#Fresno Party Buses

[nationwidecarservice]

The Streets are Art: Where to Snap Amazing Wedding Photos in Sacramento by Nationwide Limousine Rental

The Streets are Art: Where to Snap Amazing Wedding Photos in Sacramento by Nationwide Limousine Rental

Sacramento Streets: The Best Location for Gorgeous Wedding Photos. Sacramento has an amazing California art and music scene. Many popular bands have come out of this artsy city and various elements of the arts are still celebrated through not only music, but also many art galleries, theaters, and with street art like graffiti and murals. This makes Sacramento the city perfect for a modern wedding…

[bestlimotoronto95-blog]

Blog

Limo services offer limos for hire to people who desire to travel in luxury and style. The best limo service Toronto must meet the driving standards of the regulations board. The drivers have to undergo rigorous training for the purpose of guaranteeing passenger safety and security. The drivers must have clean public records without any prior criminal dealings. There are an abundance of choices for vehicle types, stretch limos, party buses, custom-built trolley, shuttle buses, stretch SUVs and Mercedes sprinters. The average fleet size is five. Smaller companies will obviously have fewer choices and less availability. It may not seem like something you should check, but it is. One of the most crucial things to know when hiring a limo service in Fresno is whether the company has a valid certification. If a company cannot provide proof of licensure, do not give them your business. You need to ensure a safe environment for both yourself and your guests. Ask the transportation company for the Prom Promise. This is a document that teens sign in agreement of not drinking or taking drugs on prom night. Party Bus Toronto and chauffeured transportation companies offer this contract as a way to help parents address the importance of safety on prom with their teens. Many people look at the limo as a luxurious way to travel. It is often synonymous with extravagance and premium class. These are just some of the reasons why people prefer limousine service when they are on a corporate travel. When looking for a top-notch transport service, you need to make sure that the company is updated with the latest trend in terms of corporate transportation. Their chauffeur should understand that it is imperative to get you to your desired location on time.

[cyberpunkpsychedelia-blog]

@CYBERPUNKPSYCHEDELIA

CONDITIONS –– August 10 @ 11:44:57 a.m.

You awake to the blunt force of unfiltered daylight on your face, the hollow moan of city traffic sounding far below this tenement cube like a distant flushing toilet. Oft you have lamented how trees do not grow, birds do not chirp at these heights.

As you rub your eyes you are privileged to witness the awesome –– if not rather stomach-churning, when it takes you by surprise –– sight of her transmogrification, the split second it takes her to collapse her humanoid frame and resume her form as a cat.

She leaps onto the desk across the room where she sits for a moment, licks herself, and yawns. She regards you with starry green eyes, unblinking and inscrutable to you –– but which you always vaguely perceive, somehow, to be scrutinizing you.

And in a flash of paranoia, as you stare back at her stupidly thru sleep-crusted eyeballs, you wonder if she might only be staring at you to cause you to project whatever insecurities you might have back onto yourself, and then you cannot decide which of these postulations would be the preferable one –– her judging you or her trolling you –– and anyway you reflect that if either were the case (or, for that matter, if neither of them were), the effect would all still be the same…

Indeed you do not know what goes on in her mind in these moments. But you will never presume to ask, and she will never tell.

Your head hurts. You close your eyes. Eventually, she jumps from the desk to the bed, steps on your face and, pausing not so much to intimate a goodbye as to command that you appreciate the drama, jumps out the window.

And so you are left to dwell alone in your lowly airborne pod. But as you roll over in the sheets, your thoughts quickly latch on to her, and they hitch-hike with her out the window. The image is clear enough:

Having fallen a few hundred feet through the air and landed deftly on her paws like the best of feline acrobats, in a single flowing movement she recalls her human form and unlocks and mounts her hoverbike which was chained to the tree outside your apartment.

She dons her gas-mask, conjured seemingly from thin air (breathing is hazardous to pedestrians in this locale, where the fumes have reached peak levels of toxicity). It is heavily worn, all decked out with astrological stickers and painted over crudely with pink lipstick. Straddled over the bike seat in a printed flower skirt and black stockings, hers is a loud image –– poster child for this bold new century.

She wrenches the throttle and barrels over the curb onto the street.

Now, as she makes her way to the club in Center City where she labors daily for her wages, you worriedly reflect that she is now at the mercy of the grid: Baffling assemblage of lighted conveyor belts zipping this way and that at arbitrary speeds, teeming with cargo and people, where a single wavering misstep along your urban odyssey and a blink of the eye could suddenly find you ten blocks south of where you were just standing only moments ago.

For the commuter, the grid adds a valence of radical uncertainty to a journey already fraught with fatal obstacles: You can see her right now, booking down Chestnut Street, head on a swivel, dodging flung-open car doors, tunneling thru clouds of exhaust, careening upstream along this main artery in a sea of traffic where middle fingers and shouted obscenities fly freely out of car windows from every direction.

For 2100 woolongs an hour at the club (on average, with tips), she knows the stakes on this journey are high. But it’s as if the very ground beneath her is working against her, and she begins to wonder, as she often does, if this is all really worth it: Without warning along this strip, potholes open up into sinkholes, gaping hungrily like rips in the fabric of spacetime, plunging full city buses into the abyss. Human screams join the chorus.

And as if this were not enough, the grid, an internationally-sanctioned entity and thus not subject to the local laws of physics, periodically cuts through her path at impossible angles like an interdimensional guillotine, always threatening to whisk her away some place she does not particularly care to go: a bullet-train to Fresno, a people-chute to Hong Kong.

To protect the city’s most vulnerable commuters from the daily carnage, the city of Philadelphia has gone to lengths to establish a bike lane on each street.

But over the years, the lane has been encroached upon, inches at at time, by a steady influx of street vendors pushing their wares, hundreds of kiosks spilling over the sidewalks. In this way, the tiny strip of concrete has become a site of contestation between two parties, and both sides have suffered losses: Bodies displaced into the street, split in half between crashed cars or otherwise ripped apart in spectacular displays of gore.

The roadways in this forsaken metropolis are painted with the blood of the multitudes.

As for her, she harbors no real beef with the street vendors. She will not debase herself to choose a side in such petty human squabbles. She knows too well by now how every death will inevitably become a casualty in someone else’s war, and this is a violence that she refuses to perpetuate. The battle she wages is with the forces of a higher order, transcending these earthly divisions.

And so she dips in and out of traffic with a silent grace, maneuvering deftly through the maze of kiosks, taking care to avoid any stray banana or rolling citrus that might send her tumbling into the onslaught to take up final residence in the Boneyard (local name bestowed to the median near the expressway at 30th and Chestnut –– a tangled mess of mangled bodies and rusted bike frames).

She dips into a back alley at 23rd Street. She is relieved to have reached her destination unscathed, and with a few minutes to spare. She chains her bike to a pole at the backdoor of the restaurant. Once more she conjures her feline shape to carry out a ritual which all members of her scattered race are compelled to perform before crossing new thresholds. 

She stalks in a circular movement like she is hunting something you cannot see, tracing intricate patterns in the ground with her paws. The signs glow with a strange luminescence, opening channels of dire communication with ancient deities whose names have been lost with the passing of so many millennia.

She sits and licks herself, staring at the ground. Eventually, she stops moving altogether, and you perceive that in this back alley she has momentarily dropped off the dimensional plane. She is outside of time, somewhere else, scaling some other axis. Those twinned orbs of radioactive green… Again they are inscrutable to you, but as you stare and ponder over this curious figure, your astral body casting its vague kind of shadow over her, you slowly arrive at the rather stomach-churning realization that this whole time she has been sitting there she has, in fact, been staring directly back at you.

Your presence has been detected! Your thoughts have collided at some fated point of tangency in the cosmos! The connection is precious, but it is fleeting. She slinks around a dumpster and with that, she disappears from your sight.

You open your eyes, wrenched back into your bed, and you are reminded of your own wretched condition. O you! beastly creature, who has lost his way completely to literature and pornography!

In a claustrophobic panic you lean out the window, inhaling deeply the fumes of the afternoon. But this offers you little comfort as you survey the scars of the city below, reflecting on all the ruin the world has exacted –– which is to say, yourself. You reflect on yourself. You are the ruin the world has exacted, disavowed, and finally cast outside of its orbit –– or at least this has been your suspicion as of late. Indeed you have dimly perceived the heights you maintain in your floating pod to be increasing with each rotation around the sun; daily you feel yourself further adrift of the Earth’s gravitational field.

The distance has, in fact, become rather harrowing. For it was Heraclitus who said you cannot step into the same river twice: The river changes, yes, as the current rushes headlong in its velocity –– but this is not the point. The point is that you, yourself, will have also changed in the interval. Never the same river, never the same you. This is either a utopian thought, or one that is terrifying in the extreme.

Ultimately, though, it was Bolaño who was able to grasp the full implication of Heraclitus’s existential musings when he spoke of the condition of exile: “Probably all of us,” says Bolaño, “set out into exile, or at least into a certain kind of exile, when we leave childhood behind.” In other words, all of us who are born into this world are at risk, someday, of never being able to go back home. This is the risk that the condition of exile implies. Thus we have Heraclitus’s warning brought to its fullest expression: It is the extent to which you yourself change that will determine, after so many nights of errantry, whether or not there is a home for you to go back to at all…

These are your conditions at 12 o’clock in the afternoon, as you look upon the city from your unlucky vantage in the stratosphere. Star among stars, you feel, somehow, exhausted –– but with a glimmer, nevertheless, of satisfaction, or hope, perhaps, as some other person might feel after having completed a jigsaw puzzle. You bring your head back inside and climb into bed.

You close your eyes and wait longingly for a scratch at the window.

Follow me @cyberpunkpsychedelia where the saga continues.

Hi My Name Is Noah, your faithful assembler of data, transmitted from the roof of a tenement cube via satellite cobbled together from space junk.

Dear reader, whenever you are, I hope this missive finds you well.

[orbemnews]

To Build Support for Plan, Biden Offers His Own Take on ‘Bipartisan’ WASHINGTON — President Biden’s attempt to muscle through a $2 trillion plan to rebuild the country’s infrastructure — along with the tax increases to pay for it — will be a defining test of his belief that bipartisan support for his proposals can overwhelm traditional Republican objections in Congress. Instead of paring back his ambitions in an effort to limit opposition from Republicans in the Senate or appease moderate Democrats in the House, Mr. Biden and his allies on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead with unapologetically bold, expensive measures, betting that they can build bipartisanship from voters nationwide rather than from elected officials in Washington. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and other members of his party are working to brand the bill as a liberal wish list of wasteful spending and a money grab from a Democratic administration that will drag down the economy with tax hikes. But Mr. Biden is predicting that the broad appeal of wider roads, faster internet, high-speed trains, ubiquitous charging stations for electric cars, shiny new airport terminals and upgraded water pipes will undercut the expected barrage of ideological attacks that are already coming from Republican lawmakers, business groups, anti-tax activists and President Donald J. Trump. In his first cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday, Mr. Biden directed several of his top officials to travel the country during the next several weeks to sell the benefits of the infrastructure spending. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, also told reporters that the president would host Democrats and Republicans in the Oval Office to discuss the plan and their ideas. “I hope and believe the American people will join this effort — Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Mr. Biden said in Pittsburgh on Wednesday as he formally announced his plan. He compared it to the popularity of the nearly $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that passed last month, saying, “If you live in a town with a Republican mayor, a Republican county executive or a Republican governor, ask them how many would rather get rid of the plan.” But generating sustained support for the proposal is shaping up to be a major challenge for the White House. The business lobby is preparing to wage a full-scale campaign against the tax increases in the president’s plan, with influential groups like the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warning lawmakers against raising taxes as the United States emerges from a deep economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But across the country, some local Republican officials are already embracing the prospect of millions of dollars in new infrastructure spending flowing into their communities, even as they are careful to express concern about new taxes. In Fresno, Calif., Mayor Jerry Dyer said the president’s proposals, if passed into law, would allow the city to accelerate plans for a high-speed rail station linking it to job centers in the Bay Area. He said the city had struggled to electrify its fleet of buses and provide robust internet, especially to poorer communities. “These dollars are going to be welcomed in terms of repairing a lot of our infrastructure,” said Mr. Dyer, a Republican. He said he was concerned about the effects of higher taxes on businesses but added that he hoped the issue would be worked out in Washington. “There’s no question the need is there,” he said. Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Ariz., called the president’s proposal “a very good thing” for his city. With the money, Mesa could upgrade a 1970s-era airport tower, widen roads, extend broadband and expand a regional light rail network. He said he was disappointed by the Republican opposition in Congress. “It was only a few months ago that we all agreed that infrastructure was a bipartisan issue,” Mr. Giles said. “That attitude shouldn’t shift just because there’s a new administration in the White House.” But Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, another Republican who has called for a vast infusion of spending on infrastructure, accused Mr. Biden of using the legislation to advance $1.4 trillion in liberal programs. “It still has a lot of good things, but it also has a lot of things that have absolutely nothing to do with infrastructure,” Mr. Hogan said. “They’re like, ‘No, we just want to jam through all of our priorities.’” Mr. Biden and those closest to him understand that passage of the legislation will take place in Washington, not in Fresno or Mesa or Maryland. In announcing his plan, the president sought to cast congressional Republicans as longtime champions of infrastructure, both inviting them to negotiate and daring them to oppose his proposal. “We’ll have a good-faith negotiation with any Republican who wants to help get this done,” Mr. Biden said. “But we have to get it done.” That last line was a not-so-subtle hint about his legislative strategy. If the president cannot win backing from Republican lawmakers, Democrats appeared poised to once again use a parliamentary budget tool known as reconciliation to push through the tax and spending plan with a simple majority vote and most likely only Democratic support. At an event in his home state on Thursday, Mr. McConnell called Mr. Biden “a first-rate person” whom he liked personally. But he argued that the president was running a “bold, left-wing administration” and warned “that package that they’re putting together now, as much as we would like to address infrastructure, is not going to get support from our side.” For Mr. Biden, who spent more than three decades in the Senate, the political calculations are far different than they were 12 years ago, when a similar measure was under consideration. President Barack Obama took office in 2009, in the middle of an economic crisis with a Senate firmly in Democratic control. Only weeks into his term, he pushed through an $825 billion stimulus bill devised to jump-start the economy — legislation that is now seen by many progressives as far too timid. Mr. Obama and his aides spent weeks feverishly negotiating with conservative Democrats and a handful of Republicans in Congress, who pressed the president to limit the size of the spending plan. Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff at the time, said conservative Democrats like Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska insisted that the president win Republican support. Mr. Biden appears to have taken from that experience the lesson that there are limited benefits from seeking to woo a small number of Republicans — and that the key is to sell the benefits of the plan to Americans and not get hung up on the process to pass it. “The politics was different, the policy was different, the public was different,” Mr. Emanuel said, praising Mr. Biden’s approach. Even before the president unveiled his plan, Republicans argued that Democrats were not genuinely interested in bipartisan negotiations, particularly after they pushed the pandemic relief package into law without any Republican votes. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, has asked the Senate parliamentarian to offer guidance on how many times senators can pursue reconciliation this fiscal year, which several Republicans took as a sign that they were preparing to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold. “It is disingenuous for the president to invite Republicans to the White House and the Oval Office to discuss this when he’s made it very clear — and Democrats in Congress have made it very clear — they have no intention of working with Republicans on this package,” said Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. In an interview, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said she appreciated the outreach from the administration leading up to Mr. Biden’s announcement, including multiple bipartisan briefings for lawmakers and individual conversations with cabinet officials. But Ms. Collins, a member of a bipartisan Senate group that is eager to strike compromises on a number of issues, said bipartisan negotiations would most likely falter if the administration refused to budge on the overall price tag or composition of the package. “Everyone knows what bipartisanship means: It means that you get members of Congress from both parties working on and voting for important legislation,” she said, adding: “It’s not like it’s some relic of ancient times. We acted in a bipartisan manner on the most important issue last year: the pandemic.” If Democrats are already considering using reconciliation, Ms. Collins said, “that raises questions about whether there is a sincere interest in crafting a bipartisan infrastructure package.” Some Democrats have said that the proposal is not enough to address both infrastructure needs and inequities across the country, and they have counseled the White House against winnowing down a legislative package to win a handful of Republican votes. “I’m not particularly hopeful that we’re going to see a giant awakening from Republicans who decide that they want to pass an infrastructure package that actually addresses climate,” Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters before Mr. Biden’s speech. Source link Orbem News #Biden #Bipartisan #build #Offers #Plan #Support

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://www.freenews.today/2021/04/01/to-build-support-for-plan-biden-offers-his-own-take-on-bipartisan/

To Build Support for Plan, Biden Offers His Own Take on ‘Bipartisan’

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s attempt to muscle through a $2 trillion plan to rebuild the country’s infrastructure — along with the tax increases to pay for it — will be a defining test of his belief that bipartisan support for his proposals can overwhelm traditional Republican objections in Congress.

Instead of paring back his ambitions in an effort to limit opposition from Republicans in the Senate or appease moderate Democrats in the House, Mr. Biden and his allies on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead with unapologetically bold, expensive measures, betting that they can build bipartisanship from voters nationwide rather than from elected officials in Washington.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and other members of his party are working to brand the bill as a liberal wish list of wasteful spending and a money grab from a Democratic administration that will drag down the economy with tax hikes.

But Mr. Biden is predicting that the broad appeal of wider roads, faster internet, high-speed trains, ubiquitous charging stations for electric cars, shiny new airport terminals and upgraded water pipes will undercut the expected barrage of ideological attacks that are already coming from Republican lawmakers, business groups, anti-tax activists and President Donald J. Trump.

In his first cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday, Mr. Biden directed several of his top officials to travel the country during the next several weeks to sell the benefits of the infrastructure spending. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, also told reporters that the president would host Democrats and Republicans in the Oval Office to discuss the plan and their ideas.

“I hope and believe the American people will join this effort — Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Mr. Biden said in Pittsburgh on Wednesday as he formally announced his plan. He compared it to the popularity of the nearly $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that passed last month, saying, “If you live in a town with a Republican mayor, a Republican county executive or a Republican governor, ask them how many would rather get rid of the plan.”

But generating sustained support for the proposal is shaping up to be a major challenge for the White House. The business lobby is preparing to wage a full-scale campaign against the tax increases in the president’s plan, with influential groups like the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warning lawmakers against raising taxes as the United States emerges from a deep economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

But across the country, some local Republican officials are already embracing the prospect of millions of dollars in new infrastructure spending flowing into their communities, even as they are careful to express concern about new taxes.

In Fresno, Calif., Mayor Jerry Dyer said the president’s proposals, if passed into law, would allow the city to accelerate plans for a high-speed rail station linking it to job centers in the Bay Area. He said the city had struggled to electrify its fleet of buses and provide robust internet, especially to poorer communities.

“These dollars are going to be welcomed in terms of repairing a lot of our infrastructure,” said Mr. Dyer, a Republican. He said he was concerned about the effects of higher taxes on businesses but added that he hoped the issue would be worked out in Washington.

“There’s no question the need is there,” he said.

Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Ariz., called the president’s proposal “a very good thing” for his city. With the money, Mesa could upgrade a 1970s-era airport tower, widen roads, extend broadband and expand a regional light rail network. He said he was disappointed by the Republican opposition in Congress.

“It was only a few months ago that we all agreed that infrastructure was a bipartisan issue,” Mr. Giles said. “That attitude shouldn’t shift just because there’s a new administration in the White House.”

But Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, another Republican who has called for a vast infusion of spending on infrastructure, accused Mr. Biden of using the legislation to advance $1.4 trillion in liberal programs.

“It still has a lot of good things, but it also has a lot of things that have absolutely nothing to do with infrastructure,” Mr. Hogan said. “They’re like, ‘No, we just want to jam through all of our priorities.’”

Mr. Biden and those closest to him understand that passage of the legislation will take place in Washington, not in Fresno or Mesa or Maryland. In announcing his plan, the president sought to cast congressional Republicans as longtime champions of infrastructure, both inviting them to negotiate and daring them to oppose his proposal.

“We’ll have a good-faith negotiation with any Republican who wants to help get this done,” Mr. Biden said. “But we have to get it done.”

That last line was a not-so-subtle hint about his legislative strategy. If the president cannot win backing from Republican lawmakers, Democrats appeared poised to once again use a parliamentary budget tool known as reconciliation to push through the tax and spending plan with a simple majority vote and most likely only Democratic support.

At an event in his home state on Thursday, Mr. McConnell called Mr. Biden “a first-rate person” whom he liked personally. But he argued that the president was running a “bold, left-wing administration” and warned “that package that they’re putting together now, as much as we would like to address infrastructure, is not going to get support from our side.”

For Mr. Biden, who spent more than three decades in the Senate, the political calculations are far different than they were 12 years ago, when a similar measure was under consideration.

President Barack Obama took office in 2009, in the middle of an economic crisis with a Senate firmly in Democratic control. Only weeks into his term, he pushed through an $825 billion stimulus bill devised to jump-start the economy — legislation that is now seen by many progressives as far too timid.

Mr. Obama and his aides spent weeks feverishly negotiating with conservative Democrats and a handful of Republicans in Congress, who pressed the president to limit the size of the spending plan. Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff at the time, said conservative Democrats like Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska insisted that the president win Republican support.

Mr. Biden appears to have taken from that experience the lesson that there are limited benefits from seeking to woo a small number of Republicans — and that the key is to sell the benefits of the plan to Americans and not get hung up on the process to pass it.

“The politics was different, the policy was different, the public was different,” Mr. Emanuel said, praising Mr. Biden’s approach.

Even before the president unveiled his plan, Republicans argued that Democrats were not genuinely interested in bipartisan negotiations, particularly after they pushed the pandemic relief package into law without any Republican votes.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, has asked the Senate parliamentarian to offer guidance on how many times senators can pursue reconciliation this fiscal year, which several Republicans took as a sign that they were preparing to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

“It is disingenuous for the president to invite Republicans to the White House and the Oval Office to discuss this when he’s made it very clear — and Democrats in Congress have made it very clear — they have no intention of working with Republicans on this package,” said Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.

In an interview, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said she appreciated the outreach from the administration leading up to Mr. Biden’s announcement, including multiple bipartisan briefings for lawmakers and individual conversations with cabinet officials.

But Ms. Collins, a member of a bipartisan Senate group that is eager to strike compromises on a number of issues, said bipartisan negotiations would most likely falter if the administration refused to budge from the overall price tag or composition of the package.

“Everyone knows what bipartisanship means: It means that you get members of Congress from both parties working on and voting for important legislation,” she said. If Democrats are already considering using reconciliation, she said, “that raises questions about whether there is a sincere interest in crafting a bipartisan infrastructure package.”

Some Democrats have said that the proposal is not enough to address both infrastructure needs and inequities across the country, and they have counseled the White House against winnowing down a legislative package to win a handful of Republican votes.

“I’m not particularly hopeful that we’re going to see a giant awakening from Republicans who decide that they want to pass an infrastructure package that actually addresses climate,” Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters before Mr. Biden’s speech.

Source

[nationwidecarservice]

Cheap Party Bus Rental Fresno

Cheap Party Bus Rental Fresno

Fresno is one of those places where you can find a bar or a restaurant at every corner, and this makes it great for the tourists. Looking for a #CheapPartyBusRentalFresno? Take a look at our fleet of party buses with cheap prices. #NationwideChauffeuredServices is one of the leading transportation companies in the entire country.

[aramkrikorian-blog]

10-9-2018

waking up. tired. rain. rain on the boots. the boots are torn. shoes. are wet. leather shoes. uncomfortable shoes. comfortable shoes. the daily walk. walking in uncomfortable shoes. ears clogged. not sick. ears jammed up. sticking fingers into ears with toilet paper when in the bathroom. library. salvation army. need to take a piss. need to take a shit. bathrooms. looking for bathrooms. embarassed. look like shit. haven’t showered in a bit. lighters are dead. no flame for cigarettes. the rain. it ruins the cigarette shorts i collect off the ground. talking to myself. not really. lots of people doing real life following. they want me to participate in interactive games with the audience. im not a star. im not taylor swift. she shouldn’t do politics yet. she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. democrats. republicans. green party. lame . parties. people. birthdays. rain. dogs. leashes. masters. slaves. negative conditioning. positive associations. flashbacks. larissa. lory. jessica. ashkhen. hasmig. who and what happened and where am i. did the babies really get aborted. are people messing with my mind. the information. is it true. not true. ears clogged. i can barely hear sarcastic remarks. god is watching over it all. proverbs. Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife. peacock in the desert. seattle. pike street. pike market. prospect park. GAR cemetary. ducks. weird tattoo store. weird tattoo aesthetic. cornish college. security guards. smoking cigarettes. asking for cigarettes. not comfortable. SEATAC. orcas. the oceans. pier 70. pier 66. starbucks. starbucks reserve. st james church. gospel mission. millinair club. tweakers. not that many. many or not. not known. know nobody. alone. thoughts. suicide. Virginia Mason hospital. lutheran church. food. food under the bridge. housing help. library on 4th street. newspapers. news. 90 minutes of internet time. homeless resource guide. backpack stolen. all work gone. no more work to look over. wanted a house on frontenac. didn’t get it. went to ferrari dealership - you say you’re a gangsta but you never popped nothing. you’re a real wanksta. songs. curses. nirvana. cause i’ve found god - rethinking what i said about kurt cobain. he is dangerously not well in Lithium. sounds llike the psychiatrists put pills in him and he blew his brains out or heroine or the pain of his wife... she breaks mirrors. weird flashbacks. lorys brother was administerered lithium wh en i was administered seroquel. psychopharma DEATH TOLL. bodies keep stacking. kurt cobain. lithium. lake washington blvd - curt cobains house. i didn’t know. i did a free navigation of the city. i felt things, bro. now i regret what i said about kurt cobain. lady was wearing a nirvana song list tshirt. bruce lee and brandon lee’s graves. crows. bible... scarecrows. 3-6 mafia lord infamous used to call me scaRECROW what is this... where am i. same motifs. same symbols. used by different people at different times. 1 big symbolic soup. trying to make sense of it. untangle it. which came first the word crow or pigeon. beautiful pigeons. appearance of pigeons in ones timeline over time. typing in the library. ‘the kind of kind guy that won’t take no for an answer’ - wanting to buy a house on frontenanc and give it to brent and tim ... tim gave me an umbrella. brent hooked it up with cigarettes - lighter. they were good guys. lyft people circling around. feel guilt and shame resentment everywhere. saved by the dell poster. PRIVATE PROPERTY everywhere - including the seattle sports stadium ... safeco field? seahawks lose to larams - kendrick lamar. lemurians of mt shasta. greyhound... buses. the animals. a great dane takes a fat piss on 700 7th ave...  the courthouse night, doing a speech. finding weed on ground smoking it. speaking at the school ... getting more weed. fed a larabar. ara. ara gets funding again in march. rosenstein is out? cohen is out? melania is in africa - visits a former slave in ghana. beautiful work. thank you mr and mrs trump. kushner? scooby dooby doo. airbnb ... valuations. memories. pains. people. upgrades and promotions. growth. new ideas. scholarships. college. essays. schools. making sure the kids are going to be safe. at least putting a line on the older ones and going to go back and ensure the road is well paved for the younger ones. newspaper room 6th floor. bathrooms on floor 7 of library also on floor 1... and maybe on 3 and 4.. .but not sure. haven’t been higher than floor 7 as far as i recall. lady in front of library - obese with lighter and cigarette - i ask her for a light she says “why are you chasing me?” - not a question. it is a question. it is something inside of a question. an accusation. a false accusation. a controversial, extremely controversial false accusation. it implies more. profile equivalent of a stalker. im not a stalker. a chaser. but i will become one if she wants me to. if the shoe fits ill wear it. or ill just wear it once and throw it away anyway. copy and paste this text and put it into a text to speech application and just listen to it ... let me know if it sounds good. borrow phrases from it. let it brainwash you. because it’s all real. really really really really real. kim and kanye. blessings. armenians. what the heck. little children in library walking around... happy looking. global warming. will it kill all the little children that look so innocent to my eye. and to my eye the world looks ok. but to the instruments... they’re reading something else. that’s how gas kills doesn’t it... it didn’t smell. it just killed. mount olympia. sculpture garden at the pier has a lot of gardners but a lot more dog shit. its impossible to sit in the grass. there was SO MUCH dog shit there. mcdonalds sued for a million dollars. dont do it. all these ridiculous articles on Medium. i joined medium but i cant even press a button to write. ridiculous. double daniels. daniel lives here. so does erin treg. ill try to not mention too many names i guess. maybe they can comment on posts and take them out. fuck ilya golub. fuck olga. fuck all those people. nikolai and m8s and ara and etc etc. let them live their lives but these are weenie people. someone should keep a permanent weenie hat on their heads. stop stuffing dicks into everyones head aram. stop it. note to self. exercise more discipline in the language that i use. lockwood... he was an author who blew his braINS OUT. but he was typing like an animal in the family garage. he released a book. i wish one day i can get back to literature reading again. i miss pynchon. i miss delillo. did they write any new books. are they still alive? im going to check google right now and trust the answer. dellilo alive. i heard roth died. 5-22-2018. wow . the number 22. number of hebrew characters in the alphabet. the number of arab league countries. 22 is a heptagonal number. which means 7 sided polygon number. who knows what that means. its just important. who knows. philip roth died on 5 - 22 - 2018. wow. i miss his work. american paradise or something or portnoy’s complaint. who was that guy. i remember being in oregon 4 years ago and digging deep into literature. is my brother dead? did shant eat a heroine shot? people on the bus were saying weird things. is my father dead? i don’t even know. i remember jolie writing things on the wall. like prophecy that turned into reality. maybe the whole thing was a joke. the name. keith. she used names. she said things. JR JR JR> what is JR.. it’s on the inside of larissa lip . who knows. maybe real or not. nick. wtf. heroine. fresno. people talking to me. gangs this that. greatful dead family. where are we. what is this. acid. meth. heroine. crack brillo pads. what is all this. what happened. where is everyone. dope shooters. not a lot of people left around - “ Cage The Elephant - Shake Me Down - YouTube “ urban dictionary. JR> some caring guy. larissa’s boyfriend. hope they’re still together. been talking out loud to her. sometimes i feel her. saw a lookalike of Lory. or i actually saw lory. maybe when larissa and i were in santa cruz.. we were being watched and played for fools. she kept saying she saw nicole. the aramark logo. the mark from seattle. the people out there. here. chris while. erin triggie. daniel ex of jessica. who knows what people do. say. where am i. what has happened to me. how am i homeless. what is this. what happened to me. i used to be an OG. lol. what am i now. can i even handle it. unlikely candidate. why do people even half respect me. what is going on. scholarships. colleges. high school kids applying for colleges. stanford early application this year is november 1... and the regular is january 2. i remember 2004 applying for fafsa and all that. scholarships. this that. getting accepted. man. SAT scores are still going. its insane how out of touch you get despite trying hardest to stay in touch. eventually the kids evict you themselves. couple library rats tried to trade me bluetooth headset for some molly in front of library and for some crystal. i said no to both. i saw mad guy tweaking dancing fuckin hard at millionair club today - i looked at him and said “brother i love you so i dont want to see you here, like this, ok?” - where is HOMIE RESCUE TEAM - what are we going to do? should we just laugh at this guy. should we just let him die off. should we kill him? what do you think? i have to read news... china and america. usa. and china. and korea. and russia. and some games and calm down and 110 billion dollar pump into USA. turkey and saudi arabia ... and pushing and shoving and ghana and america visits and angola 500 million president running to london who knows... where are we.. like flies buzzing around on The Blue Marble. what happened to sitting at home and enjoying one another in peace. where is my wife. why do i call her my wife. im forgiving people. im rescuing people. im saying im going to quit cigarettes. people look so shady. they look so protective over their assets. ive lost more than i think or know or can count or i dont know whats going on. 

i wanted a ferrari 812 a portofino i saw was pretty i like the color rosso and i wanted a 488 spider and a home on frontenac and i wanted a powerboat like 70 footer or 77′ and i wanted to go to bahamas or caribbean and have sex with my wife and procreate and have children and relax and sleep and rest and have a home on 18 acres in snoquamish and all that stuff and have a Dodge ram 2500 

just read about Satyrs for the first time. rams and satyrs and greece and dionysus and debauchery and Pan and apollo and challenging gods and losing and winning and secretive & lustful and wanting to fuck and permanent erection (piss boner) - very interesting. 

also very interesting is the PT Barnum effect ... basically .. .have you ever had a boner? have you ever wanted to have sex with many women? have you ever flirted with a woman? h ave you ever challenged someone bigger than your own size (like David?) - who knows. Ram. Aram. Random Access Memory. bighorn ram. it was in a shooting game i played on hunting game on computer a long time ago. 

gods .. shoot downs. being destroyed. FLAYED Alive. the Flaying of Tarsus. hubris. arrogance. humility. cold. hot. 

there is this fucking idiot laughing in the library. this fucking tool idiot. he is in the library and he laughs like a clown. i wish joe pesci were here so he can jam and smash on the guy. but he’s not so if i do it. in front of the cameras. it will pr;obably get me into some sort of toruble. who knows. anyway. 

iris murdoch. philip roth. thomas pynchon. all these people. time passes. pynchon delillo still alive still kicking. 

birth days were the worst days. slowly getting over the doldrums. what is it called. weighing yourself down . idioms. expressions. the power of idioms. lists of idioms. lists of ethnic slurs. lists of sociological terms. lists of profiling terms. lists of lists. endless lists of words and referrents and objects and feelings. 

Jimmy hendrix park seattle. the numbered avenues. Ballard. the draw bridges. the seaplanes. the boeing. the SAM . art museum. the fountains. the trees and parks. the lake washington. the lake union. the puget sound. the alaskan viaduct project. 4 months. all the little pieces of seattle. the 4 seasons. the goldfinch bar. the bars. the loyal inn. mark matthews park. he was a presbyterian minister. here we are. some guy still laughing so i told him to shut up bro that hes fucking annoying. then another guy joins in... he does a little goat laugh. so i fucken do a sheep laugh too. fuck these guys. play whack a mole all day. 

seattle is amazing. minus these idiots in it. can someone genocide them. or get rid of their bodies tonight and feed them to the orcas k25 and k13 ? .. k13 is dead. k25 is getting skinny. 

The latest official count is 77 orcas among the three pods. That reflects the death of K-13, a 45-year old female named Skagit.

the count of orcas is 77 orcas. i wanted a 77 or 70 foot yacht. i wanted to call it Septuagint. there are al ot of 7s in the bible. 

oh Gosh. oh man. david reigned for 7 years 6 months. 76. 67.  6s and 7s. 42s. wow. and 7 male descendants of Saul hung before the lord. 7s. the 7 times 77 forgiveness.. yesterday the sevenfold punishments in leviticus. i like stuff like this alot. 

7 for all mankind - i remember such days. the time is 12:12 Pm on 10/9/2018. 

who knows these things ... the Lord is playing on all tracks concurrently. im less annoyed. i see all these defective personas in one day. i dont know why. but its getting better. people getting chin checked. a lot of people getting tagged. 

the rats are getting smashed on worldwide. Meng. etc etc. interpol. this that. internationally. locally, domestically. the Great Awakenings. when we enter into slumbers and turn into zombies turn into psychic vampires. we need to clean the algae every once in a while or else there’s just bodies and piles of bodies of humans. we dont really care about the dead of the past. we really dont’ give a shit or dedicate any time to remembering or researching the dead of the past. a list of wars by death toll. largest natural disasters by death toll. 

to have faith. to try to pray to God. to say im not here to destroy the catholic church. people say and come up with the worst and weirdest things. if you can only see this writing post you will see i hop around so many places. 

a poison dart frog, a dog, a porcupine, a snake, a cow - i’ve been compared to such animals. after a while all the terms of endearment eventually get to me.. its annoying its not cute. people speak they did the worst things to me and im pretty done for trying to recover. maybe i will maybe i wont maybe someone will kill me or ill magically die.. it wont matter - i see that kurt cobain and bruce and brandon and jimmi hendrix theryre all dead and the stars are all dead the “stars” ... revelation says 

Revelation 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, like unripe figs

and the woman and the dragon and the red dragon ... and ir ead revelation and imagined myself as satan last year but i dont think so. i think the others are satan becasue they twisted my brains in and out.. and i cant wait for the rest of revelation to be carried out so that i can witness the end of the world. im very tired of how twisted and disgusting things have become.. im not just angry or wrathful.. i would like to actually see the end of the world... i would like to see Jesus im going to try and be ok until that happens. .. and its so sad that people are just.. .its so sad. 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12&version=NKJV

love, 

aram krikorian

[kevinmoyer]

California Wedding at Witt Estate :: Bryant & Alan

After nearly ten years of blogging, we have some real gems in our archives, and it seemed a shame to think they might be buried by newer posts! So we’re dusting off our favorites…

Photos by CHRISTINA MCNEILL.

Though couple Bryant and Alan call Virginia home, they chose to celebrate their wedding near her parents home in California at the beautiful and lush Witt Estate. There are so many details we love in this wedding, it would be impossible to choose a favorite. From the rustic yet refined barn, the elegant and ethereal tables, to the perfectly styled hale bale seating, this wedding will give you so much beautiful inspiration.

Photography by Christina McNeill.

Did you include any traditions in your wedding? I wore my mom’s vintage diamond earrings and a family friend’s vintage diamond bracelet. My husband noticed last minute that I didn’t have anything blue and sweetly added a small blue flower to my hair.

What was the best advice you received as a bride? Be present and breathe.

What advice do you have for other couples in the midst of planning a wedding? Do what fits you two as a couple—even if it means serving donuts instead of cake. After all, it’s about you and your partner and surrounding yourselves with love.

The Ceremony

“Witt Estate is close by my parent’s home. We wanted some place private, beautiful and unique. My parent’s friend, Erin Martin, of Erin Martin Design, helped my parents with their home in St. Helena and also designed the wedding site. We loved the aesthetic of both. It’s got a great casual vibe, a fantastic mix of rustic and refined. The estate is designed for entertaining with stunning grounds, sweeping views of Napa Valley and the Mayacamas Mountains.”

Your ceremony in three words.  Non-traditional, full of love, fun

How did you go about planning your ceremony? Alison Events was our fabulous event design team with Jesse Tombs leading the charge. From the start, they understood what we wanted and introduced us to fantastic vendors to put it all together. They were our dream team!

What was your ceremony music? We had a pianist play during the ceremony on the lawn surrounded by vineyards.

Processional: “Meditation de Thais” by Massenet Bride’s Song: “Canon in D” by Pachelbel During prayer: “Ave Maria” playing as background Recessional: “Spring” by Antonio Vivaldi

Who officiated your ceremony? Rev. Blane W. Ellsworth. We chose Blane as we had a connection with him when we interviewed him via FaceTime. His style is to really get to know the couple and make it very personalized, sacred and lighthearted.

Did you include any traditions in your ceremony? We told Rev. Blane that we wanted our guests to be part of the ceremony. He suggested that we turn to face them rather than have our backs to them. We loved this idea and incorporated it.

What were your ceremony readings? Simple and special to us. Blane took the time to get to know us the months leading up to our wedding and incorporated little stories we had shared with him into the ceremony.

What were your vows like? Blane was great at incorporating everything he knew about us into some amazing vows. We chose not to write our own and used traditional vows with a personal twist.

  What was your favorite thing about your wedding ceremony? Walking down the aisle with my father, taking it all in, and joining my husband at the alter. We loved how personal it all felt surrounded by our families and friends. It was held on the lawn surrounded by vineyards with a view of the mountains. We felt connected to our surroundings and felt pure joy being in such a beautiful setting with the people that we love.

Bride, Bryant, wore a cap sleeve heavy silk satin gown designed by Johanna Johnson.

The Reception

“In our first conversation with Alison Events, we told them that we wanted our reception to feel like the BEST party we had ever attended and oh yeah, it’s our wedding day. We wanted our family and guests to be the main focus. We would describe our reception as the best damn party we have attended with great music, fantastic food, a beautiful setting and over the top florals and decor. It was perfection!”

Why did you choose this location for your reception? The property was a private estate which made it very personal. Buses dropped off at the site and we didn’t leave. We flowed from the vineyard for the ceremony, to the pool for the cocktail hour to the party barn for dinner and dancing. The flow of the evening was easy and relaxed allowing our guests to wander the beautiful grounds.

The David Thom Band, a bluegrass band, played a set for the guests during the cocktail reception.

Did you have a signature cocktail? We decided not to have a signature cocktail. We passed sparkling wine upon our guests arrival to the estate as well as iced tea and lemonade. After the ceremony we had open bars for the remainder of the evening.

What inspired you when you were planning your wedding? The setting—we incorporated what was already on site. The grounds were covered with olive trees, rosemary and lavender. We incorporated those into our floral arrangements.

Texture was a main element of their wedding and was perfectly strewn throughout. Florals were textured with pops of white, with a focus on grasses, seed pods, and foliage. Tables were elegantly draped in raw linen topped with cheesecloth and soft votives which added a fresh and modern touch.

The couple chose an open buffet dinner in lieu of assigned seating. An extensive and delicious menu ensured all of their guests were satisfied. They also served a variety of desserts instead of a traditional wedding cake.

Menu: Raw oyster bar with variety of fresh oysters from the pacific northwest, hand shucked during cocktail hour served on a bed of fresh seaweed with lemons bounty of poached spot prawns, chili lime granite, classic mignonette lemons and tabasco, heirloom tomato cocktail sauce // Passed Hors d’Oeuvres: Thai style grilled beef with fresh mint, basil, fresno chili and chile dipping sauce / Crispy pomme frites wrapped in prosciutto with pink truffle salt / California tacos with crispy avocado, shaved cabbage slaw and aioli / Crispy warm zucchini and feta fritters / Tiny lobster burgers with slow roasted tomato, lemon mayo, fennel and long pain de mie buns // Grilled Pizzetta Bar: Thin crust pizzetta baked and griddled all evening long with a variety of beautiful toppings including grilled pears with prosciutto and point reyes blue, classic margarita with fresh tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella / Shaved fennel and spicy sausage with grated carmody // Served buffet style: Grilled bundles of beef stuffed with rosemary, fontina and breadcrumbs on skewers with toasted baguette and charred lemon vinaigrette / Early Summer fresh peaches and burrata with toasted pistachio aillade shaved radicchio and kale ceasar salad with shaved parmesan, cubed pecorino and toasted walnut salad with parsley and lemon, chili flake and olive oil / Bountiful local artisan cheese and charcuterie board / Heritage whole pork loin stuffed and roasted with dried apricots and cherries sliced paper thin with house made pig-n-plow apricot mustard / Mesquite grilled fat asparagus and wild local oven roasted salmon with meyer lemon mimosa / Toasted farro salad with griddled artichokes, toasted pignoli, kumquats with warm chunky herb dressing / Fresh baked focaccia with green garlic, wild nettles, crispy pancetta, and speckly sage veggie focaccia with sea salt, braised greens and shaved pecorino pepato // Dessert: Fresh early season miniberry cobblers with whipped cream served in little mason jars for nibbling / Scones with orange zest / Mini donut bites with maple sea salt, bittersweet chocolate glaze, meyer lemon / French style macaroons and gluten free cookies

What was your favorite moment or part of the reception? Dancing and hugging everyone!

Please tell us about any other special details or moments from your reception. My father’s toast was beautiful, tender, funny and very special. Also, seeing the party barn for the first time as we entered—we were blown away by how beautiful it was. We loved sneaking away for a few private moments of reflection.

Groom, Alan, went to see Tainted Love’s shows in San Francisco for many years—having them perform at their wedding was so special and important.

What was your first dance song? We didn’t do a “first dance”. We chose instead to get our friends and family to the dance floor and party all night.

The post California Wedding at Witt Estate :: Bryant & Alan appeared first on Snippet & Ink.

[newstfionline]

Immigrant ‘Dreamers’—And Their Bosses—Wait Anxiously for Trump Decision

Reuters, Sept. 4, 2017

(Reuters)--Ilka Eren, 25, came to the United States from Turkey with her parents more than 15 years ago and lives in the country without legal authorization.

While in college, she applied and qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era program that President Donald Trump vowed to end during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The program does not change an immigrant’s legal status but rather protects from deportation and gives the right to work to so-called “Dreamers,” young people brought to the United States as children and living in the country illegally. Nearly 800,000 immigrants have received DACA protection since the program’s launch in 2012.

Eren’s DACA status opened the door to several internships, and eventually to a job in New York at Ovation Travel Group, which provides travel services to corporations, as executive assistant to the chief financial officer.

“DACA literally changed my life,” she said. “I really don’t know where I would be without it.”

Paul Metselaar, Ovation’s chief executive, doesn’t know where he’d be without Eren.

He said her job responsibilities have grown because of her abilities. He said she reminded him of his own grandparents, who immigrated to the United States to seek a better life. If Eren were to lose her work eligibility it would be a blow to his company, Metselaar said.

But, he added, “it would be much more of a blow to her family, and to who we are as a country.”

Trump is expected to announce a decision to end DACA on Tuesday, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation, but with a delay of up to six months to allow Congress to find a legislative solution.

Immigration hardliners within the Republican Party have pressured the president to scrap the program. Nine Republican state attorneys general have said they will file a legal challenge to the program if the Trump administration does not end it by Tuesday.

Many business leaders have urged the president to keep DACA protections in place, including the heads of tech giants Microsoft , Apple and Facebook. They have generally cited a potential hit to the economy if the program were to end, although there is scant government data on Dreamers as a distinct economic group.

Still, with the U.S. economy at close to full employment, ending DACA would bring a net loss in productivity, said Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis who studies immigration.

Groups that support stricter immigration enforcement say that eliminating the program would bring benefits, too.

“The end of DACA would result in much-welcomed job openings for American college graduates and other American workers who are either unemployed or underemployed and feel completely locked out of the workforce and blocked from achieving their American dream,” said Dave Ray, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors reduced immigration.

In interviews with Reuters, DACA recipients and their employers emphasized another aspect of what it would mean to end the program: The holes such a move would leave in lives and workplaces.

Georgina Lepe, who runs a real estate law and probate practice from her office in Rancho Cucamonga, California, liked Karla Martinez so much she hired her twice.

She first met Martinez when she was busing tables at a Mexican restaurant owned by Lepe’s family and was impressed with her work ethic. When Martinez graduated from the University of Southern California in December 2016, Lepe hired her to help temporarily with marketing.

Martinez left after a few months to work elsewhere. Lepe later tracked her down and asked her to come back, this time as a full-time legal assistant.

“Even when she was working at the restaurant, I knew she would be someone,” said Lepe, who is 30 and, like Martinez, from a Mexican family. “The difference between (us) is, my family was able to help me out financially to achieve my goals.”

Martinez, who came to the United States with her mother when she was four, helps pay the bills in the home she shares with her mother and two younger siblings. Now 24, she’s planning to apply to law school--if DACA doesn’t end and she can still afford to go back to school.

“Obviously I think about it and it’s a little scary but I don’t let it take over me,” Martinez said.

Lepe says if Martinez’s work permit is rescinded, “I would keep Karla until the very last second” and probably wouldn’t hire a replacement. “I don’t think anyone can compare,” she says.

Chuck Rocha, the founder of Solidarity Strategies, employs DACA recipient Luis Alcauter at his Washington D.C.-based political consulting firm, which specializes in outreach to Latinos. Losing Alcauter “would be devastating,” Rochca said.

Alcauter, 27, came to the United States from Mexico when he was 13, and attended California State University, Fresno, where he developed an interest in politics, which led to his interning on Capitol Hill. The internship was possible, he said, because of his DACA status.

“To be able to have the documents and be able to apply wherever you want, it really empowers you to think beyond the place you were,” Alcauter said. “It just empowers people to be able to find a job, to get a car, to buy a house, to move around, to contribute to their families.”

Juan Ochoa, CEO of Miramar Group, an Illinois-based facilities management company that oversees 1,200 buildings nationwide, said his company will hire an attorney to try to keep DACA employee Jay Meza, 23, if the program ends.

“I have a good job now,” said Meza, who came to the United States from Mexico with his parents and brother when he was 3 years old. “I actually am looking forward to buying my first house. I actually have a good car.”

Ochoa said Meza started at Miramar doing data entry and analyzing spreadsheets and went on to help the company build a system allowing it to track its buildings and employees.

“We have invested a lot of time and money in training Jay, and so it would be a significant loss to us,” he said.

[anchorarcade]

Immigrant 'Dreamers' - and their bosses - wait anxiously for Trump decision

http://ryanguillory.com/immigrant-dreamers-and-their-bosses-wait-anxiously-for-trump-decision/

Immigrant 'Dreamers' - and their bosses - wait anxiously for Trump decision

(Reuters) – Ilka Eren, 25, came to the United States from Turkey with her parents more than 15 years ago and lives in the country without legal authorization.

While in college, she applied and qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era program that President Donald Trump vowed to end during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The program does not change an immigrant’s legal status but rather protects from deportation and gives the right to work to so-called “Dreamers,” young people brought to the United States as children and living in the country illegally. Nearly 800,000 immigrants have received DACA protection since the program’s launch in 2012.

Eren’s DACA status opened the door to several internships, and eventually to a job in New York at Ovation Travel Group, which provides travel services to corporations, as executive assistant to the chief financial officer.

“DACA literally changed my life,” she said. “I really don’t know where I would be without it.”

Paul Metselaar, Ovation’s chief executive, doesn’t know where he’d be without Eren.

He said her job responsibilities have grown because of her abilities. He said she reminded him of his own grandparents, who immigrated to the United States to seek a better life. If Eren were to lose her work eligibility it would be a blow to his company, Metselaar said.

But, he added, “it would be much more of a blow to her family, and to who we are as a country.”

Trump is expected to announce a decision to end DACA on Tuesday, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation, but with a delay of up to six months to allow Congress to find a legislative solution.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to quickly repeal the program, but since taking office – even as he has stepped up immigration enforcement – he has at times taken a softer tone about DACA. “We love the Dreamers,” he told reporters on Friday.

Immigration hardliners within the Republican Party have pressured the president to scrap the program. Nine Republican state attorneys general have said they will file a legal challenge to the program if the Trump administration does not end it by Tuesday.

Many business leaders have urged the president to keep DACA protections in place, including the heads of tech giants Microsoft (MSFT.O) , Apple (AAPL.O) and Facebook (FB.O). They have generally cited a potential hit to the economy if the program were to end, although there is scant government data on Dreamers as a distinct economic group.

Still, with the U.S. economy at close to full employment, ending DACA would bring a net loss in productivity, said Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis who studies immigration.

Groups that support stricter immigration enforcement say that eliminating the program would bring benefits, too.

“The end of DACA would result in much-welcomed job openings for American college graduates and other American workers who are either unemployed or underemployed and feel completely locked out of the workforce and blocked from achieving their American dream,” said Dave Ray, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors reduced immigration. 

In interviews with Reuters, DACA recipients and their employers emphasized another aspect of what it would mean to end the program: The holes such a move would leave in lives and workplaces.

“I KNEW SHE WOULD BE SOMEONE”

Legal assistant Karla Martinez (R) is pictured with boss Georgina Lepe at Lepe’s law office in Rancho Cucamonga, California. U.S. in this September 1, 2017 handout photo. Karla Martinez/Handout via REUTERS

Georgina Lepe, who runs a real estate law and probate practice from her office in Rancho Cucamonga, California, liked Karla Martinez so much she hired her twice.  

She first met Martinez when she was busing tables at a Mexican restaurant owned by Lepe’s family and was impressed with her work ethic. When Martinez graduated from the University of Southern California in December 2015, Lepe hired her to help temporarily with marketing.

Martinez left after a few months to work elsewhere. Lepe later tracked her down and asked her to come back, this time as a full-time legal assistant.

“Even when she was working at the restaurant, I knew she would be someone,” said Lepe, who is 30 and, like Martinez, from a Mexican family. “The difference between (us) is, my family was able to help me out financially to achieve my goals.”

Martinez, who came to the United States with her mother when she was four, helps pay the bills in the home she shares with her mother and two younger siblings. Now 24, she’s planning to apply to law school – if DACA doesn’t end and she can still afford to go back to school.

“Obviously I think about it and it’s a little scary but I don’t let it take over me,” Martinez said.

Lepe says if Martinez’s work permit is rescinded, “I would keep Karla until the very last second” and probably wouldn’t hire a replacement. “I don’t think anyone can compare,” she says.

“IT REALLY EMPOWERS YOU”

Chuck Rocha, the founder of Solidarity Strategies, employs DACA recipient Luis Alcauter at his Washington D.C.-based political consulting firm, which specializes in outreach to Latinos. Losing Alcauter “would be devastating,” Rocha said.

Alcauter, 27, came to the United States from Mexico when he was 13, and attended California State University, Fresno, where he developed an interest in politics, which led to his interning on Capitol Hill.  The internship was possible, he said, because of his DACA status.

“To be able to have the documents and be able to apply wherever you want, it really empowers you to think beyond the place you were,” Alcauter said. “It just empowers people to be able to find a job, to get a car, to buy a house, to move around, to contribute to their families.”

“I ACTUALLY HAVE A GOOD CAR”

Juan Ochoa, CEO of Miramar Group, an Illinois-based facilities management company that oversees 1,200 buildings nationwide, said his company will hire an attorney to try to keep DACA employee Jay Meza, 23, if the program ends.

“I have a good job now,” said Meza, who came to the United States from Mexico with his parents and brother when he was 3 years old. “I actually am looking forward to buying my first house. I actually have a good car.”

Ochoa said Meza started at Miramar doing data entry and analyzing spreadsheets and went on to help the company build a system allowing it to track its buildings and employees.

“We have invested a lot of time and money in training Jay, and so it would be a significant loss to us,” he said.

(This story corrects year that Martinez graduated to 2015 instead of 2016)

Additional reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Sue Horton and Ross Colvin

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source link

[awesomefelicitylewis-blog]

Immigrant 'Dreamers' - and their bosses - wait anxiously for Trump decision

http://ryanguillory.com/immigrant-dreamers-and-their-bosses-wait-anxiously-for-trump-decision/

Immigrant 'Dreamers' - and their bosses - wait anxiously for Trump decision

(Reuters) – Ilka Eren, 25, came to the United States from Turkey with her parents more than 15 years ago and lives in the country without legal authorization.

While in college, she applied and qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era program that President Donald Trump vowed to end during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The program does not change an immigrant’s legal status but rather protects from deportation and gives the right to work to so-called “Dreamers,” young people brought to the United States as children and living in the country illegally. Nearly 800,000 immigrants have received DACA protection since the program’s launch in 2012.

Eren’s DACA status opened the door to several internships, and eventually to a job in New York at Ovation Travel Group, which provides travel services to corporations, as executive assistant to the chief financial officer.

“DACA literally changed my life,” she said. “I really don’t know where I would be without it.”

Paul Metselaar, Ovation’s chief executive, doesn’t know where he’d be without Eren.

He said her job responsibilities have grown because of her abilities. He said she reminded him of his own grandparents, who immigrated to the United States to seek a better life. If Eren were to lose her work eligibility it would be a blow to his company, Metselaar said.

But, he added, “it would be much more of a blow to her family, and to who we are as a country.”

Trump is expected to announce a decision to end DACA on Tuesday, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation, but with a delay of up to six months to allow Congress to find a legislative solution.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to quickly repeal the program, but since taking office – even as he has stepped up immigration enforcement – he has at times taken a softer tone about DACA. “We love the Dreamers,” he told reporters on Friday.

Immigration hardliners within the Republican Party have pressured the president to scrap the program. Nine Republican state attorneys general have said they will file a legal challenge to the program if the Trump administration does not end it by Tuesday.

Many business leaders have urged the president to keep DACA protections in place, including the heads of tech giants Microsoft (MSFT.O) , Apple (AAPL.O) and Facebook (FB.O). They have generally cited a potential hit to the economy if the program were to end, although there is scant government data on Dreamers as a distinct economic group.

Still, with the U.S. economy at close to full employment, ending DACA would bring a net loss in productivity, said Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis who studies immigration.

Groups that support stricter immigration enforcement say that eliminating the program would bring benefits, too.

“The end of DACA would result in much-welcomed job openings for American college graduates and other American workers who are either unemployed or underemployed and feel completely locked out of the workforce and blocked from achieving their American dream,” said Dave Ray, communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors reduced immigration. 

In interviews with Reuters, DACA recipients and their employers emphasized another aspect of what it would mean to end the program: The holes such a move would leave in lives and workplaces.

“I KNEW SHE WOULD BE SOMEONE”

Legal assistant Karla Martinez (R) is pictured with boss Georgina Lepe at Lepe’s law office in Rancho Cucamonga, California. U.S. in this September 1, 2017 handout photo. Karla Martinez/Handout via REUTERS

Georgina Lepe, who runs a real estate law and probate practice from her office in Rancho Cucamonga, California, liked Karla Martinez so much she hired her twice.  

She first met Martinez when she was busing tables at a Mexican restaurant owned by Lepe’s family and was impressed with her work ethic. When Martinez graduated from the University of Southern California in December 2015, Lepe hired her to help temporarily with marketing.

Martinez left after a few months to work elsewhere. Lepe later tracked her down and asked her to come back, this time as a full-time legal assistant.

“Even when she was working at the restaurant, I knew she would be someone,” said Lepe, who is 30 and, like Martinez, from a Mexican family. “The difference between (us) is, my family was able to help me out financially to achieve my goals.”

Martinez, who came to the United States with her mother when she was four, helps pay the bills in the home she shares with her mother and two younger siblings. Now 24, she’s planning to apply to law school – if DACA doesn’t end and she can still afford to go back to school.

“Obviously I think about it and it’s a little scary but I don’t let it take over me,” Martinez said.

Lepe says if Martinez’s work permit is rescinded, “I would keep Karla until the very last second” and probably wouldn’t hire a replacement. “I don’t think anyone can compare,” she says.

“IT REALLY EMPOWERS YOU”

Chuck Rocha, the founder of Solidarity Strategies, employs DACA recipient Luis Alcauter at his Washington D.C.-based political consulting firm, which specializes in outreach to Latinos. Losing Alcauter “would be devastating,” Rocha said.

Alcauter, 27, came to the United States from Mexico when he was 13, and attended California State University, Fresno, where he developed an interest in politics, which led to his interning on Capitol Hill.  The internship was possible, he said, because of his DACA status.

“To be able to have the documents and be able to apply wherever you want, it really empowers you to think beyond the place you were,” Alcauter said. “It just empowers people to be able to find a job, to get a car, to buy a house, to move around, to contribute to their families.”

“I ACTUALLY HAVE A GOOD CAR”

Juan Ochoa, CEO of Miramar Group, an Illinois-based facilities management company that oversees 1,200 buildings nationwide, said his company will hire an attorney to try to keep DACA employee Jay Meza, 23, if the program ends.

“I have a good job now,” said Meza, who came to the United States from Mexico with his parents and brother when he was 3 years old. “I actually am looking forward to buying my first house. I actually have a good car.”

Ochoa said Meza started at Miramar doing data entry and analyzing spreadsheets and went on to help the company build a system allowing it to track its buildings and employees.

“We have invested a lot of time and money in training Jay, and so it would be a significant loss to us,” he said.

(This story corrects year that Martinez graduated to 2015 instead of 2016)

Additional reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Sue Horton and Ross Colvin

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source link

[price4limo]

http://bit.ly/2nMNRlp Do you need a limo service in California? Planning a party in Los Angeles? We have limousines, party buses, and charter bus rentals for every occasion. Our limo service will travel anywhere in California including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento and many more popular cities. We can cater to weddings, birthdays, prom, graduation, corporate functions, funerals or just a fun night on the town! Call today: 855-458-7001

[catouchofclasslimo]

What special event services does Fresno Limousine Service offer that might be different from those at A Touch of Class Transportation?

When comparing special event services offered by Fresno Limousine Service with those at A Touch of Class Transportation, it's important to delve into the specific offerings, attention to detail, and unique features each company brings to the table. Both companies strive to provide top-tier transportation services for special events, but they may have distinct approaches and specialties that set them apart.

Fresno Limousine Service

1. Diverse Fleet for Various Occasions: Fresno Limousine Service typically boasts a wide array of vehicles tailored to different event needs. Their fleet may include classic stretch limousines, luxury sedans, SUVs, party buses, and even vintage cars for those seeking a nostalgic touch. This variety allows clients to choose a vehicle that perfectly matches the tone and size of their event.

2. Comprehensive Wedding Packages: For weddings, Fresno Limousine Service often provides all-inclusive packages that cover transportation for the bride and groom, bridal party, and even guests. These packages might include multiple pick-ups and drop-offs, red carpet service, complimentary champagne, and a decorated vehicle to match the wedding theme. Their aim is to create a seamless and memorable transportation experience on the big day.

3. Prom and Homecoming Services: Proms and homecomings are significant milestones for high school students, and Fresno Limousine Service caters to these events with specialized prom packages. These packages usually ensure that the vehicle is equipped with amenities like sound systems, mood lighting, and non-alcoholic beverages, providing a safe yet exciting atmosphere for teenagers.

4. Corporate Event Transportation: For corporate clients, Fresno Limousine Service might offer tailored services that include transportation for business meetings, conferences, and corporate parties. Their vehicles are often equipped with Wi-Fi and other business-friendly features, ensuring that executives can remain productive while on the move.

5. Wine Tours and Sightseeing: Another unique offering might be wine tours and sightseeing packages. Fresno Limousine Service can organize day trips to nearby vineyards or popular tourist destinations, providing a luxurious and hassle-free way to explore the region. These tours often include guided visits, tastings, and a curated itinerary.

A Touch of Class Transportation

1. Customized and Personal Approach: A Touch of Class Transportation prides itself on offering a highly personalized service tailored to the specific needs and preferences of each client. This includes customizing the vehicle décor, playlist, and amenities to match the client's taste and event theme. Their attention to detail ensures that every ride is unique and memorable.

2. Specialized Event Coordination: For weddings, A Touch of Class Transportation goes beyond just providing a ride. They offer event coordination services to ensure that the transportation aligns seamlessly with the wedding schedule. This can include coordinating with wedding planners, photographers, and venues to ensure timely arrivals and departures, contributing to a stress-free experience for the couple and their families.

3. Exclusive VIP Experiences: A Touch of Class Transportation is known for creating exclusive VIP experiences for clients celebrating special milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, and bachelor/bachelorette parties. These experiences often include VIP access to clubs, restaurants, and entertainment venues, with the transportation service ensuring smooth and stylish entry.

4. Commitment to Safety and Comfort: Safety and comfort are paramount at A Touch of Class Transportation. They ensure that all their vehicles are meticulously maintained and equipped with the latest safety features. Additionally, their chauffeurs are trained professionals who prioritize passenger safety and comfort, offering a reassuring presence for clients.

5. Community and Local Events: Being a local business, A Touch of Class Transportation often participates in and supports community events. This includes providing transportation for charity events, local festivals, and parades. Their involvement in the community reflects their commitment to supporting and enhancing local culture and events.

6. Tailored Corporate Solutions: For corporate clients, A Touch of Class Transportation offers bespoke solutions that go beyond mere transportation. This includes concierge services, customized travel itineraries, and ensuring that vehicles are equipped with business amenities like conference calling facilities and refreshments. Their goal is to provide a seamless and productive experience for corporate clients.

Conclusion

While both Fresno Limousine Service and A Touch of Class Transportation offer comprehensive transportation services for special events, their approaches differ in several key aspects. Fresno Limousine Service emphasizes a broad range of vehicle options and predefined packages that cater to common event types like weddings, proms, and corporate events. On the other hand, A Touch of Class Transportation focuses on a highly personalized and customizable experience, ensuring that every detail aligns with the client’s vision for their special occasion.

Clients seeking a tailored, detail-oriented service with a personal touch may prefer A Touch of Class Transportation. Conversely, those looking for a wide range of vehicle options and comprehensive packages might find Fresno Limousine Service more aligned with their needs. Ultimately, the choice between the two will depend on the specific requirements and preferences of the client.

[catouchofclasslimo]

What is the average cost of hiring a chauffeured transportation service in Fresno at A Touch of Class Transportation?

The Average Cost of Hiring a Chauffeured Transportation Service in Fresno at A Touch of Class Transportation

When considering hiring a chauffeured transportation service in Fresno, A Touch of Class Transportation offers a range of options tailored to meet diverse client needs. The cost of hiring such a service can vary widely based on several factors, including the type of vehicle, the duration of service, special requests, and any additional amenities. Here, we'll delve into these aspects to give you a comprehensive understanding of the average cost of hiring a chauffeured transportation service with A Touch of Class Transportation.

Types of Vehicles and Their Costs

A Touch of Class Transportation offers a fleet of luxury vehicles designed to provide comfort, style, and efficiency. The types of vehicles available include:

Sedans: Ideal for individual travelers or small groups, sedans are perfect for business trips, airport transfers, or casual outings. The average cost for a sedan ranges from $50 to $75 per hour.

SUVs: For slightly larger groups or those seeking more space and luxury, SUVs are a popular choice. They offer added comfort and amenities, with prices typically ranging from $75 to $100 per hour.

Limousines: Limousines are synonymous with luxury and are often chosen for special events such as weddings, proms, or corporate gatherings. The cost for hiring a limousine usually falls between $100 and $150 per hour.

Executive Vans: These are ideal for corporate groups or larger parties, offering ample space and high-end features. The average cost for an executive van is about $125 to $175 per hour.

Luxury Coaches and Buses: For large groups or events, luxury coaches provide extensive seating capacity and a range of amenities. The cost for these vehicles ranges from $200 to $300 per hour, depending on the size and features.

Duration of Service

The duration for which you hire the chauffeured transportation service significantly impacts the overall cost. A Touch of Class Transportation often provides different pricing structures based on the length of service:

Hourly Rates: For shorter trips or events, customers can opt for hourly rates. As outlined above, these rates vary based on the type of vehicle.

Half-Day or Full-Day Rates: For extended services, such as day-long business meetings or city tours, there are often discounted rates for half-day (4-6 hours) or full-day (8-12 hours) bookings. For example, a full-day rental of a sedan might cost around $400 to $600, providing better value than hourly rates.

Long-Term Contracts: Businesses or frequent travelers can benefit from long-term contracts, which offer substantial discounts and customizable services. These contracts are tailored based on the specific needs and duration of the service required.

Special Requests and Additional Amenities

A Touch of Class Transportation prides itself on offering bespoke services to cater to unique client requirements. Special requests and additional amenities can affect the cost:

Special Events Packages: For weddings, proms, or corporate events, customized packages are available that include decorations, refreshments, and other special features. These packages typically add a premium to the base cost.

Airport Transfers: For airport transfers, there may be fixed rates depending on the distance and type of vehicle. For instance, a one-way airport transfer in a sedan might cost around $100 to $150.

Additional Amenities: Features such as onboard Wi-Fi, premium sound systems, refreshments, and personalized services can increase the overall cost. For example, adding a premium beverage service might add $50 to $100 to the total bill.

Comparing Costs and Value

While the cost is a crucial factor, the value provided by A Touch of Class Transportation goes beyond just the price. The company emphasizes safety, reliability, and exceptional service, ensuring that clients receive a premium experience worth the investment.

Customer Testimonials and Feedback

Understanding the cost involves looking at customer feedback as well. Many clients of A Touch of Class Transportation highlight the professionalism, punctuality, and quality of service. Such testimonials often reveal that the perceived value far outweighs the monetary cost.

Conclusion

The average cost of hiring a chauffeured transportation service in Fresno at A Touch of Class Transportation varies based on vehicle type, duration, and additional services. While a sedan might cost around $50 to $75 per hour, luxury coaches can go up to $300 per hour. Special packages and long-term contracts offer cost-effective solutions for different needs. Ultimately, A Touch of Class Transportation provides a blend of luxury, comfort, and reliability that justifies the investment, ensuring a memorable and hassle-free experience for all clients.

[nationwidecarservice]

Cheap Party Bus Rental Fresno – Affordable Party Buses in Fresno (Party ...