#Ike Fry Branch

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

you should seriously take a break before you fix your mower, ik it sounds very cliche but if you really need a more 'logical reason' then think about how sloppy youd be at fixxing it! all tired and hazy.

i dont want to seem naggy, just wanted to look after ya (i hope that made sense!)

Oh, I think you have a point. It isn’t like I don’t have a ton of other things to do.

TBH, I don’t have a lot of zip today. I go some VERY bad news about my mother, which meant I also couldn’t even talk to her. That knocked me for a loop. Then I found a limb had fallen and crushed our blueberry bush, then I reinjured my bad eye on a blueberry branch trying to clear that up so the whole world is out of focus again, I found out that something had settled under the ramp to the house so part of it is floating in the air until I wedge something under it….And so on. You don’t need the full list of whining.

In a way it’s a typical day for me, but dang I feel exhausted.

The lawn will do, and isn’t like any amount of mowing would make the yard meet my neighbors aesthetic standards anyway. Or the house, the vehicles, my personal appearance, for that matter. Between the run down nature of my life and my out of step with the community tastes**, there isn’t any point in stressing too much.

Don’t worry, you didn’t come across as nagging. It’s kinda nice to have someone care.

**Seriously, my neighbors want to cut down ALL the trees! And since this isn’t a desert but a place that would grown into a woods if left alone, there is no reasonable advantage to except if you share their paranoid fear of trees falling and loathing of leaves. At this rate I’m going to have the only yard that doesn’t look like astroturf!

Let me point out there are a LOT of reasons I like trees. The trees make the house cooler in our crazy hot summers and warmer in the winter. They protect me from sunburn when I’m in the yard. They protect plants from drying out in the droughts we have been having. Trees mean animals to watch, nuts to eat (pecans grow wild), something to tie ropes to if you need something solid when rigging up a line working on the roof (actual thing I’ve had to do), they are fun to climb…and the are just plain pretty to look at.

I know we get hurricanes and other storms that can and do uproot trees, and limbs fall. But honestly? Most of the time they don’t hit anyone or anything important. And if you look at the type and placement of lots of the ones they want to cut down, they could NEVER damage their house anyway!

There are a LOT more things in this world to worry about that don’t seem to bother them at all. Easier to fret about trees that the fact they drive while Googling on their phone or chain smoking or deep frying their Thanksgiving turkey in the garage. Trees are just there, minding their own business, which means they are nice little external threat that can get rid of without any angst.

Sorry for the rant! LOL

[spicyfoodboi]

a royal swap

Genre: random

A keiji akaashi and tetsuro kuroo x reader

A disney prince swap AU!

Synopsis: if our fellow haikyuu boys are people in fairy tales, how will their stories unfold?

a/n: hey guys! You guys probably are confused with the AU. My writer friends (I wuv you guys❤💖💕) and I brainstormed about the haikyuu boys being princes and we came out with this. I thank them for their wonderful support, I'm always here for you guys! Requests are open for haikyuu and enstars so please leave your wonderful ideas in my inbox! Without further ado, let's get on with it!

 Keiji akaashi

As prince charming from cinderella

He was a kind and silent prince.

And that gentleness attracts maidens near and far for the annual masquerade ball that happens at the palace.

This time, the ball was taking place because the king and queen want him a queen to marry, a new heir to the throne.

He was less than enthusiastic about it but his right-hand bokuto, convinced him that it would be fun.

Alas, the night of the masquerade ball arrives, he was standing in front of his throne, looking over the maybe hundreds masked men and women wining and dining, looking for a fair maiden to dance with.

He finally spots a fair lady, dressed in light blue, (h/c) locks flowing behind you, your matching blue butterfly mask obscuring your face, making you anonymous to the prince.

That said prince walks over to you and bowed offering his hand.

"may I have this dance maiden o' fair?" he asked, his voice ever so charming.

You flushed, taking his hand and letting him pull you to the middle of the ballroom as the both of you danced together the whole night.

By the last hour, he brought you to the courtyard so the both of you could look at the wonderful, glittering stars.

After talking about constellations, he was leaning over your figure, about to press a lingering kiss on your lips when the clocktower rung, signifying midnight.

You gasped, pulling away, muttering multiple apologies before dashing out.

He was confused, running after you, only a few steps behind.

You ran down the stairs, leaving your glass slipper on the step. You didn't have time to go back for it. You need to leave.

You did a quick farewell to the running prince and let the carriage drown your apologies to him.

Akaashi took the glass heel from the stairs and examined it, going up in the palace, letting bokuto examine it while the prince thinks of his next action.

The next day, an announcement came that the prince would travel across the kingdom and will ask every maiden to try on the slipper.

With bokuto, the men went house to house, trying out the slipper to no avail.

The prince was starting to lose hope, he sat on his horse, fiddling with its mane with a pout.

They reach the last house at the far end of the town. 2 sisters and their mother came out, trying out the slipper in hopes that it would fit.

When the heel doesn’t fit though, akaashi let out a sad sigh, saying his thank yous to the sisters, he was about to leave the house when a maiden called out.

You were wearing a dress patched up with different rags, your hair tied up with a bandana.

Bokuto lit up when he sees the hope shine in akaashi's eyes.

You try on the slipper and it was a perfect fit.

He took your hand and kissed it.

He didn't let go of your hand on the way back to the palace.

He found his maiden o' fair and he wouldn't let you go again.

 Tetsuro kuroo

As flynn rider from tangled

He was on the run from the royal guards after taking the lost princess' crown in a heist.

He lets his 2 accomplices get taken while he hides inside a cave.

He looks back and sees that it opens to space with a tall tower.

He gaped at the height but took out some small daggers from his satchel and climbed up.

When he reached the top, he only saw a round, fully furnished area before getting hit in the head by something hard.

He woke up, tied to a chair with… (h/c) hair??

he looked around and followed the big lump of hair into the darkness.

"show yourself."

You walk into the light holding a frying pan.

You started talking about the lights that show up every night of your birthday.

And that that date was coming closer and closer.

"where's my satchel?!" he shouted, now struggling under his restraints.

"take me to the lights and I'll give you your satchel back."

He had to agree before getting hit by frying pan again.

He woke up, tied to the chair again.

"untie me so I can help you then."

You hesitantly untied him.

You get down the tower and finally see the real world from the ground.

You were switching back and forth from excitement and nervousness.

Kuroo started to get annoyed so he brought you to the ugly crows and both of you met the delinquents of karasuno and sung about dreams.

The guard, lead by kenma their commander.

I didn't have the heart to make kenma to maximus-

Found the secret passage the duo went into and followed them.

A flood was triggered, trapped in a blocked off cave, kuroo took, what he thought his last breath before plunging.

You got to sing a bit of the lyrics and your hair glowed, lighting the way to freedom.

They got out, and let me tell you, kuroo was shocked.

Does your hair glow?? You wrapped a part of your hair around his bleeding palm and sung once again.

He was even more shocked.

HIS PALM WAS HEALED??

He took you to corona, the kingdom, and showed you around, even renting a boat so you could light up your lantern.

He took you to the nearby shore and set up camp there.

Little did he know, his accomplices were there, he was about to talk to them when he was hit in the head with a hard branch.

He woke up, he was being taken into a cell.

With the help of the delinquents of karasuno and commander kenma, they run back to the tower.

When your hair dropped, he felt so relieved.

Well, not for long.

He got up and felt something sharp stab him.

A knife.

He fell to the ground with a groan.

You tried to run over but it was no use against the restraints.

He tried to refuse but you already made your deal.

That if you heal him, you would join your mother anywhere.

She was about to sing when kuroo took a shard of glass and cut your hair in half, seeing a figure fall off the tall tower, he smiled, fully losing consciousness.

You started to cry, your tears dripping onto his figure, light erupted and the wound was healing itself.

Kuroo woke up to your teary-eyed face.

You brought him into a tight embrace and made sure to keep you close.

You almost lost him but he's back. You promised that you'll always be at his side too.

 Omg this is so long- I'm sorry- ik that some parts with kuroo's aren't accurate to the film but meh, I did pretty well in my opinion! I might do a part 2 with oikawa and a few others! Requests are open for haikyuu and enstars so please leave some in my ask box! Love you guys❤😊😘

this is a reupload!

[estebanbicon]

Wat zei ge daar over mijn, gij patatvreter? Ik laat u weten dat ik geselecteerd ben als beste frituurkok van de Benelux, en ik heb meer dan 300 filialen. Ik ben gespecialiseerd in het twee keer frituren van alle frieten en kan ze al van ver horen zingen wanneer ze goed zijn. Gij zijt niks voor mij behalve een andere klant. Ik zal u bedienen op een manier die ongezien is boven de rivieren, let op mijn woorden. Denkt ge dat ge weg kunt komen met zulke zever tegen mij? Denk opnieuw, janet. Terwijl we spreken ben ik mijn geheime bevoorradingsnetwerk in de Benelux aan het contacteren en uw brievenbus wordt momenteel opgezocht, dus bereid je maar voor op mijn frikandel, barbaar. De frikandel van eenentwintig en een halve centimeter die uw post helemaal zal bekladden. Ge zijt echt dood, spast. Ik kan overal en altijd zijn en ik kan uw stamppot verpesten op meer dan 700 verschillende manieren, en dat is alleen al met de verschillende sauzen in mijn frituur. Maar ik ben niet alleen goed met mijn frituur, ik heb ook nog eens toegang tot alle kookboeken van Jeroen Meus’ Dagelijkse Kost en ik zal ze gebruiken om uw miserabele broodjes kroket van het continent te verwijderen, kleine makak. Had ge maar geweten wat een culinaire vergelding uw ‘slimme’ commentaar ging veroorzaken, dan had ge misschien uw mond gehouden. Maar dat kon ge niet, deed ge niet, en nu ziet ge wat ge gedaan hebt, stoemme calle. Ik zal stoofvlees over u heen klappen en ge zult er in verdrinken. Ge zijt echt dood, Hollanderke.

“No longer normal she'S a hero and goes as high as you can What did you say about my, you french fries? I let you know that I have been selected as the best fryer chef in the Benelux, and I have more than 300 branches. I specialize in twice frying all fries and can hear them sing from afar when they are good. You're nothing to me except another client. I will serve you in a way unseen above the rivers, mark my words. Do you think you can get away with such bullshit against me? Think again, janet. As we speak, I'm contacting my secret supply network in the Benelux, and your mailbox is currently being searched, so prepare for my frikandel, barbarian. The Twenty-One-and-a-half-inch frikandel that will completely tarnish your post. You really are dead, spaz. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can ruin your stew in over 700 different ways, and that's just with the different sauces in my fryer. But not only am I good with my frying, I also have access to all the cookbooks of Jeroen meus’ daily Stuff and I will use them to remove your miserable croquette sandwiches from the continent, little Macak. Had you known what a culinary retaliation was going to cause your "clever" commentary, you might have kept your mouth shut. But you could not, you did not, and now you see what you have done, stoemme calle. I will clap stew over you and you will drown in it. You really are dead, Hollanderke.“

ELINE WHAT

[shenlongshao]

Jam Kuradoberi: Extra Analysis

A few years ago, I made a character analysis of Jam Kuradoberi that cleared up common misconceptions about her personality. But there are some things I forgot to mention after re-reading my old post. There's still some misinformation spread about Jam, which I want to clarify so this will be a long post. First is analyzing Jam's Instant Kill called "Gasenkotsu".

Jam says "Ten! Jo! Ten! Ge! Yui! Ga! Doku! Son!"  

Now I'll show the given translation to this you've likely seen on Tumblr and other places.

Tenjou Tenge Yuigadokuson (Written in Japanese is  天上天下唯我独尊 )

“In Heaven and Earth I am all that is Holy!” / “Unrivaled Self-Conceit”

Gasenkotsu= Narcissism

If you focus only on 唯我独尊(Yuigadokuson), translators(both people and computerized) will automatically give you "conceited, narcissism, ego" etc. because they dissect each word within "Yuigadokuson". Narcissism, etc. are part of the list of meanings, but these aren't the only ones; it's important to know the context. The best way to get the correct meaning is understanding this is from Buddhism, which is known to be practiced in India, China, and Japan(and probably some other countries too). Buddha said the phrase "Tenjou Tenge Yuigadokuson" after gaining enlightenment. Since this is a real cultural saying with a specific meaning, it needs to be translated as a whole rather than in pieces. The real translation of "Tenjo Tenge Yuigadokuson" is "In Heaven and on Earth, I alone am worth of honor." Since the phrase does involve speaking about oneself and one of the meanings of honor is high respect or great esteem, it's commonly mistaken for narcissism. But the real meaning of "Yuigadokuson" is "self-esteem" and "resolve" across Japan, China, etc. This is me explaining from what I know and studied of Chinese culture by reading books like "Speaking of Chinese" by Raymond Chang and Margaret Scrogin Chang. I've spoken with and observe some Asian people when I was in school or when order out to eat, etc. way back in 1994 before the era of the internet. I still take the time to make sure I learn and understand about Chinese culture, its language(mainly focused on Mandarin), etc. Now I'm going to show reliable sources and evidence.

1. SOTOZEN.NET (https://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/library/glossary/individual.html?key=shakamuni): This explains the history of Buddha's life and its founder along with the meaning of "Tenjo Tenge Yuigadokuson". This is an Asian themed site that's translated in many languages.

2. True Buddhism (https://true-buddhism.com/teachings/yuigadokuson/): This is a Japanese only site that goes into great detail  about "Tenjo Tenge Yuigadokuson" and answers questions to common misconceptions about it. It will go into explanation about Buddha and his enlightenment, which you can just go the 1st website I linked to to understand the references. One of the things it mentions is how the saying doesn't mean "I'm the greatest in the world" or about being conceited, but about self resolve.  If you don't understand Japanese and just want a quick translation, you could use Google Translate to get the general interpretation of the sites, but it(Google Translate) is very weird at times, XD. I think using a good Japanese to English dictionary would help better if you're unable to contact a good translator.

3. Naoto Matsumoto's Video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=NQRDZF7Hy_g&feature=emb_logo): Naoto Matsumoto is a Japanese man who teaches the meanings behind both Taoism and Buddhism. You can skip to 1:19 of the video to listen to the specific part of him addressing the saying "Tenjo Tenge Yuigadokuson". He says, "The most humble way is being like the baby Buddha who said, 'Above Heaven, below Heaven, I alone am the most respectable being.' Tenjo--Tenge--Yuigadokuson. I hope you would understand this; this is not haughty at all. He is saying everything is one." This is the most important because it's from a knowledgeable native who naturally understands about his culture, which is the best way to truly understand something from another country. A good translator who isn't native to the country he/she studied about can be equally trusted if he/she has a great understanding of the culture. You'll be surprised how many translators know about something, but not have the full understanding cause of the false generalizations they have towards other countries.

This last one I'll link to isn't technically a information resource, but it's showing how the saying "Tenjo Tenge Yuigadokuson" is used.

4. 雅 MIYAVI's Facebook Page(https://www.facebook.com/comyvzcrew/posts/2472543299438327/): Miyavi is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has the tattoo of the saying on his body to strengthen his resolve to do what he loves, which is to keep playing music.

Jam is also using this saying to strengthen her resolve on the path she's chosen and enlightenment about herself. Also note from Jam's Instant Kill(how it was before Revelator) she's also being silly and embraces the part of her being a silly idiot, XD. Now to examine how her IK is in Revelator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkr-g2Z1uM4

You notice how it begins with seeing her restaurant destroyed. There's a comical shocked expression, but notice how she's using her tears for fierce determination while giving the final kick to her opponent. What she says after is random like "I passed the first interview!" or "Done and done!". All of this is about resolve, so below is the accurate translation.

Tenjo Tenge Yuigadokuson  (Written in Japanese is  天上天下唯我独尊 )

"In Heaven and Earth, I alone am worthy of honor" or "Above Heaven, below Heaven, I alone am the most respectable being" / "Self Enlightenment & Resolve"

Gasenkotsu= Self-esteem

Next is addressing what I've read detractors often say about Jam. “Jam is a gold digger!” This relates to the "greedy" part, which I already covered isn't true about Jam in the character analysis post (https://shenlongshao.tumblr.com/post/151953570662/character-analysis-of-jam-kuradoberi).   Let's look at the definition of "Gold Digger" according to Webster since people misusing the word. Gold Digger: 2. a person whose romantic pursuit of, relationship with, or marriage to a wealthy person is primarily or solely motivated by a desire for money. Next is comparing the top traits gold diggers have and see if Jam displays any of this behavior. TOP TRAITS OF A GOLD DIGGER ------------------------------- #1: A gold digger hates having to put hardwork or effort into what she wants. She doesn't have or even try to have her own goals or dreams because she wants to the wealthy man or one who has good income to do everything and enjoy the benefits. The only "work" she'll put in is trying to get a guy who has money and spending it lavishly.  #2. When first meeting a guy on a date or in general, a gold digger won't hesitate to ask him financial related questions like "What's your job?" "How much money you make in a week/month/year?" etc. If the guy doesn't have a high or good paying job or high social status, she won't care or interested in truly getting to know him as a person. She wants extravagant dates, things, and status to boost her ego. 3#. A gold digger is never a giver, only a taker. The concept of helping out financially like paying a bill or anything about doing her part unless she gets something out of it is foreign to her. She'll either make up excuses like, "Oh, I used all my money last week" or manipulate the guy in some way(like using her looks, sex, etc.)so she doesn't have to do anything.  #4. A gold digger is usually very high maintenance, spoiled, and entitled  in some way cause that's the treatment she's used to having. She has the "go big or go home" mentality and doesn't appreciate the simple and small things. EVIDENCE JAM ISN'T A GOLD-DIGGER ----------------------------------- Volume 2 of Guilty Gear X Drama CD shows a hint of Jam's earlier life before her video game debut. The chapter is called "Boiler-Maker", where she used to work in a tiny restaurant as a waitress with little to no pay. Here is the link to read that section. http://gearlegacy.tripod.com/rtt/id22.html She eventually gets tired of her working situation and quits, wanting to start her own restaurant; leading into the events of Guilty Gear X(Plus). Here is the translated prologue of Jam's Story Mode. Prologue Grilling, frying, boiling, deep-frying, washing, cutting, putting in oil. A cook who mastered the 100 martial arts of China. That is Jam. In order to found her new restaurant she set out on a journey. A journey to... the devil's forest. In there were said to be ingredients unknown to man. Source:  https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/536497-guilty-gear-x-plus/faqs/31309 The Prologue for Jam's story(and others) is explained through the perspective of the P.W.A.B.(Post-War Administration Bureau). She's one of the characters that have 3 different story paths depending on what you do, so I'll give a general summary. Jam finally starts her own restaurant, but an arsonist(Robo-Ky) sets her restaurant on fire. She fights him despite the heavy smoke, but Robo-Ky escapes and begins to chase after him. This leads her to initially mistake Ky Kiske to be the arsonist, but the story can branch out differently from here. Either way, it'll end with Jam needing to start over again with her restaurant. This has been an ongoing purpose for each game since so I'll show only one more official profile of hers. Jam Kuradoberi's profile from GGXRD Revelator 2: Jam Kuradoberi's Personality: Iron chef of Chinese food and master of Chinese martial arts. She is a bright and cheerful girl that has the ability to fight using her Ki force. Her dream is to open her own restaurant and have lots of people enjoy her cooking. She almost attained her dream, but was smashed down every time by unforeseen troubles. But her passion can't be stamped out, so she keeps trying. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20180219014839/http://guiltygear.us/ggxrdr/characters/ (Note: You'll have to select Jam from the character list.) The Japanese version of the site phrases it a little differently, but it's basically the same meaning and description. From the beginning, Jam has her own goals and dreams; she's continuously worked hard for it by herself. This is the complete opposite trait a gold digger would have. Of course she would appreciate not having to financially struggle so much if with a wealthy man, but Jam is very driven and passionate about her dream. She would simply continue doing what she loves and contribute in the relationship. Her less-than-fortune upbringing and the fact of her having to work for everything in her life by herself means she has a greater appreciation for the smaller and simple things in life. Not even on her list of Likes on her profile states "money", it's only "Cooking, researching, youth, and handsome men". This should be enough proof by itself, but I see detractors labeling Jam's romantic interest in Ky to "she wants him cause he's a handsome rich guy, so she's a gold digger!" I'm laughing at this cause it's so easily refutable. I'm going to show the dialogue, quotes, etc. Jam has with Ky. They first briefly met in Guilty Gear Plus when Ky was on a journey to see Dizzy. (Below is from Ky's Story Path, but Jam's story path of their first meeting is generally the same with minor differences in dialogue.) GGX Plus Ky's Story --------------------- Ky: Excuse me, the forest ahead of here, how can I... Jam: (Aiya! What a nice looking man!) The Demon's Forest is very dangerous.     You should stay away. Ky: Thank you for your concern, but it's my duty... Jam: Then I must test if you're ready for the forest! Draw! Ky: W-w-wait a second! Jam: If you lose it's washing dishes for you! Ky: Huh? Wait! Source: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/536497-guilty-gear-x-plus/faqs/31309 How is Jam wanting Ky do dishes if he loses being a gold digger? LOL! There’s no  part of her asking him what's his job and how much money he makes. Let's look at Jam's win-quote against Ky that's been the same throughout most Guilty Gear games until Revelator(I'll get to that later). Jam's Win-quote vs Ky: “Uu... Mada shibirete ugokenai aru. Doko ka ni kata wo kashitekureru  yasashii otoko wa inai aru ka?” (chira) Translation: “Ooh... I'm still shaking and can't move. Isn't there a kind man        around who'll lend me his shoulder?” (glint) There's no mention about Ky's wallet in this.  Pre-Battle Jam vs Ky: Uchi no mise, otoko ten'in tarinai. Anata boui yaru yoroshi. Translation: My store doesn't have enough male workers. You can work there. Once again Jam wants Ky to work for her at her restaurant, which definitely doesn't pay much in comparison to Ky's salary as an IPF(International Police Force). This isn't how a gold digger operates. Further proof is Jam's 3rd ending from Story Path 3 in Guilty Gear X2. I've referenced her dialogue with Ky in my character analysis to prove she is kind and friendly person and not a jerk. It also shows Jam is once again not a gold digger because she didn't pry about Ky's finances nor ever made it her main focus of why she pursues him. Lastly is Jam's win-quote against Ky in Revelator. Jam's win-quote against Ky: There is no finish line for cooking world. Only beginning. Same as when you find nice woman. You learn about her then find nicer woman. So...nicer woman right here, you know? By this point, Ky is a king of Illyria, another position with not only way more financial stability than Jam, but very high social status. Yet, Jam doesn’t refer to either at all. Next one! “Jam flirts with Bridget cause she told him to come back in 5 years! And says he's cute boy!” I can't believe how many people misunderstood Jam's win-quote against Bridget, which is this. Jam's Win-quote to Bridget: Ha! Kono nioi! Anata otoko no ko ne! 5 nen tattara mata kuru yoroshi!     Translation: Ha! This smell! You're a boy! Come again in five years, okay? Bridget is a cute boy in a adorable way and could potentially be a pretty boy if he's ever allowed to escape the gender-bender look and feminine mannerisms. But Jam is simply complimenting him when she says him being cute. The purpose of Jam's win-quote against Bridget is to suppose to let you and other players know 2 things. The first is letting you know Bridget's a boy cause otherwise we would've assumed he's a girl. The second is to hint of his age, which is likely 13 years old cause plus 5 would be 18 years. His body hasn't fully matured yet and 18 is the age mostly likely a person's body is reasonably developed. The fact she said 5 years should be enough to let people know Jam doesn't want a little boy. The context is actually her saying she isn't interested in him romantically. Jam doesn't flirt with Bridget at all, she sees him as a friend. Time for the next detractor statement~. “Not only is Jam after Ky, she's after his son as well!” This sounds like something from soap operas, XDD. I'll address this part cause there's some basis to it. Jam's smiles when Sin tackles her during his Instant Kill and says things like "You hug me harder!" and "Hey, you come work at my restaurant!"  There's her win-quote against him where she says has good basics and just needs to cook to be perfect man. And how she's willing to teach him cause she's a chef. Another part is Sin's win-quote against her is him mentioning of doing his best to hold back against her in a fight, but then becomes very nervous and saying like "get away from me!" which hints she got too close to him.  But these actually are meant to be strictly humorous rather interpreted as her seriously wanting Sin. Proof is this...

Sin's no where in that picture and the story states "man"(singular) and not "men"(plural) she's sets her sights on. Since I've already listed the quotes Jam says to Ky; compare those to what she says to Sin and other guys.

Another statement I read from detractors. “Jam forced Ky to go on a picnic with her!” Hahaha! XD Let's look at the part of Jam's 3rd ending from Story Path 3 with Jam and Ky to find this "evidence". Jam: It's such a nice day. How about we go eat somewhere? Ky: B-but, I should work... Jam: Ehhhh? Ky: I'm sorry for troubling you... let us go. Jam: Okay! Come on, cheer up! So Jam asking Ky about going on a picnic together and her saying "Ehhhhh?" in a disappointed and childlike manner when he first says he should work is forcing him? XD  Ky is a mentally functional and capable adult in his late 20s who's been in many leadership roles. In fact, Ky wasn’t obligated to stay and talk to her after saving her, yet he did of his own free will. Next is another one from detractors. “Ky would be Jam's personal punching bag.” ROFL! I won't spend too much time on this cause this is clearly out of no where to claim Jam would actually abuse or use Ky as a scapegoat in any way. It's perfectly okay to not like her cause everyone has characters they like and dislike, but making things up about her that aren't true makes people who do that very illogical and have poor comprehension skills. Now for the last one I think is the most interesting. “Why Jam does wear such a short skirt where you can see her panties?! This is so hentai!” There's actually a cultural reason why Jam and other Chinese girl characters like Chun-Li, Lei-Fang, etc. who show lots of legs nearly or up to their hip bone. Believe it or not, it's not strictly about sex appeal. The short answer is Chinese girls wearing a mini-skirt or dresses that show lots of leg, even to the point of possible pantyshots is the same level as a shirtless guy. This means it isn't considered sexual in China by itself if worn on a casually, but formal and holy places would obviously be inappropriate to wear it. It's even socially okay for a 50 year old woman to wear a mini skirt. But there an important part you'll also notice, Jam and other Chinese girls normally never wear low-cut tops showing their boobs. This is also a cultural thing cause in China, women are deemed good and respectable if not showing off cleavage even though their skirts are short. Showing cleavage, especially alot and if the girl isn't a model or etc. as part of a job, then it'll be the opposite; she'll be viewed as "very naughty" a.k.a want sex. This is why in Revelator Jam says to Elphelt, "You hide boobs more! You make me nervous!" and talk about some of the other girls' clothes. When thinking about in general, it's not really too different from what you may see in other places.

I hope you enjoyed reading!^_^ My next lengthy GG related post will be when Frosty Faustings arrives to analyze Faust's new design, gameplay, etc.!

[mileheitcity-blog]

One Final Reflection: A Love Letter to the Netherlands

After dinner on our last night in Delft, I went down to the local coffeeshop and had some long and slow conversations with a local in reflection of my time in the Netherlands.  At one point he asks me point blank in that classic Dutch accent: “So, what do you think is the biggest difference between the Netherlands and the States?”. I paused, not knowing immediately how to answer.  There’s the easy stuff, sure.  The geography, the language, the rhythm and flow, that sort of thing.  But the physical descriptions aren’t enough to quite capture the essence of such a place.  The differences are much deeper.  So I stewed on my answer a second.  I thought of all the ways the Dutch are solving their social problems: providing housing for those experiencing homeless, providing compassionate care for those struggling with mental illness or drug addiction.  I thought of the ways Dutch are innovating their libraries and decolonizing their museums.  I thought about the country’s thriving diversity as I looked around at the coffeeshop crowd: a fully integrated multi-racial and multi-ethnic crowd, all enjoying the space together.  I thought about seeing women wearing hijabs and young black men and open queer couples walking around the cities with their heads held high, rather than with their eyes darting in fear. I thought of the ways Dutch parents and adults treat and respect their children and how Dutch children emulate and reflect their parents. I even thought about those pesky chimes I so derided not two weeks ago but had now grown quite fond of.  There was something in the way they acted as something of a metronome for the whole town, keeping everything at a specific tempo. I thought about cold cuts and cheese for breakfast and finding a way to get one last Chocomel. I took a sip of vanilla tea and another slow drag on the joint in my hand before I answered: “Here in the Netherlands, everyone treats human beings like they’re actually human”.

Words can’t really express how much I’m gonna miss that place. Nederland, dank je wel.  Ik zal terug komen.

Just a few final class-related musings:

-I still really like the idea of each library having a café inside.  It’s a great way to get people in the door, and keep people there while they’re still hungry. In the States, our larger museums usually have a place to get a sandwich in front.  Even the large city zoo is likely to have multiple concession stands.  Why not the library? We already have a Starbucks at Suzzallo, and that place always seems to have the longest line on campus.  What if we tried one at Seattle Central, or at a smaller branch like Fremont or University?

-The idea of a library as a homeless shelter does not really exist in the Netherlands. Sure, discussions on public libraries in the Netherlands don’t seem to focus on social services too much, but largely they don’t have to.  Other sectors of government do a better job of addressing these sorts of societal issues, so the library can focus on doing library work. In the States, the library is often the front line of a larger housing crisis, for a myriad of reasons we discussed in class and in our readings. I’m actually very glad that for at least a little while each day, anyone who wants to use the space can use it.  On a typical cold, wet, and windy December day in Seattle, or a typical July day in Las Vegas where you can fry an egg on the sidewalk and bake cookies in your car, having an indoor space to get warm, stay cool, dry off, and sit down can be the difference between making it through to tomorrow and succumbing to another day sleeping rough. I do wish our libraries had more in the way of social services; it might help to take some of these offices out of our large ivory towers and instead bring them directly to where the people are going. I also wish other agencies and organizations were doing more to solve the crisis.  I wish our whole entire system wasn’t designed to exacerbate the problem.  I know we’re not going to solve the entire housing crisis overnight from a silly blog written by a student studying abroad, but there still has to be a better way.  Pop-up tent encampments on Skid Row aren’t compassionate, but neither are round-ups and arrests.  It’s a vicious cycle and there’s no political will to change.

-I truly can’t wait to bring back everything I learned over here and utilize it in the States.  Well, maybe, if I stay in the States, but that’s a whole separate story.  While I see the potential to innovate like the Dutch, that potential is looking farther and farther away.  I hope that I’m wrong, that back in the States we can start funneling our resources better and more efficiently.  But even that, at this point, would be an innovative step we haven’t been ready for since 1980 it seems. Are we as a culture ready to make some radical shifts in how we see humanity, or are we too far gone and have we let it rot so far that it’s too late?

And a few musings from outside of class:

-The transit infrastructure is amazing.  Safe, clean, efficient, and very much runs on time. I thought I’d miss getting into a car to go anywhere, but the train makes everything so much easier. In town, bikes and walking are much more common, and it makes a big difference, not just in air quality and traffic times but also in mental and physical health.  Everything is much less stressful when you’re not sitting in traffic all day. Americans can once again learn a thing or two here, but we choose not to. Just ask a New Yorker....

-Speaking of things that drive down stress that Americans can learn a thing or two about: I want to bottle the idea of a coffeeshop.  Our pot laws are really stupid anyway, but if we’re going to treat cannabis like alcohol, do it correctly.  If we can drink alcohol at a licensed establishment, we should be able to consume cannabis at a similar place. I never felt unsafe in one of those places, and it’s a very social and relaxed environment.

-Come to think of it, I don’t think I felt unsafe once while we were in the Netherlands.  I could walk down the street at any time of day to any destination and I never felt like I was in any real danger.  I’m not sure if the same was completely true for the women on our trip, but anecdotally many of them remarked at how they, too, felt safer in the Netherlands.

-Seriously though, how much cheese can I stuff back with me? And where in the States can I find poffertjes and croquettes/bitterballen? Is there a place to find proper herring or kibbeling?

-So I’ve only been in Brussels for pretty much two days, one of them was Independence Day and the other was largely spent writing this, but dammit I really miss those chimes already.

-All told, I’m gonna miss the Netherlands, quite a bit.  I’m excited to unwind a bit in Belgium and France before I fly back to Colorado and then Seattle, but I’m not sure my heart will ever really leave. Special thanks to everyone involved for putting together an amazing program and for allowing me this opportunity. I wouldn’t be writing this without all of you.

Oh and here’s a Delft cat and a car that is clearly now Cat Territory.  Purry little chonk this one...

[thesecretlifeofmerribethc]

5.22.19-5.30.19

5.22.19 - Mom and I did yardwork! Dad cut down more of the front yard trees so mom and I worked on chopping down some branches even more and putting it into the lawn bags. I did all the filling and taking out the trash and putting all the lawn bags and trash cans to the curb. I think we filled like 7 lawn bags? Yeah, and to the brim!!! Was so sweaty. Manong picked up Marv and manang and they got mom and I  tropical smoothies (magno magic) hehehe.

5.23.19 - Marvin’s honor night!! Got ready and the whole fam went to the peak. Marv got honor roll! So proud of him. He was disappointed because he realized he could’ve done better, but we were happy for him. Saw Mr. Vangelder and hugged him! Lol After the honor night we had dinner at Mcdonald’s. Then we went home and dad got working on the pilot again xD Sibs and I played Overcooked 2! lol

5.24.19 - Got up and ready to go to Detroit for my OHS clearance. Manang came as well. Dad walked me up to the 4th floor and I got ready. Mom, dad, and manang left and got pho. Whole process was like 1.5 hours. Did my N95 mask fitting then worked out on drug test. Good thing I had all my papers since that sped up the process (I think?). Then after that I did my vision test and boy oh boy my left eye is SHOT! I couldn’t even see the big E in the vision test thing. I just knew it was an E but I couldn’t see it. It was that blurry!!! But my right eye is good. I could see the second to the last line to the bottom. Sigh.... after that I got my blood drawn. Forgot what test it was for tho. Maybe nicotine test? Before I got my blood drawn tho, I talked the girl that was with me during the whole process on the 4th floor. Her name is Pauline but she goes by Pau! She’ll be working on the unit below mine and she’s also a new grad!!!! She graduated in 2017, but took a break. Didn’t take the NCLEX until last year in March which was just like me! I graduated last year, took a break, and then took the NCLEX in march of this year! So we’ll be starting on the same day so it’s nice to have a friend. After the OHS clearance, I got picked up and we went to the basement parking so dad could sleep before work. Dropped him off at 4 then we went to get Marv.. Stopped by Mcdonald’s on Sibley and manang treated me to a quarter pounder (thank God for 2 for $5). Got marv then went home. I took a nap and then went down at like 8? chilled in the living room. Manong went to pick up dad.

5.26.19 church! Mom made burgers and they were so good. The patties were a little spicy, but they had cheese. It was nice and thicc too!! I believe a box of 6 patties was $7. Def worth it. Anywho, church was not busy for once lol got to talk to tita Grace for a bit. After eating I just played piano and then played with Johanna. Then the sibs and I left for Josh’s. Stopped by Kroger where I bought 2 iced teas and a 1.5 lb bag of cherries for mom. Got to Josh’s and ate! Lots of good food (chinese). Jod, Si, PJ, Jovel, then Sam came. Had so much fun playing overcooked (the first one), and then overcooked 2, pusoy dos, mario kart. After all that we played Detroit and we took turns on different stories. Joseph did Connor, Jovel did Markus, Sam did Kara, and then Marv did Markus again (with Carl chapter). Went home at 1:30 a.m. and mom and dad were watching a good indian movie. They were laughing so hard!

5.27.19 - Happy Memorial Day!!! Got up super late lol. After eating lunch with the fam, and preparing dad’s stuff for work, manang and I cleaned and washed dishes. Then we got ready to go with friends to CANADA! Jod picked us up around 5. Made our way to tita tess’. We talked about the My Body My choice movement, abortion, and just the girls of today. It was nice to talk about it with Jodan and we all agree. Anyway, got to tita tess’ and went inside to say hi. Ate lumpia and then left. Laughed so hard with Sam (jokes: sam drinking too much water. Sam changing his shorts to pants. Sam carrying all his stuff so loosely into the car). Got to Bikes and Coffee and PJ was already there. It was Sam’s first time there. Got in and Si gave manang and I an iced coffee to share. played 6 games of pusoy dos, and we all won one game each. Si told sam his shirt was too tight for him and we were all laughing saying it was his muscles lol. Anywho, left Bikes at 7. PJ and I rode with Si, and sam and manang rode with Jod. Movement was happening in Detroit so it was busy and loud. Going to Canada was so smooth! Although coming back it was of course busier. Got through the border and made our way to Jade Chinese food. Laughed so hard because we ordered dim sum. When our server finally came she was carrying like 4 stacks of teh steamers. We were all like “WoOoOoOah!“ and then she places only one steamer and we were laughing so hard thinking they were all for us xD She was even smiling. We honestly laughed so hard at dinner lol. After that we went to Presotea! UGH it was SO GOOD. The place was so nice too!!!! I ordered a taro milk tea with bubbles. Manang got a mango (cream) cheese drink and it was also SO GOOD. Ugh. Their large drinks are so big!! Watched a replay of the warrrios and raptors while playing pusoy dos. Then it was time to go home. Manang and I rode with Jod. Once we got to the American border it was so funny! It was an older white gentleman (kinda looked like Mary’s dad). He was like how do you all know each other and jod was saying we were childhood friends. Then he asks where did you go in Canada and jod said had dinner at a chinese restaurant called Jade. Then the guy asked was it good? lol Then he asked if we were bringing anything over and we said no. and then he followed up with “no leftovers?” lol and I was like oh yeah just one! And then he looked at me (because my window was down cuz it had to be) and he said to me, “where’s your date?” and I was like “Oh I’m the third wheel!” lolJod was like oh we’re childhood friends, we’re like brother and sister. and the guy was like “I’m sure he doesn’t mind having two beautiful ladies in his car xD Dismissing anything jod said LOLLL Jod was just quiet like nervous laughter xD (we were all nervous laughing lolllll Got home and yeah! fun dayyyy

5.28.19 - Dad and I did yard work in the front. Well before that I watched Joseph: Kind of Dreams. Sigh, they really need to make a graet, accurate movie about Joseph because the Dreamworks one was ehh. Anyway, dad and I worked in the front cutting down the chopped down tree bush with the cleavers xD It was a hot, humid day so we were sweating. Had a good conversation tho!!! Tried bringing up wanting to date (not like asking permission, but letting him know) but couldn’t lol. During that time, Ne called because she was gonna pick up manang but in amidst that mom asked about Ne’s bf and boy oh boy they had a long convo because Ne broke up! Anyway, dad and I worked from 2-5ish. I filled 3 lawn bags with the clippings. Then I went inside and we ate nilaga with beans (my fave!) also had steak. Then manang and ne came in time and we all ate together. During and after dinner Ne, mom, and dad talked more about the breakup and boy oh boy we were all triggered at what Ne’s ex said to her smh. Blessing in disguise! I just washed dishes then it was decided that manang, Marv and I would sleepover ne’s. Went to ne’s, ate some oreos, watched TV, then played like 2 games of Overcooked. Went to bed at like 1:50.

5.29.19 - Stayed at ne’s after ne, manang, and Marv left. Woke up at 9:40 and surprisingly got up lol. Cooked myself the one pack of ramen left, and 3 boiled eggs. Had breakfast then cleaned ne’s house. First I worked on tidying the living room. I even sprayed with febreeze. Then I worked on the kitchen. Washed dishes, put her already-washed dishes from the dishwasher away, and sprayed and wiped down the counters and stove. Then I wiped down the dining table, living room table, and TV stand. Also had the irobot vacuuming. After that I worked on the bathroom. Cleaned the tub, cloroxed the toilet and used the toilet bowl cleaner. Also windexed the mirrors. Did the same in ne’s bathroom, making sure I cleaned the shower glass so that it was clear. Made Ne’s bed and also the guest room bed. After that I watched Christopher Robin on Netflix. Baked a moist betty crocker vanilla cake and drank some hot chocolate. Talked to Josh and Pj about CP. Then around 4 manong came. Then he left and then ne came with groceries. Helped put groceries away while she cooked. Cleaned up the kitchen and set up the table while ne ligo. Then the whole family (minus dad cuz he had work) came and we had dinner. Had cheese sausages, ground pork with green sprouts and opo, and cucumber salad. It was very yummy! Oh also rotisserie chicken. I cleaned and washed the dishes after. After that we drank tea and watched Whose line, as well as Kodi Lee on AGT and Eric Chien. At around 8 or so mom went ahead of us and left for home. Then at like almost 9 we left. I gathered ne’s pop bottles and cans and manang drove us to meijer where I returned them. Made $7.30! Used $7.13 to buy conditioner, hand soap, and garden gloves for dad lol. Went home and yeeeee chilled until bed time.

5.30.19 - Got up at 3 pm lol IK so late. But had lunch with the peeps. Then I ironed dad’s uniform. Watched Eric Chien and then tidied up the kitchen. Did mom’s nails (both mani and pedi) and watched Peter Rabbit. Sibs got home at like 7 while I was washing dishes. Got ready and I drove us sibs to Canton zap zone where we did glo-golf. Marv won with 51 pts, manang 56, my 57, and manong 58 xD I also got a hole in one tho!! After that, manang drove us to Mcdonald’s near plato’s closet. It was so good! And very clean and nice inside. The four of us got quarter pounders and coffee. Then I bought a large fry for PJ and a caramel frappe. Got to Emagine and met up with PJ. Watched Godzilla 2!!!!! It was SO GOODDDDDD I mean there are little flaws but the action was definitely better than the first (the first’s build up was dragging and the fighting scenes were so short!!!!). Overall it was a good movie. Got home at 1 a.m. ish. :)

[clubofinfo]

Expert: Yes, it’s just as you suspected, your constitution’s gone. You’re not getting it back. You’re trapped in a sadistic totalitarian state under Argus-eyed surveillance. Your democracy is fake. Your government has one branch, CIA. Sorry! That’s partly my fault. It’s not entirely my fault, of course – it’s a big job, defiling all your rights and freedoms. It got parceled out in countless bits of piecework. I did not contribute much. I didn’t work that hard. And anyway, I was a dupe. None of the worker bees knew what the others were doing. None of them saw how the pieces might fit together. Organized crime has gone through an industrial revolution of its own. Compartmented information was the key. The greatest, gravest crimes can be broken down by division of labor and division of guilt until evil’s not merely banal but tedious, like any other sort of work. National survival, they called it. Or COG, Continuity of Government, COOP, Continuity of Operations. The idea was, before the nuclear war got going, CIA would spread out and hunker down in major population centers, hide behind the skirts of lots of mommies. When Saddam Hussein does it, he’s using human shields. When CIA does it, that’s different. They are raising the threshold of conflict by making counter-force shade into counter-value, in the argot. The Russians can’t decapitate the government, you see? They would have to kill us all. After the war, so the plan went, CIA would crawl out from under the rubble and take over. The arrangements were quite elaborate, with far-flung hideouts, special grapevines for insiders, experts in post-nuclear stone age skills on call, Soviet-style inter-agency central planning. They made lists of dissenters to put away and elaborate procedures for CIA to choose your rulers. It’s all around you, when you know where to look. Even here in the author’s dispensable backwater there’s a nuclear redoubt, a cut-rate Führer-bunker for the small fry of total war. They dug it into the property of a gentleman farmer of oldest Puritan New England, a thick concrete manhole in a flimsy shed earmarked for minor provincial death merchants, bygone and vain as an Etruscan tomb. Once at one of the larger mountains they hollowed out to hide in – an impregnable eagle’s nest weirdly reminiscent of a high school cafeteria – inner-party CIA spooks let on what scared them most. It sure wasn’t nuclear war. We pored over the minutiae of nuclear tit-for-tat. The RISOP, they called it – two or three thousand of these aimed at all your favorite things. If you’re in one of the bubbles, that means you will be buried under rubble, or sloughing ash that used to be your flesh. These duck-and-cover war plans for the home front inevitably seem silly when you think it through. Who decided to pick a fight with the Russians? You think you can scare them? This is a country that nuked themselves with a 50 megaton warhead just to see what would happen. It didn’t set the atmosphere on fire, that was a relief, but once you’ve tried it, nuclear war is not all that exciting. Nuclear winter takes all the fun out of it. It’s one thing to make people grow potatoes and give up coffee for the troops. But if your part is to end up an unscorched shadow on a chunk of concrete or a tottering skeleton shitting blood in a refugee camp, that’s different. It wasn’t just the obvious drawbacks that made the plan implausible. It’s hard to take Armageddon seriously when your enemy loses interest, then ceases to exist. So by 1991 the idea had proved not merely crazy but pointless. But instead of chucking it when the Soviets quit, they gussied it up with contingency plans for everything else they could think of, even far-fetched things like domestic insurrections. I put it down to bureaucratic inertia and jobs for the boys, and went on to the next thing with relief. But COG and COOP remained. It never occurred to me they could knock down a couple of buildings and roll it all out. What a dupe, eh? I should have seen it coming – I browsed the safes like they were bookshops and poked my nose shamelessly into other people’s compartments, especially abroad, where people gossip more. But bureaucracy is boredom. Having gone off to see the world, I had forgotten all about it by the time we learned what it was for. CIA infiltrated foreign intelligence cutouts into our country, repeatedly rescuing them as they skulked conspicuously into hopeless pickles. In the Riyadh CIA station, John Brennan declined to inquire about these outlandish picaros, lest we hurt some prince’s feelings, as Cofer Black ran around furiously barking up the wrong tree. CIA moles arranged a distracting commotion of exercises and put some befuddled cub scout in charge of the national military command center. Then came a puzzling series of spectacles. Planes crashed and missed the crater or just disappeared. Intact passports and engine nacelles wafted to earth. Israeli mad bombers got caught and sent home with a spanking. Buildings fell down for no reason. Then Donald Rumsfeld called DEFCON3. That made COG official. He dusted off the daft apocalyptic bumf that we churned out. The part where CIA takes over he plopped on the table at Congress and made them rubber-stamp it as the PATRIOT ACT, pixie-dusting the dawdlers with government-issue anthrax. The touchy bits he and Cheney issued as assorted secret decrees. So here we are. Your local CIA fusion center crushes dissent while daring the Russians to nuke them. They pore over your social-media expostulations and rat you out to the police for your despondent fits of pique. Blackmailed pedophiles and crooks in Congress and the courts grovel to Langley. You can’t have health care or higher education or honest work because they take all the money for spies and police to keep you in control. You don’t need to berate me, I’m thoroughly embarrassed. And to be brutally honest, your subjection’s just a matter of degree. Threescore and seven years ago, your founding fathers, the Dulles brothers and Clark Clifford, brought forth on this continent a new nation, dedicated to the proposition that they’re in charge. They set out new state papers for Americans to live by: the National Security Act and the Central Intelligence Agency Act. They got busy at once. From the new regime’s inception CIA pushed aside your first choice, Taft, for Ike, shot your next president and two unauthorized aspirants, RFK and MLK, framed and ousted your fourth president and replaced him with one of the stooges who covered up their JFK coup, plotted with foreign spies to push out your sixth president, and shot the seventh. CIA then dropped the arms-length pretense and put their own men in the president’s seat: Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama. CIA Director Bush; Clinton, recruited at Oxford by Cord Meyer; spy brat G.W. Bush; Obama, son of spooks, grandson of spooks, shoehorned into Harvard by Prince Alwaleed, Safari Club associate of the CIA permanent government. And even these loyal cadres know who’s the boss. Kennedy was the last president who didn’t know he was a puppet ruler. And they didn’t give their puppets much rope between purges, either. When Truman and Congress denied the DCI authority for covert action, CIA ignored them and got to work knocking over free-world allies. When Eisenhower acted on his plan for global peace, CIA trundled a C-118 full of infuriating war plans past the waiting ack-ack guns in Soviet airspace, then, right before the triumphal disarmament summit they sheepishly crashed a U-2 at Khrushchev’s feet. CIA invaded Cuba with a doomed army of plucky imbeciles so Kennedy would have to save them. They whacked every hornet’s nest in Indochina and blamed the Pentagon when all was lost. They thought they ran the UN, too. When Dag Hammarskjold tried to negotiate an end to war in Congo, CIA shot him out of the sky. Along the way CIA picked off an assortment of lesser gadflies here at home. They took control1 of the press to keep it down to a dull roar. With in-house CIA figureheads warming the President’s seat, CIA started blowing us up. CIA moles in FBI pressed provocateurs into service. They set the provocateurs provoking each other to a frenzy till something blew up, then picked the dumbest one to hold the bag. They blew up Oklahoma City. They blew up the World Trade Center, twice. They blew up the Boston Marathon.2 Why? To scare you. To make you hold still for more draconian secret laws. And all the while they primped their internal security Gestapo, COG. COG was the great endeavor of the postwar era, bigger than any war or moon shot. 9/11 was the real Manhattan Project. It had its origins in the total war of WWII, which spawned a new military function called CAMG: Civil Affairs and Military Government. Bringing conquered populations to heel. Repentant CIA mole Fletcher Prouty related how CIA took it over from the military and metastasized it from a mop-up operation to an all-purpose template for taking over, over there or over here. The Bomb gave the concept a shot in the arm. Top Secret nuclear war plans left some un-nuked nooks and crannies for post-apocalyptic invasion. As soon as the rubble stopped bouncing in Russia, US administrators were to go to those enclaves and pen up the desperate survivors. They would dole out cans of US soy oil or cheese blocks or flour and crush signs of resistance. They would hand the new autocracy off to grateful collaborators they’d tipped to run to the safe zones. As nuclear arsenals burgeoned to ecocidal absurdity, military government went from strength to strength. It wasn’t military any more, it was strictly CIA, and it wasn’t government any more, it was a reign of terror based on murder, torture, and disappearance. The object was to decapitate independent civil society and crush resistance to CIA’s chosen puppets. CIA scaled its grandiose A-war plans back to gingerly counterinsurgency wars in Indochina, and scaled its CAMG up to the Phoenix Program. Secret Agent Frank Snepp told us all about it. Then CIA handed the wars off to foreigners to fight among themselves, siccing favored strongmen on dissenters and reformers. CAMG reappeared as Operation Condor. This freed CIA to focus on refinements of murder and torture, and to top up covert budgets with criminal enterprise. Secret Agent Philip Agee wrote about it. Journalist Gary Webb wrote about it too, till he shot himself twice in the head (Yes, that’s improbable. That’s the point.) CIA put the finishing touches on the USA’s CAMG regime. In the end, the only conquered population they could bring to heel was us. They lowered the threshold of apocalypse from thermonuclear war to the bumbling hurricane response of Katrina to peaceable assemblies of citizens to the Boston Marathon clown show. Rear guards of 4-Fs in soldier suits corralled peaceniks in Washington, lobbed bottles into crowds and shot displaced victims for sport in New Orleans, tortured Occupy hippies, and shambled through counterinsurgency marches in supine Boston neighborhoods. Sounds crazy, I know. But this is from the horses’ mouth. CIA gives you a reading list when they recruit you: Prouty, Agee, Snepp. They want to be sure you understand the line of work you’re getting into. Prouty’s book vanished off the shelves, Agee lived and died on the run, CIA sued and beggared Snepp. But their disgruntlement was not in vain. That’s how you learn the ropes when you sign on to rule the USA. Those books are not for Joe Blow. You did not read them in grade-school civics. It takes a foreigner to spell it out for you, like the exquisitely tactful Vladimir Putin. “The force of the United States bureaucracy is very great. And there are many facts that are not visible to the candidates until they become President. And the moment one gets to real work, he or she feels the burden.” He calls it the bureaucracy but it’s perfectly clear what he means. Among all the predatory corporate kleptocrats tearing strips off your prostrate form, mobbed-up bankers and genocidal opioid manufacturers and pipeline Pinkertons, Who is to arbitrate? The people with impunity, of course. The ones who can torture you or murder you and get away with it. That’s CIA. They delegate a lot, but they make sure it all gets done. Secretary of State Robert Lansing set out the US view of state sovereignty: “the essence of sovereignty is the absence of responsibility.” You are sovereign only if you can do whatever you want and get away with it. And who in America is sovereign in this sense, wielding absolute Sun King power of life and death for almost seven decades now? CIA. L’état, c’est les. The rest of the world directly contradicts the US concept of absolute sovereignty. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon put it, “Sovereignty is responsibility.” Tell that to CIA. They got their official impunity at the outset, in the Central Intelligence Agency Act, which put CIA business out of reach of any court. That proved a bit too blatant so they papered it over with a confidential gentleman’s agreement: the Rogers-Houston MOU. It gave the CIA director a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. The CIA director can withhold his crimes from referral to the Justice Department. Other CIA red tape made their corpus delicti secret. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act lets you talk about the crimes as long as the criminals are not named – except that the operational files exemption lets the CIA director hide all the evidence, too. Judicial ‘political questions’ doctrine returns CIA to its original untouchable status when the beans get spilled. Once Congress has condoned CIA crimes out of blackmail, intimidation, or cowardice, however tacitly or vaguely, the courts don’t dare touch it. Prouty, Agee, and Snepp are not flukes. Repentant spooks continue to pop up, augmenting and curating the overwhelming evidence of CIA crime. The story doesn’t change. It’s not the deep state, or some ideological movement, neocons, realists, liberal interventionists. When the same message issues from different bureaucracies, it’s hard to resist the urge to coin a phrase to cover the war propagandists chorusing at State, the Pentagon, Treasury, FBI, and DHS. The war party. The permanent government. The New World Order… Call it what it is: the CIA. Prouty tells us that CIA’s deepest-cover agents are the domestic ones in our own government. Decentralized with cutouts and proprietaries and focal points; hidden in executive billets with secret contractors for skilled or dirty work; plotting in Safari Clubs with foreign secret services who harbor each others’ agents. Even the most perceptive observers can be distracted by CIA’s diffuse domestic infiltration: CIA spies3 and auxiliaries planted throughout all levels of government and civil society. If a sobered-up Tail-Gunner Joe revived to root them out his list wouldn’t number 205, it would run into the tens of thousands. It’s hard to take, I know. Can’t you feel the imbued itch to recite the comforting pejorative, ‘Conspiracy Theory!?’ CIA propounded that for you, in memo 1035-960. It soothes you when your first-world self image gets threatened by stray facts. It’s a fervent two-word prayer, an Our Father to imaginary benevolent authorities who will protect you. It can take years of confusion and anguish to lose your only faith. But by the time we’ve come to terms with this state of affairs, it will be over. The CIA regime will have fallen. The world is fed up. If in the last dark age Romans became Europeans, in this dark age, with luck, we’ll see Americans become humans. How that can happen is out of scope for this report, as the bureaucrats say. But as CIA subjects Americans to COG rule, the world is curbing and crippling CIA. The outside world – the 96 per cent of humanity not under CIA’s thumb – has decided that CIA’s impunity must end. CIA’s own functionaries are disgusted. Project Mockingbird can’t hide the sound of all the chickens coming home to roost. There is an intriguing whiff of panic from congressional attempts to designate Wikileaks an enemy when Wikileaks is the least of their problems. The sea change is explained in the prior broadsides linked below but it’s a long story with lots of tedious detail and creeping link rot. I’ll sum it up the next time we see ripples from this submerged feeding frenzy. When the USA goes the way of the USSR and the propaganda is dispelled, they won’t call this corporate snake pit America, they’ll call it Langley. Even if the nation stays in one piece, we’ll need to qualify the country with the state. There’s Germany, and then there’s Nazi Germany. The perfectly good land mass we call America is not to be confused with CIA America. That was Nixon’s nightmare of war without end.4 Now we’re all awake. * “PAO has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation.” Big stories they manage directly. * Foreign intelligence asset Emad Salem taped himself reporting government participation in the WTC bombing and testified that the government stopped Salem from thwarting the plot. The government protected foreign intelligence asset Andreas Strassmeir and obstructed investigation of the OKC bombing. The government controlled accused Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the highly anomalous crime scene. * “Officer” Tom Gerard is a typical example: he has authority to abuse and foreign spymasters to blame if he gets caught. But his big boss is CIA. These are the real spies. They’re not in exotic locales. They’re here at home spying on you. * Nixon’s allusion to CIA crimes in a television interview on January 4, 1971, quoted in L. Fletcher Prouty, The Secret Team. http://clubof.info/