kevin Sullivan has been told he's essentially being sent home to sit out the rest of his contract and he no longer has any power either. Sullivan has argued that he was handicapped after inheriting the mess Russo and Bischoff left behind, plus the injuries to Goldberg and Bret Hart, and while that's true, Sullivan never really made any major changes either and it was clear things weren't going to improve with him booking.
  
• The initial idea was to cancel this week's TV tapings and shut down for a week and then return on 4/10 with a fresh start and new storylines. But they ended up not cancelling the tapings and as a result, this week's Nitro is expected to be the lowest rated in the show's history. There was also talk of shutting down for several weeks and cancelling next week's PPV, which Dave thinks might not be the worst idea so they can take the time to slap a fresh coat of paint on the company and basically reboot. But it doesn't look like that will happen either. On Nitro this week, the announcers played it up big, labeling Russo as the man who turned WWF around and Bischoff as the one who turned WCW around several years ago and literally calling them the geniuses responsible for the current pro wrestling boom. Dave says you can't argue with Bischoff's initial success. He took WCW, which was in the red for about $6 million per year and turned it into a $200 million dollar company by 1998. But even at their peak, it was clear WCW had no future because they built around stars who were past their prime and never had a focus on creating future stars to sustain that success. WWF capitalized on that failure and by the end of 1999, WCW was back in the red again, way worse than they were before Bischoff took over. After a series of dumb, expensive investments (KISS, Master P, Megadeth, Dennis Rodman the 2nd time, etc.), losing stars like Chris Jericho, and continuing to rely on old 80s relics, and blowing through millions of Turner's dollars with nothing to show for it, the company lost faith in Bischoff's business judgement. At one point, Bischoff just turned the whole thing over to Kevin Nash as the new booker, who seemingly had no interest in doing anything other than pushing himself and his friends, which sunk the company to even further lows.
  
• As for Russo, it's true that WWF did pretty huge numbers during the time he became more involved in creative and when he left the company, he did a good job of convincing everyone that he was the genius behind WWF's turnaround. But within a few months of his departure, it became clear just which Vince deserved the credit for WWF's success. WWF never missed a beat when Russo left and TV ratings and house show business continued to increase (and keep in mind, WWF hasn't had Austin or Undertaker for the last 6 months either, plus McMahon has kept himself off TV until recently also). Meanwhile, in WCW, when Russo took over, the company just skidded further off the rails. Russo did play a major part in pushing WWF to move away from the failing family-friendly approach. But really, they pretty much just copied Paul Heyman's formula so...ya know. To be fair to Russo, he seemed to be the only person in WCW who realized how badly the company needed a drastic change and he really did try to push new people like Benoit, Bagwell, and Jarrett to the top. But then he brought back Piper, brought in George Steele and Jimmy Snuka, and booked dangerous angles like the one that got Goldberg injured. He came in with a lot of hype and ratings initially went up a bit out of curiosity, but they quickly plummeted again. He booked a tired rehash of the Montreal Screwjob finish at Starrcade, rendered all the belts meaningless, booked absurd screwjob endings to nearly every match on TV and PPV, and essentially booked the company like a monkey throwing his poop at random. As a result, WCW has now fallen behind ECW in both PPV buyrates and live show attendance and TV ratings have continued to plummet.
  
• Here's some cold hard numbers for those Russo supporters out there who still, somehow, defend this guy 20 years later: when Russo took over WCW in Oct. 99, they were averaging 4,628 people per show. By January (his last month in power), average attendance was down to 3,593. Nitro's ratings in Oct. 99 were averaging 3.08. By January, the average was....3.10. Oh, you say! But that's higher! Yes, on paper, 3.10 looks higher than 3.08. But the reality is, during that time, Nitro went from three hours back down to two. On paper, that should have led to a significant increase in the average. If Nitro was still three hours, that 3.10 would be equivalent to a 2.9. So even though it looks like ratings slightly increased on Russo's watch, they actually went down. The loss of that third hour gives the illusion that they didn't. Oh and in Oct. 99, the Halloween Havoc buyrate was 0.52. In January, the PPV buyrate was 0.26. TL;DR - by literally every single metric, WCW business got worse under Vince Russo. But hey, it got even worse since he left, so...take solace in that?
  
• Quick note just at press time, it's been reported that they will announce the XFL will air in prime time on NBC due to a deal between Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol. The two men were business partners back in the 80s and put together Saturday Night Main Event. If this ends up being true, it would be huge for both the XFL and WWF and is expected to play a part in WWF's new TV deal. More on this next week.
  
• With Wrestlemania just around the corner, Dave takes a long in-depth look at the biggest annual show in the business. He starts by talking about the 3 biggest annual events in wrestling. NJPW's Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome show has been the biggest wrestling event in the world for much of the last decade since starting in 1992 because NJPW was the biggest and most successful company. But NJPW is struggling these days and WWF has surpassed them as the top company. WCW has Starrcade, but the only year that show was ever the biggest was in 1997 (Sting/Hogan) and never really reached the heights of Wrestlemania or the Tokyo Dome show. From here, Dave recaps the entire history of Wrestlemania. Risking it all on WM1, the Mr. T and Cyndi LaupeMTV crossover promotion, the 3-arena debacle of WM2 (where 2 of the 3 arenas weren't even sold out), WM3 which is the most historically famous wrestling event ever and all the folklore surrounding that ("While the 93,173 number is a work repeated so often even those who should know better believe it's the truth. According to Zane Bresloff, who promoted the event, the actual number in the building was 78,000, but the event did sellout weeks in advance and it is realistic to believe the potential if the building was larger could have been 100,000 tickets," Dave says and I'm sure that won't lead to a tired ass discussion in the comments.) The next 2 WM events at Trump Plaza, which were held because Trump paid for them, hoping to do the same kind of business that major boxing events usually do. But the crowds sucked because they mostly weren't wrestling fans, they were high rolling casino comps. Dave also takes a moment here to detail the history of WWF and Jim Crockett running shows against each other's major events to attempt to hurt them, like Vince creating Survivor Series solely to try to hurt the 1987 Starrcade buyrate, and how Crockett retaliated by airing Clash of the Champions on free TV against WM4 and so on and so forth for the next couple of years. Then there's WM6 with Hogan/Warrior, the WM7 drama with the venue being changed due to low ticket sales and turned out to be a huge flop on PPV. WM8 with over 60,000 fans except a LOT of them were papered and it flopped on PPV. WM9 with Hogan returning to win the title, but it didn't help business and he refused to put Bret over later that year. WM10 with 2 of the greatest WM matches in history, WM11 with Lawrence Taylor, WM12 with the ironman match, WM13 which had the Bret/Austin classic but was the moment WWF hit the bottom of the barrel with the lowest WM buyrate ever, WM14 with Mike Tyson and the crowning of Austin as the new top star which did record business, and finally WM15 which mostly sucked but ended up being the biggest money show in wrestling history...until next week when WM16 inevitably breaks that record. Anyway, Dave goes into more in-depth recap of each Wrestlemania here, but you already know the stories on most of this so I...actually have no idea why I just wrote this big ass paragraph.
  
• Last year's Wrestlemania featured Austin/Rock main eventing and broke a bazillion records. This year's plan was originally to do a rematch, with the roles reversed (Austin as heel) but Austin getting injured screwed that up. This year's WM is still expected to become the biggest money grossing event in the history of professional wrestling. As for this year's plans, it's still up in the air. As of a few weeks ago, the plan has always been for Rock to win the title, essentially his coronation as the new top star and face of the company. But that may not happen anymore because Rock is scheduled to film The Mummy 2 movie and will be out for a couple of months soon after Wrestlemania. It's not in the company's best interest to build toward Rock's big moment for an entire year, only to have him win the title and then have to lose it again a month later. The company is pushing the idea that Foley will win and that's what they want everyone to believe, for the big feel good story. Dave thinks the only chance of Triple H retaining will be if Foley turns heel and helps cost Rock the match. Usually a heel retaining the title at Wrestlemania seems like something they'd never do, but Triple H (who was only supposed to be a transitional champion to begin with) has been a huge success as champion and has become a legit main eventer and top star. And Big Show pretty much isn't even in the discussion. Though for what it's worth, Dave says Big Show will probably become the tallest wrestler to ever headline a Wrestlemania, so hey, that's something! Of course, in kayfabe, Andre The Giant was billed at 7'4 (he wasn't) so even though Big Show is legitimately slightly taller than Andre was, they can't admit that without breaking the Andre mystique.
  
• Despite all the huge paragraphs above, they're really only 2 stories. I guess this is a slow week because Dave writes huge pieces about a former WCW jobber turned boxer who was exposed for fixing his matches and all the legal issues with that. And then he writes a big historical piece about Frank Gotch that stems from a letter someone wrote the week before. All really interesting stuff, but none of it newsworthy at all.
  
• Ratings news, Monday stuff is still the same. Thunder ratings reached a pretty horrible low and bottomed out with the main event of Hulk Hogan vs. Dustin Rhodes doing a terrible 1.91 rating. WWF Sunday Night Heat did a lower than usual rating because the Oscars were on. ECW did a pretty bad rating for the 2nd week in a row and was actually close to their all-time low, which isn't good news and kinda surprising since just a few weeks back, they were reaching all-time highs on TNN.
  
• Dave recently ran a poll on the radio show, asking fans which was better*: Wrestling With Shadows or Beyond The Mat? With 37% of the vote, Wrestling With Shadows wins, compared to 21% for Beyond The Mat. The other percentages were people who haven't seen one or the other. What say we, Wreddit?
  
• AJPW pulled a huge surprise in their annual Champion Carnival tournament. Jun Akiyama, who was expected to easily make it to the finals of the tournament, ended up losing to Takao Omori in a 7 second match in the very first round. It's the shortest match in AJPW history. It's a single elimination tournament, which means Akiyama has been eliminated. Dave isn't really sure what the plan is here, but it damn sure makes the tournament hard to predict now. He speculates that this means Steve Williams will probably end up in the finals against either Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, or maaaaybe Vader (Williams didn't make the finals either. It ended up being Kobashi vs. Omori, because AJPW apparently decided to strap a rocket to Omori and try to make a main eventer out of him. Prior to this, it looks like he was just sort of languishing in the midcard).
  

WATCH: Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori - AJPW 2000

• Oh hey, in the very next paragraph, Dave breaks down the next tournament matches and wonders whether AJPW may end up pushing Omori to the finals in order to try to make him a star (yup).
  
• Speaking of Kobashi, he blew his knee out last week and doctors have told him he needs surgery. As anyone who follows AJPW and Kobashi in particular knows, he's naturally ignoring that advice and continuing to wrestle. Because Kobashi.
  
• Shawn Michaels will be returning to the ring next week for his own TWA promotion in Texas. Michaels is billing it as his final match, coming out of retirement to face Venom for the TWA title. The match is said to be a "bunkhouse brawl" instead of a regular wrestling match because Michaels has said his back can't stand up to doing a normal match.
  
• A website called TokyoPop.com is going to start airing live matches from FMW online (that seems like it would have sucked with 2000-era internet technology. Anyway, TokyoPop.com still exists. It's an anime/manga site).
  
• Dave recently caught up on some Memphis Championship Wrestling and gives his thoughts on some of the people there. K-Krush has good charisma (that would be R-Truth). Bobcat looks like every other blonde valet (she's most famous for being the Godfather's ho that won the hardcore title). Blue Meanie has lost so much weight that he doesn't even look like the same person. Lance Russell is still an incredible announcer. So on and so forth. Anyway, Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved By The Bell) appeared yet again, continuing his angle of being obsessed with the Kat which once again led to Screech getting beat down and doing a stretcher job.
  
• ECW has a PPV scheduled for next month but have not yet picked a location. Heyman wants to run the show in a new market because the first-time crowds are usually the best. Heyman had negotiated with the Mandalay Bay casino and hotel in Las Vegas to do it there, but the talks fell through. Both Jerry Lynn and RVD are expected to be back from their injuries by then.
  
• Notes from the most recent ECW TV taping: Dusty Rhodes came out with 2 strippers who flashed the crowd, but of course that won't air on TV. Cyrus made fun of Mick Foley's "retirement." And the show ended strangely. Sandman and Super Crazy were beat down after the main event and left laying. And....that was supposed to be the end of the show. But the crowd was expecting to be sent home happy and didn't leave and kept chanting for Sandman (who was helped out of the ring, selling an injury) and Raven (who was at the show but didn't work due to illness). Heyman called an audible and sent Mikey Whipwreck out to tell the crowd to leave, which led to Raven making an unplanned run-in to give him a DDT, which is about all he could physically do. Then, with Raven in the ring, the crowd began chanting for Sandman to come back out, so Raven went with it and called for him to come out. But by this point, Sandman was already in the showers and thought he was done for the night and he legitimately didn't want to come back out. Ultimately, he did and he caned Raven to send everyone home happy, but he was upset about it and he had words with Heyman and Raven immediately after backstage.
  
• New Jack and Tommy Dreamer will be appearing together in a small role in the CBS TV drama Early Edition.
  

WATCH: New Jack & Tommy Dreamer on Early Edition

• Every angle done on WCW TV this week was meaningless because the company is starting over with a clean slate in 2 weeks under Bischoff and Russo. Spring Stampede takes place on the 16th and there are no matches planned as of yet and there won't be until 6 days before the show when WCW resets. Word is Russo will be doing most of the writing. In an interview with 1wrestling.com, Russo said he hasn't watched a single second of WCW TV since he was relieved of his duties back in January.
  
• Notes from Nitro: it was the spring break show, so the crowd at least seemed to be having fun which is a break from normal WCW shows. Someone in the front row had an "I wish I was at Raw" sign that somehow never got confiscated and was there for the entire show on camera. At the very beginning of the show, a woman in the front row flashed Gene Okerlund, leading to him saying, "Young lady, you're very proud of those, aren't you?" on TV. DDP made his big return and pretty much just plugged the Ready To Rumble movie. Sid Vicious missed the show due to a shoulder injury. Dave can understand not wrestling with an injury but Sid is the WCW champion, and Dave thinks he should at least show up and cut a promo or something. But then again, nothing in WCW matters right now until Russo and Bischoff reboot it anyway. Sting and Luger fought onto the beach all the way to the ocean. And to his credit, Hogan did a promo during the show where he really put over Vampiro as the wrestler of the future and later in the main event, he worked against The Wall and allowed Wall to no-sell the leg drop. So kudos to WCW for finally making an effort to push some new people, even if it all gets wiped away in 2 weeks.
  
• Notes from Thunder: the show drew 1,700 paid fans. Literally 24 hours earlier, Raw sold out a different arena in the same city for Raw with over 12,500 paid fans. Lots of rumors were going around saying Bobby Heenan had been fired, but he was doing commentary on this show, so obviously that wasn't true. Chris Candido is already doing jobs to Chavo Guerrero so he clearly isn't getting any sort of push after debuting just a couple weeks ago. And no real storyline progression, just tons of hype about what the future for WCW holds under Bischoff and Russo. WCW is basically in a holding pattern right now and nothing matters until the reboot.
  
• Hogan appeared on another radio station doing an interview where he buries everybody. He said Bret Hart is in Canada and "can't remember what WCW is." He said DDP was out injured with a broken fingernail and said WCW needs people who will crawl through broken glass with one arm in a sling to sacrifice and get in the ring. He said Kidman needs to start training like Torrie Wilson. He did praise Vampiro again though, so Hogan seems to like him. Anyway, WCW head Bill Busch was on WCW's live internet show and admitted that Hogan has full creative control in his contract and also said that he still has 6 guaranteed PPV main event matches in his deal.
  
• Tammy Sytch is expected to make her WCW debut at the Spring Stampede PPV.
  
• Variety ran a big story about some marketing changes that WCW is making. New hires to take over various marketing jobs, new marketing strategies and promotions that the company is planning to run, etc. Dave says that's all well and good, but nowhere in the article did it mention the idea of maybe putting on good shows that people want to see. All the marketing geniuses in the world can't save a product as terrible as WCW is right now.
  
• Brad Armstrong will be out of action for several months with a knee injury suffered in the dumbest way possible. For some reason, before a show, Armstrong was goofing around in the parking lot with Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis and they decided--just for shits and giggles--to do the ol' famous wrestling angle of hitting someone with their car. You know, one of those dumb "you drive at me, I'll jump up on the hood like the stuntmen do in the movies" type of things. So.....they did it. And now Armstrong needs knee surgery because of course he does (that was pretty much it for him. He never wrestled in WCW again and in fact, he didn't wrestle anywhere for another 4 years before returning to the ring in 2004 and working indie shows periodically until 2011. Died a year later).
  
• Les Thatcher's Heartland Wrestling Association have signed a deal with WCW to act as a developmental territory for them. Power Plant wrestlers will go work shows for him for a little while before debuting on WCW TV.
  
• Various WCW notes: Mexican wrestlers Halloween and Damian are joining Sonny Onoo's racial discrimination lawsuit against WCW. Although with Bischoff returning to the company, Dave expects this lawsuit to ultimately disappear. Christopher Daniels starts with WCW next week. Dave thinks he has a ton of potential. Some people within the company are pushing for Shane Douglas to return. Konnan's suspension ends this week so he should be back soon.
  
• The legal red tape behind the scenes on WWF's new TV deal is still being sorted out. The FCC is expected to allow the Viacom purchase of UPN to go through, which will mean Viacom will own 2 networks (CBS and UPN) which used to be against the law but that's being changed now. Those in the TV industry pretty much believe this to be a done deal. The news has boosted WWF stock up to $17.31 per share (as I write this, WWF just announced the new FOX deal for Smackdown, which boosted the stock up to damn near $60 per share)(10/24 update: currently $80.64).
  
• The Rock was on Jay Leno's Tonight Show recently and movie critic Roger Ebert appeared also. Ebert told Rock that he has talent and told him to get into acting and get as far away from wrestling as he can. Rock laughed it off and said he was working on it.
  
• Notes from Smackdown: it was in San Antonio and a tag team called American Force 2000 worked a dark match. The team consists of two trainees from Shawn Michaels' wrestling school, Spanky and American Dragon. Lots of cool high spots but they weren't very fluid and screwed some stuff up. They also hyped up the Shawn Michaels vs. Venom match next week in TWA for the live crowd.
  
• A lot of the WWF wrestlers are using new entrance music right now to promote the new WWF Aggression CD. It's basically rap remixes of everyone's theme music and Dave thinks it sucks because the fans don't know these songs. So now even when the Rock is making his entrance, the crowd doesn't pop because it's an unfamiliar. Luckily it's temporary and they'll go back to the real versions eventually. Speaking of, WWF The Music Vol. 4, which was released 6 months ago, is still hanging on in the top 200 charts. It's at #152 this week and sold over 10,000 copies. In 2018, any album that is still moving 10k copies six months after it came out would be the best selling album of the year.
  
• WWF claims they have enough money set aside to fund the XFL for at least 3 seasons. They're hoping to expand to 16 teams by 2005. WWF has once again emphasized that they will own all the teams and aren't interested in outside investors. They also again promised that this is going to be legit and the games won't be fixed. Advertisers are said to be hesitant, because they don't have a lot of hope that this whole XFL thing is going to succeed.
  
• Shawn Michaels is said to be itching to get back on television in the WWF, but right now, they have no interest. Business is booming so much these days and they've attracted so many new fans in just the last year or two alone that Michaels isn't considered a top star anymore and WWF doesn't feel the need to use him in any way.
  
• USA Today ran a story about Mick Foley's alleged last match coming up at Wrestlemania. Foley was quoted as saying, "I was much more successful and, going over my taxes now, obviously a lot more profitable being more of a comedy character in 1999 than I ever was being the King of Hardcore. If I'd known I could make more money making people laugh than making people wince, I'd have done it a long time ago." He also said that if it hadn't been for Austin getting injured, he would have retired last year. He said he hated going back on his word so soon after he retired and says he spent 20 minutes trying to talk Vince McMahon out of bringing him back for the match. But ultimately, he admitted that the money was too much to turn down. "It may take some people a while to forgive me, but not as long as it would take me to forgive myself if I didn't do this. Realistically, it's probably going to be the most money that I've ever made. So 15 years from now, when everyone has forgiven me, my kids' college will be taken care of." But Foley super duper swears this time that Wrestlemania will be his final match. "By leaving now, I'm probably giving up on the most profitable year in my career. But I was named after Mickey Mantle. I grew up hearing about how Mickey Mantle stuck around one season too long. I didn't want people to make the same comments about Mickey Foley."
  

FRIDAY: Wrestlemania 16 fallout, XFL/NBC partnership, Vince Russo gives interview full of bullshit, New Jersey attempting to ban extreme wrestling, and more...

Let's see what new things are coming to Sydney in roughly the next 10 years:

• Four Points by Sheraton Sydney, Central Park - Opening August 1, 2018
  
• Mastercard Global Tech Hub and Innovation centre in St. Leonards opening in 2018
  
• Northern Beaches Hospital opening in 2018
  
• Sydney Park Skate Park opening in late 2018
  
• Australia’s most advanced zoo in the heart of Western Sydney opening in 2018
  
• Green Square – a new town centre. Major projects to be completed in 2018, 2019, and beyond and finalised by 2030
  
• The CBD and South East Light Rail is expected to complete and begin service in 2019
  
• URBNSURF Sydney, a world leading surf park facility to be developed at Sydney Olympic Park, ready in 2019
  
• NorthConnex is expected to be open in 2019
  
• Sydney Metro Northwest, projected to open in 2019
  
• Western Sydney Stadium, planned to be open in 2019
  
• W Hotel will be returning to Sydney at Darling Harbour (where the IMAX was), to be completed in 2019
  
• Western Sydney Performing Arts Centre, opening in late 2019
  
• Parramatta Square, to be completed in 2020
  
• Rockpool Bar and Grill, Sake and QT Hotel to open in Parramatta in 2020
  
• A bigger and better Fish Market, opening around 2020
  
• An expanded NSW Arts Gallery, scheduled for 2021
  
• Crown Sydney Casino, opening in 2021
  
• Sydney Football Stadium demolished and rebuilt, opening in 2021
  
• WestConnex, 2019 (M4 East), 2020 (New M5), 2022 (M4–M5 Link Main Tunnels), 2023 (Rozelle Interchange, Iron Cove Link & Sydney Gateway)
  
• Olympic Stadium demolished and rebuilt, opening in 2022
  
• Parramatta light rail, with a planned opening in 2023
  
• Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link, expected to be running in 2023
  
• Barangaroo, set to be complete in 2024
  
• Sydney Metro City & Southwest, starting at the end of 2024
  
• Circular Quay revitalisation, to be ready in 2025
  
• Western Sydney Airport, set to open in 2026
  
• M12 Motorway, set to open before the Western Sydney Airport
  
• Sydney Metro West, expected to open in the second half of the 2020s
  
• An improved City of Sydney in 2030
  
• Sydney's population will reach 6.4 million by 2036
  
• Sydney will have more hot days and fewer cold nights in the near future (2020–2039)
  

Do you know of any other large project that is set to be complete in roughly the next 10 years in Sydney?

Seasonal Guide

by Skillmund
​
[ NEW ] < Season 16 Tier List + Crown Guide >
​
DISCLAIMER: this is by no means the ultimate guide on how to play seasonal, but rather a collection of tips that worked for me. Multiple questions are being asked over and over again I'll try to answer most of them in this topic. Hopefully next seasonals can become even harder and more competitive. Note that any mention to specific heros or monsters and their capabilities might change in the future. Have fun!

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General / F.A.Q

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What is the best hero?

As of mar 2018 - Vesa. If you account PVE + PVP + GW + Bosses + Cost to make + Others - she's good at everything and overall extremely useful to have as soon as possible. It is possible to make teams without Vesa though, but you can NOT make a team without Kroos! This is important, Kroos is the new aura (this does not mean you should purposedly not have an aura. Auras like abyss-forest or abyss-fortress are fairly popular).
Flamestrike is a very powerful hero early on - she makes getting a top50 or even top10 arena season rank fairly easy. The key to her is keeping the speed as low as possible, so in FS vs FS encounters, yours will attack last. Then you need to back her up with as many Kroos as possible (level 100, either 6* or 9* stars).
-- Generally speaking, tier lists are not made for the Private Server. If you want to know what heros are the best, take a look at the top arena rankings in S1. Seasonal is a bit different, and your ideal team can vary a lot depending on which leaderboard you're aiming for.
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What hero should I 10* first?

A lot of people sit with 8* Vesas for more than a week without team progress at all. Do not be too ambitious with your first 10. You should definetly spend orbs on forest to get vesa, Abyss is a valid second option and Fortress only if you're going for Flamestrike. Here is a brief tier list:

• S: Vesa* - amazing for pretty much everything
• S: Flame Strike** - only for PVP. Hands down the best hero for arena for the first half of the season
• S: Demon Hunter - only for PVP. One of the strongest heros in the game, sadly no good for aspen
• T1: Karim* - all rounder, he is amazing for GW early on but rewards are trivial. He will also force you to make a very specific team around him, go for him if you know what you're doing
• T1: Iceblink - only for PVP. Amazing like DH, but slower.
• T1: Heart Watcher* - very nice PvE hero, surprisingly good in aspen
• T1: Sigmund** - all rounder, floods of guild coins and good hero for Broken Spaces.
• T2: Lutz* - flamestrike counter, cheap, does well in aspen
• T2: OD-01 - only for PVP. Vesa counter = free wins in arena. Cheap, but sucks for aspen.
• T2: Skerei - an amazing hero to have, you wil need to build another 10* copy if you decide use him
• T2: Kroos* - only for PVE. You will be unnecessarily slowing yourself down by making Kroos as your first 10* since he can do so much at 5-9 stars and you can afford the team space.
• T3: (Barea** , Dragon Slayer** , Eddga**) - good hp/dmg - sadly warriors are a bit awkward to use. These are especially good to use when you have food and can afford making them.

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( * ) = good in aspen (can reach nightmare) ( ** ) = ok in aspen (high survability + dmg) (can reach difficult)

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Note that this list is specifically for your first hero to make. I decided not to include most shadow heros because they are hard to make, and you will need to spend prophet resources on them, which you'd rather not). Generally speaking, all heros on that list are worth making as the first one. It's not just about getting that Exclusive arti, having a 10* will allow you to advance further in ToweAspen, which can snowball into completing other events.
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What hero(s) should I 10* afterwards?

Given that you have done things right and didn't get too bad luck, you should be able to aim a bit higher this time. I don't want to go too deep into tier lists, especially since there is a lot of synergy that has to be considered, including things like aura and classses. Any hero mentioned in the previous list is a worthy candidate, except Flame Strike (too late now), Sigmund and his fellow warrior mates also become considerably worse (unless your first hero was a warrior, in which case it becomes a valid PVP strat).
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Should I use L/D heros?

Generally speaking no, but this is because of how hard they are to get. If you are able to lock down the heros you need the most early (such as vesa) and a few copies of a godlike light hero (like Michelle or Faith blade), it is definetly a valid strat to orb on L/D, although it will slow you down in pvp. Dark arthindol is amazing, but since she can be purchased from altar, you only really need to get about 2-3 copies before season end. If you decide to include these in your team, remember you can get missing copies in casino (but not scasino).
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What is the best Stone / Artifact?

This isn't much different than S1 or official, do your own research. In most cases it's obvious, just need to use some logic. Is it a CC hero? Then you probably want speed/energy so that you can CC the enemy CC hero before they CC you (CCeption). For a hero like vesa it depends whether you want more dps (atk%+crit) or healing (atk+atk%). If you need your hero to survive, esp for aspen, hp/reduce damage is good. What stats you need is something you should answer yourself, see how certain hero is performing and adjust it, that's what they're for. Reading the hero stats helps too, i.e. if a hero has crit bonuses (like Asmodel), then crit is good, if it gets attack bonuses (like Sigmund), attack is good, etc.
Don't bother with stones on heros you won't use. Careful when upping to C3 or C4, it costs a ridiculous amount of gold, which early on you might need for other things, such as leveling heros, guild tech, or leveling monster.
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Common Mistakes

• THINK TWICE BEFORE UPPING TO 7 - this is the worst. Going from 6* to 7* seems supper appealing because how cheap it is. But there isn't even a considerable difference in power, and it can be a dumb choice to make. Making 6* is fine because you need them multiple times in the evolution process, which makes any 6* reusable very quickly. 7* heros cannot be reused until you take them to 9* - for which you'll need 18 more 5* heros. Which takes me to next point.
• DO NOT MAKE 9 FODDERS WITH YOUR MAIN FACTIONS* - There are 4 common factions, and you will most likely use only two. What is the best purpose for unused factions? Making your 9* fodders. So, give them that purpose. Otherwise you're needlessly slowing yourself down, and you'll end up foddering good heros and requiring much more of a specific faction to make a 10* (and you can only target specific factions with Prophet orbs).
• FOCUS ON ONE HERO AT A TIME - because there's no use in your 8* team when a random 10* can just oneshot them. Most heros become considerably better at 10*, which means you don't want to wait.
• SUPPORT HEROS NEED SOMETHING TO SUPPORT - There's absolutely no reason to make a hero like Emily or Rosa as your first hero. They are great, when they are able to buff something.
• PRESERVING AURA AT ANY COST - Don't preserve aura at any cost. For example, if you're making your first 10* (i.e. Vesa), you'll most likely be making an abyss/shadow fodder in the meantime. Use them you can get a lot of them, even if they're underleveled. You can use your first norma (which should be your first 9* fodder) as a tank/healer for example. If you're lacking nothing in particular, get some utility hero! Field for example will perma-stun the first spot, which counters TONS of teams early on (newbs who put their Vesa or Sigmund on slot 1).
• KNOW WHEN TO SAVE GOOD HEROS - if for example, you're building a vesa, and you get two copies of DH, don't make a 6* DH unless you have enough forest food to 10* vesa, because you will be slowing yourself down for little short-term gain.

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Events & Saving Resources

While most people have the tendency to save (or the opposite, if they're new) - it's important to find balance. It's not necessary to always save all resources. Don't be afraid to ocassionally use resources even if you already completed the events. You should be getting more than enough resources to complete all events, which means you will have some leftovers every week. So, there's no point in waiting until the season is about to finish to use them. However it is important to keep some 5* fusions on hold and saving 5* hero shards if you don't need them. That will help you complete Heroic Miracle quickly. Same goes for arena and saving tickets. This is especially good if you want to do well in ToC and Guild Wars

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Features

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Chat

• Make sure you write "add" in the world chat as soon as possible. That will automagically add friends to your list who also wrote 'add'.
• Useful commands: .blockotherserverchat (blocks S1 chat) - .tnl (info about leveling) - .showplayer (put the name in quotes if it contains special characters)

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Tavern

• Always roll quests 4* or higher. Best value is: heroic scrolls > gems > arena tickets > chips. Note that neither arena tickets or chips quests are impressive at 4* HOWEVER! I recommend to keep them. Because if you roll exclusively for gems and heroic scrolls, it will take too many rerolls and you'll end up losing gems. 3* quests for 60 gems are good enough if you're low on gems.

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Market

• A few gem refreshes per day is ok, but try not to be too compulsive. Since seasonal always starts at level 1, here is some useful info:
• Level 40+ you can buy 16-chip and you get new offers for purple stones.
• Level 60+ you can buy 2 profit orbs and 2 superchips.
• Level 100+ you can buy 4 superchips instead of 2.
• Always buy heroic scrolls and superchips (if you come across them, can be difficult. Don't force them if you're not getting basic scrolls anymore, unless you reeeaally need them).
• Buy all chips and arena tickets for gems early on. Once you do ok in aspen and can buy them with gold, just buy enough to complete events.
• Don't ever buy prophet orbs unless you need to complete some events.
• 4* shards for 1,5M gold is valuable as long as you're buying an useful 4* (such as thale or LM-02).
• Buy all basic scrolls, they are an elemental part of seasonal since they'll give the 3* you need (and even 4* and 5*!).
• Tavern scrolls for gold, gem ones are not worth it.
• Purple bubbles for gold early on

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Prophet Tree

• Forest is the best faction currently to invest in. Abyss and fortress are valid options too, depending on what you're trying to do.
• If you need an evolver hero (such as thale for vesa), use the 4* replace if you already have some 4* copies of that hero. If, for example, you have 2 thales at 4* - it's probably going to take about ~200 blessings to get two more copies. If you use the 5* replace instead, you will need a lot more, because of the 5* fodders being so common (in this case Starlight, Dragon Slayer and Faceless).
• Before you roll an evolver hero, think whether it's worth it, because those are blessings that you could use to roll god-tier 5*

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Altar

• If you planned an aura (i.e. forest+fortress) do not just "disenchant all abyss and shadow heros". That'd be dumb as hell.
• Generally speaking, it is not worth to rush heros in altar shop. Useful for later: OD, Karim, Iceblink, Demon Hunter, Dark Arthindol.
• Disenchant 3* after you have 8 copies. 6 is safe too, but keep in mind some 3* are required for multiple heros.

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Casino

• Always use the 8-spins for basic casino and the 1-spins for super casino. It seems some people like to use the 10-spin in supercasino, don't ask why.
• Casino: at first, use your refreshes after getting every heroic scroll. After a few days, use your refreshes to find good heros.
• Super Casino: aka your best chance to get Vesa. You want to use ALL your refreshes here early on to get her. This is crucial for the vesa meta.

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Summoning Circle

• No, don't use gems for heroics.

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Brave Trial

• You MUST complete the first brave trial you get, to complete the challenges for gems. Luckily, this is extremely easy, because you get Norma as your first 5* . BT takes the power of your 6 main heros. That's why you don't want to level other heros until you complete this. And no, you don't need a level 81 norma to complete it either. You have to use ONLY norma so she heals herself. It's impossible to lose. If at any point you get stuck (14/15 probably) because of other norma, that's the time where you want to put another hero in, or level your norma to 81/100. She can't die, ever, so be as minimalistic until you actually need to boost your strength.

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Arena

• CCL: don't overdo it. Keep a good rank, but not a fake one. Otherwise people will just steal tons of points from you.
• ToC: You can use different attack/defend teams, so do it!
• Attacking: you want to identify which enemy team is the strongest (or the one you're less likely to beat, i.e. counters you). Then you want to put a random level 1 hero against it. Now you have 100% of your team that you have to distribute against 66% of his team. It's extremely difficult to lose with this strat, especially if the opponent doesn't have a flame strike in the last team.
• Defending: you want to split your 1-2 teams EVENLY so that the strategy described above doesn't work. If you have heros that work well solo, you're in a very good spot. You want to use your third lineup to surprise the opponent with a value hero. A value hero is a hero that is very likely to beat (or survive against) any other hero on the same conditions. Flame strike is the obvious example, for one of your heros, the enemy will need to use 2, or even more.
• Monster: is a crucial aspect of ToC, it counts as a 7th hero, if not much more. So, when attacking, you want to identify their real monster and their fake monster. This will help you determine which of their teams is the strongest. And you want to do the same in defensive, try not to make it obvious where your monster is (buy a second monster, such as wolf, to confuse them). Not sure what's their real monster? what heros they are hiding on 3rd lineup? Use .showplayer command to find out :)
• Note that rewards for ToC/FTA are fairly good. So before it closes, try to improve your rank as much as possible.

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Aspen Dungeon

• Let's ignore the obvious fact of Vesa being the best blabla. We have to look for alternatives if Vesa plan fails, many 9* will get you to at least normal, for example NOrma. She's good here, you want to take her to 9* (or as far as possible) and then use her as fodder for your first 10* .
• Heroic scrolls: always buy!
• Arena tickets: always buy (gold only, for gems early on)
• Casino chips: always buy
• Prophet orbs: no

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Tower of Oblivion

• The tower is of great help early on with the guaranteed 5*. Doing great here isn't strictly necessary, but it can help you snowball really hard, especially the first week. Later on (competing for tower spot) is mostly trial & error. You have to roll their CC and they shouldn't roll theirs.

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Event Raid

• While buying the extra hero shard raids in S1 is worth it, that's not necessarily true for seasonal. Best case scenario here (assuming level 160) 400 gems for a 5* fodder. In seasonal, for that amount of gems, you can get non-fodder 5* too for a similar cost (3 heroics scrolls, 2 prophet orbs). Before level 160, the rate is even worse. So it's fairly whatever.

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Monster

• Snake or wolf when in doubt. Dragon for crit-based teams (Skerei and Faith Blade, DH and Vesa too but they work with all monsters).

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Guild

• Do NOT buy heros for coins early on. There isn't one that is worth buying. It's not the end of the world if you do, but you're losing a lot of valuable tech.
• Raids: getting top 3 is super useful! You get a ridiciulous amount of GC in seasonal. Spending the 120 gems per day is totally worth it. Since raids/bosses do not generally deal much damage, keep in mind to keep strongest damage hero first so he gets energy more often (sigmund slot 1 is a must if you have it).
• Tech: don't be all over the place here. The safest techs to invest in are Priest, Ranger and Mage.
• Guild War: keep your team updated all the time! You just click "My Team -> Battle" after improving team. None of their stats will be updated until you manually do that.

Chaotic States of Amnesia (Part 1)
by Jayge 8^J
I can't produce as revealing & depressing a book as Pulitzer Prize winning journalist & Presbyterian minister Chris Hedges' work America: The Farewell Tour, but I can write about my impressions & insights from it. All 4 library books here are borrowed & UH will buy it if any student, faculty, or staff asks. Its 7 chapter headings alone offer enough clues: Decay, Heroin, Work, Sadism, Hate, Gambling, & Freedom. His 1st chapter said that Karl Marx foresaw Capitalism's inevitable collapse & parasitic feeding off its host, like what's happening to some rustbelt cities. Despite nearly daily mass shootings, we haven't seen any levels of violence Marx predicted. Maybe we can expect them in Trump's 2nd term, once the privatization & gutting of infrastructure, education, & social programs are well underway. Big Pharma has dumped opiates onto underemployed whites with similar intensity as CIA heroin & crack infested Black & Latin communities. Wealth-sucking casinos increasingly replace union jobs in manufacturing. Politicians, bribed & cajoled by slick lobbyists, give more tax breaks, favors, & government contracts to corporations & the uber-rich. The rest of us are free to be their slaves.
"...The United States of Amnesia...Gore Vidal coined the expression 'the United States of Amnesia' in a 2004 book about George W. Bush’s America. The particular instance of amnesia Vidal highlighted with that phrase was the failure of those then waging the 'war on drugs' to remember the disasters of the prohibition of alcohol sales in the 1930s, and the ensuing corruption, gangsters, and smuggling rings that came with it. His larger point, however, was that, in general, American historical memory is short. Thirteen years after Vidal’s book appeared, and with a new Republican administration ascendant, it seems that this country is in danger of sinking ever deeper into a state of amnesia. And can there be any question that, in a distinctly Orwellian fashion, the new administration is doing everything in its power to hasten that process? As the Trump administration prepares for a new 'surge' on the perpetual battlefield that is Afghanistan, we’ve conveniently forgotten how little the last one achieved. We’ve forgotten how deregulation led to the Great Recession, as the federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission concluded in 2011. 'The greatest tragedy,' that panel wrote, 'would be to accept the refrain that no one could have seen this coming and thus nothing could have been done. If we accept this notion, it will happen again.' Yet the Republicans in Congress can’t wait to repeal Dodd-Frank, the law that restored a semblance of regulation to the world of commercial banking. The fifth-century African bishop St. Augustine was probably the first western thinker to pay attention to human memory. In his Confessions, Augustine observes that it is memory – the ability to bring into present awareness past experiences and the ability to recognize the difference between past, present, and future – that makes us self-aware beings. He described the 'vast hall of my memory,' where 'I meet myself and recall what I am, what I have done, and when and where and how I was affected when I did it.' It is on the basis of memory, he added, that 'I reason about future actions and events and hopes, and again think of all these things in the present. ‘I shall do this and that,’ I say to myself within that vast recess of my mind which is full of many rich images, and this act or that follows.' If Augustine was right and memory gives us our selves, allowing us to 'reason about future actions and events and hopes,' then a political regime that seeks to destroy its people’s memory is an existential threat. In that case, the first act of resistance is to remember who we are." -- https://www.nationofchange.org/2017/05/26/down-the-memory-hole/
"We Are Living in Trump’s United States of Amnesia By Rebecca Gordon & Tom Dispatch May 25, 2017, 6:46 AM GMT The Trump administration seems intent on tossing recent history down the memory hole. Admittedly, Americans have never been known for their strong grasp of facts about their past. Still, as we struggle to keep up with the constantly shifting explanations and pronouncements of the new administration, it becomes ever harder to remember the events of yesterday, let alone last week, or last month. The Credibility Swamp...Trump and his spokespeople routinely substitute “alternative facts” for what a friend of mine calls consensus reality, the world that most of us recognize. Whose inaugural crowd was bigger, Barack Obama’s or Donald Trump’s? It doesn’t matter what you remember, or even what’s in the written accounts or photographic record. What matters is what the administration now says happened then. In other words, for Trump and his people, history in any normal sense simply doesn’t exist, and that’s a danger for the rest of us. Think of the Trumpian past as a website that can be constantly updated to fit the needs of the present. You may believe you still remember something that used to be there, but it’s not there now. As it becomes increasingly harder to find, can you really trust your own memory? In recent months, revisions of that past have sometimes come so blindingly fast that the present has simply been overrun, as was true with the firing of FBI Director James Comey. First, the president ordered up some brand new supporting documents from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein. These were designed to underpin his line that Comey was fired on their recommendation -- for being “unfair” to Hillary Clinton. Then, even as his surrogates were out peddling that very story, Trump told NBC’s Lester Holt that, “regardless of [Sessions’ and Rosenstein’s] recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.” And he explained why: “And in fact when I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.’” Which rationale for Comey’s departure is true? Both? Neither? What is “truth” after all? When the need to ask such questions occurs once in a while, it’s anomalous enough that we notice. We have time to remark that someone or various people in this story -- Sessions, Rosenstein, the surrogates, Trump himself -- are mistaken or even lying. Fortunately, in the case of Comey’s firing, journalists are still reporting the lies, but what happens if the rewrites of our recent history begin to come so fast that we stop keeping up? During the Vietnam War, President Lyndon Johnson was famously said to have a “credibility gap.” People, including journalists, had stopped believing everything his administration said about one very important topic: the war. Trump doesn’t have a credibility gap; he’s tossed us into a credibility swamp. We’re all there together swimming in a mire of truth and lies, with the occasional firecracker thrown in just to see if we’re still paying attention. If the age of Trump doesn’t end relatively soon, the daily effort to sort out what happened from what didn’t may eventually become too much for many of us. Memory fatigue may set in, and the whole project of keeping the past in focus shelved. In that case, we might very well start to give up the concept of citizenship altogether and decide instead to just get on with our own private uninsured, underpaid, and overworked lives. Sometimes it's easier to simply adjust to an ever-changing official version of reality than to keep up a constant, unrewarding struggle to remember. This was the phenomenon George Orwell described so unforgettably in his dystopian novel 1984. His hero, Winston Smith, becomes aware that the sole party that runs his country incessantly rewrites the past to its own liking and advantage. In fact, he realizes that “the past not only changed, but changed continuously.” Like most inhabitants of the mega-state of Oceania, it wasn’t that Smith couldn’t accept such a reality. He could. What he couldn’t shake was a nightmarish sense “that he had never clearly understood why” the Party needed to do it. “The immediate advantages of falsifying the past were obvious, but the ultimate motive was mysterious” to him. That “ultimate motive,” he eventually realizes, is to so destroy people’s hold on memory that they come to believe that truth genuinely is whatever the Party says it is. ”In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable?” Does President Trump know what he’s doing? Does he know that, in a more chaotic fashion than Orwell’s “Big Brother,” he’s grinding away at American memories, threatening to turn them into so much rubble? It’s hard to say; he appears to be incapable of either self-reflection or planning, indeed of acting in any way except on impulse. He does, however, seem to know in an intuitive way what works for him, what gets him things he wants, as he has his whole professional life. He’s called his method “truthful hyperbole.” And regardless of what he himself understands, there are certainly people around him who do grasp all too well the usefulness of that “ultimate motive,” of convincing the public that facts are not all that stubborn after all. The Memory Hole...Supplying alternative facts is one way of destroying memory. Erasing real facts is another. In Orwell’s 1984, there was a slot in the wall at the Ministry of Truth where Winston Smith worked, a memory hole, into which inconvenient documents could be fed to be consumed forever by a huge basement furnace. There are, it seems, plenty of memory holes in Washington these days. Since January, the Trump administration has been systematically removing from federal websites inconvenient information on subjects as diverse as climate change and occupational health and safety, and replacing it with anodyne messages. Take, for instance, this one, which you get when you search the Environmental Protection Agency’s website for the term “climate change” and click on links that search turns up: “This page is being updated. “Thank you for your interest in this topic. We are currently updating our website to reflect EPA's priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Administrator [Scott] Pruitt. If you're looking for an archived version of this page, you can find it on the January 19 snapshot.” " -- https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/we-are-living-trumps-united-states-amnesia
"The Rule of the Uber-Rich Means Tyranny or Revolution by Chris Hedges 10/22/2018 At the age of 10 I was sent as a scholarship student to a boarding school for the uber-rich in Massachusetts. I lived among the wealthiest Americans for the next eight years. I listened to their prejudices and saw their cloying sense of entitlement. They insisted they were privileged and wealthy because they were smarter and more talented. They had a sneering disdain for those ranked below them in material and social status, even the merely rich. Most of the uber-rich lacked the capacity for empathy and compassion. They formed elite cliques that hazed, bullied and taunted any nonconformist who defied or did not fit into their self-adulatory universe. It was impossible to build a friendship with most of the sons of the uber-rich. Friendship for them was defined by “what’s in it for me?” They were surrounded from the moment they came out of the womb by people catering to their desires and needs. They were incapable of reaching out to others in distress—whatever petty whim or problem they had at the moment dominated their universe and took precedence over the suffering of others, even those within their own families. They knew only how to take. They could not give. They were deformed and deeply unhappy people in the grip of an unquenchable narcissism. It is essential to understand the pathologies of the uber-rich. They have seized total political power. These pathologies inform Donald Trump, his children, the Brett Kavanaughs, and the billionaires who run his administration. The uber-rich cannot see the world from anyone’s perspective but their own. People around them, including the women whom entitled men prey upon, are objects designed to gratify momentary lusts or be manipulated. The uber-rich are almost always amoral. Right. Wrong. Truth. Lies. Justice. Injustice. These concepts are beyond them. Whatever benefits or pleases them is good. What does not must be destroyed. The pathology of the uber-rich is what permits Trump and his callow son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to conspire with de facto Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman, another product of unrestrained entitlement and nepotism, to cover up the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whom I worked with in the Middle East. The uber-rich spend their lives protected by their inherited wealth, the power it wields and an army of enablers, including other members of the fraternity of the uber-rich, along with their lawyers and publicists. There are almost never any consequences for their failures, abuses, mistreatment of others and crimes. This is why the Saudi crown prince and Kushner have bonded. They are the homunculi the uber-rich routinely spawn. The rule of the uber-rich, for this reason, is terrifying. They know no limits. They have never abided by the norms of society and never will. We pay taxes—they don’t. We work hard to get into an elite university or get a job—they don’t. We have to pay for our failures—they don’t. We are prosecuted for our crimes—they are not. The uber-rich live in an artificial bubble, a land called Richistan, a place of Frankenmansions and private jets, cut off from our reality. Wealth, I saw, not only perpetuates itself but is used to monopolize the new opportunities for wealth creation. Social mobility for the poor and the working class is largely a myth. The uber-rich practice the ultimate form of affirmative action, catapulting white, male mediocrities like Trump, Kushner and George W. Bush into elite schools that groom the plutocracy for positions of power. The uber-rich are never forced to grow up. They are often infantilized for life, squalling for what they want and almost always getting it. And this makes them very, very dangerous. Political theorists, from Aristotle and Karl Marx to Sheldon Wolin, have warned against the rule of the uber-rich. Once the uber-rich take over, Aristotle writes, the only options are tyranny and revolution. They do not know how to nurture or build. They know only how to feed their bottomless greed. It’s a funny thing about the uber-rich: No matter how many billions they possess, they never have enough. They are the Hungry Ghosts of Buddhism. They seek, through the accumulation of power, money and objects, an unachievable happiness. This life of endless desire often ends badly, with the uber-rich estranged from their spouses and children, bereft of genuine friends. And when they are gone, as Charles Dickens wrote in “A Christmas Carol,” most people are glad to be rid of them. C. Wright Mills in “The Power Elite,” one of the finest studies of the pathologies of the uber-rich, wrote: They exploited national resources, waged economic wars among themselves, entered into combinations, made private capital out of the public domain, and used any and every method to achieve their ends. They made agreements with railroads for rebates; they purchased newspapers and bought editors; they killed off competing and independent businesses and employed lawyers of skill and statesmen of repute to sustain their rights and secure their privileges. There is something demonic about these lords of creation; it is not merely rhetoric to call them robber barons. Corporate capitalism, which has destroyed our democracy, has given unchecked power to the uber-rich. And once we understand the pathologies of these oligarchic elites, it is easy to chart our future. The state apparatus the uber-rich controls now exclusively serves their interests. They are deaf to the cries of the dispossessed. They empower those institutions that keep us oppressed—the security and surveillance systems of domestic control, militarized police, Homeland Security and the military—and gut or degrade those institutions or programs that blunt social, economic and political inequality, among them public education, health care, welfare, Social Security, an equitable tax system, food stamps, public transportation and infrastructure, and the courts. The uber-rich extract greater and greater sums of money from those they steadily impoverish. And when citizens object or resist, they crush or kill them. The uber-rich care inordinately about their image. They are obsessed with looking at themselves. They are the center of their own universe. They go to great lengths and expense to create fictional personas replete with nonexistent virtues and attributes. This is why the uber-rich carry out acts of well-publicized philanthropy. Philanthropy allows the uber-rich to engage in moral fragmentation. They ignore the moral squalor of their lives, often defined by the kind of degeneracy and debauchery the uber-rich insist is the curse of the poor, to present themselves through small acts of charity as caring and beneficent. Those who puncture this image, as Khashoggi did with Salman, are especially despised. And this is why Trump, like all the uber-rich, sees a critical press as the enemy. It is why Trump’s and Kushner’s eagerness to conspire to help cover up Khashoggi’s murder is ominous. Trump’s incitements to his supporters, who see in him the omnipotence they lack and yearn to achieve, to carry out acts of violence against his critics are only a few steps removed from the crown prince’s thugs dismembering Khashoggi with a bone saw. And if you think Trump is joking when he suggests the press should be dealt with violently you understand nothing about the uber-rich. He will do what he can get away with, even murder. He, like most of the uber-rich, is devoid of a conscience. The more enlightened uber-rich, the East Hamptons and Upper East Side uber-rich, a realm in which Ivanka and Jared once cavorted, look at the president as gauche and vulgar. But this distinction is one of style, not substance. Donald Trump may be an embarrassment to the well-heeled Harvard and Princeton graduates at Goldman Sachs, but he serves the uber-rich as assiduously as Barack Obama and the Democratic Party do. This is why the Obamas, like the Clintons, have been inducted into the pantheon of the uber-rich. It is why Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump were close friends. They come from the same caste. There is no force within ruling institutions that will halt the pillage by the uber-rich of the nation and the ecosystem. The uber-rich have nothing to fear from the corporate-controlled media, the elected officials they bankroll or the judicial system they have seized. The universities are pathetic corporation appendages. They silence or banish intellectual critics who upset major donors by challenging the reigning ideology of neoliberalism, which was formulated by the uber-rich to restore class power. The uber-rich have destroyed popular movements, including labor unions, along with democratic mechanisms for reform that once allowed working people to pit power against power. The world is now their playground. In “The Postmodern Condition” the philosopher Jean-François Lyotard painted a picture of the future neoliberal order as one in which “the temporary contract” supplants “permanent institutions in the professional, emotional, sexual, cultural, family and international domains, as well as in political affairs.” This temporal relationship to people, things, institutions and the natural world ensures collective self-annihilation. Nothing for the uber-rich has an intrinsic value. Human beings, social institutions and the natural world are commodities to exploit for personal gain until exhaustion or collapse. The common good, like the consent of the governed, is a dead concept. This temporal relationship embodies the fundamental pathology of the uber-rich. The uber-rich, as Karl Polanyi wrote, celebrate the worst kind of freedom—the freedom “to exploit one’s fellows, or the freedom to make inordinate gains without commensurable service to the community, the freedom to keep technological inventions from being used for public benefit, or the freedom to profit from public calamities secretly engineered for private advantage.” At the same time, as Polanyi noted, the uber-rich make war on the “freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of meeting, freedom of association, freedom to choose one’s own job.” The dark pathologies of the uber-rich, lionized by mass culture and mass media, have become our own. We have ingested their poison. We have been taught by the uber-rich to celebrate the bad freedoms and denigrate the good ones. Look at any Trump rally. Watch any reality television show. Examine the state of our planet. We will repudiate these pathologies and organize to force the uber-rich from power or they will transform us into what they already consider us to be—the help." -- https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-rule-of-the-uber-rich-means-tyranny-or-revolution/
"Profiting from pain: Big Pharma, big marketing, and opiate addiction by Marc on January 30, 2018 in Connect This guest post addresses a complex and emotionally-loaded issue: the link between pharmaceutical opiates (and the questionable way they’ve been advertised and marketed) and the current “opioid crisis” or overdose epidemic. Nick does a splendid job of recounting key milestones and contextualizing them within the history of Big Pharma...by Nick Johns...With the number of regulatory departments and protective measures in place today, we as consumers are inclined to believe that a product or service has been proven safe before it’s approved for public use. We’d like to think that if something turns out to be dangerous or harmful, the responsible party will be held accountable and similar situations will be prevented in the future. Unfortunately, in the complex and tangled world of pharmaceutical drugs, that is frequently not the case. Take for example Pradaxa, an anticoagulant and blood thinner most often prescribed to treat and prevent blood clots and reduce the risk of stroke following hip or knee replacement surgery. The medication managed to obtain FDA approval five years before its reversal agent, Praxbind (an antidote to Pradaxa designed to reverse its effects and prevent uncontrollable bleeding) became available, leading to incidents of severe bleeding and hundreds of deaths. Companies with ties to multiple other entities and those that have major influence on the healthcare economy are able to skirt the rules and make deals with federal agencies or court systems to avoid serious legal repercussions. Pfizer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, marketed a drug called Bextra in 2001, a Cox-2 inhibitor. While the FDA rejected the drug at high doses for acute surgical pain, Pfizer and its marketing partner Pharmacia pitched it to anesthesiologists and surgeons anyway — at doses up to twice what the FDA had approved as safe. What effect have these historically loose controls had on the present overdose epidemic? Sidestepping regulations to bring potentially unsafe drugs to market is only part of a larger problem, and it isn’t the only method that pharmaceutical companies have employed in pursuit of profit. When it was released in 1995, Purdue Pharma’s now-infamous opiate painkiller OxyContin was hailed as a breakthrough in pain management. The active ingredient of OxyContin is oxycodone, a long-lasting narcotic with up to twice the strength of morphine (milligram by milligram). Prior to OxyContin, doctors had historically been reluctant to write prescriptions for powerful opioids outside of end-of-life care or acute cancer pain due to fear of the addictive properties of the drugs. In order to shift this perception, Purdue Pharma launched a massive marketing campaign to diminish concerns about addiction and to promote OxyContin as a safe treatment for an increasing range of ailments. At the forefront of the campaign, and differentiating OxyContin from other narcotics on the market such as Vicodin and Percocet, was the patented time-release formula — a characteristic which Purdue claimed was responsible for the drug’s purported addiction rate of “less than 1 percent”. This, employees of Purdue claimed, made the drug a safe choice for CNCP (chronic non-cancer pain) patients. In an effort to maximize the efficacy of their marketing efforts, Purdue compiled profiles of doctors and their prescribing habits into databases used to identify where their campaigns would have the most success. This aggressive marketing tactic coupled with an incredibly lucrative bonus structure for sales representatives (a range of $15,000 to nearly $240,000 on top of a representative’s average annual salary of $55,000 in 2001) led to a tremendous increase in the number of visits to physicians with higher than average rates of opioid prescription. While pitching OxyContin, sales representatives for Purdue even reportedly claimed to some healthcare providers that the drug, now frequently compared to heroin in terms of potency and risk of addiction, didn’t even cause a buzz. For millions of patients, a prescription for OxyContin provided crucial relief from debilitating pain. For many, however, addiction became so severe that the period of withdrawal between doses became unbearable — especially if the recommended dosage was exceeded. Purdue’s marketing campaign for OxyContin reached its peak in the early 2000s, and sales of prescription opioids (with Oxycontin in the lead) quadrupled between 1999 and 2016. During that same period, over 200,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids — with many cases involving a mix of other drugs and/or alcohol. While federal regulations have since cracked down on OxyContin and tightened around pharmaceutical practices, the opioid epidemic is far from over. Patients addicted to prescription painkillers can eventually find them too expensive or too difficult to obtain, and may turn to other drugs instead — heroin in particular. Drug-related deaths are climbing at an alarming rate, and many can be linked to the addition of fentanyl to street drugs. But there’s little doubt that Oxycontin prescriptions greatly contributed to a wave of addictions that has yet to subside. With prescription opioids potentially serving as dangerous gateways to fentanyl-laced illicit drugs, it’s clear that attention needs to shift to pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and physicians. Doctors and healthcare professionals can help by screening and regularly monitoring for substance overuse or addiction, and by prescribing painkillers only when other treatment options have proven ineffective. Patients can help by never sharing or selling prescription pain medications, and by taking steps to ensure that they are the only ones with access to their painkillers. Friends and loved ones can help by monitoring patients for correct usage of prescription pain medications, staying alert for any signs of prescription drug overuse, and questioning and challenging potentially dangerous habits before they become entrenched. The battle can be won, but we all must fight together." -- http://www.memoirsofanaddictedbrain.com/connect/profiting-from-pain-big-pharma-big-marketing-and-opiate-addiction/
"Government-organized pogroms against the Jews deflected attention from the corrupt regime. It is arguable which of the Russian Czars was the worst to the Jews. We'll start with Czar Nicholas I (who ruled from 1825 to 1855) as one of the prime contenders and work our way down. In 1827, Czar Nicholas I introduced what became known as the Cantonist Decrees. (The name came from the word "canton," meaning "military camp.") These decrees called for the forced conscription of Jewish boys into the Russian Army. These boys were between the ages of 12 and 18 and were forced to serve for 25 years! During their army service, every effort was made to convert them to Christianity. Due to the horrendous conditions under which they were forced to serve, many of the boys who were conscripted didn't survive, and if they did, few continued to identify themselves as Jews. As far as the Jewish community was concerned, either way was a death sentence. Some Jewish parents were so desperate they would actually cut off the right index finger of their sons with a butcher's knife ― without an index finger you couldn't fire a gun and you were exempt from service. Other people would try and bribe their kid's way out. The Cantonist Decrees raise the level of pressure on the Jewish community to new extremes. Each Jewish community was responsible to produce a certain number of boys for the army and the community leadership was held responsible for failure to meet this quota. It's not to hard to imagine the turmoil caused by forcing community leaders to decide which boys had to go and which boys could stay. If that wasn't bad enough, there was the government-sponsored anti-Semitism. Protocols of the Elders of Zion...Around the turn of the century (It was first published in 1903), the Russian secret police began to circulate a forgery which became the most famous anti-Semitic "document" in history ― The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. These protocols purported to be the minutes of a secret meeting of world Jewish leaders, which supposedly took place once every hundred years for the purpose of plotting how to manipulate and control the world in the next century. As ridiculous as this might sound to us today, the Protocols were seized upon as "proof" that the world was dominated by Jews who were responsible for all of the world's problems. Fans and proponents of the Protocols have included such anti-Semites as: Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company; Adolf Hitler, as might be expected; Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser; and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, among others. Despite the fact that the Protocols are a proven forgery whose allegations are completely ridiculous, an expression of the worst kind of anti-Semitism, the Protocols continue to sell briskly today and are carried by such huge bookstore chains as Barnes and Noble and amazon.com in the name of freedom of speech. Pogroms...We spoke of pogroms ― mob violence against Jews ― in Part 49 when we covered the murderous attacks of the Ukrainian Cossack Bogdan Chmielnicki in 17th century Poland. In Czarist Russia, there were so many pogroms against the Jews that it is simply impossible to even begin to list them all. (In one four year period there were 284 pogroms, for example.) These pogroms were seldom spontaneous, though incitement by Christian clergy around the Christian holidays could drive the masses into a frenzy. However, in Czarist Russia, most of the pogroms were government organized. Why would the Czarist government organize mobs to target Jews? Because Jews were the classic scapegoats for the economic problems of Russia (and many other countries in history). Of course, the problems of Russia had nothing to do with the Jews. The problems of Russia had to do with a totally backward, feudal, and highly corrupt regime. One of the ways of diverting attention from the corruption was to blame the Jews and to allow the masses to blow off steam by taking it out on the Jews. The problems of Russia got worse after Czar Alexander II (who was one of the more competent Czars and who was relatively benign to the Jews) was assassinated in 1881 by an anarchist who threw a bomb at his carriage. And when the problems of Russia got worse, the problems of the Jews got worse as well. The government of the new Czar, Alexander III (who ruled 1881-1894) organized one pogrom after another to keep the anger of the masses focused on the Jews. In addition to the pogroms, Alexander III promulgated a series of laws against the Jews. These laws were called the May Laws and they included such prohibitions as: "It is henceforth forbidden for Jews to settle outside the cities and townships." "The registration of property and mortgages in the names of Jews is to be halted temporarily. Jews are also prohibited from administering such properties."
"It is forbidden for Jews to engage in commerce on Sundays and Christian holidays." Writes Berel Wein in Triumph of Survival (p. 173) of the reign of Alexander III: "Expulsions, deportations, arrests, and beatings became the daily lot of the Jews, not only of their lower class, but even of the middle class and the Jewish intelligentsia. The government of Alexander III waged a campaign of war against its Jewish inhabitants... The Jews were driven and hounded, and emigration appeared to be the only escape from the terrible tyranny of the Romanovs." It did not help matters any that during the reign of Alexander III a terrible famine struck Russia in which 400,000 peasants died. Those who survived were bitter and their resentments grew (which would erupt eventually in an aborted revolution in 1905 and the successful Russian Revolution which ushered in Communist rule in 1917.) The Last Romanov...When Alexander III died, he was succeeded by Nicholas II, the last of the Romanovs whose incompetence and inflexibility helped bring about the Russian Revolution. The new Czar had to cope with the mess left behind by his father and he did so badly. During his reign one of the most famous pogroms took place ― in Kishinev, on Easter (April 6-7), 1903. The Kishinev pogrom happened when there was a lot of tension in Russia (two years before the first, unsuccessful revolution). Wanting to dispel the tension, the Czarist government once again organized a pogrom against the Jews. Strange as it may sound, the Kishinev pogrom received a lot of international attention. This was because by this time pogroms were something that the "enlightened" Western World no longer found acceptable. (If only they knew what they themselves would do to the Jews 40 years later!) Here is an excerpt from a description of the pogrom printed in the New York Times: "It is impossible to account the amounts of goods destroyed in a few hours. The hurrahs of the rioting. The pitiful cries of the victims filled the air. Wherever a Jew was met he was savagely beaten into insensibility. One Jew was dragged from a streetcar and beaten until the mob thought he was dead. The air was filled with feathers and torn bedding. Every Jewish household was broken into and the unfortunate Jews in their terror endeavored to hide in cellars and under roofs. The mob entered the synagogue, desecrated the biggest house of worship and defiled the Scrolls of the Law. "The conduct of the intelligent Christians was disgraceful. They made no attempt to check the rioting. They simply walked around enjoying the frightful sport. On Tuesday, the third day, when it became known that the troops had received orders to shoot, the rioters ceased." After two days of mayhem, the Czar said, "Okay enough ― mission accomplished. Now it's time to stop it." And it stopped. 118 Jewish men, women and children were murdered, 1,200 were wounded and 4,000 families were rendered homeless and destitute. There were also 12,000 Russian soldier in the city who did nothing for two days. Until the next time. Between 1903 and 1907 was a period of great internal unrest in Russia. Nicholas's incompetence coupled with excessive taxation and the humiliating defeat of Russia during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) let to the first Russian Revolution in 1905 which led to a few short-lived reforms in the government. This period also proved disastrous for the Jewish community there were 284 pogroms with over 50,000 casualties. The level of violence was unbelievable. There was only so much of this kind of thing that people could take. The Jewish community was being devastated and people were looking for a way out. Jews were running out of the shtetls and joining all of the anarchist, communist, socialist, Bundist movements that they could find in the hopes that they would be able to change the situation in Russia. Jews have been history's great idealists and during this time they were desperate to find some way of making things better. (We will cover their activism when we discuss the events surrounding World War I.) Another thing that was happening in this time period was emigration. We see mass emigration of Jews out of Russia. Between 1881 and 1914, some 50,000 or more Jews left every year to a estimated total of 2.5 million Jews. Despite these migrations, the Jewish population of Russia stayed constant ― at about 5 million Jews, due the very high birthrate. Had these Jews not left Russia there would have been 7-8 million Jews there. And it was America which absorbed most of the Jewish immigrants during this period of time. Golden Land...We might recall (from Part 23) when the Jews were exile by the Babylonians, the exile had happened in two stages. First the Babylonians took away 10,000 of the best and the brightest, and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because when the Jews arrive in Babylon, there is a Jewish infrastructure in place. Yeshivas had been established, synagogues built, there was a kosher butcher and a mikveh. Jewish life could continue and as a result we saw hardly any assimilation during the Babylonian exile. However, when the poor Jews of Russia arrived en masse in America at the end of the 19th century ― passing through the famous Ellis Island ― they found no Jewish infrastructure in place. The Jews who had preceded them in the migration of the 1830s were German Jews (about 280,000 of them). These German Jews ― who resented the poorer Russian Jews ― were either Reform, (and did not believe that the Torah was God-given nor in any specific God-given law that Jews had to keep) or they were secular Jews who totally eschewed Jewish tradition. Thus, the poor Russian Jews stepped into the Golden Land of Assimilation as we shall see in the next installment." -- aish.com