I'm delighted to update Parliament this afternoon on the agreement that this Government has reached with COSLA leaders to fully fund the expansion of early learning and childcare entitlement to 1140 hours from August 2020. This landmark agreement is the culmination of more than two years of hard work by the Scottish Government and local authorities to establish a robust shared understanding of the costs attached to the expansion. It's evidence of real partnership working to deliver a shared ambition and to give all of our children the best start in life. Responding to the agreement on behalf of COSLA, councillor Gail MacGregor, who joined me for a fantastic visit to Cameron House Nursery in Edinburgh this morning, said that local government is fully committed to early learning and childcare expansion to 1140 hours. COSLA and Scotland's council leaders are fully behind the policy. The agreement by council leaders in agreeing the multi-year funding deal is a culmination of months of hard work, negotiation and real partnership working behind the scenes. We needed to get this policy right from the start, together with the level of funding, and I think that we've achieved this by working together. Under this agreement, the Scottish Government is committed to providing local authorities with revenue funding of an additional £567 million per year by 2021-22, the first full financial year of the expansion. That will bring annual public spend on early learning and childcare to £990 million. In addition, the Scottish Government is committed to providing local authorities with total capital funding of £476 million over four years to support buildings projects to create new indoor and outdoor capacity to deliver the expansion. Those funding allocations will, of course, be subject to parliamentary approval of the Scottish budget for the respective years, but I hope that members across the chamber can support this truly transformative investment in Scotland's children. The agreed funding package is the product of extensive work by the Scottish Government and the local authorities to prepare robust cost estimates for the expansion. Local authorities submitted their initial expansion plans to the Scottish Government in September 2017. Following a period of engagement, dialogue, challenge and refinement, building on the learning from an initial review of expansion plans, local authorities submitted refreshed financial estimates in March 2018. It sees March 2018 estimates that form the basis of the package agreed on Friday. I am grateful to all those people in local authorities who work tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare estimates and to refine plans. Scottish ministers and cost leaders considered the robustness of those estimates, and through negotiation we reached agreement on adjustments to be made to revenue and capital initial estimates in order to arrive at reasonable and evidence-based funding national totals. I am confident that the joint review process and the compromises made by both parties will deliver value for money. The agreed revenue funding package is the product of an intense period of local authorities' refining demand and supply estimates and associated service delivery models, which have combined to reduce local authority estimates of the workforce requirements of the expansion. The funding package ensures that a sustainable early rate will be paid to funding providers across Scotland, delivering the funded entitlement to early learning and childcare. In this landmark deal, not only secures sustainable funding for local authorities, but also for early learning and childcare providers across the private and third sectors, including childminders, is a critical component of our new funding that follows the child model. In particular, that bears out our commitment to provide sufficient funding to ensure that all childcare workers delivering the funded entitlement will be paid at least the Scottish living wage from 2020. We recognise the valuable role that our early years practitioners play in shaping our children's developments, and I am proud that the funding package recognises that. One of the most significant ways in which the expansion will contribute to closing the poverty related attainment gap is through increasing the uptake of entitlement for eligible two-year-olds. We know that there is scope to improve on existing levels of uptake so that more children and families can benefit from the offer. The levels of revenue funding that is agreed with COSLA are sufficient to deliver a near doubling of uptake among eligible two-year-olds to 64 per cent. I very warmly welcome local authorities' commitment to put resources in place, to work with families, to raise awareness of the entitlement and to help families to access those services. We recognise that the funding package that was agreed last week represents our collective best estimate of the costs arising from the expansion at this point of time. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to continue to keep those estimates under review to ensure that we maximise the value for Scotland's children and families from that investment. The Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed to put in place proportionate annual review arrangements to provide assurance to all parties that the funding package reflects the costs of delivery and the actual uptake of the offer. The annual review will provide us with an evidence base to consider whether that policy is fully funded and to take action if it appears to be over or underfunded. The expansion planning process that we undertook with local authorities was underpinned by a primary planning principle that authorities should make best use of existing resources, then consider purchasing capacity from the private and third sectors, and then, finally, if there was no alternative, build new capacity. Local authorities have applied that principle in deriving their capital requirements for the expansion. In order to promote equity and fairness, the funding provided to local authorities, we agreed with COSLA leaders to apply standard reference rates to local authority capital cost estimates. Those reference rates reflect and acknowledge the impact of rurality. Once those reference rates have been applied, the multi-year capital funding requirement for the expansion is £476 million, which will be distributed over four financial years from 2017 to 2018 to 2020 to 2021. That investment will deliver around 900 capital investment projects across Scotland, including more than 100 new nursery facilities. I was personally delighted to see that authorities are planning to make significant use of outdoor facilities as part of their expansion plans, enriching the early learning and childcare experience for our children. As I outlined to Parliament in March, such ambitious plans always come with challenges. I have never denied that those challenges exist, and I am absolutely committed to addressing them in partnership with local authorities and other delivery partners. One of those challenges was reaching agreement on a funding package, and I am delighted that we have, indeed, risen to and resolved that challenge. That has been made possible by genuine partnership working with our colleagues in local government. Agreement of the funding package is a critical milestone in the delivery of the expansion of early learning and childcare entitlement by 2020. It marks the commencement of a delivery phase, and local authorities will now be able to progress their local expansion plans without delay. I am in no doubt that expanding the provision of funded early learning and childcare is the right policy to give all our children the best start in life. We must never forget that the fundamental purpose of the expansion is to improve our children's early years experience and equip them for a lifelong learning journey. By fully funding that commitment, we will ensure that all children receive high-quality early learning and childcare in the public, private and third sectors. I commend the landmark funding agreement to the Parliament. The minister will now take questions. I am conscious that the topical questions overran, so unless the questions and answers are suitably succinct, the last couple of questioners may not get in just early warning. Michelle Ballantyne to be followed by Ian Gray. Can I first thank the minister for advance sight of her statement and welcome the fact that you have worked in partnership with COSLA to achieve this funding agreement? I just want to ask three questions, three areas that have jumped out at me. First of all, you make reference in the statement to your new funding follows the child model, so can the minister advise when their child account will be implemented? Secondly, I note that you also refer twice in fact to a sustainable hourly rate that will be paid to funders delivering the funded entitlement. I would like clarification as to whether this will enable all ELC staff to be paid the living wage so that we do not end up with inequality across the profession. Thirdly, can you just tell me what controls, if any, will the Government put in place to ensure that the capital allocation benefits the nursery provision across the sector and we do not just see local authority expanding their provision? Thank you, Michelle Ballantyne, for those questions. On the first point that you raised, the funding follows the child. We have given a commitment to exploring a way of delivering that. We are absolutely determined that flexibility will be a cornerstone of the policy and that it must work for families if we are to achieve the goals. We are exploring that at the moment. By 2020, we will have a funding follows the child model. On the agreement with local authorities on funding for living wage entitlement, we have absolutely underpinned all that with a national quality standard. For funded entitlement, to achieve funded entitlement, people have to meet certain standards. One of those standards is that those who are delivering 1140 hours will be paying the living wage. As you know, that is part of our commitment going forward and that is certainly part of the agreement that we have struck with COSLA. In terms of the agreement in capital expenditure, this is our agreement with COSLA and they have looked very closely at their local requirements and what is required to be spent on capital expenditure. We have agreed to fully fund it. It is a day for celebration. Iain Gray is to be followed by Rona Mackay. Thank you and my thanks to the minister for early sight of her statement. When the Auditor General recently reported on the expansion of early years and childcare, she sounded a note of concern over the gap between local authorities' identified funding needs and what the Government was then making available. We welcome the fact that the Government have accepted that that initial proposal fell short and have moved very significantly towards the council's identified revenue funding needs. However, the Auditor General was also clear that the funding will not deliver the policy unless we can find, recruit and train the required staffing numbers. Given the funding announcements, can the minister now tell us how many early years workers currently work in the sector and what she expects that number to be by 2021 and how that increase will be achieved through that funding? Yes, I can. I can tell you that in December 2016, there were 33,430 people working in Scotland's day care sector. There are another approximately 6,000 people working as childminders. We have in place, as you know, a very robust recruitment programme. We have provided extra places at college. We have provided extra apprenticeship places. We have provided extra university places. We are absolutely confident that we will deliver the extra workforce that is required. As you know, we have already had a recruitment drive that aims to recruit school leavers. We are about to go into a phase of a recruitment drive that aims to attract career changers and parents returning to work. We fully expect to deliver the workforce that is required for that expansion. Rona Mackay is followed by Liz Smith. Can the minister outline how the Government intends to improve retention rates in the early learning and childcare sector, which would allow for consistent contact time between children and practitioners? We recognise the importance of consistent relationships in early years. One of the things is that there are a number of ways that we are intending to improve recruitment and retention. One of them is, of course, delivering the living wage. Another one is the quality action plan, which outlines investment in on-going training. We are determined that that will be an attractive career. It is a real opportunity for people to do work every day that makes a difference in an environment with passionate, knowledgeable people who are excited about the future. It is a real opportunity for people to consider a change in direction for their careers or to consider a career in early learning and childcare that they might not have considered before. Liz Smith, to be full by Mary Fee. The Audit Scotland report was very critical of the Scottish Government for the lack of baseline data that was available to measure the comparative outcomes of targeting different priorities within childcare spending. Besides the helpful costings being made available today, what evidence has the Scottish Government identified to address those concerns and ensure that Parliament is able to see which areas of spending are delivering the best results? It is widely acknowledged around the world, including by the OECD, that provision of universally accessible and high-quality early learning and childcare helps to provide children with the skills and the confidence that they need in education. Some studies have shown that it is a cornerstone for closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Some of the studies have shown that the benefits are even greater for people in disadvantaged backgrounds. That is why we are investing more money to almost double the eligible two-year-olds. We have also asked local authorities to phase in in the areas that need it most first. Undoubtedly, you will have heard in my statement that we are building in regular checks of how money is being spent, regular checks that the money is being spent in order to deliver what we have asked them to deliver. We are confident that this system will be robust. Mary Fee is followed by James Dornan. I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement. There is a £214 million difference between what the Scottish Government has committed in capital funding and the £690 million that councils said that they need. Can the minister confirm how that disparity will be met? Can she assure the chamber that local authorities will not have to find money from core budgets to provide the infrastructure needed? We have an agreed funding package here today. This is precisely what local authorities have come to a shared agreement with the Government. We are not imposing this. We are not imposing this financial settlement on our local authority partners. Those are figures that we have come to a shared agreement about. We have a shared vision for early years in childcare, and we are working hard to deliver that together. I suggest that the cabinet secretary does not answer questions unless he has given a statement. I am delighted with the minister's statement. I look forward to seeing the expansion of early learning in childcare entitlement that comes into being. The minister will be aware that the Education and Skills Committee has been taking evidence in the impact of poverty on attainment. Just this morning, we saw somebody innovative in encouraging work being done in five schools. Of course, there is still a great deal to do hence the expansion. Can the minister outline what impact she expects the expansion of early learning in childcare to have in terms of closing that stubborn attainment gap that we all want to close? Mr Dornan gets right to the nub of the issue. At the heart of the expansion is delivering quality early years childcare, which will transform the lives of the children of Scotland. We want Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow up. We want every child to flourish and fulfil their potential. I mentioned before the OECD studies worldwide, which show how the offering can tackle the attainment gap before it even occurs. You will have heard me mention that we are aiming to increase the uptake in eligible two-year-olds, and that is a vital part of how we aim to close the attainment gap. You will also be interested to hear that this morning, just this morning, when I went to visit Cameron House Nursery, I met a really knowledgeable and passionate headteacher, Chris McCormack, with years of experience in early years who said very loudly and clearly the difference that she could see. They are already delivering 1140 hours. They have been for a number of years. She can see, and she and her staff were absolutely astonished to see already the difference that she is making to the children who are coming through their nursery. Alison Johnstone, to be followed by Tavish Scott. Thank you. The minister referred to the effort that she is making to almost double the uptake of the eligible two-year-old offer. That is welcome, but what has been done to identify why take-up has been so low and to tell Parliament how she envisages raising awareness off the offer. Will that raising awareness, for example, be made part of the family financial health check and the Scottish Government's income maximisation strategy? Certainly, we are looking at all options to raise awareness. You will be well aware that I wrote to the UK Government at some time ago to ask whether it was going to alter the regulation in Parliament, which would enable us to share data with local authorities, between the DWP and local authorities, as they do in England and Wales. I have not yet had a commitment on a timescale on that. That would make a big difference. In the meantime, we recognise that word of mouth is one of the strongest ways to ensure that everyone who needs the support is aware of the support. Many of the nurseries that I visit, word of mouth, are the main ways that people find out about it. We are also going to increase awareness in job centres. We are going to increase awareness among health visiting staff. The local authorities will be working very hard in their local communities to establish what the best means of communication are in their areas, but that is something that we are absolutely determined to improve. If the Government now knows how many staff working across Scotland are working in childcare, how many extra staff will be needed from today's 1 May 2018 to deliver this childcare expansion? We now estimate that up to 11,000 additional early learning and childcare workers will be required by 2020 in order to deliver the expansion. We have already, as I said, increased capacity courses in colleges and universities, 650 additional HNCs, 350 additional graduate places and, as well as providing local authorities with an additional £21 million for expanding and training their workforce. We are working with the Scottish Funding Council to offer 1,700 additional places on a one-year HNC course in 2018-19 and over 400 additional graduate places. Clare Hockey is to be followed by Oliver Mundell. Firm that local authorities phasing in increased entitlement will prioritise the children and families who would benefit most from the expansion. I have already said that, at the core of the expansion, our aim is to close the attainment gap. Studies around the world have shown us that the increase in childcare in early years will help us to do that. Those studies have also shown us that the biggest difference could be made to the people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. That is why we are so keen to improve the uptake amongst eligible two years old. That is why, in the phasing of this policy, we have already asked the committee to put plans in place by local authorities to use a reference to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation or an equivalent measure to ensure that the children who need this the most will benefit from it first. Can I ask the minister what practical impact the agreement will have on the PVI sector, particularly when it comes to the allocation of capital funding? I want to know how that will help them to expand provision and increase flexibility, particularly in rural areas like my own. I look forward to meeting you and your constituents immediately after that statement in order to discuss that particular issue. The capital spending that has been agreed with local authorities is best placed to understand the needs in their local community and what is required to deliver that policy. I am absolutely sure that they share the vision that we do in terms of making a difference to those children. They share the vision that we do in terms of a flexible provision, and they have absolutely accounted for what needs to go to local nurseries to do that. Stuart McMillan will be filled by Johann Lamont. Can I ask the minister what actions are available to the Scottish Government if local authorities do not fulfil their commitments to deliver the infrastructure and staff that is required in addition to utilising local childminders? The funding will be allocated to local authorities as a specific grant in order to ensure that it is protected for investment in early learning and childcare. The authorities will be required to report to the Scottish Government on how that funding is being applied. I cannot emphasise this enough in the chamber, but there is a clear commitment from our colleagues in local government as to the aims and delivery of the policy. We have a shared vision and a shared agreement, and we are keen to move forward today. Johann Lamont will be filled by Fulton MacGregor. In relation to the question of shared visions, the minister will be aware that parents in Glasgow are facing a doubling of their childcare charges, and families right now are making decisions to cut the number of hours that their children are accessing, not expanding them. Is it the case, could it be the case, that the costs to families are being increased so massively to cover the gap in funding from the Scottish Government, or, if not that, how does the minister explain Glasgow's decision and how does that decision her families right now work in with her and our shared commitment to expanding childcare? We have just reached agreement today to fully fund an incredible expansion in early years in childcare, which will transform early years for our children and for our families and make an incredible difference to every family in the land, a saving of approximately four and a half thousand per child for each family in the land, as well as providing living wage jobs up and down the country. We are also providing incredible quality offering in terms of early education, which will transform the outcomes for those children from the poorest backgrounds. It is absolutely for local authorities to make decisions on how much they charge for their wraparound care. It is not for me in central government to overrule or impose my view on local authorities. Local authorities know absolutely best what their local needs are and are accountable to their local communities. I am quite sure that they are best placed to make those decisions. Can the minister outline what role she expects play and outdoor learning to have when delivering the expansion to 1,140 others? Mr MacGregor will be aware that, a couple of months ago, I visited a forest kindergarten here in Edinburgh to make an announcement of spending of over £800,000 to inspiring Scotland to work with eight local authorities to develop a how-to guide for play and outdoor delivery of education, as well as supporting social enterprises. You will also be pleased to learn that about 20 per cent of the additional capacity is going to be outdoor provision. That is a real opportunity to transform the quality of education in Scotland. We have the most incredible asset in our outdoor environment. Just this morning, I spent time at a nursery in Edinburgh. Children outside in the sunshine playing, learning balance, learning communication and the natural appreciation of the natural world as we guddled around digging worms. It is absolutely going to be a key part of our offering going forward. Thank you very much, and that concludes our statement. We will move on to our next item of business in the Commonwealth Games, just to take a few moments for the ministers and members to change.


Right now, because of IRS underfunding, the super rich are 80% less likely to be audited than the very poor. For every dollar that goes to the IRS, we get $4 back in revenue from taxpayers and most of that would be coming from wealthy people because it turns out wealthy people are the ones who actually are not paying what they owe. It's absurd. IRS enforcement is a huge deal. A lot of people don't pay attention to it. They assume, like any other law, that if there is a tax law on the books, that's the end of it. But if a law is on the books and it's not enforced, you might as well not have a law. And that's exactly what's happened to the IRS over the years. The IRS doesn't have the resources to audit the wealthy. There's a lot of legal tax evasion going on. The wealthy have managed to get loopholes in the tax laws, like the famous carried interest loophole that allows a lot of financial partnerships to be taxed at the lower capital gains rate than regular income. But it's not just legal loopholes. The wealthy often take illegal steps to shelter their income. Legally, they owe the money. They should be paying the money, but they don't. They figure it's going to be too hard to audit them. For example, one who was president of the United States, who has had an audit going on for years. I'm being audited. Being audited. We're under audit. Every year they audit me, audit me, audit me. The burden of paying for the government moves on to the middle class, the working class, and the poor. The actual budget for the IRS has shrunk dramatically for having inspectors, for having auditors. The last time the IRS had fewer than 10,000 agents who were out there doing the work was 1953, when the economy was one-seventh the size it is right now. Newt Gingrich in 1995 said, the IRS is your enemy. I hereby end 40 years of democratic rule of this house. Well, nobody likes to pay taxes, but the IRS was made into the scapegoat for every problem everybody had. Now the irony here is that it's the Republicans and some Democrats whose campaigns have been backstopped by the very wealthy who have pushed back against IRS enforcement. They're not even willing to give the IRS the money to enforce the law. It allows them to say, well, we told you the IRS is inefficient. It's incompetent. There's a cycle of work here. If you defund the IRS, there are fewer people there to answer the telephone. In other words, the whole institution becomes less efficient, less responsive. And the worst aspect of it is that it means fewer dollars coming into finance, everything else that the public needs to have done. These are all, as you can see, very bipartisan projects. The only debate was how this is going to be paid for. Again, every dollar going to the IRS means four dollars. Back, it would help pay for the infrastructure bill. But Republicans don't want to do it because they don't want their wealthy patrons to have to pay taxes. It comes down to that. If you defund the IRS, you are essentially defunding the government. And if you're defunding the government, you're actually hurting a lot of people. So you need an IRS that has enough resources that can actually find where the wealthy have hidden the wealth that's supposed to be taxed.


So eBay used to have this feature right here where you would click on how many have been sold and it'll tell you when they were sold. Not only that, but it would also tell you how much it sold for. This is one of the easiest hacks that you can do to be able to find products that are currently trending and selling right now to add to your dropshipping store. Now the reason this is important is because this kind of information can tell you whether a product is currently trending or if it was trending in the past. So for example, this one shows 33 sold but did this item sell 33 of them within one week or within an entire year? Now we found a way to get that information back. All you have to do is scroll down and go ahead and copy the item number, paste it to the end of this URL and we now have access to the item's purchase history. So we can see the different variations sold, how much they sold for, and more importantly, when they sold. So as you can see, these all sold pretty recently within the last few weeks. So I guess it's time to start adding a mini computer vacuum to my store. If you want access, make sure you go ahead and subscribe as well as leave a comment down below requesting it and we'll reply back with a link.


Howdy how's it going? My name's Davy Chappie, and today we will be going into a world filled with space battles, action, techno wizards, star pilots, and laser beams, all set in a legally distinct galaxy far far away. The time has finally come for me to talk about Starfinder, the futuristic successor to Pathfinder, and one of my favorite games to play from all of the two games that I've managed to get in on. I'm gonna talk about its features, its differences from 5e, how to make your first character, and I'll give a short story on what to expect in the high futuristic fantasy setting. As always keep in mind that a lot of this is just my opinion, so if you feel like this system is just a gimmick, and that the real money is in the 40k RPGs, feel free to play your games however you want. But with that out of the way, let's begin. So Starfinder is a space RPG created by Paizo that came out back in 2017 with the intention of trying out new mechanics that could potentially be put into Paizo's sister game, Pathfinder, while also creating a new tentpole brand to wave in the faces of table nerds. Much like how Pathfinder pulled its inspiration from a bunch of different settings to create a hodgepodge world of tonal inconsistency, Starfinder took inspiration from all the different space stories from video games, movies, and television to create a universe where anything could be hiding behind the blackness of space. In fact, Starfinder is so much of a sequel to Pathfinder that it takes place within the Pathfinder universe just thousands of years in the future, which is why in addition to all the new alien races, those purists who only understand D&D, you can still pick out the classic fantasy races of elves, dwarves, and goblins. In fact, Starfinder was originally meant to be backwards compatible with Pathfinder, and it's still technically possible just somewhere along the line they must have decided to give Starfinder its own identity, because while the system that it uses is still the same, the two games operate very differently, like the difference between Pathfinder and 3.5, so you'll have an awkward time transitioning your characters from one game to another. With all that being said, it is very clear that Paizo also pulled a lot of inspiration from 5e in regards to simplifying the rules and introducing new mechanics that are almost carbon copies of the world's greatest role-playing game. It's not an updated clone like Pathfinder was, but it's cool to see 5e rules mixed in with old 3e rules and new experimental rules. As for the actual gameplay, players of Pathfinder or 3.5 will understand pretty quickly, but to break down for 5e stands, every turn is composed of three types of actions, standard movement and swift. Standard actions are your normal 5e action, movement actions are taken specifically to do anything with your legs, like walk, jump, crawl, or get jiggy with it, and swift actions are very minor actions that you don't really have to think about. You get one action of each type on your turn, and you can replace your movement action with another swift action, as well as your standard action with either movement or swift. There's also full actions, which take your whole turn, and reactions, which are exactly as you understand them. Most of your turns will be dedicated to the time-honored art of beating somebody's face in, and this is where one of my favorite mechanics come in. Unlike most other TT RPGs, Health and Starfinder is very non-standard. Instead of having the basic binary of, you have 40 HP, don't hit zero, loser, you instead have very little actual HP, but it's protected by stamina points, which can be thought of as a second HP bar that goes over the first one. Stamina points go down easily, but you can spend resolve to build back up your stamina points in the middle of a fight, mimicking you taking a breath after a heavy hit before getting back into the fray. Once your stamina's gone, further damage will take away from your small HP pool, and that's how you know you're in trouble. Luckily, you have two different forms of AC to protect you from getting kicked in the nards, kinetic AC for any physical attacks, and energy AC for space nards. Saving throws, however, don't use your ability scores directly, like in 5e, but they stick to Pathfinder's reflex fortitude and wheel saves. Additionally, one of the cooler things about Pathfinder is that it makes the martial classes more impactful via a huge selection of weapons, a lot of which scale in power with the players via having a level attached to them to represent what level the players should be before they get that weapon. It's not that the guns can't be used should the players get their hands on them, but a gun that does 20d10 is classified as a level 20 weapon because maybe third level characters should not be getting the Deatomizer yet. This means that not only are you getting new abilities and spells, but you're also rolling more die with every attack, which is an alternative way of increasing damage output since Starfinder doesn't really do extra attacks. When it comes to making a character, players from 5e will have little to no issue making a leap to Starfinder. You have three major choices mixed in with some smaller choices afterwards. Similar to 5e, you'll roll for some ability scores, which are the same as D&D, and then you'll choose your race, your class, and your theme slash background. There are seven races and seven classes, as well as a whole caboodle of themes, so you got plenty of options to choose from. Firstly, the races are pretty wild, and with the exception of humans and androids, none of them will look familiar to you, which I think is dope since this game is in space and you can bet that I don't just want elves in space or orcs in space. That being said, if you are totally lame and want elves in space, then the end of the book has a legacy races section so that your wheat toast self can play as a typical D&D fantasy race. As for classes, Starfinder has seven to choose from, and only a couple have any sort of magic system due to the change in setting, but most do harken back to the stereotypical class rule. The envoy, for instance, is the charismatic charmer slash skill monkey that behaves like a non-magic bard. The mechanic hacks the planet, mystic actually gets magic and behaves like a cleric, operative is your sneaky stabby road, salarans are a more unique class that builds up energy and then channels it into force powers, the soldier has gun and is big, and the technomancer is your space wizard and one of my favorite classes.  Themes are wild and varied, so I'm not going to list them all, but it should be noted that there is an expansion called the Character Operations Manual that gives you more of everything. Once you've picked your major three, you pick the particular abilities that you want from your class, you put points into skills where you're given points dictated by your class and intelligence score rather than flat, either you are proficient or not bonus, and then you buy equipment and boom, you're done. Starfinder does a really good job of making the character creation process easy, and the only things more complicated than 5e are things that I honestly think 5e went too simple on, specifically the skills and class abilities. I've mentioned that World of Darkness's storyteller system is my favorite RPG system, but I don't mind the simplicity here, and I really think that if you want to try out a new tabletop game after 5e, don't pick a different D&D edition, pick Starfinder. It borrows enough from 5e that you'll understand a good amount of what's going on, and it's different enough that you'll get a grasp for how other RPGs can be played. Obviously, you'll have to get over the hurdle of it being set in space and not medieval Europe, but we all have to make sacrifices. And now, to give a tale of galactic adventures that you know what you're getting into, my last Starfinder game found me as a robot technomancer traveling into a freighter ship, as a mercenary group that was investigating some illicit dealings. We made our way to the main warehouse where the workers were organizing cargo, and our envoy got to work talking to the captain. As he was smooth talking, our mechanic had their drone companion quietly take a look at one of the nearby consoles, and we found the contraband, 40 gallons of liquid space meth. Unfortunately, their security was tight, tighter than a cargo ship should be, and the drone was discovered, compelling all the workers to pull out weapons and start firing. During the chaos, I scanned the enemies to find the most vulnerable one, then held out my hand and charged at them, screaming in binary as I grabbed their shirt and sent 800 cc's of death into their body. A few rounds go by, and the party is forced behind one shipping container. Our mechanic was down, I was blue screened, and the envoy had a single face wound, which basically meant that they were out of the game. In a moment of decisiveness, our operator activated their reduced gravity shoes, leaped over the container, and sliced their energy sword through a chain that held up another container, sending it plummeting down and crushing the captain in space meth. The day was saved, we made it back to the ship, and I made sure to alt-f4 the person who knocked me out. This is a typical adventure in Starfinder, and once you get your crew together, you too can look out to the stars. Buuuut that'll about do it. I hope you enjoyed this video. Be sure to leave a like, comment, subscribe, ring the bell to get all those fancy notifications, and maybe support me on Patreon so that I can buy a spaceship all my own. But yeah. Dabby out.


CHAPTER VII We stood there, grouped about the body of the dead Gebritten, looking futilely down the river, to where it made an abrupt curve to the west, a quarter of a mile below us, and was lost to sight, as though we expected to see the truant returning to us with our precious launch, the thing that meant life or death to us in this unfriendly, savage world. I felt rather than saw Taylor turn his eyes slowly toward my profile, and, as mine swung to meet them, the expression upon his face recalled me to my duty and responsibility as an officer.  We are lost was written as plainly upon Taylor's face as though his features were the printed words upon an open book. He was thinking of the launch, and of the launch alone. Was I? I tried to think that I was, but a greater grief than the loss of the launch could have engendered in me, filled my heart, a sullen, knowing misery which I tried to deny, which I refused to admit, but which persisted in obsessing me, until my heart rose and filled my throat, and I could not speak when I would have uttered words of reassurance to my companions. And then rage came to my relief, rage against the vile traitor who had deserted three of his fellow countrymen in so frightful a position. I tried to feel an equal rage against the woman, but somehow I could not, and kept searching for excuses for her, her youth, her inexperience, her savagery. My rising anger swept away my temporary helplessness. I smiled and told Taylor not to look so glum. We will follow them, I said, and the chances are that we shall overtake them. They will not travel as rapidly as Snyder probably hopes. They will be forced to halt for fuel and for food, and the launch must follow the windings of the river. We can take shortcuts while they are traversing the detour. I have my map, thank God, I always carry it upon my person, and with that and the compass we will have an advantage over them. My words seemed to cheer them both, and they were for starting off at once in pursuit. There was no reason why we should delay, and we set forth down the river. As we tramped along we discussed a question that was uppermost in the mind of each, what we should do with Snyder when we had captured him, for with the action of pursuit had come the optimistic conviction that we should succeed. As a matter of fact we had to succeed. The very thought of remaining in this utter wilderness for the rest of our lives was impossible. We arrived at nothing very definite in the matter of Snyder's punishment, since Taylor was for shooting him, Delcart insisting that he should be hanged, while I, although fully conscious of the gravity of his offence, could not bring myself to give the death penalty. I fell to wondering what charm victory had found in such a man as Snyder, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for her, and trying to defend her indefensible act. She was nothing to me, aside from the natural gratitude I felt for her, since she had saved my life. I owed her nothing. She was a half-naked little savage, I, a gentleman, and an officer in the world's greatest navy. There could be no close bonds of interest between us. This line of reflection I discovered to be as distressing as the former, but, though I tried to turn my mind to other things, it persisted in returning to the vision of an oval face, suntanned, a smiling lips, revealing white and even teeth, of brave eyes that harboured no shadow of guile. And of a tumbling mass of wavy hair that crowned the loveliest picture on which my eyes had ever rested. Every time this vision presented itself, I felt myself turn cold with rage and hate against Snyder. I could forgive the launch, but if he had wronged her, he should die.  In this I was determined. For two days we followed the river northward, cutting off where we could, but confined for the most part to the game trails that paralleled the stream. One afternoon we cut across a narrow neck of land that saved us many miles, where the river wound to the west and back again. Here we decided to halt, for we had had a hard day of it, and if the truth were known, I think that we had all given up hope of overtaking the launch, other than by the merest accident. We had shot a deer just before our halt, and as Taylor and Delcart were preparing it, I walked down to the water to fill our canteens. I had just finished and was straightening up, when something floating around a bend above me caught my eye. For a moment I could not believe the testimony of my own senses. It was a boat. I shouted to Delcart and Taylor, who came running to my side. "'The launch!' cried Delcart, and indeed it was the launch, floating down river from above us. Where had it been? How had we passed it? And how were we to reach it now? Should Snyder and the girl discover us? It's drifting!' said Taylor. I seen no one in it. I was stripping off my clothes, and Delcart soon followed my example. I told Taylor to remain on shore with the clothing and rifles. He might also serve us better there, since it would give him an opportunity to take a shot at Snyder should the man discover us and show himself. With powerful strokes we swam out in the path of the oncoming launch. Being a stronger swimmer than Delcart, I was soon far in the lead, reaching the centre of the channel, just as the launch bore down upon me. It was drifting broadside on. I seized the gun-whale, and raised myself quickly, so that my chin topped the side. I expected to blow the moment that I came within the view of the occupants. But no blow fell. Snyder lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat alone. Even before I had clambered in and stooped above him, I knew that he was dead. After examining him further, I ran forward to the control board and pressed the starting button. To my relief the mechanism responded. The launch was uninjured. Coming about I picked up Delcart. He was astounded at the sight that met his eyes, and immediately fell to examining Snyder's body for signs of life, or an explanation of the manner in which he met his death. The fellow had been dead for hours. He was cold and still. But Delcart's search was not without results, for above Snyder's heart was a wound, a slit about an inch in length, such a slit as a sharp knife would make. And in the dead fingers of one hand was clutched a strand of long brown hair. Victory's hair was brown. They say the dead men tell no tales, but Snyder told the story of his end as clearly as though the dead lips had parted and poured forth the truth. The beast had attacked the girl, and she had defended her honour. We buried Snyder beside the Rhine, and no stone marks his last resting place. Beasts did not require headstones. Then we set out in the launch, turning her nose upstream. When I told Delcart and Taylor that I intended searching for the girl, neither had demurred. We had her wrong in our thoughts, said Delcart, and the least that we can do in expiation is to find and rescue her. We called her name aloud every few minutes as we motored up the river. But though we returned all the way to our former camping place, we did not find her. I then decided to retrace our journey, letting Taylor handle the launch, while Delcart and I, upon opposite sides of the river, searched for some sign of the spot where Victory had landed. We found nothing until we had reached a point a few miles above the spot where I had first seen the launch drifting down toward us, and there I discovered the remnants of a recent campfire. That Victory carried flint and steel I was aware, and that it was she who built the fire I was positive. But which way had she gone, since she stopped here? Would she go on down the river, that she might thus bring herself nearer her own Grabritten, or would she have sought to search for us upstream, where she had seen us last? I had hailed Taylor and sent him across the river to take in Delcart, that the two might join me and discuss my discovery and our future plans. While waiting for them, I stood looking out over the river, my back toward the woods that stretched away from the east behind me. Delcart was just stepping into the launch upon the opposite side of the stream. When without the least warning, I was violently seized by both arms and about the waist. Three or four men were upon me at once. My rifle was snatched from my hands, and my revolver from my belt. I struggled for an instant, but finding my efforts of no avail, I ceased them, and turned my head to have a look at my assailants.  CHAPTER 8 Delcart and Taylor were now in midstream, coming towards us, and I called to them to keep aloof, until I knew whether the intentions of my captors were friendly or otherwise. My good men wanted to come on and annihilate the blacks, but they were upward of a hundred of the latter, all well armed, and so I commanded Delcart to keep out of harm's way, and stay where he was till I needed him. A young officer called and beckoned to them, but they refused to come, and so he gave orders that resulted in my hands being secured at my back, after which the company marched away, straight toward the east. I noticed that the men wore spurs, which seemed strange to me, but when, late in the afternoon, we arrived at their encampment, I discovered that my captors were cavalrymen. In the centre of a plain stood a log fort, with a blockhouse at each of its four corners. As we approached, I saw a herd of cavalry horses grazing under guard outside the walls of the post. They were small stocky horses, but the telltale saddle galls proclaimed their calling. The flag flying from a tall staff inside the palisade was one which I had never before seen nor heard of. We marched directly into the compound, where the company was dismissed, with the exception of a guard of four privates, who escorted me in the wake of the young officer. The latter led us across a small parade ground, where a battery of light field guns was parked, and toward a log building, in front of which rose the flagstaff. I was escorted within the building into the presence of an old negro, a fine-looking man with a dignified and military bearing. He was a colonel. I was to learn later, and to him I owe the very humane treatment that was accorded me while I remained his prisoner. He listened to the report of his junior, and then turned to question me, but with no better results than the former had accomplished. Then he summoned in orderly and gave some instructions. The soldier saluted and left the room, returning in about five minutes with a hairy old white man. Just such a savage, primeval-looking fellow, as I had discovered in the woods the day that Snyder had disappeared with the launch. The colonel evidently expected to use the fellow as interpreter. But when the savage addressed me, it was in a language as foreign to me as was that of the blacks. At last the old officer gave it up, and shaking his head gave instructions for my removal. From his office I was led to a guardhouse, in which I found about fifty half-naked whites clad in the skins of wild beasts. I tried to converse with them, but not one of them could understand pan-American, nor could I make head or tail of their jargon. For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from morning to night at odd jobs about the headquarters building of the commanding officer. The other prisoners worked harder than I did, and I owe my better treatment solely to the kindness and discrimination of the old colonel. What had become a victory of Delcart of Taylor I could not know, nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn. I was most depressed, but I wild away my time in performing the duties given me to the best of my ability, and attempting to learn the language of my captors. Who they were or where they came from was a mystery to me, that they were the outpost of some powerful black nation seemed likely, yet where the seat of that nation lay I could not guess. They looked upon the whites as their inferiors, and treated us accordingly. They had a literature of their own, and many of the men, even the common soldiers, were omnivorous breeders. Every two weeks a dust-covered trooper would trot his jaded mount into the post, and deliver a bulging sack of mail at headquarters. The next day he would be away again upon a fresh horse toward the south, carrying the soldiers' letters to friends in the far-off land of mystery from whence they all had come. Troops sometimes mounted and sometimes afoot, left the post daily for what I assumed to be patrol duty. I judged the little force of a thousand men were detailed here to maintain the authority of a distant government in a conquered country. Later I learned that my surmise was correct, and this was but one of a great chain of similar posts that dotted the new frontier of the black nation into whose hands I had fallen. Daily I learned their tongue, so that I could understand what was said before me, and make myself understood. I had seen from the first that I was being treated as a slave, that all whites that fell into the hands of the blacks were thus treated. All my daily new prisoners were brought in, and about three weeks after I was brought in to the post a troop of Calvary came from the south to relieve one of the troops stationed there. There was great jubilation in the encampment after the arrival of the newcomers. Old friendships were renewed and new ones made, but the happiest men were those of the troop that was to be relieved. The next morning they started away, and as they were forced upon the parade ground, we prisoners were marched from our quarters and lined up before them. A couple of long chains were brought, with rings in the links every few feet. At first I could not guess the purpose of these chains, but I was soon to learn. Couple of soldiers snapped the first ring around the neck of a powerful white slave, and one by one the rest of us were herded to our places, and the work of shackling us neck to neck commenced. The colonel stalled watching the procedure. Presently his eyes fell upon me, and he spoke to a young officer at his side. The latter stepped toward me and motioned me to follow him. I did so, and was led back to the colonel. By this time I could understand a few words of this strange language, and when the colonel asked me if I would prefer to remain at the post as his body servant, I signified my willingness, as emphatically as possible, for I had seen enough of the brutality of the common soldiers toward their white slaves to have no desire to start out upon a march of unknown length, chained by the neck, and driven on by the great whips that a score of the soldiers carried to accelerate the speed of their charges. About three hundred prisoners, who had been housed in six prisons at the post, marched out of the gates that morning, to what fate and what future I could not guess. Neither had the poor devils themselves more than the most vague conception of what lay in store for them, except that they were going elsewhere to continue in the slavery that they had known since their capture by the black conquerors, a slavery that was to continue until death released them. My position was altered at the post. From working about the headquarters office, I was transferred to the colonel's living quarters. I had greater freedom, and no longer slept in one of the prisons, but had a little room to myself off the kitchen of the colonel's log house. My master was always kind to me, and under him I rapidly learned the language of my captors, and much concerning them that had been a mystery to me before. His name was Abu Belik. He was a colonel in the Calvary of Abyssinia, a country of which I do not remember ever hearing, but which Colonel Belik assured me is the oldest civilised country in the world. Colonel Belik was born in Addis Abiba, the capital of the Empire, and until recently had been in command of the Emperor's palace guard. Jealousy and the ambition and intrigue of another officer had lost him the favour of his Emperor, and he had been detailed to this frontier post as a mark of his sovereign's displeasure. Some fifty years before the young Emperor, Menelik, the fourteenth, was ambitious. He knew that a great world lay across the waters far to the north of his capital. Once he had crossed the desert and looked out upon the blue sea that was the northern boundary of his eminents. There lay another world to conquer. Menelik busied himself with the building of a great fleet, though his people were not a maritime race. His army crossed into Europe. It met with little resistance, and for fifty years his soldiers had been pushing his boundaries farther and farther toward the north. The yellow men from the east and north are contesting our rights here now, said the Colonel, but we shall win. We shall conquer the world, carrying Christianity to all the benighted heathen of Europe and Asia as well. You are a Christian people, I asked. He looked at me in surprise, nodding his head affirmatively. I am a Christian, I said. My people are the most powerful on earth.  Then I set out to prove my point. I told him of our cities, of our army, and of our great navy. He came right back at me, asking for figures, and when he was done I had to admit that only in our navy were we numerically superior. Menelik, the fourteenth, is the undisputed ruler of all the continent of Africa, of all of ancient Europe, except the British Isles, Scandinavia and eastern Russia, and has large possessions and prosperous colonies in what once were Arabia and Turkey in Asia. He has a standing army of ten million men and his people possess slaves, white slaves, to the number of ten or fifteen million. Colonel Bellick was much surprised, however, upon his part to learn of the great nation which lay across the ocean. And when he found that I was a naval officer, he was inclined to accord me even greater consideration than formerly. It was difficult for him to believe, my assertion, that there were but few blacks in my country, and that these occupied a lower social plain than the whites. Perhaps the reverse is true in Colonel Bellick's land. He considered whites inferior beings, creatures of a lower order, and assuring me that even the few white freemen of Abyssinia were never accorded anything approximating a position of social equality with the blacks.  The arms and ammunition of the Abyssinians are greatly inferior to ours, yet they are tremendously effective against the ill-armed barbarians of Europe. Their rifles are of a type similar to the magazine rifles of 20th century Pan-America, but carrying only five cartridges in the magazine, in addition to the one in the chamber. They are of extraordinary length, even those of the Calvary, and are of extreme accuracy.  I refer to the full-blooded natives of Abyssinia. They are the patricians, the aristocracy. The army is officed almost exclusively by them. Among the soldiery a lower type of negro predominates, with thicker lips and broader flatter noses. These men are recruited, so the colonel told me, from among the conquered tribes of Africa. They are good soldiers, brave and loyal. They can read and write. And they are endowed with a self-confidence and pride which, from my readings of the words of ancient African explorers, must have been wanting in their earliest progenitors. On the whole it is apparent that the black race has thrived far better in the past two centuries under many of its own colour than it had under the domination of whites during all previous history. I had been a prisoner at the little frontier post for over a month when orders came to Colonel Bellick to hasten to the eastern frontier with the major portion of his command, leaving only one troop to garrison the fort. As his body servant I accompanied him, mounted upon a fiery little Abyssinian pony. We marched rapidly for ten days through the heart of the ancient German empire, halting when night found us in proximity to water. Often we passed small posts similar to that at which the colonel's regiment had been quartered, finding in each instance that only a single company or troop remained for defence, the balance having been withdrawn toward the northeast in the same direction in which we were moving. Naturally the colonel had not confided to me the nature of his orders, but the rapidity of our march, and the fact that all available troops were being hastened toward the northeast assured me that a matter of vital importance to the dominion of Menelik XIV in that part of Europe was threatening or had already broken. I could not believe that a single rising of the savage tribes of white would necessitate the mobilising of such a force as we presently met with converging from the south into our trail. There were large bodies of cavalry and infantry, endless streams of artillery wagons and guns, and countless horse-drawn, covered vehicles laden with camp equipage, munitions and provisions. Here for the first time I saw camels, great caravans of them, bearing all sorts of heavy burdens, and miles upon miles of elephants doing similar service. It was a scene of wondrous and barbaric splendour. For the men and beasts from the south were gaily comparisoned in rich colours, in marked contrast to the grey uniformed forces of the frontier, with which I had been familiar. The rumour reached us that Menelik himself was coming, and the pitch of excitement to which this announcement raised the troops was little short of miraculous, at least to one of my race and nationality whose rulers for centuries had been but ordinary men, holding office at the will of the people for a few brief years. As I witnessed it I could not but speculate upon the moral effect upon his troops of a sovereign's presence in the midst of battle, all else being equal in war between the troops of a republic and an empire could not this exhilarated mental state, amounting almost to hysteria on the part of the imperial troops, weigh heavily against the soldiers of a president, I wonder. But if the emperor chanced to be absent, what then? Again, I wonder. On the 11th day we reached our destination, a walled frontier city of about 20,000. We passed some lakes and crossed some old canals before entering the gates. Within, beside the frame buildings, were many built of ancient brick and well-cut stone. These, I was told, were of material taken from the ruins of the ancient city, which once had stood upon the site of the present town. The name of the town translated from the Abyssinian is Nugonda. It stands, I am convinced, upon the ruins of ancient Berlin, the one-time capital of the old German empire. But except for the old building material used in the new town, there is no sign of the former city. The day after we arrived, the town was gaily decorated with flags, streamers, gorgeous rugs, and banners. For the rumor had proved true. The emperor was coming. Colonel Bellick had accorded me the greatest liberty, permitting me to go where I pleased after my few duties had been performed. As a result of his kindness, I spent much time wondering about Nugonda, talking with the inhabitants and exploring the city of black men. As I had been given a semi-military uniform which bore insignia indicating that I was an officer's body servant, even the blacks treated me with a species of respect, though I could see by their manner that I was really as the dirt beneath their feet. They answered my questions civilly enough, but they would not enter into conversation with me. It was from other slaves that I learned the gossip of the city. Troops were pouring in from the west and south and pouring out toward the east. I asked an old slave who was sweeping the dirt into little piles in the gutters of the street where the soldiers were going. He looked at me in surprise. Why, to fight the yellow men, of course, he said, they have crossed the border and are marching toward Nugonda. Who will win, I asked. He shrugged his shoulders. Who knows, he said. I hope it will be the yellow men, but Menelik is powerful. It will take many yellow men to defeat him. Crowds were gathering along the sidewalks to view the emperor's entry into the city.  Down the broad main thoroughfare, which may once have been the historic unto Den Linden, came a brilliant courtage.  There were troops of riflemen mounted on camels. The emperor rode in a golden howder upon the back of a huge elephant, so covered with rich hangings and embellished with scintillating gems that scarce more than the beast's eyes and feet were visible. Menelik was a rather gross-looking man, well past middle age, but he carried himself with an air of dignity, befitting one descended in unbroken line from the prophet, as was his claim. His eyes were bright but crafty, and his features denoted both sensuality and cruelness. In his youth he may have been a rather fine-looking black, but when I saw him his appearance was revolting, to me at least. Following the emperor came regiment after regiment from the various branches of the service. Among them batteries of field guns mounted on elephants. In the centre of the troops following the imperial elephant marched a great caravan of slaves, the old street sweeper at my elbow told me that these were the gifts brought in from the far outlying districts by the commanding officers of the frontier posts. The majority of them were women, destined, I was told, for the harems of the emperor and his favourites. It made my old companion clench his fists to see those poor white women marching past to their horrid fates, and though I shared his sentiments, I was as powerless to alter their destinies as he. For a week the troops kept pouring in and out of Nuganda, in always from the south and west, but always toward the east. Each new contingent brought its gifts to the emperor. From the south they brought rugs and ornaments and jewels. From the west slaves for the commanding officers of the western frontier posts had not else to bring. From the number of women they brought, I judged that they knew the weakness of their imperial master. And then soldiers commenced coming in from the east, but not with the gay assurance of those who came from the south and west. No, these others came in covered wagons, blood soaked and suffering. They came at first in little parties of eight or 10, and then they came in fifties, in hundreds, and one day a thousand maimed and dying men were carted into Nuganda. It was then that Menelik XIV became uneasy. For 50 years his armies had conquered wherever they had marched. At first he had led them in person. Lately his presence within 100 miles of the battle line had been sufficient for large engagements. For minor ones only the knowledge that they were fighting for the glory of their sovereign was necessary to win victories. One morning Nuganda was awakened by the booming of cannon. It was the first intimation that the townspeople had received that the enemy was forcing the imperial troops back upon the city. Dust-covered couriers galloped in from the front, fresh troops hastened from the city, and about noon Menelik rode out surrounded by his staff. For three days thereafter we could hear the cannonading and the spitting of the small arms. For the battle line was scarce two legs from Nuganda. The city was filled with wounded. Just outside soldiers were engaged in throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the least enlightened that Menelik expected further reverses. And then the imperial troops fell back upon these new defences, or rather they were forced back by the enemy. Shells commenced to fall within the city. Menelik returned and took up his headquarters in the stone building that was called the palace. That night came a lull in the hostilities. A truce had been arranged. Colonel Bellick summoned me about seven o'clock to dress him for a function at the palace. In the midst of death and defeat, the emperor was about to give a great banquet to his officers. I was to accompany my master and wait upon him. I, Jefferson Turk, Lieutenant in a Pan-American Navy. In the privacy of the Colonel's quarters, I had become accustomed to my menial duties, lightened as they were by the natural kindliness of my master. But the thought of appearing in public as a common slave revolted every fine instinct within me. Yet there was nothing for it but to obey. I cannot even now bring myself to a narration of the humiliation which I experienced that night as I stood behind my black master in silent civility, now pouring his wine, now cutting up his meats for him, now fanning him with a large plumed fan of feathers. As fond as I had grown of him, I could have thrust a knife into him. So keenly did I feel the affront that had been put upon me. But at last the long banquet was concluded, the tables were removed, the Emperor ascended the dais at one end of the room and seated himself upon a throne. And the entertainment commenced. It was only what ancient history might have led me to expect, musicians, dancing girls, jugglers and the like. Near midnight the master of ceremonies announced that the slave women who had been presented to the Emperor since his arrival in Uganda would be exhibited, that the royal host would select such as he wished, after which he would present the balance of them to his guests. Ah, what royal generosity. A small door at one side of the room opened and the poor creatures filed in and were ranged in a long line before the throne. Their backs were toward me. I saw only an occasional profile as now and then a bolder spirit among them turned to survey the apartment and the gorgeous assemblage of officers in their brilliant dress uniforms. They were profiles of young girls and pretty, but horror was indelibly stamped upon them all.  I heard the master of ceremonies command them to prostrate themselves before the Emperor and the sounds as they went upon their knees before him, touching their foreheads to the floor. Then came the official's voice again in sharp and peremptory command. Down, slave, he cried, make obeisance to your sovereign. I looked up attracted by the tone of the man's voice to see a single straight, slim figure standing erect in the centre of the line of prostrate girls. Her arms folded across her breast and little chin in the air. Her back was toward me. I could not see her face though. I should like to see the countenance of this savage young lioness standing there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep. Down, down, shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a step toward her and half drawing his sword. My blood boiled to stand there inactive while a knee-groove struck down that brave girl of my own race. Instinctively, I took a forward step to place myself in the man's path. But at the same instant, Menelik raised his hand in a gesture that halted the officer. The Emperor seemed interested, but in no way angered at the girl's attitude. "'Let us inquire,' he said in a smooth, pleasant voice, "'why this young woman refuses to do homage to her sovereign.' And he put the question himself directly to her. She answered him in Abyssinian, but brokenly and with an accent that betrayed how recently she had acquired her slight knowledge of the tongue. "'I go on my knees to no one,' she said. "'I have no sovereign. "'I myself am sovereign in my own country.' Menelik, at her words, leaned back in his throne and laughed uproarously. Following his example, which seemed always the correct procedure, the assembled guests vied with one another in an effort to laugh more noisily than the Emperor. The girl but tilted her chin a bit higher in the air. Even her back proclaimed her utter contempt for her captors. Finally, Menelik restored quiet by the simple expedient of a frown, whereupon each loyal guest exchanged his mirthful mane for an emulative scowl. "'And who?' asked Menelik. "'Are you? "'And by what name is your country called?' "'I am victory, Queen of Graviton,' replied the girl, "'so quickly and so unexpectedly, "'that I gasped in astonishment.' "'End of Chapter Eight, "'Chapter Nine of the Lost Continent.' "'This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. "'Recording by Lucy LaFaro. "'The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs. "'Chapter Nine.' "'Victory! "'She was here, a slave to these black conquerors. "'Once more,' I started toward her. "'But better judgment held me back. "'I could do nothing to help her, other than by stealth. "'Could I even accomplish ought by this means? "'I did not know. "'It seemed beyond the pale of possibility, "'and yet I should try. "'And you will not bend the knee to me,' continued Menelik, "'after she had spoken. "'Victory shook her head in our most decided negation. "'You shall be my first choice, then,' said the Emperor. "'I like your spirit, "'for the breaking of it will add to my pleasure in you. "'And never fear, but that it shall be broken, "'this very night. "'Take her to my apartments.' "'And he motioned to an officer at his side. "'I was surprised to see Victory follow the man off "'in apparent quiet submission. "'I tried to follow that I might be near her against, "'some opportunity to speak with her "'or assist in her escape. "'But after I had followed them from the throne room, "'through several other apartments "'and down a long corridor, "'I found my further progress barred by a soldier "'who stood guard before a doorway "'through which the officer conducted Victory. "'Almost immediately, the officer reappeared "'and started back in the direction of the throne room.  "'And as the officer approached me, "'I withdrew into the room beyond, "'which was in darkness. "'There I remained for a long time, "'watching the sentry before the door of the room "'in which Victory was a prisoner "'and awaiting some favourable circumstance, "'which would give me entry to her. "'I have not attempted to fully describe "'my sensations at the moment are recognised, Victory, "'because I can assure you they were entirely indescribable. "'I should never have imagined "'that the sight of any human being "'could affect me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory "'in the same room in which I was. "'While I had thought of her for weeks, "'either as dead or at best hundreds of miles to the West, "'and as irretrievably lost to me "'as though she were in truth dead, "'I was filled with a strange, mad impulse "'to be near her. "'It was not enough merely to assist her or protect her. "'I desired to touch her, to take her in my arms. "'I was astounded at myself. "'Another thing puzzled me. "'It was my incomprehensible feeling of elation "'since I had again seen her.  "'I couldn't account for it, and it angered me. "'I had never before felt any such sensations "'in the presence of a woman. "'And I had made love to some very beautiful ones "'in my time. "'It seemed ages that I stood in the shadow of that doorway "'in the ill-lit corridor of the palace of Menelaque XIV. "'A sickly gas-jet cast a sad parlor "'upon the black face of the sentry. "'The fellow seemed rooted to the spot. "'Evidently he would never leave or turn his back again. "'I had been in hiding but a short time "'when I heard the sound of distant cannon. "'The truce had ended "'and the battle had been resumed. "'Very shortly thereafter the earth shook "'to the explosion of a shell within the city. "'And from time to time thereafter "'other shells burst at no great distance from the palace. "'The yellow men were bombarding Nugonda again. "'Presently officers and slaves "'commenced to traverse the corridor "'on matters pertaining to their duties. "'And then came the emperor, scowling and wrathful. "'He was followed by a few personal attendants, "'whom he dismissed at the doorway of his apartments, "'the same doorway through which victory had been taken. "'I chafed to follow him, "'but the corridor was filled with people. "'At last they betook themselves to their own apartments, "'which lay upon either side of the corridor. "'An officer and a slave entered the very room "'in which I hid, "'forcing me to flatten myself to one side in the darkness "'until they had passed. "'Then the slave made a light, "'and I knew that I must find another hiding-place. "'Stepping boldly into the corridor, "'I saw that it was now empty, "'save for the single century before the emperor's door. "'He glanced up as I emerged from the room, "'the occupants of which had not seen me. "'I walked straight toward the soldier, "'my mind made up in an instant. "'I tried to simulate an expression of cringing civility, "'and I must have succeeded, "'for I entirely threw the man off his guard "'so that he permitted me to approach "'within reach of his rifle before stopping me. "'Then it was too late for him.  "'He staggered back in surprise, "'too dumbfounded even to cry out. "'And then I clubbed his rifle "'and felled him with a single mighty blow. "'A moment later I had burst into the room beyond. "'It was empty. "'I gazed about, mad with disappointment. "'Two doors opened from this to other rooms. "'I ran to the nearest and listened. "'Yes, voices were coming from beyond. "'And one was a woman's level "'and cold and filled with scorn. "'There was no terror in it. "'It was victories. "'I turned the knob and pushed the door inward "'just in time to see Melick seize the girl "'and drag her toward the far end of the apartment. "'At the same instant, "'there was a deafening roar just outside the palace. "'A shell had struck much nearer "'than any of its predecessors. "'The noise of it drowned my rapid rush across the room. "'But in her struggles, victory turned to Melick about "'so that he saw me. "'She was striking him in the face with her clenched fist "'and now he was choking her. "'At sight of me, he gave voice to a roar of anger.   "'He staggered back, dropping victory to the floor. "'And then he cried aloud for the guard and came at me. "'Again and again I struck him, "'but his thick skull might have been armor plate. "'For all the damage I did it. "'He tried to close with me, "'seizing the rifle, but I was stronger than he, "'and wrenching the weapon from his grasp, "'tost it aside and made for his throat "'with my bare hands. "'I had not dared fire the weapon for fear that its rapport "'would bring the large guard stationed at the fire "'the end of the corridor. "'We struggled about the room, striking one another, "'knocking over furniture and rolling upon the floor. "'Menelik was a powerful man, "'and he was fighting for his life. "'Continually he kept calling for the guard "'until I succeeded in getting a grip upon his throat. "'But it was too late. "'His cries had been heard, "'and suddenly the door burst open, "'and a score of armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment. "'Victory seized the rifle from the floor "'and leapt between me and them. "'I had the black emperor upon his back, "'and both my hands were at his throat, "'choking the life from him. "'The rest happened in the fraction of a second. "'There was a rending crash above us, "'then a deafening explosion within the chamber. "'Smoke and powder fumes filled the room. "'Half stunned arose from the lifeless body "'of my antagonist, just in time, "'to see victory staggered to her feet and turned toward me. "'Slowly the smoke cleared to reveal "'the shattered remnants of the guard. "'A shell had fallen through the palace roof "'and exploded just in the rear "'of the detachment of guardsmen, "'who were coming to the rescue of the emperor. "'Why neither victory nor I was struck is a miracle. "'The room was a wreck, "'a great jagged hole was torn in the ceiling, "'and the wall toward the corridor "'had been blown entirely out. "'As I rose, victory had risen to and started toward me. "'But when she saw that I was uninjured, she stopped "'and stood there in the centre "'of the demolished apartment looking at me. "'Her expression was inscrutable. "'I could not guess whether she was glad to see me or not. "'Victory,' I cried, "'thank God that you were safe. "'And I approached her, a greater gladness in my heart "'than I had felt since the moment that I knew "'the cold water must be swept beyond 30. "'There was no answering gladness in her eyes. "'Instead, she stamped her little foot in anger. "'Why did it have to be you who saved me?' she exclaimed. "'I hate you.' "'Hate me?' I asked. "'Why should you hate me, victory?  "'I—I—' "'What was I about to say? "'I was very close to her as a great light broke over me. "'Why had I never realised it before? "'The truth accounted for a great many, "'he had two inexplicable moods. "'They had claimed me from time to time, "'since first I had seen victory.  "'Because Snyder told me. "'He told me that you had promised me to him, "'but he did not get me.  "'And then I seized her and held her in my arms "'and made her listen to me, "'though she struggled and fought like a young lioness. "'I love you, victory. "'You must know that I love you, "'that I have always loved you, "'and that I never could have made so base a promise.' "'She seized her struggles, just a trifle, "'but still tried to push me from her. "'You called me a barbarian,' she said. "'Ah, so that was it. "'That still rankled. "'I crushed her to me. "'You could not love a barbarian,' she went on, "'but she had ceased to struggle. "'But I do love a barbarian victory,' I cried, "'the dearest barbarian in the world.' "'She raised her eyes to mine, "'and then her smooth brown arms encircled my neck "'and drew my lips down to hers. "'I love you, I have loved you always,' she said.  "'I have been so unhappy,' she said, "'but I could not die while I thought that you might live. "'As we stood there momentarily forgetful of all else "'than our newfound happiness, "'the ferocity of the bombardment increased "'until scarce thirty seconds elapsed "'between the shells that rained about the palace. "'To remain long would be to invite certain death. "'We could not escape the way that we had entered the apartment, "'for not only was the corridor now choked with debris, "'but beyond the corridor there were doubtless many members "'of the emperor's household who would stop us. "'Upon the opposite side of the room was another door, "'and toward this I led the way. "'It opened into a third apartment "'with windows overlooking and in a court. "'From one of these windows I surveyed the courtyard. "'Apparently it was empty, "'and the rooms upon the opposite side were unlighted. "'Assisting victory to the open I followed, "'and together we crossed the court, "'discovering upon the opposite side "'a number of wide wooden doors "'set in the wall of the palace, "'with small windows between. "'As we stood close behind one of the doors, "'listening, a horse within nade. "'The stables, I whispered, "'and a moment later had pushed back a door and entered. "'From the city about us we could hear the din "'of great commotion, "'and quite close the sounds of battle. "'The crack of thousands of rifles, "'the yells of the soldiers, "'the horse commands of officers, "'and the blare of bugles. "'The bombardment had ceased as suddenly "'as it had commenced. "'I judged that the enemy was storming the city, "'for the sounds we heard were the sounds "'of hand-to-hand combat. "'Within the stables I groped about "'until I had found saddles and bridles for two horses. "'But afterward, in the darkness, "'I could find but a single mount. "'The doors of the opposite side, "'leading to the street were open, "'and we could see great multitudes of men, "'women and children fleeing toward the west. "'Soldiers afoot and mounted were joining the Mad Exodus. "'Now and then a camel or an elephant would pass "'bearing some officer or dignitary to safety. "'It was evident that the city would fall at any moment, "'a fact which was amply proclaimed "'by the terror-stricken haste of the fear-mad mob. "'Horse, camel, and elephant "'tried helpless women and children beneath their feet. "'A common soldier dragged a general from his mount "'and, leaving to the animal's back, "'fled down the packed street toward the west.  "'Shrinks, curses, commands, supplications filled the air. "'It was a frightful scene, "'one that will be burned upon my memory forever. "'I had saddled and bridled the single horse "'which had evidently been overlooked "'by the royal household in its flight. "'And, standing a little back in the shadow "'of the stable's interior, "'Victory and I watched the surging throng without. "'To have entered it would have been "'to have courted greater danger than we were already in. "'We decided to wait until the stress of blacks thinned, "'and for more than an hour we stood there "'while the sounds of battle raged upon the eastern side "'of the city, and the population flew toward the west. "'More and more numerous became the uniformed soldiers "'among the fleeing throng, "'until toward the last the street was packed with them. "'It was no orderly retreat, "'but a rout, complete and terrible. "'The fighting was steadily approaching us now "'until the crack of rifles "'sounded in the very street upon which we were looking. "'And then came a handful of brave men, "'a little rear guard backing slowly toward the west, "'working their smoking rifles in feverish haste, "'as they fired volley after volley at the foe we could not see. "'But these were pressed back and back "'until the first line of the enemy came opposite our shelter. "'They were men of medium height, "'with olive complexions and almond eyes. "'In them I recognised the descendants "'of the ancient Chinese race. "'They were well uniformed and superbly armed, "'and they fought bravely and under perfect discipline. "'So rapt was I in the exciting events transpiring in the street "'that I did not hear the approach of a body of men from behind. "'It was a party of the conquerors who had entered the palace "'and were searching it. "'They came upon us so unexpectedly "'that we were prisoners before we realised what had happened. "'That night we were held under a strong guard "'just outside the eastern wall of the city, "'and the next morning we started upon a long march toward the east. "'Our captors were not unkind to us "'and treated the women prisoners with respect. "'We marched for many days, so many that I lost count of them. "'And at last we came to another city, "'a Chinese city this time, "'which stands upon the site of ancient Moscow. "'It is only a small frontier city, "'but it is well built and well kept. "'Here, a large military force is maintained "'and here also is a terminus of the railroad "'that crosses modern China to the Pacific. "'There was every evidence of a high civilisation "'in all that we saw within the city, "'which, in connection with the humane treatment "'that had been accorded all prisoners "'upon the long and tiresome march, "'encouraging me to hope that I might appeal "'to some high officer here "'for the treatment which my rank and birth merited. "'We could converse with our captors "'only through the medium of interpreters "'who spoke both Chinese and Abyssinian. "'But there were many of these, "'and shortly after we reached the city, "'I persuaded one of them to carry a verbal message "'to the officer who had commanded the troops "'during the return from Uganda, "'asking that I might be given a hearing "'by some high official. "'The reply to my request was a summons to appear "'before the officer to whom I had addressed my appeal. "'A sergeant came for me along with the interpreter, "'and I managed to obtain his permission "'to let victory accompany me. "'I had never left her alone "'with the prisoners since we had been captured. "'To my delight, I found that the officer "'in whose presence we were conducted "'spoke Abyssinian fluently. "'He was astounded when I told him "'that I was a Pan-American. "'Unlike all others whom I had spoken with "'since my arrival in Europe, "'he was well acquainted with ancient history, "'was familiar with 20th-century conditions "'in Pan-America, "'and after putting a half-dozen questions to me, "'was satisfied that I spoke the truth. "'When I told him that victory was Queen of England, "'he showed little surprise, "'telling me that in their recent explorations "'in ancient Russia, "'they had found many descendants "'of the old nobility and royalty. "'He immediately set aside a comfortable house for us, "'furnished us with servants and with money, "'and in other ways showed us "'every attention and kindness. "'He told me that he would telegraph "'his emperor at once, "'and the result was that we were presently commanded "'to repair to P. King "'and present ourselves before the ruler. "'We made the journey in a comfortable railway carriage "'through a country which, as we travelled farther toward the east, "'showed increasing evidence of prosperity and wealth. "'At the Imperial Court, "'we were received with great kindness, "'the emperor being most inquisitive "'about the state of modern Pan-America. "'He told me that while he personally deplored "'the existence of the strict regulations, "'which had raised a barrier between the east and the west, "'he had felt, as had his predecessors, "'that recognition of the wishes of the great Pan-American Federation "'would be most conducive "'to the continued peace of the world. "'His empire includes all of Asia "'and the islands of the Pacific as far west "'as 175 D.W. "'The Empire of Japan no longer exists, "'having been conquered and absorbed by China "'over a hundred years ago. "'The Philippines are well-administered "'and constitute one of the most progressive colonies "'of the Chinese Empire. "'The emperor told me that the building of this great empire "'and the spreading of enlightenment "'among its diversified and savage peoples "'had required all the best efforts of nearly 200 years. "'Upon his accession to the throne, "'he had found the labor well-nigh-perfected "'and had turned his attention to the reclamation of Europe. "'His ambition is to wrest it from the hands of the blacks "'and then to attempt the work of elevating its fallen peoples "'to the highest state from which the Great War precipitated them.  "'Pan America, perhaps, and China, "'with the blacks of Abyssinia,' he said. "'Those who did not fight were the only ones "'to reap any of the rewards that are supposed "'to belong to victory. "'The combatants reaped naught but annihilation. "'You have seen better than any man. "'You must realize that there was no victory "'for any nation embroiled in that frightful war. "'When did it end?' I asked him. "'Again he shook his head. "'It has not ended yet. "'There has never been a formal peace declared in Europe. "'After a while there were none left to make peace, "'and the rude tribes which sprang from the survivors "'continued to fight among themselves "'because they knew no better condition of society. "'War raised the works of man. "'War and pestilence raised man. "'God give that there shall never be such another war.' "'You all know how Porphyrio Johnson returned to Pan America "'with John Alvarez in chains. "'How Alvarez's trial raised a popular demonstration "'that the government could not ignore. "'His eloquent appeal, not for himself but for me, "'is historic, as are its results. "'You know how a fleet was sent across the Atlantic "'to search for me, "'how the restrictions against crossing 30 to 175 "'were removed forever, "'and how the officers were brought to Peking, "'arriving upon the very day "'that Victory and I were married at the Imperial Court. "'My return to Pan America was very different "'from anything I could possibly have imagined a year before. "'Instead of being received as a trader to my country, "'I was acclaimed a hero. "'It was good to get back again, "'good to witness the kindly treatment "'that was accorded my dear Victory. "'And when I learned that Delcart and Taylor "'had been found at the mouth of the Rhine "'and were already back in Pan America, "'my joy was unalloyed. "'And now we are going back, Victory and I, "'with the men and the munitions and power "'to reclaim England for her Queen. "'Again I shall cross 30, "'but under what altered conditions?' "'A new epoch for Europe is inaugurated, "'with enlightened China on the east "'and enlightened Pan America on the west. "'The two great peace powers whom God has preserved "'to regenerate chastened and forgiven Europe. "'I have been through much, I have suffered much, "'but I have won two great laurel wreaths beyond 30. "'One is the opportunity to rescue Europe from barbarism. "'The other is a little barbarian "'and the greater of these is Victory.'" End of Chapter 9. End of The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Recording by Lucy LaFaro, Australia.


Today I'm going to talk about some data visualization, which was like my first love in terms of things that I shared on the internet. When I was a PhD student I started a blog called ifweassume.com. One of the things that drew me into science as a career was this love of data visualization, artistic appreciation for what numbers and science and data looked like. One of my favorite visualizations came out of a data set that the Tate Modern, an art museum in London, published, which was 65,000 pieces of art. It was the metadata for all the art in their collection, so who the author was, when it was acquired, when it was created, what it was made out of, and I got really fascinated by the dimensions of the art itself. So I made this graph, which I guess is a little complicated. It shows a density map. On the x-axis we have the width of the piece, and on the y-axis we have the ratio of the height to the width. Really tall pieces, compared to how wide they are, are up top, and really squat pieces are on the bottom. So the color of the pixel represents how many points, how many pieces of art fall within this space. This horizontal line in the middle, those are square pieces. And I loved this figure because there was so much structure and detail. I thought this was a fascinating graph, and to me it told an interesting story about the sizes of art and the choices that people are making. And when I published this it went nowhere. It didn't get any traction, nobody seemed to like it. So I made a new visualization, which was much more artistic. Instead of showing the actual data themselves in some sort of really quantitative, scientific presentation, I just made this wire diagram a bunch of boxes that represent the width and the height. This is all the pieces up to, I think, about three by three meters. My favorite part is the box that's clearly portraits, that's clearly paintings and things that are a meter by two meter or something like that portrait. I would argue this is a terrible graph. This might be beautiful data in its representation, but it's a terrible graph. You can't measure anything from this. You can't make any quantitative reasoning based on this presentation. Instead it's, this is just art. And what I love about this is this is art, which has become data, which has then gone back to being art. This is what I love about the data is beautiful subreddit. Subreddit is a complex place, but data is beautiful has consistently been one of the best places, I think, on the internet for appreciating quantitative reasoning and science and numbers and has helped push graphs and charts and maps into the common lexicon. My feeling is that that subreddit has had an outsize impact on our cultural appreciation for data. And this experiment with the Tate Modern Gallery's metadata made an interesting connection that data and art can be somewhat indistinguishable. So a game that I like to play in some of my talks that we'll play here today is art or data. Can you tell the difference? So the way this works is I'm going to show you two images and you just decide A or B, which one is data, and which one is art. All right. First we have these two sort of wire frame looking things. They're both really messy jumbles of wires, black lines on white background. What do you think? Okay. The answer here is B. B is a trace of somebody's mouse motions when they're using a coding editor. A is an art installation, which is supposed to be a giant representation of a spider web. All right. Let's move on to the second one. Here we go. Here's two very sort of abstract bar chart looking things. What do you think? A or B? Which one is the data? So the answer is in this case A. A is a data. This is actually a visualization I found on data is beautiful, which took all the references to color in Alice in Wonderland and scaled these bars to all the different colors. And B is a painting by the American painter Ellsworth Kelly. All right. A couple more. A or B? Which one is data? I think this one's really hard. In this case, A is data. It's actually a representation of a graph that I made. This tile of colors represents the position of bestseller books over time. Maybe I'll do a video on this visualization soon. This was a really cool project. B is actually again another painting by Ellsworth Kelly. He's got a series of these. They're really fascinating looking. And the last one maybe is a little easier, but I really like it. B is the data here. This is actually a plot from my friend Ethan Krusey's PhD thesis. And A, again, actually is Ellsworth Kelly. Now this might seem like a big love fest for Ellsworth Kelly. He died a couple years ago. I think the very sort of quantitative feel of his work is really compelling. But I think the point here is that sometimes data looks like art. And that's part of our appreciation for it. That's part of what I think has caused data is beautiful to have millions of subscribers and for graphs and maps to become really part of our conversation about what's going on in politics and the world. A lot of scientists push back on this notion that they have to worry about their graphs being beautiful, that the presentation is the most important thing and that the science and the numbers themselves aren't the most important result. And I sympathize with that. We want the science and the results to speak for themselves, but they don't speak for themselves. We speak for the results. If our writing is unclear or if our graphs are confusing, people aren't taking the message away. As a scientist, I have to make graphs and charts that help make measurements that help convey specific results and meaning. But often the presentation is in a conference talk or a video or maybe on a poster, but we're probably not trying to convey a specific quantitative result. And instead really we're trying to tell a story. I would argue that the data visualization we do as scientists is not dissimilar from the data journalism that's going on or the data appreciation that happens in the data is beautiful subreddit. The reason to make a beautiful graph is to tell your story. And whether you like it or not, the public and your colleagues as a scientist are going to resonate towards figures that are easy to understand and easy to look at. So there you go, art or data, maybe it's both.