In todays world, a one-size-fits-all idea of retirement doesnt fit everyone. Rather than defining retirement as the total conclusion of a 40-year working career, individuals are increasingly retiring early, taking multiple smaller retirements, or working longer and only partially retiring.

Thankfully, theres a savings vehicle that offers specific benefits for each of these retirement concepts. Health savings accounts, or HSAs, provide powerful features to help account holders easily reach their successful version of retirement, whatever that looks like.

This is what most people think of when they think of retirement: working until age 65, then not working for the rest of your life. By putting away funds for retirement during your working career, you earn time later in life to relax, spend time with family, and pursue hobbies.

For these individuals, HSA tax savings can have a significant benefit. Not only are HSA contributions tax-free or tax-deductible, HSA funds grow tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free to pay for qualified medical expenses. By taking advantage of HSA tax breaks, individuals can save money on their medical costs and free up other funds to put away for retirement. And if they choose, they can even use HSA funds to cover health care expenses in the future.

Additionally, one HSA can be used to pay for medical expenses incurred by anyone in your family. As an HSA account holder, you can cover your spouse and tax dependents health care costs tax-free with your HSA, even if they are on a different health plan. You can also change your contribution level midyear, unlike an FSA, where you have to set a defined contribution amount for the entire year. This flexibility allows HSAs to easily fit individuals changing spending and saving needs throughout their journey toward retirement.

Read: 6 ways to keep health care costs from eating up your retirement savings

This version of retirement has gained popularity in part from the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. By advocating a frugal lifestyle and saving a large portion of your paycheck, this movement allows individuals to potentially stop working much earlier than 65.

Read: Early retirement could be bad for your brain

For individuals pursuing early retirement, it is vital to get money invested quickly and take advantage of compound interest over time. HSAs are appealing here because they have no use-it-or-lose-it limits and can be invested just like a 401(k) or IRA. This maximizes individuals ability to grow funds and reach financial independence as soon as possible. For these individuals, choosing an HSA provider that offers funds with low expense ratios is also a key, since those often-overlooked fees can take a big bite out of their savings.

Individuals pursuing early retirement are eagle-eyed about getting all the tax savings they can, and HSA contributions offer more tax savings than 401(k) or IRA contributions. HSA account holders who make pretax HSA contributions via their employers Section 125 plans unlock FICA tax savings on those contributions; thats an extra 7.65% back in your paycheck. This additional money-saving opportunity makes HSAs a popular choice with individuals looking to retire early.

This view of retirement entails taking temporary breaks in working to travel or pursue hobbies, then going back to work afterward. Rather than having one large retirement after 40 to 45 years of working, this concept breaks retirement up into smaller pieces throughout your life.

Because of their periods of not working, advocates of mini-retirement may end up changing jobs many times during their lives. HSAs shine here because they are individually owned, which makes them portable. Unlike FSAs, which stay with your employer, your HSA comes with you from job to job, making it easy to keep saving.

Because of their mini-retirements and subsequent new jobs, these individuals also might find themselves switching health insurance plans often or potentially not having health insurance. While the ability to contribute additional HSA funds is dependent on having an HSA-qualified health plan, account holders never lose the ability to spend the current funds in their account. That means as long as account holders have funds in their HSAs, they will be able to pay for their medical expenses tax-free, even if their insurance situations change.

Read: Health care will cost this much in retirement and probably more

This version of retirement is for people who dont see themselves completely stopping working. Their financial situation may require a longer career, or they may love what they do and keep working by choice. Either way, these people dont experience the complete ending of work that is typical of traditional retirees.

Because HSAs dont have required minimum distributions, theyre ideal for people in this stage. They never have to withdraw funds from their HSAs before they need to, like they will with a traditional 401(k) or IRA. Their HSA funds can keep growing until they choose to withdraw them.

In addition, after HSA account holders turn 65, they can withdraw HSA funds for nonmedical expenses and only pay regular income taxes. For individuals who are working longer, this offers additional flexibility on how their HSA funds can be used. They never need to worry about having more HSA funds than health care costs, because they can easily use their HSA dollars on nonmedical expenses.

These days, retirement might look like 20 years of frugal living so you can stop working at 45, taking breaks from work every five years, or continuing to pursue the work you love into your later years. However, no matter what retirement means to you, the robust feature set and unparalleled tax savings offered by your HSA will help you get there.

James Denision is marketing director at HealthSavings Administrators, an HSA provider.

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Whatever retirement looks like for you, health savings accounts can help you get there - MarketWatch

It might be a good time for a general conversation about your shared savings and retirement goals, the advice columnist writes.

Dear Penny,

My husband became obsessed with the stock market during quarantine. His company stopped its 401(k) match in March, so he stopped contributing. He also stopped making his Roth IRA contribution, which he used to max out.

Instead, hes putting all that money into his Robinhood account and hes always trading on the app.

I left my job in the medical field earlier this year because of worries about COVID-19 and because our kids school had closed. Weve decided not to send the kids back to school at least through the end of 2020, so Im at home getting our three kids through virtual school. Since Im not working, I cant contribute to a retirement account of my own.

I dont know much about the stock market and I have zero interest. My husband has a finance degree, though thats not his profession, so I lack his expertise in this respect. Some of his friends are equally obsessed with Robinhood. Im alarmed because Ive heard them joke about the risky bets theyve made.

He hasnt taken money out of retirement accounts or our savings. He says I shouldnt worry because hes made way more than he would have with his 401(k) and also because were still current on all our bills even without my income.

Is it OK that hes stopped contributing to his 401(k) so he can trade stocks? How do I ask him what hes actually investing in? Im worried that hes gambling money that we need for our retirement.

-K.

Dear K.,

Maybe your husband does know more about the stock market than you do. But it sounds like youre the smarter investor.

If your husband is using the fact that hes gotten superior returns since March compared to what hes averaged in his 401(k) over the years, hes giving himself WAY too much credit. Please dont buy in.

As of Sept. 1, the S&P 500 was up 57 percent since its historic crash in March. Those returns simply arent sustainable. Historically, stocks deliver average annual returns of about 10 percent before you account for inflation. Investments in 401(k) plans skew conservative, so youd expect slightly lower returns.

You dont build wealth through huge short-term stock market fluctuations. You build it by consistently investing and staying put over the long haul. Your concern implies that, unlike your husband, you grasp that.

But this question is about so much more than money.

Youre not earning a paycheck right now, but youre very much working. Youve put your career on pause and taken on the difficult work of getting your family through the pandemic.

But has your husband sacrificed? It doesnt sound like it. Instead, hes turning your couch into a casino.

Heres whats even more worrisome, though: Hes unilaterally making decisions that affect your entire family without your consent, despite knowing youre worried. This is not a partnership.

You obviously know that its time for a long-overdue talk with your husband about his decisions. And while Im being hard on him, Id suggest taking a different approach.

Dont lead with Im worried that youre gambling away our future. Its a 100 percent legitimate concern. I just dont think it will start a productive dialogue.

Tell him instead that you want to set aside a couple hours to go over all of your investment and savings accounts. Its harder for him to get defensive if youre simply seeking to understand where your family finances stand. If he resists having an open conversation, consider it a huge red flag.

Focus the discussion on your broader goals, like when you want to retire or whether you want to pay for your kids college. Dont let yourself get sucked into an argument about the returns hes gotten. Those returns are unattainable in the long run. Aim to figure out what you should contribute for retirement based on the modest 6 percent to 7 percent returns financial planners estimate youll average.

One thing Id insist on here is that he prioritize your retirement as well. Youre right that you cant contribute to a retirement account without earned income, but earning spouses can fund an IRA for a non-earning spouse. The regular IRA contribution limits of $6,000 if youre under 50 or $7,000 if youre 50 or older apply.

Once youve resumed funding your retirement accounts sufficiently and youre saving for any other goals, you can split any extra money between the two of you for your individual wants. If he chooses to trade stocks on Robinhood, he can bet to his hearts content.

Dont let him sway you with his stock market expertise. Your future is at stake. Personally, Id trust you to manage my money over your husband any day.

Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior editor at the Penny Hoarder. Send your tricky money questions to AskPenny@thepennyhoarder.com.

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Dear Penny: I think my husband is gambling away our future on Robinhood - Tampa Bay Times

Maybe you're a seasoned investor and have a good track record with stock-picking. And you may have a robust retirement portfolio - perhaps including some Zacks Top Retirement stock selections such as:

Virtu Financial (VIRT), Simmons First National (SFNC) and Farmers National Banc (FMNB).

If you did something similar, would it be advisable for you to trade your own retirement nest egg?

It could be a good idea - that is, if you are one of the very few investors who understands your own risk tolerance and can keep your emotions in check during chaotic market swings. However, if you're like the rest of us, there are likely more prudent ways to reach your retirement investing goals.

That's because the risk - reward scenario and investing approach is completely different for long-term wealth building and active stock trading.

Diversification vs. Stock Picking

Picking individual stocks has the potential for huge returns - but also carries a lot of risk, which is particularly hazardous when investing for retirement.

In fact, a study done by Hendrik Bessembinder revealed that only 4% of equities produced all of the stock market's gains over the last 90 years. All other stocks "broke even" with the increases of 38% canceled out by the losses of the bottom 58%.

For even the most talented stock pickers, the odds for long-term success are slim.

Is Investing Success All In Your Mind?

Most people think they can make rational investment decisions, but research indicates the opposite is often true. Investors followed in a DALBAR study performed significantly worse than the S&P 500: For the 30 years between 1986 to 2015, the average investor earned just 3.66%, whereas the S&P 500 produced a 10.35% return.

It is interesting to note that the period covered by this study includes the 1987 crash, the 2000 bear market, and the Great Recession of 2008, as well as the bull market of the 1990s.

This study suggests that one key reason for investor underperformance is trying to time volatile markets - and that irrational behavior biases tend to compound investor mistakes.

Story continues

Curiously, even experienced traders tend to underperform since they can't resist the emotional urge to make impulsive investment choices. They might be overly self-assured and miscalculate risk, get attached to a price target, or perceive a pattern that does not exist. This behavioral fallacy, over the long-term, can be disastrous with potential underperformance of a huge number of dollars disrupting your retirement.

The Key Takeaway for Retirement Investors

Your retirement portfolio should be managed with a strategy of performance over decades - not days, weeks or quarters. Most self-directed investors tend to fall short when it comes to long-term results.

Does that mean you should quit trading? Not really. One plan is to take 10% of your investable resources and trade to create alpha and look for outsized returns.

However, the major part of your wealth - those assets reserved for retirement - ought to be invested utilizing a more careful, conservative, risk management strategy to produce steady, compounded returns so you can securely achieve your retirement objectives.

Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes?

Whether you're planning to retire early or not, don't let investing mistakes derail your plans.

If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click the link to download our free report, 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement.

This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes, like trying to time the market, lack of diversification in your portfolio, and many more. Get Your FREE Guide Now Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Simmons First National Corporation (SFNC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Farmers National Banc Corp. (FMNB) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

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Signs That Your Trading Will Ruin Your Retirement - September 07, 2020 - Yahoo! Voices

Automatically saving a percentage of your salary can be one of the easiest ways to fund your retirement.

But figuring out how much your contributions will equal in the future can be confusing. If your plan is to get to $1 million, starting younger will go a long way toward keeping the process manageable.

As a rule of thumb, most financial advisors suggest you save 10% to 15% of your annual salary. Saving less is likely to leave you with regrets, while going too much higher than that can put a strain on your budget.

Personal finance website NerdWallet crunched the numbers, and we can tell you exactly how much of your $50,000 you'll need to tuck away to get there.

Just a few things to remember: These numbers assume you have no money in your retirement plan, that you will get a 6% return on your investments and that you will retire at age 65.

The math also does not account for potential pay increases, employer matches, inflation or any curveballs life may throw at you. So plan accordingly.

Now let's dive into the figures. Watch this video to find out how to make it happen.

More from Invest in You: How Walmart and other big companies are trying to recruit more teenage employees Americans are more in debt than ever and experts say 'money disorders' may be to blame How much money do you need to retire? Start with $1.7 million

Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.

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How much you'll need to save per month to retire with $1 million on a $50,000 salary, broken down by age - CNBC

Less than two weeks into the 2019 NFL season, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered the most devastating injury of his career. Just before halftime of a game against the Seahawks, Big Ben tore three tendons "off the bone" while trying to throw a pass.

Not only did the injury end Roethlisberger's season, but there was also some speculation that it might end his career. The idea that Big Ben's career might be over after 16 seasons basically boiled down to two things: First, he suffered a devastating injury that no quarterback has ever had to recover from, and two, the Steelers quarterback is 38 years old, which is an age when nearly every NFL player not named Tom Brady sees their productivity come to a screeching halt.

Roethlisberger's wife, Ashley, knew it is was going to be tough for her husband to return to football, so one of the first things she did after the injury was to let him know that it was OK if he wanted to retire.

"I told him that I was only going to say this one time," Ashley said, via ESPN.com. "I wanted him to hear me and mark my words, not going to bring it up again, but if he felt content where he was with the career that he's had and it's on his heart to just be done, I would support him 100% in that. He doesn't have to worry about my feelings in all that. I want what he wants. I was basically just handing him permission to retire if that's where his heart was and I was going to support him in that."

Ashley revealed the details of the conversation during episode oneof a YouTube docu-series the Roethlisbergers are doing together.

After hearing what his wife had to say, Big Ben made it clear that he had no plans to retire, despite the fact that he didn't yet know how difficult it was going to be to recover from the injury.

"He listened, and you could tell he really took it to heart and thought," Ashley said. "And he said, 'Thank you, but I don't feel done. I'm not done.'"

The reason Big Ben came back is that he wants to win a few more Super Bowls, which is something he explained in early August.

"I think any athlete, any competitor, will tell you they want to go out on their own terms," Roethlisberger said. "And it doesn't happen all the time. We don't always get that lucky I think if I had felt that I was closer to the end, it might have been a decision for me to think longer about coming back or not. But I didn't feel that I was close to that. I'm not saying that I have 10 years left in me, but I definitely feel that I have some really good years left in me. That was definitely a motivating factor; coming back and showing that I still have it in the tank. I still have a lot to give this team. I still have a lot to give the fans. And I still want to win Lombardis, and I say that with a plural on the end."

Roethlisberger has continuously said during training camp that he feels really good, but the fact of the matter is that he still hasn't taken any hits. Since there were no preseason games this year, that means Big Ben won't take his first hit until he gets on the field in Week 1 against the Giants. The Steelers opener is being played on Monday night, which means there will be a lot of curious eyes watching when Roethlisberger suits up to play his first game in nearly a year.

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Ben Roethlisberger's wife reveals details of retirement talk she had with Steelers QB after his ugly injury - CBS Sports

In its 2019 Stress in America survey, the American Psychological Association reported that 60% of American adults identified money as a significant source of stress in their lives. Aside from simply trying to make ends meet, saving money for retirement is often reported as folks primary money concern. In fact, only 45% of people feel confident that theyll be able to pay for their retirement dreams.

While financial experts stress starting to save for retirement early, and common wisdom dictates that individuals should be setting aside 10% to 15% of their yearly incomes as early as in their 20s, that doesnt always happen. A variety of factors like the recession, downturns in the stock market, and supporting adult children or elderly parents make it impossible for many to put money aside even though they know they should. As a result, the size of the average nest egg in 2019 was down 7.5% to 8% from 2018s average.

Retirees in the United States would need more than $1 million to retire at age 65. That amount of wealth is unattainable for many, and as a result, those reaching retirement age have started looking for other options. One such option? Retiring overseas. In 2019, it was reported that more than 500,000 people were receiving their retirement benefits overseas, an increase from the 400,000 receiving their benefits overseas in 2000.

In this article, Stacker looks at what it would be like to retire in 50 places around the world. Using independent sources, weve checked key components like the cost of living, safety, health care, ease of obtaining a visa, popular activities, and cultural similarities to give you an idea of what it would be like to start your third act somewhere new.

From sunny Costa Rica to glacial Iceland, read on to get a basic idea of what your golden years would look like spent outside the United States.

You may also like: Best boarding schools in America

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What retirement is like in 50 places around the world Stacker Money - MSN Money

Hard-left progressives are telling anybody who will listen that the 2020 riots and pandemic have handed them the opportunity theyve always needed to transform America. What they want is a revolution in the minds of the people, not unlike the one John Adams said led to 1776, though to attain opposite ends.

The question is, will Americans from the right and center listen, grasp that progressives mean what they say, and realize that the country might change into something unrecognizable?

The warnings (or threats) are everywhere and difficult to miss. They come neatly folded into a very instructiveconversationheld in August by four charter members of the hard leftAlicia Garza, founder of Black Lives Matter; Nikole Hannah-Jones, founder of theNew York Times 1619 Project; Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO ofVoto Latino; and historian Martha Jones. The conversation was held to mark the anniversary of the 19thAmendment, which told the states they could not prevent women from voting.

The exchange was eerily instructive. One almost gets the sense of what it must have been to eavesdrop on the Founders at 1776 or the Framers at 1787, as they envisioned a new order replacing a passing one. Except in reverse, of courseall the gains in human freedom achieved through the Declaration and the Constitution would unravel if the four discussants got their way.

Just as colonists based their worldview on the ideas of thinkers that had preceded them, such as the Englishmen William Blackstone and John Locke and the Frenchman Montesquieu, todays woke progressives take their ideological marching orders from European thinkers of decades ago, such as the Italian Antonio Gramsci and the German-American Herbert Marcuse.

This means that, just as the writings of James Wilson and Thomas Jefferson are made clearer by having a grounding in their Enlightenment philosophical forebears, to understand the language of todays left it is important to grasp how 20thcentury Critical Theorists viewed the world.

The Gramscian Dream

It is clear, too, that leftists see 2020 and the immediately preceding decade as providing the same environment-changing events as the 1760s did for the colonists.

To John Adams, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and especially the Writs of Assistance, had caused in the minds of the colonists a shift in the way they viewed the provenance of their rights during the crucial 15 years prior to Lexington. At the end of that period, they no longer viewed their rights as those of Englishmen, but coming from nature, an Enlightenment idea. What do we mean by the Revolution? The War? That was no part of the Revolution. It was only an Effect and Consequence of it. The Revolution was in the Minds of the People, and this was effected, from 1760 to1775,wroteAdams to Jefferson years later, in 1815.

Today, leftists believe the nine-minute martyrdom of George Floyd in May, and the astute use of its video recording by BLM, combined with the way the pandemic has asymmetrically affected different demographic groups, provide them with the spark to burn down the old America. This is not the Civil Rights idea of letting black Americans access the American Dream. The goal now is to replace the Enlightenment view, upon which that Dream was based, that the individual can observe pre-political rights such as the right to free speech or property in nature, with a Gramscian one which spurns individual agency and emphasizes collective action. The pandemic and the riots are their version of the Writs of Assistance.

One way to get there, they tell us openly, is by convincing people who have immigrated from other lands that the very conditions that attracted them here in the first place are harmful and have victimized them, and that we must replace these conditions with different ways to redistribute wealth.

They are clearly also betting that the COVID-19 pandemic will alter forever the way we conduct business in America, and say that they can use the moment to introduce that redistributive new order.

But by far the most important goal of their project is to use the twin 2020 tragedies to alter the very storyline of America, to delegitimize what has been the general culture of the country since the founding and the framing. Once that is done, they can effect systemic change.

Let No Crisis Go to Waste

The lefts already existing dominance of the culture-making institutions will make its effort to determine which beliefs and ideas are spread through society a relatively easy taskmuch easier than it would be for conservatives to mount a counter-attack, even if they were to realize what is afoot. So far, the right and the center have allowed the hard left almost monopoly control over the media, entertainment, and the academy, a reality that has become even more acute since George Floyds death.

The crucial work of indoctrinating the initially reluctant base is carried out first by organizers. Kumar provides us with a window into how that work is done.

The challenge with the work that I do atVoto Latinois that I cant get people agitated because often times they dont know the great harm that has happened under the structures that we have been raised by, she said. But once they start understanding it and recognizing it, they act and react, and fight and run for office.

Taken together with another comment by Kumar that Latinos are a community that is for the most part a first generation community, that does not understand the ropes, we can see that she seesVoto Latinos mission as instilling into immigrants grievances about the country that took them in.

Kumar added that the latest example of how the Latino vote could be activated was the tragic death of George Floyd. AtVoto Latino,we knew that Black Lives Matter is in allyship with the African American community and the Latino community. We immediately switched all of our digital program to connect voting and protest, and we were able to register over 97,000 people in less than 17 days, because people found that in the Latino community that that was an issue for them.

COVID-19 has helped, too. Black Americans have suffered in disproportionately high numbers, and to the activists, this unequal outcome, as any other, can only be the result of systemic racism. Its taken a pandemic thats lasted less than 90 days, for us to expose the institutional racism that we talk about, said Kumar.

While Kumars way off about the percentage of the foreign-born (its about a third, according toPew), she clearly understands her role as a member of the Revolutionary Vanguard. To appreciate Kumars work, we must understand the intellectual influences that laid the groundwork.

From Immigrants to Vassals?

The idea that an ideological elite must inculcate feelings of victimhood and resentment into the massesfor otherwise they will not rebel and overthrow the systemhas been around for at least a century. In 1916, the Italian communist leader Antonio Gramsci wrote that a revolutionary consciousness would not be formed under the brutal goad of physiological necessity, but as a result of intelligent reflection, at first by just a few people and later by a whole class, on why certain conditions exist and how best to convert the facts of vassalage into triggers of rebellion and social reconstruction.

It is thus to trigger rebellion that immigrants must discover that they struggle under conditions of vassalage in their new country; otherwise they will go on busily building their lives. Every revolution has been preceded by an intense labor of criticism, by the diffusion of culture and the spread of ideas amongst masses of men who are at first resistant, and think only of solving their own immediate economic and political problems for themselves, who have no ties of solidarity with others in the same condition, Gramsci wrote.

His main idea was the Theory of Cultural Hegemony. The Vanguard had to destroy societys entire Hegemonic Narrative and replace it with a Counter-Narrative.

Herbert Marcuse, a German-born hero of the New Left in America in the 1960s, built on Gramscis work. He, too, despaired that the worker, this time in his new home, was too contented: The people find themselves in their commodities: they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.

Without the indoctrination that revolutionary vanguard groups likeVoto Latinocarry out, the participation of the working class in the political process would not only be insufficient, but even be counterproductive. Where these [working] classes have become a prop of the established way of life, their ascent to control would prolong this way in a different setting, wrote Marcuse.

Or, as Angela Davis, a student of Marcuse at Brandeis in the 1960s (and today, tellingly, an importantmentorto Alicia Garza),tolda packed auditorium at UVA in 2018, Diversity without changing the structure, without calling for structural formation, simply brings those who were previously excluded into a process that continues to be as racist, as misogynist as it was before.

That is why individuals cannot be allowed to attempt to solve what problems they have, but must be herded into an aggrieved collective that then has an incentive to overthrow the system. The individual is the centerpiece of the Lockian Enlightenment; the aggrieved collective category takes center stage under Critical Theory.

All liberation depends on the consciousness of servitude, wrote Marcuse. At Voto Latinos website, 12 liberal top-line issues ranging from Police Brutality to Reproductive Justice, portray America as a land of iniquity, and everywhere there are tabs to help the now-woke reader register to vote.

Smashing White Supremacy

But what kind of liberation? To Marcuse it was Marxist central planning. Garza and her cohorts agree. Throughout the mid-August discussion with Kumar and the others, Garza returns repeatedly to the idea that the pandemic will make it easier to rewrite Americas entire organizational model and find a different way to distribute resources.

Frankly, what we are able to do in this moment, that maybe werent as well positioned to do four months ago, is use the opportunity of crisis to actually usher in a new way of being with each other, she said. This new way would enable the ability to distribute resources in such a way where nobody gets left behind distribute resources in such a way where everybody has and nobody is left out.

This holistic transformation of society must first undo white supremacy, and how the narratives of white supremacy have been so successful in using the language of effort, ability and agency, right, to keep people from supporting the black peoples struggle for liberation.

I think we are all clear that the kind of change that we need right now, is the kind of change that rejects the ways in which our lives were organized and tries to put into place a new way of organizing ourselves, Garza added. This change must drive back underground and frankly into oblivion white nationalism and white supremacy.

But what do Garza and all the other members of the ultra-progressive left mean by the ubiquitous term white supremacy?

It is hard to come up with a single instance where Garza gives an actual definition of what she means by it. This is odd, given that she spends a great deal of time talking about how to combat white supremacy, make it extinct and replace with it with a counter-narrative.

Such opacity must be on purpose. Usage of the term provides insulation from analysis and criticism. Who could oppose anyone fighting white supremacy?

Upon further reflection, in fact, it becomes apparent that white supremacy has become the term of art that the American left uses to depict American culture. It is not the vile racial superiority preached by the rancid minds at the KKK or the American Nazi Party, but something that is in fact its opposite: how the modern world is ordered.

When Garza, Robin DiAngelo, Ibram X. Kendi, Patrice Cullors, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hannah-Jones and the other charter members of the ultra-left speak of overthrowing white supremacy what they really mean is replacing Americas economic and cultural system with one that redistributes wealth, no longer has the individual at its center and recognizes only government-granted positive rights, not pre-political natural rights. The use of white supremacy is, thus, a very successful example of the lefts use of strategic ambiguity in the pursuit of a rather large and ambitious goal. The target is a free-market system that rewards hard work, ability and other virtuous traits.

Consider, for example, what Garzatolda room-full of Maine progressives during a visit to the Pine Tree State last year: Change requires changing ourselves so that we can change whats happening around us. When we talk about fighting white nationalism, fighting white supremacy, were not talking about fighting white people.Were talking about changing how weve organized this country,so that we actually can achieve the justice that we are fighting for. I believe we all have work to do to keep dismantling the organizing principle of this society,which creates inequities for everyone. (Italics my own.)

This is also clear from an interview Garza gaveMother Jonesthree years ago, where she said, Things likerenamingholidays and removingstatues are really a part of a culture-change strategy that I think is important. But it cant stop there. We can change Columbus Day toIndigenous Peoples Day, but if were not doing the work to make sure that indigenous nations have sovereignty in this country, or self-determination, or that they have a quality of life that mirrors that which we afford to rich white professionals, then it is merely symbolic. Whether its toppling monuments or closing the education gap or closing the school-to-prison pipeline, we need to uproot white supremacy everywhere that it lives.

That talk of white supremacy aims not at David Duke or Richard Spencer, but at William Blackstone and John Locke, can be seen more clearly in the writings of DiAngelo and Coates, who have come closest to defining it.

Unmaking America

Discussing how sociologists and those involved in the social justice movement view the term, DiAngelo says in her best-seller White Fragility that white supremacy in this context does not refer to individual white people and their individual intentions or actions but to an overarching political, economic, and social system of domination.

DiAngelo goes on to say that, while hate groups that openly proclaim white superiority do exist and this term refers to them also such a reductive definition obscures the reality of the larger system at work and prevents us from addressing this system.

White supremacy is something much more pervasive and subtle than the actions of explicit white nationalists. White supremacy describes the culture we live in, writes DiAngelo. White supremacy has shaped a system of global European domination. She quotes Charles W. Mills as saying that white supremacy is nothing less than the unnamed political system that has made the modern world what it is today.

For Coates, white supremacy is not merely the work of hotheaded demagogues, or a matter of false consciousness, but a force so fundamental to America that it is difficult to imagine the country without it.

It is the Wests entire political system that Garza means by white supremacy;thatis what she wants to drive into oblivion. She urges white liberals first and foremost to abandon the system. We need you defecting from white supremacy and changing the narrative of white supremacy, shetolda gathering in 2017.

An important question then arises: How close are they to success?

Hannah-Jones 1619 Project, which rewrites American history to place slavery at the center of the countrys storyline, is a major on-going project of theNew York Times Magazine. Named after the year when Africans were first brought as slaves to the colonies, it misleadingly pretends that this date, not 1776, is the true founding of America. This clear attempt at replacing Americas narrative with a counter-narrative is also a curriculumone already being taught in 4,500 classrooms across the country and adopted by five education districts.

And the long march of the counter-narrative is not limited to these 4,500 classrooms. Sit in any meeting of the local board of education across America and you are likely to hear long diatribes about equity, systemic racism, implicit bias, culturally responsive teaching, and other touchstones of the new left. This is being taught to our children from a very young age.

But it isnt just impressionably young minds in K-12 and above who are imbibing the counter-narrative. Robin DiAngelo spoke on a conference call in early June with 184 Members of the House of Representatives, for what party leaderscalleda Democratic Caucus family discussion on race.

According to theNew York Times, since George Floyds death, DiAngelos inbox has been flooded with urgent emails: requests to deliver (virtually because of the pandemic) workshops and keynotes at Amazon, Nike, Under Armour, Goldman Sachs. The entreaties went on: Facebook, CVS, American Express, Netflix.

Shifting the Narrative

Everywhere we look, in fact, it seems that what our four conferees said is coming to fruition: the tenor of the national debatethe thinking of the country, and perhaps its narrative going forwardhas shifted. There seems to be a growing acceptance that there is systemic, structural, and institutional racism, and the countrys very system, along with all is structures and institutions, need to be smashed and replaced.

Changing society does not require convincing everybody of the need to do so. A famousexperimentconducted in 2018 by the University of Pennsylvanias Annenberg School of Communications demonstrated that the tipping point for a determined and organized minority to change a societys consensus on norms is 25 percent. We anticipate that social media spaces of this kind will be an increasingly important setting for extending the findings of our study to understand the role of committed minorities in shifting social conventions, said the writers.

Whether American society has passed that tipping point yetsome have put it at 10 percent of the populationis unclear. But given Black Lives Matters success at using the Floyd tragedy to organize protests and riots nationwide, we know that they are coordinating well.

Not every boy and man who fought at Lexington and Concord, or for the next six years that the war lasted, had heard of Blackstone, Locke, Montesquieu, and the other philosophers who had contributed to the thinking that birthed the country for which they were fighting. While it is a safe bet that Garza, Hannah-Jones and Kumar have heard of Gramsci and Marcuse, surely not many woke Americans have. But they are, nonetheless, foot-soldiers in the cultural war to replace the narrative of 76 with a new one.

Only by waking up in time might conservatives hope to prevent the deep institutional, structural and systemic overhaul the left lusts after. They will need a strategy that goes beyond economics and the law, the areas where conservatives have always focused their attention, and embraces culture. It is there where the battle now goes. Regaining the commanding heights of the culture should be their number-one goal.

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The Revolution Is Upon Us - Heritage.org

GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Author Paula Polcini's book, "PM: Man's Journey from Darkness to Light," is dedicated to the concept, "building the house that has everything anyone would ever want." Within her debut book, readers will experience reincarnation, and the presence of God within human beings is defined by science. Polcini will captivate readers through her direct experience in this reincarnation that the physical body is only the vehicle one is given to carry their soul or self through each reincarnation. When one passes away, the body disappears, but the soul is alive as ever. "PM" introduces a new time cycle known as The Cosmic Age, which causes a great movement to recognize all human beings' spiritual value and equality. Polcini explains her knowledge of universal law through the true stories that goaded her to dig deeper, seeking to find the roots of suffering in a quest for better answers to life's challenges.

Throughout the book, she explains that educating universal law with its undeviating justice will bring humanity to a level of consciousness where one will become aware of God's presence within their own being for the first time. This knowledge is the beginning of an awakening of humankind's unity with God and all that is. "PM" addresses that in the past three hundred years, souls have been coming into reincarnations with memories of having been here before. Individuals are receiving this new knowledge through various experiences unfolding higher consciousness levels to know the unseen reality of life.

"My goal for 'PM' is to replace Old World abstractions with New World Reality," said Polcini. "My book proves reincarnation is a fact of life and that it is a time to know we are more than our physical bodies. We must refine our consciousness before we can receive finer energies to enable us to create new combinations of elements that will bring human life to the next level of cultural development toward what we are destined to become."

"PM" ultimately addresses the number of souls coming in at this time is increasing because of the opportunity to heal and strive to the future with another unfoldment toward the truth that individuals are divine beings. Polcini will guide readers down a path to enlightenment, which is the foundation of the universe that unfolds remembrance of who an individual is, outlines what they are a part of and how they are supposed to live.

PM: Mans Journey from Darkness to LightBy Paula Polcini ISBN: 978-1-4525-8081-4 (softcover); 978-1-4525-8083-8 (hardcover); 978-1-4525-8082-1 (eBook) Available at Balboa Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the authorPaula Polcini came into this reincarnation with remembrance of a house that has everything anyone would ever want. Throughout her life, she has had visions, dream messages and guidance that led to independent studies unfolding step-by-step understanding of reincarnations. In May of 1975, she had what Dr. Maurice Bucke, M.D., describes in his book "Cosmic Consciousness" a cosmic conscious experience that lasted for one month. For many years she volunteered to care for people who were ill and young children who accessed Higher Knowing beyond their three-dimension, five-sense consciousness that began to build her consciousness to ever-higher levels of understanding that began to change her Old World thinking. She worked as a secretary to Dr. Robert Atkins, where she learned more about the suppression of alternative health care.

Balboa Press, a division of Hay House, Inc. a leading provider in publishing products that specialize in self-help and the mind, body, and spirit genres. Through an alliance with the worldwide self-publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the self-publishing model. For more information, visit balboapress.com. To start publishing your book with Balboa Press, call 877-407-4847 today.

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AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Hollywood's much delayed summer blockbuster season is barely one weekend old and already it's Labor Day, so it's time to talk about fall movies. The spy thriller "Tenet" proved over the weekend that pandemic-weary audiences will return to cinemas for the right film. So assuming it's safe where you are, what's the next right film? Well, we've got some possibilities in critic Bob Mondello's fall movie preview.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: When the coronavirus struck, Tinseltown's men all hightailed it to next year - Vin Diesel in "Fast & Furious 9," Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick," even Gru in the "Minions." So fall falls to the women, and they're hitting reset by looking to the past.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACK WIDOW")

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: (As Natasha Romanoff) The Avengers weren't my first family.

MONDELLO: Marvel's "Black Widow."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACK WIDOW")

FLORENCE PUGH: (As Yelena Belova) Natasha, my sister, after all this time, what brings you home?

JOHANSSON: (As Natasha Romanoff) We have unfinished business.

PUGH: (As Yelena Belova) Who's we?

MONDELLO: Two trained assassins working together - this is how Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow upped her game between "Civil War" and "Infinity War."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACK WIDOW")

PUGH: (As Yelena Belova) OK. You got a plan or shall I just stay duck and cover?

JOHANSSON: (As Natasha Romanoff) Yeah. My plan was to drive us away.

PUGH: (As Yelena Belova) Well, your plan sucks.

MONDELLO: Family, am I right? For a DC superheroine played by Gal Gadot, the problem is an envious gal pal played by Kristen Wiig.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WONDER WOMAN 1984")

KRISTEN WIIG: (As Barbara Minerva) You've always had everything while people like me have had nothing. Well, now it's my turn.

GAL GADOT: (As Wonder Woman) Barbara, what did you do?

MONDELLO: She's become an apex predator in "Wonder Woman 1984." The '80s were a time of relative enlightenment for women in the non-comics world as opposed to the 1940s depicted in the espionage thriller "A Call To Spy."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "A CALL TO SPY")

STANA KATIC: (As Vera Atkins) Churchill has asked us to create a secret army of spies.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) This is a rudimentary operation.

LINUS ROACHE: (As Maurice Buckmaster) Women will be more inconspicuous.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Make sure they're pretty.

KATIC: (As Vera Atkins) For you or for the Germans?

MONDELLO: And things haven't changed much by the 1970s as contestants in beauty pageants well knew.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MISBEHAVIOUR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) We really believe beauty isn't just skin deep. The girls also have charm, grace, good deportment.

RHYS IFANS: (As Eric Morley) Swimsuits.

MONDELLO: The film "Misbehaviour" recreates the 1970 Miss World pageant, Gugu Mbatha-Raw lining up on one side...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MISBEHAVIOUR")

LOREECE HARRISON: (As Pearl Jansen) I'm the first Black South African to take part.

GUGU MBATHA-RAW: (As Jennifer Hosten) I'm the first Miss Grenada.

MONDELLO: ...Keira Knightley on another.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MISBEHAVIOUR")

JESSIE BUCKLEY: (As Jo Robinson) They're turning oppression into a spectacle. Let's make a spectacle of our own. We'd infiltrate the theater.

MONDELLO: About that same time, singer Helen Reddy was fighting Capital Records when she wanted to record the song that gives her biopic its title.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "I AM WOMAN")

TILDA COBHAM-HERVEY: (As Helen Reddy, singing) I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) It's kind of angry.

MATTY CARDAROPLE: (As Roy Meyer) It's man hating.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) Jeff, you OK with this?

EVAN PETERS: (As Jeff Wald) What are you doing? You want to lose your recording contract?

COBHAM-HERVEY: (As Helen Reddy) This is more than just a song to me.

MONDELLO: She'd be joined on movie screens by fellow feminists Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug played by Julianne Moore and Bette Midler if the producers of the biopic "The Glorias" hadn't decided to stream it instead to get the widest possible audience by Election Day. Other films centered on women include "Kajillionaire" about an unhappy teenager in a family of petty criminals...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "KAJILLIONAIRE")

RICHARD JENKINS: (As Robert) She learned to forge before she learned to write. No, actually, that's how she did learn to write.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) So what do your parents do, hun?

EVAN RACHEL WOOD: (As Old Dolio) Hun - you've never called me that. I bet you could if it was a job, though, right?

MONDELLO: ...And the French film "Sibyl" about a psychotherapist who's corralled into refereeing disputes on a film set.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SIBYL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character) Action.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As character) I just have to sit back and watch reality destroy things.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character) Keep the drama fictional, if you don't mind.

MONDELLO: It's worth noting that all of these films don't just feature women. They were directed by women. A woman director will also tackle the fall's most awaited genre flick.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CANDYMAN")

YAHYA ABDUL-MATEEN II: (As Anthony McCoy) I just moved in around the corner.

COLMAN DOMINGO: (As William Burke) The old candy factory.

ABDUL-MATEEN: (As Anthony McCoy) I'm an artist.

DOMINGO: (As William Burke) You're looking for Candyman

MONDELLO: Nia DaCosta's "Candyman" produced by Jordan Peele will hold up a new mirror to the racial and gender issues of the original, which is not to suggest that men will be missing in action this fall. In fact, Netflix just kicked Oscar season into high gear by announcing David Fincher's black-and-white 1930s-style biopic "Mank" about the man who wrote "Citizen Kane". And elsewhere, men will have their usual swagger, whether contending with an extinction-level event in the disaster flick "Greenland..."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GREENLAND")

MORENA BACCARIN: (As Allison Garrity) John, go.

GERARD BUTLER: (As John Garrity) I swear I'm going to get my family into that bunker.

MONDELLO: ...Or solving crimes in a ridiculous mustache in "Death On The Nile..."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEATH ON THE NILE")

KENNETH BRANAGH: (As Hercule Poirot) I am Detective Hercule Poirot, and I will deliver your killer.

MONDELLO: ...Or interfering in a daughter's love life in Sofia Coppola's "On The Rocks."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ON THE ROCKS")

BILLY MURRAY: (As Felix) So Dean's going away a lot on business trips?

RASHIDA JONES: (As Laura) Dad.

MURRAY: (As Felix) Raise your hand if that sounds fishy.

JONES: (As Laura) He's not like you. He's a good guy, a great dad.

MURRAY: (As Felix) Sure. It's nature. Males are forced to fight, to dominate and to impregnate all females.

MONDELLO: Enlightenment's still a work in progress, obviously. There are some interestingly paired films, two about kidnappings - "Infidel" in the Middle East...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "INFIDEL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #8: (As character) No one knows where you are. And it's going to stay that way.

MONDELLO: ...And "Let Him Go" in the American West.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LET HIM GO")

DIANE LANE: (As Margaret Blackledge) That girl can't protect her child.

KEVIN COSTNER: (As George Blackledge) Margaret, Jimmy's her boy.

LANE: (As Margaret Blackledge) He's your grandson.

MONDELLO: Opening within a couple of weeks of each other are a pair of unrelated but similar-sounding thrillers, Ben Affleck in "Deep Water" and Matt Damon in "Stillwater." And another pair of films deal with weighty end-of-life issues, Grandma Susan Sarandon doing her best to control her passing in "Blackbird..."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKBIRD")

SUSAN SARANDON: (As Lily) Anna, Chris, you up yet? I'm dead soon. You coming down? That should do it.

MONDELLO: ...Bruce Dern losing control to dementia in "The Artist's Wife."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE ARTIST'S WIFE")

BRUCE DERN: (As Richard Smythson) It's very hard to look inside and paint when it's all gone.

MONDELLO: There are even twinned documentaries - "Time" shot over two decades as a woman struggles to get her husband out of prison...

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "TIME")

FOX RICH: My twins will be 18 next month. They have absolutely no idea what it means to have a father in their house.

MONDELLO: ...And "Aggie" about an art collector who sold a painting for $165 million and put the proceeds toward prison reform.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "AGGIE")

AGNUS GUND: We went to San Quentin. I had people come up to me and say, what in the world did you want to do that for?

MONDELLO: Does all this sound less than fully escapist considering we've been cooped up in isolation for months? Well, Pixar to the rescue with "Soul."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SOUL")

JAMIE FOXX: (As Joe) Today started out as the best day of my life.

ANGELA BASSETT: (As Dorothea) Back here tonight; first show's at 7.

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Hajj 2020 open and close its wing in a flash like mode with a unique operating system that has not been witnessed before. It was a hajj undertaken with COVID 19 complaint model of hajj arrangement. Every segment of hajj services delivery was altered, and that presents us with fresh challenges that must be reviewed before we can create new operational guidelines for Hajj 2021.

Meanwhile, NAHCON has set 9th of September for the commencement of Hajj 2021 registrations. Registration of intending pilgrims signals the commencement of preparations for the next year hajj. What are the issues that should form part of pilgrims registration guidelines?

Will Saudi Arabia adopt or retain the Hajj 2020 COVID 10 protocols for Hajj 2021? Will there be an amendment or are we likely to revert to pre COVID 19 Hajj guidelines? Our ability to projects and creates a flexible plan will allow NAHCON and States Muslim Pilgrims Boards to fashion pilgrims education and enlightenment program. This piece is an attempt to bring the future into the present so that the present will not be surprised by the future.

Vaccine or no vaccine, COVID 19 precautions and protocol will be observed during Hajj 2021. The reduced quota system will still be maintained and for Hajj 2021, it will be between a maximum of 50% and possibly below (depends on the situation of COVID 19 in Saudi Arabia) There is a possibility that the door of Umrah will be opened this month and whatever conditions, and operational guidelines adopted therein can be taken as things to come as far as Hajj 2021 is concerned.

However, Pilgrims registrations and documentations, intending pilgrims enlightenment and educations cannot be on hibernation especially now that NAHCON has set September 9 as the date of commencement of pilgrims registrations.

Pilgrims Registrations Hajj 2020 was undertaken with strict adherence to the established protocols and therefore, hajj 2021 will not be different Before Pilgrims registration guidelines, we must put the underlisted Hajj 2020 protocols into considerations. There may be little or no alteration depends on the availability of unified accepted vaccines and the ratio of COVID 19 cases in the Kingdom before hajj 2021.

During Hajj 2020, intending pilgrims aged between 20 and 65 without chronic illnesses were required to apply online. Each pilgrim undergoes health checkups and PCR test, followed by a 7-day home quarantine. Pilgrims were then transported to Mecca and quarantined for a further three days, followed by a second PCR test. Only those that were tested negative the second time that was allowed to perform hajj. Reference one.

NAHCON should key in into these pilgrim registrations guidelines with a little amendment. Pilgrims within the age of 20-65 without chronic illness for now.

States pilgrims board that has registered above 50% of their original Hajj 2020 quota should adopt the new policy as a pre-condition for Hajj 2021 registration.

NAHCON and States Muslim Pilgrims Boards should introduce a legally binding agreement to be signed by intending pilgrims. For example, That registration can be considered valid only IF Saudi Arabia announced 50% Hajj quota Nigeria in2021. This will serve as insurance for the rollover pilgrims in the event of 20 or 10% hajj quota because the rollover pilgrims are within this range.

Pilgrims registration should be tagged incomplete without a PCR Test with a negative result. That intending pilgrim (whether pre-Hajj 2020 or post-Hajj 2020 candidates) must attend pilgrims enlightenments and education before they can be considered; that amount deposited by each pilgrim is termed as initial deposit subject to the official announcement of Hajj fare

To avoid rollover trouble, NAHCON needs to oversight States Muslim pilgrims board on the number of pilgrims that were rolled over from each state, and whether pilgrims that apply for refunds have been refunded. It will be wrong for us to begin new registration without drawing the curtain on Hajj 2020 registration. NAHCON, States Muslim Pilgrims Boards and Tour Operators should reconcile to know the exact number of pilgrims that rolled over to 2021.

For example, how many pilgrims were registered by States Pilgrims Boards or Tour Operators and how much they paid as deposits; how many were eventually refunded and how much were they paid?

Is there any modality to works out any accrued benefit to pilgrims that agreed to roll over their money (on the condition that such money was kept in fixed deposits accounts by states Muslim pilgrims boards or kept in an accounts that yields interests?)

How can aggrieved pilgrims who may not have been refunded (if there are any) reach NAHCON? Do we have a fall back option in terms of settlement?

My advice is that NAHCON should publish a comprehensive list of numbers of pilgrims that registered in 2020 and how much deposits each pilgrim paid as transmitted to NAHCON by State Muslim Pilgrims Boards. To be followed by amount released to each States by NAHCON for refunds. Though a little number of pilgrims applied for refunds in some states, there are states pilgrims boards that are yet to commence payment of the refund. This is necessary because eventually, the bulk will stop at NAHCON table (being the apex hajj regulatory body) if it turns out that some states defaulted.

Hajj Saving Scheme to the rescue Indeed, NAHCON Chairman Zikrullah Kunle Hassan and his management team must be commended for proactively engaging stakeholders on ways of activating the Hajj Saving Scheme to solve the inherent timelines financial difficulties in Hajj activities.

In reality, the current socio-economic challenges have made it difficult for most Nigerians to raise funds in one fell swoop towards performing Hajj.

HSS will provide a convenient method of payment for Hajj and allow people to build-up funds overtime. NAHCON should accompany its drive with mass education and enlightenment that HSS is the best and more secure system for savers especially pilgrims as against the traditional risk-prone system of savings. It is a public service and the general public should be educated on its benefit.

As stressed by NAHCON Chairman, HSS will empower pilgrims and makes Hajj affordable to them and creates mutual benefits for both Hajj bodies and pilgrims.

Pilgrims Education and Enlightenment Here comes the new normal. Both the old and the new intending pilgrims will have to be educated and enlightened on the new normal in hajj operations. From quarantine and re-quarantine, mandatory PCR test and random tests, the law of social distance, emerging airport protocols, COVID decree pilgrims accommodations spacing, one passenger free seat pilgrims bus rule, possible two or more story tents in Mina with more space and of course the possibility of pay as you are served that means pilgrims may pay more. If hajj 2020 is decreased to 50% quota, there will be additional costs in flights, pilgrims buses, and accommodation because these services will also apply health protocols by reducing capacity.

I didnt say an increase in Hajj fare because that is a term that average intending pilgrims may not like to hear.

Remember that the above analysis does not factor the current exchange rate of naira to a dollar and the possibility of Saudi Arabia introducing additional health-related payable services.

At the end of Hajj 2020, pilgrims were again required to self-isolate for 14-days. It simply means that Hajj 2021 pilgrims may not be allowed to move about after Hajj rites unless they observe 14 or 7 days post-Hajj quarantine.

If COVID era is not completely over, Pilgrims may stay longer because Saudi may adopt country by country entrance system. For example, Saudi may allow only Pakistan or India or Indonesia to airlifts their pilgrims for a certain number of days before another country will be allowed. This may be done to ensure that one country pilgrims do not mixes with another on arrival before they are moved into pre hajj quarantine centre.

Pilgrims will then stay for 7 days quarantine and moved to their hotel before another countrys pilgrims will be allowed to come in.

If this scenario surface, the airlift of pilgrims will take much longer time considering the fact there over 64 countries that will feature in Hajj and that each country will required minimum of 10 days to airlift their pilgrims and an additional 7 days to undergo pre hajj quarantine.

More importantly, the Hajj Instruction Governing Airlift of Pilgrims by Air issued by Saudi Arabia General Authority of Civil Aviation GACA during Hajj 2019 specified the number of days countries with a certain number of pilgrims can airlift their pilgrims.

Item 2-3 under Flight Scheduling and Slot Allocation Procedures therein stated that Arrival and departure Hajj regular and charter flights (both phases) will be distributed based on agreed quota between Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and Hajj Affairs Offices of each country, air carriers must provide Hajj Affairs Offices with approved flights schedule, to finalize their contractual issues, according to the requirements of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrahs Electronic Track.

The Quota Flights Distributing/phase in the Hajj Instruction Governing Airlift of Pilgrims by Air shows that hajj Countries with 30,000 pilgrims and above will have flight slots spread to 30 days, while countries with 20,000 - 30, 000 pilgrims need 25 days. Countries with Less than 20,000 pilgrims have 20 days to airlift their pilgrims.

Given the above, a 50% Hajj quota in 2021 will give us about 48,000 pilgrims thereby placing Nigeria within countries with a minimum of 30days airlifts period as prescribed by Saudi GACA.

Item 2-6 of the GACA guidelines added that Air carriers operating Hajj flights must distribute their flights as indicated in item (2-3), in an equal manner to ensure best utilization of the entire period. The air carrier must not intensify their flight schedules during the last week of arrival phase and the first week of departure phase, taking in consideration, spread daily flights overtime periods that suitable for both airports operation slots allocation capability, in order to maintain equality among air carriers.

Given the above, Nigeria will spend a minimum of 30 days to airlift 48,000 pilgrims. This calculation was done on the premise that air carriers will utilize their slots as at when due, that pilgrims will arrive hajj camp and screening takes place on schedule, and that no flight will miss its schedule due to weather or technical problems. There will be a provision for 8-10 days flight free days (five days of hajj rites and an additional 5 days to prepare for movement)

Honestly, I hope that additional 7 or fewer days pre and post hajj quarantine will not be added in 2021 and that GACA will amend pilgrims airlift instructions guidelines before the D-day otherwise, we might spend more days in Saudi Arabia than we envisaged.

There is also electronic tagging of pilgrims right from their homes before they even began their journey. Each pilgrim was tagged with a bracelet designed to monitor and record their health status and track individual quarantine, through the Tatamman app.

The Tatamman applications were meant to enhance the responsibility of those directed into health isolation while closely monitoring their health status. The app also conveniently facilitated various other health-related services including the booking of PCR testing appointments.

Some Hajj rituals were structured to ensure social distancing of at least 1.5 meters between each pilgrim while either praying, circumventing the Kaaba or performing other religious duties. The Umrah guidelines will reveal what Hajj 2021 rituals will look like.

Hajj 2020 Pilgrims were only allowed to move in fixed groups of 20 with an assigned health leader. Each leader was responsible for conducting health checkups twice a day for their designated group. If this is retained, we may need the services of experienced hajj medical teams and more number of physicians in 2021.

This year, Saudi Arabia distributed certified anti-insect IHRAM free of charge to male Pilgrims. The Ihram is produced in Saudi Arabia and therefore, pilgrims may not be allowed to enter the Kingdom with IHRAM or purchase one at the road shops In the absence of a clear roadmap to Hajj 2021, the best we can do is to use Hajj 2020 as a ticket to board the flight of Hajj 2021 with a room for adjustments whenever the needs arise.

Ibrahim Muhammed is the National Coordinator of Independent Hajj Reporters - 08037024356

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Hajj 2020.. The ticket to board Hajj 2021 flight - The Nigerian Voice