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[deangele1]

Bluestone patio hingham

Bluestone Patios, Commercial Landscaping, and Snow Removal Services in Massachusetts

When it comes to enhancing outdoor spaces, whether for residential or commercial properties, several factors come into play. 

From designing a stunning bluestone patio to managing snow removal in Bridgewater or investing in landscape construction for your business in Westwood, Massachusetts offers a wide range of services that can transform your property’s exterior.

This blog covers everything you need to know about these services, including, landscape construction in Westwood, MA, commercial landscaping in Bridgewater, as well as finding the right Rockland, MA landscapers for your needs. We’ll also explore the expertise of Angelo Landscape and discuss how landscape construction in Bristol can give your outdoor space the perfect finishing touch.

Designing a Bluestone Patio for Your Home

A bluestone patio is a timeless addition to any home, offering both durability and beauty. Bluestone, a natural stone with a rich blue-gray hue, is known for its strength and resistance to weathering, making it a popular choice for patios, walkways, and outdoor living spaces.

When designing a bluestone patio, it’s important to consider factors such as:

Size and Layout: The size of your patio should complement the scale of your home and yard. You can create a simple, elegant rectangular layout or design a more intricate pattern that incorporates curves and borders.

Seating and Functional Areas: Depending on how you plan to use your outdoor space, you may want to include seating areas, dining spaces, or even a fire pit or outdoor kitchen. Bluestone’s versatility makes it ideal for creating distinct areas within your patio.

Maintenance: Bluestone requires minimal maintenance compared to other materials. Regular cleaning and occasional sealing will help preserve its color and prevent any wear and tear.

If you’re considering a bluestone patio for your home, hiring a professional landscaping company with expertise in hardscaping is essential. Their experience in choosing the right stone, preparing the base, and installing the patio will ensure the project is completed to the highest standards.

Commercial Snow Removal Services in Bridgewater

For businesses in Bridgewater, MA, maintaining clear and safe access during winter months is critical. Commercial properties, in particular, need reliablel services to ensure that parking lots, sidewalks, and entryways are free from snow and ice. A well-maintained property minimizes the risk of accidents, ensuring the safety of employees, clients, and customers.

In Bridgewater, where winter weather can be unpredictable, reliable commercial snow removal ensures that your business can remain operational, even during harsh conditions.

Landscape Construction in Westwood, MA

Landscape construction encompasses a wide range of services aimed at creating functional and aesthetically pleasing outdoor spaces. For property owners in Westwood, MA, investing in professional landscape construction can significantly enhance the appearance and value of both residential and commercial properties.

Some of the most common landscape construction projects include:

Patios and Walkways: Creating pathways and outdoor seating areas using materials such as bluestone, pavers, or natural stone.

Retaining Walls: Retaining walls are both functional and decorative, providing support for sloped areas and preventing erosion while adding texture and dimension to the landscape.

Water Features: Fountains, ponds, and waterfalls can bring a sense of tranquility to any outdoor space.

Outdoor Lighting: Landscape lighting not only adds ambiance but also increases safety by illuminating walkways and entrances.

When it comes to landscape construction in Westwood, MA, it’s essential to work with a professional team that understands the local climate, soil conditions, and zoning regulations. This ensures that the project is completed efficiently, within budget, and in compliance with any local codes.

Commercial Landscaping in Bridgewater, MA

First impressions matter, and for businesses in Bridgewater, MA, a well-maintained landscape can make all the difference. Commercial landscaping involves the design, installation, and maintenance of outdoor spaces for businesses, apartment complexes, and other commercial properties.

Key services offered by commercial landscaping companies include:

Lawn care and maintenance: Regular mowing, fertilizing, and weed control keep the grounds looking neat and professional.

Planting and design: Choosing the right plants for the space, considering factors like seasonal color, drought tolerance, and low maintenance.

Irrigation systems: Installing and maintaining irrigation systems ensures that your commercial property stays green and lush throughout the year.

Seasonal services: In addition to snow removal in winter, commercial landscapers may offer fall leaf cleanup, spring planting, and other seasonal maintenance services.

Investing in commercial landscaping for your property in Bridgewater not only boosts curb appeal but can also improve employee morale and attract more customers. A beautifully landscaped property reflects a business's attention to detail and commitment to quality.

Rockland, MA Landscapers: Finding the Right Fit

If you’re in Rockland, MA, and looking for professional landscaping services, you’ll want to find landscapers who offer a variety of services, including lawn maintenance, planting, hardscaping, and landscape design.

Here are some tips for finding the best Rockland, MA landscapers for your project:

Check their portfolio: A reputable landscaper should have a portfolio showcasing previous projects. Look for examples that align with your vision for your outdoor space.

Read reviews: Online reviews and testimonials can give you insight into a company’s reliability, quality of work, and customer service.

Request a consultation: Before committing, meet with potential landscapers to discuss your needs. A good landscaper will take the time to understand your goals and provide recommendations based on your budget and preferences.

Angelo Landscape: Your Trusted Partner for Landscaping Services

Angelo Landscape is a well-known name in the Massachusetts landscaping industry, providing a wide range of services for both residential and commercial clients. From patio installation to lawn care and seasonal maintenance, Angelo Landscape offers customized solutions tailored to meet each client’s specific needs.

Whether you’re looking to install a bluestone patio, need regular lawn maintenance, or are considering a major landscape construction project, Angelo Landscape has the expertise and experience to deliver high-quality results.

Landscape Construction in Bristol

In Bristol, MA, landscape construction plays a significant role in enhancing both residential and commercial properties. With a focus on creating outdoor spaces that are not only beautiful but also functional, landscape construction projects can include everything from retaining walls and walkways to garden beds and water features.

When investing in landscape construction in Bristol, it’s important to work with a team that understands your vision and can bring it to life through careful planning, expert craftsmanship, and the use of high-quality materials. Whether you're looking to improve your home's curb appeal or create a welcoming outdoor space for your business, the right landscape construction team can make all the difference.

Conclusion

From designing a stunning bluestone patio to ensuring your commercial property is well-maintained through landscape construction and snow removal services, there are numerous options available to meet your outdoor needs in Massachusetts. Whether you're located in Bridgewater, Westwood, Rockland, or Bristol, finding the right landscaping or snow removal company can transform your property and leave a lasting impression.

By investing in professional services like those offered by Angelo Landscape or other local experts, you can ensure that your outdoor space is functional, beautiful, and ready to impress year-round.

[random-brushstrokes]

Angelo Morbelli (Italian, 1853–1919) - A View Of The Isola Bella

[leatherandmossprints]

‘Il Sole’ by Angelo Barabino, c. 1907.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Acme Lake Autumn Reflections

Photographer: Angelo Mamone

[madmutts]

animal crossing mention on my dash......

[peaceinthestorm]

Angelo Barabino (1883-1950, Italian) ~ Alpine pasture, n/d

[shortnotsweet]

[ “PATIENCE” ]:

Give me one more sigh to the top of the mountain—baby, roll those eyes to the top of the mountain. Close your eyes, be patient, it's coming! All my dreams have been weighing me down, like an anchor to my bed.

— BAD SUNS

It’s only a second—a split second—but in that moment Jason wonders who has dreamt up Nico Di Angelo before.

It’s not strange for godly children to be granted prophetic visions, or omniscient images from a greater force not buoyed by themselves—Fate, a god, the recesses of their own trauma, what have you. But—no. Jason wonders who else has dreamt of Nico, not as a distant figure blotted out in the plotted landscape of some prospective quest, or as an omen of all things foreboding and unknown, but really dreamt. A real dream.

The Nico in front of him—for this split second, mind you, and isn’t this second stretching longer than any second before—has his face upturned to the wind, and his eyes closed to the sound below them. The city sprawl, honking and screaming and polluting the air with its babble. Jason can barely hear it now, can only observe with a sudden micro-awareness the thinness of his fingers and the delicate bones of his wrist as he extends them. The skull ring glints there, the darkness of the band cutting into the pale of his skin like a shadow cast, and Jason remembers, dumbly, Oh, yeah. Summoning the dead. There’s a lot of that in Chicago.

Jason doesn’t care about scrape of skeleton bones clawing themselves out of asphalt or the lingering of unresolved souls. Instead, it’s the feathering of Nico’s lashes against his own cheek, the downward slope of his mouth, sharp jut of his jaw belaying a quiet softness to his face that was easy to miss. For someone as unsubtle as Nico, it seems that it’s easy for a lot of people to miss crucial things such as this. By the time Jason had started noticing, he just couldn’t stop.

Nico exists, sometimes, as if he is not entirely of this world. It’s not a stretch for some godly children, a child of Death especially, but with Nico it has become increasingly more evident in the little moments, the subtle gestures. Maybe it’s Jason’s own godly genes—he can almost feel the texture of the wind against Nico’s skin as it kisses his cheek, the inhale of air—or maybe it’s just Jason. Freakishly detail oriented Jason, who stares at his ceiling at night, awake, but doesn’t dare toss and turn, who pours over blueprints and Lego models in his spare time and fixates on this kind of thing.

That’s the kind of thing Jason sees in his dreams, the image that flickers under his eyelids between memories of a life half lost to him and a visage of what comes next.

[moominvalley-state-of-mind]

head canons for drawing styles! yayayya:

(not a ton of charicters are on here cause i didn't think they would draw/im not sure what their art style would be)

percy jackson: all his drawings somehow look like they were made in mspaint and half awake

annabeth chase: diagrams, but when she dose draw someone (like percy or sally) its very sketchy, like Role Dahle's drawings

piper mcclean: that grungy alt style with the long eyelashes

leo valdez: realy only dose diagrams, and said diagrams are mainly made up of basic shapes and stuffs but when he dose draw people its the worst stick figure you have ever seen

frank zhang: very cartoony, simmiler style to We Bear Bears

hazel leveque: charcoal drawings, also kinda realistic (i think its cannon that she dose charcoal, or knows how to)

nico di angelo: realism, but focuses more on landscapes than people

magnus chase: stick figures

alex feirro: like annabeth and leo, most of her drawings are diagrams but i think his style is kinda art-nouvoe ish

mallory keen: is simmiler to a lot of fashion drawings from the 70s, but i think its also kinda resembles ND Sevenson (the person who origonaly made Nimona)

t.j.: realism. while he didn't have much time to draw in his life, i like to think he did it as often as he could and took some classes on art during death. no basis for that one, but i think hes also good at pixel art.

halfborn: has a range of styles, but mostly relies on a semi abstract one

blitzen: fashion stylist, gotta get things down quick, so i think his style is full of shapes (all styles are but whatever) and kinda scratchy.

hearthstone: kinda loopy and sketchy, some how one line drawings

carter kane: realism, but i think it would be cool if he did watercolor too. him doing lanscapes sounds interesting too

sadie kane: scean 2000s drawing style with the square mouths and pointy teeth

EDIT:

holy moly how did i forget about rachel dare

i think she also had a realistic style, but its like. 1800s or 1700s realism. and she defenetly has alot of diffrent styles like halfborn

[gosecretscribbles]

Rise August Day 2: Karai

“– and I thought Raph was going to back down until Leo mentioned his teddy bear collection.”

Karai frowned slightly.  “He…collects bears?”

“Yeah!  Stuffed animals, you know –” Mikey scribbled in the air with his fingertip, etching the outline of a teddy bear.  The bright orange outline shimmered in the dark space of their shared ninpo.  “He used to have over two hundred, but the Shredder kind of destroyed most of them.  He’s up to twenty now.  Anyway, Leo threatened to portal them all into the Hudson if we followed him on patrol tonight.”

Karai sighed.  “How illogical.  Wasn’t he the most injured by the Krang?”

“Yeah, but…”  Mikey shrugged.  “I think that’s why he wants to patrol by himself.  He hated the crutches.  I think he wants to test his limits without worrying about us watching.  Well – me and Raph watching.  I think he forgot that Donnie records, like, everything.”

A sudden shimmer of teal sparked over Mikey’s orange form.  He grimaced. 

“Aw, man.  I think that’s Barry.  I told him we could do an extra mystics lesson tonight since we don’t have patrol.”

“Hmm.”  Karai shifted uneasily.  “Mystical forces can be deadly.  Do not let yourself grow overconfident, Michelangelo.”

“Not you, too!” he huffed.  “I get babied by everyone in the family.  But I’ve got just as much ninjocity as any of my brothers and three times the razzmatazz.  I know what I’m doing and I know when to stop – and when not to stop.”  He held out both hands.  They were still crisscrossed with faint scars, but here in the darkness, the scars glowed a molten yellow. 

Karai placed her hands over both of his.  “You do,” she said gently, warmly.  “And I have little doubt you will achieve mastery beyond any Hamato before you.  I simply do not wish you to master too much too quickly.  Those with great talent are often called upon to bear terrible burdens.”

Mikey’s eyes softened even as he flashed her a cheeky grin.  “Don’t worry, Uncle Ben, I promise I’ll go slow.  For now.  Spider-Angelo out!”

He squeezed her hands and vanished in a crackle of orange fireworks.

She sighed.  Ninpo mysticism could translate centuries-old Japanese and modern English, but not cultural references.  Or perhaps her progeny were also part-spider…?  With the way Michelangelo flung his chains, she wouldn’t be too surprised. 

She stood and stretched.  The dark space of the ninpo began to fade.  The space around her filled instead with a green landscape of rolling hills, forests, and rivers, an echo of the Japan she had been raised in.  The afterlife could take many forms.  When she had been released from her self-inflicted prison, her dead descendants had been charmed by her descriptions of the original Hamato village, and had recreated it here.  With modern additions.  Electricity was a marvelous invention, as was plumbing.  Even so, the rice paddies in the south had been set up according to ancient and well-proven agricultural science.  No one needed to eat, but there was something deeply soothing about growing a food so familiar to every generation of Hamato.  Her keen eyes picked out her father leading a few children through the paddies.  Telling them stories, likely as not, to teach them about their history.

She moved to join them.  Then Michelangelo’s words came back to her.  Leonardo was patrolling alone tonight. 

But no Hamato need ever be alone.

Karai closed her eyes and rekindled her ninpo.  She let her senses stretch once again into the dark space where their mystic energy touched across generations, across the very boundary between life and death.  It only took her a moment to find him.  When she opened her eyes, the space around her was dark once again.  Leonardo was in front of her, his own eyes closed, legs folded in a traditional seiza. 

She nearly spoke.  Then she recognized the look of concentration on his face.  He was frowning slightly.  His blue outline flickered and fuzzed like a sputtering fire.  Ah.  So he was attempting to activate his ninpo to visit her.  It was a good try, and he was very nearly present.  But, just in case…

It took a moment of intense concentration.  Then Karai stepped into the mortal world.

She was merely a ghost here, dissolved from the waist down into pale green smoke.  But she could see and hear well enough.  Leonardo’s blue ninpo outline was superimposed over his mortal body.  She looked around.  He was sitting on some kind of tall structure, square, with a rattling metal box at the opposite corner.  The city stretched out around them.  She walked the perimeter of the…rooftop?  Was it a roof?  It was very high.  A good vantage point, she decided, and easily defensible.  She would wake Leonardo if danger arose.  Until then, the nearby structures and the streets below were empty, save for a few stray cats.   She returned to her position in front of her many-great-grandson.

“Leonardo.”

“Gah!”

He jumped.  His outline vanished for a moment, and in the mortal world he nearly fell over.  He righted himself and reappeared immediately. 

“Gram-Gram!  I – uh, didn’t think that would work?”  He grinned widely.  “You look good!  No surprise there.  Good looks run in the family, am I right?”

She raised an eyebrow and sat down.  “I doubt you ran off on your brothers solely to compliment your own face.”

“I didn’t run off on – wait – Mikey told you?  That little snitch!  That’s it, his oil paints are going in the Atlantic, I swear to pizza supreme –” 

His outline winked out again.  His mortal form bent over, panting.  She waited calmly.  His ninpo reappeared a moment later, flickering more so than before.  He smiled crookedly. 

“Sorry, Gram-Gram.  Just debating how many turtles are going to live to see voting age.”

“Was your trip tonight that important?” Karai asked mildly.

“Uh, yeah!” He gestured grandly to the skyline.  “I wanted to admire the view.  New, improved, and Krang-free.  I don’t, uh.  Did Mikey tell you about the Krang?”

“He did,” she said quietly.  “I then realized the true identity of the oni who possessed my father."

“Whoa, whoa, time out!”  He made a T-shape with his hands.  “That suit was Krang tech?”

The pink face of the grinning oni swam in front of her mind.  She suppressed a shudder.  “Yes.  I regret that you inherited such a terrible enemy because I was not strong enough to stop him.”

He spread his arms, grinning.  “No worries, Gram-Gram!  Anatawa hitori ja nai.  You aren’t alone, either!  It took a whole generation of Hamato 2.0 to bring him down.  Plus a heroic sacrifice by yours truly!  But, uh –”  He leaned forward, like they were going to share a secret.  “From one prison dimension escapee to another, how do I, like, not do that next time?  There were like, zero facial products in there.  The Face Man slash Leader would like to keep these supple scales intact!”

She searched his eyes.  “Leonardo,” she said slowly, “why do you think there will be a next time?”

“I don’t!  Krang Prime is not getting out.  Soon as my power’s back, I’m going to drop the key into the sun.  But if I’d handled the key in the first place –”  He seemed to catch himself and consciously relaxed, leaning back on one hand and twirling the other in the air.  “I’m just saying, I’d rather avoid the whole sacrifice play.  I don’t want my brothers thinking it’s their turn next if I can’t ‘Fearless Leader’ the problem away.”

“Sacrifices are sometimes inevitable,” she said slowly.  “But a good leader makes that choice wisely.  All actions necessitate a trade.  If you choose to strike, you choose not to defend.  Even doing nothing is a choice, if the cost to act is too great.  The best choices use the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your team to minimize risk and maximize effect.”

Leonardo’s casual posture hadn’t changed, but his eyes were now steady and focused.  Even his ninpo was shining more clearly.  It made him look older.  She could see the leader he would become written in his gaze.  

She also saw the mark of the prison dimension.  Her own soul bore it, too.  Intense isolation, however brief, reshaped them into creatures of solitude, until it was both natural and inevitable for them to isolate themselves still further.  After all, her she sat, high on a hill and far from her newly established village.

“Good leaders,” she continued gently, “also stay connected with their family.  Breaking bread and sharing stories keep you attuned to their needs.  What do your brothers need, Leonardo?”

He tilted his head, thinking.  Then his face lit up.

“Pizza!”

She threw back her head and laughed.

“What?  They do!” he protested.  “It’ll suck Raph out of the gym and Donnie out of the lab.  I’ll even get a bunch of toppings on the side so Mikey can assemble each slice of pizza differently.  Then we’ll turtle pile in the living room to sleep it off.”

“It sounds wonderful,” she said warmly, wiping her eyes.  “Very well.  Enjoy your meal, grandson.  I had better help my father with the children.”

Leonardo grimaced.  “There’s dead Hamato kids?  That’s messed up.”

“The Krang are merciless in every iteration. Many of them passed at the hands of that cursed suit.  But they will have full lives here, free from further tragedy.”

“Here’s hoping the same for us.  Um.”  He leaned forward suddenly and wrapped his arms around her.  She froze.  She couldn’t really feel him, but she felt his arms, their ninpos buzzing pleasantly against each other.  “Love you, Gram-Gram!”

He vanished with a bright blue pop.  She exhaled sharply, releasing her mystical hold on both the mortal world and the shared ninpo space.  It had left her more exhausted than she expected.  She sat for a moment, breathing the sweetness of the clear mountain air, the warmth of the sunlight.  It wasn’t quite the same as the mortal world.  But it was grounding nonetheless. 

Well.  Time to take her own advice. 

She stood and began making her way down the hill toward the paddies.  Her father was acting out a story that involved great splashing, to the delight of the dozen or so children now gathered around him.  One of them saw her coming and waved.

“Obaasan!” she cried.  “Jiisan says you were talking to the kappa!  Do we have kappa brothers?  Can they swim with us?”

“One day,” she said.  “Would you like to hear more about them?”

“Yeah!”

She smiled and went to join them.  

[olivernothere]

NAME: Oliver Castellioa Solace-Di Angelo

ALIAS: Ollie, Ol, Olive Tree (sigh), Olive (ONLY Iggy)

AGE: 16 years old, 6th of January

WEAPON(S): A dagger made out of celestial bronze, 20 centimeters

POWER(S): He can enter peoples dreams, and watch what’s happening from afar. He can also change their dreams to however he’d like, this tends to drain him very much though.

PERSONALITY: He’s a bit rude and cold, sometimes shy, in the start, but if you get to know him, he’ll warm up. Once you know him, he’ll be the most caring person, he’s a bit loud sometimes, he’s a little overprotective of his family, even though hems the youngest, he ignores rude comments and such in public, he doesn’t know how to say no, so you never really know if he wants something or not. He’s REALLY scared of adults (sometimes even Will and Nico), and WILL call them sir, miss, ma’am, etc., he can and will sometimes isolate himself from everyone if he’s having one of his “episodes”.

FATAL FLAW: Thinking that he’ll never be good enough for anyone and it’s why his mother disowned him

HOBBIES: I like to paint, mostly landscapes and such, sometimes I write poems I guess? Oh and I love to spend time with my cat, is that considered a hobby?

FAMILY: Nico Di Angelo (Papa), William Andrew Solace (Dad), Daphne Naria Solace-Di Angelo (Sister), Hades (Grandfather), Maria Di Angelo (Grandmother), Apollo (Grandfather), Naromi Solace (Grandmother), Morpheus (Father A stranger to me.), Allison Castellioa (Mother Who is this?)

People I know (!!):

FAMILY:

@ghost-king-and-thebones - Nico Di Angelo, my wonderful papa!! <3

@daffy-not-a-duck - Daphne Naria Solace-Di Angelo, my lovely sister!! (STAY AWAY FROM EPHIE)

@doctor-sunshine-andcarebears - William Andrew Solace, my awesome dad!!!

@drea-and-nico - Andrea and Nicolas Lilith, Children of Hades, my aunt and uncle, but Drea is like a sister to me

@iggy-mini-miny-moe - Ignis Grace, a child of Jason Grace and Leo Valdez, my boyfriend fjbfjgbekd<33, DON'T let him near bleach

FRIENDS:

@chasing-that-jackson - Charlotte Sally Chase-Jackson, a child of Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase, please stop dying

@ineedtoescapefromreality - Echo and Rosalyn Mclean, children of Piper Mclean and Shel

@hey-guys-its-sam - Samantha Zhang, a child of Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque

@violent-cinnamonroll - Aria Nicole La Rue, a child of Clarisse La Rue and Silena Baeuregard

@notwillingtobefound - William Valdez, a child of Jason Grace and Leo Valdez, Iggy’s brother

@not-a-panda - Pandora Stoll, a child if Travis Stoll amd Katie Gardner, she has a cute cat!!

@morningstar-of-the-night - Kallisto Danica Arrelano-Grace, a child of Reyna Ramirez-Arellano and Thalia Grace

@daredevil-larue - Lucine La Rue, a child of Clarisse La Rue and Silena Beauregard

@overwhelmingly-his-son - Lukas Castellan, a grandchild of May Castellan, he's cool

@the-poison-and-the-sky - Belladonna Chase-Jackson, a child of Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase-Jackson, from another Universe

@praetor-ambrose-asher - Ambrose Asher, a legacy of Primordial Khaos

ADULTS I KNOW:

@leo-repairguy-valdez - Leo Valdez, father to Iggs and William, married (?) to Jason Grace

@percy-jackson-xxx - Perseus Jackson, father to Charlie and Cassie, married to Annabeth Chase

@sincerely-anniejackson - Annabeth Chase-Jackson, mother to Charlie and Cassie, married to Perseus Jackson

ACC IS RAN BY: @moonssong

Tags:

#Oliver arrived - In character Oliver

#Oliver died - ooc

#Ephie supremacy - About his cat

#Oliver rants - something random ic Oliver

#Sister tag☀️ - When he interacts with his sister

#Death and fire - Oliver and Iggy (They’re shipped)

[icefirestorm]

Turtle Sanctuary

                Racing across the landscape, the Hamato clan and their loyalists fled.

The wrong ears had overheard Leonardo pouring out his guilt over losing the key and (in his mind) triggering the apocalypse. The rumour mill had done its thing, and now everyone that agreed he was to blame were out for blood.

            I can’t even go semi-lethal. Donatello griped internally, knowing that Leo would never forgive himself for this as it was, nevermind if Donnie even accidentally killed one of the ungrateful fools. At least we don’t have to run from the Krang too.

            Small mercies. Six years ago, Donnie, Draxum and their fellow scientists had developed a pathogen lethal to their unwelcome guests. A year of production and sending out legions of carriers to smuggle canisters of bioweapon to the far corners of the earth had spread their infection to such a degree it could even be found in dust blowing by. Gradually, the invaders had withered and dwindled, though the damage they’d left behind was extensive. Large swaths of land, hundreds of miles wide, surrounding cities and settlements had been reduced to a barren wasteland, only the areas furthest from civilization spared as the Krang focussed on eliminating earth’s intelligent life first. On the very edges of lands laid bare, life was starting to creep back in. That border was still too far to offer any cover.

            Heaving his unconscious twin more securely against his side in the rear of the pickup, Don watched as their pursuers doggedly followed. It was both a blessing and a curse that he so diligently kept their vehicles fueled and in as best condition as he could. Their ability to fly down long abandoned highways was thus far not hampered, the work of clearing roads had begun as soon as the surface was safe. They were rapidly approaching the point where that would no longer be the case though, and then the bloodthirsty horde would catch up.

            To be fair, there hadn’t been time for a plan. They hadn’t even been able to grab any supplies. Shouts of rage had started in the mess hall and when the twins had gone to see what was happening, all hell’d broken loose. It’d been a mad dash to the trucks, vicious hand to hand fighting in the tunnels, and out of the only safe haven they had. April was driving their vehicle, aggressively tailgating Todd’s truck up ahead. Mikey ducked further down in the bed, turning his shell towards their pursuers and squishing ten-year-old Casey Jr between his plastron and the cab as someone took a potshot from behind.

            If only their two remaining portal makers were able to… portal. Draxum had recently passed to a recent wave of disease that passed through their malnourished ranks, Angelo was still recovering from his own bought and Leo had caught a brick to the head in their escape. Thumping over one of the road’s many potholes, the softshell scrambled to keep himself and Leo from flying out. Claws scraping across metal, he winced at the sound and pain of his knee smacking into floor, frantically checking to see if his younger twin was starting to come around. Please Leo, we NEED a portal.

            Honestly, if he didn’t wake up before they ran out of clear road, Don was going on the offensive anyway, though it might not do any good against far superior numbers of Krang hardened soldiers. I’m not LETTING them kill Leo. Though the bloody idiot almost let them HIMSELF when it became clear they were determined to do away with him. Damn your guilt and damn their unwillingness to listen.

            Another twenty minutes of mad driving screeched to a halt and turned into mad scramble across open ground as they finally reached the point where vehicles hadn’t yet been cleared. Don did his best to piggyback his (slightly) shorter but bulkier twin. For a moment he thought to shout at April to head for a nearby tunnel, then chose to save his breath, remembering that those chasing them knew the area just as well.

            But then… a murmur in his ear, a shift on his back. Breathless, Donnie spared a glance over his shoulder. “Leo?”

            “Mmmmmm.”

            The slider’s beak scrunched, grumbling to himself, eyes flickering. Mentally paging through their currently available options, Don made an executive decision. “Stop!” Skidding in the dirt to kneel, he passed Leo to April as she turned back to him. “He’s waking up, get him to portal us out!” The softshell yelled, quickly positioning himself between his people and the traitors, assembling a weapon’s array in the air above.

            C’mon Leo. Come through for us one more time.

            “Leo! Leo! Wake up!” April didn’t even try to hold back the panic in her voice, it’d be more likely to get their blue boy front and centre if he could tell they were in trouble. “Leo!” She grabbed him by the lip of his plastron and shook the giant turtle where he lay, “We need you!”

Explosions started going off in the background, Donnie holding their attackers off.

            Bullets pinged by, return fire from a brave few willing to risk Don spotting them.

            Leo’s eyes fluttered a bit but refused to stay open.

            One of Todd’s wardogs yelped, bullet finding a target.

            Then, little hands up around his ears, Casey screamed.

            Leon’s eyes flew open, wild and confused. Nothing would keep Hamato Leonardo from protecting his son.

            “Wha??!!!” The slider tried to sit up, promptly listing face first into the dry dirt.

            Sorry baby, no time. April hauled him back upright, getting square in his face. “We need a portal, not the base, somewhere far, now! Or we’re all gonna die!”

            Eyes sliding wildly in their sockets as he fought to be present, Leo grunted, planted his prosthetic in the dirt and shoved himself up as much as he could. Grabbing one of his katana, he poised to swing, rolled sideways and puked. But even as the giant shell heaved, his katana was lighting up, blue lightning sweeping up its blade.

            Coughing on the dregs of his stomach, Leon waved his sword, as if he were swatting away a fly. About ten feet to his right, a wavering portal, just big enough for a single person flickered into existence. “Donnie, we’re leaving!” One at a time, their group of fifteen filed through, Donatello backing towards it as he continued laying down suppressing fire. Between the two of them April and Todd hauled Leo through, each dragging by an arm.

            As they settled him in the tall grass, Leon lay face down, teeth clenched, death grip on his sword as he fought to keep the glowing gateway open for his brother; who was reversing in right now, then fell through as a bullet found its target.

            “Hah!” Donnie barked in pain, landing in the grass on his back, hand going to the red blossom forming on his shirt just next to his armpit.

            The portal … static’d … for a moment, then slammed shut, preventing any pursuit.

            They all just, froze, for a moment. Breathing in the silence, reveling in being surrounded by grass, a rustling breeze, soft birdsong, and the smell of ocean without any taint of residual Krang toxins. Then chaos. Their group descended on the wounded twins, trying to help with their limited resources.

            Mikey kept little Casey with him, out of the way, as Mike himself was barely mobile, still exhausted and recovering from a month of sickness. Todd skidded to a halt next to Donnie. Fortunately, Todd had just been returning from patrol when everything exploded in their faces and still had his field kit on. Tossing a roll of bandages to April for Leo, he grabbed the edges of the bullet hole and ripped Donnie’s shirt open to expose his puckered wound.

            April focused on her own recumbent turtle. Prodding at his head injury, trying to determine if his skull was intact, Leo moaned and finally gave up on staying conscious, slumping into the grass face first. You did good big guy. Rest now, we’ve got it.

            Using up their meager medical supplies, the small group treated their wounded and began to take stock of the situation, having absolutely no clue where Leo dumped them. They were in a patch of grass surrounded by mostly conifer trees and mountains. Salt air, close to an ocean then. It was much earlier in the day than New York, so they must’ve gone west. Beyond that, there wasn’t much of anything to tell where they were.

            Completely lost, no supplies aside from a couple rations and a canteen with their heaviest hitters out of commission. Oh, and a child to take care of in the wild. Great. Ideal. Fantastic. April sighed while giving her handiwork on Leo’s noggin one last lookover. At least we don’t have to deal with the Krang on top of it anymore. And they looked to be in one of the areas relatively untouched by the invasion. Too bad we’re all city peeps, and Todd’s the only one with an ounce of actual wilderness training.

            Leaning against a tree, shirt cannibalized into a sling, Donatello mused over their situation. Tilting his head back, he did his best to gauge how much daylight they had left before they’d be spending a night in the elements. It was difficult to calculate though, not knowing what their latitude was. With more time, he’d be able to estimate how fast the sun was moving. I can calculate our latitude then perhaps, and determine what sort of climate we’re dealing with. The conifers all around were a good indication they were further north than they were used to. Also, it was late summer, and cooler than it’d been in New York. But ocean currents, elevation, plant life… ugh. There’s just too many unknown factors.

            Todd was rustling in the underbrush, Casey, Hawkins and Lin following his directions to erect a low shelter for the night. The rest of their band had spread out, scouting the area, looking for any remnants of civilization they could use. One of Todd’s dogs wandered over, some manner of shepherd/lab mix by the looks, gave Leo a sniff and flopped in between the two wounded turtles. Most of the other highly trained mutts were dogpiled (heh) on Mikey, getting pets and keeping the tiniest turtle warm in return.

            Reaching with his uninjured arm, Donnie started giving the animal a full cranial massage. It was just sensible to maintain strong bonds with dogs trained to rip enemies apart, it totally wasn’t comforting for Donatello. Nope. Just a practicality.

            The softshell sniffed, doing his best to supress the tears that wanted to badly to spill over. Stress, pain, fear; all were getting piled onto by the knowledge that everything he had left, aside from his remaining family, was now lost. His lab, his garden project… Dad, Raph and Casey Sr’s graves… Draxum too if he wanted to be generous. Old goat was a friend.. ish by the end, but he was still a jerk.

            Looking over at his twin, further worry stirred. Leo hadn’t so much as made a sound after blacking out for a second time. That was hours ago and the longer he stayed under, … well. Hopefully he’d wake up soon.

            If only they had more than just Todd’s radio. One radio wasn’t really conducive to communications with their scouts.

            His ruminations on all their misfortunes were interrupted by a voice, shouting across the clearing. Donnie looked up, spotting Pulaski running back at a ground eating endurance trot. For a moment, Don contemplated getting up to great him, nixed that and stayed put. I’m injured. May as well milk it a little. Before long, the scout was slowing, calling out ahead “I got to the top of that hill,” pointing to a ridge behind him, “I could see a town. No movement, but I’d say it’ll take us about a day to get there with wounded.” Excellent.

            It’ll be easier on the down side. Going down will be better. The hard part is almost done. Mikey kept repeating to himself, over and over in his head. He was already exhausted from being so sick for so long, not to mention grieving over his second Dad/maker. Then there was the fight and flight and both his remaining brothers hurt; Donnie shuffling alongside him, Leo on a makeshift stretcher, everyone able bodied taking turns to carry him. A night in the stick and branches shelter, though pleasantly warm with all the mammals, had been on rough, hard ground; less than comfy.

            Dragging himself along, the box turtle did his best to at least keep up with Don, occasionally looking to see if they were nearing the top of the ridge yet. Honestly, he was contemplating just going in his shell at that point and sliding down the other side. The mental image of his shell careening downslope, Casey riding it like a sled painted a little smirk across his face. 

            “What are you plotting, beloved Angelo?”

            Donnie’s voice was haggard, but amused, matching the raised brow when Mike looked sideways at him.

            “When’s the last time we went sledding?” the younger asked in return, smirk crinkling his eyes every so slightly. He saw the moment it clicked.

            “No Mikey!” Apparently, it clicked for April too.

            “Sadly, little brother, April is correct.” The purple and black clad turtle looked up, deep in the distraction of a mental physics exercise. “Not knowing the surface material, it’s friction coefficient and potential obstacles, we cannot determine what velocity you may achieve and what impacts you may suffer. It would be inadvisable in your current condition.”

            Mike nodded along. Reasonable, reasonable. “Raincheck?”

            “Raincheck.”

            Casey skipped up, grabbing one of the boxturtle’s arms and trying to help his uncle along. “I don’t see any rain clouds?....”

            Mikey huffed a laugh, warm family feels chasing away the blues.

            Donnie outright barked a laugh. “Dearest nephew,”

            “I’m your only nephew.”

            Ah this kid. Mike was now picturing Donnie as Scar from the lion king. Come to think of it…

            “Ahem… As I was saying, allow me to elucidate you regarding pre-Krang economic practices,” and launched into a Hamato Donatello™ Info Dump about rainchecks, sales, department stores… and they were at the top of the hill! Thankful for the distraction, Mikey flumped to the ground, not caring at all whether it was dirt, grass or something else. I’m a turtle, this is entirely natural.

            A warm hand on his shell. “You ok there, Sunshine?” Opening one heavy eyelid, he glanced at April, staring down at him worriedly.

 “Yeah,” Michelangelo replied, “jus’ tired.”

The whole group followed his example, settling down to take a badly needed break after hiking up a small mountain. It hadn’t been helped by twenty-four hours with only a handful of foraged berries and a mouthful each of remaining rations and water. At least the weather was cooperating.

            Revelling in the feeling of warm sun on his shell, Mike watched Todd bend over their blue brother, still unconscious on his stretcher, carefully lowered to the ground. Don knelt next to him. “Any change?”

            “Nope!” Todd chirped, “He’s not getting any worse. So, we’ll just let him keep napping until we get to town.”

            The, “he’s not getting any better either”, went unspoken.

            His mood plummeting was interrupted by a shout. Risa, older of the two kitsune sisters with them, was sprinting up the hill; new (to them) backpack on and a rifle in her hand. The sisters had left after a brief rest from scouting the night before, preferring to travel under cover of darkness. With yokai strength and endurance behind them, they’d headed out to see if the town was safe and if there were any supplies that could be scavenged.

            Slowing to a trot, the fox lady quickly knelt, shucking her pack and depositing treasures at their feet. “Koko is preparing the nearest home for our arrival,” she reassured, handing out water bottles, “The town appears abandoned. We found two Krang hound skulls with bullets, minimal human remains. Almost all vehicles are abandoned at the marinas and there are no remaining boats.”

            “Krang showed up and they ran. Makes sense.” April chipped in, eyes brightening as Risa chucked her a granola bar.

“We saw no signs that anyone had returned to loot the town.”

            Now THAT said something. Anyone that KNEW where to find some supplies, especially after the Krang died, went back for them. Either they were dead or too far away for it to be worth coming back. “I believe I know why.” Risa then proceeded to lay out an actual PAPER map. Even before the Krang, those were getting rare.

            “Where did you find that anachronistic abomination!?” Don exclaimed, ever insulted by something that he thought should’ve been replaced by tech.

            The yokai rolled her eyes, well acquainted with his nonsense by now. “A sporting goods store, same as the gun. There were still places with no cell reception, Donatello; even in the before.”

            “Blasphemy.” He retorted, sending a rolling chuckle through the group, spirits raising with sustenance and a show. Donnie and Risa’s little side eyes showing they knew exactly what they were doing. “Back to the map…” she said, pushing it forward on the ground. Craning his neck, like a turtle do, Mike read the bold title at the bottom. “Vancouver Island?”

            “Man, even before everything went to pot, I sucked at geography.” April complained, squinting at the paper, taped up replacement glasses not quite her right prescription.

Cue Donnie dump numero duo. “Vancouver Island, largest island off the Canadian Pacific Coast. Borders the American Pacific Northwest. Oceanic climate, ranging from the freezing mark to about 90 Fahrenheit. Regular to heavy rainfall.”

            “An island?” April mused, “No wonder they left, I wouldn’t wanna be trapped on an island with the Krang either. Too easy to get cornered. At least we had the tunnels in New York.”

            Don chewed on his beak, “Reasonable assumption is that there are no people left or they likely would have come here for supplies at some point. Good news for us, what with,” he waved at the mutants and yokai present, “this whole situation going on.”

            Then the softshell freezes, completely still, eyes huge, pupils pinpricks.

            “Donnie?” Mike asks, suddenly terrified, “What is it?”

            “The town was completely untouched?” he asks Risa, who shifted nervously at his intense demeanor.

            “Yes, Dr Hamato. Why?” she replied, slipping into formalities.

            “There will still be sealed containers of coffee.” The greatest genius of their time began excitedly stamping his feet. “I haven’t had coffee in over a decade!”

            Everyone found SOMETHING to throw at him.

            Sun just dipping below mountains behind them, the weary troop stumbled into town; one building ahead of them had a fire burning in the driveway. Finally.

            April pulled Mikey’s arm a little more securely over her shoulder, glad, for a change, that he’d caught up to her in height. A few more shuffling steps and they walked inside the house. It was kinda weird. April had never really spent that much time in regular ‘ole houses. She grew up in the heart of New York. Apartments and sewer tunnels were what she associated with home. Even after the Krang invaded, every house she’d ever been in was either ransacked by looters or torn apart by Krang searching for victims. So, to be inside an intact, movie normal house, was strange.

            There was time to dwell on that later though, for now, she had wounded family to help. Easing Mike into the front room, she helped him lay down on the couch. Across the back of it was a thick throw blanket. Quickly taking it out front and shaking off the dust, she brought the knit covering back in, to tuck around her family’s second youngest. The youngest youngest then wormed his way under the blanket too and conked out.

            Walking by Todd sunnily badgering Donnie into sitting down at the kitchen table where an array of medical supplies were spread out, April followed her nose out the back door. There, the rest of their group were all clustered around Koko, getting steaming mugs of canned soup that she’d heated in a large pot on the BBQ. Accepting her own with thanks, April kept her silence as Koko began to report. Mmm, beef-barley. When was the last time I had real beef?

            “Commander. I was able to do a cursory survey of the town. It is fairly small but has all the pre-Krang necessities. For our purposes, there is a hospital, clinic, at least two pharmacies, same for grocery stores and a food bank. There are also two hardware stores, multiple car dealerships and repair shops along with parts and tire stores. I also found a few clothing shops.” The darker kitsune carefully moved the pot aside, spooning four more mugs worth of soup out and put the lid on. They kept talking as they walked inside.

            Risa was pouring dog food into bowls for Todd’s six remaining mutts, grabbing a few pieces of kibble for herself to toss and eat like M&M’s. “Huh. Not bad.” She muttered, grinning at the humans’ disgusted faces. “What? You guys made it.”

            April laughed as they passed out mugs to those still inside, nodding acceptance of their thanks. Koko continued. “I saw several deer and waterfowl. There was also a building labelled Fisheries and Oceans Canada, so I imagine there’d be some information regarding local fish stocks and such in there.”

            “In any case,” Don interjected, (eavesdropping through the window huh?) as April waved soup mugs near the couch to wake its inhabitants, “We should have sufficient shelter and supplies to get established. Did anyone find out the name of this place by any chance?”

            “Port Hardy,” Koko replied, “we’re in Port Hardy.”

            Morning rays breaking through the darkness saw Donatello sitting on one side of a relatively clean king sized bed; his deeply concussed twin still out cold beside him. With bits of light breaking through, Don grabbed the notebook and pen he’d found last night and started designing a generator that could be made with parts and materials likely to be found in the businesses Koko described. If there was one thing Hamato Donatello would not abide, it was a lack of electricity.

Having only one arm to work with was annoying, but at least the bullet had passed through, squeaking past his leathery shell. Getting shot was bad enough, having to get it dug out in the field with no painkillers was a whole other level of horrible.

As he scribbled, then engineer noted it was getting hard to keep lines straight; the book randomly shifting. Eventually it irritated him enough to look for a solution only to find that the shifting was Leo, moving occasionally, face screwed up in a grimace.

Well versed in concussion headaches, Donnie called with a “help” chirp and set aside his work, sounds of people scrambling up the stairs rapidly approaching. Todd’s giant head poked through the door first. “He’s waking up.” Don informed, taking Leo’s intact hand, with his uninjured one. Thus began the old song and dance of gently helping the Concussed One rejoin the land of consciousness, unpleasant as it was while one still had a bruised brain.

Gradually, Leonardo eased awake, eyes squinting. “Whe…. Where are we?”

“Home, Leo.” Mikey answered, hugging Casey next to the bed. “We’re in our new home. Thanks to you.”

[deannamb]

Hi! I really like your drawing style. Do you make your own character sheets for your favorite HH & HB characters, or do you look for references for each drawing? I would guess on the first choice, because your style is very consistent.

I'm a newbie in Vivziepop-style, cartoonish drawing overall actually. I started drawing a little manga about two years ago, before that I only did big landscapes in charcoal, or animals. I only draw by hand om paper. I use colour pencils for colouring, but that doesn't work very well. Do you have a tip what I could use for coloring for more clear and bright colours? I was thinking some kind of felt tip pens, preferably with two heads, one on each side, one points for small areas and one wide, flat for larger areas. These ones were even refillable. I've seen pens like this being used in tutorials and have emailed and asked for name and model for the ones being used, but they never answer.

I was also wondering if you know any brand of marker pens with a wide variety of colours? Preferably a brand where you can cover a lighter shade with a darker for blending?

I think you know what kind of pens I would need to get the right Hazbin-colours, so if you know something that works for you, I would be happy to know, even if its not something I have mentioned here.

I'm saving up for an iPad Pro, or Air or Mini. I will check wich one that will suit me best, when its time to buy one. In the meantime I'll keep practicing drawing by hand, because drawing is drawing and that's something I need to be good at when I start learning to draw digitally to.

Thank you in advance. Be well. Angelo.

Hi! First of all.. Thank you ✨

Actually I don't have any reference sheets.. And I don't have the time to make any.. I usually look at reference pictures from the shows.. Once you understand how the different shapes work together it gets easier to draw in this particular style.

Since I started doing digital art.. I very rarely draw on paper unfortunately.. But if you want a good tool you can try copic markers.. They are quite pricey.. But you can easily find some off-brand ones to get started. You can also try mixing different techniques.. Like using both markers and highlighters.. And why not some pencils too..

Do some experiments and have fun.. :)

[random-brushstrokes]

Angelo Dall'Oca Bianca (Italian, 1858 - 1942) - Paesaggio

[justinspoliticalcorner]

James Angelos at Politico:

BERLIN — Listening to Sahra Wagenknecht, Germany’s hard-left icon, you could be forgiven for coming away with the impression that the greatest threat to democracy is “lifestyle leftists” nursing lattes in reusable cups while shopping for organic kale at a Berlin farmers’ market. Such well-off, eco-friendly urban bohemians hold what they deem to be “morally impeccable” views about everything from Ukraine to climate change, she says, and then impose those beliefs over regular people with draconian zeal. Wagenknecht — whose recently formed populist party is polling in the double digits ahead of critical state elections in eastern Germany on Sunday — also believes there are too many asylum seekers coming to the country, claiming there’s “no more room.” She reserves much of her ire for Germany’s Greens, blaming their clean-energy push for the country’s deindustrialization, and favors closer relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of Germany’s most well-liked politicians, Wagenknecht started out in politics as a member of East Germany’s communist party and has long been the face of the country’s hard left. Of late, however, she often sounds positively far right.

Her views and scathing attacks on the mainstream left have, in fact, won her many far-right admirers. Björn Höcke, one of the most extreme politicians in the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the party’s leader in the eastern German state of Thuringia was so impressed with Wagenknecht — particularly over her position on Putin — that he once called upon her to enlist in the AfD’s ranks. “I implore you, come and join us!” he said last year during a speech in Dresden. Instead, Wagenknecht has forged a new political force defined by a seemingly oxymoronic ideology she dubs “left conservatism.” In the process, she is upending German politics by chipping away at the crumbling dominance of the country’s mainstream parties and further scrambling the left-right divide that characterized Western politics for most of the 20th century. As established parties lose sway across Europe, the fractured political landscape makes it easier for political entrepreneurs like Wagenknecht to stake out new territory. That’s increasingly true in Germany too, which has long served as Europe’s anchor of stability — where politics were long relatively staid and predictable.

Long gone are the days when the Volksparteien — big-tent parties — could virtually alone determine Germany’s political course. Upstarts like the AfD and Wagenknecht’s party — dubbed Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) — are fomenting a revolt against the political mainstream. That rebellion is particularly strong in the region that makes up the former East Germany which — despite the more than three-decade effort to absorb and integrate the formerly communist state after the fall of the Berlin Wall — is increasingly following its own parallel political reality. With three state elections to be held in eastern Germany — in Saxony and Thuringia on Sunday, and in Brandenburg on September 22 — the AfD is leading or close to leading all the contests. Wagenknecht’s new party is polling between around 13 and 18 percent, a striking result for a party that just formed several months ago.

I met Wagenknecht earlier this year backstage at a theater in Berlin, where she was scheduled to answer questions from a reporter from Germany’s left-leaning newspaper Die Tageszeitung before a live audience. Wagenknecht sported her signature look — a jacket with padded shoulders, a knee-length skirt and pumps — a style so invariable she’s often asked about it by reporters. (“Ultimately you get the feeling that it’s a kind of uniform,” the Tageszeitung journalist, Ulrike Herrmann, told Wagenknecht on stage later that night.) Wagenknecht is far from alone in blurring the traditional left-right spectrum. In the U.S., former President Donald Trump has embraced some traditionally left economic policies on trade and tariffs, partly explaining his appeal to working-class voters. France’s far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, has co-opted economic and welfare policies from the traditional left, attracting, in the process, many former French Communist Party voters.

When I asked Wagenknecht if she saw any similarities between herself and Le Pen or other radical-right parties, a hint of shock seemed to break through her cool, composed countenance. Such parties, she told me, do not truly represent the “so-called little people.” Rather, she said, her brand of politics does — a left that focuses on fighting economic inequality while, as she put it, also embracing social policies that foster “traditions, stability and security.” That’s territory, she said, the left has mistakenly ceded to the right. “These are quite legitimate human needs, and at some point the left was no longer interested in them,” Wagenknecht told me. She then blamed the rise of the far right on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his left-leaning coalition’s “arrogant” approach to governing. “This is the direct result of an incredible frustration and indignation about wrong policies,” she said. “And the indignation is justified.”

[...]

Yet, in subsequent years, Wagenknecht became an increasingly controversial figure within the Left Party, including when, amid the refugee crisis of 2015, she became a critic of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow in hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, using the mantra “Wir schaffen das!” (“We can do it!”). In 2016, after a spate of terror attacks perpetrated by migrants, Wagenknecht released a statement that read: “The reception and integration of a large number of refugees and immigrants is associated with considerable problems and is more difficult than Merkel’s frivolous ‘We can do it.’”

Members of her own party sharply criticized her, arguing that no true leftist should attack Merkel from the right on migration. That year, at a Left Party gathering, a man from a self-described anti-fascist group threw what looked like a chocolate cake topped with whipped cream in Wagenknecht’s face. Relations with many members of her own party grew more strained after Wagenknecht became a sharp critic of the government’s “endless lockdowns” during the Covid-19 pandemic and after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Wagenknecht frequently appearing on German television to offer takes that echoed Kremlin propaganda. Finally, last year, she announced that she and a group of Left Party allies would leave to form their own party, with Lafontaine, her husband, also later joining. “We live in a time of global political crises,” she said in Berlin. “And in this of all times, Germany probably has the worst government in its history.” Many people, she added, “no longer know who to vote for, or they vote out of anger and despair.” The choice led to the unraveling of the Left Party, which was forced to dissolve its parliamentary faction, liquidate assets and fire staff.

Wagenknecht has since grown adept at finding a leftist angle for what are commonly rightist stances. Her skepticism of immigration is due, in great part, to her support of the welfare state, which, she says, requires a certain degree of homogeneity to function. “The stronger the welfare state, the more of a sense of belonging there must be,” Wagenknecht told me in Berlin. “Because if people have no connection to those who receive social benefits, then at some point they will refuse to pay for those benefits.” Another example was Wagenknecht’s vote against a bill passed by the German parliament earlier this year to make it easier to change one’s legal gender — a law, she said, that would “just be ridiculous if it weren’t so dangerous.” But she found a traditionally left line of attack for that view, targeting the profit-seeking pharmaceutical industry as the main beneficiary of the bill. “Your law turns parents and children into guinea pigs for an ideology that only benefits the pharmaceutical lobby.” She has also repeatedly called for an end to German military aid for Ukraine and negotiations with Putin — a view prevalent on the far right, but for her, an anti-war stance rooted in the leftist tradition.

That she sounds like the right on these issues brings to mind the “horseshoe theory” of politics, often attributed to the French author Jean-Pierre Faye and his 1996 book “Le Siècle des ideologies,” which holds that political extremes bend towards each other, in the shape of a horseshoe, so that the far left and far right ends are closer together than they are to the center.  But a more concrete explanation for her policies is that Wagenknecht sees a representation gap — a space for people with socially conservative views who are uncomfortable with migration and progressive politics, but are also wary of the AfD’s extremism. Wagenknecht, in other words, seeks to provide a more palatable, anti-establishment alternative. Wagenknecht, like leaders of other parties, has ruled out governing with the AfD in a coalition. At the same time, she has not, like others, ruled out cooperating with the AfD to pass what she deems to be sensible legislation.

Politico Europe takes a deep dive into the “leftist”-turned-right-wing German politician Sahra Wagenknecht. Wagenknecht formed her own party called Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) that features a mix of far-right and far-left stances.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Zion night skies - Zion National Park

Photographer: Angelo Mamone

[kp777]

By Jon Queally

Common Dreams

May 24, 2024

"This is how free speech is actually chilled—vengeful dipshit billionaires," said one media executive, after more than a dozen staffers let go from nonprofit watchdog whose mission is to combat right-wing disinformation and propaganda.

Just months after mega-billionaire Elon Musk launched what he termed a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against Media Matters for America, the nonprofit media watchdog outfit announced a round of punishing layoffs Thursday which it in part attributed to the financial strain imposed by the legal battle it now faces. What triggered Musk's initial outrage in November was MMFA reporting about "pro-Nazi content" on the social media platform X, owned by Musk, appearing alongside ads by prominent corporations in the content stream shown to users.

In his post threatening the lawsuit, which was later filed in Texas, Musk vowed to target "Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company." Noting the scope of his retribution, Musk then added: "Their board, their donors, their network of dark money, all of them…" would be included in the suit's scope.

"However you feel about our work, it should worry you that any billionaire could do this to any outlet at any time for any reason. It's a sad day for free speech."

In the organization's Thursday announcement of layoffs, Media Matters' president Angelo Carusone said: "We're confronting a legal assault on multiple fronts and given how rapidly the media landscape is shifting, we need to be extremely intentional about how we allocate resources in order to stay effective. Nobody does what Media Matters does."

Due to the pressures, Carusone explained, the group was "taking this action now to ensure that we are sustainable, sturdy and successful for whatever lies ahead." More than a dozen staffers, including researchers and digital producers, were among those terminated.

"Many of my best colleagues at Media Matters lost their jobs today," Ari Drennen, the LGBTQ program director for Media Matters, said Thursday on X alongside individual posts from many of those laid off. "However you feel about our work, it should worry you that any billionaire could do this to any outlet at any time for any reason. It's a sad day for free speech."

Media Matters is a 501(c)3 registered nonprofit—which describes itself as a "progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media"—founded in 2004 at the height of the George W. Bush administration.

Ever since it has targeted the right-wing media echo chamber, including Fox News and other prominent cable, newspaper, and radio broadcasters who coordinate the messaging of pro-corporate and reactionary forces within the Republican Party and beyond.

In a post on X shared Thursday afternoon, laid-off Media Matters journalist Kat Abughazaleh lamented the firing of her talented colleagues (and encouraged outlets that are hiring to consider them) as she also directed her ire at Musk for his possible role in the downsizing decision.

"There’s a reason far-right billionaires attack Media Matters with armies of lawyers," said Abughazaleh. "They know how effective our work is, and it terrifies them (him)," with the parenthetical a seeming reference to Musk.

Responding to her message on the social media platform now owned by Musk, media executive Ben Collins, current CEO of the satirical website The Onion, doubled-down on the charge against the Tesla founder and on-again-off-again world's richest man.

"Fuck Elon Musk," Collins said.

"This is why right-wing billionaires sue people reporting on them," continued Collins, who previously worked as a reporter for NBC News covering, among other thing, right-wing disinformation. "They know they can't win these lawsuits. But they also know legal fees will cripple the little guy reporting on their lies and crimes. This is how free speech is actually chilled—vengeful dipshit billionaires."

Musk has championed himself as a devote "free speech absolutist," but his time at the helm of X, which was Twitter when he purchased it, has repeatedly exposed the limits of his commitment.

In 2007, in one of the most famous cases of its kind, the Gawker media group—which controlled a number of online outlets—was sued by professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, a lawsuit later discovered to be bankrolled by right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel due to a preexisting grudge he had against the site's reporting, which ultimately led to its bankruptcy for Gawker and closure.

In March of this year, a federal judge in California threw out a similar lawsuit brought by X under Elon Musk against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit group that had publicly accused the platform of profiting off hateful content published on the platform.

In tossing the case, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer cited the transparent motivation behind the suit as part of the reason it lacked legitimacy.

It was "evident," said Breyer in his ruling that "X Corp. has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp.—and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism."

As Tim Karr, senior director at the media advocacy group Free Press, wrote in an op-ed for Common Dreams last year, Musk's "attempts to silence his critics are not surprising to anyone who has followed Musk's erratic behavior" over recent years.

"The magnate positions himself as a champion of free and open debate," wrote Karr, "while taking extraordinary efforts to silence any honest criticism and independent research that might negatively impact Musk and his many businesses."

Citing the specific attack on CCDH at the time, Karr concluded that the "only thing absolute about Elon is his refusal to give a fair hearing to any of his critics. And that's absolutely not free-speech absolutism."