#Bulgaria is Screwing Itself

[wisemancax]

НЯМА Таен Заговор - България Сама се Прецаква - Чрез ВКС тя сама създаде изключително огромен проблем на себе си!!!

НЯМА Таен Заговор – България Сама се Прецаква – Чрез ВКС тя сама създаде изключително огромен проблем на себе си!!! Европейски Съд Николай Хаджигенов (Nikolay Hadjigenov) Хаджигенов за въпроса със смя��ата на пола: ВКС ще създаде огромен проблем на Европейския съд Да! Точно така – НЯМА Таен Заговор!!!

[jaikrishnabearinghouse]

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[liptonsbabe]

The light is coming [B.W]

Previous

Bill Weasley x Lexington! reader

Summary: The reader wants to leave Beauxbatons attending to her sister’s pleadings to join the Order of the Phoenix. Byron Murphy wants to leave with her and the rumors about the two of them having a romance follows them to England

Word count: 2.4K

Warnings: none(?

A/N: Chapter 2 of this new story. I hope you like it! Bla bla bla english not my mother language bla bla, let me know if i screwed something up. Enjoy!

Chapter2: Beauxbatons

You received your sister's desperate letters all the way to your own room at Beauxbatons Academy of  Magic. Your brow couldn't help but twitch at the sight of the dozens of letters crowding your window sill after you had finished teaching your classes for the day.

You let the Tonks family owl get in before it fell from the tenth floor of the castle of how gnarled its wings were. France had turned into a huge fridge in the last few days, so you were surprised that the little grayish owl could carry so many letters tied to its legs in the middle of a blizzard.

The owl let out a whimpering sound as you took it in your arms and, removing the tethers, laid it on your bed near the fire in the fireplace; you scooped some food onto a napkin and walked to your desk to read the correspondence.

Although you were familiar with your older sister's great euphoria when sending letters, you recognized that this time they were not just letters asking you to tell her how things were on the other side of the pond or demanding to know the latest gossip about your love life. No, the letters that your sister Nymphadora had sent you were totally serious, mature and direct; in each and every one of them she asked you for help on her behalf and on behalf of Albus Dumbledore.

Nymphadora asked you to return home even though she knew the reasons why you had decided to leave for France. She demanded your help to put an end to an evil that was plaguing the community and was forcing you to be part of an organization that Dora described as 'The Order of the Phoenix' created and spread by the Hogwarts’ headmaster.

You knew Albus Dumbledore very well, you remembered the man who had visited you at the Tonks' house on your eleventh birthday asking you to join the school he ran. No matter how much he begged you, you never agreed to what he asked, not cause you didn't want to, but because you and your adopted family would be better if you went away from there.

Andromeda Tonks was the mother of a little two-year-old girl when someone knocked on her door in the midst of a blast of icy rain. Opening the door she found to her surprise that a small basket was in front of her feet, soaking wet and holding a rain-soaked baby girl who was crying inconsolably.

"Ted! Come look at this, Ted!" She cried out as she carried the wet baby in her arms who snuggled into her arms as soon as she felt the woman's warmth “For Merlin's sake, Ted!

Her husband ran to the doorway as he carried little Nymphadora, who was hugging a stuffed hippogriff. The man stopped in front of his wife, staring in amazement at the gift that had been left in front of their house.

"It's a baby, Ted! Someone has left their baby here and in the middle of a storm!"

"There's got to be a note" Reasoned her husband, shaking with fright "If there isn't, maybe... maybe she was left here by mistake and we'll have to look for her parents.I s there a note? What does it say?"

The note Ted Tonks was referring to was nothing more than a piece of parchment worn and almost undone by the water in the basket. Andromeda held it up to the light to decipher the message, but all she could read was: "HER NAME IS (Y/N)". The message was accompanied only by a golden locket that had the image of a clay pot with hands that molded it; on the back were the initials '(Y/N) and an S at the end. Andromeda didn’t understand why.

Even with all that, they decided that they would keep little (Y/N) Lexington -that was the word that was engraved on the basket, with which Andromeda concluded that that must be your last name- at least until your real parents came back claiming that everything had been a big mistake. Years passed and no one went in search of you.

You caressed the necklace slowly, remembering the story your mother Andromeda told you, always telling you that, even though you were not her biological daughter, she loved you as much as if you were, and that Dora loved you as if you were her sister. So, you felt the need to help her in everything your sister asked you.

Your powers were strange, no one knew what they were due to, but the Tonks family never wondered even when they appeared out of nowhere, at five years of age and after having seriously injured Nymphadora. You decided it was best to leave for France and learn to use your powers away from your family.

Now you didn't know if Madame Maxime would let you go back home, after all, you had thought of quitting being a teacher to devote yourself fully to be an auror because for that you had studied day and night until exhaustion, however your intentions had been an enigma for Madame Maxime, who flatly refused to let you abandon your classes of defense against the dark arts. But, if Dora needed you, you had to be there, because there was nothing you wouldn't do for your sister.

Folding each of the letters, you approached your bed and with your wand made all your clothes fly out of the closet until they dropped into the open suitcase that rested under your chest of drawers. You deftly closed the latch and made it become the size of a coin, loading it into your front pocket. You opened the door and ran down the stairs.

You greeted every student you came across and even talked to each of them on your way to the principal's office. You started running, thinking that you had to be that very day at the address Dora had attached to you in the last letter she sent. You fixed your hair before you reached the office and knocked three times on the door. A light voice gave you the pass on the other side and you rushed in.

“Excusez moi madame” you said as you saw the headmistress sitting in front of her desk. On the other side sat a man you recognized as Byron Murphy, a senior auror who worked as an assistant teacher of defense against the dark arts. You frowned after Byron smiled at you" I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I need to talk to you about something important.

"What is it, Professor?"

"I... well" You cleared your throat, looking down at your shoes "You see, my sister has written to me from England as a matter of urgency and she asked me to return home immediately”

"C'est du jamais vu!"Shouted the woman, kicking her desk. Byron jumped in his place "This must be a joke. Just today my two defense professors wish to resign, is this some kind of loving decision?”

Your cheeks soon turned into two shiny fresh tomatoes from the embarrassment. Byron looked at you with a raised eyebrow and held out his hand for you to take, wanting to play along with what the headmistress had just said. You shook it off, because you were not indifferent to the gossip going around the school about the two of you.

Byron Murphy would take any opportunity to be near you, and you even thought it was all a plan of the auror when Madame Maxime appointed him as assistant for defense against the dark arts; you soon learned that the class itself was very heavy and that even though you refused to accept Byron's help, you had no choice but to lean on him when things didn't turn out as arranged. Even with all that, the girls came up with that both of you were in a romantic relationship. There was the day you overheard your fourth graders whispering about how they had discovered that you and Professor Byron Murphy were getting married next winter. You punished them with extra homework.

"No, god, it's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?"

"My sister needs me, ma’am. There's.... there's a matter in England that I must help her settle."

"What kind of matter?"

"Uh, well" You knew that the next thing you would say would seriously upset the headmistress, but you had no choice but to be honest and get out of there as soon as possible “She doesn't mention much about the situation, but in every letter she has sent me Albus Dumbledore's name comes up”

There was a long silence that was cut short when the huge headmistress stood up and the chair she was sitting in fell backwards causing a frightening clatter. You took a couple of steps back and tried to keep your hands as close to your wand as possible. Byron got up as well, walked over to you and stood next to you, holding your hand in case the situation got out of hand.

“Albus Dumbledore! That unfortunate little man! I've had enough of him since last year!”

“Are you referring to the Triwizard Tournament?” Byron asked

“Of course that's what I mean! That damned Tournament where Hogwarts had two winners, unfairly of course, but nothing could be done cause the laws of the damned Goblet were clear, weren't they? They didn't accept appeals. And then... what happened to that Diggory boy... what they said about the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.... Albus Dumbledore is a liar!” You closed your eyes as a drop of spittle landed on your cheek. Byron shook his head

“You don't believe in the Dark Lord's return?”

“Of course not!” You both knew that the headmistress was really annoyed as her French accent became even more pronounced. You looked at Byron for a second before looking back at the angry woman “I've read about it in the newspaper, in The Daily Prophet, as they call it, Igor Karkarov has kept me informed of the matter.

“Do you still have contact with that man?”

“Sure do i! He and I have been friends for years and he has been affected by the thing as well. The poor man has had to hide in a hut on the outskirts of Bulgaria from where he has been able to get hold of influences who send him copies of the newspaper every month. Otherwise we would both be in the dark. So i’m very sorry for what i’m about to tell you, Professor Lexington, but I will not accept any kind of resignation on your part.

“Madame, if you'll just let me....”

“Much less when you plan to join Dumbledore's madness. I'm sorry, but you'd better get back to your classes”

The thing was, that the issue was about more than just Dumbledore, it was about protecting your family, your friends and in the worst case scenario, the entire magical community. You may not have been present at Hogwarts a year ago, but you firmly believed what Dora had told you about Cedric Diggory's murder; there was no reason not to believe in the Dark Lord's return, cause even those who were Death Eaters had been disappearing overnight. And you firmly believed in your sister's word, she, being an auror, was aware of the severity  of the situation and that's why she was strongly asking you to go back home and help her in any way you could.

No, you couldn't stay at Beauxbatons for a second longer.

"It is a pity that you don’t accept my motives, Madame, but I have already made up my mind. I have packed my bags and will leave immediately with or without your approval" The woman was about to retort, however, you stopped her "I believe in my sister's word and of course I believe in Lord Voldemort's return.

"Don't say his name!" Madame Maxime shrieked, covering her ears. Byron shuddered

"Cedric Diggory shouldn’t have died and we mustn’t stand idly by; there are people out there fighting and dying at the hands of dark magic, spreading fear and starting an internal war that we may never be able to get out of. Desolé, madame, but I cannot stay out of this. I have learned much here, and even managed to control my powers, despite that, i’m loyal to my family and, therefore, i’m loyal to Albus Dumbledore.

You turned around, ready to leave when the giant's powerful voice stopped you.

"Professor Lexington, are you aware that if you leave the school you will never return?"

You looked at her over your shoulder

"Believe me, Madame, if you refuse to believe in the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and try to make others believe it is so, then I have no desire to return."

Leaving the office, you ran down the stairs trying to get to the front door. After all, from France to London wasn't too long a walk, you could just disappear and show up at the place Dora had marked for you. You would if you had the slightest idea where that place was.

A few hurried footsteps followed you, stopping you in front of the main door.

It was Byron, who was carrying a small suitcase on his back.

“Hey, you don't have to run away from me, honey”

“Leave me alone, Byron”

“Well, okay, listen” He grabbed you by the cheeks as you tried to leave the castle. Your eyes met his, noticing how a smile began to form on his lips “What you said to Olympe was wonderful, it really was. And you of all people know that I also believe in the return of you-know-who”

“Do you?”

“Yes. I was about to tell Madame Maxime my reasons to resigning  when you arrived”

“What are those reasons?”

Byron smiled sideways, stroking your cheeks.

“I want to fight against Lord Voldemort”

“What”

“Just as you hear, dear. After all, that's our job as Aurors, isn't it? I can't stay in this castle and pretend to be a teacher when they may need me out there. I've heard about the Order of the Phoenix, about Albus Dumbledore, his name is going around the world. So i want to be a part of it too”

“Byron...”

“Just... let me come with you, okay? You'll need all the help you can get”

Byron being an auror of a higher rank made everything easier, because then you would have extra help against the Dark Lord; however, you weren't prepared to be around him any longer than necessary. Byron stroked your cheek and, smiling, he opened the door for you. You sighed, taking his hand to disappear from there together.

[unfolded73]

How Do We Get Back (1/16) - schitt’s creek ff

(AO3 link)

Summary:  In a literal alternate universe where the Roses escaped financial ruin, David and Patrick struggle with loneliness and a sense that something isn’t right. A chance meeting in New York and a terrible tragedy drive them to question whether the timeline they are on is the right one.

Notes:  I'm really excited to start posting this fic which has been obsessing me for a few weeks. Thanks to @j-philly-b for being my New York-native nit-picker - pizza fight forever. See notes at the end for warnings about plot elements in this fic ... or don't if you prefer not to know.

Rating will be explicit in later chapters. This chapter 3.5k words.

______________________________

Soft music played from somewhere, infused into the space like just the right amount of an expensive perfume: not enough to draw attention to itself, but enough to help round out the aesthetic with taste and class. The white walls positively glowed under warm, carefully selected lighting, offering a contrast to the pieces on offer to buyers. Minimalist and spare, every item was lovingly placed by the owner in exactly the perfect spot to highlight its assets and mask its flaws. It was why buyers went out of their way to come here, or so the proprietor had been told in more prosperous days.

“Tell me about this sculpture,” said a woman in a severe suit and a severe haircut and impossibly high heels.

David Rose, the gallerist she was addressing, put his hands together in an obsequious manner and walked over to stand at her side. Her command had come without the courtesy of turning and looking at him; rather with the expectation that she would get a prompt response — she was the kind of woman who always got a prompt response.

“This is another exciting piece by Devonaé Streeter. She works out of New York now, but after a few months in Prague—”

“I don’t want to hear about the artist. Tell me about the work.”

David squinted an eye at the bronze sculpture, standing its solitary vigil on a white pedestal. He imagined the… woman? it depicted was looking back at him, or would have been if she had more than empty eye sockets to look at him with. He launched into his patter.

“Devonaé’s bronze works often challenge the viewer to look past the grotesque features of the art to see the grotesque features in themselves. This particular figure is an allegory for the way in which we fail to recognize each other’s pain, and I think—”

The woman turned on her heel and walked away, dismissing him and the statue with one quick wave of her hand. She turned her attention to the art on the walls, scanning over the canvasses quickly. David could almost see the calculations going on behind her eyes, like a scrolling ticker on a cable business news show. She wasn’t here to appreciate the art, she was here to find something to invest in. Most of them were, especially people like her.

“Tell me about that one,” she said, pointing to the largest canvas.

David winced. He would have taken the painting in question down a while ago, or perhaps never would have hung it in the first place, if he weren’t hurting a little bit for artists these days. And of course if he hadn’t signed a contract. He’d met Carmen at a party, and okay yes, she’d seemed a little crazy at the time but he’d assumed that was because of all the drugs they were taking. He’d agreed to display her art in his gallery. Now, months later, not a single one of the paintings had ever sold.

Clearing his throat, David said, “Carmen Herrera. She has a… unique vision, as you can see from this piece.” He focused on the track lighting above the painting as he talked; he’d never been able to look at this piece without developing an anxious flutter in his stomach. “It is intended to shock, of course. The worshippers…” He let his eyes glance over the blood-soaked imagery, wondering why he was bothering. This woman was never going to buy one of Carmen’s paintings. “The worshippers hurt themselves and each other at the behest of their goddess.” He gestured vaguely upward.

“Mictēcacihuātl,” the woman murmured.

“Umm… bless you?”

“The Aztec goddess of death,” she explained, still staring at the painting.

“Oh, uhh, yes exactly,” he vamped. “Personally, I’ve always thought the worshippers represent the American electorate, voting against their own self interest because of the lies politicians tell them.” He didn’t really think that. He wasn’t sure Carmen could have said, if pressed, who the President of the United States even was. But he gave potential buyers this line, figuring they might recoil a little less from the painting if they thought it was allegorical.

The sharp-suited woman couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of it. “No, I don’t think that’s what it’s about,” she said. Then she turned to him. “I’ll take it.”

David gaped at her for a second before he recovered enough to respond. “Yes, of course.”

After several minutes of dealing with the payment and shipping, tasks that always made David’s palms sweat with anxiety that he’d screw up some detail of the transaction, the woman was gone and the gallery was quiet as a tomb — its usual state. David sighed and looked up at Carmen’s terrifying painting. “See you never, you creepy fucker.”

He walked back into his office and pulled out his phone. Opening Instagram, David scrolled aimlessly through posts by celebrities and influencers, many of whom he had met and a few of whom he had fucked. When no images of his sister appeared after a few minutes of scrolling, he pulled up her profile and checked her last post — two days ago, which was very unlike Alexis. David’s heart started to hammer in his chest with familiar worry for his sister. He checked the time and counted forward. It would be close to midnight in Italy, probably as good a time as any to catch her on her phone.

Hey r u ok? he texted, and then spent a full minute watching for any sign of a return message before he clicked off the screen and tossed the phone onto his desk with a huff. Then when that dramatic gesture didn’t give him a result, he picked his phone up again, just in time for it to vibrate with an incoming call. He almost dropped it.

Seeing who was calling, David almost let it go unanswered, but at the last second he tapped the screen. “Hi, Dad.”

“David, how are you?” His father’s voice was always confident and booming, as if he could summon happiness if he just projected from his diaphragm. David held the phone away from his ear with a wince, and then put it on speaker before setting it down.

“Fine. Why are you calling me?”

“Do I need a reason to call my only son?”

David rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

There was a pause. “Well, actually, I just heard that Eli was released from prison.”

Pulling a nail file out of his desk drawer, David snorted. “What, and you’re going to rehire him as your business manager?”

“Well, of course not, David.”

“Good.”

“I’m never going to speak to him again.”

“Good.”

“I mean, can you imagine how our lives might have turned out if he’d managed to get on that plane to the Cayman Islands before the police caught him?”

“Yes, I can, because you’ve mentioned it an average of once a month for the last three years,” David said, taking a few desultory swipes across the end of the nail on his middle finger.

“I mean, it was bad enough with all the tax penalties we had to pay. If it weren’t for Eli, we’d still have the beach house!”

“Uh huh.” If David had heard all of this before once, he’d heard it a hundred times. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s on location with Sharknado 5. And you know, the prison that jackass was in was pretty swanky.”

“Then maybe Eli will actually be more miserable now that he’s been released. When does Mom get back?”

“Two more weeks. She’s got her phone in Bulgaria; you can call her.”

David didn’t want to call her. He wanted his father to call her so that she could talk him off of this angry ledge before he had another scare with his heart.

“Just… don’t worry about Eli, okay?” David set the nail file down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s not a part of your life anymore.”

“Damn straight he’s not.”

“Weren’t you telling me something about a new business venture at Christmas? Some kind of app?” David didn’t want to talk about this, or about anything really, but he figured he could at least try to pull his father out of this emotional tailspin about the former business manager who almost made off with the Rose family fortune.

“Yes, well, the spouting video market is quite crowded now, of course, but we’re making some in-roads. Slow and steady wins the race, that’s what I always say.”

“It’s streaming video. And that’s what you used to say about your rivalry with Blockbuster,” David snarked, his moment of charitability toward his father difficult to keep front of mind when he was being so irritating.

“And Blockbuster went out of business.”

“So did you!”

“It was a strategic restructuring, David. A shift into other markets. Like streaming video. Sure, the money isn’t flowing as freely as it did in the Rose Video heyday, but we’re doing fine.”

“Okay.” He went back to filing his nails.

“Are you still seeing… what was her name?” Johnny asked.

Trying to remember who his dad was even talking about, David squinted. “Who?”

“You know, the girl who used to eat garbage as performance art?”

David huffed. “Eliose didn’t eat garbage, she covered herself in… you know what, it doesn’t matter. We haven’t seen each other in months.”

“Oh. Is there anyone special in your life right now?”

An image of Brenton flashed in his mind. He was probably back in David’s apartment as they spoke, making the place reek of bong water and eating all of David’s food. He sighed. “No, no one special.”

“Well, don’t give up, son,” Johnny said. “How’s the gallery?”

“I just sold a painting.”

“That’s great!” his father boomed. “Good for you!”

“Okay, selling paintings is my job, you don’t have to praise me quite so effusively for doing my job.”

“No, of course I don’t need to. But I’m proud of you, son. Especially now that…” There was a moment of dead air.

“You still there?” David asked.

“Oh! Yes, I’m still here.”

“I thought the call had dropped. Now that what?”

An uncomfortable chuckle came out of the phone speaker. “You know, I forgot what I was saying.”

“Uhhh… okay.” David rolled his eyes again. “Anyway, the art business isn’t booming like it used to be, but today was good.”

“You know what? I just remembered I need to make another call,” his father said. “Sorry, David.”

“Whatever. You called me.”

“Talk to you soon, son.”

“Mm-hmm. Bye.” David tapped the screen and ended the call. He noticed the time and sighed, glancing out of his office door at the empty gallery. He might as well lock up and go back to his apartment. He moved quietly around the space, flipping off all of the lights and turning off the music that he played from a spare iPad that he’d gotten in a gift bag when he was Hayden Panettiere’s date to the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. Once he had his coat and messenger bag and had the security gate pulled down and locked, David pocketed his keys and stepped out onto the busy SoHo sidewalk. It had been misting rain for hours, the January day not cold enough to produce snow, but the temperature was now dropping below freezing and making the sidewalks treacherous.

The stationary store next door to his gallery was still open and doing a brisk business, and he was tempted to go in and look at the journals, but he resisted the impulse. Even though he used them sporadically, he’d already bought more empty journals than he could fill in a lifetime. The bar at the end of the block was also starting to fill up, and while he’d been known to get a drink there after closing the gallery, he wasn’t in the mood to be around people at the moment. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he summoned an Uber to ferry him the two miles to his apartment in Chelsea.

Braulio is 4 minutes away, his phone told him. While he waited, he texted Alexis again. Can you respond pls???

“Want me to talk or not talk?” his Uber driver asked as soon as David was settled into the back seat of the black Nissan.

“Don’t talk, please,” he responded. “Sorry.”

“Hey, no worries, man. That’s why I ask.” Braulio turned up his music a couple of clicks, the kind of unobjectionable, nondescript soundscape that was like something you’d hear in a modern hotel lobby. The driver had probably read on a website that it was the key to increasing tips or 5-star ratings.

David’s block on West 21st Street was packed with four and five-story apartment buildings, the short trees at regular intervals along the sidewalk offering a tiny break from the monotony of sandstone and concrete — although not this time of year, when they stuck up like twigs haphazardly shoved into the dirt by a giant, bored child. Shivering in his too-thin but fashionable jacket, he clicked on a rating for his Uber driver and shoved his phone in his pocket before making his way over to the short flight of stairs that led up to his building.

“Spare change,” a familiar voice called from a heap of blankets at the base of the building.

David opened his messenger bag and fished for the coins at the bottom. “It’s getting cold; you need to go to a shelter.”

“Not that cold,” the woman countered, holding her dingy Starbucks cup aloft. He dropped the coins in.

“The temperature’s dropping though.”

“Cold enough to ice skate.”

He took the non-sequitur in stride. “Well, not quite, but almost.”

“Your skates have to stay on the right line, ya know. You slip off and then suddenly—” She hit the cup, making the coins rattle. “Different universe.”

“Uh-huh. Will you go to a shelter, please? Don’t stay out here all night.” He re-clipped his bag and turned to walk away.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mister Rose.”

“Well, I live here.”

“Not supposed to. Supposed to live in a motel with your family.”

David stopped and turned around. “What? Ew.”

“Rosebud,” she murmured.

“Oh, are we in Citizen Kane now?”

She hunkered down in her blankets, putting an end to what could only loosely be termed a conversation. Sighing, David left the homeless woman behind and entered the building’s vestibule. He then unlocked the inner door, shoving his way in with a grunt when the door inevitably stuck a little bit.

He mounted the one flight of stairs to his apartment. At the height of his family’s wealth, when David had been in his late twenties, he’d lived in a very posh apartment on the upper east side, but after the incident with his father’s business manager, he’d downgraded and moved to Chelsea. It was still a very nice, modern apartment, but it wasn’t what he’d once had.

The scent of sandlewood incense greeted him as he unlocked his door, and he wrinkled his nose and recoiled a little. Dropping his bag, he made his way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, hoping to find his leftovers from last night’s take-out. Of course they were gone. He slammed the refrigerator and swung around, ready to have it out with Brenton once and for all.

The man in question chose that moment to stride into the kitchen, shirtless, a pair of athletic shorts slung low on his waist. “Hey,” Brenton said. “Glad you’re here, we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we sure do.” David tried not to let his eyes drift down to the v-shaped crease of Brenton’s hips and failed.

“I’m gonna go stay with my boyfriend in LA for a while, so…” He shrugged. “Thanks for everything.”

“I’m sorry, your what? You never mentioned a boyfriend before,” David said, grimacing. He’d met Brenton last month at a cocktail party he’d thrown at the gallery. Young and blond and in his mid-twenties, Brenton was the son of a well-known hedge fund manager, and he seemed to be a guy whose sole occupation was drifting from one party to another, looking for a good time. He and David had hooked up several times in recent weeks, but their conversations had been limited to fashion and art world trends and what kind of sex they were into.

“Because we weren’t like that, you and me,” Brenton said with a disarming smile. “This was never about, you know, unpacking our pasts. And we never said we were exclusive.”

“I know that,” David snapped. “I didn’t say I expected exclusivity. Still, you might have mentioned—”

“He and I were figuring some things out, you know? But he’s gone out there for pilot season and the auditions are stressful, so I think I really just need to be there for him.”

“Oh, he’s an actor,” David said. “How fun for you.”

There wasn’t really much more to say, so after a few more empty platitudes from Brenton, he disappeared into David’s bedroom to get dressed and to gather whatever belongings he’d brought over in the course of their month-long affair. David sat at the kitchen island and flipped through an issue of Vogue without seeing the pages. He probed a little bit at his feelings, pressing against them like you’d touch a bruise, trying to determine how painful it was. He didn’t really care that much about Brenton — he was shallow and mostly unkind. David didn’t think he’d miss him. What did hurt was once again being shoved aside as soon as something better came along, after a lifetime of being shoved aside as soon as something better came along.

Once Brenton was gone, David tried cracking open a window to air out the apartment, but quickly closed it when it let in a biting cold wind. He was starting to get a headache, and he reached up to massage the back of his neck, trying to stave it off. Pulling out his phone, he checked Alexis’ instagram again, and then opened his messaging app.

[David] 911. Call me.

Surprisingly, his phone rang only a few seconds later.

“David, what? What’s the emergency?” Alexis sounded manic and not a little annoyed.

“I’ve been texting you all evening!” he almost shouted. “I’m sorry for worrying that you were dead.”

“I’m fine, why would I be dead?”

“Your social’s been dark for days.”

“Ugh. I’ve just been busy, David, I don’t have to post something every day as proof of life, do I?”

“You have to at least respond to my texts, Alexis.”

“Look, the club we were in might’ve gotten raided by police earlier, a little bit, but it’s fine because we found a back way out and we ran. It’s no big deal.”

“It kind of sounds like a big deal,” David said, rubbing his neck again. The headache was getting worse; the muscles running down from his skull were like iron rods. “Why were the police raiding the club?”

“How should I know what the Monaco police were doing?” she asked.

“Monaco? I thought you were in Italy.”

Alexis laughed. “Monaco is in Italy, David.”

“Monaco is a separate country, Alexis.”

“No, it’s… is it? Well anyway, Tiff and Lily and I are back at the hotel. I might come home, though. Stavros called and he wants to see me.”

David moaned unhappily. “Alexis, no, don’t go see Stavros. You’ll end up getting back together with him and that would be a terrible life choice.”

“Speaking of terrible life choices, is that Brett guy still crashing at your place?”

“It’s Brenton, and we were seeing each other, he wasn’t just ‘crashing’ here.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And it’s over anyway.”

“Oh.” Her voice softened for the first time. “I’m sorry, David.”

He waved his hand, not that she could see him. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t like him that much. He was just really hot.” He looked around the quiet, empty apartment. “You could stay here for a while, if you want.” Alexis was a chaos engine, but he also kind of missed her. Her whirlwind life would keep him from thinking about his own sad existence as much.

“Ew, what? Why? I’ve got way more space at Mom and Dad’s, and when I want to stay in the city, Klair lets me stay at the apartment with her stepmom. Who’s actually really cool, although she takes way too many pills.”

“Fine, whatever. Far be it from me to come between you and Klair’s stepmom.” He fluttered his hand again.

“Okay, don’t be like that. See, David, I know how you are. You’re lonely right now and you think you miss me, but you’d be sick of me the second I set foot through your doorway. You’d complain that I was too messy and that my friends were too loud and that I hadn’t used a coaster for my water glass.”

“Well, if you’d use a coaster—”

“David, it’s 3 a.m. here and you’re lecturing me about a hypothetical coaster. I’m gonna get some sleep now, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Go to Mom and Dad’s if you’re lonely,” Alexis said.

“I’m not lonely.”

“Goodnight, David.”

“Goodnight, Alexis.”

(Chapter 2)

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[additional content warnings after some spoiler space]

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[last warning]

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This fic will include a temporary character death, the temporariness of which should be obvious by the time it happens. Also note that this fic does include marital problems and adultery committed by Patrick, who didn't meet David in Schitt's Creek in this timeline, and (as you will see in the next chapter) ended up marrying Rachel. Just giving you an extra warning for that if it squicks you out. 

[pinersyn]

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[bclnews]

Glenn Hauser logs August 20-21, 2021

** FRANCE . 7780 & 5800, UT Sat Aug 21 at 0200, another TRSW Europirate relay hour courtesy of TRSW via WRMIs: Atlantic 2000, alternating announcements in English and French, start with Beatles, and Born In The USA, but finally at 0210 a French cover of Sinatra`s My Way. Then the original. Everything pop/rock so far; is there any other genre? This one does not know about 7780 either, opener just announcing 5800, but 7780 is better here via remote in Maryland (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6935-USB, Aug 20 at 0555 final check, pirate Radio Genix is still running late; continued from previous report from 0412 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR) ** U S A . WORLD OF RADIO 2100 monitoring: confirmed Friday August 20 at 2030.5 on IRRS SW via Italia AM 918 kHz, VG S9+33 steady into Noale SDR nearby; previous American talkshow about credit/debt was chopped off by 2030.0 for ID and then WOR. Also confirmed UT Sat Aug 21 at 0130 on WRMI 9395 VG into Maine SDR S9/+10. This time a WRMI ID inserted after Argentina before WOR. Next: 1801 UT Saturday IRRS 7290-Bulgaria to WNW, 918-Italy 1930vUT Saturday WA0RCR 1860-AM 0030 UT Sunday WRMI 5950 0300vUT Sunday WA0RCR 1860-AM 2000 UT Sunday IRRS 918-Italy 2230 UT Sunday WRMI 9955 to SSE 0030 UT Monday WRMI 7730 to WNW 0230 UT Monday WRMI 7780 to NE, 5800 to SSE 0300vUT Sunday WBCQ 6160v Area 51 to WSW 1030 UT Wednesday WRMI 5850 to NW 2100 UT Wednesday WRMI 7780 to NE 2100 UT Wednesday WBCQ 7490v to WSW 0130 UT Thursday WRMI 5010 to S Full schedule including AM, FM, webcasts, satellite, podcasts: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html Our non-commercial broadcasts and website depend on voluntary support; via PayPal, not necessarily in US funds, to woradio at yahoo.com One may also contribute by MO or check in US funds on a US bank to: Glenn Hauser, Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 USA (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR) ** U S A. (7489.9v), UT Sat Aug 21 at 0000-0100, WBCQ webcast of `Allan and Angela Wiener WorldWide`. After WTO theme, mandatory fiddling with mics, does Angela`s work? Console is screwing up. Something wrong with the 6160 audio amp. It`s hot and humid, 80s and 90s . Been arough week. It`s 20th of August, YOOLF 2021 for this original live broadcast. Complaining about masking. 0017, COVID restrixions prevent maintenance workers coming in from other countries. 0022, annoying Tim calls in, voted for Trump four times including primaries. Angela does not believe anything she hears, reads or sees. 0025, quadri-casting on 3265, 4790, 6160, 7490 . 0029, SuperStition update: still on backup low-power transmitter. $200K replacement PA tube is to be shipped on August 31. Hope to get back on air early Sept with techs from Continental and own staff working on it. Heard a year ago from Hans , that it was for sale; WBCQ offered opportunity to buy it. Got financing together with borrowed money, to save the SC SW station from scrap. Purchase and sales agreements made, application filed with FCC for licensing, nott he assets. Filing fee about $1000. Normally takes 6-8 weeks to go thru for domestic purchases. This was in August 2020 --- and then we waited and waited and waited, etc. There was the usual 30-day period for any comments and objexions to be filed: there were none. Finally in APRIL 2021, got a phone call from someone at FCC apologizing for the delay, said they were sending some paperwork to WBCQ`s attorneys. WBCQ has always been upfront with its listeners, Allan claims: ; In the mail, got an *informal* objexion which was filed Oct 15, *two weeks after* the filing window for those: should have been trashed. And WBCQ did not get it for 6 months! It`s absurd, defamatory. AW replied, waited, groveled, by phone, email, appealed via Sen. Collins, begged. Finally on August 10, 2021, one year from the original application, it *expired* because Family Broadcasting decided they had had enough and would not renew the matter. AW does not blame them for that. WBCQ does not *need* WHRI, but was trying to save one major SW station. AW says his constitutional rights were violated, his good name besmirched. FCC treatment was reprehensible. Angela interjects: ``Watch who you vote for, idiots in power!`` We`re not in it for the money, hoped merely to break even like at WBCQ. FCC purposely delayed and delayed and delayed this. AW is really angry. We don`t need the extra headache of WHRI, but wanted to save what would have been WBCQ transmitters 7, 8 and 9. This is not over. Maybe a petition? Listeners should file complaints about this matter with their congressmen, with FCC itself. WBCQ has been wronged, censored, bollixed up. Further legal remedies are not being divulged. Angela warns, ``They`re coming for you, next.`` 0052 . E-mailer advises that the WBCQ webcast drops off at :53 past every hour: Will continue to fight. 0059 prayer, A&A agree, ``We`ve got the biggest balls of them all``, into Hal Turner. Can anyone dig out of FCC files the notorious informal objexion? Who made it and what did they say? You may want to listen to this AAAWWW yourself. Scheduled repeats all on 7490 from 0030 UT Sunday, 2230 Monday, 2130 Tuesday, 2230 Wednesday. Larry Will`s version: ``8/21, 0000, 7490am, WBCQ. Typical Angela and Allan Weiner broadcast starting with animated discussions of vaccine conspiracy theories, whining about McDonald's not serving breakfast all day because of Covid, a few Covid deaths don't matter when millions of babies are aborted every year, etc. "Tim from Connecticut" calls with some more unhinged commentary; he'll never take the vaccine, ever. Then they start talking about the proposed WHRI purchase. At 38: Allan says that the original purchase agreement with WHRI expired on August 10 and was not renewed, so the deal is off! The rest of the broadcast was spent on railing against the insidious delaying tactics employed by the FCC who knew that if they just kept delaying, then the deal was likely doomed. Of course, Angela implies that it's the fault of the Biden administration. Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland`` John Carver`s version ``Tonight's AAWWW show started on time on 4790, 6160 and 7490. Allan in the studio with Angela. Very brief talk about a movie then Allan had to tell us once again how beautiful Angela is. Very hot in Maine this week with high humidity and temps in the eighties and nineties. As is usual anymore, some equipment problems in the studio. Longish talk about Covid with Angela getting a little loud. Phone call at 0020 from Tim again who riles up the Covid talk and vaccine talk. Angela goes into a mini rant. Allan says they should have the replacement tube for the superstation by the end of the month and hopefully have the transmitter up and running early in the next month. Then he finally talked in depth about the sale of WHRI. Explained about all the hoops they had to jump through and all the delays. Holdup was because a complaint about the sale that was filed after the due date and shouldn't have caused a problem. It was announced earlier this month that the seller was tired of waiting for the sale to be approved and has backed out of the deal and cancelled the sale. I'm very sorry as at this time one of my granddaughters with some of my great grandchildren showed up at my door and I had to go to deal with them and missed the end of the sale story. Reading of emails at 0053 s starting with this week`s Free Radio Weekly. Closing prayer at 0058 and program was off the air at 0100. John, Mid-North Indiana`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR) ** U S A. 1090, Aug 20 at 0600 UT, dead air again from KAAY AR, facilitating understations, the stronger making medium SAH and 0602 Fox Sports Radio ``live`` ---- really? Or when it was recorded. Presumed again to be 5000-watt ND *daytimer* WAQE, Rice Lake, Wisconsin on the Fox SR network, as previously caught Aug 16 at the same hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR) ** U S A. 1130, Aug 20 at 0602 UT, song in English dominating 50 kW KWKH Shreveport; once again the allegedly one-watt-at-night reactivated KLEY Wellington KS; also a 250-watt semi-local still in the daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK, WOR) This report dispatched at 0231 UT August 21 Read the full article

[woodendoortr]

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[nearmidnightannex]

Eurovision 2018! commentary as it happened

Reposting from something done elsewhere. It is very very long, what with the competition lasting, you know, FOUR HOURS, so there is a keep-reading tag below.

No idea who the performers were, but I really liked that second number leading into the beginning and the parade of nations.

Interesting that Ross and Shangela felt the need to explicitly state that they will not be talking over the performers. I'm guessing that they had comments about that in previous years. (Also, totally forgot that Celine Dion got her start with Eurovision. And also somewhat confused, what with her being, you know, Canadian. Then, there are random Americans here this year, and I think Norway’s performer last year was actually from Australia, so.)

I do not remember the Ukranian boy band hosts from last year doing the instructions in English and French. I'm guessing in part because as they stated they were very new to English, so handling both would have been a bit much.

And here we go!

Melovin, Ukraine, "Under the ladder". Had a few problems wandering off key at the start, but then the number went insane and he was fine. Seriously, that ending was kind of nuts for a song that really wasn't all that intense. Didn't like it that much, meself, but we shall see.

Amaia y Alfred, Spain, "Tu Cancion". Surrounded by a sea of phone screens on one side, and a stage of things that aren't phone screens but might as well be on the other. It's actually the sort of very sweet ballad that wouldn't tolerate Eurovision-standard overproduction, so the lack of LED screen probably doesn't hurt them at all. No sense of whether or not it will do well, but the audience (and Ross and Shangela) seem to love them. (Cat Valente on Twitter: "Oof, Spain's only special stage effect was heterosexuality.")

Lea Sirk, Slovenia, "Hvala, ne!". A song and performance with attiTUDE, at the least. And about ninety million more flashing laser lights and spotlights than any song needs; I'm not epileptic, but I literally could not watch the chorus because it hurt. I can't imagine how difficult it was to be in the room.

Ieva Zasimauskaitė, Lithuania, "When we're old". A very very small and sweet ballad. If we didn't have the example of last year's winner, I wouldn't think a song this small would have any chance of making it through. Given that there's no projection screen on stage with her, I'm guessing that the images of couples we see next to her can't be seen in the auditorium, so they're aimed squarely at the juries and viewers, all of whom are watching on television elsewhere. And that staged ending, however hokey, was really sweet.

Cesar Sampson, Austria, "Nobody but you". I like the sound of the song, although I think it may have a shade too much repetition. His pants are ... weird. (People, if I, the fashion-impaired, am wondering why his spandex pants have a crotch at his knees, something is decided ODD.)

Elina Nechayeva, Estonia, "La Forza". Oh, Opera. Or at least operatic. And she gets around the LED screen restriction by wearing her own. Man, that skirt is MAGNIFICENT. It also provides all the motion, which is good, because she can't possibly be able to move without screwing up the screen. (Um ... were those sperm cells zipping around on her dress for a hot minute there?) I do wonder how much the auditorium can see, though; the main seating/standing level is all below stage level, and the balconies are all very far away.

Alexander Rybak, Norway, "That's how you write a song". A previous winner performing again. And again, effects that the audience can't see because they're composited into the camera. And it was fun, I guess, and I suppose that's how you write a song, but ... eh. Whatever.

There is a LOT more direct outreach to the auditorium audience this year than there has been in the past. The Slovenian grrrl group asking them to sing along, the Austrian guy saying  "How are you, Lisbon" in a song that really didn't tolerate it, Norway throwing his jacket into the audience ... I wonder how much this is a reflection of them compensating for the LED effects they don't have.

Claudia Pascoal, Portugal, defending champeeen, "O Jardim". Apparently, Portugal has decided that "small and quirky" is their niche, and they're going to OWN that. That said, the song built a little, in a way that last year's song never did, if only a very little.

And now a bit of business, both literal and figurative, in which the entire world sprints for the bathroom. Plumbing system managers around the world are thinking, "What the ... must be a break in Eurovision."

SuRie, Great Britain, "Storm". A very energetic performance, in which some rando grabbed the mic from her to get political. It was handled expeditiously, to put it mildly. She was able to get the audience back with her pretty quickly. Intrusions aside, the song was ... OK, I guess.

Sanja Ilić & Balkanika, Serbia, "Nova Deca". Cant understand a word, of course, but I like the sound and staging. Also the studmuffinly lead singer who set sail on a shorter version of the SS Kaftanic.

Michael Schulte, Germany, "You let me walk alone". It's a very nice, low-ish key song. Again, very simple staging accompanying effects ... although, judging from the reflections on the stage floor, unless the floor itself was part of the effects, the audience actually could see those. I wonder if management changed its mind about the LED screen ... or if he somehow brought his own with him. (EDIT: judging from later acts, the latter.)

Eugent Bushpepa, Albania, "Mall". Very dynamic. I mostly liked the sound of it, although I could have done with less of the falsetto blasts. Back of his jacket was ... odd. And ... that's it. That's all I got.

Madame Monsieur, France, "Mercy". So ... being able to kinda sorta just a little understand parts of the song are throwing me. Not least because it took me a couple rounds to catch up with the concept of "My name is Mercy", and not "My name is Thank you." Not helped by the fact that they were actually playing on that confusion deliberately. That aside, the song was ... very very French.

Mikolas Josef, Czech Republic, "Lie to me".  It's a fun song -- why is he wearing a backpack? -- but good lord, there's a lot of just standing more or less in place this Eurovision. (Well, OK, until the end of the song, for him. Bopping about with dancers and the occasional backflip off stairs is not “just standing in place”, no.) Also, it would have been helpful to have established the context that the other dancers were standing in light boxes bseside him; it looked on screen like they were somewhere else entirely at first. It's one hell of a dynamic performance, I'll give it that.

Rasmussen, Denmark, "Higher ground". Selected to perform the song because he looks like a viking. Which cannot be denied, really. Also, putting him in all black makes him look simultaneously undead and slightly terrifying. (Cat Valente on Twitter: "The lead singer for #Denmark looks like undead bearded Jared Leto when he hasn't had lunch yet.") The choice to stage with a bunch of long-haired burly trenchcoat-clad guys sorta kinda marching around is ... interesting. The song is sort of monotone; the performance is making a LOT more of it than it is, which is saying something. (And again, the appeal to the audience: "Come on, walk with us!" Which explains the marching.) Not quite sure what the snow effects have to do with anything. (The stagehands and crew for Eurovision must be both very good and feel very put-upon by the end.)

Jessica Malboy, Eurofied Australia, "We got love". It's dynamic, and it's ... fine. Although this is as close to typically Eurvision staging as we've had in a while. She did go badly off on her big glory note near the end, but she had a fair amount of song left to recover with.

And another break for business, and for business. The bit with the Serbian ... whatever he was, was very cute. The bit with Cesar Sampson was also very cute; hope he didn't hurt anything. And the bit with the Portuguese pod was also very cute. Cuteness abounded.

A very brief "in memoriam" bit to the first Eurovision winner, who passed away earlier this year.

Saara Aalto, Finland, "Monsters". Weirdly, I mostly like this song a lot. I think parts of it needed ... something, but I have no idea what. It just felt a bit off in places. (Not helped by the fact that nerves pulled her off key a bit here and there.) But that aside, it was energetic and interestingly staged. No sense of how well it might do.

Equinox, Bulgaria, "Bones". A motley of a group, with random Americans, according to Ross. Staged -- and presented -- as a really stark music video, sort of. Everyone in black. (My, this is a grim Eurovision this year.) That said, the blond woman singer does look as though she apported in from some completely different futuristic video. The song was ... fine, I guess. Can't quite see it going anywhere, though.

DoReDoS, Moldova, "My Lucky Day". Clever staging -- VERY clever staging, fifties doorway farce translated to music. Not that fifties doorway farce would have involved quite so much groping. It was really a lot of fun. It's so relentlessly out of anything even vaguely popular that I have no sense of how well it will do, but if there's any justice, that should be at least a top five finish.

"It's a very good chicken, sir."

Benjamin Ingrosso, Sweden, "Dance you off". And apparently some performers did indeed find their own projection stage solutions. Song is ... fine. (Saying that a lot this year, but that's all I got. It's not awful, it's not outstanding, it's FINE. If he were on the US version of The Voice, he would probably win.)

AWS, Hungary, "Viszlát Nyár". Um ... well. It's ... dynamic. Yes. It is ... that. Also apparently a fire hazard. And the lead screamer was barefoot. And the electric guitarist/bassist (couldn't tell which) decided to use Eurovision's audience as a mosh pit. (I bet the lead screamer can't talk after concerts, if he tries do to whole sets like that.)

Netta, Israel, "Toy". I really do love this song. Even the first few seconds have graduated from "intensely annoying" to "kind of growing on me". (They also sound MUCH better without autotune.) Not quite sure that the HEY light board thing really translated. Other than that, the staging is kind of lunatic, in initially small-scale Eurovision tradition. Oh, hey, sparkle shooters! And then the lighting went utterly insane! And then fire! And smoke! Ah, Eurovision!

Waylon, Netherlands, "Outlaw in 'em". A country song. Huh. I wouldn't expect that to do well at Eurovision -- an American-style country song being, you know, not even vaguely Euro-anything -- but as CW songs go, that was fun. Although you can tell that this was European, because he would have been Strongly Discouraged From That Staging here. The black guys having angry violent fits around the white singer was ... yeah. THAT. (Probably deliberately, given that the lead singer had lived in the US for a while, but still.)

Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Ireland, "Together". Low-key, lovely mid-tempo ballad. And I think he’s also been to Eurovision before, so he was able to keep his falsetto strong and on-key until near the very end. A nice all-male romance portrayed by the dancers on the stage and bridge. (Weirdly, given that the song itself is very clearly about the breakup and not the romance. Reportedly, the semifinal performance was censored in China, and the Eurovision broadcasting team promptly yanked China’s license to broadcast the grand final and blocked them.)

Eleni Foureira, Cyprus, "Fuego". It's fun, but still not seeing how this song is one of the favorites. To repeat myself: It was FINE. Lots of fire effects at the end, which, given the titlte, were rather required.

Ermal Meta e Fabrizio Moro, Italy, "Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente". Lyrics in many languages pretty clearly composited directly to camera -- they must have been in a complete panic when they discovered that they wouldn't have a big LED stage to work with. The song had sort of a nice build that they played with. Beyond that ... it was (say it with me!) FINE.

Honestly, I'm kind of clueless about what to expect. The staging was very low key. Very few of the numbers stood out. At a guess, my picks, vaguely in order, would be:

Israel Finland Moldova Austria Serbia Estonia Ukraine Ireland Cyprus Czech Republic Lithuania Slovenia Spain Portugal Netherlands Norway Sweden Italy Eurofied Australia (Yes, that's right, outside the top ten for the first time) Albania Denmark Bulgaria Hungary France United Kingdom (may do better with sympathy vote for rando invading the stage) Germany

I think the top three that I listed will actually be the top three, but beyond that ... I have no clue. And, to be scruplously accurate, I don't expect Israel to win, although I think they should. I think the geopolitical moment that we're in, which kept Russia out of the final for the first time ever, will also keep Israel from winning.

And now, the interval acts! The first couple singers are really nice. Can't understand a word, but the songs are still lovely.

The skit about the journey to Portugal's win was ... interesting.

And Salvador Sobral himself returns to the stage (sans last year's manbunnage) to sing another "I won't do Eurovision style" song at Eurovision. Which, to be fair, is a very nice sounding lament ... which his movements on stage do not at all match -- I wonder if he usually performs with a guitar or something and just has no idea what to do with himself. Or maybe I'm missing a lot because I don't speak Portuguese. Either way, he just looks odd up there.  ... oh. And now the song acquires tempo as he plays the piano like a drum. (In all seriousness, this is the most Eurovision-style performance I've seen from him; adding in a certain dynamism along with a certain amount of "What is he DOING?") And then he performed his Eurovision-winning song with a person who I guess is his idol. And the audience sort of sang along. (I wish I liked that song more, and I did like it better than last year’s Eurovision performance. Because that was a Moment.)

Interesting that Ross and Shangela, when they picked their top five, had almost NOTHING in common. They both had Israel and Germany in their top five, but nothing else.

And now: the jury vote! And judging from the early vote, the juries are going to be all over the place; Israel, for example, has been in second on one ballot, third on another, out of the top ten on the third and fourth jury ballots, first on the fifth; Cyrprus has a first and a few random other points; France has one first place (...the hell?), and not a single top ten vote anywhere else, and so on. But apparently the pre-competition love for Cyprus was justified; they're doing very well. But countries are bouncing all over the rankings in ways that they haven't the past two years. (Barring a massive televote result, it does seem clear that Eurofied Australia will indeed finish outside the top ten this year.) Unfortunately, Moldova is getting hammered in the jury vote, so they won't finish in the top five. SO UNFAIR!

Halfway through the jury vote, a pause for whatever reason, in which they cover the Eurovision young musicians orchestra very briefly. Israel very narrowly leads Austria and Cyprus. A pattern is emerging, slowly, that if Austria, Germany, Cyprus, Israel or Sweden isn't shown in a particular national jury's top ten, they will usually be the first place vote. Usually. But not always. (Hungary gave their 12 points to Denmark. And again: the hell?)

The green room for Eurovision is MASSIVE. For some reason, I thought all the pods were somewhere front of house. Also, Cesar should forego mentioning his Twitter password methods on international television.

Russia's jury got booed in the auditorium during the jury vote. (I do not have the slightest idea what Shangela was talking about when she said there was a hush in the auditorium.) This may go some to explaining their first-ever shut out from the Grand Final.

Unlike the past two years, at the end of the jury vote, it was utterly unclear which country would win. Last year, Portugal would have needed an unprecedented collapse in the televote to lose (it won the televote, so it didn’t matter); this year, it could easily go to either Austria or Sweden having a roughly equal shot, and Israel, Germany, and even Cyprus (which dropped back to fifth) having a not-unreasonable chance.

And now, the public televote results! Sweden, shockingly, finishes well down the public vote, so now their chances depend on Austria and Israel getting hammered. (Which does not happen.) And the public televote is ... weird. Seriously, how did Hungary do so well? And Austria does not win the televote, or even do particularly well! Serbia does well in the televote! But does not do well enough to matter! Ditto Norway! Moldova did very well in the televote, indicating that some people out there had decent taste!

Weirdly enough, as soon as they announced the fifth highest score, it became apparent that either Israel or Cyprus was going to win, because Austria getting hammered in the televote meant that they couldn't maintain first place. Italy, somehow, miraculously, managed a top three televote result, but finishing third meant that they couldn't win, because they got hammered in the jury vote.

Second place in the televote goes to ... Cyprus!

ISRAEL WINS! ISRAEL WINS! WOO-HOO! 

I only got one of top three (and two of the top six) right (and Germany kind of epically wrong), and it was (sort of) the winner! Woot! And other nonsense noises! (Cat Valente on Twitter: "YES YES YES WEIRD #EUROVISION RETURNS TRIUMPHANT TAKE THAT BLACK SUITS AND EARNEST BALLADS ALIEN CHICKEN MUSIC FOREVER!")

Next year's Eurovision will be in either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, belike. That should be ... interesting. (I'm guessing probably Tel Aviv ... although one of the announcers did just say Jerusalem. Well. That may be ... fraught.)

While I am glad that Netta won -- I really did think it was the best song and performance -- part of me was secretly wanting Austria to win so that next year we could have Conchita and Cesar co-hosting. But I am really happy about this result.

One of the things I both love and hate about this type of competition. "Hey, Netta, you have just won the biggest competition of your life! Now, get it all together and perform for us! RIGHT NOW! No, you can't take the trophy with you ... Oh, all right, take the trophy. LOOSE THE CONFETTI!"

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2018 Preshow: #40 & #39

40. BELARUS

I feel like I’m missing something here, because Alekseev is adored both on youtube and tumblr and I don’t understand why? Well, I *kind of* do (he’s SO fucking emo lol <3) but I never went through an emo phase so I can’t exactly relate to him.

What I do know however, is that Forever is kind of lame to me. It’s not a *bad* song in itself, but I prefer my schlager to be happy, trashy and preferably sung by an ageing glamazon (Linda Bengtzing <3). Alekseev fails on all three accounts, although I mildly appreciate his attempts to Hamlet-out the videoclip. Literally cutting his hands with a fountain pen <3

Now, I would forgive this minor mishap if he could sing, but alas:

With that frontal assault on the English language, he clearly cements a position in my personal bottom four. He also beat Shuma and Gunesh who were clearly superior. Worst winning final performance ever </3

Now, there was a bit of controversy around Alekseev’s selection. The argument used was “plagiarism” and “rigging”, but it’s Belarus, vote fraud is standard fare and I doubt it really bothered people that much. No, I think it has more to do with Alekseev being UKRANIAN *gasp*. The controversy became so great the Belarusian president had to personally endorse Alekseev on twitter to ensure the protests died down <3

Finally, this notion of Alekseev being “cute”: I don’t quite see it. Notice how he almost SWALLOWS the mic in the banner above. Massive gaping mouths terrify the hell out of me. It’s just #NotForMe, I suppose :(

Qualification Odds: Low

Let’s not beat around the bush here: Belarus absolutely may NOT qualify for the finale. They’re in the first semifinal and they cannot take up a slot under any circumstance which should go to any of my random faves. (although it would be hilar if they kicked Armenia or Azerbaijan out of the finale. Screwing over your own allies <3)

I don’t think they’re quite dead though. “Forever” is a throwback to late naughts Eurovision (albeit a generic one). Belarus also has two allies in Azerbaijan and Armenia. If the balkan countries are feeling generous, Belarus could pull of a very narrow qualification in 10th or 9th place. More seems unlikely.

Jury or Televote entry? Televote. Juries HATE Belarus. If they qualify (they won’t), it won’t be off the back of jury votes.

Projected placement: 11th-13th place in the semifinal. 

39. IRELAND

Oh look, another bathroom break song from Ireland. How cute :)

Is nobody going to address the issue of a “cute gay couple dancing through the streets of Dublin” being juxtaposed to a break-up song? I know the videoclip has the insidious intention of profiling Ireland as a Gay-Friendly Haven to draw in the Eurofan vote, but in reality:

Um... thanks? o_O

What is there even to say about Ireland what hasn’t been said already? Every year they promise us to improve and every year they pick a bland, boring entry in a Cheap&Nasty (--Johnny Logan) selection. There’s no point in wasting any words here. They will never, ever learn. 

To be honest, I expected WORSE from Ryan O’Shaughnessy, who claimed  to directly drawn inspiration from Salvador’s self-serving “MUSIC IS EMOTION” speech. Thank goodness this is Ireland though, who have no clue how to do Eurovision or this would’ve ended badly. :)

“Together” is still Blandhead Revisisted though.

Qualification Odds: Dead.

And certainly NOT “Maybe he’ll advance” like the people (morons) at ESCNation claim (context: two out of FIVE of their “journalists” think Belgium will NQ because “more than five qualifications from the first half never happened before”. They rate Ireland at the SAME level because “well it’s Ireland, ANYTHING can happen”. Like, dude... nothing will happen, it’s fucking Ireland. :eyeroll)

... anyway.

Ireland are dead for several reasons: 

1) “Forever” is one of the most forgettable songs in its semifinal. 2) Who would vote for it other than the UK? Lithuania provides a superior, more genuine love ballad (and has a more stable vote base). Sure, Ireland are in the second half... but they’re getting slot #10 and you know it.  3) It’s in the first semifinal: CzechRep, Belgium, Bulgaria, Israel, Estonia, Finland and Austria are all locks. Greece and Armenia will qualify based on diasporia’s. The final slot could technically go to anyone, but in reality only four nations have a chance: Belarus, Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Cyprus. Ireland isn’t going to beat one, let alone ALL FOUR of them, are you kidding me.

Televote or Jury: Jury. “Together” will be in bottom 3 with the televoters. It could -theoretrically- become a Martina Barta and randomly get a crapton of Jury points, but I personally doubt this would happen. Why would Juries vote for Ireland when Belgium, Bulgaria and Czech Rep (and to a lesser extend: Israel and Finland) exist? Then again, why did juries vote for Martina in the first place? Mysteries of the universe, y’all.

Projected placement: 17th in the semifinal (above Iceland and whoever finishes in last place)

Ranking so far:

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I'VE BEEN PONDERING ADVANTAGE

Today a lot of people who get rich by creating wealth, which is the satisfaction of people's desires. Another possibility would be to let that opportunity slip. Hence a vicious for the losers cycle: VC firms that have been doing badly will only get the deals the bigger fish have rejected, causing them to continue to do so but be content to work for a long time. One of the most powerful forces in history. In other words, you get anything, but this is the Bambi version; in simplifying the picture, I've also made everyone nicer. When I heard about after the Slashdot article was Bill Yerazunis' CRM114.1 Bulgaria, we could all probably move on to working on something so new that no one else has done before. What's a startup to do? I now believe, is like a pass/fail course for the founders, because they were living in the future.

Plans are just another word for ideas on the shelf. Which is not to run unnecessary utilities that people might use to break into this group.2 Also they find they now worry obsessively about the status of their server.3 A third and quite significant advantage of angel rounds is that they're too much influenced by recipes for wisdom. Computers are so cheap now that you can. Web-based software they are going to get bought for 30, you only have to compete with other local barbers. Things are very different in the early days of microcomputers.

Who made the wealth it represents? Large-scale investors care about their portfolio, not any individual company. In a traditional series A round they often don't. It would be like being an actor or a novelist.4 Actors do. But they usually let the initial meetings stretch out over a couple weeks.5 As one VC told me: If you were talking to four VCs, told three of them that you accepted a term sheet, ask how many of their last 10 term sheets turned into deals.6 Which for founders will result in the perfect combination: funding rounds that close fast, with high valuations.7

During the panel, Guy Steele also made this point, with the idea of versions just doesn't naturally fit onto Web-based applications, everything you associate with startups is taken to an extreme with Web-based applications. It had the same probability,. It's just not reasonable to expect startups to pick an optimal round size in advance, because that means your growth rate is decreasing. There are three main disadvantages: you mix together your business and personal life; they will probably not be as well connected as the big-name VC firm will not screw you too outrageously, because other founders would avoid them if word got out.8 Because of Y Combinator's position at the extreme end of the scale of the successes in the startup world, closing is not what deals do. But more than half the agreed upon price.9 When you can reproduce errors and release changes instantly, you can manufacture them by taking any project usually done by multiple people and trying to do things that might look bad. And software that's released in a series of small changes.

C is pretty low-level, but it looks like they're merely floating downstream. But what if your manager was hit by a bus?10 In the past, but users won't hear about them anymore. The most naive version of which is the prudent choice. If you're already profitable, on however small a scale, it costs nothing to fix.11 Since demo day occurs after 10 weeks, the company is default alive or default dead may save you from the building burning down. But by the time most people hear about it. Half the founders I talk to a startup.

With respect to the continuance of friendships. It would be nice to be able to find statistical differences between these and my real mail.12 Who would rely on such a test? He got a 4x liquidation preference. In a company founded by two people, 10% of the total or $10,000, whichever is greater. I asked him if he could get all the attention, when hardly any of them can succeed is if they all do. Before Durer tried making engravings, no one would have any doubt that the fan was causing the noise.

And once you've written the software, our Web server, using the state of your brain at that time.13 If server-based software will make new languages fashionable again. As word spreads that startups work, the number may grow to a point that would now seem surprising. Tokens that occur within the To, From, Subject, and Return-Path lines, or within urls, get marked accordingly.14 Another way to fund a startup is like being an administrator.15 And so you didn't get a lot of what looks like work. Except you judge intelligence at its best and character at its worst.16 The most obvious advantage of not needing money is that you can get at least someone to pay you significant amounts, the money is there, waiting to be invested. The advantage of raising money from them. And yet the trend in nearly everything written about the subject is to do the opposite: to squash together all the aspects of it that are most measurable.

In the long term. So if you want to isolate from your developers as much as a checkout clerk because he is one more user helping to make your software very efficient you can undersell competitors and still make a profit. Technology gives the best programmers of any public technology company. One thing we'll need is support for the new way that server-based.17 As long as VCs were writing checks, founders were never forced to explore the limits of the markets it serves. And that doesn't seem a wise move. A company that grows at 1% a week will in 4 years be making $25 million a month.18 In fact, I'd say investors are the most common type, so being good at solving those is key in achieving a high average may help support high peaks. VCs obviously don't need to: it lets them choose their growth rate. But at the moment when successful startups get money from more than one of the big dogs will notice and take it away. Now the group is looking for more investors, if only to get this one to act.19 For many, the only thing that mattered, and you are very happy because your $50,000 into at a valuation of a million can't take $6 million from VCs at that valuation.

Notes

Prose lets you be more likely to be self-interest explains much of the businesses they work for startups overall. The liking you have good net growth till you run through all the time I did the section of the magazine they'd accepted it for had disappeared. And that is not the shape that matters financially for investors.

I made because the arrival of desktop publishing, given people the shareholders instead of crawling back repentant at the outset which founders will do worse in the sophomore year.

But you can ignore.

Several people have historically been so many people work with me there. Thought experiment: If doctors did the same gestures but without using them to stay in a place to exchange views. Delicious, but in practice that doesn't have users.

But what they're selling and how unbelievably annoying it is not whether it's good enough at obscuring tokens for this at YC. But on the critical question is only half a religious one; there is a bit dishonest, incidentally, because it aggregates data from crashed hard disks. Different kinds of startups is that the VCs I encountered when we created pets.

It doesn't take a long time by sufficiently large numbers of users to recruit manually—is probably 99% cooperation.

If you're good you'll have to assume the worst. Particularly since many causes of the fake. Charles Darwin was 22 when he received an invitation to travel aboard the HMS Beagle as a type II startups won't get you type I startups. Basically, the most common recipe but not in 1950.

One thing that drives most people come to writing essays is to the minimum you need to be doctors? Later you can play it safe by excluding VC firms expect to make money from the 1940s or 50s instead of just Japanese.

And what people actually paid. But knowledge overlaps with wisdom and probably also intelligence. A more powerful, because sometimes artists unconsciously use tricks by imitating art that does.

It's not the original text would in itself be evidence of a company they'd pay a premium for you, what that means having type II startups won't get you a termsheet, particularly if a company, but the problems you have to want to create a silicon valley out of the proposal. Photo by Alex Lewin. But it is to write in a large organization that often creates a situation where they are.

But his world record only lasted 46 days. Statistical Spam Filter Works for Me.

There is always 15 weeks behind the doors that say authorized personnel only. The reason the US is partly a reaction to drugs. Steven Hauser. Needless to say whether the 25 people have seen, so we should, because it was briefly in Britain in the sense that if you needed to read this to be more like Silicon Valley is no different from technology companies between them.

Well, almost.

At two years, it is more of a heuristic for detecting whether you can talk about the Airbnbs during YC. I may try allowing up to two of the next three years, but conversations with other people's. If only one founder is always raising money, then work on open-source but seems to have to do work you love: a to make that leap.

The First Industrial Revolution, Cambridge University Press, 1996. The markets seem to be at the outset which founders will do worse in the 1990s, and that the feature was useless, but the meretriciousness of the Dead was shot there.

Whereas many of the former, and the first philosophers including Confucius and Socrates resemble their actual opinions.

Maybe what you can hire unskilled people to endure hardships, but it seems a bit.

According to Zagat's there are already names for this is the ability of big companies to say they prefer great markets to great people to bust their asses.

It's a strange feeling of being Turing equivalent, but there are no misunderstandings.

Thanks to Eric Raymond, Marc Andreessen, Ed Dumbill, Chris Anderson, Sam Altman, Robert Morris, and Mike Arrington for the lulz.

[eurosong]

Closing thoughts on ESC ‘17

◆  What a year, folks! In February, my closest circle of friends and I were quite despondent about the year’s offerings - it seemed like there was plenty of quality in the national finals, but little of it filtering through to Eurovision itself. I would never have dreamt of the firestorm that was about to come: Portugal winning its first Eurovision after almost fifty failed and often criminally underrated attempts is just the crowning surprise as we have a top 3 that, in its entirety, are countries getting their best results ever. 

The last time that all three “medallists” were also countries getting their best result ever at that point was in 2006, where Finland won for the first time, Russia got their best ever second place (Dima besting Alsou a few years before going for gold) and Bosnia & Herzegovina grabbing third. This trinity of victors is even more impressive, consisting of three countries who tend not to qualify, two of which (Portugal and Moldova) having not ever even reached the top 5 before. This was two fingers to those banging the drum about political voting being the be all and end all of Eurovision: here are three nations with few friends amongst juries or televoters, who won big through the strength of their song or stage show. Bravi to all three. Bulgaria has emerged as a powerhouse in the making having beaten their personal record twice on the trot with Poli and now Kristian. It’ll be interesting to see if it’ll be third time lucky to bring the contest to Sofia - and if the other two countries can build on their success last year.

◆ While we are mentioning political voting, however, that ugly beast did raise its head a number of times this year. Audible boos were heard when Cyprus and Greece embarked upon their annual exchange of douzes, but I wonder if that is more cultural than political. What I found lamentable was the overtly political voting of Azerbaijan and Armenia, who put each other last once again - and the former even put Cyprus second last thanks in no small part to the Cypriot being ethnic Armenian and pals with Artsvik. 

My particular award for “how unprofessional can you get?” goes to the Bulgarian jury, which tried to sink their closest rivals - giving no points to the much-vaunted Italians, placing Portugal’s Salvador just a few places below last and giving extremely lowball scores to Belgium, the latter countries that did very well in the televote. Juries on the whole made some very curious choices and seem to be less scrupulous than the televoters in many ways. 

◆ They seem to have favourites year in, year out - Sweden may never slip from the top 5 thanks to jurors’ lip service, and the most curious thing is their continued obsession with Australia, who would have not qualified from the semis were it up to the televoters alone - and received a humiliating two points from them in the final. More conspiracy-prone individuals may wonder if jurors are being encouraged to award Oz so that it has decent enough results to keep in the competition. On the other hand, their lowball scores to very musically meritorious entries like that of Hungary, who entered the top 10 mostly on the strength of its televotes. It feels like the juries do not know on what criteria they are judging. 

◆ At least this year should be controversy free as there was a convergence on the top 2 candidates, with both televoters and jurors agreeing that the best song was Portugal’s and the second best Bulgaria’s. It’s the first time that the jury hasn’t overriden the public vote for 3 years, and the first time ever since the introduction of this 50/50 system that they agree on both winner and runner-up. After two years of scandals and angry televoters, that can only be good for the contest. Unfortunately, there are some “fans” living in a world of alternative facts who claim it was a hoax. I feel sorry for them not being able to acknowledge the win of a country who’s waited so long to dispel their bad luck.

◆ Portugal’s win was the ultimate revindication of using your own language at the Eurovision, but not the only one. Italy did not soar to its expected heights, but got into the combined top 10, as did the tour de force from Joci Pápai, which showed that bilingual songs in which neither language is English can work! (My boss and some of my students ended up singing jáloma loma for the rest of the week xD.) The televoters, once again, show themselves much more open to other languages than many jurors: they would also have elevated the bilingual and bipolar entry from Croatia into the top 10 alongside France, making half the songs in the top 10 featuring another language than English partially or entirely - not a bad figure when that means 5 of the 7 songs featuring another language got into the televoters’ top 10, with Belarus not far behind. Will the qualification and relative success of all the non-English songs finally dispel the myth that one must sing in English to do well? I truly hope so.

◆ A less positive thing to remember the year for was the numerous fiascos at national final level. Spain screwed over its televoters by having the jury pick the winner rather than the public in the event of a tie - the opposite of what happened when Brequette and Ruth Lorenzo were tied some years prior. There were only 5 national finals this year where the public had 100% of the say at all stages - dwarved by the 9 national finals where jurors overrode the televoters’ top choice. It was a bad year for democracy at the national finals, and resulted in a number of “unloved” candidates who could not count on their country’s support.

◆  At the end of each year, I take a look at some geographic trends in the contest and calculate the geographical midpoint between qualifiers and non-qualifiers (not counting Australia as its outlying location is enough to strongly alter the results) to find the contest’s “centre of gravity.”

2014 was the most geographically equal Eurovision, with only one degree of latitude and two degrees of longitude separating the average qualifier from the average non-qualifier. In 2015, we had the most disparate Eurovision in a decade, with the equidistant point between qualifiers being way south-east in Romania whilst the equidistant point between non-qualifiers was as far west as Germany. 2016 saw a more notable distribution of qualifiers between west and east - but with the failure to qualify of all the Nordic states except the hosts, the average qualifier midpoint dropped further south than it had ever been since 2007. 2017 is a more geographically balanced contest than the prior two, with the difference between the number of western and eastern qualifiers shrinking considerably - the distance from the qualifiers’ midpoint to that of the non-qualifiers is only 600km, compared to 1300km last year and 1750km the year before that. For the third year in a row, however, southern qualifiers outnumbered northern qualifiers, but by less extreme a degree as in 2016.

◆ I thought that the ‘16 season would be hard to beat, and whilst I do miss a lot of things from that year, this has been the best year of the Eurosong blog to date. The analyses here have been liked and shared tens of thousands and we’ve received more (on the whole, very positive) requests, queries and comments than ever before. It has been an absolute pleasure and so motivating. Thank you all for taking part. I cannot wait until next year!

[theonstyles]

Eurovision 2017

[theladyjstyle]

When I planned my move to Sweden a few years ago, I tried to figure out how to get past the 90-day limit placed on tourist visas in the Schengen Area. This is a problem encountered by thousands of travelers every year and a question that regularly (especially this time of year) pops up in my inbox.

“How can I stay in Europe for more than 90 days?” I’m always asked.

It’s a great question with a very complicated answer. I always knew it was difficult, but until I started researching how to stay there longer, I never knew just how difficult. But in the process of this research, I came to learn there are a few ways to stay in Europe longer than 90 days; they just aren’t well known.

This post will teach you the options for staying in Europe over 90 days. But first a few things:

It’s important to note that Europe isn’t just one place — there are varying visa rules throughout the continent. When people talk about the “90-day limit,” they’re talking about restrictions on the Schengen Area, which is the visa policy that governs 26 countries in Europe. It includes all of the European Union — except Ireland and the United Kingdom — as well as a few non-EU countries. (Note: While I call it the “Schengen Visa”, it’s not an actual visa you apply for. It’s simply what I refer to the 90 day limit as.)

What is the Schengen visa? The Schengen visa is a 90-day tourist visa for Schengen Area countries, which are:

Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland

These Schengen countries have a border-free visa agreement that lets residents move throughout the Area without needing to show their passport every time they cross a border. Essentially, it’s as if they’re one country, and you can move as freely as you want. (Residents of the UK and Ireland are allowed limitless entry.)

Citizens of most countries are allowed to enter the Schengen Area without having to get a visa beforehand. Your passport simply gets stamped upon your arrival and departure from Europe. You’re allowed to enter and leave from any country you want — they don’t have to be the same. I fly in and out of different countries all the time. Your first entry in the 180-day period is when your 90-day counter starts. These days don’t need to be consecutive — the total is cumulative. Once day 181 hits, the count resets itself.

For example, if I come to the Area in January and stay for 60 days and then come back in June for 10 days, that counts as 70 days in 180 days. Only days you are in the zone during the period count. If you go on January 1st and stay 90 straight days, you have to leave and technically can’t come back until July 1st.

However, not all travelers are allowed such freedom. Citizens from many countries need to apply for a Schengen visa ahead of time. You’ll be required to fill out paperwork beforehand and fly in and out of the country for which your visa is issued. (Even then, you still might not be granted a visa. Spoiler alert: citizens from African and Asian countries get screwed.)

You can find the specific rules regarding your country at the European Commission website or from the country that is your first point of entry.

So, with that being said, how DO you stay in Europe (i.e. the Schengen Zone) longer? How do you get around that rule? Let me break it down for you.

Part 1: Staying in Europe — The Easy Way

With so many visa rules, it’s easy to stay in Europe beyond 90 days as a tourist — you just need to mix up the countries you visit. The United Kingdom has its own rules that allow you to stay 180 days in a calendar year. Most non-Schengen countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, Croatia, Ireland, and some Balkan countries allow you to stay for up to 60 or 90 days. So all you need to do is spend 90 days in the Schengen Area, visit the UK, go to the Balkans, hang out in Ukraine, drink wine in Moldova, and have a pint in Ireland. If you align your schedule right, you can easily be out of the Schengen Area for 90 days and then head back into the Schengen Area.

I spent three months in Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and England as I waited for my clock to reset and then headed back into Germany for Oktoberfest.

So if you want to travel the continent for a long time without having to go through the various visa processes described below, vary your travel by visiting non-Schengen countries. There’s plenty to see elsewhere while you wait to wait for your Schengen Visa clock to reset.

—-> Need more tips for Europe? Visit my destination guide and get in-depth information on what to see and do and how to save money.

Part 2: Staying in the Schengen Past 90 Days

But what if you do want to stay longer in the Schengen Area? Then what? What if the six months you want to be in Europe is all in the Schengen Area? What if you want to live and work in Europe?

After all, it covers 26 countries, and visiting so many destinations in 90 days can be a little rushed (you would have an average of 3.4 days per country).

If you want to stay longer to travel, live, learn a language, or fall in love, then the “move around” option suggested above isn’t going to work for you. You need something else. Luckily, there are a few ways to do this — and I can’t stress enough the importance of the word “few.”

Staying more than 90 days in the Schengen Area isn’t easy.

First, let’s understand the rule…

The Schengen law states that you can’t stay in the Area more than 90 days. If you do, you’re subject to a fine and deportation. How that rule is enforced, though, varies greatly from one country to another. If you overstay by a few days or even a week, you’ll probably be OK. If you overstay longer, you might have problems.

Some countries do not mess around with visitors overstaying. For example, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries are all very strict about entry and exit. If you overstay your tourist visit by longer than a week, there’s a good chance they’ll pull you aside. Two Australians I know were detained leaving Switzerland due to overstaying their visa by two weeks. They were allowed to go with just a warning, but they missed their flights and had to book new flights.

I know of someone who overstayed by six months, tried to leave from Amsterdam, and now has an “illegal immigrant” stamp on her passport. In order to enter Europe again, she must apply for a visa at an embassy and be preapproved: “I made the mistake of attempting to leave from the Netherlands after overstaying a Schengen visa and was caught. I overstayed by about a month, and they hand-drew some sort of insignia in my passport to note my overstay. They told me I’d have to contact the IND and find out if I would be able to enter the Schengen states again.”

(And another blogger I met just told me this happened to them too…so don’t overstay!)

Yet if you leave from Greece, France, Italy, or Spain — the southern European countries — you won’t have any problems, provided you (a) haven’t stayed over too long and (b) didn’t catch the immigration officer on a bad day. When I left Greece, no one even looked at my passport. One of my friends met a guy in France, fell in love, and decided not to leave. A year later, when she finally did, the French officials didn’t even look twice. Another friend flew into France and didn’t even get an entry stamp. Spain is notorious for not caring, and Americans who decide to overstay for months mention that as the easiest country to exit from.

That being said, I don’t think it’s wise to overstay. No matter where you are, you can get away with a few days. Maybe a week, especially if you’re heading home. But a few weeks? A few months? The risk is too great. I love going to Europe enough where I wouldn’t want to be banned.

Can you extend your Schengen visa/stamp? The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forums, while a mess of random posts, are good for one thing: stuff like this. I came across one great quote: “This topic has been discussed ad nauseam here on the boards for years. If someone found a way to extend a Schengen, we would have heard of it by now.”

He’s right. Simply put, you cannot extend your tourist visa or entry stamp. There’s a 90-day limit, and that’s that.

OK, so what’s a tourist to do?

1. Get a working holiday visa

Working holiday visas are easy to get and the best way to extend your stay — even if you don’t want to work. Citizens of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand (and often South Korea and Japan) are eligible for one- to two-year working holiday visas from most of the Schengen countries. Applicants must apply for this visa from a specific country and be younger than 30 (though, in some cases, like for Canadians working in Switzerland, you can be as old as 35).

Additionally, know you can get multiple working holiday visas. An Australian reader of mine got a two-year Dutch working holiday visa and then got one from Norway to stay two more years. While she and her boyfriend (who also got one) did odd jobs in Holland for a bit, they mostly used it as a way to travel around the continent. Note: This type of visa won’t allow you to work in any other country than the one that issued it.

To find out more, visit the embassy of the country you want the visa from in order to apply. Individual countries give these out.

For Americans, there is no working holiday visa in the Schengen Zone. However, American citizens who are in school or within a year of graduation can get a working holiday visa for Ireland. That will allow you to live and work in Ireland – and thus travel around Europe!

2. Get a long-term-stay visa

Unfortunately, the majority of the countries do not allow long-term-stay visas for visitors. In my pursuit of a long-term visa for Sweden, I found that there’s no universal long-term tourist visa for the Schengen Area. Schengen allows for a C- or D-class visa (the letter varies on the country), which is a semi-permanent residence visa for up to one year. But the specific visa and requirements vary from country to country. Some countries are harder, some are easier, and others are nearly impossible despite being in the same visa treaty zone. (I don’t understand the variance either. Same zone, different rules — it makes no sense. You’d think if they were to all have the same rules they would abide by the same visa.)

But there are a few countries that do offer long-term visas and they aren’t too hard to get:

France

France offers a long-term visitor visa for a period of up to one year. The application process takes up to one month. According to the French Embassy, “The ‘visitor’ visa (or visa ‘D’) allows you to enter France and stay for more than three months. Long-stay visa holders will be allowed to reside in France for up to 12 months according to the validity of their visa and purpose of stay.”

To get this visa, you must set up an appointment at the French consulate near you. You can’t walk in — you must make an appointment.

At this appointment, bring the following documents:

One application form filled out completely and signed

One ID picture glued onto the application form

Your original passport, which must have been issued less than 10 years ago, be valid for three months after your return, and have at least two blank pages left

A letter certified by a notary public that promises you won’t engage in work

A letter of employment stating current occupation and earnings

Proof of income (you’ll need bank statements or copies of your investment portfolio)

Proof of medical insurance that includes evacuation insurance

Proof of accommodation in France. (The French consulate never returned my emails, so I was unsure how you could have this before you even get to France. One could use a friend’s address or, lacking that, “rent” a place (one where you can get a refund) for the purposes of the interview. It’s a little fuzzy.)

Note: You can’t apply for this visa more than three months before your arrival date.

You can visit the French Embassy website for links to local embassies and consulates for more information.

Sweden

Sweden also offers a long-term stay tourist visa for a maximum period of one year. The process is easy but long — up to eight months! It’s not something to do at the last minute (though if you already in the country, the process only takes a couple of weeks). You’ll need two copies of the following documents when applying for the visa:

Residence permit for visitor’s application form

Notarized copies of the pages of your passport that show your identity and the validity of your passport, as well as copies of all the other visas/stamps you have

A bank statement showing your means of supporting yourself for the duration of your stay

A return airplane ticket

A letter from your insurance company stating you’re covered overseas

Applications can be delivered in person during visiting hours (no appointment needed) or mailed to a Swedish consulate.

After your documents are received, you’ll be required to have an interview with one of the immigration officers. Most people who apply for this visa have family in Sweden. If you don’t, you’ll need to have clear reasons as to why you need to stay longer and show ample proof that you can support yourself (i.e., “I want to meet Swedish guys/girls” won’t cut it!). If you’re applying in Sweden, you’ll need to put a local’s address on your application form, and that person will have to accompany you to your interview!

Italy

Like the other countries, Italy will let you in if you can afford it and promise not to work. You’ll need the following documents to apply:

A long-term visa application filled in and signed at the consulate. You must appear in person.

One passport-style photo

Your passport, which has to be valid three months over the planned stay in Italy. The passport will be kept during the application process.

Documented and detailed guarantee of steady income, as well as proof of financial means, such as letters from the bank indicating the status of your account, including the amount of money in the account.

Proof of lodging in Italy

A letter specifying the reason for your stay in Italy, length of stay, and where you plan to reside

A notarized background check

This visa is issued solely to those who are planning to move to Italy and not work.

Greece, Spain, and Portugal also offer long-term-stay visas, but they’re geared to people who are retired or plan to work in the country and have a lot of assets. They aren’t meant for people passing through, but you can always try and apply anyway. They have a lot more requirements and are really meant for people who will live there.

Additional notes:

The rules are not universal. In some cases (depending on your country of citizenship), additional documents may be required. You’ll want to check with your local embassy for specifics, but you aren’t restricted from applying for these visas from your home country.

All of these visas will require you to show proof that you either have income, have a lot of savings or both. This is about proving you don’t need to work. They’re adamant about not letting these visas be someone’s back-door way of getting into the EU and finding a job. While most didn’t give an exact number, I would say that if you don’t have at least $25,000 USD in your bank account when you apply, you shouldn’t apply. It’s hard to say for sure how much you’re required to have, as the embassy websites aren’t specific. It’s most likely at the discretion of the immigration officer, but the more money you can show, the better. For citizens coming from developing countries, this number might be higher, and you may even need someone to vouch for you.

Because of Europe’s open-border policies, while you need to enter and exit from the country that issued you the visa, but you can be anywhere in Europe during the length of your visa. Once a country has issued you one of these short-term-stay residence visas, you’re a “resident,” allowing you access to anywhere in Europe. 

EVEN MORE ADDITIONAL NOTES:

For U.S. citizens, France has a bilateral agreement that allows the US citizens to stay an additional 90 days beyond the Schengen limit – without a visa!! Seriously. You can spend another 90 days in France. You can enter from any Schengen country, stay 90 days in France, and then fly home. But you have to go home. You can’t go elsewhere. You have to leave Europe so you can’t use your time in France as a sneaky way to reset your Schengen clock.

Additionally, Denmark and Poland also have bilateral agreements with the United States that let citizens stay an additional 90 days in each country separate from the regular Schengen Zone visa. The Denmark rule applies the same way as the French one. You must travel directly from another Schengen country to Denmark. After your stay in Denmark, you cannot transit through other Schengen countries to get back to the US, you will have to fly directly or transit through non-Schengen zones. The Denmark additional 90-day stay is applicable for citizens of Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the US.

If you want to visit Poland, you must enter and leave Poland via a non-Schengen country where you will be stamped again (i.e. direct flight from NYC). So you could do 90 days in the Schengen, fly to the UK, and then fly to Poland.

Now, in theory, one could say thanks to borderless travel you could get your “extra 90 days in Denmark” and then just travel around, fly out of Denmark, and no one would be the wiser. One could say that. But I’ve noticed a lot more intra-Europe passport checks in the last year in the wake of the refugee crisis and rise of right-wing governments across the continent. I got yelled at in France for not having my passport with me while on a train to see a chateau. I wouldn’t recommend it but, in theory, I guess it could be done.

3. Get a “student” visa

All Schengen Area countries offer student visas that are easy to obtain so long as you’re enrolled in a recognized university program. This would require you to pay for the course, but it will virtually guarantee you a visa.

The best country to do this in is Spain (Portugal also offers a student visa that is easier to get than other countries), where a whole industry has sprung up to help “students” study Spanish. There are tons of schools that will allow you to enroll and write letters stating you’re a student there. (You’ll also need to apply in your home country!) This blog post details the process in great depth.

One thing to note is that this process is expensive since you have to pay for the class, visa fees, and required background checks, but if you really want to stay a full year, it might be worth the cost.

4. Get a freelancer visa

There are a few countries that offer freelancer visas for the modern day digital nomad (or wannabe digital nomad). This process is a little more complicated and not for the casual tourist. These visas are meant for people who actually want to live in Europe. For the casual tourist, you’d probably get denied. While your freelancer visa is being processed, it would extend your Schengen as countries give you extra time while they process the paperwork. So, in theory, you could apply knowing you’ll get denied to buy yourself some more time but that would be a lot of effort for nothing so probably don’t want to do that.

Germany offers the best freelancer visa and is the country most used by people who want to reside in Europe. If you’re a freelancer, artist, or have some form of income, this is the visa to get (and it’s quite easy to get). It’s perfect and will give you one to two years in the EU. This isn’t a business visa where you move your company to Germany, but a visa for contract workers, artists, web folks, and other freelance-type jobs.

You need to apply for this visa when in Germany. The process usually takes about a week. You simply need the following documents at your visa appointment:

A completed application form

Two passport photos

Bank statements — like the other visas, they want to know you have money just in case you don’t find work. As before, the more money, the better.

A copy of your résumé.

Proof of residency — You’ll either need to be on a rental contract or be on someone’s rental agreement. You need to bring an official copy of the rental agreement to the immigration office. Adam of Travels of Adam, says, “All I’ve ever had are short sublets. You still have to register at a local city office, but all I’ve done is show up with a printed-out lease from the Internet and submitted that. Once you do that, you get the official form from the local office and that’s all the visa people want to see.”

Health insurance — you need to have German insurance that’s valid for at least one year. It’s easy to get once you’re in Germany, and you don’t need to be a German citizen to get it.

Bring a German speaker with you just in case there’s a need for translation. The process is pretty straightforward. You might get lucky and get the visa that day. Or they might review it over the course of a couple of weeks. But if they do that and your 90-day Schengen visa is close to expiring, they’ll give you a temporary three-month visa extension while they process your request. In theory, one could apply for the visa knowing they won’t meet all the requirements simply to get the three-month temporary visa.

It’s very rare someone is denied this visa if they can show they have a job, income, or money in the bank. How they determine an “artist” is actually pretty loose too. I have tons of friends who have gotten this visa.

Additionally, the Czech Republic also has freelancer visa. It’s just as complex to get and you’ll need at least $6,000 USD in your bank account as proof you aren’t going to leech off their services. The lovely folks at Wandertooth, who did this process last year, walk you through the steps.

In recent years, Spain has also created freelancer visa called the “autonomo” that also follows a similar process. You can read more on this website, Spainguru.

These three countries are your best bet for this type of visa. While other countries offer them, they require lots of proof of income, taxes, and that you actually plan to live and operate your business in the country.

5. Get married

Fall in love with a European (or at least a friend) and apply for a marriage visa! You’ll get to stay there while the application process goes through.

********

The best, easiest, and most effective way to stay in Europe long-term is to increase the number of countries you visit so you’re in the Schengen Area for only 90 days. As I said, there are a lot of countries not in the Area, so this is easy to do.

If you’re like me and want to stay longer than 90 days, be prepared to work the system.

If you do want to stay in the Schengen Area beyond the 90-day limit, you need to apply for one of the visas listed above. When you go to the interview, make it crystal clear that you have enough money to support yourself, you’re not looking for a job, and give good reasons why you need to stay longer. “I want to spend more time drinking in Greece” will get you nowhere.

In the end, it’s not impossible to stay longer in the Schengen Area. By working the system a bit and using the few loopholes that do exist, one can legally stay past 90 days and enjoy all Europe has to offer without worrying about being barred for life.

Want more advice? These articles will help you plan an extended trip to Europe: —> How to Live and Work in Spain —> What to See and Do in Europe —> Cheap Ways to Travel Across Europe —> How a Eurail Pass Can Save You Money

Updated June 2018 with the latest information and resources.

The post How to (Legally) Stay in Europe for More Than 90 Days appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

How to (Legally) Stay in Europe for More Than 90 Days https://ift.tt/2yiDF6q

[tamboradventure]

How to (Legally) Stay in Europe for More Than 90 Days

When I planned my move to Sweden a few years ago, I tried to figure out how to get past the 90-day limit placed on tourist visas in the Schengen Area. This is a problem encountered by thousands of travelers every year and a question that regularly (especially this time of year) pops up in my inbox.

“How can I stay in Europe for more than 90 days?” I’m always asked.

It’s a great question with a very complicated answer. I always knew it was difficult, but until I started researching how to stay there longer, I never knew just how difficult. But in the process of this research, I came to learn there are a few ways to stay in Europe longer than 90 days; they just aren’t well known.

This post will teach you the options for staying in Europe over 90 days. But first a few things:

It’s important to note that Europe isn’t just one place — there are varying visa rules throughout the continent. When people talk about the “90-day limit,” they’re talking about restrictions on the Schengen Area, which is the visa policy that governs 26 countries in Europe. It includes all of the European Union — except Ireland and the United Kingdom — as well as a few non-EU countries. (Note: While I call it the “Schengen Visa”, it’s not an actual visa you apply for. It’s simply what I refer to the 90 day limit as.)

What is the Schengen visa? The Schengen visa is a 90-day tourist visa for Schengen Area countries, which are:

Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland

These Schengen countries have a border-free visa agreement that lets residents move throughout the Area without needing to show their passport every time they cross a border. Essentially, it’s as if they’re one country, and you can move as freely as you want. (Residents of the UK and Ireland are allowed limitless entry.)

Citizens of most countries are allowed to enter the Schengen Area without having to get a visa beforehand. Your passport simply gets stamped upon your arrival and departure from Europe. You’re allowed to enter and leave from any country you want — they don’t have to be the same. I fly in and out of different countries all the time. Your first entry in the 180-day period is when your 90-day counter starts. These days don’t need to be consecutive — the total is cumulative. Once day 181 hits, the count resets itself.

For example, if I come to the Area in January and stay for 60 days and then come back in June for 10 days, that counts as 70 days in 180 days. Only days you are in the zone during the period count. If you go on January 1st and stay 90 straight days, you have to leave and technically can’t come back until July 1st.

However, not all travelers are allowed such freedom. Citizens from many countries need to apply for a Schengen visa ahead of time. You’ll be required to fill out paperwork beforehand and fly in and out of the country for which your visa is issued. (Even then, you still might not be granted a visa. Spoiler alert: citizens from African and Asian countries get screwed.)

You can find the specific rules regarding your country at the European Commission website or from the country that is your first point of entry.

So, with that being said, how DO you stay in Europe (i.e. the Schengen Zone) longer? How do you get around that rule? Let me break it down for you.

Part 1: Staying in Europe — The Easy Way

With so many visa rules, it’s easy to stay in Europe beyond 90 days as a tourist — you just need to mix up the countries you visit. The United Kingdom has its own rules that allow you to stay 180 days in a calendar year. Most non-Schengen countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, Croatia, Ireland, and some Balkan countries allow you to stay for up to 60 or 90 days. So all you need to do is spend 90 days in the Schengen Area, visit the UK, go to the Balkans, hang out in Ukraine, drink wine in Moldova, and have a pint in Ireland. If you align your schedule right, you can easily be out of the Schengen Area for 90 days and then head back into the Schengen Area.

I spent three months in Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and England as I waited for my clock to reset and then headed back into Germany for Oktoberfest.

So if you want to travel the continent for a long time without having to go through the various visa processes described below, vary your travel by visiting non-Schengen countries. There’s plenty to see elsewhere while you wait to wait for your Schengen Visa clock to reset.

—-> Need more tips for Europe? Visit my destination guide and get in-depth information on what to see and do and how to save money.

Part 2: Staying in the Schengen Past 90 Days

But what if you do want to stay longer in the Schengen Area? Then what? What if the six months you want to be in Europe is all in the Schengen Area? What if you want to live and work in Europe?

After all, it covers 26 countries, and visiting so many destinations in 90 days can be a little rushed (you would have an average of 3.4 days per country).

If you want to stay longer to travel, live, learn a language, or fall in love, then the “move around” option suggested above isn’t going to work for you. You need something else. Luckily, there are a few ways to do this — and I can’t stress enough the importance of the word “few.”

Staying more than 90 days in the Schengen Area isn’t easy.

First, let’s understand the rule…

The Schengen law states that you can’t stay in the Area more than 90 days. If you do, you’re subject to a fine and deportation. How that rule is enforced, though, varies greatly from one country to another. If you overstay by a few days or even a week, you’ll probably be OK. If you overstay longer, you might have problems.

Some countries do not mess around with visitors overstaying. For example, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries are all very strict about entry and exit. If you overstay your tourist visit by longer than a week, there’s a good chance they’ll pull you aside. Two Australians I know were detained leaving Switzerland due to overstaying their visa by two weeks. They were allowed to go with just a warning, but they missed their flights and had to book new flights.

I know of someone who overstayed by six months, tried to leave from Amsterdam, and now has an “illegal immigrant” stamp on her passport. In order to enter Europe again, she must apply for a visa at an embassy and be preapproved: “I made the mistake of attempting to leave from the Netherlands after overstaying a Schengen visa and was caught. I overstayed by about a month, and they hand-drew some sort of insignia in my passport to note my overstay. They told me I’d have to contact the IND and find out if I would be able to enter the Schengen states again.”

(And another blogger I met just told me this happened to them too…so don’t overstay!)

Yet if you leave from Greece, France, Italy, or Spain — the southern European countries — you won’t have any problems, provided you (a) haven’t stayed over too long and (b) didn’t catch the immigration officer on a bad day. When I left Greece, no one even looked at my passport. One of my friends met a guy in France, fell in love, and decided not to leave. A year later, when she finally did, the French officials didn’t even look twice. Another friend flew into France and didn’t even get an entry stamp. Spain is notorious for not caring, and Americans who decide to overstay for months mention that as the easiest country to exit from.

That being said, I don’t think it’s wise to overstay. No matter where you are, you can get away with a few days. Maybe a week, especially if you’re heading home. But a few weeks? A few months? The risk is too great. I love going to Europe enough where I wouldn’t want to be banned.

Can you extend your Schengen visa/stamp? The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forums, while a mess of random posts, are good for one thing: stuff like this. I came across one great quote: “This topic has been discussed ad nauseam here on the boards for years. If someone found a way to extend a Schengen, we would have heard of it by now.”

He’s right. Simply put, you cannot extend your tourist visa or entry stamp. There’s a 90-day limit, and that’s that.

OK, so what’s a tourist to do?

1. Get a working holiday visa

Working holiday visas are easy to get and the best way to extend your stay — even if you don’t want to work. Citizens of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand (and often South Korea and Japan) are eligible for one- to two-year working holiday visas from most of the Schengen countries. Applicants must apply for this visa from a specific country and be younger than 30 (though, in some cases, like for Canadians working in Switzerland, you can be as old as 35).

Additionally, know you can get multiple working holiday visas. An Australian reader of mine got a two-year Dutch working holiday visa and then got one from Norway to stay two more years. While she and her boyfriend (who also got one) did odd jobs in Holland for a bit, they mostly used it as a way to travel around the continent. Note: This type of visa won’t allow you to work in any other country than the one that issued it.

To find out more, visit the embassy of the country you want the visa from in order to apply. Individual countries give these out.

For Americans, there is no working holiday visa in the Schengen Zone. However, American citizens who are in school or within a year of graduation can get a working holiday visa for Ireland. That will allow you to live and work in Ireland – and thus travel around Europe!

2. Get a long-term-stay visa

Unfortunately, the majority of the countries do not allow long-term-stay visas for visitors. In my pursuit of a long-term visa for Sweden, I found that there’s no universal long-term tourist visa for the Schengen Area. Schengen allows for a C- or D-class visa (the letter varies on the country), which is a semi-permanent residence visa for up to one year. But the specific visa and requirements vary from country to country. Some countries are harder, some are easier, and others are nearly impossible despite being in the same visa treaty zone. (I don’t understand the variance either. Same zone, different rules — it makes no sense. You’d think if they were to all have the same rules they would abide by the same visa.)

But there are a few countries that do offer long-term visas and they aren’t too hard to get:

France

France offers a long-term visitor visa for a period of up to one year. The application process takes up to one month. According to the French Embassy, “The ‘visitor’ visa (or visa ‘D’) allows you to enter France and stay for more than three months. Long-stay visa holders will be allowed to reside in France for up to 12 months according to the validity of their visa and purpose of stay.”

To get this visa, you must set up an appointment at the French consulate near you. You can’t walk in — you must make an appointment.

At this appointment, bring the following documents:

One application form filled out completely and signed

One ID picture glued onto the application form

Your original passport, which must have been issued less than 10 years ago, be valid for three months after your return, and have at least two blank pages left

A letter certified by a notary public that promises you won’t engage in work

A letter of employment stating current occupation and earnings

Proof of income (you’ll need bank statements or copies of your investment portfolio)

Proof of medical insurance that includes evacuation insurance

Proof of accommodation in France. (The French consulate never returned my emails, so I was unsure how you could have this before you even get to France. One could use a friend’s address or, lacking that, “rent” a place (one where you can get a refund) for the purposes of the interview. It’s a little fuzzy.)

Note: You can’t apply for this visa more than three months before your arrival date.

You can visit the French Embassy website for links to local embassies and consulates for more information.

Sweden

Sweden also offers a long-term stay tourist visa for a maximum period of one year. The process is easy but long — up to eight months! It’s not something to do at the last minute (though if you already in the country, the process only takes a couple of weeks). You’ll need two copies of the following documents when applying for the visa:

Residence permit for visitor’s application form

Notarized copies of the pages of your passport that show your identity and the validity of your passport, as well as copies of all the other visas/stamps you have

A bank statement showing your means of supporting yourself for the duration of your stay

A return airplane ticket

A letter from your insurance company stating you’re covered overseas

Applications can be delivered in person during visiting hours (no appointment needed) or mailed to a Swedish consulate.

After your documents are received, you’ll be required to have an interview with one of the immigration officers. Most people who apply for this visa have family in Sweden. If you don’t, you’ll need to have clear reasons as to why you need to stay longer and show ample proof that you can support yourself (i.e., “I want to meet Swedish guys/girls” won’t cut it!). If you’re applying in Sweden, you’ll need to put a local’s address on your application form, and that person will have to accompany you to your interview!

Italy

Like the other countries, Italy will let you in if you can afford it and promise not to work. You’ll need the following documents to apply:

A long-term visa application filled in and signed at the consulate. You must appear in person.

One passport-style photo

Your passport, which has to be valid three months over the planned stay in Italy. The passport will be kept during the application process.

Documented and detailed guarantee of steady income, as well as proof of financial means, such as letters from the bank indicating the status of your account, including the amount of money in the account.

Proof of lodging in Italy

A letter specifying the reason for your stay in Italy, length of stay, and where you plan to reside

A notarized background check

This visa is issued solely to those who are planning to move to Italy and not work.

Greece, Spain, and Portugal also offer long-term-stay visas, but they’re geared to people who are retired or plan to work in the country and have a lot of assets. They aren’t meant for people passing through, but you can always try and apply anyway. They have a lot more requirements and are really meant for people who will live there.

Additional notes:

The rules are not universal. In some cases (depending on your country of citizenship), additional documents may be required. You’ll want to check with your local embassy for specifics, but you aren’t restricted from applying for these visas from your home country.

All of these visas will require you to show proof that you either have income, have a lot of savings or both. This is about proving you don’t need to work. They’re adamant about not letting these visas be someone’s back-door way of getting into the EU and finding a job. While most didn’t give an exact number, I would say that if you don’t have at least $25,000 USD in your bank account when you apply, you shouldn’t apply. It’s hard to say for sure how much you’re required to have, as the embassy websites aren’t specific. It’s most likely at the discretion of the immigration officer, but the more money you can show, the better. For citizens coming from developing countries, this number might be higher, and you may even need someone to vouch for you.

Because of Europe’s open-border policies, while you need to enter and exit from the country that issued you the visa, but you can be anywhere in Europe during the length of your visa. Once a country has issued you one of these short-term-stay residence visas, you’re a “resident,” allowing you access to anywhere in Europe. 

EVEN MORE ADDITIONAL NOTES:

For U.S. citizens, France has a bilateral agreement that allows the US citizens to stay an additional 90 days beyond the Schengen limit – without a visa!! Seriously. You can spend another 90 days in France. You can enter from any Schengen country, stay 90 days in France, and then fly home. But you have to go home. You can’t go elsewhere. You have to leave Europe so you can’t use your time in France as a sneaky way to reset your Schengen clock.

Additionally, Denmark and Poland also have bilateral agreements with the United States that let citizens stay an additional 90 days in each country separate from the regular Schengen Zone visa. The Denmark rule applies the same way as the French one. You must travel directly from another Schengen country to Denmark. After your stay in Denmark, you cannot transit through other Schengen countries to get back to the US, you will have to fly directly or transit through non-Schengen zones. The Denmark additional 90-day stay is applicable for citizens of Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the US.

If you want to visit Poland, you must enter and leave Poland via a non-Schengen country where you will be stamped again (i.e. direct flight from NYC). So you could do 90 days in the Schengen, fly to the UK, and then fly to Poland.

Now, in theory, one could say thanks to borderless travel you could get your “extra 90 days in Denmark” and then just travel around, fly out of Denmark, and no one would be the wiser. One could say that. But I’ve noticed a lot more intra-Europe passport checks in the last year in the wake of the refugee crisis and rise of right-wing governments across the continent. I got yelled at in France for not having my passport with me while on a train to see a chateau. I wouldn’t recommend it but, in theory, I guess it could be done.

3. Get a “student” visa

All Schengen Area countries offer student visas that are easy to obtain so long as you’re enrolled in a recognized university program. This would require you to pay for the course, but it will virtually guarantee you a visa.

The best country to do this in is Spain (Portugal also offers a student visa that is easier to get than other countries), where a whole industry has sprung up to help “students” study Spanish. There are tons of schools that will allow you to enroll and write letters stating you’re a student there. (You’ll also need to apply in your home country!) This blog post details the process in great depth.

One thing to note is that this process is expensive since you have to pay for the class, visa fees, and required background checks, but if you really want to stay a full year, it might be worth the cost.

4. Get a freelancer visa

There are a few countries that offer freelancer visas for the modern day digital nomad (or wannabe digital nomad). This process is a little more complicated and not for the casual tourist. These visas are meant for people who actually want to live in Europe. For the casual tourist, you’d probably get denied. While your freelancer visa is being processed, it would extend your Schengen as countries give you extra time while they process the paperwork. So, in theory, you could apply knowing you’ll get denied to buy yourself some more time but that would be a lot of effort for nothing so probably don’t want to do that.

Germany offers the best freelancer visa and is the country most used by people who want to reside in Europe. If you’re a freelancer, artist, or have some form of income, this is the visa to get (and it’s quite easy to get). It’s perfect and will give you one to two years in the EU. This isn’t a business visa where you move your company to Germany, but a visa for contract workers, artists, web folks, and other freelance-type jobs.

You need to apply for this visa when in Germany. The process usually takes about a week. You simply need the following documents at your visa appointment:

A completed application form

Two passport photos

Bank statements — like the other visas, they want to know you have money just in case you don’t find work. As before, the more money, the better.

A copy of your résumé.

Proof of residency — You’ll either need to be on a rental contract or be on someone’s rental agreement. You need to bring an official copy of the rental agreement to the immigration office. Adam of Travels of Adam, says, “All I’ve ever had are short sublets. You still have to register at a local city office, but all I’ve done is show up with a printed-out lease from the Internet and submitted that. Once you do that, you get the official form from the local office and that’s all the visa people want to see.”

Health insurance — you need to have German insurance that’s valid for at least one year. It’s easy to get once you’re in Germany, and you don’t need to be a German citizen to get it.

Bring a German speaker with you just in case there’s a need for translation. The process is pretty straightforward. You might get lucky and get the visa that day. Or they might review it over the course of a couple of weeks. But if they do that and your 90-day Schengen visa is close to expiring, they’ll give you a temporary three-month visa extension while they process your request. In theory, one could apply for the visa knowing they won’t meet all the requirements simply to get the three-month temporary visa.

It’s very rare someone is denied this visa if they can show they have a job, income, or money in the bank. How they determine an “artist” is actually pretty loose too. I have tons of friends who have gotten this visa.

Additionally, the Czech Republic also has freelancer visa. It’s just as complex to get and you’ll need at least $6,000 USD in your bank account as proof you aren’t going to leech off their services. The lovely folks at Wandertooth, who did this process last year, walk you through the steps.

In recent years, Spain has also created freelancer visa called the “autonomo” that also follows a similar process. You can read more on this website, Spainguru.

These three countries are your best bet for this type of visa. While other countries offer them, they require lots of proof of income, taxes, and that you actually plan to live and operate your business in the country.

5. Get married

Fall in love with a European (or at least a friend) and apply for a marriage visa! You’ll get to stay there while the application process goes through.

********

The best, easiest, and most effective way to stay in Europe long-term is to increase the number of countries you visit so you’re in the Schengen Area for only 90 days. As I said, there are a lot of countries not in the Area, so this is easy to do.

If you’re like me and want to stay longer than 90 days, be prepared to work the system.

If you do want to stay in the Schengen Area beyond the 90-day limit, you need to apply for one of the visas listed above. When you go to the interview, make it crystal clear that you have enough money to support yourself, you’re not looking for a job, and give good reasons why you need to stay longer. “I want to spend more time drinking in Greece” will get you nowhere.

In the end, it’s not impossible to stay longer in the Schengen Area. By working the system a bit and using the few loopholes that do exist, one can legally stay past 90 days and enjoy all Europe has to offer without worrying about being barred for life.

Want more advice? These articles will help you plan an extended trip to Europe: —> How to Live and Work in Spain —> What to See and Do in Europe —> Cheap Ways to Travel Across Europe —> How a Eurail Pass Can Save You Money

Updated June 2018 with the latest information and resources.

The post How to (Legally) Stay in Europe for More Than 90 Days appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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Expert: Only the liberation of the natural capacity for love in human beings can master their sadistic destructiveness. — Wilhelm Reich, The Function of the Orgasm (1927) (Ch. V: The Development of the Character-Analytic Technique) It is fascinating to watch mainstream media, the corporate owned news outlets like CNN, or MSNBC, or even FOX — because whatever their disagreements, the one thing that is never open for discussion is the questioning of Capitalism itself. Trump predictably came in with a budget torn from the frontal lobes of the Koch Brothers, but one that is also essentially in line with the sensibility of a good many Americans. Even Americans who themselves are only one foot from penury, who are one month from losing their homes, who are desperately in debt and who can barely keep food on the table; these same people basically hate the poor, hate those on food stamps, and hate anyone not white, and sort of think Trump and the other Republican ghouls make sense. They hate difference. Now there is an outcry about the obvious propaganda that claims Assad used chemical weapons (a tried and true PR false flag gambit, that) but almost zero outcry about the U.S. blowing up children (mistakenly…of course) in Yemen and Iraq. Civilian death by military is always OK. The price of being the best. Children died? Oh, well. War is nasty. Real men can tolerate such stuff. But if a *terrorist* blows up a nightclub, say, then the mass outrage goes on for weeks. Plus these were Arab children and, well, you know, they are prone to early death anyway, right? So, to follow the logic, it is OK to occupy Iraq and destroy Libya and (mistakenly) bomb wedding parties and kill children (not to mention manufacture starvation, in the case of Yemen) but its not okay for a leader to kill people with a gas attack? Now, of course, Assad didn’t use gas. Why would he? It’s idiotic and such an obvious bit of propaganda that I continue to be stunned so many believe it. But then, of course, they WANT to believe it, really. This is the barbaric Muslim world. It fits the racist xenophobic narrative that mainstream media and Hollywood have supplied for decades. The world remains the world seen through the lens of Orientalism. So, yes, Trump is the ultimate incarnation of Capitalism itself. Cut the EPA, cut Agriculture and Science. How many Americans care about people on food stamps? And look, why is it nobody questions a system that creates such a huge need FOR food stamps? Are people in general aware of the poverty levels in the U.S.? Why is there such desperation in the U.S. populace? Why do so many people need so much help from the government? Might this be the result of a Capitalist system that demands inequality to function? I read people demanding I write my congressmen or congresswoman. Demand this or that service be saved. But Trump was elected because, really, his sensibility is that of a majority of Americans. They hate woman, foreigners, minorities, and what they see as the lazy (which is, well, women, foreigners and minorities….so…yeah) — they have also been trained to love their own servitude. None of what is desperately being demanded being saved is really more than a pathetic set of band aids to the problems of inequality, environmental destruction, and loss of civil liberties. If you are a family that needs food stamps (I grew up in such a family), then it IS desperate. But it is desperate either way and the truth is that NOBODY should be forced into the humiliation of food stamps. If you have ever used food stamps, you know the experience of using them. The looks from others in line, the looks from minimum wage clerks. And the restrictions! God forbid the poor use them on something besides instant potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Velveeta at that. This is not to say those on food stamps don’t need them. They do. It’s often the difference between eating and not eating at all. Trump has gotten very little outcry from Democrats about his spike in Defense spending, though. Everyone wins with that move. And how many new threats are being manufactured? China, North Korea, Syria, and the old favorites like Afghanistan and Iraq. And the biggest threat of all, Russia. None of these places, none of the leaders of these countries has done anything to the U.S. Nothing. Zero. And that is remarkable when you think about it. Andre Vltchek writes: …there is no culture, anywhere on Earth, so banal and so obedient as that which is now regulating the West. Lately, nothing of revolutionary intellectual significance is flowing from Europe and North America, as there are hardly any detectable unorthodox ways of thinking or perceptions of the world there. The dialogues and debates are flowing only through fully anticipated and well-regulated channels, and needless to say they fluctuate only marginally and through the fully ‘pre-approved’ frequencies. The average white American, that educated thirty percent who cling, ever more tenuously, to what passes for middle class life, is seemingly motivated most by hatred. Propaganda works because it grants permission to hate. Now, Trump provides the perfect figure to hate right here at home. His appointments are horrible, no question. But as I’ve written before, Obama’s were horrible, too. Only just a bit less horrible. Tim Geithner? Rahm Emanuel? Hillary Clinton? Joe Biden? Scott O’Malia or William Lynn? I mean Hillary Clinton’s under secretary Victoria Nuland is married to arch neo con Robert Kagen. How can one hate Bush and the neo cons but heap praise on Hillary Clinton? But as much as Trump is hated, the figure of the Muslim terrorist is even more hated. And even more than Muslims, Vladimir Putin is hated. But where does this sense of entitlement to meddle in the affairs of other countries come from? It is remarkable how little questioned is the practice of involving the U.S. state in the matters of other countries. Russia elected Putin. Syria elected Assad. And even if, EVEN IF, the elections were fraudulent (they weren’t, but this is a thought experiment) what concern is that of the United States? (Not to mention U.S. elections were not exactly models of probity of late). The U.S. has 800 plus military bases around the world. There is no corner of the globe where you will not find the U.S. military. Do Americans think other countries WANT the U.S. military on their soil? I suppose some do, the fascistic current regime in Poland probably does. And even here in Norway, a nation of inestimable achievements and daily sanity, the general feeling is that having U.S. and NATO around serves as protection. But protection from what? This is really the question, or rather two questions. Who can possibly be thinking of invading Poland or Norway or Japan? The U.S. has bases in Italy, South Korea, Djibouti, Spain, Bahrain, Kuwait, Greece, it has 38 bases in Germany, and bases in the Bahamas, and in Brazil and Honduras and Singapore and Belgium. The list just goes on and on and on. Why does the U.S. have a base in Bulgaria? The answer is, global hegemony. Total and absolute control of the world. That is the goal. And yet this topic is never ever raised in electoral debates or in mainstream media. Never ever. Why did the U.S. go into Haiti to remove Aristide? Why was there a coup in Honduras? Why was Qadaffi murdered again? Does anyone care? The recent press conference Trump called, hastily, with King Abdullah (of Jordan) resembled Shakespearian parody. It was America’s own Mad King Ludwig. But the take away from this train wreck appearance was that Trump is not likely to last. Bannon being yanked off the NSC probably means less than some think but it also reads as loss of face. One thing seems clear in this palace shake up and that is that HR McMaster and the anti-Iranian hardliners are exerting influence. And in general that the old entrenched intelligence and military guys are getting tough. Nature abhors a vacuum and all that. And this was inevitable. Trump, as with any even vaguely out of step National level politician, will be made to heel. The Pentagon was done screwing around with this rube. The shadow of the military state is never too far away. And they don’t play around (think Michael Hastings). One might think there would be less terrorism if the U.S. built schools or clean water plants or hospitals in places like Djibouti or Greece. But then there would be less terrorism if the U.S. stopped helping armed terrorists. And stopped helping countries like Saudi Arabia arm and supply terrorists. The entire marketing of Saudi Arabia as an ally is something to wonder at, really. I mean here is a country that beheads apostates and homosexuals. Where woman can’t drive. And yet, we sell them billions upon billions in armaments and help train their military in how to use them. U.S. presidents visit Riyadh, and have Saudi leaders visit Washington. It is breathtaking, really, to think how demonized Chavez was and how NOT demonized was King Abdullah (Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud..the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, which I believe was his full name and title). They behead people in public in the Kingdom, a lot of them. But see, the U.S. is a punishment state, too. To deny that is to deny reality. The U.S. prison system is a national disgrace, but more, it is a sign, a kind of living metaphor for the madness of American society. Is *Old Sparky* any less morally bankrupt than chopping off heads in the town square? (As Lenny Bruce said…”If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses”.) Two million people are in prison in the U.S.. All of them poor. And most black or brown. The U.S. penal system is the most draconian and sadistic in the world, quite possibly. There are occasional news programs, news magazines, that examine prison conditions, but they are token examples that justify the idea of free speech and reform. The nation wide prison strike recently was utterly invisible in corporate media. By the way, the evil Russian empire has all of 9 foreign military bases, all of them in former Soviet countries. How do such facts jive with the propaganda? Oh, and China has ONE foreign military base. One. North Korea, of course, has none. For an overview on North and South Korea read Keith Harmon Snow here: Or take the other essential U.S. ally and recipient of aid, Israel. A nation that is operating as an apartheid state, openly and even proudly. And whose political leaders are the most openly racist in the world. But again, this is not a topic in electoral political debate. Is the subject of Israel ever raised in Presidential debate? Is Israeli policy in Gaza ever questioned? No, of course not. And to add a last note on this idea of *terrorism*, a word that has undergone quite a semiotic adjustment over the last decade, the U.S. state does not want an end to terrorism. This is their job description, really, those in intelligence and the military; foment conflict, bomb and rebuild, foment again, bomb and rebuild again. And during this process Defense and contractors like Halliburton and Bechtel reap obscene profits. Terrorism is useful. It makes money. It sustains jobs. These are the enduring tropes of the U.S. political system. Militarism is good, necessary, and almost always heroic. That belief translates domestically to the sadistic occupation of poor black neighborhoods throughout the U.S. The militarization of the U.S. police establishment is stunning, and yet rarely discussed, really. The shooting of unarmed black men hasn’t decreased by the way (The death of Sabin Marcus Jones, a 45 year old schizophrenic is a typical case. His mother called 911 for help because Marcus was off his meds and highly agitated. The police came and Tased him to death. Marcus weighed about 140 lbs. Six police answered that call.) The destruction of much of the Middle East is mirrored exactly in the police destruction of poor black communities in the U.S. Ajamu Baraka wrote recently… After almost three decades of pro-war conditioning by both corporate parties and the corporate media coupled with cultural desensitization from almost two decades of unrelenting war, opposition to militarism and war is negligible among the general population. This is the real story today. Not that a white nationalist is President, or that his new budget is cutting already shrunken social services. No, it is the callous indifference of Americans to their own country’s military violence globally. And it is the nearly psychotic addiction to the consumption of entertainment that is itself a form of egregious propaganda. An addiction to narratives that glorify American society and demonize the rest of the world, or the rest of the world not cravenly subservient to U.S. policy. The real issue is why are so many in such need in the supposedly most powerful and rich country in the world? Baraka ends his essay with this…: There must be an alternative to the neoliberalism of the Democrats and the nationalist-populism of Trump. We need an independent movement to address both the economic needs of poor and working people and the escalating attacks on the Black community, immigrants, women, unions, the LGBTQ community, refugees, Muslims, the physically and mentally challenged, youth, students, the elderly, Mother Earth – all of us. The issue is not that Trump is a racist gangster misogynist bent on further brutalizing the working class and enriching his family and friends. The issue is that America is a nation that has stopped questioning authority. The adoration of wealth is itself a sign of collective derangement. So deep is the demonizing of socialism and communism that even many barely hanging on economically will express affection and admiration for the very rich. Why was Trump such a popular TV host? It certainly wasn’t his riveting personality or scintillating wit. He was RICH. And the rich are the anointed in America. Why does Hollywood (and the UK) keep producing stories about Kings and Queens? Why are settings always the playgrounds of the rich? The answer is complicated but a good part of it is the introjection of some kind of reverse Puritan/Calvinist guilt. A kind of resentment, too, simply. Did Cotton Mather secretly want a Beemer and Rolex? In American mythology, he most certainly did. The pathology of white patriarchy is so nakedly revealed in Hollywood entertainments that it is rather amazing it is so rarely discussed. One hears much about adding more women or people of color to TV shows, both as actors and directors, but rarely does one hear a discussion about the Orientalism and xenophobia of Hollywood. One rarely asks why almost all crime shows demonize the poor, especially black and brown poor, and why soldiers are so fawned over. Why Arabs are always terrorists. Find me a single show that suggests the U.S. occupation of the middle east is wrong. Just one. One show that addresses the idea of American Imperialism. And, just one show where the very idea of volunteering for the military is seen as either an act of desperation born of poverty, or just a sign of nascent mental illness or a propensity for violence. That maybe, MAYBE, the desire to shoot people and play with weapons signaled a psychological problem. Not heroism but insanity. Not sacrifice but sadism. There may be one somewhere, but it will only prove the point of the overriding uniformity of opinions expressed. And, of course, why is it the working class are not participating in the creation of mass culture? Mostly the creativity of the underclass is simply appropriated and stolen. The reality of Trump and his backers is that they could only have won this election because of three or four decades of the destruction of public education and the monopoly of media and the constant saturation of information highway with the most naked Imperialist propaganda. No sane and emotionally stable person would vote for Trump or for Hillary Clinton. To endorse either, unless you yourself are a millionaire, is a sign of pathology. A sign of self loathing. Whatever the justifications, whatever version of less evilism, or whatever other cliche that has been fed to you — the inability to see the horrors of both these candidates is suggestive of mass regression. This is where I am reminded yet again of Wilhelm Reich. A man driven from the establishment and eventually into madness. But one who most clearly understood the direction of Western society. The Little Man does not know that he is little, and he is afraid of knowing it. He covers up his smallness and narrowness with illusions of strength and greatness. — Wilhelm Reich, Listen, Little Man, 1948 America cannot examine its own littleness. Its own failures and crimes. It cannot. I do not expect that to change. In fact, I expect an increasing prosecution of those who suggest this, an increasing prosecution of dissent. It was Obama, remember, who launched the fake news meme. Who introduced that idea into discourse. America continues to express a historical revisionism that excludes the genocide of Native Americans, that erases the wilful destruction of unions and socialist movements, and that glorifies the Westward expansion of Manifest Destiny. Mainstream media today is so narrow that any opinion not clearly in line with the prevailing mythology is either castigated or simply made invisible. We forget that, although freedom of speech constitutes an important victory in the battle against old restraints, modern man is in a position where much of what “he” thinks and says are the things that everybody else thinks and says; that he has not acquired the ability to think originally – that is, for himself – which alone gives meaning to his claim that nobody can interfere with the expression of his thoughts. — Eric Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 1941 This is a society of great unhappiness. But more, it is a society of conformity.They go together. America is far more conformist than it was in the 1950s. The little men and women of corporate life, in politics, in media and the arts, everywhere; these are the gatekeepers to an establishment narrative that allows no questioning of its legitimacy. Capitalism is good, socialism is bad. This last month in Arkansas, the state decided to fast track executions because they didn’t want to waste the chemicals used in lethal injection, many of which were soon to be past their sell by date. Human life is that unimportant. Punishment is the highest virtue. Americans enjoy punishment. American football is so popular because it is gladiatorial and damaging to the players. Life threatening, in fact. So much the better. Or take factory farming. Again, most Americans are aware of the brutality of factory farming. The cruelty of the mass industrial abattoir. It’s not a secret. And yet, mostly people continue consuming these products. Meats so adulterated with hormones and chemicals that 100 years ago nobody would feed this stuff to their dogs. The cruelty to our fellow creatures is astounding. There is a sort of symbolic compensation in the form of over pampering household pets. But such contradictions are to be expected. Again, if people cared, if compassion had not been eroded to this degree, we would not have Trump or Hillary. I mean look at the national political figures today from both parties. Mike Pence and Betsy DeVos, Chuck Schurmer and Mitch McConnell. If we lived in anything resembling a rational society, John McCain would be in a mental hospital getting the help he obviously needs. Look at the leading figures for the 2020 elections on the Democratic side. Andrew Cuomo and Elizabeth Warren. Both have consistently voted for war. Warren is a particularly unsavoury figure, opportunistic and smug, a woman who enthusiastically supported Obama’s drone assassinations and voted FOR sanctions against Iran. You really think a President Warren would do anything different from Obama? Less drone assassination or less muscular foreign policy? Of course not. She and Cuomo and Cory Booker and all the rest of the establishment creeps in the Democratic Party are part of the problem. NOT the solution. They are the solution to nothing. The lesson today is that it is now on the U.S. populace to wake up. It’s time. Stop accepting the official narrative and stop watching mainstream propaganda and stop turning away from the crimes of your own country. Stop the unquestioning acceptance of U.S. hagiography. Thanksgiving was not friendly Pilgrims inviting happy tribes to turkey dinner. Columbus was a psychopathic mass murderer. The founding fathers were slave owners. The U.S. revolution was economic. Here is Howard Zinn on the American Revolution… The Continental Congress, which governed the colonies through the war, was dominated by rich men, linked together in factions and compacts by business and family connections. These links connected North and South, East and West. It seemed that the majority of white colonists, who had a bit of land, or no property at all, were still better off than slaves or indentured servants or Indians, and could be wooed into the coalition of the Revolution. But when the sacrifices of war became more bitter, the privileges and safety of the rich became harder to accept. About 10 percent of the white population (an estimate of Jackson Main in The Social Structure of Revolutionary America), large landholders and merchants, held 1,000 pounds or more in personal property and 1,000 pounds in land, at the least, and these men owned nearly half the wealth of the country and held as slaves one-seventh of the country’s people. The American Revolution is sometimes said to have brought about the separation of church and state. The northern states made such declarations, but after 1776 they adopted taxes that forced everyone to support Christian teachings. William G. McLoughlin, quoting Supreme Court Justice David Brewer in 1892 that “this is a Christian nation,” says of the separation of church and state in the Revolution that it “was neither conceived of nor carried out. … Far from being left to itself, religion was imbedded into every aspect and institution of American life. A loss of curiosity, of reading, and a near complete submission to authority marks the American people today. This is not a recommendation to anything other than a genuine intellectual resistance. Of some kind, any kind. Resistance to the prevailing narratives of the system, of the ruling class. That is all. I feel the suffocating narrowness of American society today, and it is awful. It is numbing and its habitual repetitiveness in all aspects of the culture is a sign of dementia. A resistance is needed, too, to the aesthetics of domination. Neurotic white people are not the only suitable topic for drama. Nor are the caricatured portraits of the working class manufactured by white liberals (American Crime, anyone?). Aesthetic and intellectual resistance. Empty activism is counter productive. Working for Elizabeth Warren is really worse than pointless. Check your own privilege, too, white man. Lenny Bruce said something else: The liberals can understand everything but people who don’t understand them. He wrote that a half century ago. Think about that. http://clubof.info/

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                                       Tam Anchor

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