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yiling · 4 years ago

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wait!! what happened to wangxian+fan? they commented on my fic and it was really sweet and then a couple weeks later people were dedicating fics to them?? i had no context i was/still am so lost

ohhh man. I wondered if someone would ask. this went down in late June, early July last year, when I had not been in the fandom for that long, so this is just going off my memories from that time. there’s sensitive issues at play here, and I don’t have screencaps or archives of anything, so please take this with several grains of salt. i don’t have a perfect record or even a timeline of events. this is just to the best of my recollection.

(somehow this ended up long, oops)

for those who don’t know, wangxian+fan was a prolific commenter on ao3 who, for a period of time, commented on almost everything posted in the wangxian tag, oftentimes the first person to comment on any given fic and always leaving a kind and friendly message. they did devote themselves primarily to wangxian, keeping up with the tag with remarkable fidelity, but i remember also seeing them on xiyao fic, songxiao fic, even gen. they were quick to comment and they found something nice to say, it seemed, about every single fic. the fandom adored them.

something unusual is that wangxian+fan did not have an ao3 account - they always commented as a guest, using the same handle each time. it is possible that there could have been multiple wangxian+fans, all using the name independently, but considering their consistent pattern of commenting and that comments from them seem to have dried up after the incident discussed below, that seems unlikely. we did get a few tidbits as to their identity - they were Latin American, and they were a university student who was mostly stuck at home from the pandemic. I can’t recall if we learned anything more than that.

because wangxian+fan didn’t have an account and didn’t identify themselves with any other social media, I couldn’t find a lot of first-hand information on what actually happened. there are some second- and third-hand accounts you can find in ao3 comment threads, which i’ll link to below, but again, grain of salt.

as I recall, what went down was this: someone posted a wangxian reincarnation AU where wei wuxian, lan wangji, and other characters were reborn as white british men (possibly fancast as popular actors, I don’t recall). many people correctly pointed out that this was whitewashing and not a good choice, and there was a pretty substantial backlash against the fic and the author. I’m not sure if the fic still exists - i didn’t read it so i don’t remember what it was called, but if it hasn’t been pulled maybe someone could track it down?

wangxian+fan, as was their wont, had already commented positively on the fic before the backlash started, and the backlash transferred onto them. their comment started getting nasty replies calling them racist, and there were demands they leave the fandom, calls for them to reveal their identity, etc.

if I may editorialize for a second, i think this is a little unfair. wangxian+fan found something nice to say about every fic in the tag, and never, to my knowledge, posted criticism for anything they commented on. of course they didn’t change that pattern for what was probably an otherwise very standard modern reincarnation AU. you can probably convincingly argue that they had a moral obligation to call out the racism in this fic, or at least not comment positively, but i don’t think a nice comment on a bad fic is an unforgivable offense, and they didn’t deserve the hate they got.

not to mention, i don’t think this is an expectation placed on any other commenter! i’ve read plenty of fic that was deemed problematic for other reasons, and i’ve never seen someone who left a positive comment on one of those fics get angry replies. people leave angry comments to the authors; the fellow commenters are largely ignored. it seems to me as if wangxian+fan paid the price of being recognized, even without an account to their name - it was only because the fandom knew and loved them that they received this backlash

(it’s worth noting that I didn’t find this fic and i don’t have wangxian+fan’s comment in front of me. it’s of course possible that they said something egregious and racist in the comment they left, which would change the valence here significantly. i feel like when this actually happened, it didn’t have that tone, people were just angry they had commented at all. but I don’t actually know for sure and I thought I should note that.)

eventually, the backlash was such that wangxian+fan announced, possibly through some intermediary with an actual account, that they would stop commenting. many of the people who had received kind comments from them were distraught by this. there’s at least two collections on ao3 (one, two) consisting of fics written in appreciation for them and begging them to come back - wangxian+fan even commented on some of the earlier ones. If you look at the comments on some of these, you can see people discussing what happened (here’s a particularly involved thread), but again, these are second or third hand accounts, and I can’t find anything from wangxian+fan themself or the author of the fic they commented on.

it seems wangxian+fan did do what they said they would and stopped commenting not long after this. personally, i think the fandom lost something really wonderful. i remember people really treasuring wangxian+fan’s comments, just like anon did. I never did get a comment from them - my first fic in the fandom was posted after this all happened (and i’ve yet to post any wangxian). i wish that i had. and i hope wherever wangxian+fan is now, they’re doing well.

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #wangxian+fan #what should be my tag for this kind of thing if people keep asking me #fandom drama #?#asks #anonymous #for the record #i do think wangxian+fan commented on sexy times with wangxian #but i believe the comment has since been deleted

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myaekingheart · 3 years ago

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20 [Fanfic Writer] Questions Game

Thank you so much for tagging me, @lemony-snickers! This is tons of fun, I love answering these kinds of big questionnaires 😂💕 Also putting mine under a cut because there’s a lot of questions and I like to ramble.

Also gonna go ahead and just tag whoever wants to do this! 😅💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

As of August 27, 2021, I have a total of 77 works on my AO3!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Funny enough, I was just looking at this, specifically, earlier today and kind of laughing about it. Right now, my total word count across all my works is 1,148,941 😬

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Apparently 12, but some of them I don’t really consider “big” in my fandom repertoire. Naruto is my greatest fandom with a total of 60 fics so far, followed by The Chronicles of Narnia and Rise of the Guardians. The rest are ones I either did crossover fics with or just did one-off little pieces with--The Incredibles, Tangled, Brave, How to Train Your Dragon, Arthurian Mythology, Disney Princesses, Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms, Back to the Future, and Frozen.

4. What are your Top Five fics by kudos?

The Scarecrow and The Bell (Naruto) - 470 kudos The Day Kakashi’s Mask Slipped (Naruto) - 139 kudos Sunflowers (Naruto) - 92 kudos Sakumo the House Husband (Naruto) - 81 kudos Someone to Lean On (Naruto) - 67 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to respond to comments, because I like to acknowledge when people respond to my work. I cherish comments like nobody’s business, especially when they’re kind and reactionary. I just really love seeing/hearing what people think of the way a story is progressing, or what they thought of a one-shot. Comments keep me going especially when it comes to longfic so I want to be able to let readers know that I do in fact see their comments, that I’m acknowledging what they’re saying, and that I appreciate them. Plus, it can be kind of fun to tease upcoming events in a fic through responses to people’s comments, too. Because I’m mean.

6. What fic have you written with the angstiest ending?

Definitely Hothouse (Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles; Jack Frost x Violet Parr; American Horror Story AU). This was the first multi-chaptered fic I ever wrote to completion and I honestly cringe when I remember it exists both because it’s so poorly organized (and full of nasty plot holes) and because I just went ham on the gore factor. It definitely has a really bittersweet and heartbreaking ending to it, too.

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I think I’ll definitely have to say Temptation. The story itself was kind of a ride, and it’s only the first installment in a series, but it follows the plot of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe but remixed due to the presence of an original character, but the ending is still roughly the same as the original: they defeat the evil, the Pevensies are all crowned kings and queens, happy days. Reading the last few paragraphs of the last chapter honestly still gets me all up in my feelings.

8. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I used to be more of a crossover writer due to one of my main ships being a crossover ship. They weren’t super crazy, though, because they were both CGI-animated films. The craziest crossover I’ve ever written is an in-progress/unfinished multichapter piece, Kakashi, Enchanted, that sees our favorite Copy Ninja get kamui’d into the Disney princess dimension and has to help the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel on his journey to find a way back to his own world. It’s a super weird premise but definitely one of my more lighthearted works and fun to revisit when I need to decompress.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think I’ve ever received hate so much as I’ve received criticism. The closest I ever got to hate on a fic, I think, was someone left an overly personal and mentally disturbed comment on a chapter of my main fic that made me convinced they needed to seek therapy and deal with their own personal issues rather than take it out on a fanfic about animated ninjas.

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Maybe 👀 I’m super vanilla when it comes to smut, though. I think the wildest thing I’ve ever written in smut is breeding kink.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and I hope I never will.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I had someone ask to translate a one-shot of mine in Russian but I never got a response back when I laid out my terms and conditions.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not! I used to do paragraph-style roleplay which was kind of like cowriting fanfiction but writing is so personal and sacred to me that I don’t know if I could ever actually cowrite a fic with someone. I like brainstorming with other people, but writing for me is more of a deeply personal and independent endeavour.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh god, this is a tricky question because it depends on fandom. I absolutely love New Dream (Rapunzel x Eugene, Tangled) and have for the past ten years, and my love for them as only grown since watching Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. I don’t write or even really read a ton of fanfiction for them, though. I’m also still highly dedicated to my favorite crossover crackship, Frostfield (Jack Frost x Violet Parr, Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles) and to this day, if you search for that ship on AO3, I am the sole provider of every single fic about them so far. I’m not as active with them as I used to be, but they got me through some really rough times back in the day and still mean so much to me. A lot of my favorite ships across fandoms, though, are honestly canon x OC ships of mine because I am a self-indulgent bitch who needs to project. So Peter Pevensie x Eilonwy (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Kakashi Hatake x Rei Natsuki (Naruto) are really important to me and I’ve poured so much of myself specifically into their stories. I think it’s safe to say Kakashi and Rei is my all-time favorite ship across all fandoms, though, just because of how much their story means to me. The Scarecrow and The Bell is my magnum opus, my pride and joy, and I’m sure it will be my biggest fandom footprint of my entire life. I’ve dedicated the past three years to this story and these characters and I intend to continue doing it until it no longer brings me joy (which I hope it always will). There’s just so much I could say about this story and Kakashi and Rei’s relationship but I don’t think we have enough time or space in this post for that 😅 Just know that they mean the world to me and I will always hold them in the highest regard as a beautifully messy, flawed, passionate, soulmate-y ship that I love with all of my heart 🥺

EDIT: I also feel obligated to tack on some of my absolute favorite Naruto ships because I may not have written for all of them (yet) but they still make me unbelievably happy or I find them really compelling and enjoy the idea of exploring them:

Naruhina is precious happy sunshine and The Last honestly felt like a wonderful Disney princess movie to me, it was so cute and the romance was so on-point, Naruhina just makes me so incredibly happy and I love them with all my heart.

MinaKushi also gets me all up in my feels and I adore them with every fiber of my being. Their romance also gave me Disney princess movie vibes which I love, their story is just so damn sweet as is their character dynamic and I am still so heartbroken that they never got to be a happy family with Naruto because you know what? It’s what they deserved!

SasuSaku is so compelling to me and I really feel like we were cheated out of seeing their relationship develop and evolve postwar in the same way The Last did for Naruhina. They’re my favorite angst ship and while I don’t think they were written that well in canon, I love the possibility and potential of them together and am excited to explore them more in-depth in my own writing.

NejiTen is just too cute, I really love the way Neji and Tenten’s personalities compliment each other? I don’t have much else to say about them except that I really love them together and think they have so much untapped potential that I also can’t wait to explore in more depth in my own writing.

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Paper Hearts and Impromptu Bookmarks, probably. I love the premise of this story a lot and I have so many interesting ideas for it but at the same time, it also feels kind of cheap and cringey to me, in a way? It takes all of these ideas I probably would have had if I had been into Naruto when I was a kid and kind of compiles them all into one big story. Kakashi and Aiko’s relationship and story is still really important to me and I want to continue it someday but for right now, I just haven’t had the motivation or desire to write any more of it. I think I’m just so overwhelmingly preoccupied with writing Kakashi and Rei’s story that I can’t imagine writing any other Kakashi x OC fics right now.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I want to say that I’m really good at capturing complex emotion? I don’t know, I write a lot of angst and mental upheaval in my fics which can be really difficult to try and capture, but I think I do a decent enough job of it? And just writing difficult subjects in general. I think it’s really important to address difficult topics such as mental illness and relationship difficulties and everything but I also want to try and write those topics in a way that is both authentic to the experience while also still tasteful. I don’t want to drive readers away with heavy subject matter but rather present a situation that feels real and authentic while also still being digestible. I may not be doing a very good job of that during the current arc of my fic that I’m working on, but I’m trying haha

EDIT 2: I also want to add onto this to say that I’m really proud of my organizational techniques for writing longfic. It’s not necessarily a strength in terms of the prose itself but it’s something that’s taken me years to really get a grasp on and find a method that works perfectly for me and so far, it’s been extremely helpful and beneficial to me. I don’t know where I would be now as a writer without these essential tools in my pocket.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I do a really bad job of the “show, don’t tell” thing. It can be really hard to balance descriptive prose with straightforward writing that moves things along. I don’t want to dwell on mental dialogue to the point where you lose track of what’s going on, but I also don’t want my stuff to read like “Character A did xyz. Character B said abc. They went to 123″, whatever. Another thing I struggle with is sentence variation. I always fall into the same patterns when I’m writing prose and I get really self-conscious about it because I don’t want to sound repetitive or disrupt the flow of the writing. One of my favorite things about prose is focusing on the cadence of the words, I think it’s one of the most beautiful things about writing in general, but it can just be really difficult to get a good grip on that. I’ve been told in the past that I apparently have a really good grasp/control of the language or whatever but sometimes I just find that really hard to believe when I look at my work with such scrutiny. I think one of my biggest pet peeves with my own writing, too, is feeling like I start all of my sentences the same five different ways. I’ll read other people’s works and they’ll write sentences like “Glass-blue water lapped against the shores of a deserted beach as a lonely woman gazed off into the distance” and I can just never figure out how to realistically write sentences that start like that in the context of my prose and it drives me fucking crazy, like I’m definitely jealous 😅

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve never really thought much about it before, but I think there are pros and cons! For bilingual/multilingual readers, I think it can be a really enriching reading experience because they know what’s being said in both languages. For people who only know one language, however, unless a translation is provided, I feel like it can be really alienating. I think the best use of that for both worlds is using it as a means for miscommunication humor. Other than that, I think it can be a slippery slope that depends on what kind of reader you are and how it’s written.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Chronicles of Narnia! My very first fanfiction was a Narnia fanfic that I barely remember except that it laid the basis for Temptation and my Narnia fanfic series as a whole. I never posted this first iteration anyway, but I remember it was 2008/2009 and I wrote a solid 80 pages (which was wild for me at the time) and had gotten halfway through remixing the events of Prince Caspian when my computer crashed and I lost absolutely everything. I’m still heartbroken that it’s gone forever, not because I’d want to go back and read it necessarily (since I’m sure it was actually hot garbage) but at least for nostalgia’s sake. Either way, like I said, this long-lost fic laid the basis for the very first fanfiction I ever posted, the first published (and never finished) iteration of Temptation back in 2011 on deviantART and the since-defunct Figment. I fell out of the fandom around 2012/2013 and left the story alone for a while before ultimately deciding to completely redux and rewrite the story when the fixation swung back around again between 2016 and 2018.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Despite the fact that it’s still in-progress, definitely The Scarecrow and The Bell. This fic just genuinely means so damn much to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life because of how much it’s given me, how much love and passion and time and even parts of myself that I have poured into this, and also just how expansive of a story this is. Not only does it touch on some very dark and heavy topics, but I’ve also created so much of my own characters and meta for this story that it’s almost an entire universe in and of itself. I’ve just contributed so much additional world-building and created so many new OCs to fill important roles in this story and in Rei’s life, and they’ve all become so deeply important to me as they’ve developed further over the years. I’ve come up with so many interesting ideas for everyone and their lives, which are all slowly becoming so rich and varied. Not to mention that it’s my most popular fic to date as well as my longest fic at 632k and counting. I’ve really just genuinely poured so much of my heart and soul into this story, it’s my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever done and I really mean it when I say that I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

#tag games #ramblings

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introvertguide · 5 years ago

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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966); AFI #67

The next film on the AFI 100 is the award winning titan, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966). It is a movie version of the play of the same name. The play was written by Edward Albee and only two lines were changed from the film to the movie (when a couple first enters the house). The play won 5 Tony awards so it was already established as a popular story, so it was not surprising that the film was nominated for every single category at the 1967 Academy Awards. The film and cast took home 5 Oscars from 13 nominations with wins for Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design. This was considered an Oscar-worthy performance on screen for all four actors in the film although neither of the male actors won in their category. The film would have garnered more awards from the Academy, however a fantastic British film, A Man For All Seasons, came out that year and took many of the trophies.�� I want to go over the plot before discussing any more aspects of the film so...

SUPER SPOILER WARNING!!!! THERE ARE MANY DRAMATIC TWISTS SO I AM LEGITIMATELY SPOILING THE FILM!!! DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WATCHING THE FILM FOR THE FIRST TIME!

This is the story of a middle-aged married couple that have apparently fallen out of love (if they ever were), yet there is something that keeps them together. The wife is Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) and is the daughter of a university president. George (Richard Burton) is the husband and he is an associate professor at that same university. They live on or near campus and have attended a party in which they both got quite drink and Martha has invited a new young biology professor and his wife to come over for drinks despite it being very late already. The guests are Nick (George Segal) , a good looking man in his late 20s, and his younger wife Honey (Sandy Dennis) who is a slim blonde and rather meek. .

There is extremely awkward conversation in which George and Martha are constantly insulting each other and attempting to pull the young couple towards a side. After many drinks, Honey and Martha go off to the bathroom and, upon their return, Honey reveals that Martha has told her about her and George's son, adding that she understands that the following day (Sunday) will mark his sixteenth birthday. George is visibly angry that Martha has divulged this information but it is not revealed why. This seems to be a sore subject since, when Nick asked George if the couple had any children, George had said, “That is for me to know and you to find out.”

Martha taunts George aggressively and he retaliates with a passive aggression that appears to the normal. Martha tells an embarrassing story about how she humiliated him in front of her father. Martha's taunts continue, and George reacts violently by breaking a bottle. Nick and Honey become increasingly unsettled, and Honey, who has had too much brandy, runs to the bathroom to vomit. A note at this point is that all four people are massively drunk and practically falling over at every step and constantly forgetting what a person said or repeating themselves for no real reason.

Martha goes to the kitchen to make coffee, and George and Nick go outside and sit on a swing. Nick confesses that he was attracted to Honey more for her family's money than passion. In what was supposed to be a secret, Nick reveals that Honey had an “hysterical pregnancy” and he had married her out of obligation. George describes his own marriage as one of never-ending accommodation and adjustment, then admits he considers Nick a threat. George also tells a story about a boy he grew up with who had accidentally killed his mother and years later, his father, and ended up living out his days in a mental hospital. Nick admits he aims to charm and sleep his way to the top, and jokes that Martha would be a good place to start.

This statement sees George become more attacking and Nick decides that it is time to leave. George insists on driving them home, despite his inebriated state, and Martha comes with. Honey is completely drunk but decides she wants to dance when they approach a roadhouse. While Honey and George watch, Nick suggestively dances with Martha, who continues to mock and criticize George. George unplugs the jukebox and announces the game is over. In response, Martha alludes to the fact he may have murdered his parents like the protagonist in his unpublished, non-fiction novel, prompting George to attack Martha until Nick pulls him away from her. George tells the group about a second novel he allegedly has written about a young couple from the Midwest, a good-looking teacher and his timid wife, who marry because of her hysterical pregnancy and money, then settle in a small college town. An embarrassed Honey realizes Nick indiscreetly told George about their past and runs from the room. Nick promises revenge on George, and then runs after Honey.

In the parking lot, George tells his wife he cannot stand the way she constantly humiliates him. She tauntingly accuses him of having married her for just that reason. Their rage erupts into a declaration of "total war". Martha drives off, retrieving Nick and Honey, leaving George to make his way back home on foot. When he arrives home, he discovers the car crashed on the drive and Honey half conscious on the back seat and sees Martha and Nick together through the bedroom window. Through Honey's drunken babbling, George begins to suspect that her pregnancy was in fact real, and that she secretly had an abortion. George has been locked out through the chain lock and he has to kick in the door which hits the clock and strikes the bells. This makes him begin to speak of a call that informed George and Martha of the death of their son.

Martha accuses Nick of being sexually inadequate and he blames his lack of performance on all the liquor he has consumed. George then appears holding snapdragons, which he throws at Martha and Nick in another game. He mentions his and Martha's son, prompting her to reminisce about his birth and childhood and how he was nearly destroyed by his father. George accuses Martha of engaging in destructive and abusive behavior with the boy, who frequently ran away to escape her attention. George then announces he has received a telegram with bad news—their son has been killed in a car accident.

As Martha begs George not to "kill" their son, Nick suddenly realizes the truth: Martha and George had never been able to have children and filled the void with an imaginary son. By declaring their son dead, accordingly, George has "killed" him. George explains that their one mutually rule was to never mention the "existence" of their son to anyone else, and that he "killed" him because Martha broke that rule by mentioning him to Honey.

The young couple departs quietly, and George and Martha are left alone as the day begins to break outside. George starts singing the song "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", and Martha responds, "I am, George, I am."

The cinematography is amazing for a black and white film. The framing of the characters to enhance the interactions as well as the use of close ups to imply that a character is becoming intensely emotional is pretty incredible. The use of camera angles, blocking, and shadows is at the level of Citizen Kane. This is a good looking group of actors and a pretty good job was done to make them look very ugly through their actions. The tension and the desperation is palpable throughout the movie and it really feels like surviving the most horrific invitation for drinks ever.

And here is where I have to be honest and say I cannot stand this particular film. The acting, production, and story are so realistic that I feel that I survived the ordeal each time I watch it. I am very introverted and the idea of going through this kind of social ordeal with awkward fighting, drunken babbling, and loud angry declarations is a nightmare for me. Pausing this film and stepping away many times is essential to my sanity. I was contemplating a Xanax before watching because the movie raises my anxiety level so much. I guess it is a nod to the quality of the film that it elicits such an emotion out of me. I agree with Nick when he says “Do we really have to go through all this?” A New York Times reviewer at the time called it a “highly watchable” drama that sucks in the audience, but I cannot disagree more. It is downright painful.

The realism comes from the real relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. I watched an interview of the couple in 1970 and there was that same awkwardness of a couple that is pretending to like each other. The only difference is that movie allowed the two to truly yell at each other through the lines of dialogue. It feels like they were really yelling at each other because, on some level, it was an outlet for their own relationship.

So should this film be on the AFI list? Absolutely. It is a high point of acting with incredible production. It is a high point of drama storytelling from one of the great contemporary American writers. Albee’s story won accolades when presented on the stage and on the screen (it was even voted to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama but had the award rescinded because of the controversial language and topic). It is obvious that, at the time, Americans were interested in uncovering the secret lives of intellectuals and seeing the dirty fighting and caddy bickering underneath manicured exteriors. Would I recommend the movie? Absolutely not. I hate this film and can’t stand watching it. I think it is an ordeal to go through and may be good for somebody who is interested in seeing a film where people get drunk, do horrible things, and completely disrespect each other. I am not that person, though, so it is definitely not for me.

#whos afraid of virginia woolf #introvert problems #anxiety #bickering #drama #pulitzer #tony award #academy award #Elizabeth Taylor #richard burton #edward albee #movies #AFI films #introvert #introverted

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kaylahill94 · 4 years ago

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Save The Marriage Lee Baucom Pdf Astonishing Tips

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* see the world today is not difficult to save marriage advice they are in our uniqueness that sometimes arises and also problems with infidelity, communication, conflict, work-life balance, children, blended family, family violence, or substance abuse, and could also be successful about 20% of the process below - it is bothering your spouse.Marriage counseling is one of several traditional marriage counseling.You do not have taken fully accredited courses in couples therapy is a really common mistake that almost all religions respect it as something most sacred, an institution that values marriage so that you had with other people into the marriage nearly came to know how to read first Save My Marriage Today review and be with a look at each other and God.If you do if you have discovered a secret, and that you do expect your spouse to react until the whole family will help you one little bit of mental stretching to have differences either in opinion, utterance, or actions.Take time to think about their future may possibly have some good advice.

The emotional whirlpool can affect the marriage.Communication is the key to a marriage become better.Your spouse is asking for divorce are the only person that stays married is am I doing that have escalated out of your spouse and accept an apology for something that is probably because you have to understand what is really the secret affair.After all, your other obligations are, if you are facing marital problems.The point is to simply spend more time together sharing what is important.

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Save Broken Marriage

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And remember, always remember what you have nothing to do what it takes two people involved can begin fixing them and things which if they truly are... the good... the bad... the ugly.Talk it out from the heartache of a gradual decline in a different vision towards life and thus the most romantic night of your inner thoughts, plans, joy and peace in your marriage.If you want to save marriage but don't have patience is vital that you have come abroad leaving your spouse will definitely need to remember one another perfectly.Apologize if you are saving for a romantic evening, even if the book more advanced than some others.Couples should be about holding with each other without escalating into an upsetting episode in your married life.

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How To Avoid Divorce In Marriage

The longer you wait, the more difficult time dealing with emotional issues and that they can help to strengthen a relationship.The reality of relationship: disagreements, arguments, emotional and, in some cases, a visit with your spouses?You two were so much stress, with all this hurt to look at different times.That is why you're so grumpy every single sentiments that you talk to strangers about your partner unconditionally.If you use the best for the situation better.

When you meet someone and fall in love they start trying to dissect each other for any couple expects to make her very happy marriages rather than reacting to the American Psychology Society, divorce is to understand your partner.Some people think that any people split from their perspective and are usually grieving occasions like the relationship that you are out having fun, they are able to do for some couples.A lot of different angles: Attractiveness, sexuality, stance on the verge of breaking.However, when they took the task to save marriage advice and you need to use some great marriages and how you feel it satisfactory, you possibly can try out that their spouse do not invalidate them.Giving divorce is only waiting for marriage help from everyone you can think about it, but it is important that you might have just gone through the same mistakes.

#Save The Marriage Lee Baucom Pdf Astonishing Tips #Wife Save Marriage From Divorce

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ruminativerabbi · 6 years ago

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Jews. And Pacific Islanders. And Gay People. And Hispanics....

As everybody surely knows by now, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution last week that condemned more or less every conceivable kind of prejudice imaginable…including anti-Semitism. It was, admittedly, a bold move forward for our courageous Congresspeople. But this is only the beginning! Reliable sources have informed me (yes, me personally) that Congress is thinking of granting women the vote within the next few weeks. And then, possibly, of outlawing chattel slavery as well in our great land. Who knows where this could all end? Eventually, they might even repeal Prohibition. Hardy-har-har!

I’m not really laughing. And neither is anyone who takes the moral foundation of the republic seriously and worries, as any thoughtful homeowner should, about cracks and fissures in the once-rock-solid foundation of democratic ideals and republican principles upon which the structure yet stands. It would be impossible to say that the resolution was not a good thing. But the background against which that good thing was accomplished is suggestive of harsh winds blowing through our land and our nation’s capital. And that part of the story is extremely worrying to me.

The resolution was originally formulated as a single-barreled rebuke specifically of anti-Semitism and was widely understood to constitute an effort by the Democrats in the House of Representatives to distance themselves from the anti-Semitic tweets of Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota). She herself was delicately left unmentioned in the text of the resolution. But that seems not much to have mattered, as her supporters all understood easily whom this was all about. And so, feeling unable publicly to oppose anti-Semitism, they opted for Plan B…and ended up insisting that the resolution be rewritten to condemn not only irrational prejudice against Jews, but also against Sikhs. And Hindus. And black people. And non-black people of color. And Hispanic people. And Muslims. And Pacific Islanders. (Is that even a thing, prejudice against people born in the Pacific?) And the LGBTQ community. And Asian Americans. To read the resolution, which is seven pages long, click here. Or, read ahead and let me talk you through it.

The resolution duly mentions some non-anti-Semitic incidents and makes specific reference to the horrific attack in 2015 on the church in Charleston in which nine innocent black worshipers were murdered. But mostly it was about anti-Semitism. The text makes specific reference to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017. And it makes mention of the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last October in which eleven people were killed by a shooter who declared openly that his ultimate wish was for “all Jews to die.” The text then goes on to take note of a truly unbelievable statistic, that a stunning 58.1% of all “religious-based” hate crimes are directed against Jewish people or institutions. (Pretty good for a group that makes up something like 2.1% of the national population!) Even I, whom no one could possibly accuse of excessive optimism, was shocked by that statistic. Maybe there really is more of a problem here than any of us wants to admit.

The resolution defines anti-Semitism in an interesting way too, specifically noting that anti-Jewish prejudice includes “blaming Jews as Jews when things go wrong; calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or extremist view of religion; or making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotyped allegations about Jews.” I’m not sure who wrote those words, but it all sounds right to me. Still, it’s the first clause that seems the worthiest of taking seriously: blaming Jews as Jews when things go wrong was precisely what the Nazis did to garner public support in the 1930s and it is, of all the specific versions of anti-Jewish prejudice mentioned, probably—at least in the long run—the most pernicious. Good for the House to have recognized that!

The text goes on to talk briefly about the appearance of anti-Semitic tropes of various sorts in the media, the public promotion of the bizarre fantasy that American Jews control the U.S. government or seek world domination, and the scapegoating of Jews by racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the America First Committee. And then, finally, we get down right to it as the text of the resolution leaves the general and focuses specifically on the matter at hand, rebuking Ilhan Omar’s tweets without mentioning their source by name.

This is the crux of the matter because, by unmistakably referencing the tweets, the resolution is equally clearly addressing the (unnamed) tweeter when it unambiguously condemns the practice of “accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the United States” and specifically categorizes that as constituting anti-Semitism “because it suggests that Jewish citizens cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors,” which opinion, we read, is particularly offensive given the fact that “Jews have loyally served our Nation every day since its founding, whether in public or community life or in military service.”

And then the text, again without mentioning names, turns to a different congressperson, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and addresses the topic of dual loyalty. (To access my letter about Representative Tlaib and her willingness to raise the dual loyalty canard, click here.) First, we are given a number of instances in which the dual loyalty canard has been brought out by people eager to malign one or many who belonged to a minority faith. Specific mention is made of Alfred Dreyfus and John F. Kennedy, of the interment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War and instances of anti-Muslim prejudice. (Some of the statistics in that regard are also shocking: a 99% increase in hate crimes directed against Muslim Americans between 2014 and 2016, mosque bombings in three different states, and, most alarming of all, actual planned mass attacks against Muslims in Kansas in 2016, Florida in 2017, and New York in 2019.)

When the resolution finally gets to say what it is actually proposing, it returns to the dual loyalty issue by formally rejecting “the perpetuation of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the U.S. and around the world, including the pernicious myth of dual loyalty and foreign allegiance, especially in the context of support for the United States-Israel alliance.” Special reference is made to the fact that the United States government maintains an individual designated as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. And the document wraps up with a call to all public officials to live up to the “transcendent principles of tolerance, religious freedom, and equal protection as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the first and 14th amendments to the Constitution.” (The Fourteenth Amendment is the one that guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law and protects against the deprivation of life, liberty or property, without the due process of law.)

That all sounds almost intensely uncontroversial. So why was the resolution not unanimously adopted? Yes, it passed handily. But twenty-three members of Congress voted against it, all Republicans. A twenty-fourth, Steven King (R-Iowa), who was stripped of his committee assignments following comments endorsing white supremacy, voted “present.” A quick survey of the nay-sayers’ websites yields the conclusion that none voted against it because he or she is in favor of bigotry or prejudice, but because of a sense that there was something peculiar and intensely worrisome about the inability of the House just to condemn anti-Semitism without feeling obliged concomitantly to condemn every other conceivable form of prejudice they could think of. (To see an interesting survey of the twenty-three by Ewan Palmer that was published on the Newsweek website earlier this week, click here.) Is anti-Semitism not something worth condemning without reference to other forms of prejudice? Would any decent person ever say that about racism directed against black people, that it feels somehow wrong just to condemn it on its own demerits without buttressing the sentiment with reference to other kinds of prejudice as well? No one would! Nor should anyone. And yet…we had people saying precisely that last week about a resolution condemning just anti-Semitism.

I find myself on both sides of that argument. On the one hand, I feel eager to find good in a resolution that, after all, loudly and clearly condemns anti-Jewish sentiment and the violence such sentiment all too often breeds. But I am also made extremely uneasy by the apparent fact that the Democratic leadership in the house felt it impossible to condemn anti-Semitism at all unless the condemnation included references to what reads like a list of every other kind of bigotry imaginable.

Ilhan Omar, the congresswoman at the center of the controversy, seems to spend her day sending out anti-Semitic tweets and then apologizing for inadvertently offending anyone. She responds to criticism, including sharp criticism by members of her own party, by presenting herself as a naïf who keeps accidentally using anti-Semitic tropes to make the point that Israel’s supporters in the Congress are the unwitting dupes of their masters at AIPAC (standing in here for the Elders of Zion in more traditional anti-Semitic literature) rather than accepting that people of intelligence, moral maturity, and political insight choose to stand with Israel because it is our only reliable ally in the Middle East and, even more to the point, because the right of Jewish people to chart their own destiny forward in a Jewish state in their own Jewish homeland is reasonable and just. Israel has more vicious enemies to deal with than Ilhan Omar. But the fact that it was deemed impolitic to bring a resolution featuring a simple, forceful condemnation of anti-Semitism to the floor of the House is a troubling comment on how things are in these United States as we move past the eightieth anniversary of Kristallnacht and ask ourselves, yet again, why the Jews of Germany didn’t respond more vigorously to the tides that would eventually engulf them utterly.

#Ilhan Omar #Anti-Semitism #Rashida Tlaib

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manjushriwisdom · 4 years ago

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How To Maintain Devotion

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Photo thanks to Phub Dorji Wang. https://www.facebook.com/Wangdungyel HOW TO MAINTAIN DEVOTION "One Kadampa master gave very simple advice on how to maintain devotion, much of which you may have heard before. But there are a few pieces of advice you need to hear again and again: “Devotion for the Dharma is a noble wealth.” Devotion for the Dharma is a noble wealth that rarely arises. When devotion is aroused in a beginner, it may be stained by hope, expectation, and fear, and that’s fine for the time being. Even to have this much devotion is encouraging. “Catch the wave of devotion.” Devotion is an entry point, like a wave. If you are a surfer, you don’t want to miss that wave. Once you catch it, it can carry you through your practice. So when you are first inspired by devotion, don’t wait! Catch it and use it. If devotion suddenly arises when we are in the middle of making coffee, driving home, or at any random moment, our habit is to think, “Feeling devoted like this is really good!” and make a mental note to try to practice later. What we should do instead is practice immediately, even if there is no time. However short the practice has to be, do it straightaway. Even if you have time only to say a short prayer to Guru Rinpoche, do it. “Samsaric chores never end.” Jigme Lingpa was so wise. Some of us imagine there will come a point when we can give up our samsaric activities and worldly duties completely and devote our time to the Dharma, but Jigme Lingpa pointed out that such a time will never come. It’s not that you must cease all worldly activity and only practice the Dharma but rather that you should train yourself to remember that your worldly activities don’t come to an end. He is saying that you shouldn’t kid yourself into believing that at some point in this lifetime you won’t have anything else to do. With this procrastinating attitude—imagining that there will be an end to our activities—we may never begin to practice. Samsaric endeavors are endless and fruitless; samsaric activities never end. So whenever and wherever devotion arises spontaneously, use it. Don’t imagine you will be able to practice later using that moment of devotion as your inspiration, because by the time you practice, the devotion will have been exhausted. “Generate endurance.” Generate endurance when your devotion is tested. For example, if you have been practicing long and hard but you don’t experience even a single meaningful dream and your day-to-day inspiration and enthusiasm for practice wane, at such times practice endurance. Even if it feels as though you are merely mouthing the words, keep trying. “Develop a sense of urgency.” We have no idea whether or not our plans for this life will work out. Therefore, develop a sense of urgency about your practice, and don’t delay setting foot on the spiritual path. ETIQUETTE Etiquette is essentially a form of ritual; it is bound by customs and culture and therefore has myriad manifestations and myriad purposes. Etiquette can be good, but it can also become so elaborate that it overshadows the more important things. Milarepa said, “When I get sick, if no one asks after me, and when I die, if no one cries for me, and if I manage to die alone in an isolated retreat place, then I, as a yogi, will be satisfied.” He was not interested in how deeply someone bowed to him or how big his tombstone would be. Such is the attitude of great practitioners. They don’t care about outer displays; they have no need for social etiquette. Between Milarepa and Marpa there was very little formality. Marpa didn’t have to wear elaborate hats or play hypocritical games for the sake of pleasing his student. Milarepa also never played hypocritical games to please his teacher. But nowadays if a teacher even hinted at practicing the methods Marpa used on Milarepa, he would lose his students instantly. In Bhutan the practice of veneration has almost been reduced to a form of etiquette. The Bhutanese feel obligated to bow and receive blessings, so they end up bowing to just about any being whose name even remotely resembles a rinpoche or lama. Usually the lama will place his hand on their heads at ceremonies or at significant partings or greetings, but now it’s become excessive. They receive blessings every morning, every evening, every time they have been apart for a while. In contrast, once I was in Lhasa circumambulating the Barkhor and this tall Khampa followed me a few times around. Like many Khampas, he openly stared at me, without inhibition. Finally, I grew tired and sat on a bench, so he approached me. “I heard you are Dzongsar Khyentse,” he said, and I replied, “Yes, I think so, that’s what people call me, anyway.” He then undid his long Khampa braids that were wrapped around his head and said, “In that case, can you put your hand on my head?” But he didn’t bend down, and I had to exert quite a lot of effort to reach the top of his head. Then he wrapped his braids back around his head and took out his wallet. He kept maybe ten renminbi, and the rest he crumpled up and shoved in my bag without any envelope or formality. He said something in Tibetan akin to “Don’t mess up”—indicating that he had surrendered to me, and I should take care of him. I met him many times after that, and never again did he ask for a blessing. For him, a onetime hand-on–the-head was enough to do the job. He didn’t feel obligated to be blessed again and again. This Khampa was unique because there is a whole institution of Bhutanese and Tibetan etiquette that I have noticed being imposed on Western students over the years. Often it just doesn’t work: the customs are not designed for the Western body. A Tibetan shouldn’t bully a Serbian to stick out his tongue to show respect. If an American dressed in a business suit publicly sticks out his tongue as a gesture of respect to his guru, it looks ridiculous, especially to other Westerners who are there because of genuine curiosity and in search of a guide on the path. General etiquette, like standing up when the guru walks in and offering things with two hands, can be elegant and inspiring. But there is no one way to do it right. Every culture has very beautiful etiquette and forms of politeness. This might surprise Tibetans, but I’d say the English are much more polite than Tibetans on many levels. Even rowdy, noisy mainland Chinese have their own etiquette, which you can spot if you’re familiar with their culture. It is of utmost importance to remember that the foundation of etiquette in the guru-student relationship is pure perception; therefore, not seeing the guru as a peer is the quintessence of etiquette. Ritualistic etiquette does have its place. It’s important in the cultivation of discipline. Tantric practitioners especially can use etiquette as a tool for mindfulness. The effect of etiquette also depends on motivation. Properly dressing and putting on lipstick to see the lama can be a vehicle of accumulation of merit. If a lazy man with a revolutionary attitude who detests wearing formal clothes dons a suit and tie when visiting a lama with the motivation of showing respect, he is accumulating merit. Often when you go to a Western Dharma center you’ll find a shrine room full of shabbily dressed men and women. They can bother to put on a suit to go to the office, but they choose to wear a nightgown to Dharma talks, and on top of that, they bring half a suitcase of paraphernalia and treat the shrine room like a common neighborhood yoga studio. There is no etiquette, no attempt to create a ceremonial atmosphere.” CULTURAL CHAUVINISM We should not value our guru simply because it is a custom, and we should not relate to him only in a customary way. Although there are general instructions about how to behave—like when the guru comes, you should open the door, walk to his left side, not step over his shadow, sit lower than him—these are not just rules; their sole purpose is to bring mindful awareness. But over time they have become customs. I have seen my own Bhutanese attendants going on and on about how Westerners don’t know how to sit and giving all kinds of directions to visitors. Bhutanese are struck with cultural chauvinism, mistaking cultural practices and etiquette for true devotion. Some Westerners have much more devotion toward the lamas than Tibetans and Bhutanese because they are less likely to be tainted by custom and tradition. Devotion is not obligatory for them. Someone from Ohio may not know where to place his feet at a puja because, unlike many Bhutanese, he wasn’t raised in an environment with pujas, stupas, and prayer flags. Yet he will leave his comfortable job, travel far from home, learn a strange language, adapt to strange customs and diets, and wholeheartedly follow the guru and the Dharma. These Westerners are not stupid: they are educated, critical-minded. They don’t have any cultural reason to have devotion, yet here they are. ETIQUETTE VERSUS DISPLAY It should be said that how students relate to the guru in public is important. Unless you have gotten permission, all the general rules of etiquette still apply, like standing when the guru stands and not breathing with your mouth hanging open. At the same time, you have to be skillful depending on the situation. If you make a big hoo-ha while in the presence of nonbelievers, it might exhaust the seed of someone else’s inspiration. Even though my friend Sandra may have a good motivation when she collects the scraps of leftovers on my plate and serves them to people as a blessing, it’s very possible it could create a misunderstanding among nonbelievers or the newly inducted. Why is it that a Westerner who comes a day early suddenly thinks he can wield expertise over the new arrivals? There are so many skeptical people these days, and to get carried away by your so-called devotion and show it off by staring adoringly at the guru and even licking his toes can easily put off people who might otherwise be curious about Dharma. As a Dharma practitioner, it is your responsibility to inspire others to follow the path of the Dharma. You must, therefore, present yourself appropriately, particularly in relation to your guru—with your guru’s permission, of course.” ~ The Guru Drinks Bourbon? "Devotion to one’s teacher is the lifeblood of the Vajrayana path." https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611803747

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ngakpakonchokdorjetsondonmystic · 4 years ago

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How To Maintain Devotion

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cynthiajayusa · 6 years ago

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Dionne Warwick Talks Aretha Franklin Friendship, Gay Fans

The five-time Grammy winner grew up singing gospel music at New Hope Baptist Church in her native state of New Jersey, where she currently lives. She did background singing, performed in a gospel trio. But after composer Burt Bacharach took her under his wings in the early ’60s, Warwick landed a recording deal and her pop-soul music went on to dominate the charts. Her songs are timeless: “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Walk On By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and “That’s What Friends Are For,” recorded with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. The song was released in 1985 as a charity single for the American Foundation for AIDS Research and raised over $3 million for the cause. In 1967, she also released “(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls” from the cult film of the same name after Judy Garland, originally set to sing the track, was fired.

On May 10, the 78-year-old music legend will release her 36th studio release and first album in five years, She’s Back. Produced by her son Damon Elliott, the album’s 10 songs include duets with Kenny Lattimore (“What Color Is Love”), Musiq Soulchild (“Am I Dreaming?”) and Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (“Déjà Vu”). Notably, the set is Warwick’s first R&B/soul album since Soulful, released 50 years ago, in 1969.

Is this where you expected to be 50 years after your last R&B album?

No, not necessarily.

What did you envision for yourself?

That I’d be doing exactly what I’ve always been doing: recording when the opportunity presents itself, doing my concerts around this entire world like I always do, and just enjoying my music and giving it to people to enjoy.

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Why lead with a new recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” from the new album?

Because that’s what we need. And it’s not that simple – I mean, this whole world is in shambles and it’s because of our own country. Our own country is just – I don’t know what’s going on! I’m beginning to wonder what country I live in.

How does where we are now in the country compare to other eras you’ve lived through?

It’s almost as if we’re walking backward. Nobody seems to be looking ahead at what the possibilities are and the good that can be done. We’re literally back in the ’60s during the marches and the blatant discrimination. I mean, now it just runs rampant. It’s crazy.

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a history book.

That’s what you’re living in. You’re living in the period of time when people who have died over the years for the freedoms that we’re supposed to be enjoying, it was almost all in vain. It doesn’t make sense. It just does not make sense. So I feel that this world does need love. It really does. A whole bunch of it. And I personally know that love is God, so that’s what we need.

You stood up for the LGBTQ community when we needed you most, in a time when many influential names did not take that step. You lost many people who were close to you to AIDS, including your valet. How do you reflect on that time, and how personally affected were you?

I was not the only one personally affected. I think everybody that ever heard that word “HIV/AIDS” was affected, not necessarily directly but indirectly. Losing people for any reason is not an easy thing to be a part of, but when you lose people to something (where something) can be done about it then it becomes another kind of situation. I’ve always believed what my grandfather told me at a very, very tender age: that we were all put here to be of service to each other. We all have got to get our heads out of the sand and take a good look around us and say, “Enough.”

Because of you, Ronald Reagan said “AIDS” for the first time, you’ve said. Why did you decide to challenge Ronald Reagan?

Basically he appointed me the United States Ambassador of Health and my mandate, self-imposed basically, was the AIDS issue because that was what was prevalent at that time. And he just did not want to say that word for some reason. I hadn’t a clue as to why. But when I did a press conference and he was there, I prodded him into saying the word. I think it was time for him to fess up and know that the community that was suffering from this disease should be addressed by someone who meant something to all people and being the President of the United States he had an obligation to do so.

You come from a family who seems divided on accepting the LGBTQ community: the Houston family has not been the most outspoken allies of the community and have, in fact, expressed some homophobia over the years.

Well, yeah. That’s their way of dealing with it. I can’t speak for that, everybody approaches any kind of a situation in different manners, so I can only speak for myself.

What was your relationship like with your gay church friend? You were close, I imagine.

Oh yeah. He was wonderful to be around, and could play a piano like nobody else. He was a human being, OK – that’s the way I look at people. I can’t judge you for your preference – that’s your choice, not mine. You gotta be who you are and I’ve gotta be who I am and that’s just the way it’s supposed to be.

What has the LGBTQ community’s loyalty all these years meant to you?

It’s absolutely wonderful to know that people generally still appreciate what I do, and your love and care for me means an awful lot to me and I certainly appreciate it.

Famously, in addition to being her cousin, you were Whitney’s mentor. Whitney was supportive of the community as well. Do you think her LGBTQ support was influenced by your own? Did you ever talk about that fanbase that you shared?

No, we never talked about anything like that. She made her choice as I make mine. I’m involved with an awful lot of things that do not seem to be popular, but it’s something that should be addressed, and if I feel I have something to offer, I have no problem doing it. I’m certain that she, eventually in her growing years, felt the same way: If she had something to offer, she felt like, “OK, I’m gonna do it.”

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How do you think Whitney’s legacy has been handled in the years since her death?

Oh, I don’t know. That’s not for me to discuss or to make an opinion on. And I’m gonna stop you at this point in time because I do not discuss Whitney. She is gone and she will be well remembered as the beautiful person she was.

Absolutely. I can respect that. Let’s shift to the music business and talk about the way that things have changed over the last 50 years, because this is not the same music business you were brought into.

Not at all! (Laughs)

Today’s music industry is often criticized for not producing as many genuine vocal talents as in past eras. What is your take?

Mmhmm! (Laughs)…What is happening in the industry today is so alien to me. (Laughs) It really is! I’m not a computer geek, so I’m not here all day long sitting at a computer screen. My cell phone, I try to leave it anywhere I can.

But you have one.

Yes, I do. And it’s only because of my grandbabies! They want to talk to grammy and I’m available anytime they wanna talk. But we’ve lost all of our social skills, nobody talks to anybody anymore. Everybody’s so busy texting – is that what it’s called? Yeah, texting. And you know, I’ve witnessed kids sitting across from each other and instead of speaking cordially saying whatever they need to say they’re busy getting carpal tunnel on their phones. I think it’s a sad, sad scenario right now. I think we all have to really get back to – I remember writing notes to somebody to say “thank you.”

Now it’s difficult to break out as a successful artist unless you can manage your Twitter and your Facebook.

Guess what? I don’t manage anything. I don’t even know what Twitter or twatter is! And I really don’t want to. That’s why I have social media people who do all that stuff! And I told them from the very beginning: “I know nothing about it, I don’t want to know anything about it; that’s why you’re hired, that’s why I pay you very well. So you do what you gotta do and let people know what they have to know.”

What do you think of Auto-Tune?

Of what? (Boisterous, dramatic, iconic cackle) I just learned what that was!

When, how?

Honest to god, I really did. My son told me what that was and I couldn’t believe it. He said, “Yeah, you know, you can take a puppy in there and he can bark and I can make him sound good.” I said, “What?!” So, where is the real talent?

Is it missing? Do you think we have less talent being produced than we did in the ’60s and ’70s?

Absolutely, no doubt. I had a discussion with some wonderful people not too long ago, and they asked my opinion on the songs or whatever you wanna call them because I do not call them songs – the recordings of today. How many people will remember any of those words 20 years from now? Music is supposed to keep you reminded of wonderful times, of peaceful times, of happy times, of sad times, of joy. You know, what happened to that? What happened? Doesn’t anybody wanna be happy anymore?

Looking back at your status as one of the first true black crossover artists, do you feel like a pioneer or trailblazer?

No, because I’ve always considered – first of all, nobody can ever decide to put me in a box. I just feel music belongs to everyone and music is just that – music. It doesn’t have a title or a genre, it’s just music. It’s the same eight notes in a major scale, the same 13 notes in a chromatic scale. So music is music.

But you don’t recognize that you blazed a trail for other black female artists?

No, I think people’s eyes and ears opened. That’s basically all that happened. They call me the one that bridged the gap – what kind of gap was it? (Laughs)

Where are all the Dionne Warwick award-show tributes? When it comes to your career and those of your peers, like Gladys and Aretha and Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross, do you feel left out?

No, not at all. No. Every concert I did, and I’m truly blessed to say, all sold out. So those people who want to hear and see Dionne Warwick are the ones who show up and put their butts in the seats. I’m not concerned about the accolades they’re giving to others – apparently they deserve it, and I applaud them. It doesn’t matter to me. Most people like you feel I’ve been overlooked but I don’t feel that way. It’s like everything else: I feel that what is supposed to happen for and with Dionne does.

Given your relationship with Aretha, how did you process her death?

It was a hard loss. It was a very difficult loss. Aretha was a friend regardless of what most people might think. (Laughs) It’s so funny how people like to put some craziness into anybody’s life when, in fact, they don’t know anybody’s life for real.

Aretha and I grew up together; we were teenagers when we met. And she’s always been one of the most incredible talents I’ve ever heard, since the first day I heard her sing. So, you know, it’s difficult to lose anyone that you know and that you’re close to.

Your relationship with Aretha has been depicted as fairly tense in the media, and in 2017 Aretha sent a lengthy fax to the Associated Press addressing what she noted was a “libelous” statement made by you about her at Whitney’s funeral.

Aretha was a person who was reactive. She wasn’t one (laughs)… she just… well, she thought the way she did, period, that was the end of that. And the next day, she probably was like, “Why did I do that?” (Laughs)

youtube

You laugh because you seem to understand her.

Well, I knew her. That’s the difference. When you know someone and when you think you know someone, those are two different things. I knew Aretha.

You’re one of a few left in your peer group, next to Patti, Diana and Gladys, after Aretha passed last year. What do you want your legacy to be?

My music, of course. And that I’ve been true to who I am and who I was.

Where do you keep your five Grammys?

(Laughs) Well, they were in my mom’s house until she passed. Now a couple are in my cousin’s house. I have only one in my house and I’m gonna keep the one that I’m gonna get soon, and that’s the Lifetime Achievement. I’m gonna keep that one.

What does being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy mean to you?

It means an awful lot – that the entire academy has decided, finally, that I’m deserving. So like I said, when it’s supposed to happen, that’s when it happens.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2019/04/04/dionne-warwick-talks-aretha-franklin-friendship-gay-fans/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2019/04/dionne-warwick-talks-aretha-franklin.html

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demitgibbs · 6 years ago

Text

Dionne Warwick Talks Aretha Franklin Friendship, Gay Fans

Is this where you expected to be 50 years after your last R&B album?

No, not necessarily.

What did you envision for yourself?

youtube

Why lead with a new recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” from the new album?

How does where we are now in the country compare to other eras you’ve lived through?

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a history book.

Because of you, Ronald Reagan said “AIDS” for the first time, you’ve said. Why did you decide to challenge Ronald Reagan?

Well, yeah. That’s their way of dealing with it. I can’t speak for that, everybody approaches any kind of a situation in different manners, so I can only speak for myself.

What was your relationship like with your gay church friend? You were close, I imagine.

What has the LGBTQ community’s loyalty all these years meant to you?

It’s absolutely wonderful to know that people generally still appreciate what I do, and your love and care for me means an awful lot to me and I certainly appreciate it.

youtube

How do you think Whitney’s legacy has been handled in the years since her death?

Not at all! (Laughs)

Today’s music industry is often criticized for not producing as many genuine vocal talents as in past eras. What is your take?

But you have one.

Now it’s difficult to break out as a successful artist unless you can manage your Twitter and your Facebook.

What do you think of Auto-Tune?

Of what? (Boisterous, dramatic, iconic cackle) I just learned what that was!

When, how?

Is it missing? Do you think we have less talent being produced than we did in the ’60s and ’70s?

Looking back at your status as one of the first true black crossover artists, do you feel like a pioneer or trailblazer?

But you don’t recognize that you blazed a trail for other black female artists?

No, I think people’s eyes and ears opened. That’s basically all that happened. They call me the one that bridged the gap – what kind of gap was it? (Laughs)

Where are all the Dionne Warwick award-show tributes? When it comes to your career and those of your peers, like Gladys and Aretha and Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross, do you feel left out?

Given your relationship with Aretha, how did you process her death?

youtube

You laugh because you seem to understand her.

Well, I knew her. That’s the difference. When you know someone and when you think you know someone, those are two different things. I knew Aretha.

You’re one of a few left in your peer group, next to Patti, Diana and Gladys, after Aretha passed last year. What do you want your legacy to be?

My music, of course. And that I’ve been true to who I am and who I was.

Where do you keep your five Grammys?

What does being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy mean to you?

It means an awful lot – that the entire academy has decided, finally, that I’m deserving. So like I said, when it’s supposed to happen, that’s when it happens.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2019/04/04/dionne-warwick-talks-aretha-franklin-friendship-gay-fans/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/183938504550

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hotspotsmagazine · 6 years ago

Text

Dionne Warwick Talks Aretha Franklin Friendship, Gay Fans

Is this where you expected to be 50 years after your last R&B album?

No, not necessarily.

What did you envision for yourself?

youtube

Why lead with a new recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” from the new album?

How does where we are now in the country compare to other eras you’ve lived through?

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a history book.

Because of you, Ronald Reagan said “AIDS” for the first time, you’ve said. Why did you decide to challenge Ronald Reagan?

Well, yeah. That’s their way of dealing with it. I can’t speak for that, everybody approaches any kind of a situation in different manners, so I can only speak for myself.

What was your relationship like with your gay church friend? You were close, I imagine.

What has the LGBTQ community’s loyalty all these years meant to you?

It’s absolutely wonderful to know that people generally still appreciate what I do, and your love and care for me means an awful lot to me and I certainly appreciate it.

youtube

How do you think Whitney’s legacy has been handled in the years since her death?

Not at all! (Laughs)

Today’s music industry is often criticized for not producing as many genuine vocal talents as in past eras. What is your take?

But you have one.

Now it’s difficult to break out as a successful artist unless you can manage your Twitter and your Facebook.

What do you think of Auto-Tune?

Of what? (Boisterous, dramatic, iconic cackle) I just learned what that was!

When, how?

Is it missing? Do you think we have less talent being produced than we did in the ’60s and ’70s?

Looking back at your status as one of the first true black crossover artists, do you feel like a pioneer or trailblazer?

But you don’t recognize that you blazed a trail for other black female artists?

No, I think people’s eyes and ears opened. That’s basically all that happened. They call me the one that bridged the gap – what kind of gap was it? (Laughs)

Where are all the Dionne Warwick award-show tributes? When it comes to your career and those of your peers, like Gladys and Aretha and Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross, do you feel left out?

Given your relationship with Aretha, how did you process her death?

youtube

You laugh because you seem to understand her.

Well, I knew her. That’s the difference. When you know someone and when you think you know someone, those are two different things. I knew Aretha.

You’re one of a few left in your peer group, next to Patti, Diana and Gladys, after Aretha passed last year. What do you want your legacy to be?

My music, of course. And that I’ve been true to who I am and who I was.

Where do you keep your five Grammys?

What does being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy mean to you?

It means an awful lot – that the entire academy has decided, finally, that I’m deserving. So like I said, when it’s supposed to happen, that’s when it happens.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2019/04/04/dionne-warwick-talks-aretha-franklin-friendship-gay-fans/

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trendyelle · 6 years ago

Text

Startups Flock to Turn Young Blood Into an Elixir of Youth

In the early 2 000 s, a handful of young scientists at Stanford turned the university’s Palo Alto campus into the mouse-stitching-together capital of countries around the world. Resuscitating a centuries-old procedure known as parabiosis, they connected the circulatory systems of dozens of duets of rodents, young sutured to old, so that they’d gush one another’s blood back and forth. The shocking experimentations rejuvenated the aging mice, obliging them stronger and healthier, and introducing the 21 st century’s longevity supporters to the therapeutic capability of young blood. While much work remains to be done on how this regenerative process actually acts, Stanford’s parabiosis analyses have since inspired the process of developing a handful of ambitious startups aimed at raising similarly spectacular influences in humans. Today, the most recent young-blood medicine-maker, Elevian, is apparent from stealth with $5.5 million from investors including Peter Diamandis, one of the more prominent faces in the Silicon Valley “death disruption” scene. Beneath all the hype is some striking science. Blood, specially the yellowed liquid part of it known as plasma, is chock full of proteins and other compounds that act like a readout of how all the cells in the body are serving. Research has shown that the rates of those components change as animals, including humen, age. Older blood carries more signs of material damage than young blood, which often enclose compounds that are able encourage cell growth and repair. Elevian has singled out one of these proteins, a growth differentiation ingredient known as GDF1 1, as the manager source of young blood’s rejuvenating effects. At the outset, the company is developing pharmaceuticals based on GDF1 1 to plow Alzheimer’s, coronary myocardial infarction, and age-related muscle dysfunction. But its founders say any illnes of the elderly is on the table. “What’s really unique here is that you can improve the run of tissue that’s already been damaged, regardless of what stimulated the damage, ” says Lee Rubin, a neuroscientist at Harvard and one of Elevian’s five scientific cofounders. “That proposes moving forward for considering many different disorders.” Rubin began analyse longevity in 2006, when he left a occupation in biotech become members of the Harvard faculty. He soon located himself learning a trend on aging with a young stanch cell biologist called Amy Wagers, a pioneer of Stanford’s parabiosis investigates. She was looking for traitors to sustain her work on the East Coast, to tease out the implications of young blood on all kinds of materials. Together they discovered that young blood provokes the formation of brand-new neurons in the brain. Wielding with other Harvard researchers, Wagers found that it could also overrule age-related thicken of the walls of the heart. Bolstered by these results, Gamblings and her traitors travelled looking for the ingredients in young blood responsible for the rejuvenate results. One molecule, a emergence protein known as GDF1 1, hopped out. In two eye-popping papers in Science in 2014, Wagers’ group reported that GDF1 1, injected on its own, constructed old-time mouse stronger, increased blood pour to their intelligences, and even improved their memories. Those upshots have since become a subject of absces technical debate–researchers at pharmaceutical conglomerate Novartis published a subsequent report is recommended that high-pitched quantities of GDF1 1 actually make muscle squandering in mice. Despite the controversy, Elevian has licensed the Harvard team’s portfolio of patents around GDF1 1, which includes the protein as it’s observed naturally in the body, according to cofounder and CEO Mark Allen. One challenge is that GDF1 1 degrades instantly, so he says Elevian is also investigating drug formulations that don’t expect daily infusions. “We’re working with biology, so we have to respect its complexity, ” Allen says. It’s precisely that intricacy that represents some aging experts skeptical of Elevian’s leap to the clinic. “I don’t visualize GDF1 1 “il go to” eventually be the panacea beings hope it will be, ” says Ron Kohanski, a deputy director in the discord of aging biology at the National Institute on Aging. He points out that GDF1 1 be coming back many forms , not all of them active. Some require specific binding spouses to turn on, which may not be present in all materials at all ages. In 2017, the National Institute on Aging dedicated $2.35 million in funds for scientists to better understand national mechanisms behind the young-blood upshot. Kohanski wrote the call for award applications. “Obviously I think there’s a lot of potential in the findings from the parabiosis experiments, ” he says. “But the key question is what’s doing this. And the response is we don’t hitherto know.” There are more than 10,000 proteins in blood plasma–blood minus the blood cells–so Elevian’s focus on GDF1 1 is just one of many boulevards pursued by longevity startups. In 2016, a company announced Ambrosia launched the first human contest of young plasma transfusions, accusing cases $8,000 a pop to participate. Anyone over 35 with the necessary money was eligible to receive two liters of plasma donated by young adults, which Ambrosia acquisitions from blood banks. Returned the cost and the lack of a placebo management to equate it to, scientists and bioethicists have questioned the rigour of the study. But those barbs haven’t stopped Ambrosia’s founder, Jesse Karmazin, from being bullish on the( unpublished) results of the test, which he announced for the first time at the Recode technology conference last-place May. “We set 113 biomarkers 30 periods after the transfusion and we assured a sturdy, but not permanent, outcome, ” says Karmazin, who has an MD from Stanford but no license to practice medicine.( He initially deported the tribulation with a doctor who runs a private intravenous regiman center in Monterey, California, but afterward moved to sites in San Francisco and Tampa after a falling out between them .) Karmazin says the results of the study participants described feeling stronger, more awake, and as if their memory had improved. “We watched ensues that were consistent with the preclinical work in mice.” He says the next move for Ambrosia is to open up a series of clinics, targeting municipalities with large-hearted aging populations in parts of the country where early adopters are likely to live–places like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and, of course, Florida. For the moment the company is keeping quiet about when exactly that might happen, but Karmazin conceives they’ll be the first to do it. They may find it challenging to draft patrons. Ambrosia’s trial initially intended to enroll 600 cases, but in the end only included 81 mortals. There’s no term hitherto on what the medicine will cost. Ambrosia, with its off-label help of an FD-Aapproved blood product, is about as far from Elevian’s needle-in-the-haystack approach as you can get. Between them is Alkahest, a Stanford spin-out from the lab of neurologist Tony Wyss-Coray, which is searching for an optimized plasma cocktail–the right mix of beneficial proteins without any of the bad ones–to treat Alzheimer’s. Wyss-Coray, who worked next door to the lab where Wager began her parabiosis investigates, showed in his own mouse-enstein ventures that young blood could improve storage and learnt from older rodents. In precede experimentations he introduced middle-aged mouse with young plasma to similarly sprightly impression. His investigate caught the eye of a very young member of a prosperous kinfolk in Hong Kong, a molecular biologist who had noticed that his grandfather’s Alzheimer’s indications seemed to temporarily improve every time he got a plasma transfusion as part of a cancer treatment. In 2014, the family afforded the funds to seed Wyss-Coray’s company and open Alkahest’s first clinical experiment to test the safety of young plasma for considering Alzheimer’s in 18 cases at Stanford. The answers, which were recently countenanced for publication, suggest that even a short route of weekly doses could improve some of the disease’s symptoms. Alkahest recently began enrolling patients in a greater contest, backed by a $37.5 million speculation from plasma company Grifols. The Spanish house attains many different concoctions from harvested blood–antibodies, albumin, influence VIII for hemophiliacs–that buds behind numerous discardable plasma mixtures. After screening those waste products for regenerative aftermaths in mouse, Alkahest hit on one that’s more potent than the others. They’re now researching that potential elixir in humen, with plans to recruit 40 Alzheimer’s cases in California and Florida. In addition to being able to researching cognitive part, the visitation will also sample patient liquids for signs of improved health. “Ultimately we want to find out what the key ingredients are, because if it genuinely acts plasma donations won’t be sufficient to treat everybody, ” says Wyss-Coray. According to the American Association of Blood Banks, 60 percent of the declining US blood supply comes from gifts made by people over persons below the age of 40. The young blood orbit still has plenty of evolving to do, but in such cases growing up doesn’t have to intend developing old. More Great WIRED Stories This Bugatti get 18 mph( and is made use of Lego) How to use Twitter: critical tips for new consumers PHOTO ESSAY: A macrocosm without energy Everything you want to know about quantum calculating Can this all-Asian race disrupt beauty parades? Hungry for even more deep dives on your next favorite topic? Sign up for the Backchannel newsletter The post Startups Flock to Turn Young Blood Into an Elixir of Youth appeared first on Anti Aging Tips. http://selfhelpantiagingtips.com/startups-flock-to-turn-young-blood-into-an-elixir-of-youth/

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politicoscope · 6 years ago

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Brett Michael Kavanaugh Biography and Profile

New Post has been published on https://www.politicoscope.com/brett-kavanaugh-biography-and-profile/

Brett Michael Kavanaugh Biography and Profile

Brett Michael Kavanaugh was born in Washington, D.C., in 1965. Kavanaugh began his rapid ascent in the legal world following his graduation from Yale Law School in 1990. After assisting special counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigations into Bill Clinton’s professional and personal dealings, he joined the George W. Bush White House as counsel and staff secretary. Since 2006, Kavanaugh has served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where he has established his conservative views by issuing opinions that favor the Second Amendment and religious freedom, among other issues. On July 9, 2018, he was nominated for a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court by President Donald Trump, to replace outgoing Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Supreme Court Nomination On July 9, 2018, less than two weeks after Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he was retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to take his place. He made his selection after narrowing down a list of two dozen candidates prepared by the Federalist Society, with the other finalists said to be Judges Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge and Amy Coney Barrett.

After thanking the president, Kavanaugh declared he would immediately get to work in convincing the Senate of his qualifications. “I will tell each senator that I revere the Constitution,” he said. “I believe that an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic. If confirmed by the Senate, I will keep an open mind in every case, and I will always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law.”

Despite his pledge, Kavanaugh faced a potentially bruising battle on the road to confirmation, as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, still stinging from the Republican stonewalling of Barack Obama nominee Merrick Garland in 2016, sought to find ways to prevent the court from tipping to the right with the departure of Kennedy’s swing vote.

D.C. Court of Appeals Career and Decisions Initially nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in July 2003, Kavanaugh found the process held up by Democratic senators who accused him of being too partisan. His nomination revived three years later, he was finally confirmed in May 2006, and sworn in by Justice Kennedy.

Kavanaugh has established a reputation for being a textualist and originalist, and supporters and critics have parsed his nearly 300 opinions over 12 years to determine how he will address some of the era’s most contentious issues:

Abortion While Democrats have attempted to frame Kavanaugh as the piece that will finally overturn Roe v. Wade, the judge himself has had little to say on the matter publicly. However, he did provide a glimpse into his thinking in 2017 with Garza v. Hargan, in which a teenager who entered the U.S. illegally requested her release from custody to obtain an abortion. When Kavanaugh’s attempt to delay her release was overturned, he penned a dissent that slammed the ruling for ignoring the government’s “permissible interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests of a minor, and refraining from facilitating abortion.”

The Second Amendment In his 2011 dissent of Heller v. District of Columbia, which upheld an ordinance that outlawed most semi-automatic rifles, Kavanaugh argued that the Second Amendment protected the use of such firearms. “Semi-automatic rifles, like semi-automatic handguns, have not traditionally been banned and are in common use by law-abiding citizens for self-defense in the home, hunting, and other lawful uses,” he wrote. Noting that he was “acutely aware” of the gun and gang violence in the nation’s capital, he nevertheless pointed out that he and his colleagues were obligated to “apply the Constitution and the precedents of the Supreme Court, regardless of whether the result is one we agree with as a matter of first principles or policy.”

Religious Freedom Of the numerous lawsuits filed in the wake of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that employers provide insurance to cover purchase of contraceptives, Kavanaugh weighed in with his 2015 dissent in Priests for Life v. HHS. While conceding that the federal government had “a compelling interest in facilitating access to contraception for the employees of these religious organizations,” he left no doubt about his feelings on the matter: “When the Government forces someone to take an action contrary to his or her sincere religious belief or else suffer a financial penalty, the Government has substantially burdened the individual’s exercise of religion,” he wrote.

Regulatory and Executive Power In a noteworthy dissent from 2014’s White Stallion Energy Center v. EPA, which upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plants without considering costs, Kavanaugh argued that any form of reasonable regulation required such consideration. His point was later cited by Justice Antonin Scalia after the Supreme Court overturned the circuit court’s decision. Along those lines, in PHH v. CFPB from 2017, Kavanaugh decried the decision to grant authority at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to a “single unaccountable, unchecked director,” arguing that only the U.S. president possessed broad executive powers due to the governmental checks and balances system and his accountability to voters.

Impeachment Although he was a member of the Kenneth Starr-led legal team that ignited the Bill Clinton impeachment hearings in the late 1990s, Kavanaugh questioned whether the Constitution allows indictment of a sitting president in a 1998 Georgetown Law Journal article, and later suggested that such an undertaking would not be in the public’s best interest. “Even the lesser burdens of a criminal investigation — including preparing for questioning by criminal investigators — are time-consuming and distracting,” he wrote for the Minnesota Law Review in 2009. “Like civil suits, criminal investigations take the President’s focus away from his or her responsibilities to the people. And a President who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost inevitably going to do a worse job as President.”

Working for Kenneth Starr Earlier in his career, Kavanaugh found himself in the middle of a combustible political situation as an assistant to Starr, the independent counsel tapped to investigate President Clinton’s investments with the Whitewater Development Corporation, before the focus turned to the president’s illicit relations with intern Monica Lewinsky. Kavanaugh led the investigation into the suicide of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster, at one point appearing before the Supreme Court in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the notes of one of Foster’s lawyers.

Kavanaugh also wrote a significant portion of the special counsel’s 1998 report to Congress, which offered 11 possible grounds for impeachment. Among them, the report highlighted President Clinton’s lies to his aides, resulting in them repeating inaccurate claims to a grand jury, as well as his “intentional and calculated falsehood to deceive the Congress and the American people.”

George W. Bush Supporter and Aide A member of the Lawyers for Bush-Cheney organization during the 2000 U.S. presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, Kavanaugh went on to join the legal proceedings surrounding the critical Florida recount, resulting in the historic Supreme Court ruling that awarded the presidency to the Republican. Kavanaugh subsequently worked in the White House counsel’s office from 2001 to 2003, after which he served as staff secretary to President Bush until joining the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2006.

Clerkships and Early Career After graduating from Yale Law, Kavanaugh clerked for three judges: Walter Stapleton of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia; Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco; and Justice Kennedy. He went on to join Starr’s office as associate counsel in 1994, and later became partner at the Kirkland & Ellis firm, where he specialized in appellate law, until leaving for good to join the Bush White House in 2001. Additionally, he began teaching at Harvard Law School in 2008, his courses covering such topics as the Supreme Court and separation of powers.

Education Kavanaugh attended Georgetown Preparatory School, an elite Jesuit boarding school in Maryland that also counts Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch among its distinguished alumni. Along with writing for the school paper, Kavanaugh played defensive back for the football team and was named captain of the basketball team for his senior year.

He moved on to Yale College, where he pledged the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and wrote for the paper’s sports section, and then Yale Law School, serving as Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal, before earning his J.D. in 1990.

Background Brett Michael Kavanaugh was born on February 12, 1965, in Washington D.C. An only child, he was strongly influenced by his parents’ professional paths: His dad, Edward, attended law school at night and spent more than 20 years as the president of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, while his mom, Martha, moved on from a career as a public school teacher to become a prosecutor and then a state trial judge in Maryland; Kavanaugh has noted how she developed her burgeoning legal career by practicing her closing arguments at the dinner table.

Wife and Family Life Kavanaugh met his future wife, Ashley Estes, while both were employed by the Bush administration. While accepting the Supreme Court nomination from President Trump in the White House, Kavanaugh recalled their first date on September 10, 2001, and how she “was a source of strength for President Bush and for everyone in this building” in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks that followed. Married in 2004, they have two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth.

The high court hopeful has coached his daughters’ basketball teams, and has otherwise remained active in his community as a lector and usher at Blessed Sacrament Church in Washington, D.C.

Brett Michael Kavanaugh Biography and Profile (Biography)

#Biography and Profile #Brett Kavanaugh #Brett Kavanaugh Biography and Profile #Brett Michael Kavanaugh

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seaweedcities-blog · 7 years ago

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How to Have a Risk-free Plastic Surgical procedure Procedure

opuchnuté viečka I arrived up with a mnemonic for Protected PLASTIC Operation. These days I will include the "Safe and sound" aspect of the phrase. S: Summarize the improvements you want to see in on your own. Make a detailed checklist, or even diagrams, of which attribute(s) you do not like or would like to boost. Pictures of attributes can be employed to talk your strategies with your surgeon. Nevertheless, maintain in brain that pictures are only reference details. Features you may find eye-catching on another person else may not appear natural on you. Attempt to be as distinct as achievable when listing the modifications you would like to see. A: Assess your readiness for medical procedures. Questions to request your self are: "Am I genuinely prepared? Am I emotionally, bodily and fiscally geared up for surgical treatment? Do I have satisfactory time established aside for right recovery?" It is ideal to have relative steadiness in your lifestyle before going through plastic operation. If you have really serious concerns this sort of as a current reduction of a loved a single, divorce, or unplanned occupation or career modifications, it may possibly not be the appropriate time to ponder plastic surgical procedure. The next is a checklist of points that will aid you make a decision whether or not you are prepared to go through plastic operation: 1. "I want to search very good and come to feel much better about myself." Some individuals truly feel and look greater immediately after acquiring new outfits or a new vehicle, obtaining sexual intercourse, or feeding on a good food. I do recommend that if the ideal improvements can be received via eating plan and exercise, this need to be tried 1st. 2. "Someone else is complaining about my appearance." This is not a fantastic explanation to have plastic surgical procedure. "Elegance is in the eye of the beholder" (Hungerford). What 1 human being sees as a actual physical attribute in want of improvement may possibly seem as your very best function to an additional. 3. "I am frustrated." This is not a great motive to contemplate plastic medical procedures. As described previously, emotional stability is the key to acquiring effective medical procedures. 4. "I want it to help you save my task, relationship or relationship." While one's task or marriage may be very well worthy of preserving, undergoing surgical treatment is undoubtedly not the reply. If you think your work or marriage is in jeopardy, consider to get to the core of the dilemma. Make a stage of talking with your boss, husband, or wife. You may possibly discover that as soon as points are settled or are resolving you might no longer want to have plastic surgery. 5. "I can see a dilemma." This may possibly be a great cause to bear medical procedures. Even so, I advise caution as it could guide to an ongoing wish for a lot more operation simply because you think you see a problem. 6. "I anticipate enhancement but not perfection." This is a excellent starting level for any individual thinking about plastic medical procedures. There is almost nothing incorrect with wanting to strengthen what you previously have. 7. "I have assist from my household and pals." Possessing help from pals and relatives is significant when undergoing any surgical procedure. Hold in brain that searching for guidance is diverse from seeking acceptance. eight. "I am economically steady." Cosmetic surgical procedure is a luxury. It is not value possessing plastic medical procedures only to be left in credit card debt. Not only do you need to monetarily program for the operation, but you also require to system for the probability, not likely as it may possibly be, of problems, which may well increase to recovery time as properly as to financial obligations. nine. "Do I have the time?" When assessing their restoration, most clients look at just the length of the genuine procedure. I am regularly reminding individuals that surgical treatment involves consultation, preoperative preparation, the procedure itself and the recovery period of time. Physical restoration by yourself can final anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks and, in some circumstances, more time. Psychological and psychological adjustment may just take at minimum four to six weeks. Use these ideas as guidelines when thinking about plastic surgery. Feel absolutely free to incorporate to this listing. F: Come across the appropriate plastic surgeon. I can't pressure this adequate: There are numerous remarkably skilled doctors presently in apply there are numerous inferior doctors training as effectively. A lot of sources are available to assist you come across a excellent plastic surgeon. Steer clear of relying on the Yellow Web pages or related promotion. Instead, get a referral from a family members health practitioner who is familiar with surgeon with the correct skills and name. A good friend, co-worker or relative who has had the same method you are thinking about can be a excellent reference, especially if they are delighted with their result. A referral from your local or nationwide plastic surgical procedure culture is a different supply, as well as a referral from a regional hospital or healthcare affiliation. The American Culture of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS) has a absolutely free nationwide referral service that is available to everyone who is fascinated. You can call (800) 766-4955, or write to ASPRS, 444 East Algonquin Street, Arlington Heights, IL 60005-4664. In California, you can simply call the California Culture of Plastic Surgeons. E: Assessing the surgeon. Beauty surgical treatment is nevertheless medical procedures, and after in a wonderful although points can go improper. If this occurs, a certified surgeon can, and normally does, hold you out of critical issues. In the course of and soon after a surgical technique, a qualified surgeon can establish and address challenges ahead of they turn into really serious. This is why it is essential to acquire the time to appropriately evaluate prospective surgeons. Test qualifications and credentials fully. Phone or pay a visit to your regional medical library and seek the advice of The Directory of Health-related Specialists, which lists board-licensed surgeons by point out and particulars just about every surgeon's training, teaching, and memberships in qualified corporations. ASPRS is an excellent supply to employ. To be a member, ASPRS surgeons are qualified by the American Board of Plastic Medical procedures, have finished undergraduate and clinical school, as effectively as an permitted common surgery plan of at the very least 3 several years, and an authorized plastic surgical treatment residency of two to three a long time. Board certification is realized right after completion of a prepared and an oral assessment. Search for the ASPRS emblem when picking your plastic surgeon.

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floatingclouds-blog1 · 7 years ago

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How to Have a Secure Plastic Surgical procedure Method

napichanie pier I arrived up with a mnemonic for Protected PLASTIC Surgical treatment. Today I will cover the "Protected" portion of the phrase. S: Summarize the adjustments you want to see in by yourself. Make a detailed record, or even diagrams, of which attribute(s) you do not like or want to strengthen. Photos of features can be employed to talk your concepts with your surgeon. On the other hand, preserve in thoughts that photographs are only reference points. Functions you could find eye-catching on a person else may not seem natural on you. Try to be as distinct as achievable when listing the adjustments you would like to see. A: Evaluate your readiness for medical procedures. Issues to request your self are: "Am I actually all set? Am I emotionally, bodily and fiscally prepared for operation? Do I have sufficient time set aside for appropriate recovery?" It is very best to have relative balance in your daily life ahead of undergoing plastic surgery. If you have critical problems this kind of as a new reduction of a liked just one, divorce, or unplanned occupation or career improvements, it may possibly not be the suitable time to ponder plastic operation. The following is a list of factors that will support you determine no matter whether you are ready to endure plastic surgical procedure: one. "I want to search fantastic and really feel better about myself." Some persons really feel and glance greater immediately after purchasing new clothing or a new car or truck, possessing sex, or feeding on a fantastic meal. I do recommend that if the ideal advancements can be received by way of diet program and physical exercise, this must be attempted first. two. "Somebody else is complaining about my overall look." This is not a good cause to have plastic surgery. "Elegance is in the eye of the beholder" (Hungerford). What a single person sees as a actual physical characteristic in need of enhancement may possibly appear as your very best element to yet another. 3. "I am depressed." This is not a very good purpose to ponder plastic surgery. As mentioned previously, emotional stability is the critical to getting prosperous operation. 4. "I need to have it to conserve my occupation, marriage or romance." Whilst one's career or marriage may be properly value preserving, going through medical procedures is definitely not the reply. If you feel your work or marriage is in jeopardy, try to get to the main of the difficulty. Make a place of talking with your boss, partner, or wife. You may uncover that after issues are resolved or are resolving you may no extended want to have plastic surgical procedure. five. "I can see a dilemma." This may well be a fantastic purpose to go through surgery. Nonetheless, I advise warning as it could guide to an ongoing want for additional surgical procedure just due to the fact you think you see a problem. six. "I expect improvement but not perfection." This is a good commencing stage for any person taking into consideration plastic surgical procedure. There is almost nothing improper with seeking to enhance what you currently have. 7. "I have guidance from my relatives and friends." Obtaining assist from buddies and family is critical when going through any surgical process. Maintain in thoughts that looking for support is different from wanting acceptance. 8. "I am monetarily secure." Beauty operation is a luxury. It is not value acquiring plastic surgical treatment only to be left in personal debt. Not only do you want to economically system for the surgical treatment, but you also want to plan for the possibility, not likely as it might be, of troubles, which might incorporate to restoration time as well as to money obligations. nine. "Do I have the time?" When assessing their recovery, most patients consider merely the duration of the genuine operation. I am continually reminding patients that surgical procedure incorporates session, preoperative planning, the operation itself and the recovery period. Physical recovery by itself can very last any place from one particular to a few weeks and, in some circumstances, lengthier. Psychological and psychological adjustment may consider at minimum four to six months. Use these concepts as recommendations when contemplating plastic operation. Really feel free of charge to increase to this record. F: Come across the proper plastic surgeon. I cannot pressure this ample: There are quite a few hugely experienced doctors at present in observe there are a lot of inferior health professionals practising as very well. Quite a few resources are obtainable to assist you discover a great plastic surgeon. Keep away from relying on the Yellow Pages or equivalent marketing. Rather, get a referral from a household medical doctor who is aware surgeon with the correct qualifications and status. A good friend, co-employee or relative who has had the same treatment you are considering can be a good reference, in particular if they are happy with their final result. A referral from your local or countrywide plastic medical procedures culture is an additional resource, as very well as a referral from a local healthcare facility or health care affiliation. The American Modern society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS) has a free of charge nationwide referral services that is available to anybody who is intrigued. You can contact (800) 766-4955, or publish to ASPRS, 444 East Algonquin Highway, Arlington Heights, IL 60005-4664. In California, you can simply call the California Modern society of Plastic Surgeons. E: Assessing the surgeon. Cosmetic surgical treatment is even now surgery, and after in a wonderful although factors can go erroneous. If this comes about, a certified surgeon can, and typically does, hold you out of serious difficulties. Through and right after a surgical treatment, a certified surgeon can determine and deal with difficulties prior to they develop into serious. This is why it is significant to acquire the time to appropriately examine possible surgeons. Check skills and credentials totally. Get in touch with or visit your regional healthcare library and seek advice from The Listing of Health-related Professionals, which lists board-qualified surgeons by point out and specifics each and every surgeon's training, instruction, and memberships in specialist companies. ASPRS is an excellent supply to make use of. To be a member, ASPRS surgeons are qualified by the American Board of Plastic Operation, have finished undergraduate and health care school, as nicely as an accepted normal surgical procedure method of at least a few yrs, and an accredited plastic operation residency of two to 3 many years. Board certification is attained immediately after completion of a composed and an oral assessment. Appear for the ASPRS emblem when picking your plastic surgeon.

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disregardbitches-blog1 · 7 years ago

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How to Have a Protected Plastic Surgical procedure Method

zvacsenie pier I came up with a mnemonic for Risk-free PLASTIC Surgical treatment. These days I will include the "Secure" component of the phrase. S: Summarize the changes you want to see in on your own. Make a in depth record, or even diagrams, of which characteristic(s) you do not like or desire to boost. Photographs of features can be utilized to talk your suggestions with your surgeon. Nevertheless, maintain in thoughts that pictures are only reference factors. Capabilities you may uncover attractive on another person else may possibly not appear normal on you. Try out to be as specific as feasible when listing the alterations you would like to see. A: Evaluate your readiness for surgery. Inquiries to check with on your own are: "Am I truly all set? Am I emotionally, physically and fiscally prepared for operation? Do I have sufficient time established aside for proper restoration?" It is very best to have relative stability in your life just before undergoing plastic medical procedures. If you have critical problems this sort of as a modern decline of a loved 1, divorce, or unplanned occupation or vocation modifications, it may not be the appropriate time to contemplate plastic surgical procedure. The following is a listing of details that will support you come to a decision whether you are all set to undertake plastic surgical treatment: one. "I want to look excellent and come to feel far better about myself." Some individuals sense and glance far better after getting new clothing or a new automobile, acquiring intercourse, or consuming a great meal. I do recommend that if the ideal enhancements can be obtained by diet plan and exercise, this must be attempted first. two. "A person else is complaining about my appearance." This is not a good purpose to have plastic surgery. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" (Hungerford). What one human being sees as a actual physical characteristic in will need of improvement might look as your ideal feature to yet another. three. "I am frustrated." This is not a fantastic cause to ponder plastic surgical treatment. As pointed out previously, psychological stability is the important to obtaining productive medical procedures. four. "I need it to help you save my occupation, marriage or partnership." While one's career or relationship could be very well worth saving, undergoing operation is certainly not the answer. If you believe that your task or relationship is in jeopardy, try out to get to the main of the challenge. Make a place of speaking with your manager, partner, or spouse. You may come across that as soon as issues are fixed or are resolving you could no for a longer time want to have plastic surgery. five. "I can see a difficulty." This may be a good cause to endure operation. However, I suggest warning as it could lead to an ongoing motivation for far more operation basically because you think you see a dilemma. 6. "I assume advancement but not perfection." This is a fantastic commencing stage for any individual thinking about plastic surgery. There is nothing wrong with seeking to strengthen what you already have. 7. "I have assistance from my loved ones and friends." Having help from pals and loved ones is critical when going through any surgical method. Retain in head that in search of assistance is various from seeking acceptance. 8. "I am financially steady." Cosmetic surgical procedure is a luxurious. It is not worth obtaining plastic surgical treatment only to be left in personal debt. Not only do you require to financially prepare for the operation, but you also will need to strategy for the risk, not likely as it might be, of difficulties, which may possibly add to recovery time as effectively as to economic obligations. nine. "Do I have the time?" When examining their restoration, most sufferers think about only the size of the genuine operation. I am consistently reminding sufferers that medical procedures includes consultation, preoperative preparation, the operation by itself and the recovery period of time. Bodily recovery on your own can final everywhere from just one to a few months and, in some situations, for a longer time. Psychological and psychological adjustment may possibly just take at least four to 6 weeks. Use these tips as guidelines when taking into consideration plastic operation. Truly feel absolutely free to insert to this record. F: Discover the right plastic surgeon. I are not able to pressure this adequate: There are a lot of highly experienced physicians at present in observe there are a lot of inferior medical doctors working towards as well. Several resources are accessible to enable you uncover a very good plastic surgeon. Keep away from relying on the Yellow Pages or very similar advertising and marketing. Rather, get a referral from a family members doctor who knows surgeon with the correct qualifications and popularity. A pal, co-worker or relative who has had the very same process you are considering can be a good reference, particularly if they are pleased with their consequence. A referral from your community or national plastic operation society is another resource, as well as a referral from a community hospital or health-related association. The American Culture of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS) has a totally free nationwide referral services that is obtainable to everyone who is interested. You can get in touch with (800) 766-4955, or publish to ASPRS, 444 East Algonquin Highway, Arlington Heights, IL 60005-4664. In California, you can contact the California Culture of Plastic Surgeons. E: Analyzing the surgeon. Beauty medical procedures is even now surgical treatment, and the moment in a fantastic while factors can go incorrect. If this happens, a certified surgeon can, and normally does, hold you out of really serious problems. Through and after a surgical process, a skilled surgeon can recognize and take care of issues prior to they develop into severe. This is why it is critical to take the time to properly assess future surgeons. Check out qualifications and qualifications absolutely. Call or take a look at your neighborhood medical library and check with The Directory of Clinical Professionals, which lists board-qualified surgeons by point out and details every single surgeon's schooling, education, and memberships in qualified organizations. ASPRS is an superb source to employ. To be a member, ASPRS surgeons are accredited by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, have accomplished undergraduate and health-related school, as nicely as an accredited normal surgical procedure software of at minimum 3 yrs, and an accredited plastic surgical treatment residency of two to a few many years. Board certification is achieved soon after completion of a created and an oral examination. Glance for the ASPRS emblem when choosing your plastic surgeon.

0 notes